Xizang Wenwu Jingcui /Bod kyi rig dngos snying btus, A Well Selected Collection of Tibetan Cultural Relics.~

• Author: Kuijp, Leonard W.J. van der

Edited by The Management Committee of Cultural Relics of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Peking: Gugong Bowuyuan Zijingcheng Chubanshe, 1992. Pp. 187. Rmb 280.

This impressively and exquisitely produced book is a catalogue of an exhibit of Tibetan relics, works of art, and exemplary specimens of native crafts, held in the Fall of 1992 at the Qianqinggong of the Gugong, Forbidden City, in Beijing. The collection consists of but a sample of the enormous holdings of Nor-bu gling-ga and the Potala, and a good portion of the one hundred and fifty-one pieces on the display were never published before. The captions to and descriptions of the individual items, some of which might have been a trifle more complete, are in Tibetan and Chinese, whereas the table of contents (pp. 2-11), the introduction (pp. 12-25) and the brief prefaces to each of the seven categories in which the exhibited pieces were divided are in Chinese, Tibetan and English. The introduction and prefaces to categories 1-3 and 6-7 were written by Mr. Ou Chaogui of the Management Committee of Cultural Relics of the Tibetan Autonomous Region--no. 6 jointly with Chimei Jigme, no. 7 jointly with Jungda--and translated into Tibetan by Dgra-lha Zla-ba bzang-po of the Research Institute of National Arts of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Chinese text of the prefaces of categories 4-5 was written by Mr. Cai Xianmin and translated into Tibetan by Mr. Tshe brtan dge legs. In every case, the Chinese texts were rendered into English by Messrs. Chen Guansheng and Li Peizhu. Fortunately, the Chinese text of the captions, though not free from some problems, is fully translated into English (with some additions drawn from the captions in Tibetan) on pp. 172-85. The work concludes with a trilingual postscript (pp. 186-87). The truly outstanding photography is owed to Messrs. Zhao Shan and Feng Hui of the Palace Museum.

1. Unearthed Cultural Relics (pp. 26-39, 172-73); sixteen items (1-16). This category ranges from microliths from the rich Mkhar-ro site of Chab-mdo to more modem items such as an iron-fortified saddle and a rattan shield--these are dated from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries--excavated from the ruins of Gu-ge in Western Tibet. Exceptional specimens of pottery-ware, several of which are decorated, are also given a prominent place. Archeology in the Tibetan cultural area is still in its infancy and important discoveries continue to be made, especially in Mkhar-ro and Chu-gong...