Seite 415 [415]
CZECHOSLOVAK ACADEMIC STUDY OF BUDDHISM IN THE 1950s AND 1960s: FIELD RESEARCH IN ASIA
The second trip to Mongolia in 1958, immediately following upon the first, took as
its goal both archaeological research as well as anthropological field work. There was
a pause of only a few months between the two trips and thus preparations were all the
more challenging. In the expedition proposal, Jisl writes:
“In addition to the task of manifesting mutual assistance between the peoples’ de¬
mocracies and the educational task, there was as well a promotional mission: to
demonstrate the high level of Czechoslovak archeology on the world stage and thus to
include our country not only among the capitalistic states, but also within the socialist
(the USSR and Poland) nations sending archaeological expeditions to foreign lands.
As there was a lack of any previous experience of working on or even equipping
such foreign expeditions, this was meant to be an experiment, the results according
of which, and experience gained, both positive and negative, would guide eventually
future and possibly more extensive collaborative projects.”
In addition to these stated goals, Emanuel Vléek, a Czech member of the delegation,
conducted his own anthropological research, following in the footsteps of his compat¬
riot Ale’ Hrdli¢éka, who visited Urga (today’s Ulaanbaatar) in the summer of 1912.
The work on the archaeological digs was conducted from July 19, 1958 to Septem¬
ber 14, 1958. These were not the first archaeological researches in this locale; they
were, however, the first to use contemporary scientific methods, as well as being of
a larger extent than was usual at the time, as there were fifty researchers. Jisl’s interna¬
tional team made a fantastic discovery in the summer of 1958: in an uncovered waste
pit they discovered the stone head of prince Kiiltegin. No such findings had ever been
reported in Mongolia; this was an unqualified academic and scientific success, a ‘first’
on the world stage. The promising beginnings of the research expedition soon however
encountered huge difficulties when the planned continuation of the research trip was
brought to a halt — largely due to bureaucratic obstacles — and in spite of all of Jisl’s
efforts, when in the end he wrote nearly despairing letters to the highest state and party
officials. Jis] continually worked on his Mongolian materials — both archaeological and
Buddhist — lecturing, publishing, and popularizing these themes in the Czechoslovak
media. For a very long five years, however, he was unable to return to Mongolia: he
spent his time working on previous discoveries and with preparations for the next trip.
During both of his first trips, Jisl systemically documented the Mongolia of the time,
both in black-and-white and color photographs. He published his first book about Mon¬
golia in 1960, first in English as Mongolian Journey and then in German as Mongolei.
Kunst und Tradition, and then one year later in Czech as Uméni stareho Mongolska
9 Jisl, Lumir: Zprava o Ceskoslovensko-mongolske archeologicke expedici v Mongolske lidove republice
vroce 1958 [Report of the Czechoslovak-Mongolian archaeological expedition in Mongolian People’s
Republic in 1958]. Unpublished typescript in Czech, Prague, November 12" 1958, p. 1.
413