Arms and Armor of Tibet, by Donald J. LaRocca with essays by John Clarke, Amy Heller, and Lozang Jamspal

This article reviews an exhibition catalogue devoted to Tibetan weapons and armour. Lo Bue underlines what was not pointed out by La Rocca, namely that the introduction and development of Buddhism in Tibet were marked also by violent struggle, especially after the establishment of rival monastic orders, from the destruction of the monastery of Chayül with the murder of its abbot by monks of the monastery of Drikhung in 1285 to the destruction of the latter with the killing of many of its monk-soldiers by the troops of the monastery of Sakya in 1290, from the wars waged by the 5th Dalai Lama and his Mongol allies against the lay kingdoms of Tsang, Beri, Bhutan and Ladakh in the 1640s, to the strife between Tibetan factions supporting the Qoshot and Dzungar Mongols in the early 18th century, leading to further bloodshed and foreign invasion. Indeed the period during which the Buddhist clergy controlled Tibet, far from being a millenium of peace, was marked by warfare, as testified by the very objects studied by LaRocca, mostly dating from the 14th to the 19th century according to carbon-dating tests. Arguing that several of the exhibits actually originate less from Himalayan regions such as Bhutan or Nepal than from Central Asia, not only the Tibetan plateau, but also Mongolia as well as China, Lo Bue further points out that such artifacts reflect Mongol military activity and presence in Tibet since the 13th century. In LaRocca' own words this article "is by far the most intelligent, well informed, and balanced review the catalogue has received" (13 Apr 2007).