POPULAR AMUSEMENTS OF THE TIBETANS
The credulous people at whose expense the monks live in laziness--and
live well--are not satisfied with religious spectacles alone, which
minister only to their spiritual needs; they must also be amused with
profane exhibitions, which are more congenial to their lower instincts,
and are more adapted to stimulate the senses. On February 15 an
exhibition of this kind was to take place on the plain outside the town
of Shigatse, and I and my people were invited. We mounted our horses in
good time and rode northwards through the small town, which has not more
than 300 houses--towns in Tibet are few and insignificant. The houses
are white, with a black or red band at the top; with few exceptions they
are only one storey high; the roof is almost always flat and guarded by
a parapet; the windows and doors are in the same style as those of the
monastery. From the street you enter into a yard where generally a large
savage dog is chained. The roofs are adorned with a forest of bundles of
twigs and rods hung with prayer streamers in all the colours of the
rainbow; their object is to drive away devils. Between the irregular
lines of houses run narrow lanes and roads, where black swine wallow
among the discarded refuse, dead dogs lie about, and stinking puddles
stagnate; and we also pass open squares, sometimes with ponds.
[Illustration: 133. STAIRCASE TO THE MAUSOLEUM OF THE FIFTH TASHI LAMA
IN TASHI-LUNPO.
Sketch by the Author.]
There is something uniformly dull about the whole town, in vivid,
humiliating contrast to the dzong (Illustration 134), the castle proudly
enthroned on its rock, and the golden temple roofs of Tashi-lunpo at the
foot of the mountain. The ground is yellow dust, and here and there
we pass abrupt terraces of löss; dust whirled up by the wind lies on all
the houses and roads.
A black, continuous procession of pleasure-seekers streams out to the
great plain on the north-east of the dzong; the farther we go the
thicker it grows; most are on foot--men with prayer mills and tobacco
pipes, women with round red aureoles at the neck and crying children in
their arms, boys, beggars, monks, and all the pilgrims from neighbouring
countries. Here and there rides a fine gentleman with one or more
attendants, while hawkers transport dried fruit and sweetmeats on mules
to sell among the people.
Arrived at the show-ground, we leave our horses in charge of Rabsang,
and watch with keen interest the curious festive scene presented to our
sight. It is a sea of human beings, thousands and thousands of Tibetans
and travelling strangers in varied costumes, any one of whom is a
subject worthy of an artist's brush. Before us, to the east, we have the
gardens of the villages at the foot of the mountains in the Nyang-chu
valley, and behind us stretches a whole town of blue-and-white tents
with spectators of more or less importance, and in the best position
stands a blue-and-white tent open towards the show-ground--there sit,
cross-legged, on soft rugs, the officials of the dzong in yellow
raiment, solemn as statues of Buddha, and take refreshments now and
again. All these tents rise like islands above the sea of heads.
Right through the crowd from north to south runs a race-course, only 6
or 7 feet broad, and flanked on both sides by ridges of earth a foot
high. The ground slopes down from the canvas town to the course, and the
spectators collected here, ourselves among the number, have seated
themselves in groups; but on the east side, where the ground is level,
they remain standing. And here the crowd is separated into three
divisions by two broad clear lanes. At the end, close to the
race-course, two targets are erected, consisting of round discs
suspended from poles with a white and a black ring, and a red spot in
the middle. The lanes are kept clear lest any one should be hurt during
the shooting. Policemen in red-and-white coats with yellow hats, and
pigtails both in front and behind, keep the people in order; the pigtail
swings backwards and forwards, while a rope's end is in constant use to
drive too inquisitive spectators off the course. Two of these policemen
are attached to me, to keep me a clear view, but they cause me more
annoyance than satisfaction, for I have constantly to restrain them when
they would strike half-naked youngsters who are not at all in the way.
Now the show commences! All eyes are turned to a troop of seventy
cavaliers in extraordinary motley costumes, who ride slowly in single
file northwards along the race-course, so slowly that there is plenty of
time to examine the various dresses. All wear red flat mushroom-hats
with waving, drooping plumes, white thin vests with a waistcoat over
them, and white trousers with patches on the knees. But in some details
there is a great variety. One rider, for instance, is dressed in a white
silk waistcoat bound with black, over a yellow silken jacket with wide
rucked sleeves; while another wears a bright blue jacket on a yellow
vest, and has also blue knee-caps on his yellow pantaloons. In general
the knee patches are red. The quiver, covered with red material, hangs
from a shoulder-belt, and is decorated with shining metal plates,
shields, and buttons, and contains a bundle of long arrows tipped with
single feathers or tufts. The saddle with its clumsy high wooden frame
rests on a saddle-cloth worked in colours. The tail of the horse is
wrapped round with red, yellow, and blue ribands terminating in a
tassel, which is stretched out by a ring of wire so as to be more
effective. A similar rosette also adorns the root of the tail, and from
it ribands and cross strips running along the flanks of the horse are
attached to the saddle, and flutter in the wind. Between the ears the
horse carries a towering plume of peacock's feathers stuck in a bunch of
down; on the forehead is a bundle of strips of material of various
lengths and colours; the bridle is thickly studded with plates of metal,
and across the chest is a broad belt with bells, which ring at the
slightest movement.
[Illustration: 134. SHIGATSE-DZONG (THE FORTRESS).
Sketch by the Author.]
The party is therefore decked out fantastically in rich colours, and
now it turns and rides along the course in the reverse direction, but
this time in full career. They ride as fast as the horses can gallop,
fling their legs and elbows up and down, the plumes wave, the quivers
rattle, and all the tassels, streamers, and ribands fly and flutter in
all directions during this wild career. The horses snort, the bridles
are covered with flakes of froth, and each rider leaves a cloud of dust
for the one behind him. This evolution is repeated twice, and then at
the third lap the riders shoot with their long bows at the two targets.
The distance between the two is about 60 yards, and an arrow is aimed at
each target. The first shot is easy, but then the shooter must be very
smart in his movements to catch hold of the quiver, swinging and jumping
on his back, take out the arrow, place it against the string and
discharge it before he is past the second target. Many marksmen hit both
targets, others sent the first arrow into the target, but the second
into the ground. Sometimes the arrow glanced against the wooden frame of
the target, while some of the riders got over the difficulty by turning
round and discharging the arrows backwards, to the great danger of the
spectators (Illustrations 137, 138).
The horses are small and active, some of them half-wild and fiery; they
have long hair, are badly groomed and shaggy. During the shooting their
legs are at full stretch, and the reins hang loose on their necks.
At the fourth career the riders shot with loose powder, and at the fifth
with the gun at the first target, and with the bow at the second. They
use long, heavy, clumsy muskets, and have not even taken off the
inconvenient crutch. A ball of crushed-up paper is inserted in the mouth
of the barrel, which is scattered around when the shot is fired--to make
a show. The start is made at a considerable distance, and the rider is
at full gallop when he comes up to the first target. He holds the gun in
the left hand, raises it slowly and gracefully to the right shoulder,
grasps the butt with his right hand, holds the muzzle in front of him in
the direction of the course, and at the moment he is flying past the
target turns the barrel towards it and fires, the match having been
lighted at starting. Many produced a red cloud from the target, all a
white, of paper, if the gun went off; for it failed when the tinder was
not held at the right moment to the touch-hole. Some marksmen discharged
their guns a little too late, when they were past the target, and then
the spectators most exposed to danger began to rush away in all
directions, for they had good reason to fear that their eyebrows would
be singed. Immediately the shot is fired the gun-sling is quickly thrown
over the shoulder, and now there are two seconds in which to catch hold
of the quiver, take out an arrow, and discharge it at the second target.
The interval was so short that most of the riders missed; when one made
a hit, the crowds gave vent to prolonged applause, and a miss caused
still more delight. It must be very hot and trying work to ride in this
gorgeous costume with gun, bow, and quiver in full sunshine, every now
and then buried in a cloud of dust. Some horses were so restive that
their riders could not shoot, and that caused great amusement to the
people. One of the marksmen loses his hat, and the next horse shies at
it when he is opposite the target, and, leaving the marked course,
springs into the crowd of sightseers. Another handles his gun well and
raises a red cloud from the target, and also hits the second, but in his
hurry has discharged two arrows. One shatters the target and another
breaks his gun, and rides on with only the butt in his raised hand, all
to the great amusement of the people. Attendants collect the arrows,
repair the targets, and fill in the bull's eyes with fresh powder
(Illustration 138).
[Illustration: 135. SHIGATSE, CAPITAL OF THE PROVINCE OF CHANG, 11,880
FEET.]
This is a Tibetan popular diversion, fresh, rich in colouring, and
picturesque. The spectators have evidently their favourites among the
competitors, as may be gathered from the increased buzz of voices when
certain cavaliers draw near. Others are not expected to win laurels, for
they are received with bursts of laughter. The people are all eyes and
ears as they stand or sit for hours together, eating nuts and sweet
stuff. In the crowd we see many old acquaintances from the monastery,
and also lamas from Ladak, who are studying in the theological
seminaries of Tashi-lunpo; merchants from Nepal and Bhotan, Mongolian
pilgrims in fur caps with large ear-flaps of fox-skin, and about a
score of merchants from Ladak and Kashmir, in tall white turbans and
black kaftans with waist-belts. The Chinese, who play the same part in
Tibet as the English in India, sit in small groups, smoking their pipes;
they seem to take no interest in the prize-shooting. They wear blue
dresses, black vests, and black skull-caps with a coral button on the
top.
Two horses, which probably had never before taken part in such sports,
took fright, rushed among the crowd on our side, knocking down some and
jumping over others, and were caught at length when they had fallen down
entangled in human bodies and clothing. Last of all, a ragged fellow
jolted along the course on a wretched brute, causing great merriment.
This was the signal that the sports were ended, and now the riders
dismounted and passed in a long procession before the dzong tent, where
each bowed his head before the "Chairman of the Town Council," and a
_kadakh_ was laid over his neck. This inexpensive mark of favour was
also bestowed on them by their friends and acquaintances, and some
favourites went about with as many as sixty white neck-cloths. I treated
the whole party to tea, and gave them a present of money for the
amusement they had afforded myself and my retinue. When we at last rode
into Shigatse, we were escorted by quite a host of black Tibetans.
On February 21 Ma Daloi invited me to witness some performances in the
inner court of his _yamen_ in commemoration of the Chinese New Year. The
performers were to be soldiers of the garrison, but the spectacle was
put on the stage by the four Chinese temples in Shigatse. It was late at
night and pitch dark, and the whole effect depended on the illumination.
Two chairs with a table between them were placed in the verandah, and
while Ma regaled me with genuine Chinese tea, cakes, and cigarettes,
twenty men entered, each carrying two large lanterns of white material
in the form of a clover leaf, and painted with flowers and dragons. In
the centre a wick is so fixed, that the lanterns do not catch fire when
they are swung round. The men dance, and swing their lanterns in an
advancing line of uniform undulations; they then place themselves so
that the lanterns form various patterns, constantly changing; they
whirl themselves round with lightning speed, and the bright lanterns
resemble great fireballs hovering about in the darkness. All the time
squibs and crackers are thrown about, and fizz and explode among the
legs of the spectators, for the court is full of Tibetans who come in
quite at their ease. Lastly, the lanterns are left standing and a
gigantic bird with a long movable tail and a long curved neck stalks
solemnly across the court. The next item is performed by Nepalese. Each
of them carries two lanterns like beehives; the top of the one in front
consists of a horse's head, with a full flowing mane of paper, and at
the point of the hinder hangs a paper tail. Therefore they seem to be
riding on horses illuminated from within, as they execute a very lively
dance round the court. They sing all the while a melancholy song in slow
time. And now a green and yellow dragon comes writhing on to the scene.
His head is of wood and paper, and is borne by a man from whose back a
painted cloth, the body of the dragon, hangs down and envelops a second
crouching man. The dragon dances, twists itself about, opens its jaws,
and makes as though it would swallow all present. During the play, weird
noisy music drones from drums, cymbals, and flutes, which produce notes
like those of a bagpipe. These buffoons present themselves in the courts
of all people of rank during the New Year season, to make a little
money. They threatened us one evening, but I begged them to come in the
daytime, that I might immortalize them on a photographic plate
(Illustration 136).
[Illustration: 136. CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL IN MY GARDEN.]
[Illustration: 137. SOME OF THE MEMBERS IN THE SHOOTING COMPETITION AT
THE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL.]