Tibetan aesthetics

Tibetan aesthetics

Beauty in Tibetan Material Culture/History –
What does it matter?

Some opening Questions
Are there developed Tibetan theories or philosophies of sense experience, beauty, art, and taste? If so, according to those philosophies, what is beauty’s relationship to pleasure, art, power, prestige, wealth and agency? What is its relationship to religious institutions and practices? Is there a Tibetan aesthetic or does beauty operate in a way better suited to another category? If, for instance, beauty has more to do with power than pleasure in the Tibetan context, is the term ‘aesthetics’ inappropriate here?

Aesthetics as a field in Western Philosophy
In the Greek sense, the word ‘aesthetic’ denoted things perceivable by the senses and things material, as opposed to things thinkable and immaterial. As a field of Western philosophy, aesthetics was originally concerned with the senses and over time has come to be concerned with sense pleasures and tastes. Over the course of its history as a topic in Western philosophy the term has expanded to connote any theory that deals with beauty or art. In late eighteenth century Europe there was a swell in theoretical interest in aesthetics and during the nineteenth century the field as we know it today became well developed. This had repercussions in the art world, on commerce, and in health and medical fields as well as the intellectual sphere. Kant and Nietzsche made formative contributions to the field, as did art historians such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann (sometimes referred to as the father of modern art history), elaborating and updating the aesthetic questions asked and addressed since the time of Plato and Aristotle . This eighteenth and nineteenth century reinvigoration of philosophical attention paid to pleasure, beauty, and art and related questions of taste, has evolved and changed still further. Its boundaries and purposes are contested and continually renegotiated in the fields of art history, ethics, and anthropology, particularly the anthropology of art . Today’s aesthetics is a wide and flexible field.

What does beauty matter in Tibetan material culture and history – is there a Tibetan Aesthetic?
Perhaps it should go without saying that Tibetans are and have always been interested in things of beauty. But misconceptions about Buddhism can lead to the idea that the people of Buddhist cultures do not or ought not to value material things in general and beautiful or pleasurable things in particular. This is simply not the case. Within the Tibetan cultural sphere there is a vibrant and distinctive aesthetic that shows every indication of interest in and valuing of beauty. It might in fact be true that the interest in beauty is a basic human characteristic, inherently tied to the impulse to seek pleasure and happiness.

This impulse is not culturally relative although its manifestations certainly vary. Western sages such as Aristotle and all of Buddhism’s sages alike have paid attention to the human urge for happiness, although as a defining cultural concept the basic wish for happiness has remained a more prominent theme in Buddhist cultures than in the West. Dealing with the effects of our attraction to things that are pleasing (a.k.a beautiful) and our aversion to things that are displeasing are primary concerns of Buddhism. The senses and their relationship to pleasure and pain are attended to in excruciating detail in Buddhist literature, particularly in the Abhidharma literature . Pleasure and displeasure are also the heart of the field of aesthetics. In the Buddhist context, discussions of attraction (and related attachment) and aversion focus on the connection between these impulses and suffering. According to the basic tenets of Buddhism, naively believing that an unexamined pursuit of sense pleasures will lead to happiness is the root of suffering.

The field of aesthetics is not definitively oriented towards or away from pleasure the way the field of Buddhism maintains itself to be. This might seem to establish aesthetics beyond the pale of Buddhism. But I suggest instead that this commonality establishes aesthetics firmly at the center of Buddhist interests, even if the stated ideals and rhetoric of Buddhism denigrate sense pleasures. From this perspective, the basic aim of Buddhism could be described as refining our understanding and experience of pleasure and displeasure, attraction and repulsion, beauty and ugliness. To be in samsara is to be caught in the cycle of ignorantly desiring pleasure and trying to avoid displeasure. In this sense aesthetics is closely related to Buddhism’s prime concern.

It is difficult to find corners of Tibetan culture where Buddhism does not to some degree pervade. This is not to say that Tibetan culture is equivalent to Tibetan Buddhism, but Buddhism is certainly the prevalent cultural force. Given the prevalence of Buddhism in Tibetan culture, we might expect an attitude of austereness or renunciation to dominate the domain of Tibetan material culture. Tibetan history indeed holds a lion’s share of life-stories of hermits and meditators who epitomize the ideal of material renunciation, living in cave-like dwellings and sustaining themselves on the barest minimum. But they are only part of the story. Renunciation is one Buddhist ideal, but there are other de facto ideals reflected in Tibetan material culture and history throughout the Buddhist world. At the highest echelon of Tibetan monastic culture, an ideal of opulence and abundance is manifest in the making of precious gold and jeweled images and the accumulation of wealth. It is too easy to balk at this as a sign of hypocrisy, especially if it disrupts our image of a ‘pure’ Tibetan Buddhism. But it is commonplace to see this ideal at work in other religions, such as Catholicism and sects of Hinduism, that idealize poverty in some contexts and value wealth and opulence in others. (Usually most visible at the ‘top.’)

Looking back in Buddhist history, we see the senses and pleasures treated with great attention in the Abhidharma literature. The senses and the pleasures they afford are a major concern for Buddhists from the very beginning. While the articulated ideal is to transcend involvement in the senses and to recognize apparent pleasures as the corollary of suffering, there are tensions at play in the stated and lived ideals. These tensions are at play in Tibetan Buddhism and are noticeable in individuals and institutions alike.

The link between art-objects and institutions is an important one here. Alfred Gell asserts that art is always defined in relation to institutions, that art objects are art by virtue of being enfranchised (Gell 1998,12). His view stands in opposition to more traditional definitions of art, whereby art is defined by how the viewer perceives it.

In Buddhist contexts, religious teachers and institutions are the ‘site’ of offerings, the giving of which is understood to bring blessings on the donor. This helps explain why wealth accumulates around monasteries and temples, but where does beauty or perhaps aesthetics come in? Are the tastes of Tibetan Buddhists sometimes reflective of an attention to the beautiful, that which brings pleasure upon seeing, for the ‘sake of beauty’ or is there always more at stake? The role of prestige and the display of wealth, power, and influence bear consideration here as well. I wonder whether beauty is ever discrete from these concerns, and the sense of ‘pleasure’ that ‘beauty’ brings is impossible to isolate from concerns with power.

In a Contemporary Sense
Contemporary Tibetan writing on what could be defined as ‘aesthetics’ uses the terms sgyu rtsal (skill or capacity in deceit or magic), mdzes rtsal (skill or capacity in beauty, elegance, attraction, adornment, or power), mdzes chos rig pa (knowledge or understanding of phenomena related to beauty, elegance, etc). These loose parenthetical approximations at definitions might also be rendered ‘aesthetics.’ In order to think through how beauty matters, it would be helpful to consider the kinds of adjectives Tibetan language uses to describe things of beauty. A common contemporary adjective in Lhasa Tibetan is snying rje po (something which invokes compassion). Other terms include lta na sdug pa(dear upon being seen), mdzes shing yid du ong ba’i (to do with something coming to the mind as beautiful), mtshar sdug (wonderous and dear). The terms yid-du-‘ong-wa, mdzes-po, mdzes-sdug-ldan-pa, yid-‘ong-mdzes-sdug-ldan-pa, yid-dbang-‘phrog-pa, rnam-par-bkra-wa, rang-sems-shor-wa, snyan-po, rna-war-snyan-pa are also commonly used. Most relate to visual beauty but the last two relate to sound, drawing music and spoken word into the discussion. In various ways these terms reflect the connection between beautiful things and the mind of the perceiver.

Some on-going considerations

Influences and Various Histories of Aesthetics
What influences are reflected in Tibetan ideas of or theories about beauty? The obvious answers of Indian and Chinese influences should be augmented by considerations of distinctly Nepali influences as well as more distant cultures along the Silk Road.

Chinese culture has a long history of interest in aesthetics or the study of beauty, //meixue// . And according to Zehou Li, a prominent scholar of Chinese aesthetics, meixue is a much broader category than aesthetics. The range of topics he indicates is so broad in fact that it might be understood as something close to and perhaps even broader than ‘culture.’ He breaks aesthetics into categories of philosophical, historical, and scientific. These break down further to include everything from the fine arts and music to psychology, architecture, decorative arts, science and technology, issues of social life, ecological concerns, education and moral concerns (Li 2006, 20). By his definition meixueresembles the nearly all inclusive Tibetan schema of rig gnas .

Broadening the scope of ‘aesthetics’ too freely might take us into another category, beyond aesthetics as it were. For now I want to try to push the limits of the category and think about the ways that a concern with beauty, taste, and the arts (as generally defined in the contemporary West, including visual arts, literature, and music) as well as architecture, fashion, furniture. Perhaps this is a category best defined as things which are meant in some sense to provide pleasure to the senses. If this is a fair assessment, we are well within the scope of the classical definition of aesthetics, and are perhaps freed from the difficulties of deciding what is and isn’t art in the Tibetan context. (Although since most Tibetan ‘art’ is in some way concerned with Buddhism, perhaps it’s institutional affiliation is enough to assign the term ‘art’, if we follow Gell’s definition and squint.)

Indian aesthetics is dominated by rasa theory. Important texts to consider here are concerned with kavya and saundarya shastra, as well as citrasutra and natya shastra.

The lasting mystique of India as the home of Buddhism suggests that the influence of Indian aesthetics on Tibetan aesthetics would be strong. These influences might be clearest in the literary styles and poetics developed among Tibetan Buddhists.

Perhaps the earliest example we can cite of a Tibetan theorizing about beauty in a way that might be called aesthetic is ‘Phags pa’s 13th century work entitled Mkhas pa rnams ‘jug pa’i sgo. ‘Phags pa drew heavily on Dandin’s Kavyadarsa. The main concern of the early Sakya aestheticians was Indian poetics. This interest in poetics was revivified during the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, when in a general way there was a renewed attention to what I want to call aesthetics. This time frame is roughly in keeping with the philosophical shift in Western aesthetics.

Nepali influence is most apparent in architecture, particularly in the wood carving typical of the Newar style. Nepalese woodcarving

Perhaps we might detect influences from other cultures along the Silk Route as well, such as Armenia, etc.

Western Influences

Iconic circuits

A Question of Style– Individuality in Buddhist artistry A remarkable example of innovation in Tibetan painting is seen in the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje’s depicitons of the life story of Shakyamuni. 

Clothing

Jewelry

Decorative arts

Architecture

Music

Poetry

Painting

Sculpture

Ritual objects

Can Buddhist Arts be Fine? What does beauty mean for ‘presence?’
Are ritual music, thangka painting, sculptures of Buddha non-aesthetic? Some definitions of aesthetics insist that art made due to religious motivation or in ritual contexts is definitively beyond the scope of aesthetics. I contend that this is not the case. The beauty of Buddhist arts matters. In ritual music, disharmony is a grave offense and in a monastic setting a musician who plays a wrong note might be punished. The weight of the aesthetic concern is intensified since the displeasure of a wrong note is not only offensive to the human listener but is also disruptive to the efficacy of the ritual.

Bibliography

A further list of Tibetan literature on art.

American encounters with Tibetan material culture

American encounters with Tibetan material culture

by Victoria Jonathan

Why did Western people become interested in Tibetan Buddhism and material culture at the turn of the last century? What is the history of the first contacts between America and Tibet? How were museum collections of Tibetan art built in the United States, and particularly in New York?

There are many historical answers to these questions, which are not exclusive of each other. Rather, the following elements are often intermingled in complex ways. Religious, scientific, spiritual, aesthetic and academic fields have been mobilized in the encounter between American and Tibetan civilizations:

– Christian missionaries were the first Westerners to enter Tibet. Their original goal was to evangelize Tibetan people. But as they stayed in the Himalayan region for years, they very often became acquainted with Tibetan culture and engaged in scholarly studies. Some of the missionaries collected Tibetan objects that were later brought to American museums. This is the case of Dr Albert Shelton, whose collection of Tibetan art was given to the Newark Museum; or of Dr Marx, whose objects were integrated in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, like the Giant of Great Strength mask or the Bleeding CupFind out more about missionaries in Tibet.

– Explorers and botanists also have been to Tibet quite early, since the end of the 19th century. They often met with missionaries who were present there. While their interest was primarily scientific or personal, they provided the Western audience with some knowledge about Tibet through their travel accounts. Some of them collected objects, like Joseph Rock who had a collection of Tibetan masks. Find out more about early explorers of Tibet.

– At the end of the 19th century, in post Civil War America, spiritual movements inspired by Eastern religious traditions were created, such as theosophy. An interest for Tibetan Buddhism (or Lamaism) also developed between World War I and World War II, along the lines of theosophy. Some people, first attracted by theosophy and Tibetan spirituality in this time of crisis, became very involved in the promotion of Himalayan material culture, like Jacques MarchaisFind out more about theosophy.

– Another explanation for the exploration of Tibetan culture by Westerners can be found in the aesthetic interest for the primitive or the savage. The aesthetic interest for the primitive was at stake at the beginning of Modern Art, when its best representantives nourished a fascination for primitive masks. The primacy of aesthetic emotion is also the motivation for collectors who built museum collections of Tibetan art, such as Donald Rubin and the Rubin Museum of Art. The aesthetic interest in the savage is also well reflected in the captivating power of devil dances on Western audiences. Find out more about the aesthetic interest in the primitive and the savage.

– The history of the academic study of Tibet is tributary of these various contacts. Missionaries and explorers were also engaged in the academic study of Tibetan culture. The alliance of theory and practice seems to be a recurring outline: scholarship often went hand in hand with experience, through trips to the Himalayan region or collecting objects. For instance, Joseph Rock was an academic who traveled through Asia and collected a lot of Tibetan objects, especially Tibetan masks.

How have these contacts shaped our apprehension of Tibet today? To what extent did they contribute in creating or strengthening a “mythology” of Tibet? How does this mythology affect the exhibition of Tibetan material culture in museums today?

Tibet appears in Western imaginings as not only a place but also a myth. As Orville Schell puts it in Virtual Tibet: “One may debate, of course, whether any place on our increasingly small planet remains untouched by the homogenizing effects of jet travel and the global marketplace. What is not in question, however, is the yearning of disenchanted Westerners to believe in such places. Indeed, to acknowledge that such lands may no longer exist has seemed too bleak a thought for most of us in modern life to bear.” (p. 15)

A few patterns emerge from the Western encounter with Tibet, concentrated in an ambivalent attitude that expresses fear and contempt on the one hand, and romantic idealization on the other hand. Tibet often appears as a fantasy in Western conceptions, “a kind of sacred space within the desecrated wastes of the modern West” (Oldmeadow, p. 126). The popularity of James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizons (1933) and the utopia of Shangri-La, along with the success of travel accounts and the representation of Tibet in Hollywood cinema (like in Seven Years in Tibet and Kundun), prove the persistence of Tibet as a mythical other.

It is remarkable that the Western encounter with Tibet historically coincides with the rise of modernity in the West, through the affirmation of industrialization and capitalism, and the political and cultural crisis that accompanied it. It seems like the processes of mythologizing Tibet in turn reveals more about the crisis of Western civilization: “the most fundamental significance of Tibet in the modern world is as a living refutation of all those values and ideas which define modernity.” (Oldmeadow, p. 151)

References
Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake – A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala, 1981
Ernst Gombrich, The Story of Art, Phaidon,1995 (1950)
Harry Oldmeadow, Journeys East – 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions, Bloomington, Ind.: World Wisdom, 2004
John MacGregor, Tibet – A Chronicle of Exploration, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970
Orville Schell, Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood, New York: Metropolitan Books, 2000

Velvet

Velvet

Velvet boots, frequently worn by wealthy Tibetan women are made of a tufted fabric whose manufacture resembles corduroy.[2] However, velvet has fewer ridges than corduroy fabric, so it appears smoother and more luxurious. The velvet boot is also flexible and lightweight.

[2] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 687

Silk

Silk

 

Silk Worm Cocoon

The Legend

Silk, a natural protein fiber that can be woven into textiles, originated in China during approximately 2600 B.C. A well-known legend attributes the invention of silk to the Chinese empress, Xi Ling-Shi. [1,2]

“One day, when the empress was sipping tea under a mulberry tree, a cocoon fell into her cup and began to unravel. The empress became so enamored with the shimmering threads, she discovered their source, the Bombyx mori silkworm found in the white mulberry. The empress soon developed sericulture, the cultivation of silkworms, and invented the reel and loom. Thus began the history of silk.” [3]

The Imperial Secret

Women striking and preparing silk.

Realizing the value of the coveted material, China monopolized the production of silk. Explorers were forbidden from crossing the border with eggs, cocoons or silkworms. Anyone attempting to export silkworms for their eggs was condemned to death by imperial decree. Thus, the various phases of silk cultivation remained a carefully guarded secret for nearly three thousand years. [4,5]

The Stolen Imperial Secret

Women Making Silk

Legends say that around 551 BC, the Byzantine emperor Justinian obtained the first silkworm eggs. He had sent two Nestorian monks to Central Asia, and they were able to smuggle silkworm eggs in hollow bamboo rods. Under their supervision the eggs hatched into worms, and the worms spun cocoons. [6] It is also said that in AD 440, a Chinese princess, seduced by the prince of Khotan, (a kingdom on the rim of Taklamakan desert), smuggled out silkworm eggs by hiding them in her voluminous hairpiece.[7] However, both kingdoms kept the production and exchange of silk fabric a secret, so as not to allow the flourishing market to spread to the Europe and the west.

Inevitably, the secret was captured and the magnificent skills of silk weaving rapidly spread through Africa and into Europe. Both the Italians and the French established successful silk markets through trade and their illustrious silk looms.

The Silk Road

The main silk roads between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D.

At first, only the ruler of China enjoyed the lavish comfort of silk. Supposedly, “Only the Emperor, his close relations and his dignitaries of the highest rank were authorized for the use of silk.” [8] The Emperor wore a magnificent robe of white silk when indoors; when outside the palace he and the Empress and the heir to the throne were exclusively dressed in yellow silk garb. Eventually the right to wear silk extended to various strata of Chinese society, resulting in prolific trade of the precious commodity, soon thereafter. [9] Wide-spread demand for the unusual material created, “the lucrative trade route now known as the Silk Road.” [10] “In central Tibet the costume of the women of wealth is most elaborate, frequently of brocaded silk or satin, but the general style of dress is essentially the same [11].” In Medieval Europe, only the finest silk was worn and requested by noble families.

Social Indicator: The Color of Silk
Purple

Decorative Silk

Silk Art

Silk damasks
Silks brocades

Silk as Currency

Trade on Silk Road

Taxes
Trade

Luxury Paper: Writing on Silk
Expensive, luxurious and more practical that writing on bamboo!

Less Luxurious Uses of Silk
Musical instruments
Fishing
Bow-making
Parachutes
Bicycle tires
Comforter filling
Artillery gunpowder bags
Prosthetic arteries

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leizu
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk#China
[3] http://www.texeresilk.com/cms-history_of_silk.html
[4] http://www.texeresilk.com/cms-history_of_silk.html
[5] http://www.edel2000.it/club/TESstoriaE.htm
[6] http://www.silk-road.com/artl/silkhistory.shtml
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_silk
[8] http://www.asianartmall.com/silkarticle.htm
[9] http://www.texeresilk.com/cms-history_of_silk.html
[10] http://www.texeresilk.com/cms-history_of_silk.html
[11] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by Rockill P 687

Lotus Flowers

Lotus Flower (Padma)

 

 

Buddha did not want himself portrayed in any images because he did not want a human form being venerated. Thus symbols were frequently used to represent Buddha, such as the Bodhi Tree and Buddhist principles, such as the lotus flower. The Bodhi Tree refers to the tree under which the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment, so the tree and the leaf are sacred symbols [11,12].

A Buddhist can achieve Enlightenment by following the correct actions of the Noble Eightfold Path. In Buddhism, it is import to break the cycle of rebirth and to achieve Enlightenment so that one may attain a state of Nirvana [13]. Nirvana is a state in which an individual is not aware of his own desires, thus his suffering comes to an end. Buddhists seek to achieve Nirvana through the practice generosity which is shown with offerings of flowers [14]. The lotus (padma) represents the liberation that can be achieved by opening one’s heart and experiencing complete purification of body, speech and mind [15]. “The lotus refers to many aspects of the path, as it grows from the mud (samsara), up through muddy water it appears clean on the surface (purification), and finally produces a beautiful flower (enlightenment) [16].” Furthermore, the different colors of the lotus have an influence on its associated meaning [17].

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padma_%28attribute%29
[12] http://www.buddhastatues.org/symbol_of_buddhist.htm
From the website:
“After wandering the countryside for about six years the Buddha finally came to rest in a forest beside the Naranjara River, not far from modern day Bodhgaya. Sitting under a Bodhi tree, ardently practicing meditation, he finally realised his true nature. The next seven days were spent under the tree experiencing the bliss of freedom and contemplating the extent of his new understanding. The story then goes on to relate four other periods of seven days, each spent under a different tree – the Banyan, the Mucalinda and the Rajayatana tree and then once more back to the Banyan. Each of these ‘tree scenes’ has its own well known story which space here does not allow. The tree of enlightenment is called, in Latin, ficus religiosa, or sacred tree. It is also known as the pipal tree. For Buddhists it is generally called the Bodhi, or Bo tree. Bodhi is the Pali and Sanskrit word for enlightenment. There is a descendant of the original tree still growing at Bodhgaya and Bodhi trees are commonly found in Buddhist centres all over the world.”
[13] http://www.world-faiths.com/Buddhism/BUDDHISM.HTM
Description of Nirvana:
‘There is disciples, a condition, where there is neither earth
nor water, neither air nor light, neither limitless space,
nor limitless time, neither any kind of being, neither
this world nor that world. There is neither arising nor
passing-away, nor dying, neither cause nor effect,
neither change nor standstill.’
[14] http://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/symbols/
[15] http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/general_symbols_buddhism.html
[16] IBID.
[17] IBID.
[18] Gyatso, “In the Sacred Realm,” in Reynolds 1999. From the Sacred Realm, 171-179, “Symbols,” 254-261. (9 pp text)
Symbols as substitutes for Aspects of Buddahood: Description of The Lotus

Diamonds

Diamonds (Dorje)

Dorje (Vajra)

In Sanskrit, the word vajra means thunderbolt and diamond, in Tibetan, the word dorje means the same. The dorje also refers to a small scepter held in the right hand by Tibetan lamas during religious ceremonies. It is often referred to during religious ceremonies, as it is one of the most important of all Buddhist symbols. Dorje is a commonly used male name in Tibet and Bhutan [10]. It represents masculine vigor, strength of character and divine power, much like the associations made with the thunderbolt. The diamond, by nature is indestructible; it can cut any substance but cannot be cut itself. Ignorance is cut through when one attains the indestructible force knowledge. Similarly, in Buddhist thinking, knowledge is eternal and it can be used to cut through ignorance on the journey to attaining enlightenment.

Detail view of bright red, green, purple and pastel damask clouds diamonds sitting within squares

 

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[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajra
[11] Gyatso, “In the Sacred Realm,” in Reynolds 1999. From the Sacred Realm, 171-179, “Symbols,” 254-261. (9 pp text)
Description of Vajra:

Damask

Damask

Damask weaves are usually produced in silk and feature woven patterns of flowers, fruit, forms of life, and other types of ornament [4]. Damask was primarily produced in China, India, Persia, and Syria, followed by the Byzantine Empire. In the 12th century, the cloth was named after the city of Damascus, famous for its beautifully designed textiles [5].

Drawing of a Silk Damask
Detail of Red and Blue Silk Damask

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Detail of Red and Dark Blue Damask

 

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[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damask>
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damask></span>

Brocade

Brocade

Brocade is a type of ornately decorative shuttle-woven fabric that is frequently made in colored silks with gold and silver threads [3]. The term brocade is derived from the French word “coudre” which means “to sew.”

Fabric Brocaded with Red Silk and Gold Thread, with an Ogival Framing

 

Detail of Yellow Silk Brocaded with Blue Dragons, Clouds, Sea Temples

 

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Full View of Dress

 

Detail of Yellow Silk with Brocaded Flowers

 

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[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocade

Felt

Felt


Nomadic Tibetan tribes subsisted on, the wealth of their flocks of cattle, camels, sheep, goats, and horses. The existence of wool-furnishing domestic animals like sheep, goat and camel allowed Tibetan tribes to manufacture and utilize felt. [5]

Production of Felt


Rockhill is largely responsible for our knowledge of the production of felt in Tibet. He describes the production of felt as follows: 

“Its mode of manufacture is extremely simple. The wool, having been first picked over, is spread out a handful at a time on a large piece of felt on the ground, each handful overlapping the preceding one in such a way that a piece of uniform thickness and of whatever size desired is made. This is rolled up tightly and with much pounding of the closed fist and then unrolled, and this work is kept up for an hour or more; then the roll is soaked in water and the work of rolling, unrolling, kneading and beating with the closed fist goes on for another hour or two. I was told that a piece of felt had to be kneaded at least 1,000 times before it was ready for use. After the role has been left to dry for a while it is opened, and by pulling it slightly in different directions the surface is made smooth, and the edges are trimmed with a knife. Sometimes it is bleached. Altogether, Tibetan and Mongol felt is vastly inferior to that made by the Chinese.” [6] 

Boots made of Felt 



Felt boots resemble the “floppy turned down boots” worn in England during the 17th century. [7] As described by British archaeologist and army enginner Sir Alexander Cunningham, “The upper part of the felt boot is open to the front and is allowed to fall over.” [8] A garter could be used to bind the boot tightly below the knee. 


Felt boots are often trimmed with colored patches, “the lower part white, then red and green.” [9] The soles of felt boots are made of leather and (similar to leather boots), felt boots are lined with woolen cloth.

[5] The Early History of Felt by B. Laufer P. 1
[6] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 700
[7] http://people.ucsc.edu/~kfeinste/history.html
[8] Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet by W.W. Rockhill P. 687
[9] The Early History of Felt by B. Laufer P. 7

Leather

Leather

Leather Boots

Leather boots are made of cow, horse or donkey skin and they are often lined with woolen cloth. [3] Leather boots are waterproof and resistant to cold, in addition, a leather thong could be used to bind the boot tightly below the knee. Though they are durable, they feel heavy and cumbersome to wear while walking.

There are three types of leather boots and each is suited for a particular environment. Leather boots whose tip curls upward are suitable for walking in the desert, while those whose tip curls horizontally are best suited for dry pasture and those without a curled tip are appropriate for wet pastures. [4]

[3] The Early History of Felt by B. Laufer P. 1
[4] http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/nationalityne/mong/200312050055.html