1998.286.128.1 (Glass negative)
1998.286.128.1 (Glass negative)
Sir Charles Bell
Sir Charles Bell
May 5th 1921
Lhasa > 'Stony' Lingka
1998.286.128.1
78 x 103 mm
Gambling
Negative Quarter Plate
Donated 1983
St Antony's College, Oxford
Lantern Notches on right side
Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21
Q.118
BL.Q.118a
British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections
'The People of Tibet', Sir Charles Bell, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928 [view list of illustrations]
Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] XXVII. [Subject of Chapter] Amusements [Subject of Illustration] Q118 (as) Picnic party near Lhasa. Playing a dice game (sho) in the foreground. Note the pad - (shoden) - dice cushion) in foreground with cowries round it. The cowries are used for calculation. [Where placed - book page] G.J. [Remarks] L.139 (Y in L)"
Other Information - Related Images: Bell does not distinguish in his List of Illustrations entry between 1998.286.128.1 and 1998.286.128.2, even though they are different images, and both may be referenced by the caption for Q.118. 1998.286.128.1 appears in the Geographical Journal, 1924 [MS 10/8/2004]
Other Information - Related Images: The same family can be seen posing as a group in 1998.286.127 [MS 02/03/2006]
Other Information - Dates: Bell's Diary entry for 5th May 1921:"We ride through the lingka, known as 'Stony Park', where I photograph a gambling party (Photo 3A), and then through the 'Near Young Park' ( Nye-shon Ling-ka) , so called because it is near Lhasa and its trees are but young." [Vol X., pp. 50-51]
Contemporary Publication - Published in 'A Year in Lhasa' in The Geographical Journal, February,1924, facing p.100:"A Picnic Party". This piece was derived from a lecture given to the Royal Geographical Society in London on 3rd December 1923 [MS 10/9/2004]
Contemporary Publication - Published in 'The People of Tibet', Bell, C. A., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928, facing p.265:"Playing sho at a picnic in a Lhasan ling-ka . The dice-cup is in the man's hand and the round dice-pad is on the ground below, enriched by cowries as counters." [MS 10/9/2004]
Other Information - Related Images: Same picnic party as seen in 1998.285.171 [MS 06/02/2006]
Other Information - Cultural Background: On 25th May 1921 Bell discussed popular forms of Tibetan entertainment with Kusho Palhese and this prompted the following Diary entry, made on 28th May 1921 in relation to the games of Ba and Sho :" Ba played also in lingkas . This is a Chinese game of dominoes. It is played by four persons, and involves a good deal of gambling. // Sho is a game played with dice which also involves a good deal of gambling. Sho is the national Tibetan gambling game, played by all, high and low, the peasantry included. Ba is a Chinese game and requires considerable skill to play as well; its devotees are found almost solely among the upper classes. Among parties in lingkas , people playing sho will very often be found" [Diary Vol. X., pp. 86-7]
Other Information - Cultural Background: Bell's Diary for 5th May 1921 reports the following information as told to Bell by Kusho Palhese:"The people of Lhasa repair to the ling-kas for picnics mainly between the 3rd and 7th months (say) from May to August inclusive. Riding today through some of the ling-kas I came across fourteen or fifteen of these picnic parties. The Chinese and the Ladakhis usually had a white tent roof, gaily ornamented with the usual blue designs, over their parties, while the Tibetans sat under trees with only a cloth some five feet high stretched along one side to keep off the wind." [Vol. X., p.51]
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Picnic party at Stony Park in Lhasa"
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.286.128.1.html>.
For more information about photographic usage or to order prints, please visit the The Pitt Rivers Museum.
© The Pitt Rivers Museum
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