Knocking on the Door of the Snow-Capped Plateau: George Bogle's Journey to Tibet and Thomas Manning's Record of His Lhasa Expedition: George Bogle's Journey to Tibet and Thomas Manning's Record of His Lhasa Expedition

Author: Clements R. Markham
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: The publication of this book fills two gaps in the history of our interactions with Tibet. All of Mr. Bogle's diaries, memoranda, official and private correspondence were meticulously preserved by his family in Scotland. Thanks to the generosity and public spirit of Miss Brown of Lanfair in Elgin, a representative of the Bogle family, these precious manuscripts, carefully compiled by Mr. Gairdner of Kilmarock, have now been handed over to the editors. This book recounts the experiences of George Bogle, sent by the British East India Company to Tibet, and another early British visitor to Tibet, Thomas Manning. Bogle was a typical imperialist of the 19th century, and his accounts are filled with praise for the expansionist policies of the Governor-General of the East India Company, Hastings. Both Bogle and Manning had little understanding of Chinese culture and the Chinese people, and their accounts contain numerous errors and biased remarks. As a record of Tibet as seen by Westerners in the 19th century, this book has two values: On one hand, it provides relatively specific descriptions of Tibet's geography, customs, and political-religious relationships, forcing imperialists to admit, in the face of facts, that Tibet is an inviolable and sacred part of our motherland. On the other hand, it exposes the ambitions of Western powers in the 19th century, especially the British colonialists, to interfere in Tibet's political and religious affairs and meddle in our internal affairs.