Title: Three Years in Tibet: With the Original Japanese Illustrations
Author: The Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi, Late Rector of Gohyakurakan Monastery, Japan.
Publisher: The Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras, Theosophical Publishing Society, Benares and London
Date: 1909
Length: xvi + 719 pages
A travelogue by a Japanese Buddhist monk who traveled in Tibet.
From Amazon reviews:
In 1897 a Japanese Buddhist Monk left Japan to walk into Tibet to gather Buddhist scriptures and learning. He first went to India to learn to speak Tibetan and then after some years, he walked into Tibet, avoiding the usual checkpoints. He had to do this because generally the penalty for incursion into Tibet was death - to that person and everyone who helped them.
His account of the journey was nothing short of miraculous. His route was the highest and most difficult and the stories of how he survived leave you breathless. He survived on practically no food and on one frozen occasion, he kept himself alive overnight in the winter in inadequate clothing by meditating.
Eventually he bluffs his way in and is admitted to a monastery where he begins study and eventually, although he is not a doctor, he establishes a reputation as a skilled doctor by reason of his skills which are far better than the local doctors - in fact, he believes the best advice in Tibet is to avoid their doctors if you want to live. He even becomes physician to the Dalai Lama.
He remained there 3 years observing every thing around him. His descriptions of local society, religion, customs, marriages, funerals, appointment of Lamas including the Dalai Lama, government, punishment, ignorance, superstition, cleanliness (or the opposite) and practically everything else you could think of (including the relationship with China) is fascinating and a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the present situation with China and the world.
Three Years in Tibet is an important and inadvertently hilarious book. Kawaguchi was a Japanese Buddhist scholar; his fastidious and serious disposition is immediately apparent, and at complete odds with the environment in which he found himself. Kawaguchi's Tibet is plagued with filth, less than perfect monks, and customs that he finds abhorrent. In great detail, he describes the customs and culture, as well as the details of life in the Lhasa region. He was able to pass as Chinese, and therefore was able to live freely in the city - visitors from other foreign nations were deported. The portrait that Kawaguchi paints is of a very real and diverse society. Recommended to anyone who is interested in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, China, or travel writing. It is also chock full of information useful to historians and other scholars. Best of all, it is an easy and delightful read.
MsSVig
Author: The Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi, Late Rector of Gohyakurakan Monastery, Japan.
Publisher: The Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras, Theosophical Publishing Society, Benares and London
Date: 1909
Length: xvi + 719 pages
A travelogue by a Japanese Buddhist monk who traveled in Tibet.
From Amazon reviews:
In 1897 a Japanese Buddhist Monk left Japan to walk into Tibet to gather Buddhist sc
His account of the journey was nothing short of miraculous. His route was the highest and most difficult and the stories of how he survived leave you breathless. He survived on practically no food and on one frozen occasion, he kept himself alive overnight in the winter in inadequate clothing by meditating.
Eventually he bluffs his way in and is admitted to a monastery where he begins study and eventually, although he is not a doctor, he establishes a reputation as a skilled doctor by reason of his skills which are far better than the local doctors - in fact, he believes the best advice in Tibet is to avoid their doctors if you want to live. He even becomes physician to the Dalai Lama.
He remained there 3 years observing every thing around him. His desc
Three Years in Tibet is an important and inadvertently hilarious book. Kawaguchi was a Japanese Buddhist scholar; his fastidious and serious disposition is immediately apparent, and at complete odds with the environment in which he found himself. Kawaguchi's Tibet is plagued with filth, less than perfect monks, and customs that he finds abhorrent. In great detail, he describes the customs and culture, as well as the details of life in the Lhasa region. He was able to pass as Chinese, and therefore was able to live freely in the city - visitors from other foreign nations were deported. The portrait that Kawaguchi paints is of a very real and diverse society. Recommended to anyone who is interested in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, China, or travel writing. It is also chock full of information useful to historians and other scholars. Best of all, it is an easy and delightful read.
MsSVig