1936 - 1937 Mission Diary

The official diary of the Gould mission to Lhasa sent by the British government. Read more about the mission diary.

December 24th, Thursday.

see photographs below

There was a strange ceremony on the Cathedral roof at dawn today. As this only happens once a year Chapman went to take photographs. Now that most of the officials have seen our films they take the presence of the 'camera man' as a matter of course. The Kashag and most of the senior officials, in ceremonial dress, visited the many shrines of the Cathedral, and then as the sun rose above the hills to the East of Lhasa they assembled on the roof where a tent had been put up so that they could drink their tea in comfort. Meanwhile a number of men, dressed in ancient and somewhat dilapidated Tibetan armour and helmets, assembled in a line around the roof. One old warrior with drawn sword and uncouth cries led the war dance, while the rest sang and danced in chorus.

Author: Frederick Spencer Chapman [see handwritten annotations in Diary by Hugh Richardson in MS. Or. Richardson 2, Bodleian Libary, Department of Oriental Collections, University of Oxford]

Page Reference: Pt XI p.2

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