William Woodville Rockhill: Scholar Diplomat of the Tibetan Highlands

Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2003. A new biography of the American diplomat and linguist William Rockhill (1854-1914). Rockhill's renown is experiencing a revival among members of a growing group. Tibetan Buddhism, its art and philosophy, now attracts more students and a wider general audience beyond that still small circle of Tibetan scholars. Rockhill's name, once almost forgotten except in connection with the formulation of the historic 'Open Door Policy' for China, comes up for reasons closer to his own heart. Rockhill was the first American to learn to read, write and speak Tibetan fluently, and one of the first Westerners to be hosted by the Dalai Lama, conversing with the spiritual leader directly in his own language. Scholars in most fields are usually pictured in a cloistered existence, but this was and still is often untrue for those studying Tibet and its culture. They, and Rockhill as well, have often been happiest when on a difficult and dangerous pilgrimage. Rockhill's background in the French Foreign Legion and as a rancher in the far west served him well for his later historic travels into Tibet. Edited, and with an introduction, by Braham Norwick. 254 pp., 10 colour plates, 4 maps, bibliography, index.. First Edition. Hard Cover. New/New. 24.5 x 17.5 cm..