Richardson, Hugh E
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Hugh Edward Richardson (22 December 1905 – 3 December 2000) was an
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
officer, British diplomat and
Tibetologist Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...
. His academic work focused on the history of the Tibetan empire, and in particular on
epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
. He was among the last Europeans to have known Tibet and its society before the Chinese invasions which began in 1950.


Biography and career

Born in St. Andrews, Fife, the son of a
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
medical officer, Richardson studied classics at
Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...
. He entered the Indian Civil Service on 9 October 1930. Transferring to the Foreign and Political Service of the Government of India, Richardson was posted to
Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...
as an Assistant Political Agent. In July 1936, he was appointed as the British Trade Agent at Gyantse. He served as the Officer in Charge of the British Mission in Lhasa, capital of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
, from 1936 to 1940 and again from 1946 to 1950, in the final years having become the diplomatic representative of the recently independent
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Of the Tibetan government during his time in Lhasa, Richardson said: "My counterparts were...experienced negotiators. . .and masters of procrastination and evasion, and might assume the cloak of simple people with no experience of the outside world. . .There could be no doubt I was dealing with ministers of a government that was completely independent in both its internal and external affairs." Like many ICS officers, Richardson was an accomplished linguist who spoke
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
fluently, a skill he put to use when conversing with
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
, and his fluent Tibetan was described by the Tibetan politician Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa as "impeccable Lhasa Tibetan with a slight Oxford accent." As Secretary to the Agent-General for India at
Chungking Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing ...
, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1944 New Year Honours list, and was further appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) on 14 August 1947, in the last imperial honours list. After Indian independence, Richardson remained in the renamed
Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...
, serving in Lhasa until his retirement in September 1950. After his retirement from public service he taught in Seattle and Bonn. He subsequently returned to St. Andrews and spent the remainder of his life as an
independent scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...
. He was an advocate of the right of
Tibetans Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...
to a separate political existence, a case he made in two books, ''Tibet and Its History'' (1962) and ''A Cultural History of Tibet'' (1968), and at the United Nations when the issue of Chinese oppression of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
was raised by the
Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( or ) was a Revolutionary republic, revolutionary state that Irish Declaration of Independence, declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdict ...
, represented by
Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969), Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the I ...
, during the 1959 UN General Assembly debate on Tibet. There, in the words of one commentator, "he acted valiantly as a man of honour in a cause which has been largely lost because of the notions of political expediency, where sides are taken without regard to principle and in order not to risk aligning oneself with a potential loser, however deserving he may be" – a position which reportedly earned him the displeasure of both the British and Indian delegations to the UN Assembly. He remained a close personal friend of the 14th Dalai Lama and of the Tibetan government-in-exile until his death, with the latter describing Richardson as "very precious to us." He later wrote: "The British government, the only government among Western countries to have had treaty relations with Tibet, sold the Tibetans down the river and since then have constantly cold-shouldered the Tibetans so that in 1959 they could not even support a resolution in the UN condemning the violation of human rights in Tibet by the Chinese." Richardson also said that he was "profoundly ashamed", not only at the British government's refusal to recognise that Tibet had a right to self-determination, but also at the government's treatment of the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
.


Personal interests

"His hobbies were
ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
,
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
and gardening and he was also an enthusiastic photographer. Another of Richardson's passions was
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, which he introduced to Tibet, although he noted that the ball tended to travel 'rather too far in the thin air'."


Works

*1949 “Three ancient inscriptions from Tibet” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal'' 15, (1949): 45–64. *1952. ''Ancient historical edicts at Lhasa and the Mu Tsung / Khri Gtsung Lde Brtsan treaty of A.D. 821–822 from the inscription at Lhasa.'' London: Royal Asiatic Society Prize Publication Fund 19, 1952. *1952–3 “Tibetan inscriptions at Zva-hi Lha Khang” London: ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', (1952): 133–54 (1953): 1–12. *1954 “A ninth-century inscription from Rkong-po.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' London, (1954): 157–73. *1957 “A Tibetan Inscription from Rgyal Lha-khang” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London, (1957): 57–78. *1964 “A new inscription of Khri Srong Lde Brtans.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1964): 1–13. *1965a "How old was Srong-brtsan Sgam-po ?", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 1, 6–8. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 3–6. *1965b "A fragment from Tun-huang", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 3, 33–38. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 7–11. *1968 with David Snellgrove. ''A Cultural History of Tibet''. 1995 2nd Edition with changes. Shambhala. Boston & London. . *1969 "The inscription at the Tomb of Khri Lde Srong Btsan", ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1969): 29–38 *1969b "Tibetan chis and tschis." ''Asia Major'' 14 (1969): 154–6. *1972 "The rKong-po Inscription." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1972): 30–39. *1973 "The Skar-cung inscription." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society''. (1973): 12–20. *1974 ''Ch'ing Dynasty Inscriptions at Lhasa.'' (Serie Orientale Roma v. 47). Rome: Instituto italiano per l'africa e l'oriente. 1974. *1978 “The Sino-Tibetan treaty inscription of A.D. 821/823 at Lhasa.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'': (1978): 137–62. *1982 "Memories of Tshurphu", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', Vol. 18, No.1, 1982: Karmapa Commemoration Volume, Repr. in Richardson 1998, pp: 730–733. *1983 “Bal-po and Lho-bal” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 46 (1983): 136–8. *1985. ''A corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions.'' (James G. Forlong Series no. 29). Hertford: Royal Asiatic Society, 1985. . *1987 "Early Tibetan Inscriptions: Some Recent Discoveries” ''The Tibet Journal'' 12.2.Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan works and archives, (1987): 3–15. (reprinted with 2 short notes added) ''Bulletin of Tibetology'' n.s. 3. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, (1987): 5–18. ''High Peaks, Pure Earth.'' London: Serindia, 1998: 261–275. *1988 “More Early Inscriptions from Tibet” ''Bulletin of Tibetology''. New Series 2. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology. (1988): 5–8. High Peaks, Pure Earth. London: Serindia, 1998: 276–278. *1989 "Early Tibetan law concerning dog-bite", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', new ser. 3, 5–10. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 135–139. *1990 "Hunting accidents in early Tibet", ''Tibet Journal'', 15-4, 5–27. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 149–166. *1995a “The Tibetan Inscription attributed to Ye shes ‘od” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' 3rd Series 5.3. (1995): 403–404. *1995b “The inscription at Ra-tshag Dgon-pa” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 58 (1995): 534–9; ''High Peaks, Pure Earth''. London: Serindia, 1998: 286–291. *1997 ''Adventures of Tibetan Fighting Monk'' with Khedrup Tashi, White Orchid Books; , Orchid Press, 2006, *1998 ''High peaks, pure earth: collected writings on Tibetan history and culture'', Serindia publications, London.


Footnotes


References

* ''Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson''. Edited by
Michael Aris Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999) was a British historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan, and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor ...
and
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
, p. 284. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi. * French, Patrick. ''Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land'' (2003) Knopf. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Hugh E. 1905 births 2000 deaths People from St Andrews Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Tibetologists Scottish orientalists Tibet freedom activists Independent scholars Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Indian Civil Service (British India) officers 20th-century British historians Honorary Fellows of the British Academy