Diary of Joseph F.C. Rock; April to May 1926; May 1933 to March 1934.
Joseph Rock’s diary covering the dates 23 April 1926 – 22 May 1926; includes:
- Notes on ‘Amnyi Machen’ [Amnye Machen]; Story of Dzambala and Notes on tribes around Amnyi Machen. (pp.3-22)
- Followed by list of pictures sent to Washington (p.22); Notes on diaries mailed in March 1927 (p.23);
- Notes on Yunnan literature (p.24)
1 May 1933 – 28 March 1934 (pp.25-279; includes:
- lists of books and articles relevant to Yunnan and China;
- List of books in the Library of Joseph F. Rock (pp.57-72)
- Trunks left in cold storage in Hong Kong (pp.132-133) and trunks to be taken along (p.134)
- Monday November 13th 1933: “Alone as usual… As I looked out over the grey smoky landscape I pitied the Chinese to be forced upon them by outsiders the chaotic artificial life of the west. My mind wandered to far away Nda za gko to the lovely alpine meadows on the Likiang Snow Range [Yulong Xue Shan] where reigns eternal peace. In spite of all the glitter and good food and comfort, etc on this boat it is all artificial. Here one looses [sic] contact with the great spirit of nature. I am longing for a quiet spot where I can stay with my Nakhi boys and live in peace, where I shall not have to move again except when the great day comes when I shall go to my eternal rest. When I behold the women on this ship, artificial, all flesh and no soul I shudder when I think what their life must be; a decorated painted shell ever moving but getting nowhere except farther away from what should be the real life of contemplation and unselfishness.” (pp.152-153)
- Meeting Handel-Mazzetti in Vienna and discussing the government and Sacher (pp.219-222)
- Transcription/translation of a Dongba book donated by Handel-Mazzetti to the Natural History Museum in Vienna (pp.235-239)
- Brief discussion of a Dongba book donated by Frank Kingdon Ward to the British Museum (pp.261-262)
- Meeting with Walter Rothschild, January 1934 (pp.273-278)
- Letter in Chinese script pasted into the diary on p.279: ‘Letter from Y…gning announcing the death of my good old friend the Tsong Kwan, a descendant of the great Kubilai Khan’ [Kublai Khan]
- Chinese script (pp.281-298)
Diary includes a loose photograph of the Watson family taken in 1947, and loose page of Chinese script.
Diary has a '35' on its spine.