Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 171, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1917 — Queer Things in Tibet [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Queer Things in Tibet

TIBET has had for centuries a fascination which has led many explorers to their death. It occupies an immense area of the oldest of the continents, t and it is inhabited by strange Monoloid people who have vainly tried to live a hermit existence. Several centuries ago a law was enacted and made part of the Tibetan religion prohibiting any European entering the country, and this law was rigidly effective until the British expedition under Colonel Younghusband captured the capital of Tibet several years ago. The remoteness of Tibet, the hardships to be met in crossing the immense ranges of mountains, the-hostility of the barbarous tribes of the country and the jealousy of the lamas or priests aided in keeping this region unknown to the rest of the world, writes Henry L. Peterson in Grit. Tibet is practically treeless and bitterly cold, for the mountains here reach great altitudes and nature presents her wildest and most repellent moods. The ruggedness of the landscape is reflected in the people themselves who are very low in the scale of civilization. One explorer of this lit-tle-known country says in describing the inhabitants: “Among the varying scales of humankind the Tibetan is entitled to the lowest position; it would be impossible to imagine a people more unenlightened and barbarous, savage and degraded in all the terms savagery and degradation imply. One who has never seen a Tibetan nomad on his native heath can have no conception of his unpleasant appearance; the swarthy complexion, long black hair, piercing coal-black eyes, half-naked figure with an enormous spear slung on his back and a rusty matchlock in his band, makes the best figure for a painter I ever saw. When opportunity presents itself to attack and plunder a small caravan without chance of resistance he is a perfect embodiment of vainglorious bravery, but at the first show of aggression, or even the feeblest of real dangers, he is the veriest coward.” Many Small Tribe*. The Tibetans are composed of many small tribes, varying in customs, manners and even language, but held together by the religious domination of the Dalai Lama, for in government Tibet is a theocracy almost pure and simple. Their habits, of life are indescribably filthy, and morals, according to Western standards, have no existence. Says one writer who has lived among them for a time: “The love of eating is common to all Tibetans. For many months I lived among them to bear witness to their dipping their hands up to their wrists in one dish, eating sheep’s insides, and sleeping under tents crawling with vermin engendered by their filthy habits. They are gluttonous and will eat at all times until gorged, then lie down and sleep like brutes.” The pest of vermin is widespread, for their religion, particularly among the more educated, forbids the taking of life, and to kill a louse is considered a moral sin which may condemn the slayer’s soul to an eternity of horrible punishment r Wretched Lot of the Women. The traveler cannot fail to be-struck by the hardness and misery of the Tibetan woman’s lot says the writer just quoted. Although, owing to the disparity between the sexes, a woman is a valuable commodity, she is treated with contempt and her existence is Indefinitely worse than that of domestic animals. Polyandry, several husbands for one wife, is generally practiced, increasing the horror of her position, for -he is required to be the slave to a number of masters who treat her with rigorous harshness and brutality. From the day of her birth to that of her death her life is one protracted period of degradation. She is called upon to perform the most degrading and menial of services and she is obliged to perform almost the entire manual labor of the community, as it is considered debasing for a man to engage in other labor than that of the chase or warfare. The woman has no

voice in the selection of her numerous husbands. She is sold like a horse er a cow to the highest bidder. The rites of death and burial ara very curious. When a chief or other influential member of a tribe dies his body is fastened to a stake and exposed to the attacks of beasts and birds in the belief that all the evil parts of his body will be consumed. After that, what remains Is cremated and the ashes placed in magic bowls mixed with charms and portions to be used as medicines. The qiost disreputable quarter of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is occupied by the famous tribe of Ragyabas, or beggar scavengers, the men whose repulsive occupation is to break up the bodies of the dead. A more brutalized type of humanity cannot be imagined, and they live in the foulest of hovels. Filthy in appearance, halfnaked, clothed in obscene rags, these people live in houses unfit to house a hog. The veil which has for centuries hidden Tibet from the rest of the world has been lifted, but the spectacle revealed has not been a particularly savory one.