IDNO

P.96992.WIL

Description

A view from the south of the Potala showing the Red Palace rising above the White Palace on the Marpori (Red Hill). At the foot of the Potala hill is the village of Sho with at the centre the Sho doring (inscription pillar) and a small Chinese structure housing an edict pillar recording the defeat of the Dzungarians (Chungkar) in 1720 AD. In the foreground are women doing laundry in a large pond beside a road over a small bridge leading up to the Potala. [JD 14/5/2008]

On Cech’s list describing prints:
“(58-135 where taken in Lhasa.)
82. “The Potala from the south. 18.8.33, 25.8.33, 27.8.33”
82c. “27.8.33”. This photo shows the famous rdo-ring pillar in the centre.” [printed text]
For more information see Cech’s list.

Place

C Asia; Tibet; Lhasa; Potala; Sho

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Williamson, Frederick

Collector / Expedition

Date

27 August 1933

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Place: Potala - “Construction of the palace began in earnest in 1645 during the reign of the great 5th Dalai Lama. By 1645 during the reign of the great 5th Dalai Lama. By 1648 the White Palace was completed. To finish the rest of the building, known as the Red Palace, the chief adviser, Desi Sangyye Gyatso, had to conceal the Dalai Lama’s death and pretend that he was in prolonged retreat. The Red Palace was completed in 1694, 12 years after the Dalai Lama’s death. The building is named after Mt. Potala in South India, one of the holy mountains of the Hindu god Shiva. The Buddhists, however, dedicated this mountain to Avalokiteshvara resides. The Potala has served as the home of successive Dalai Lamas and their monastic staff from the time of the Fifth until that of the present Dalai Lama, the 14th. From the latter half of the eigtheenth century, it has been used as a winter palace, the Norbu lingka being the place where the rulers would retreat in the summer months.” [Source: Cech’s list, JD 14/5/2008]

Place: “The Potala Palace is the winter Palace of the Dalai Lamas and the seat of traditional Tibetan government. The palace is know as several names by the Tibetan, Tse Podrang, ( rtse pho brang ) or more formally, Potala Podrang ( pho brang po ta la ) The first structure was established by the legendary Tibetan Emperor Song Gampo on Mt Marpori in 637. The original structure is said to have been 11 stories high and was destroyed by lightening during the reign of Emperor Trisong Detsen. The present structure was built by the 5th Dalai Lama on the foundation of the earliest ruins. The Potala is divided into two parts, the central upper part is known as the Red Palace ( pho brang mar p o) and the surrounding structure is know as the White Palace ( pho brang dkar po ). The Red Palace contains the main temple inside the palace and housed the reliquaries of the successive Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace also represents the original structure build in the 7th Century. Between 1645-1653 the 5th Dalai Lama added the White Palace and made it the seat of his government. Since the 17th Century, the White Palace has formed the main administrative offices of the Tibetan government and it became the seat of Tibetan government only in the 18th Century when the 5th Dalai Lama shifted his base from Gaden Palace in Drepung monastery to the Potala. There are said to be over 1000 rooms and over 200,000 images inside. The grounds of the Potala also housed a school known as Tse Lobdra ( rtse slob grwa ) 'The Peak School'. The students were mostly boys from aristocratic families and trained to become government officials. The palace was also the site of two printing presses the older one known as Ganden Phuntsog Parkhang (dpa’i ldan phun phyogs par khang ) founded in the 17th Century and in 1920s the 13th Dalai Lama established the Shol Printing House (zhol par khang ). [TS 27/6/2005]”. [Source: The Tibet Album, http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_BMR.6.8.169.html, JD 14/5/2008]

Place: “Potala Palace [is] the Potala became the political and spiritual centre of Tibet when the Fifth Dalai Lama built over the older palace of Songtsen Gampo in the 17th century. Known locally as Tse Podrang (Summit Palace), its thirteen storeys rising up from the Marpori (Red Hill) dominate the Lhasa cityscape. The palace has been a favourite of photographers as can be easily seen from the many views of the Potala ... It was also the site for various festivals and ceremonies taking place in Lhasa all through the year.” [Source: The Tibet Album, http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/glossary.php#Shol, JD 14/5/2008]

Place: Shol is “the village at the foot of Potala hill noted for its dorings (inscription pillars) commemorating various Tibetan victories including one constructed by King Trisong Detsen in honour of General Taktra Lugong who occupied the Chinese capital at Xi'an in 763 CE.” [Source: The Tibet Album, http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/glossary.php#Shol, JD 14/5/2008]

Context: Hugh Richardson “discusses this [Shol] pillar and provides translation of the inscriptions on it in A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions , Hertford: Royal Asiatic Society (James G. Forlong Series No. XXIX), 1985, pp. 1-25. "The three connected inscriptions on the east, south, and north faces of the tall and graceful stone pillar standing on the south side of the road that runs past the village of Zhol at the foot of the Potala are the earliest surviving from the time of the kings. pillar stands on the south side of the road that runs past the village of Zhol at the foot of the Potala in Lhasa." (p.1) The Zhol Pillar is thought to have been erected during the reign of Khri srong lde brtsan (755-c.794 A.D) to mark the appointment of relatively unknown person, Nganlam Tagdrag Lukhong (Ngan-Lam Stag sgra klu-khong), as a minister. [KC 21/9/2006]
Hugh Richardson argues that the pillar was erected in 764 A.D or little later. The pillar is inscribed on all four sides. For a full transcrition and translation, see: H. E. Ricardson, A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions" Hugh Richardson, A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions". Royal Asiatic Society, London. 1985. pp:1-25. [TS 4/4/2005] [Source: The Tibet Album, http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_2001.59.17.10.1.html, JD 14/5/2008]

Publication: Photograph published in Williamson, Margaret, 1987. Memoirs of a Political Officer’s Wife (Wisdom Publication, London), plate between p. 96 and p. 97, with the following caption:
“The Potala”. [Jocelyne Dudding 14/5/2008]

Bibliographical Reference: Margaret Williamson notes in Williamson, Margaret, 1987. Memoirs of a Political Officer’s Wife (Wisdom Publication, London), p. 104 the following:
“As we made our way round to the old parade-ground, we passed women washing clothes in a stream. Lots of high-spirited children were also running in and out of the water with much splashing and noise. I was astonished to see what fair skins the young girls had.” [JD 14/5/2008]

Transcription: The transcription of this album by Mark Turin and Sara Shneiderman was carried out with reference to Krystina Cech’s catalogue list alone. Alex Nadin has since revised their cataloguing by systematically matching their records to the images. Margaret Williamson’s handwritten captions for photographs have now been transcribed into the Inscription field, and Cech’s descriptions appear in the Description field. Correct entries for Place, Named Person and Other Nos. have also been entered by Alex Nadin. [Sudeshna Guha 29/10/2002]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Jocelyne Dudding 14/5/2008]