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![]() ![]() Brief account of her time in Tibet by Mrs Joan Mary Jehu London 13 September 1994
My father, Col. Leslie Weir, was first in Tibet in 1909, where he was British Trade Agent in Gyantse for a few years. He met H.H. the 13th Dalai Lama in 1910, in Darjeeling with the Political Officer, Sir Charles Bell. In 1928 my father returned to Tibet as Political Officer with his wife. They were invited to Lhasa by the Dalai Lama in 1930 (my mother being the first European woman ever to be allowed into Lhasa), to help sort out new problems between the Tibetan Government and the Chinese revolutionary government. Again, in 1932, Col. Weir was asked to go to Lhasa, this time accompanied by my mother and myself. We were already staying in my father's summer headquarters in Gyantse when the Dalai Lama's personal invitation came for us to proceed to Lhasa. This was a great surprise and a wonderful privilege for me. We were given an amazing welcome, both officially and personally, by all the very good friends my parents had made on their previous visit. I am happy to say I still remain very close to the Taring family whom I met at this time, 62 years ago, as Mary and Jigme both spoke good English and were about my age. My father spent most of his days in conference with the Kashag and the Dalai Lama. Then my mother and I accompanied him one day to the Norbhu Lingka where we were granted a special audience with His Holiness, who actually descended from his throne and poured out tea for us as we chatted for a long while, quite informally. He showed keen interest in our painting and gave permission for us to draw and paint at many holy places. My mother painted mainly buildings and landscapes, while I chose to do portraits of people from all walks of life. This filled many hours for us and gave terrific amusement to the crowds who followed us wherever we went. There were many parties and functions to organise and attend which usually lasted all day. The abundance of flowers in almost every garden was an enormous pleasure - the best of these, of course, was at Norbhu Lingka. Ours doctor, Captain Sinclair, was kept busy every day giving vaccinations and medication to all that came to his surgery behind our quarter in Dekki Lingka. Apart from the local people, there were many pilgrims who had come from the furthest corners of Tibet, some even all the way from Mongolia. In fact, Tibet was remarkably empty of foreigners, apart from a few traders from Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Lhasa was, after all, the Forbidden City, and as such had no Embassies or permanent foreign residents - apart from the Nepalese who had recently made peace with Tibet after some border wars. The Maharajah of Nepal had given a present to the Dalai Lama of two large elephants, which I took photographs of - quite a sight in Lhasa! So now the Nepalese had a representative and staff in the capital. I did a drawing of one Chinaman in Lhasa - just a man on the street who was pointed out to me as such. So, apart from the odd traders, there was absolutely NO Chinese presence there or on our travels in other towns in Tibet. In my father's early days in Gyantse there were Ambans around, but apart from taking occasional photographs, he had no official dealings with them. In 1932 there were none about. I became very aware of the difficult political situation arising at that time between Tibet and China as I had to assist my father by de-cyphering the coded telegraph messages to and from the British Minister in Peking and the Government of India. Suddenly, one of our guides was urgently called up to go and help with the border troubles. There seemed great apprehension in Lhasa as to what the Chinese would do next on the borders, as the new regime was still an unknown quantity. Communications were very slow as there was no wireless in those days and rumour was rife. We were much delayed on our departure for Sikkim as negotiations between the Kashag and the Chinese was so protracted. The winter was setting in fast and there was some doubt as to our chances of crossing the high passes. This delay was partly caused by the Dalai Lama sending a letter to the Tashi Lama requesting his return to Tibet from China - as soon as possible. This was considered of utmost importance both by Col. Weir and the Dalai Lama, as well as most Tibetans. Sadly, this never came to pass. The hostilities going on between the Tibetans and Chinese on the Eastern borders were slowing down due to the civil war situation in Szechuan. Chiang Kai-Shek sent word that their troops were being withdrawn from the disputed area. This eased the political anxieties considerably and my father was given leave to begin his return journey. By then it was early December and bitterly cold. The day after we crossed the Nathu-la it was completely snowed up and impassable for the winter. When my father wrote to thank the Dalai Lama for his kindness and hospitality, and to say how lucky we were to have crossed the passes in the nick of time, His Holiness replied that this was not luck - He had prayed for it!
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