THE ROUND WORLD IN EARLY TIBETAN-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS

Abstract

In the first half of the twentieth century, most Tibetans believed the world to be flat. Yet, a debate had started to develop amongst an intellectual elite on whether the world might be round. At that time, a scholastic paradigm trending in Europe was entering the Tibetan plateau, which focused on a measurable, visible and tangible reality. In 1938 the Tibetan intellectual enfant terrible Dge ‘dun chos ‘phel published the famous article “The Round and Spherical World” in one of the first Tibetan-language newspapers, the Yul phyogs so so’i gsar ‘gyur me long (The Tibet Mirror, 1925–1963). For the said piece, Dge ‘dun chos ‘phel is often remembered as being the first Tibetan scholar publishing on the “round world” for Tibetans. Mostly overlooked has been the fact that his article is embedded in a media discourse which had started much earlier. Studying early Tibetan-language newspapers reveals that his article was only one contribution on the “round world” amongst many. The following study shows how early Tibetan-language newspapers were at the forefront of disseminating this knowledge into the Tibetan world. Studying articles on the shape of the world in the La dwags kyi ag bar (“Ladakh Newspaper”, 1904–1910, Kye lang ag bar (“Kyelang Newspaper”, 1926–1935), La dwags pho nya (“Ladakh Messenger”, 1937–1950s), and The Tibet Mirror, allows us to trace how modern knowledge entered the Tibetan cultural sphere. It further presents an opportunity to sketch out an early Tibetan-language public, as particular flows of information between these newspapers can be observed.