Key Information

Photographer

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Collection

Evan Yorke Nepean

Date of Photo

October 1st 1936

Named Person

Ringang

Region

Lhasa > Dekyi Lingka

Accession number

2001.35.380

Image Dimensions

72 x 105 mm

Ringang (also known as Kusho Changngopa or Chang Ngopa Rinzin Dorje), a 6th rank official and city magistrate. He also acted as the official interpreter to the Lhasa cabinet

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print silver

Date Acquired

Loaned August 2002

Donated by

Judy Goldthorp

Expedition

British Diplomatic Mission to Lhasa 1936-37

Photo also owned by

Lady Nepean

Previous Catologue Number

C.6.5 In publication
'Lhasa Mission 1936, Diary of Events', P. Neame, H. Richardson, F. S. Chapman, Government of India Political Department [Note: photographs for October 18th - November 4th 1936 are not included as their relationship to text is not detailed; see Mission Diary text for details of images] [see photos in publication]

This Image also appears in another collection

BMR.86.1.24.3 1998.131.498.1

Other Information

Notes on print/mount: 'Ringang'; [ink no:] 51; [pencil no:] C-6/5; [blue no:] 37. [KC 05/08/2006]

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Caption in Chapman's hand-written list of negatives made whilst on the Mission to Lhasa, 1936-7 [See PRM Manuscripts Collection]: 'Ringang full size'; PRM Manuscripts Collection: ‘List of Tibetan Prints and Negatives’ - Book 2: ‘31/2 - Ringang, interpreter to the cabinet, and old Rugbeian, he was trained as an engineer and installed electric light in Lhasa’ [MS 30/03/2006]

Research publication - Clare Harris and Tsering Shakya (eds.), 'Seeing Lhasa: British Depictions of the Tibetan Capital 1936-1947', Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003, p. 91.

Biographical Information - Ringang Was One Of The Four Boys Sent To England To Be Educated At Rugby In 1913 (this Was Arranged By Sir Charles Bell And The 13th Dalai Lama). On His Return From England He Was Responsible For Installing Electricity In Lhasa. [[Marina de Alarcón ZF 1995 4]]

Biographical Information - Chang Ngopa Rinzin Dorje (known as Ringang). Ringang was translator to the Lhasa cabinet and the magistrate of Purang, a district in southern Tibet. As a 6th rank (in 1936) official he could normally only wear silk in his own home and was not entitled to wear the amulet box which higher officials wore on their heads. In 1913 he was one of the Tibetan boys sent (by Charles Bell and the 13th Dalai Lama) to be educated at Rugby school in England. On his return he was responsible for installing electricity in Lhasa. At the time of the 14th Dalai Lama’s installation in 1940 Ringang was a civil officer in charge of organising and commanding the 600 strong cavalry that attended the event. Basil Gould noted: “ As District Magistrate of a distant part of Tibet (where his wife sometimes discharged his duties), engineer of the mint and of the hydro-electric installation and interpreter to the Cabinet, he had his hands full.” (1957: [CH 2003]

Other Information - Related Images

Other Information - Related Images: Images prefixed with 'C.6' comprise a group of negatives containing images of Trimon and 4th/5th rank officials, Amir Khan and staff, Ringang, lunch party, Yellow Hat Monks, Potala views, Norbhu Lingka stables. They all seem to have been taken between October 1st - 3rd 1936 [MS 30/03/2006]

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: This photograph seems to have been taken on October 1st 1936 when the Mission hosted a lunch party for 4th rank officials and below. Richardson wrote in the Mission Diary of this occasion: "We gave a lunch party for 18 guests who were mainly fourth rank officials. Some of the more important officials could not come as they were too busy in arranging for the Regent's departure. The party, though not quite so convivial as that which we gave to the higher officials, was very successful and broke up at about 5 pm. // The Public Address outfit is a great help in supplementing the Tibetan orchestra" [MS 23/03/2006]

Other Information - Cultural Background

Other Information - Cultural Background: As A 6th Rank Official He Could Only Wear Silk In His Own Home And Was Not Entitled To Wear The Amulet Box Which Higher Officials Wore On Their Heads.

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Ringang" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_2001.35.380.html>.

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