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133. 
[[underlined]] MODERN ARTS [[/underlined]] My days were spent in examination of the temples and monasteries that occupy more than three-quarters of the city of Urga, second only to Lhasa in holiness. A clearly defined line was noticeable between the arts and crafts of the sedentary monastic community in the city and those of the herdsmen who move over the plateau. Tibetan Lamaism has colored the life of the city dwellers, and yet their artists and artizans are for the most part Chinamen from the South. The result is often North Indian Buddhistic design executed with a Chinese mannerism and technique which are puzzling to the newcomer. Before the end of my stay I had visited often the workshops of the makers of temple furniture, where I saw careful Chinese coppersmiths laboriously im^[[m]]itating, in [[underline]] repoussé [[/underline]], the very casting marks from the solid bronze statues of Tibet. I had seen such hollow copper statues before which had drifted to Europe, but had been unable to account for the curious technique.

On the steppes as well as among the simpler folk of Urga, Chinese stuffs and ornaments and household furniture have been centuries in use, but there was seldom to be found an Indian or a Tibetan design. My search for pure Mongol design was rewarded only when I came to the leather workers and a disappearing minority of Mongols among ^[[The]] Chinese silversmiths. Inherent laziness, and inadept fingers have been the death of the old Mongol crafts. The elaborate head-dresses studded with coral and lapis lazuli and carnelian are now made by Chinese but have been saved from denationalization in design by the conservatism of the women who will wear no form that is not familiar. Jewelry of Chinese workmanship can, however, be dis-