Page 415 [415]
OCR
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’ democracies 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 compatriot 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 September 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 international 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 Mongolia 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
