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The cultural history of Tibet is unthinkable without gems and fineries, not least as they found expression in the dress codes and wearables. Silk, brocade and precious gems can boast a long history in Tibet. Among the gems, the magic symbolism exerted by the turquoise ensured that it remained ubiquitous to most Tibetans throughout the ages. This small book attempts to tell the story of the turquoise stone in Tibetan culture. Historical documents are replete with accounts that record such precious stones, not least witnessed when being paraded in a variety of ritual ceremonies and secular pageants, all staged on a major scale right from the early Middle Ages onwards. They culminated during the annual ceremonies of the Ganden Phodrang government in Lhasa. The role held by the turquoise is highlighted in the celebrated Rinchen Gyencha or "Precious Ornaments" pageant and the Gyaluche or "Princely Attire" spectacle performed during the New Year festivities. These ceremonies conceal a longer narrative which lays bare the origin of the turquoise or, more precisely, its erstwhile introduction to Tibetan society and civilization as a treasured commodity at the dawn of recorded history in Tibet.
While some of the articles in this volume focus on the culture of the military - reforms to military institutions, personnel and organisational issues, as well as evolutions in strategic orientations and technologies - others hope to shed light on the relationship between the military and society, i.e. on features of military culture as they were projected into social, cultural, political or religious spheres.
The eight articles of this volume thus explore some significant points of contact between the Tibetan military and their Mongol, Manchu, Chinese, and Japanese counterparts, based on sources not only in Tibetan language, but also in these respective languages. The diversity of source languages used for these articles, and hence the diversity of perspectives they embody, will we hope provide a step towards presenting a "global history" of the Tibetan military, that must, by necessity, be based on "multiple voices".
Wearing the World: Glimpses of the Cultural History of Turquoises in Tibet: The Rinchen Gyencha or The Potala 'Precious Ornament' Pageant , K. Sorensen and Joachim G. Karsten, Adarsh Books, Hardcover, 367 Pages, $30.00
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