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Tibetan Marches
This is a record of one individual's journey from Kunming (Yunnanfu) to Tangar (and the great lake of Kokonor); and eventually onto Peking (Beijing) via Chengtu, Kangting, Kantze, Derge, Jyekundo, by way of an unsuccessful attempt to reach Lhasa.
The purpose of his journey was to apply his skills of observation, and physical endurance to bear on researching archaeological and other aspects of the Buddhist religion. It seems needless to say that his fluency in the Tibetan language, and personal leanings towards mysticism, were significant assets.
In Peter Fleming's words: "The end result is an intimate and detailed portrait of a society outwardly primitive and outlandish but based on values and traditions from which the West has much to learn."
Translated from the French. 16 b/w photographs.
The purpose of his journey was to apply his skills of observation, and physical endurance to bear on researching archaeological and other aspects of the Buddhist religion. It seems needless to say that his fluency in the Tibetan language, and personal leanings towards mysticism, were significant assets.
In Peter Fleming's words: "The end result is an intimate and detailed portrait of a society outwardly primitive and outlandish but based on values and traditions from which the West has much to learn."
Translated from the French. 16 b/w photographs.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
2 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
André Migot
16 books1 followerAndré Migot (1892–1967) was a French doctor, traveler, and writer.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 4, 2015
SECOND TIME OF READING:
Note: This book is translated from the French by Peter Fleming (elder brother of Ian Fleming, author of the ‘James Bond’ books).
Dr André Migot (b. 1892, d. 1967) spent many years studying Buddhism before embarking on the remarkable series of journeys through Central Asia described in this book. Here we meet a man who possessed not only of considerable physical endurance, but also in possession of remarkable linguistic skills, and a strong and disciplined mind.
In Occupied Paris during WW2 his mind turned to earlier memories of a journey he’d made to Calcutta, where he had felt a powerful attraction to Tibet; so very different from the brutal experience of his present life “joyless and crushed under the weight of defeat ...” In October 1945 he took an opportunity to return to Cambodia, as a doctor attached to the Assistance Médicale Indochinoise, a springboard from which in December 1946 he was commissioned to undertake research project into aspects of Buddhism in China and Tibet. This book contains the record of his remarkable journeys and experiences in China (beginning in Yunnan province) and Tibet between December 1946 and September 1947.
This is a spiritually serious book; warmed and charmed by the author’s gift for razor-sharp observation, deprecating self-awareness and humour. He misses nothing. Early on he paints the picture of a Chinese funeral in Hweili. On one hand there exists the social expectation of a certain theatricality of emotional display from the family of the corpse. On the other hand he cannot resist noting that, “The place was crammed with relatives, friends of the family and neighbours who had come from gastronomic motives; …” (Ch. 3).
In Sikang Dr. Migot dissects (Ch.5) with analytical precision the processes by which the Chinese peasantry were blackmailed by the Nationalist (‘White’ Kuomintang) authorities into growing opium poppies; which consequently fed chronic lawlessness. Hardly dissimilar to the same trade today in Afghanistan, interrupted, but not quashed, in the present war between the Taliban and the Western Allies. In Ch. 14 he speaks flatteringly of the ‘sultry’ voice of Tibetan women, whilst deprecating the ‘shrill, strident fluting of the sing-song Chinese girls.’ His sole, qualified, admiration for the Chinese appears toward the end of the book (Ch.45), when he and a friend, visiting the Ming tombs sixty miles north of Peking (Beijing) are captured by Chinese ‘Red’ Communists.
Amongst the many, many remarkable ‘adventures’ recounted in this book, Dr Migot takes care to inform his fascinated reader in detail on very many aspects of Tibetan life and culture, both practical or spiritual.
In Ch. 22 he explains the vital importance of a sound knowledge of the value of tea, and the number of yaks required to carry it. Tea could be bartered; whereas the value (and type) of silver coins varied across the country; also nomads were very likely to be unable to give change on a small purchase. In Ch. 25 he describes the curiously Tibetan ‘on-demand’ method of printing books; a service which is suspended in winter, because of the extreme cold! Every page is carved from a separate wooden plank; making every page of every book unique. The physical storage of all those individual blocks required to print a book rapidly becomes a problem; a notable deficiency sidestepped in the West by the invention and use of movable (metal) type.
The author’s abiding interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and search for deeper spiritual fulfilment, anchors this book. Such are the vivid and exacting pictures that his prose draws, and such is the detailed observation and sensitivity of his interpretation, that I felt that I walked every step of the way with him In Ch. 7 he describes a pilgrimage, climbing the thousands of steep steps ascending Mt. Omeishan (in China, one of the seven holy mountains). In Ch. 28, he is precise in his descriptions of the prescribed ceremonial rites used to invest him (a European!) into the Buddhist Karmapa sect.
In the final chapter (Ch. 46) Dr Migot summarises his ethos:
“I do not believe that the problems of mankind are susceptible of purely political solutions, and I am convinced that spiritual forces are more important than ideologies. Spiritual things should never be subordinated to temporal things; but nor, on the other hand, should a veneer of spirituality be used to whitewash a tyranny, as sometimes is. Freedom must never mean the freedom of the strong to oppress the weak.”
I instinctively agree …. but then begin to waver. Who are the strong? Who are the weak? What is tyranny? What is freedom?
FIRST TIME OF READING:
Books such as this make more modern 'my travels in Tibet' type publications (or worse, TV series) look like a stroll on the beach. Avoid them, and read this instead.
The sheer logistics of M. Mignot's journey is a real eye opener; everything from the careful calculation of what currencies to obtain (and which to avoid, and why) to which visas must be obtained prior to travel, and where it was better to cross a border without being noticed!
No sat-nav. No telephones. No flush-lavatories. No broadband internet! This is a world in which the traveller has to survive off his knowledge of the culture he's in, his bravery, native intelligence, and physical strength, his fluency in the Tibetan language, his ability to engender cooperation as opposed to hostility.
This book is a truly fascinating read; an insight into a world which (sadly?) no longer exists.
Note: This book is translated from the French by Peter Fleming (elder brother of Ian Fleming, author of the ‘James Bond’ books).
Dr André Migot (b. 1892, d. 1967) spent many years studying Buddhism before embarking on the remarkable series of journeys through Central Asia described in this book. Here we meet a man who possessed not only of considerable physical endurance, but also in possession of remarkable linguistic skills, and a strong and disciplined mind.
In Occupied Paris during WW2 his mind turned to earlier memories of a journey he’d made to Calcutta, where he had felt a powerful attraction to Tibet; so very different from the brutal experience of his present life “joyless and crushed under the weight of defeat ...” In October 1945 he took an opportunity to return to Cambodia, as a doctor attached to the Assistance Médicale Indochinoise, a springboard from which in December 1946 he was commissioned to undertake research project into aspects of Buddhism in China and Tibet. This book contains the record of his remarkable journeys and experiences in China (beginning in Yunnan province) and Tibet between December 1946 and September 1947.
This is a spiritually serious book; warmed and charmed by the author’s gift for razor-sharp observation, deprecating self-awareness and humour. He misses nothing. Early on he paints the picture of a Chinese funeral in Hweili. On one hand there exists the social expectation of a certain theatricality of emotional display from the family of the corpse. On the other hand he cannot resist noting that, “The place was crammed with relatives, friends of the family and neighbours who had come from gastronomic motives; …” (Ch. 3).
In Sikang Dr. Migot dissects (Ch.5) with analytical precision the processes by which the Chinese peasantry were blackmailed by the Nationalist (‘White’ Kuomintang) authorities into growing opium poppies; which consequently fed chronic lawlessness. Hardly dissimilar to the same trade today in Afghanistan, interrupted, but not quashed, in the present war between the Taliban and the Western Allies. In Ch. 14 he speaks flatteringly of the ‘sultry’ voice of Tibetan women, whilst deprecating the ‘shrill, strident fluting of the sing-song Chinese girls.’ His sole, qualified, admiration for the Chinese appears toward the end of the book (Ch.45), when he and a friend, visiting the Ming tombs sixty miles north of Peking (Beijing) are captured by Chinese ‘Red’ Communists.
Amongst the many, many remarkable ‘adventures’ recounted in this book, Dr Migot takes care to inform his fascinated reader in detail on very many aspects of Tibetan life and culture, both practical or spiritual.
In Ch. 22 he explains the vital importance of a sound knowledge of the value of tea, and the number of yaks required to carry it. Tea could be bartered; whereas the value (and type) of silver coins varied across the country; also nomads were very likely to be unable to give change on a small purchase. In Ch. 25 he describes the curiously Tibetan ‘on-demand’ method of printing books; a service which is suspended in winter, because of the extreme cold! Every page is carved from a separate wooden plank; making every page of every book unique. The physical storage of all those individual blocks required to print a book rapidly becomes a problem; a notable deficiency sidestepped in the West by the invention and use of movable (metal) type.
The author’s abiding interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and search for deeper spiritual fulfilment, anchors this book. Such are the vivid and exacting pictures that his prose draws, and such is the detailed observation and sensitivity of his interpretation, that I felt that I walked every step of the way with him In Ch. 7 he describes a pilgrimage, climbing the thousands of steep steps ascending Mt. Omeishan (in China, one of the seven holy mountains). In Ch. 28, he is precise in his descriptions of the prescribed ceremonial rites used to invest him (a European!) into the Buddhist Karmapa sect.
In the final chapter (Ch. 46) Dr Migot summarises his ethos:
“I do not believe that the problems of mankind are susceptible of purely political solutions, and I am convinced that spiritual forces are more important than ideologies. Spiritual things should never be subordinated to temporal things; but nor, on the other hand, should a veneer of spirituality be used to whitewash a tyranny, as sometimes is. Freedom must never mean the freedom of the strong to oppress the weak.”
I instinctively agree …. but then begin to waver. Who are the strong? Who are the weak? What is tyranny? What is freedom?
FIRST TIME OF READING:
Books such as this make more modern 'my travels in Tibet' type publications (or worse, TV series) look like a stroll on the beach. Avoid them, and read this instead.
The sheer logistics of M. Mignot's journey is a real eye opener; everything from the careful calculation of what currencies to obtain (and which to avoid, and why) to which visas must be obtained prior to travel, and where it was better to cross a border without being noticed!
No sat-nav. No telephones. No flush-lavatories. No broadband internet! This is a world in which the traveller has to survive off his knowledge of the culture he's in, his bravery, native intelligence, and physical strength, his fluency in the Tibetan language, his ability to engender cooperation as opposed to hostility.
This book is a truly fascinating read; an insight into a world which (sadly?) no longer exists.
October 31, 2022
It is an engaging travel diary. The story's timing and context are unique. The author's insights into the declining Kuomintang and the freshly aspiring Chinese Communism are sharp and fair. You may catch Tibetan bug after reading this text.
June 23, 2019
The writer documented his travel, a lot by foot and yak, in difficult terrain and climate. His goal? Lhasa, the forbidden city. Some chapters are fascinating, but it is first and foremost a travel journal.
It was during the days when Tibet was it's own nation. The writer was perceptive of the behaviours of the Tibetans and Chinese, and I was amused by how true those observations could be. Yet, he seemed to have biased against the Chinese.
Read the book and get a rare insight into people's 100 years ago. Perhaps, you will find nothing much has changed.
It was during the days when Tibet was it's own nation. The writer was perceptive of the behaviours of the Tibetans and Chinese, and I was amused by how true those observations could be. Yet, he seemed to have biased against the Chinese.
Read the book and get a rare insight into people's 100 years ago. Perhaps, you will find nothing much has changed.
April 12, 2024
A wonderful account of Migot's wandering in China and Tibet, while attempting (unsuccessfully) to get to Lahsa. The book was written shortly after WW II; Migot, who was French, had been a doctor during both the first and second World Wars. He had lived and travelled in Asia and was interested and knowledgeable about Buddhism. Fascinating.
September 29, 2025
3.5 Will update with review later.
March 6, 2014
translated from the French by Peter Fleming
Month of March theme
In Hanoi, on December 5th 1946, you could smell the war which was to break out two weeks later: the atmosphere was charged with tension.
Note to any passing librarian - page count is 288.
Another keeper - some pages in this are coming loose but this is deemed a keeper. I just know I will refer to it again as there is much background about the Tungans and road building (think Inspector Shan, the canny Han creation from Eliot Pattison)
Month of March theme
In Hanoi, on December 5th 1946, you could smell the war which was to break out two weeks later: the atmosphere was charged with tension.
Note to any passing librarian - page count is 288.
Another keeper - some pages in this are coming loose but this is deemed a keeper. I just know I will refer to it again as there is much background about the Tungans and road building (think Inspector Shan, the canny Han creation from Eliot Pattison)
June 24, 2015
An archeologist and spiritual pilgrim tries to get to Lhasa during the period of the Chinese civil war that brought the Communists to power. There is so much here I can't begin to say it all. I feel really lucky to have found such a narrative.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews