Kotenko Aleksandra L.,
Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after M.B. Shatilov, Tomsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Personality Through the Prism of Photography: a Picture of the Buddhist Temple Khalkhen-Sume From the Collection of Military Orientalist M.A. Polumordvinov
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2018-2-15
The basis of the Oriental collection in the Tomsk Regional Museum is a collection assembled by the military orientalist Mikhail Arkadyevich Polumordvinov, who served in Manchuria in 1903–1915. There he collected originals of daily life and cult, associated with peoples of Asia, and a photo collection with views of Manchuria and Mongolia. M.A Polumordvinov left few personal documents, therefore researchers are faced with a problem of studying his personality, as well as the separation of his military and research interests. This article helps uncover Polumordvinov’s personal attitude toward Buddhist architecture, widely represented in photographs of his photographic collection. The article presents one of the photos from the orientalist’s collection, its description and text of Polumordvinov’s inscription as the evidence of his personal interest in Buddhist architecture. It is a photo of 1906 that presents a view of the Buddhist temple complex Khalkhen-sume (main building) located in the Mongolian princedom Barun-Uzumchin. The temple was built in the Chinese style (roof, acroteria), but with Buddhist decorative elements (decoration of pillars and entablature, sculptures on roofs). The description of the photo, made on its back side by Polumordvinov himself, proves his detailed knowledge of the temple architecture traditions of China and Mongolia, his familiarity with linguistic subtleties in designation of religious objects (Mongolized, originally Tibetan, concepts are supplemented by the Mongolian ones). The author uses this observation as evidence that Polumordvinov’s interest in Eastern culture went beyond his service (military) needs, and thus, this photo shows the early process of turning a soldier into a scientist.
Publishing: 19/12/2018
How to cite: Kotenko A.L. Personality Through the Prism of Photography: a Picture of the Buddhist Temple Khalkhen-Sume From the Collection of Military Orientalist M.A. Polumordvinov // Historical Courier, 2018, # 2. Article 15. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2018/ISTKURIER-2018-2-15.pdf
Links: Issue 2 2018
Keywords: Mikhail Polumordvinov; Tomsk Regional Museum; Society of Russian Orientalists; Buddhist architecture; photos of the early 20th century; Buddhism in Mongolia