Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Inside Tibet in the 1940s

Posted on October 25, 2013November 24, 2015 by Dharma Documentaries
A fascinating glimpse of a 1942-3 mission that took color footage of a Tibet that was to all intents and purposes still closed to the outside world.

Inside-Tibet-01

This is a fascinating account of a mission from the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to Tibet and H H the Dalai Lama, who was 10 years old at the time.

The mission was a goodwill gift-exchange that was led by Major Ilia Tolstoy and Captian Brooke Dolan, who took the color footage of a Tibet that was to all intents and purposes closed to the outside world.

The film was made by the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA, and is surprisingly respectful and understanding of what must have seemed like a very foreign religion and tradition at the time.

There is some wonderful footage of the people, customs and monasteries in the country, which was taken before the Chinese invasion, while they were still living in a feudal society, maintaining centuries old traditions and power structures.

 

if the video does not appear on the page, please first try reloading the page, and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

TAGS:
Dharma, History, Temples, Tibet, USA

2 thoughts on “Inside Tibet in the 1940s”

  1. Maureen Moss says:
    March 25, 2022 at 8:14 pm

    I am doing research for my new novel, set in Tibet between the mid 1940s and early 2000s. This was a really great resource. Thank you. I sent a donation of €5 but it looks like a very small amount in MYS. I hope it will be of some use.
    I don’t suppose you can recommend any material about working in a mine in the area around Damxung, north east of Lhasa, in the 1940s – 1950s?

    Reply
    1. Dharma Documentaries says:
      March 26, 2022 at 6:40 am

      I am sorry, I do not know anything covering that topic.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Comments do not appear straight away, but are moderated before publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/2EG

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Related Posts

  • Bon, The Light of the Golden Sun
  • Secrets of Shangri-La: Quest for Sacred Caves
  • Lost Cave Temples of the Himalaya
  • The Mark of Empire 1, Ayutthaya
  • Discovering Tibet 1: Mysterious Map
  • The Buxa Lamas
  • Samye Gonba, Tibet (Expoza)
  • Potala, Tibet (Expoza)
  • Gyang Tse, Tibet (Expoza)
  • Drepung Gonba, Tibet (Expoza)

Recent Posts

  • Tours of the Caves of Dunhuang
  • Angkor Wat, Ancient Hydraulic City
  • The Magical Mountain of Tibet
  • Lords of Water
  • Radioactive Waste, A Nuclear Nightmare
  • Beyond Boundaries, Buddhist Art of Gandhāra
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 3
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery 3, 45-88

Random Posts

  • A Buddha (Argentina)
  • Walking in Circles in Zanskar
  • Iraq in Fragments
  • Chengde, China (Expoza)
  • Living Buddha, Searching for the 17th Karmapa
  • Pilgrimage to Koyasan
  • Women Who Make America 1: Awakening
  • Burned, Are Trees the New Coal?
  • The Silk Road Series 1/16: The Glories of Chang-an
  • How a Prince Became the Buddha
© 2023 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme