Trace Foundation's Latse Newsletter, vol. 3 by Trace Foundation

CO y M : NI o un tai ns

YI ATURE Lio DAM D AUT HO by n o LA f th TSE R RA e S RI MA now NG

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LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER FALL 2005

MEMOIR

THE GESHE CHÖDRAK I KNEW AND HIS DICTIONARY by Horkhang Jampa Tendar

n Latse Hosts Three Legendary Singer-Songwriters n The Dictionary of New Terms and The Chinese–Tibetan Dictionary by Pema Bhum n Ladakh Newspaper by Sonam Tsering

FEATURE ARTICLE

Origins of the ‘Tibet Myth’ in Western Fiction

by Ramon Prats

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MUSIC

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Raise Higher the Mountain Peak

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In the rocky mountain there is a summit It is like a natural crystal stupa That is the life of Tibet. Raise higher the snow mountain peak.

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In the grassland there is a rock It is like a natural thunderbold dagger That is the birth deity of Tibet. Raise higher the rocky mountain peak.

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Above the lake there is a meadow It is like a natural pile of grass That is the guardian of Tibet. Raise higher the cairn (latse). (Translated by Yangbum Gyal)

“

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“Raise Higher the Mountain Peak” is one of the many songs performed by Palgön on the occasion of the 2005 Music Festival organized by the Latse Library in New York to ring in the Tibetan Wood-Bird Year. Palgön is also the composer and lyricist of the renowned song “Akhu Pema.” In his introduction to the song, Palgön made the following remarks: “This song is new. The lyrics are written by Larung Tulku Khenpo who sent me the words one day and asked me to compose a melody. In accord with his wishes, I set his lyrics to music and, shortly before coming to America, recorded the song on VCD. This VCD has not yet been released. I think it appropriate to offer this song today to Latse Library. I had just ﬁnished composing the melody, but not yet performed it, when the invitation from Latse Library arrived. This coincidence, the centrality of the word latse for both the song and the library, and the fact that today is my ﬁrst public performance of the song are three spontaneous but auspiciously connected factors.”

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJmm,k

LATSE LI LIBRARY BRARY NEWSLETTER

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VOLUME III FALL 2005

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NEWS FEATURES

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EVENTS

Latse Hosts Three Legendary Singer-Songwriters

TALKS

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Discussion on Contemporary Tibetan Art Movement

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The Dictionary of New Terms and The Chinese-

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MEMOIRS

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The Geshe Chödrak I Knew and his Dictionary by Horkhang Jampa Tendar

HISTORICAL NOTES

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Tibetan Dictionary by Pema Bhum

LITERARY FEATURES

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COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

31 38

Ladakh Newspaper by Sonam Tsering

FEATURE ARTICLE Origins of the ‘Tibet Myth’ in Western Fiction by Ramon Prats

FEATURED AUTHOR Yidam Tsering by Lara Maconi

Andrea Soros Colombel FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT Eric Colombel EXECUTIVE ADVISOR Pema Bhum EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kristina Dy-Liacco NEWS EDITOR Lauran Hartley LITERARY FEATURES EDITOR Sonam Dhargay LAYOUT AND DESIGN Latse Library Newsletter is published annually by Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library, 132 Perry Street, Suite 2B, New York, NY 10014 USA Tel.: 212-367-8490 Fax: 212-367-8479. Email: info@latse.org. Contents copyright © unless otherwise noted. Electronic version of this newsletter can be found at www.latse.org.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

;=-8]o;k 2005 0}+-<m$-AA--;}8m-;}-#=:k

EVENTS

LOSAR 2005:

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SINGER-SONGWRITERS

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Tsering Topten Nelung, Dawa Rinchen, Palgรถn, Serlha Tawo, Lobsang Palden Tawo.

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This year, Latse Library celebrated Tibetan New Year with a concert program that featured three giants of the Tibetan music world: Palgรถn, Tsering Topten Nelung, and Lobsang Palden Tawo. The concert was presented by Latse Library, with the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University and the Center for Ethnomusicology at Columbia University, and was held at the Miller Theater on the campus of Columbia University on February 13.

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About the artists

algön is a self-taught singer and dranyen (Tibetan lute) player from Machu in Amdo (eastern Tibet). In the 1980s, he developed a unique folk musical

style that spread quickly throughout Amdo to become the predominant musical sound of that region. Hits from his early work include the famous “Akhu Pema“ and “Sha yu mo she’u,“ and these songs inspired countless young musicians to copy and innovate the style. A physician by profession, Palgön still continues to teach students -- he has been a teacher to over 30 singers including Dubey, Gonpo, and Yungdrung Gyal -- and make recordings, and is a major ﬁgure in cultural events in Amdo and beyond. Palgön’s sheer exuberance for music is evident in the large-scale musical numbers he has organized in the past in large gatherings on the grasslands in Amdo. One song, “Sarasvati,“ which he sang in the New York concert, was originally written for a performance involving one thousand singers and lute and mandolin players, all singing and stepping in unison. Tsering Topten Nelung is a Tibetan singer-songwriter residing in Switzerland. He began studying music, dancing, and singing at the Tibetan Institute of the Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala, India, at the age of ten. Tsering Topten Nelung is a long-time member and teacher in Swiss-TIPA, and also in the Tibetan music group Nangma. He is a teacher of Tibetan folklore and instruments in various Tibetan schools in Switzerland. Tsering Topten also provides musical support to many Tibetan organizations and events across Europe, and is the producer and featured artist on numerous recordings, as well as a composer of songs and soundtracks in both traditional and modern styles. Lobsang Palden Tawo is widely known for his three albums: Nangma (1982), Trinkor I (1985) and Trinkor II (1989). He produced and composed all the new Tibetan songs that appear on those recordings, including the hits “Nam gongi nyinda“ “Chugang Drenlu“ and “Phagi

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

Heidelberg University

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Khangri Karpo.“ He is also co-composer of the soundtrack for the ﬁlm Living Buddha (1992). A graduate of Heidelberg University, Dr. Tawo is a senior physician in the Klinikum Ludenscheid (afﬁliated with the University of Bonn), and founder of the Tadra-Project. Tsering Topten Nelung and Lobsang Palden Tawo have a history of working together, and shared the stage for most of their numbers during the concert.

A sold-out performance

espite somewhat sluggish advance sales, tickets for the 700-seat theater on the campus of Columbia University quickly sold out by starting

time, leaving many latecomers to regret not planning ahead! The hall was buzzing with excitement as library director Pema Bhum greeted the audience and introduced the musicians. For many, it was the ﬁrst time to see in person the creators of beloved songs and ballads. Palgön’s songs are so popular that they often ﬁnd their way into other Tibetan

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Tsering Topten Nelung and Lobsang Palden Tawo.

regions. The work of Tsering Topten Nelung and Lobsang Palden Tawo thrilled Tibetans in the diaspora community, and their popularity propelled their songs back into Tibet. The sets by Nelung and Tawo were a blend

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of traditional works, including Namthar and Toeshay

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“Ngatso Droway-lam,“ and the rousing “Tsering Tsomo.“

4 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

selections, as well as some brand new numbers such as The crowd responded emotionally to older classics like “Nam Gongi Nyinda.“ Nelung and Tawo also delighted the audience with jokes and banter in between numbers, as well as some impromptu dancing. The two singers were at times joined by Dr. Tawo’s daughter Serlha, who sang backup vocals. Serlha, who was born and raised in Germany, has performed with her father and Nelung on previous occasions, and her presence onstage reﬂected this ease and afﬁnity for her father’s creations. The duo plan to release a new recording in the near future, and audiences can look

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Palgön (center) center) accompanied by Dawa Rinchen (left center left) and Gonpo (right). right right).

forward to hearing this new material. With the first strums of “Akhu Pema,“ the first song of Palgön’s set, the hall erupted into cheers and applause. The lyrics of the song are based on those of a nomad folk song, for which Palgön wrote a melody. The piece was first performed in the studios of the Broadcasting Station of Gannan Prefecture in 1981 and became an instant classic. Palgön’s performance included some established hits mixed with newer songs, including “Raise Higher the Peak of the Mountain”, the first public performance of this song. Palgön felt that the piece is a natural and fitting gift for Latse Library as it expresses Tibetans’ attachment for high mountains and snowlands. The last stanza mentions a latse (mountain peak or pass). Also, Palgön relates, “It was just at the time when I was completing this song that I received the invitation from Latse Library to come to the United States for a performance. I felt this was auspicious.“

A rare opportunity

algön was accompanied by Dawa Rinchen and Gonpo, two young Tibetans from Amdo who are currently living in the States. Dawa Rinchen,

originally from Golok, started studying music at 15 years

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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6 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

old, and is self-taught in dranyen, mandolin, and piano. He has given public performances in Nepal, India, and the U.S., and is a song-writer as well. Gonpo began enjoying music as a small boy in his native Ngaba, and currently has plans to record an album. Meeting Palgön was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the two young artists, who had long studied his musical style, but met him for the ﬁrst time at Latse. They spent many long afternoons at Latse Library, playing, practicing, and exchanging ideas with the musical pioneer. They later joined Palgön onstage at the Losar concert for his sets, adding rich accompaniment on the mandolin alongside Palgön’s dranyen. Gonpo was featured in a solo, for which he played a traditional Amdo party song. Dawa Rinchen also performed a solo number, “A pho lug dzi,“ or “The Shepherd,“ a song by famous Tibetan singer Yadong. “Of course everyone knows that I cannot sing like Yadong,“ Dawa smiled, “ but by singing this I express my wish that we will one day be able to celebrate Losar with him.“ Tickets for the concert were for a suggested donation of ﬁve dollars, but many concert-goers demonstrated a deep appreciation for the artists by donating much more. The entirety of ticket proceeds and donations went directly to the artists. The concert ended with the ensemble of singers joining together in “Achi dro (What a Happy Village!)“ with each singer taking a stanza and everyone joining up on the refrain. The audience clapped in time and gave the performers a standing ovation. Said one Tibetan audience member to the library staff as he was leaving the concert hall, “This is the most fun I’ve had since moving to New York.“ ■ ■

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Speakers from Around the Globe featured at Latse Lecture Series

atse Library continued to host lectures and talks featuring speakers from around the world. In June 2004, the library hosted Sang Dhak, a

researcher at the Chinese Center for Tibetan Studies in Beijing. A widely-respected scholar of Sanskrit, Sang Dhak’s talk "The Lharampa Geshe System of Tibet", was based on over three years of research on the Geshe Lharampa monastic education system. Later that year, Latse was pleased to welcome back Professor Heather Stoddard of the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Paris, France. Professor Stoddard is a foremost scholar of Tibetan literature, history, and art and was a panelist at the Gedun Choephel Centennial Conference held at Latse in 2003. Dr. Stoddard presented her talk entitled "The Emergence of Rebkong (Tongren) as an Important Center of Tibetan Culture in the Late 20th-Early 21st Century" in Tibetan and interacted closely with an engaged audience. In the spring of 2005,

?-;{k Alai

Jambian Gyamco presented an engaging talk on his experiences growing up in Khams during the 1950s, as well as his work Gesang Meiduo (Lucky Flower), considered to be the ﬁrst modern Tibetan novel. Pasang Wangdu of the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences in Lhasa made a fascinating presentation with "Research and historical ﬁndings on Tibetan Imperial Period Tombs of non-royal lineages."

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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On April 23, the library hosted Geshe Khotse Tsulkhrim in conversation with library director Pema Bhum. Khotse Tsulkhrim is the editor-compiler of the large-scale compilation project The Grand Collection of Quintessence of the Tibetan Ten Sciences. Later that week, famous novelist Alai came to the library for a lunchtime discussion of his experiences as a writer, which was followed by a lively question and answer session. Alai’s Red Poppies won the Mao Dun Prize, China’s highest literary award, and was translated into English to glowing reviews in the west. The novel has also been translated into Tibetan and has been and continues to be published serially in Light Rain, the literary journal from Xining. In May, Filmmaker Cynthia Chao gave a screening of her short film “Love for Qinghai,”an intimate glimpse into the daily life of Lom-gya Monastery of the Jonang-pa in Dzamthang, eastern Tibet. Ms. Chao, who is originally from Taiwan, also showed slides from her film-making experience, and fielded questions from the audience. One week later, Dr. Jigme Phuntsok presented “Tibetan Medicine in Modern Times “ where he spoke at length about his medical enterprise The Qinghai Jigme Tibetan Medicine Co. and the Qinghai Jigme Tibetan Medicine Research Institute, the former being the only privately-owned enterprise started up by a Buddhist monk in eastern Tibet. Dr. Jigme is a wellknown specialist of Tibetan medicine from Rebkong who has developed new kinds of medicine with technology combining Tibetan medical theory and clinical experiences. Another lecture on Tibetan medicine focused on another angle: “The Relationship Between Mind and Body. “ Dr. Tenzin Dakpa is a gradaute and presently senior doctor of the Men-Tsee-Khang, the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute, Dharamsala,

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India. Dr. Dakpa, now lives in New York City, and serves as Resident Health Advisor at the Medicine Buddha Healing Center, the ﬁrst U.S. branch of MenTsee-Khang. Latse was also very pleased to host a lecture by Professor Guru Kyi, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, P.R. China. Guru Kyi is a pioneer of her generation for teaching sciences in the Tibetan language. She is the author of several books and articles covering principles of mathematics, mathematics education, Tibetan mathematics in architecture and thangka painting, and Tibetan astronomy. Her talk focused on the history and current situation of teaching mathematics in the Tibetan language. ■ ■

$,-$#-1",->>mm-=-NN}+-%m#

004 ]]m-S- 11 3|=- 12 (m,-;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m=-0}+<<m-$,-$#-1",-M1=-;- “$#-1+}$=-0+#-1{+-<<mm-$,-$##m-=-NN}}+-” %m#-(({{;k “$#-1+}$=-0+#-1{+k” ,m-$#a-[[{{+-]+] <<m-1+}$=-1}-W-0v-+{- (microphone) =v=-<<$-$-:$-+0$-#m=;#-_p-R$=-){-:$-#m=-0<+-8+}+-.-6m#-0<+-&}#-.-+$-PP}}#-8+}+-.6m#-PP}}#-&}#-.-+{-9m,k 8+m-,m-?-:m-;-+:-==0-0-&{-08m-$,-$#-1",M1=-<<mm=-:$-#m-0P1=-&}=-#=:-.-M1=-(,-.-.}-M1=-;-(({;-08m*0=-;1-6m#-9m,k ?-:m-;-0!}+-aamm#-#6m:-07v$-#m=-$,-$#-PP}}#=-+$-k 0!}+-aamm#-%m-9$-1{+-.:-!0=-*}#-:$-+$-3~+-W8m-3u;>>m=- “$#-1+}$=-0+#-1{+k” <<m=-$,-$#-PP}}#-=-9$-9}+k ;-P{+.{-14~+-"$-,=-;=-8]o;-8+m-8H-(({{;-0-,m-+-:{=-*{$=-+$-.}-9m,-;k 8+m-;-bo#=-1",->m>>m-1m-E$=-^p$-,-9$-bo#=-1",-:{-:{8m-%%{$,=-$,-$#-;-R}RR}-"-@@}#=-9}+-.-+$-+{-;-0Pm-1*}$-&{-08m-$$-3u;1$},-.:-#=;k 8+m-,m-0}+-<m<<m-$,-$#-1",-E#=-%,-9m-+1-3|:m$-1&}#-!q-3|8m-8/{,-.-Q}#=-,=-9v,-:m$-1-=}$-08m-!0=-9m,%0=k $,-$#-PP}}#-8#}-1-0P1=-##},-;-$,-$#-1",-3$-1=-!q-

An Evening for Poets

n November 12, 2004, Latse hosted an Open Mike Poetry Night open to all area Tibetan poets. For those unfamiliar with

the concept, “mike“ is short for microphone, and an open microphone means that anyone is welcome to approach the microphone and recite what they wish. This activity is a popular method in America for poets to share with audiences new materials and new styles. There are clubs and venues devoted to both planned poetry readings,

+0$-@p#-3|-0K,k Wangchuk Tseten

and the more casual and

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

#<{#=-$,-$#-.-"}$-;-**}},-;1-+AA$=-8+},-A=k A !0=-+:{ -+0$@p#-3-| 0K,-;#=-;-P-{ +.{-14~+-"$-;-!q-1EE},-`-o /0{ =-9+} -;k "}$-#=m $,-$#-.-+-{ ;-I={ -H,->>m-m ]=o -0%%}+-##},-=$} -#=m -9-m +1-3-| :$m -1&}#-#-m !q-38| -m 1*8-1'v#-1*}$-'$-8#8-6#m -#-m !!}:} -;-#=v$-0<+-=1{ =-8]o;-*0{ =-.-6#m #,$-k +0$-@p@p#-3|-0K,-,m-"}$-:$-$,-$#-1",-6m#-9m,-.8m-":-"}$,m- “0}+-1m8m-:m#-#,=-H-W” (www.tibetcul.com) #=:-8AA{+-#,$1",-E=-<<$-$-9m,k "}$-#m=-:$-(m+-<<mm=-0P1=-.8m-$,-$#-"-<=->>{{:PP}#-#,$-k 9m-+1-3|-:m$;#=-<m<<m-!q-.:-&{-[[{+-A=A .-6m#-3~#=-"$-#m-1ò,-ò0<1=-9}+k \o,-/,-*{0=-P3~#=-.8m-;=-AA{{+-\o,-07$-W;W ;#=-,=-<<$-$-"}$-:$-+#8-08m9m-+1-3|-:m$-;#=-<<mm-$,-P}1-"<=-P}PP}#-8+},-A=k A !}-;v1-))mm-9-UU}0-f-&{,1}8m-+#{-G,-&{,-1}-8'1-+.;,=-*}#-1:-$,-P}1!}-;v1-)m-9-U}0-f-&{,-1}8m-+#{-G,- ;#=-+{$-:0=-+0v=-#2$-!+&{,-1}-8'1-+.;k ò6m-0#P#=<m$-k +{-,=-"}$-#mProfessor Jamspal of /-!+-;-3#=-!+-ò-0P#=k Columbia University +{-,=-3~#=-bo#=-.-#6,-.-3$1-9$-;-3#=-!+-ò-PP}}#-_p-0%t# ;-3#=-!+-ò-PP}}#-!0=-1m$-#%m#-#m-1#}-8+}#=-##}},-I{=-1$-&{08m-a-*},-.-+{-;-3~#=-bo#=-M1=-<<mm-9m+-+0$-<}:k RR}-07$-,11"8-,=-"}$-#m=-+AAm,-9m#-_p-KKm=-.8m-$,-P}1-"#-%m#->>{{:-PP}#-A=k A #6},-[[{{=-$,-$#-.-8+m=-!+-9m#-#6,-.-6m#-#m-,$-;-3~+-W8m-3u;>>m=-KKm=-.8m-$,-$#-#m-,$-ò-+#-'$-+$-K}#-8&:-#(m=-(({{;-1:-1$},9}+-;k $,-P}1->>mm-,$-ò-%%},-.-0%}1-X,-8+=-,=-+{$-:0=-3,:m#-#m-8Js;-&=-;-0K{,-,=-,1-1"8m-+AAm$=-;-[[}+-1m8m-0%=-<<m-0:0I}+-"}$=-9$=-1}-AA=-=-9}+k ^^m,-.-+:-WW=-,=-"}$-:$-#m-0P1=&}=- “.}-)-;8m-1ò,->>mm-#=};-8+{0=k” 7{:-0->>{{:-PP}#-AA=-<m$-k +{8m,$-"}$-#m=-0}+-<<mm-+{$-!0=0=-<<mm-#,=-%$=$=-<<mm-1*}$-3u;-1$},-9}+k ■ ■

10 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

experimental “open mike.“ This was the first time Latse has held such an event, and while the participants were few, they proved to be extremely dedicated and respectable poets in their own right. As the evening came soon after the death of famed Tibetan poet Yidam Tsering (see related article in this issue), the Poetry Night started off with everyone reciting together some prayers for the deceased laureate. Wangchuk Tseten who was visiting Latse at the time, then paid homage to the memory of Yidam Tsering, speaking movingly of the latter’s last moments on earth. Enlarged photographs of the poet were displayed in the event room. Trace Foundation’s Kunsang Gya read some of his favorite Yidam Tsering poems. Wangchuk Tseten, who is also a well-known poet and a co-founder of the tibetcul.com website, then recited some of his own works. Professor Jamspal of Columbia University opened the “open mike“ portion of the evening by reciting a poem first in modern Central Tibetan dialect, and then in his native Ladakhi dialect, inviting the rest of the audience to join him. The group was delighted to explore the intricacies of Tibetan spelling, as spoken Tibetan in Ladakhi retains the sounds of all letters used to spell a word (for example, Pö kay (Tibetan language) is pronounced “Böd sket.“) Lobsang Namkha presented a selection of his poems written in English. This young poet’s experiments in writing in a different tongue was alternately charming and imaginative, with allusions that ranged from Buddha to astronauts. Jinpa Dhargay recited his own carefully wrought work “Prayers Before the Potala“ (Po ta la’i mdun gyi gsol ‘debs) reflecting his thoughts on the current Tibetan situation.■ ■

#=v$-0<+k ;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-`o-

+{$-:0=-0}+-<\w <m<m-\w-P;->>m-#,=-%$=;-EE}}=-1};-AA=-=-.k

005 S- 2 3|=- 26 (m,k ;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$ò-+{$-:0=-0}+-<m<<m-\w-P;-!}!!}:-;-EE}=-1};->>m-3~#=-8ò6m#-0!$=-<m$-k +{:-0}+-.-\w-P;-.-#=v1->m>>m=#2~-AA=-){ =-){k 1m8m-:m#=-:m#-.-+$-k \w-P;->m>>m-;}-Wv=-e-0k 8E{EE{1=-%%},-"$-#m-1"=-.-0%=-<$-#+,-8 < HH{,-bo=-9}+k 3~#=8ò-8+m-,m-EE}$-=={:-,{8v-9}#-,-9}+-.8m-0}+-<<m-"$-.:- â&#x20AC;&#x153;RR}-NN}#-Jm$.k \w-P;-#=:-.kâ&#x20AC;? 6{=-.8m-8E{EE{1=-%%},-+{-+$-[,-*0=-=v-;P{-+.{-14~+-"$-ò-3~#=-=}k 8E{EE{1=-%%},-+{:-#}$-+!:-WW-13~+$-(+AmAAm,-;,->>m-;},-@},-,=-/{0=k)k !O-/v,-3~#=(?}-=m-@+;m-9-,=-/{0=k) RR}-07$-W-13~ W-13~(?-:m8m-"-;}:-:-L}-9m-EE}$-=={:LL};-aam:-6{=-.-,=-/{0=k) 0%=-\w-P;-.-#=v1->m>>m-

TALKS

Latse Hosts

Discussion on Contemporary Tibetan Art Movement

n February 26, 2005, Latse Library hosted a roundtable discussion on contemporary Tibetan art with three Tibetan artists as well

as invited scholars from the fields of anthropology, art history and museum studies. This event was held in conjunction with the opening of "Old Soul, New Art," an exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art at Tibet House New York. The exhibit featured the works of the three artists: Gonkar Gyatso (London, U.K.), Karma Phuntsok (Australia) and Losang Gyatso (Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.). The panel discussants included

3~#=-&u$-E}=-1};k #9},-@}#=-,=k Dr. Clare Harris R}-07$-:0-W=k Leigh Miller R}-07$-W-13~k !O-/v,-3~#=k #}$-+!:-W-13~k

Panel discussion (from left to right): Dr. Clare Harris (front left), Dr. Losang Rabgey, Leigh Miller, Losang Gyatso, Karma Phuntsok and Gonkar Gyatso.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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:m-1}8m-0P1=-&}=-M1=-8E{EE{1=-%%},-AA=-9}+k EE}=-1};-#)10<+-#,$-1",->m>>m-E=-=v- Dr. Kathryn Selig Brown(:v8v))m,-8EE{1=-%%},-"$-k) +$-k Susan Chen (?{-1}-:m-UU}0-f-&{,1}k) Karl Debreczeny (6m=-"-"}""}-UU}0-f-&{,-1}k) Dr. Clare +AmAAm,-;,->>m-?}#-=m-11}:-@m-UU}0-f-&{,-1}k) Dr. Margaret Harris ( ,{8v-9}#-U}UU}0-f-&{,-1}k) Leigh Miller (?{-1}-:m-UU}0McLagan ( f-&{,-1}k) RR}-07$-:0-W=W (0m:-'m-,m-9-9m-UU}0-f-&{,-1}k) 0%=9}+k Dr. Carole McGranahan ("-;}:-:-L}-UU}}0-f-&{,-1}k) 3~#=8ò-8+m-E-aamm#-AA{{+-1",-#2~-0}-9m,-.8m-&-,=-3~#=-8ò-8+m-;-bo#=k 3~#=-8ò-8+m-;-1m-=v-9$-(,-ò-9}$-&}#-%m$-k #=v$-0<+-:$1}=-<m<<m-3u;-ò-3~#=-9}+k 3~#=-8ò8m-,$-+},-#2~-0}-#=v1-9}+.-8+m-W:k 1) RR}-9v;-;=-8+=-.8m-:m-1}8m-Wv+-.k NN};-Wv,,=-+{$-ò=-;-U{UU{0=-.8m-\w-P;-+{=-0}+-<m<<m-\w-P;-+{-NN};-Wv,->m>>m8KmKKm-%$=-,=-+{$-:0=-<m<<mm-8KKm-%$=-;-8>o:-0k 2) :m1}-8KKm-"$-òk 8&:-'$-+$-k co#=-VV{{,k 8&:-"} 3) \w-P;->>m+<m<<m;-8"}:k :m-1}-;-W-1",-+$-k :m-1}-.8m-3~#=-&&{{k :m#-#bo$-#m+A{AA{-&}=-0%=-=}k 3~#=-!!}}:-:{-:{8m-1'v#-_p-HHmm-0-Hm=-;,-(({;-,=-#=v$0<+-#,$-1",-+$-(,-1",-#(m=-0:->m>>m-<{=-K}#=-'{-@p#-_p-0)$k NN}#-Jm$-.-+$-k \w-P;-#=:-.k” 7{:-08m-8E{EE{1=“R-N} %%},-+{-,m-*{$=-+$-.}:-!+-E#=-%,->m>>m-\w-P;-.-8+m-#=v1-.}1(1-8K{KK{;->>m=-0}+-<<m-+{$-:0=-\w-P;->m>>mm-*}#-;-(({;-0-9m,k 8E{EE{1=-%%},-0P1=-&}=-<<mm-,$-ò-+{$-:0=-0}+-1m8m-$}-0}-13~,-.8m#+}$-:m=-<m<<m-8H-.:-'-1$-+$-k +1m#=-0=;->m>>m-#,=-00-8}##m-,$-&}=-<m<<m-&}=-[[}$-;-#}-+},-#=:-^^m,->>m-:m-1}k 0}+-<m<<m-R-N}NN}#1$},-.:-13~,-.8m-+{$-:0=-<m<<m-:m-1}-$}=-#2$-0%=-0aam#=-9}+k :m-1}-8EE{1=-%%},-8+m-,m- “1{-U#=-+{$-ò=-0}+-<<mm-\w-P;-W{-#,=k” 7{:0-+{-""}-8AA{+-<<m-14+-""}-W-0v-6m#-9m,k W{-#,=-+{-,m-?-:m8m-1$8&&{-"-;}:-:-L}-9m-EE}$-=={:-LL};-aam:-7{:-0-+{:-9}+-;k RR}-07$WW-13~-;#=-,=- 2004 ;}-#=:-84v#=-A=k A )-1:-=m-"}A=k Gm,- (Tamar Scoggin) ,m-1{-U#=-<m<<m-;=-#6m-+}-+1-.-9m,-;k 1}=-+-:{=-<m<<m-8EE{1=-%%},-8+m-0!}+-aam#-#,$-k 8E{EE{1=-%%},-8+m2005 ;}8m-S- 5 08m-S-%}%%}+-0:-ò-0}+-<<m-"$-.-6{=-.:-A=k A 2005 ;}8m-S-0%t-#%m#-.:-8E{EE{1=-%%},-8+m-1$8-&&{-?+-;,)-9m-EE}$-=={:-I}:-Im-9-,-9}+-.8m-?{-1}-:{-UU}0-f-&{,-1}- (Emory ;-0[}[[}+k 1{-U#=-+{$-ò=-0}+-<m<<m-\w-P;-W{-#,=University) <<m-#,=-3u;-6m0-W=-1 W =={,-8+}+-9}+-.-M1=-+{8m-H-W-W-W www. ;-/{0=-:}#=k ■ ■ mechakgallery.com 12 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

Dr. Kathryn Selig Brown (Rubin Museum of Art); Susan Chen (Emory University); Karl Debreczeny (University of Chicago); Dr. Clare Harris (Oxford University); Dr. Margaret McLagan (New York University); Leigh Miller (Emory University) and Dr. Losang Rabgey (University of Virginia). Dr. Carole McGranahan (University of Colorado) also participated as one of the main organizers of the discussion. The event, which was open to the general public, was held in a roundtable format, and covered three main topics of discussion: Unexpected Lineages: from Traditional to Contemporary Tibetan Art, which explored the path Tibetan art has taken from the traditional style to that of the modern age; In the Studio: Imagination, Influence and Inspiration; and The Mandala of Art: Audience, Community and Cultural Identity. Question and answer sessions at the end of each panel enriched the understanding between the gathered discussants and the audience. The "Old Soul, New Art" exhibition was the first joint exhibition of these three distinguished artists in the emerging field of contemporary Tibetan art. Exhibition works ranged from photographic prints that explore the many faces of contemporary Tibetan identity, to reinterpreted paintings of Buddhist deities in extraordinary circumstances, to thoroughly modern paintings that explore the Tibetan soul. This exhibition is also the inaugural project for the Mechak Center for Contemporary Tibetan Art based in Boulder, Colorado; the Center was founded in 2004 by Losang Gyatso. Tamar Scoggin, project manager of the Mechak Center, curated this historical exhibition. The exhibit was up at Tibet House through early May 2005. In November 2005 it traveled to Emory University in Georgia, Atlanta. For more information on Mechak Center for Contemporary Art, please visit their website: www. mechakgallery.com. ■ ■

+.{-+{0-$}-c}+k

*-$+-#=:-0aam#=-+{0-06m+$-k WW--0}+-<,-^:^ >>m-3n#14~+-+{0-#=v1k ■

COLLECTION

The Dictionary of New Terms and The ChineseTibetan Dictionary ■ Pema

.+-1-80v1k

W--,#-]o$-D,-#bo$-#m=- 1950 21-;-0}+-"1=-9}$=-;-

+0$-\w\w:-:-08m-8#}-3u#=-I{=k 84n,-[[}}$-+$-W-08m-*}#-,=-WW-,#-+$#%m#->o:-9}$-&{+k WW-,#-#bo$-#m-84n,-[[}$-+$-W-08m-9m#-:m#=#$-1$-1+}-+0v=-"1=-#=v1-ò-9}+-.8m-WW--,#-]o$-D,-)$-#m-84n,[[}$-;=-"v$=-+$-+.{-ù,-"$-+#-#m=-0}+-9m#-_p-\w\w:-8#}-02t#=k +{-ò=-;}-2-0-"-<=-<<m=-0\w:-AA8m8m-+},-1-,}:-0:-\w:-0-+$-*$+-#%m#->o>o:-9}$-0:-WW-0}+-<,- ^:^ >>mm-3n#-14~+-%m#-+#}=-#;&{-0:-1*}$-

Once the Chinese

Bhum

communist government had secured

control of all Tibetan areas circa 1950, it then faced the challenge of integrating these regions both administratively and ideologically. In order to further this project, Chinese Communist Party ofﬁces that had been established throughout Amdo, Central Tibet, and Kham, together with regional publishing houses, set out to translate a mass of Chinese administrative documents and ideological materials. Recognizing the importance of a Chinese-Tibetan dictionary to ensure the accuracy of translations and the standardization of terms, some translators at that

time began to translate a dictionary of Chinese neologisms ,=into Tibetan. They did so by retaining the Chinese terms WW-9m#and replacing all of the Chinese definitions with newly-coined #m-1m$Tibetan terms. The majority of words in this glossary were thus #=:->>mm-3n#14~+-,=-1m$-#mnot vital for their translation work, while a great many words 8E{EE{;-0<+M1=-+}:-){-1m$-VV$-$-M1=-0}+that the translators did need were 9m#-;-\w\w:-8#}-02t#=k +{-W:-0\w:-08m-3n#-14~+- ò=-:0=-#}$-18m-;}-:0=-T-0%t8m-,$-;As neither the dictionary +{8m-,$-#m-1m$-VV$-1$-&{-0-!0=0=-+{8m-9m#-\w:-;-1m-1"}- 0am#=-<m$-+.{-ù,-A=-.8m-*-$+-#=:-0am#=- lacking. nor its method of translation was 0-+$-1"}-08m-1m$-VV$-$-M1=-+{:-1{+-%0=0=-3n#-14~+-+{- 6{=-.8m-.}+-06mk cial, the book circulated +$-\w\w:-%$=-+{-#(m=-/,-1{+-ò->o>o:k 3n#-14~+-+{-;}- The Dictionary of New Terms in four benefi among translators, not the 2r2--0-,$-"v;-;-1-#)}#=-]]m-3~#=-*}#-;-0C1-1{+k volumes, compiled and published in only general public. the 1950s.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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0}+-9m#-_p-0\w\w:-3:-08m-9m#-:m#=-;=-0\w\w:-A-W-9m WW-9m#-#m-*-$++$-\w\w:-A{AA{{+-0}+-9m#-#m-*-$+-8*v-#=}#-A{AA{{+-8#}-3u#=k 1953 ;}:-.{-%m,-+$-"1=-@@}#=k ?-1+}-@@}#=-<<m-WW-0}+-<<mm-;}-22-0-"#2rr %m#-1(1-84~1=-<m<<m=-:$-:$-#m=-8*v-#=}#-AA=-.8m-WW-0}+-<<m-*$+-#=:-.-M1=-#%m#-_p-(t$=-){-R$-+}:-#$-*v0-#,$-08m-8K=0v-,m-*-$+-#=:-0amaam#=-.}+-+$-.}-6{=-.-6m#-*},k +{8m-,$-,-*$+-(m=-%}%%}$-[#-21-9}+-.- 1954 ;}8m-S- 5 .:-+.{-ù,-A=k A A=k +{$-=$-0}+-,$-#m-9m#-:m#=-=v-#2~-84n,-;-Cs8v8v-6m-+$-k +1:-@}@@}#=-3~#=-.-;-]o$-D,-)$-k 3~#=-1m81-Wv,-;=-;-?v9},-7{:-0-W-0v8m-a-\w\w:->m>>m-1m$-V$-+$-k WW-,#-#m-&0-NNm+-<<m-,$ò->-%$-]}]]}+-WW-&{-&{-08m-*-$+- “8A}AA}:-X,-E;-:m1-“ +$- “WW;-#%{=:m$-;v#=-“ 7{:-0-W-0v8m-1m$-V$-M1=-<$-3n <<$-3n#-14~+-.}+-8+m8m,$-ò-*}#-1:-#),-8"{;-Ap$-9}+k 9$-3n#-14~+-.}+-+{8m-,$ò-#),-8"{;-Ap$-08m-1m$-V$-#=:-.-#$-6m#-@m@@m=-=v-#6,-ò->o:0-9$-9}+-+{k +.{:-,k +{$-=$-1{=-W;-7{ WW;-7{:-0-W-0v-3n#-14~++{8m-,$-ò-/-1{=-W;-"0-%{ WW;-"0-%{=-Ap$-9}+-.-W-0v8}k *-$+-#=:-0amaam#=-+{0-#(m=-.-,m- 1955 ;}:-+.{-ù,A +{0-+{8m-,$-#m-1m$-0L-3$-1-1954 ;}:-W-,#-#bo A=k WW-,#-#bo -,#-#bo$-#m=0&q=-.8m-3~#=-8ò- “!0=-+$-.}8m-WW;-9}$=-1m-+1$=-8*v=1m8m-3~#=-&{,-*{$=-+$-.}8m-EE}=-3~#=k“ 6{=-.:-#),-8"{;-Ap$08m-9m#-&- “Cs$-;-1m-+1$=-]m]]m-1*v,-W;-"0W <<m-P-DDm1=k“ 7{:-0W-0v8m-DDm1=-+$-#bo$-#m-aam#-#6m-+$-84n,-[[}$-!!}:->>m-9m#-&-E$=+]o-0\w:-0-;=-Ap$-k 0}+-9m#-_p-0\w\w:-08m-9m#-&-+{-+]o-0}-+.{ù,-1-A=A ##}},-;-+#{-0<{=-&{,-1}-<{=-:0-WW-13~-1&}#-,=-+{-:{-:{A=;-#7m#=-6m0-#,$-9}+-.-:{+k 3~#=-8ò-+{:-7#}$-=-W;-0W W;-0:m,-.}-&{-+$-.C-&{,-:m,-.}-!q-#}$-1-#(m=-<$-/{ <<$-/{0=-9}+-.-+$-k 3~#=-8ò-+{8m-*}#-,=-#),-8"{;-Ap$-08m-P-DmDDm1=-+{-WW-,#-]o$D,-)$-#m-#bo$-#m-P-DmDDm1=-+$-.}-9m,k +{-8E{EE{1=-(({;-1-A=A ##},-;-7W;-0-90W W;-0-90N=-M1-#(m=-;-9$-],-#7m ]],-#7m#=-=v-/v;-){+#}$=-!}!!}:-bo=-9}+-.:-E#=k +{$-=$-9$-0}+-,$-;-W-W-W ==0-_p-0{+-]]}+-#)}$-06m,-.8m-W-W ,#-]o$-D,-#bo$-#m-DDm1=-+$-#bo$-#m-aam#-#6m-+$-84n,-[[}$-!!}:>>m-*-$+-#=:-.-+.{:-,- “:$-[}[[}$-V}$=-“ 7{:-0-W-0v-+$-k W-W !+-,=-a-\w:-A=-.8m AA=-.8m-1m-1m$- “1:-"{-=m-“ W-0v-+$-k W;-"0W <<m14 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

The Dictionary of New Terms (4 vols.) In 1952,

a corps of Chinese and Tibetan translators in

Beijing began to cull Chinese terms and their corresponding Tibetan glosses from works translated into Tibetan in preceding years. In 1953, this group was joined by Chinese and Tibetan translators from Khams and Amdo. Together they pooled all of the Tibetan neologisms each had collected and deliberated every term. The first volume of The Dictionary of New Terms comprises the fruit of their efforts and was published with more than 2,000 entries in May 1954. Many terms still used in Tibet today, including transliterations from Chinese (e.g., kru’u zhi for zhuxi [chairman], gung khran tang for gongchandang [Communist Party], and u yon for huiyuan [member]), as well as terms frequently used in Chinese politics (e.g., ‘byor ldan gral rim [bourgeosie] and rgyal gces ring lugs [patriotism]), were first set down in this dictionary. At the same time, this volume of the dictionary contains newly coined terms that were later changed. For example, the Chinese term zuguo (ancestral or motherland), which we today gloss in Tibetan as mes rgyal rgyal, was translated as pha mes rgyal khab (lit. “forefathers-country”) in this first dictionary. The second volume of The Dictionary of New Terms was published in 1955. All of the terms in this volume were drawn from Tibetan translations of nine documents concerning law, governmental structures, and administration. Among these was the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which was ratified at the First Plenary of the First National People’s Congress convened in 1954. Prior to printing, each of these nine Tibetan translations was carefully reviewed by Geshe Sherab Gyatso. Also in attendance at the 1954 Congress were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Rinpoche. Before the Tibetan version of the PRC’s first constitution was distributed, it was also presented to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama for their review and consideration. This dictionary contains Tibetan neologisms for Chinese

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communist law, governmental structures, and administration that are still widely used today in Tibetan regions of the PRC, such as the term rang skyong ljongs (autonomous region); names transliterated from their Chinese pronunciations, such as Mar khe si (Marx); names of countries, such as Su’u len (Soviet Union); and positions such as u yon krang (committee chair). The third volume of The Dictionary of New Terms was published in 1957. Its entries were all drawn from the translations of seventeen documents issued for the second and third plenaries of the First National People’s Congress. In particular, this edition contains many new scientific, economic and social terminology still widely used in both written and spoken Tibetan expressions, such as kun khyab rlung ‘phrin (broadcast radio), and bzo tshong las rigs (industry and commerce), glog shugs bzo las (electric power industry), and glog brnyan (film or movie). Prominent scholars, such as Geshe Sherab Gyatso (1884– 1968), Tsetan Zhabdrung (1910–85), and Sungrab Gyatso (1896–1982) were among the great translators who traveled to Beijing expressly for the purpose of translating documents for the Second Plenary. In the process, they also revised translations from the First Plenary. The fourth volume of The Dictionary of New Terms was also published in 1957. Terms for this edition were culled from more than thirty translations released by the Nationalities Publishing House from 1954 to1956. A great many terms for discussing contemporary concerns and views were contained in these thirty works, which included ”Several resolutions regarding Tibetan local affairs as drafted by the State Council of the PRC” and ”Mao Zedong’s Speeches at the Forum on Culture at Yenan.” The latter heavily influenced literary content, thought and writing style in China for the next several decades. Peoples Pictorial and Nationalities Pictorial were also two important sources of new words for the fourth volume of the dictionary. The Tibetan versions of these two periodicals had been launched in 1953 and 1955, respectively. Both magazines featured propaganda about the monumental

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transformations occurring in Tibetan areas at that time, with accompanying photographs. One of the ﬁrst Tibetan editors of People’s Pictorial was the scholar Muge Samten (1923/4–93).

The first Chinese–Tibetan Dictionary Six years after the release of the fourth volume, the Nationalities Publishing House in Beijing began to review and revise all four volumes of The Dictionary of New Terms. This process took five years to complete, and in 1964 a new compilation, The Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary Dictionary, was released with more than 31,000 entries. While this dictionary was based on the four volumes published in the 1950s, it contained many additional words. In the intervening years, a great mass of Chinese communist propaganda and administrative materials had been translated, including nearly all four volumes of The Collected Works of Mao Zedong, which no family could be without during the Cultural Revolution. Three individuals were assigned the task of translating The Collected Works of Mao Zedong: the late scholar Dorje Gyalpo (1913--1992), the late Chinese Tibetologist Liu Liqian (b. 1910), and writer-scholar Jambian Gyamco (b. 1938), now at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Horkhang Sonam Penbar (1919--94) and the Sungrab Gyatso were invited from Lhasa and Amdo, respectively, in order to proofread the translation. Derived in part from these translations, The ChineseTibetan Dictionary (1964) served as a source for a great many new terms that during the Cultural Revolution would become known to all Tibetans, whether literate in Tibetan or not—words such as mi dmangs kung hre (peoples communes) and spyi tshogs ring lugs (socialism). Looking today at the materials published in Central Tibet, Kham and Amdo during the Cultural Revolution, we can still see the influence of local dialect in terms of grammar. However, the standardization of Tibetan terms for governmental administration and revolutionary thought had

=v 1 -%}%%}$-[#-#m-0+#-( m+ -%,k 3n#-14~+-#}##}, -1-;=-1m$-V$-#mE$=-!-X0-06m-9m=-1$-0-+{-+.{-ù,-A=k A ;}-$}-0%t-#(m=-.}A=k +{ - ,m -W-,#-#bo$-#m-NNmm+ -'v=-+1:-*;-< }:-08m-ò=-!0=-9m,-;k W-,#-:$-#m-I}+-3u;-W:-,-NmNNm+ -'v=- “#9},-[s$-“ #m-;} -S-9m,k 0:-!0=-8+m:-W-,#-+$-0}+-"1=-9}$=-=v-]]m-3~#=-:m$-;v#=<<m-UU}0 -#=}-+$-k 8A}AA}:-1{+ -E;-:m1-:m#-#,=-#=:-0I{-&{,-.}k ;m , -+##-"v$-+## ;1-@}@@}#=-UU}0 -#=}-7{:-0-W-0v8m-;=8]o ; -'-3~#=-(m,-#%m#-<$-131=-1-&+-.:< <$-131=-1-&+-.:Ap$-9}+k ;=8]o ; -%m-21->m>>m=-1$-0-(({;-,-*-$+-#=:-0-9$-+{-21->m>>m=-1$8/{ ; -Ap$-k +.{:-,-=}$-1-*#-.8m-&0-NmNNm+ -<<m-;=-8]o;-M1=<<m-1m$-8H-1m,-+$-k ;m,-.{8}-;-+##-.-W#W !0=-<m<<m- “;m,W#+##-"v$-+##-“ W-0v-+$-k )m$-68}-/m,-;-+##-.-W#W !0=W#<<m- “#9=-[s$-D-;}#-Tt $-9,-“ 7{:-0-W-0v8m-1m$-V$-M1=-3n#14~ + -8+m:-*}#-1:-0!}+-9}+k W-9m#-#m-1m$-V$-#$-6m#-+},-;-8'v#-!0=-1m$-3n#-+$A-3n #-0%=-<m<<m-8'v#-;1-1m-8H-9}$-#m-9}+-.-3n#-14~+-8+m:-0}+9m # -_p-9}$-*0=-A=-9} AA=-9}+ k +.{:-,-WW--9m#-#m- 无产阶级专政 7{:-0W-0v-1m$-3n#-+$-AA--3n#-#(m=-!8m-$}-0}:-0{+-]]}+-AA{+-&}#-.-;k 1964 ;} 8 m - 3n#-14~+-ò- “8A}AA}:-1{+ -E;-:m1->m>>m=-NNm+ -+0$-""{:-84n, -AA{+ .-“ 6{=-A-3n#-#%m#-.}8m-$}=-,=-0!}+-9}+-.-;-*{$=-8+m8m-3n#14~ + -ò- “8A}AA}:-1{+ -E;-:m1-#m-NNm+ -+0$-""{:-84n, -“ 6{=-1m$-V$#m - M1-.=-<$-0!} <<$-0!}+-9}+ k 3n#-14~+-8+m-1-0amaam#=-##}, -;-W-#bo$-#m=-0}+-<m<<m-0Lcc}+ -;-#=:-0%}=-< m#-A=-.:k A M1-+A{AA{-Hs#-.8m-8K{KK{;-a8m!0=-=v- “>>m-“ +$- “<<m-“ a-W-0v8m-3n#-8J+-!}!!}:-6 m#-1{+ -.-07}=<m $-k 0}+-9m#-#m-VV{, ->>m-9m-#{-9m#-1#}81-+0v-=o+-+$-9m#-<+=} # =-<m<<m-30-_p-W-9m#-#m-VV{, ->>m-9m-#{-M1=-0{+ -]]}+ -AA{+ -+#}=.:-#),-8"{;-A=-9} AA=-9}+ k 3n#-14~+-8+m8m-,$-0}+-<m<<m-9m-#{-#=:0%} = -+{-+#-#=;-.}:-*},-9}+-+{k +.{:-,-3n#-14~+-8+m8m1m $- “W-0}+-<,-^:-#m-3n#-14~+-“ +$- “8A}AA}:-1{+ -E;-:m1-#mNNm+ -+0$-""{:-84n, - “6{=-.-#(m=-;-8K{KK{;-a- “>>m-“ 9m#-#(m=+#} = -.-#=:-0%}=-A=-){ AA=-){- “#m“ 9m#-0{+-]}]]}+ -AA=-9}+ -.-W-0v8}k +{ - 06m,-3n#-14~+-8#}-0I}+-<m<<m-!0=-=v-0}+-9m#-#m-VV{, ->>m-9m-#{<+-<m<<m-30-_p-W-9m#-#m-VV{, ->>m-9m-#{-#}:-*m#-+$-,#-*m#-=}#=-0{+ ]]}+ -AA=-9}+ k

reached a level of uniformity unprecedented in the history of the Tibetan language (aside from what occurred centuries before in Buddhist terminology), and the realization of such a standard was due to this dictionary.

The second Chinese–Tibetan Dictionary In 1976,

twelve years after the publication of this last

dictionary, another dictionary with the same title, The ChineseTibetan Dictionary Dictionary, was released with more than 53,000 entries, more than four times the number of entries in the 1964 dictionary. The inter\vening twelve years was a period during which Chinese government policy had slipped into extremism. The Chinese government itself has called these the years of “leftist extremism.” Throughout the PRC and including Tibet, campaigns were continuously promulgated. There seemed to be a new one each day: Socialist Education, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the Campaign against Lin Biao and Confucius, Line Education, etc. Each campaign introduced a new set of terms. The1976 dictionary contained the names of the various campaigns just mentioned and their respective slogans, such as “Oppose Lin. Oppose Confucius” and “[beat back the] right deviationist wind” used during the campaign against Deng Xiaoping. In Chinese, it is possible for the same word to serve as different parts of speech. The 1976 dictionary attempted to convey this in Tibetan. For example, Chinese phrases such as wuchang jieji zhuanzheng (proletarian dictatorship) can function either as a verb or a noun. In the 1964 dictionary, this word was simply treated as a verb (i.e., “to rule by the proletariat”) but in 1976 its deﬁnition as a noun was also included. Prior to the compilation of this dictionary, Tibetan grammar had been reformed by the Chinese government. For example, certain genitive or possessive markers (e.g., gyi, kyi kyi) were eliminated. It was also decided that Chinese punctuation

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| 17

WW-0}+-<,-^:->m>>m-3n#-14~+-*-1k AA=-,=-;}-$}-0%}-T“W-0} + -< ,- ^:->m>>m-3n#-14~+-“ +.{-`u,-A=-,=-;}

8#}:-0- 1991 ;}:-9$- “WW-0}+-<,-^:->m>>m-3n#-14~+-“ 7{:-08m3n#-14~+-*-$+-#=:-.-E$=-DmDDm-0WW+-[#-#m-0+#-(m+-%,-6m#*},k 3n#-14~+-8+m-,m-0}+-V}$=-1m-+1$=-+.{-ù,-"$-#m=-@}@@}#=aam#-#m-#2~-8#,-8"v:-6m$-k 13~-##}},-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-+$-k !,-=v8v-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-k =m-DD}},-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-k 9v,-,,-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-k 1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-0%=-W-W-W ,#-+$-0}+-9v;-ò-9}+-.8m-0}+-9m#-#m-+.{-ù,-"$-3$-1-1(18K{KK{;->>m=- 1986 ,=- 1991 ;}-0:- 1976 ;}:-+.{-ù,-A=A A=.8m- “WW-0}+-<,-^:-#m-3n#-14~+-“ O$-#6m-A=-,=-0 A aamm#=k 3n#-14~+-8+m-aam#-1",->>m-,$-ò-1"=-+0$-L}-I{-WW;-.}-+$*v0-0%,-(m-1-M1-#(m=-<m<<m=-13~,-.8m-#}$-#=;-+.{-ù,-"$-=}-=},=-;}-:0=-T-0%t-,=-+.{-ù,-+$-9m#-\w\w:->m>>m-1"=-BB}}$-%,-+$@@m=-=v-0}+-WW8m-!+-9m#-;-^$=-.-*} ^^$=-.-*} $=-.-*},-.8m-#6},-[[{=-<<$-"#-%m#9}+-+}k #}$-ò-QQ{$-08m-WW-0}+-3n#-14~+-3$-1-;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-ò9}+-.-;=k *-$+-#=:-0amaam#=-+{0-06m-0}-+$-*-$+-+{-+#-*}#1:-1$},-=8m-+.{-+{0-;}-:0=-T-0%t-+$-Hs#-%t8m-,$-;-+.{-ù,A A=-.1$-&{-0k 1964 ;}:+.{-ù,-A=-.8m AA=-.8mWW-0}+<,-^:->m>>m-3n#14~+0%=-+.{-14~+"$8+m8m-+.{-+!},"$-ò9}+-+}k ■ ■

should replace traditional Tibetan punctuation, such as the yig mgo or dbu khyud and the shad. All of these Tibetan language reforms are evident in this dictionary. For example, even in the title of this dictionary gi is used instead of gyi, as was the case in the Tibetan term for “proletarian dictatorship” (‘byor med gral rim g[y]i srid dbang sger ‘dzin). Similarly, in the introduction to the dictionary, periods and commas are used in place of the Tibetan shad.

The latest Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary In 1991,

some ﬁfteen years after the publication of The

Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary Dictionary, another dictionary was published with the same title but now 80,000 entries. While the TAR People’s Publishing House served as the chief editing body, all of the Tibetan publishing houses in China and Tibetan areas (i.e. the nationalities publishing houses of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Beijing) worked in co-operation from 1986-1991 to compile the volume, basing it upon the 1976 version of The Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary. Among those who worked on this last dictionary were great scholars (e.g. Dorje Gyalpo and Thubten Nyima) and staff who had gained experience in publishing and translation at the various publishing houses during the 1950s, as well as a new corps of young people who had studied both Tibetan and Chinese. All of the dictionaries discussed above can be found at Latse Library. In particular, the four volumes of The Dictionary of New Terms and many of the published documents from the 1950s and 1960s that served as sources for these new terms, as well as The Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary published in 1964,

1991 ;}:-+.{-`u,-A=-.8m-W0}+-<,-^:->m-3n#-14~+-*-1k The latest edition of The

Chinese-Tibetan Dictionary Dictionary, published in 1991.

18 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

are housed in the Rare Book Collection.■ ■

Translated by Lauran Hartley

H,-*}k "}-0}8m-1*}$-*}=-<<mm-9v;-`o->o:-08m-

+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=E#=-+$-k "}$-#m-3n#-144~~+-

0L-+#-1$m -3#n -#=;-08m-!!}:} -:#=-21-QQ{${ -0k ■

“

>}:-"$-AA1=1=-.-0%,-+:k

0L-+#-1m$-3n#-#=;-0” 81-9}$=-E#=-=v- “+#{-0<{=-&}=-

E#=-” 6{=-.8m-3n#-14~+-+{8m-14+-.-.}-+#{-0<{=-&}=-<<m-E#=.-,m-=-=m==m-]]m-;}- 1898 ;}:-=}#-9v;-)}))}-:=-*v-6{=-.:-8Ds$=k +]o$-;}-0ò,-0W+WW+-21-;-8Ds$=-9v;ò-13~-"-QmQQm$-6{=-.8m-+#},-.-6m#-9}+.:-&}=-bo#=-14+k +{:-9m-#{-8KmKKmPP}#-+$-&}=-]]}+-^$=k ^ +]o$-;}-(m-coP-T-21-;-E}EE}#=-.}-"-<=-+$-0&&}$=,=-[-=:-&}=-A{AA{+-.:-KK}=-/{0=-<<m=={-:-A{AA{=-0=1-RR}-"$-3,-ò-UU}0-#({:#,$-k &u-A-]m]]m-;}- 1933 21-;WW-#:-,=-.C-@m-)-:-dp-;- (1893– 1963) 7{:-0-[-=:-8A}AA}:-,=-1"=+0$-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;-+$-+#{0<{=-&}=-E#=-#(m=-W-#:-ò WW-#:-ò#+,-8H{HH{,-bo=-8ò#-<<$-+#{-0<{=&}=-E#=-<m<<m=-/{0=-8+}+-1-#,$-k 9m,-,-9$-;}-:{-7v$-#m-I{=-=v- -"}$-W-W-W #:-;-#,=-!}!!}:-ò-/{0=k +{-ò=-!;},-)t)t#-_p-1*:-@@m,-)-)t-7{:-0-0}+9m#-#m-3#=-.:- “9v;-@}@@}#=-=}-=}8m-

MEMOIR

The

GESHE CHÖDRAK I Knew And

HIS DICTIONARY ■ Horkhang

Jampa Tendar

Geshe Chökyi Drakpa, author of the dictionary Brda dag ming tshig gsal pa—or as the volume is more popularly called “Geshe Chödrak’s Dictionary”—was born

A photograph of Geshe Chödrak.

in the Mongolian region of Buryatia in the Earth-Dog Year (1898). At the age of seven or eight, he became a monk at a monastery near his birthplace Tsokaling. There he studied reading and writing, as well as religious practice. When he was about 25 years old, he ran away to Lhasa with several friends in order to practice religion, and subsequently joined Jey Samlo College at Sera Monastery. In about the Water-Bird Year (1933), Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963), an Indian scholar, came to Lhasa and invited the scholar Gedun Choephel and Geshe Chödrak to India. The latter declined his offer, but a few years later traveled to India for the purposes of pilgrimage. During that trip, he met Tharchin Bhabu, founder of the Kalimpong-based Tibetan

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 19

#=:-8>o:-#=;-08m-1{-;}$-” 7{:-0-#=:newspaper, The Tibetan Mirror. In about 8+},-#,$-1",-+{-+$-*v#-,=-$}-<{=-=v->o:k the Fire-Bird Year (1936), an American 1{-AAm-]]m-;} 1936 21-;-?-:m-.-)-,:named Bernard arrived in Lhasa, 7{:accompanied by Tharchin Bhabu who was (Theos Casimir Bernard (1908–47) 0-6m#-#m=-1*:-@m@@m,-)-)t-!+-\w\w:-:1-@#-:} @@#-:}#=serving as Bernard’s interpreter. Bernard ;-DmDDmm+-,=-[-=:-9}$-,=-0}+-9v;->>m-0!8was collecting texts, including the Kanjur 0%,->m>>m=-13~,-.8m-+.{-&-1$-.}-83~;-&q+-A=A A=and Tanjur Tanjur, in different Tibetan areas. .:k +#{-0<{=-&}=-<m<<m-E#=-.-1&}#-,=-"}$Geshe Chödrak helped the two men #(m=-;-#=v$-:0-<m<<m-+!:-&#-aam#-:}#=-#,$-k prepare a list of all they had collected. +!:-&#-amaam#-=-3-:}$-#7m1-<#-_p-9m,-.This list was compiled in the Tsarong +$-/-+1-.8m-9v1-3|-0K,-a}aa};-+!:-,m-3-:}$House. My paternal grandmother is the 60=-.+-+0$-@p#-W;-.} WW;-.}8m-N=-1}-9m,-6m$-k daughter of Tsarong zhabs pad Wangchuk 3-:}$-#7m1-<#-_p-9$-9$-/{0=-!0=-+#{Gyalpo. Thus, she would frequently 0<{=-&}=-E#=-+$-1';-0-+$-k )-)tvisit the Tsarong House and see Geshe 1*:-@m@@m,->>m=-$}-cc}+-#,$-8}#-"}$-"}-0}8m-/-+1Chödrak working there. Bhabu Tharchin .8m-:m#-#,=-+#{-G,-ò-#+,-bo-#,$-k introduced them to each other, and Geshe ò=-+{-,=-07v$-"}$-M1-#(m=-+#{-G,-+#{-Js#Chödrak became my father’s classical #m-8K{KK{;-0-&#=-.:-'$-k Tibetan studies (rig gnas) teacher. From 0}+-:0-Ap$- 16U#=-cucu;-]m]]m-;}-1941 then on, my father and Geshe Chödrak ;}:-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-,=-+#{-0<{=-[-:1=shared the close relationship of teacher 8/:-1-0)$-%{%%{-+#{-0<{=-<<m-13,-#,=-06{=k The wife of Geshe Chödrak, Acha (Mrs.) and student. 1946 ;}:-8-%#-#m-8#;-0-8ò1-*0=- Metok of Rinpong. She is now deceased. In the Iron-Snake Year (1941), 1{+-.:->o:-%m$-k ={:-A{AA{=-1",-.}-+#{-0<{=-0%,-+:-;#=-<$< Geshe Chödrak obtained his geshe lharampa degree. But, <$+{8m-7m$-&8m-,$-ò-VV{,-8+=-=v-=}$-k 1",-.}-+{-,m-@@m-=}#-,$-=}#- in 1946 the controversy between the Reting regent and Taktra #(m=-;=-#$-9m,-R}RR}-;-1m-${=-<<$-"}$-=}#-.}-6m#-9m,-.:-'$-k had escalated +#{-0<{=-1&}#-,=-1",-.}-+{-VV{,-8+=-=v-=}$-0-;-*v#=-/1-3+- beyond compromise 1{+-#,$-6m$-k :$-#m-1",-.}-0C}CC}$=-=8m-+#},-.-;-0&+-+$-1- and lead to the 0&+-=+-.:==+-.:-1m-8ò#-#=v$-,=-+#},-.:-1-0bo#=-.-:{+k +{- death of Geshe ,=-07v$-+#{-0<{=-1&}#->}:-"$-#7m#-<#-_p-0bo#=-<m<<m-9}+-%0=- Tendar, the abbot 1m-M1=-<m<<m=-"}$-;->}:-"$-+#{-0<{=-6{=-80}+-<<m-9}+k of Sera Jey. The 1

+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-<m<<m-==m1-3$-k 0}+-:0-ApAp$- 16 1{-/#-]m]]m-;}-1947;},=-"}-0}8m-90-+1-.-&0-1+}:-1+}-]]m8m-[Pt8m-/}#=-+.},-`o-0!!}-06#-#,$-%%{-$-3~20 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

The daughter of Geshe Chödrak, Penpa Tsamchoe. She is still living.

,$-1m-3$-1-+{:-U#=-%#- 1951 latter was a Mongolian. (I don’t recall if it was 0:-ò-&&}+-+#}=-Ap$-k ò=-!0=Outer or Inner Mongolia.) Geshe Chödrak +{8m-:m$-;-[-=8m->}:-"$-#7m1-<#was terribly saddened by the death of this _p-#7m1-<#-;-0+#-#({:-A{AA{+-1",abbot and remarked, “Now that my abbot #({:-.-+$-#9}#-.}-0&+-9}+-*}#has died, I don’t care whether I stay at the +#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-;#=-<$<<$->}:monastery or not.” And from then on, Geshe "$-,=-"$-.-#9:-,=-0bo#=k stayed at the Horkhang house and became +{-ò=-+-ò$->}:-"$-"$-"}$=-<m<<m-1}known as “Horkhang Geshe.” 9,-9m,-.-#={:-07}-&{,-1}-+0$-8ò+;#=-bo-0-+{8m-0v8m-1,8-1-,=-#}Family Life ;}#-.8m-0v-1}-1{-)}#-7{:-0-6m#-9}+.-+{-+$-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-#(m=-0:In the Fire-Pig Year (1947), my 8K{KK{;-0-Ap$-%{%%{-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-#m=father was appointed financial manager for [-=:-800-Wv8m-*v#=-*#-0%+-8ò# the Commissioner General Lhalu in Chamdo. +{-+},-"}-0}8m-90-+1-.=-1=={,-){-&0Our entire family stayed in Chamdo until the 1+}-,=-"}$-;-@#@ KKm=-/v;-){-+{-W:@#Iron-Tiger Year (1951). During that period, #,$-1m-8}=-.-+$-k &&}1-.-[:-#=}Geshe Chödrak continued to reside in the #,$-!q;-bo=-8ò#-.:k +#{-0<{=twin sons of Geshe Chödrak, Wangdu Horkhang house, in addition to servants and 1&}#-+{-;-1-+>{>>{=-){-"}-0}8m-90-+1-.- The (right) and Dawa Tsering (left). 1960. those who stayed behind to look after the ;- “=={+-:$-3~-!q-H#-7{:-0-+{-8H-:$house. At that time there was a tenant in the :{+k R-1-&{,-.}-+$-k Es0-&{,k ##=-.-Wv+-84n,-=}#=Horkhang house by the name of Metok, the former wife of 1m-H#-3~=-0v+-1{+-0%{%%{,-,-+{-;-#=$-9v1-+$-k 1"8-8E}EE}-1k the son of the master goldsmith Wangdu. She had separated 0+#-1}-=}#=-1m$-$,-.}-8+}#=-Wv-9}+-.-+$-k $-3~-f-.-+0v;- from her husband and returned to the Horkhang home. When /}$=-<m<<m=-0v+-1{+-0%%{,-,-f-;}#-+$-k 80:-"}# /-G,-=}#=- she and Geshe Chödrak began to have a relationship, Geshe 1m$-$,-#-:{-8+}#=-+#}=-.-0=1-.-A{AA{+-1",-:{+-“ %{=-0!8-0<}<<},- decided to become a lay person. My father in Chamdo #,$-8ò# !0=-+{-ò=-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;-;#=-[-=-6};-;=- came to know about this and wrote to his teacher about how "v$=-<m<<m-02~,-"$-ò-0bo#=-9}+-%m$-k /-+1-.8m-0!8-1$#=-W:- Geshe Chödrak should not have done this and urged him to +#{-0<{=-1&}#-"}$-;-9$-9$-1';-0:-/{0=-<m<<m-9}+-.:-'$-k renew his vows. Geshe Chödrak responded by criticizing my >}:-"$-1m-3$-&0-1+}-,=-[-=:-;}#-!0=-+#{-0<{=-1&}#- father: “All you aristocrats are the same. When great lamas, +$-1{-)}#-;#=-#(m=-078-3~:->o:-3:-){-1{-)}#-;#=-;-1$;- yogis, and the lineage of ngakpa stay with women, you use 9$-dudu1-3:-8ò# +#{-0<{=-1&}#-;-"}1-.-Ap$-!0=-/-+1fancy terms for the woman: “tantric partner,” “dakini,” and .8m-=:-9$-9$-/{0=-,=-0!8-1};-#,$-#m-9}+k !0=-:{-+#{- “high consort.” When poor monks stay with women, you 0<{=-1&}#-,=-+{-:m$-<-1}#-1}#-07}=-9}+-7{:-,=-"}-0}8m-90-+1- think up terrible names to call him: disrobed monk, ‘bar khog .-+$-$-3~-!+-#)}$-0-#,$-#m-9}+k +#{-0<{=-1&}#-<-1}#-1}#- [derogatory term for a monk], old man, etc.” This was the 07}-1"=-.}-6{-H#-:{+k "}$-#m=-!q-H#-#m-1}#-1}#-&u$-&u$-+{-1m- period when Gedun Choephel was in the Lhasa Shol prison, 07}-0:-f-.8m-1}#-1}#-&{,-.}-+{-07}-#m-9}+k (m,-6m#-#m-6}#=-.- and Geshe Chödrak went to see him frequently at my father’s FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 21

+#{-0<{=-1&}#-,=-($-ò-Js-]o-#(m=-0'1=-){-/-+1-.-;- “!q-$}#7m#=-+$-k 1{-)}#-;-Js-]o-0v-#(m=-[{[[{=-=}$-k” 6{=-1({=-3~:&{,-.}-#,$-0-ò=-+-W8$-"}-0}8m-1m#-;1-ò-[$-[$-8&:->m>>m-8ò# 0v-#%m#-#m-1m$-;-S-0-3|-:m$-+$-k #%m#-;-+0$-8ò+-6{=8+}#=-#,$-14+-8ò# +{-#(m=-<m<<m=-;}-:0=-0WW+-%t8m-1'v#21-+$-+]o-0%t8m-8#}-21-;-&$-:#-;-1({=-H#-.8m-VV{,->>m=-#@@m:-3|-;=-8+=-=}$-k ]]m-;}-1966 9=-1=-21-6m#-;-1{-)}#;#=-;-0v-1}-6m#-[{[[{=-.-1m$-;-(({,-.-131=-#%}+-7{:-0-+{-+-W0&+-9}+k ?-%#-1{-)}#-;#=-/;-&{:-]m]]m-;}- 1957 21-,=-[-=:9{-<{=-0%,-.-7{:-0=-02t#=-.8m-""{:->>m-F$-8"}:-+$-)#-)#-07}0%}=-W#-=WW#-=-6m#-9}+-.-+{:-@@#-;=-#,$-0:-/{0=-.-+$-k 1959 ;}-,=-07v$-[-=:-5-QmQQm$-F$-8"}:-07}-0%}=-1(1-;=-7{:-08m-F$8"}:-+$-)#-)#-07}-0%}=-W#-=WW#-=-6m#-9}+-.-+{:-@#-;=-#,$-0:@ /{0=-<m<<m-9}+k !0=-+{:-[-=8m-Js-]o-M1=-<m<<m=- “F$-#-:m;-07}(,-?-%#-1{-)}#“ 7{:-08m-+#}+-K}KK}-08m-#6=-6m#-<<$-#)}$-#m-8ò#.-+-W-H,-.8m-9v;-ò-#=;k 1{-)}#-;#=- 1985 ;}8m-,$-#:>>m-0bo#=-"$->}:-"$-0:-*}#-_p-0$r,-1,:->m>>m=-8+=k

request.

0L-+#-1m$-3n#-#=;-0-.:-`u,k

Repair Cooperative. I still remember children in Lhasa

“0L-+#-1 m $-3n # - #=;-0- “ 6{ = -A-08m - 3n # -1 4~ + -+{ -> } :-"$-

Repairwoman.” In 1985, Metok passed away at the

#7m1-<#-#m=-^m^^m,-0+#-A=-,=A 1949 ;}:- .:-ò-0F}=-Es0k /;-&{:-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;->m>>m-+{0-*{:-+!:-.}-9$-;}-+{:-.:-ò-0F}08m-;=-8#}-3u#=-.:-'$-k +{0-*{:-+!:-.}-9$-.:-ò-0F}-08m^^m,-0+#-"}-0}8m-/-+1-.=-#,$-,-9$-k .:-9m#-;-bo=-+##)}$-1",-+$-.:-0F}8m-;=-8+}1=-#,$-1",-3$-1-+#{-0<{=&}=-E#=-;#=-:$-:{+k +{-06m,-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;-;#="}-0}8m-90-+1-.-+$-:!-:-:m,-.}-&{-;-*}#-18m-ò=-=v-$}-cc}+-#,$,",-9$-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-:{+k +#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;-;#=02~,-"$-,=-Q}QQ}+-.-;-"#-"v:-#,$-1m-"-<=-Ap$-9}+-.-;=-#%m#<<$-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-9m,-.:-'$-k <<m-<m$-.:“0L-+#-1 m $-3n # -#=;-0- “ 6{ = -A-08m - 3n # -1 4~ + -<m +{-+#{-&}=-E#=-;#=-,=-:m#-#=:-!0=-+1m#=-1{+-ò-1-=}$0:-:$-#m->}:-"$-0bo#=-<#-_p-(:-9}+k 0bo#=-<#-_p-3n#14~+-+{-.:-ò-8+{0=-!0=-'#-3-^}^^}$-0-+$-k .:-8+{0=-.k 22 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

When the Horkhang family returned to Lhasa, Geshe Chödrak and Metok were already husband and wife, and Metok was pregnant. In his free time, Geshe Chödrak would often visit to chat with my father. Sometimes Geshe would announce: “I have made momos!” and would invite our family to eat at his place. Geshe was very good at making meat dumplings. He made not the tiny momos of aristocrats, but the large momos of monks. One morning, Geshe arrived with two newborns in his arms. “Look, sir!” He said to my father. “Metok bore two children!” I can still the joy on his face. He named one boy Dawa Tsering and the other Wangdu. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, both sons died from drinking too much. Around 1966, Metok bore a girl named Penpa Tsamchoe, who is still alive today. In 1957, Metok was working in a bicycle and motorcycle repair shop opened in Lhasa by Yeshe Tenpa. From 1959, she started working at the Waling Bicycle

singing a humorous song called “Auntie Metok the Bicycle

Horkhang house, where she had earlier resided.

Publishing the Brda dag ming tshig gsal ba Under the patronage of the Horkhang family, the woodblocks to print the Brda dag ming tshig gsal ba [Orthographical Dictionary] were ﬁnally completed in 1949. I think the woodblocks for Gedun Choephel’s White Annals may also have been carved that year. They too were sponsored by my father, but Geshe Chödrak took responsibility for proofreading the White Annals and coordinating the woodblock carving. He was also the person who ﬁrst introduced Gedun Choephel to my father and Rakra

(m-1:-!{!!{1=-.k +{0-_p-0amaam;-0-3$-1-"}$-:$-#m=-#,$-#m-9}+k +{0-_p-07}=-.-M1=-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-:$-#m=-D}DD}1-;-0'1=-,=02~$-%{%%{-83~-*0=-<<m-"-''},-#,$-k 1951 ;}-,=-+#{-0<{=-1&}#(m,-W:-0}+-V}$=-(m,-:{8m-3#=-.:-;=-"v$=-;-@#-;=-#,$@ @#-;=-#,$0:-/{0=-<m<<mm-8ò# 6}:-ò-1v-1*v+-,=-<m$-.:->m>>m- “0L-+#-1m$3n#-#=;-.-“ .:-8+{0=-+$-0}+-<}#-#m-+{0-07}=-,=-3~$-0-#,$#m-8ò# "}-0}-9$-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-#m-.:-8+{0=-#,$-=:-W+1}-0W-0:-8E}EE}-#m-9}+k "}$-#m=-.:-8+{0=-#,$-I{=->}:-"$#m-*}#-U#-ao0-<m<<m-%%{$-;-0C1-,=-'#-3-!1-.-#,$-#m-9}+-%m$-k (m,-6m#-Q}QQ}-0v:-Tt$-+]o-83u0-%m#-0WW0-,=-"}$-#m=-(m-1:-!1-.8m3n#-14~+-<<mm-<}#-[{-M1=-Tt$-.}=-=={:-,=-,1-1"8-#$-0-+$-k :{8#8-[-=8m-({-8+0=-0v1-.-:m8m-P{-;-7#=-.-:{+k +#{-0<{=1&}#-/-+1-.8m-=:-/{0=-,=-*v#=-/1-&{,-.}=- “+-$8m-3n#-14~+3$-1-TtTt$-.}=-=={:-=}$-“ #=v$=-.-+$-k /-+1-.-+{=-+#{-0<{=;#=-;- “*v#=-D;-1-#,$-k +{-&q#-.}-:$-9m,-+}#=-1{+k $=-A=-,-3n AA=-,-3n#-14~+-+{-=-@@}#=-#$-=:-==0-.8m-K{,-8KK{;-W-0v-1m,,1-$1->m>>m-8ò#“ %{=-={1=-#=}-W-0v-#,$-0-"}-0}8m-9m+-;-#=;.}:-H,->m>>m-8ò# @@m=-=v-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-#m=-+.{-ù,-A=-I{ AA=-I{=3n#-14~+-+{-"}-0}8m-90-+1-.=-#=v$=-.-,$-06m,-#$-=:-=0-.= :{+k /-+1-.=-1m-"#-%m#-#m=-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-<m<<m-+#9m#- “0L-+#-1m$-3n#-#=;-0-“ +{-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;->m>>m=-P}1.-#,$-,=-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-<m<<m=-:$-#m-1m$-0WW0-,=-0)},-.:{+-7{:->m>>m-9}+-.-:{+k +{-8H-#),-,=-1-:{+k +#{-0<{=-&}=E#=-+$-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;-;#=-#(m=-*v#=-8HmHHm=-&{,-.}-9}+2$-+#-9m#-P}1-%$=-!}!!}:-;-),-),-0!8-1};-8H-Ap$-9}+-<m<<m-:{+k "}$-,m-#bo$-.}-)m-T-;-#7m#=-B}BB}$-0-+$-k $,-$#-=v1-K#=->%$-9#-.}-1=={,-.-1-7+k =}#-.}8m-!+-9m#-<$<<$->-%$-1"=-.}:{+k !q-9},-&{,-.}-:{+k "}$-*v#=-Wv+->-%$-H$-.}-9}+-%m$-k #6,->m>>m=-AA=-.-+{-$=-AA=-.-9m,-#=v$-1",-+{-8H-P-0-,=-1-:{+k +#-9m#-+{8m-1'v#-A$-#m AA$-#m-P}1-+{-1"=-+0$-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;;#=-:$-#m-V#=-P}1-:{+k "}$-#m=-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-;#,$-0-:{+-%{=-9$-9$-#=v$-B}BB}$-k +#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-1&}#-,=-0}+-V}$=-(m,-:{8m-3#=-.:"$-;-@#-;=-#,$@ @#-;=-#,$!0=-3n#-14~+-+{-;-"-!}!!}$-#,$-8+}+-<<m=;=-"v$=-<m<<m-@@#-;=-6}:-ò-1m$-3n#-1m-^p$-0-6m#-0&q-:v0-#,$-0-"}-

Rinpoche, and he joined others in signing a guarantee for the release of Gedun Choephel from prison. Before the Cultural Revolution, when the woodblocks for the dictionary Brda dag ming tshig gsal ba disappeared, Geshe Chödrak kept the blocks in his room at the Horkhang house. He printed the dictionary in his own living quarters and did all of the work himself: mixing the ink, printing the pages, drying them in the sun, binding the volume. Geshe Chödrak would then carry the volumes to market and sell them for additional income. Starting in 1951, Geshe Chödrak worked every day at the ofﬁce of the Tibet Daily. On the side, he continued manually printing the dictionary for sale. I used to go to Geshe Chödrak’s place to watch him. Once the pages had been printed, he would spread them out on the western [side of the] roof for the ink to dry. One day a sudden and strong wind swept up the papers and they ﬁlled the sky. Some reached as far as the nearby peak of Bumpa Mountain. With great disappointment, Geshe Chödrak went to see my father and said, “The wind has carried all of my dictionaries away.” I clearly remember my father consoling him. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Perhaps this is more than a misfortune. Couldn’t the scattering of your dictionary be an auspicious symbol?” Indeed, the dictionary later reached far and wide, as my father predicted, with its publication by the Nationalities Publishing House in 1957. I remember my father remarking on several occasions: “Some people say that Gedun Choephel wrote Geshe Chödrak’s dictionary and that Geshe Chödrak simply published it under his own name. It was not at all like that. Geshe Chödrak and Gedun Choephel were very close friends, so they must have discussed the compilation of this dictionary. However, Geshe Chödrak himself had read all of the major religious texts; he was not only an expert in classical poetry and grammar, but he also knew the Mongolian language. He was highly talented and

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0}=-<$-+$} <<$-+$}=-=v-1*}$-BB}$-k 1m$-3n#-+{-+#-<}#-[{&u$-&u$-1$-.}-6m#-#m%%{$-;-0aam#=-8ò#-;k +{$-=$-0=1-R}RR}-0)$-,":-@m-7{:-0-+{-9m,-.-8Hk /;-&{:-":-@m-+{-8H-&m#-DmDDm[#-1{+-+1-$1k :m##,=-#=:-0I{8m-!0=-+#{0<{=-1&}#-;-=v8v-;{,-07}0%}=-:m$-;v#=-.8m-^p;1-:{+-%{=-({=-1m$-0!;-){8*0-P}+-+$-7v:-0!#-#$1$-BB}}$-+#}=-ApAp$$--0:-0K{,k 1v-1*v+-,=-B}BB}$-+}#=<<m=-"}$-#m-!q-S-1{-)}#;#=-<m<<m=-+#{-0<{=1&}#-#m-+.{-+{0-+$-9m#-: m#=-#$-1$-6m#-1{:On the right is Horkhang Sonam 0N{NN{#=-0)$-08m-DD}+Pelbar’s son (and the author of this piece) with Geshe Chödrak’s son Dawa ò-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-#m=Tsering (left). :$-#m-3n#-14~+-;-#=:-'}''},-#,$-8&:->>m-1m$-3n#-+{-+#-<<$-9}+k (m,-6m#-"}$-#m=-"}-0}8m-/-+1-.:- “$8m-+.{-&-+$-k +#-9m#-"!!}$-07}-Wv8m-<}#-[{-M1=-+A{AA{-0-@@{-;}$-1{+-.:-1{-)}#-;#=-<<m=-1{0N{NN{#=-0)$-=}$-k "}-:$-3~-Rr#=-.-9m,-2$-/,-*}#=-9}+-1{++A{AA{-0-@@{-;}$-1{+-.:-1{-0NN{#=-0)$-=}$-k /$=-.-;k“ 7{:-#=v$8ò#

9m+-[}[[}-08m-3|-1'v# :m#-#,=-#=:-0I{8m-0:-+<m<<m;-21-:{+k

+#{-0<{=-1&}#-:m##,=-#=:-0I{8m-,$-Cs$-$-#}-WW;-;-9}$=-<<m-<{=-9},-%,-G,-E=-#6,+#-+$-8H-0:-+{$-ò=-#=:-0I{:-$}-G};-.-+$-k =v8v-;{,- (:-<m-9-) 07}-0%}=-:m$-;v#=-.8m-#=$-^p;-:{+-=}#=-1-({=-"-#9}#-#m=9v,-:m$-+##-.-+$-8*0-P}+-7v:-0!#-0%=-0)$-,=-+!8-&q#-&{,.}-BB}$-+#}=-.-Ap$-8ò# +{-ò=-+#{-0<{=-1&}#->}:-"$-#m-0:24 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

very honest. He would never claim credit for work done by someone else. While the [poem in the] afterword of the dictionary was written by Gedun Choephel, he had given it to Geshe Chödrak.” While Geshe Chödrak was working at the Tibet Daily Daily, he still wanted to expand the dictionary. He continued to collect a great number of entries, which I myself saw. These words were written on countless small papers. They must have been like what we today call “index cards.” He probably had more than ten thousand such cards. Later, during the Cultural Revolution Geshe Chödrak underwent a great deal of hardship; he was accused of being a “Soviet revisionist spy,” struggled, and then kept in isolation. Fearing that he would continue to face such atrocities, his wife burnt whatever books and writings she could ﬁnd—including his dictionary entries. One day, he told my father: “Metok was not able to distinguish between my books and my notes for expanding the dictionary, so she burned them. They are fools. They couldn’t distinguish between what was valuable and not, and burned them! What a disappointment!”

Sad Parting It was the

middle of the Cultural Revolution. Geshe

Chödrak, like other older intellectuals in China, was the victim of unfounded accusations, such as “Active Counterrevolutionary,” “Soviet Revisionist spy,” etc. He suffered for a very long time and was opposed, struggled and kept in isolation. Geshe Chödrak stayed on the second ﬂoor of the Horkhang home. Both he and my father were considered enemies of the proletariat and were severely restricted with people assigned to watch them. They had contact with no one. When I graduated from school in 1965, I was sent to work in Chamdo. My ﬁrst home leave was not until

*}#-@#@@#-14~+-"$-ò-0bo#=-8ò# /-+1-.-+$-+#{-0<{=-;#==}#=-E;-:m1-+E-0}:-0Pm=-){-+1-H#->-%$-&{,-.}-AA=-,=-&{+1$#=-=}-W-A{AA{+-1",-9$-06#-%%{-1m-=v-+$-8KK{;-0-AA{+-0%t#-#m-1m8ò# $-:$- 1965 ;}:-U}UU}0-/-*},-I{=-&0-1+}-"v;-ò-;=-0#}=0W0-,=W 1971 ;}:-=m==m1-ò-8"}:-6#-;-*{$=-+$-.}:-9}$-!0=-$W0-,=#=$-%0=-<m<<m=-+#{-0<{=-;-1';-0:-@@m,-.-9m,k "}$-0$r,-,:>>m=-#7m1-DDm8m-%%{$-#7m1-,=-0bo#=-8ò# +0v-`-9$-+!:VV$-&#=-8ò#-;-6;-:-9$-1-06:-0:-:m$-.}-&#=-8ò# $,%}#-#m=-6{-H#-#=,->m>>m-1m-8ò# "}$-#m-!q-S-1{-)}#-;#=-,=-!+co#=-&{-21->m>>m=- “N=-!q-60=-/{0=-=}$-” 6{=-bo=-=}$-0=-"}$-#m]],-;-&u-6#-8"}:-,=-:{-6m#-"}-0}:-#7m#=-,=-0!8-1};-#=v$-*v0<<m-1m-8ò# +{-,=-9v+-21-=}$-I{=-$8m-;#-.-,=-8'v-#,$-%{%%{- “ :m#-#,=-#=:-0I{-7{:-0->-%$-4-H#-+$-7m$-&-&{-0=-={=={{+-:$-#m-..-.rr ;#=-;-6{+-'$-&{,-.}-Ap$-9}+-<m<<m-:{+k $-#(m=-<m<<m-8KK{;-08m-!!}:;-6{+-'$-A{AA{{+-+#}=-+},-1{+-%{=-.-.-;#=-;-.rr bo=-?$-” 6{=-#=v$=,=-],]],-&0-<<$-0=m;->>m-8ò#-.=-"}-0}-9$-+0$-1{+-ò-$v-<}:-Ap$-k "}$-#m-!q-8E1-ò-)}#-21-&}&&}+-8+}+-[[{=-<<$-+{-ò=-+1-H#-&{-0:0K{,-&}&&}+-1-ao=-.:-#-;{:-*},k +{-,=-&0-1+}:-;}#-,=-9v,-:m$1-=}$-0:-+#{-0<{=-1&}#- 1972 ;}:-+#}$=-.-Q}#=-<m$-k !q-#<{#=-!0=-+]o$-;}- 75 /{0=-8ò# ]]m-;}- 1976 ;}:-:m#-#,=-#=:-0I{-7{:-0-+{-1'v#-0amaam;,=-Cs$-#}8m-NNm+-'v=-(m,-06m,-'{-07$-ò-=}$-*}#-:m#-#=:-!0=-1({=-"-#9}#-/}#-1",-M1=-;-+!:-8+},-A{AA{+-.8m-ò=-!0=-<m#<<$-<:k !0=-+{:-/-+1-.-+{=-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-;-({=-1{+-+!:8+},-9}$-08m-[0=-8'v#-bo-0:-3#=-.:-;=-"v$=-;-9$-9$/{0=-.-"}-0}8m-H,-.8m-9v;-ò-#=;k +{-ò=-3#=-.:-;=-"v$=<<m-+0v-84n,-#,$-1",-0%,-84n,-Os8v-%m=-*v#=-"v:-&{-06{=-#,$%%{-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-#m-,$-1m-0v-Js#-3~:-={1=-#=}-+$-d#=-+#8-({EE}$-.-3$-1-84~1=-=:-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-;-,#-({=-#$-9$-1m8ò#-%{=-+!:-8+},-#,$-0-1-7+k 3#=-.:-;=-"v$=-=v-9$"}$-;-B-$,-bo-08m-3~#=-8ò-6m#-<$-3~ <<$-3~#=-){-;=-AA{+-.8m-DD}+-ò"}$-;-,#-({=-1{+-.8m-+!:-8+},-#,$-8ò# ■ ■

1971. While in Lhasa, I secretly went to see Geshe. He lay bedridden. His hair had turned totally white, and his beard was long. He could not hear very well. His wife Metok told him in a rather loud voice, “Mr. Horkhang’s son has come.” Geshe’s eyes started to fill with tears. He looked at me for a moment, but couldn’t speak. Then, after some time, he took my hand and said, “The ‘cultural revolution’ has been very harsh and chaotic; your father must be very scared. Tell your father that there is no need to be afraid of his and my relationship.” As he cried, I too began to weep. Though I wanted to stay longer, I was unable to do so because of the restrictions at that time and slowly left. Geshe Chödrak died in 1972, shortly after I had returned to Chamdo. He was 75 years old. In 1976, the Cultural Revolution ended and China’s policy improved with each day. Eventually, those who had been falsely accused during the Cultural Revolution were exonerated. I still clearly remember how my father would in those days visit the newspaper office to ask that Geshe Chödrak be exonerated. The head of the newspaper office was Party General-Secretary Tenzin. He showed great concern and consoled Geshe Chödrak’s children and other family members. At a gathering of Geshe’s friends, neighbors, and family, the General-Secretary stated: “Geshe Chödrak was in no way guilty.” During a memorial organized at the newspaper offices, he again exonerated Geshe Chödrak in front of the staff, saying that the Mongolian teacher had been innocent.■ ■

Translated by Lauran Hartley

*The author is referring to Theos Casimir Bernard (1908–47), an explorer and scholar of religion who spent sixteen months in Tibet during 1936–37. See Paul Hackett, "Theos Casimir Bernard," <http://c250.columbia.edu/ c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/theos_casimir_bernard.html>.

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0L-+#With more than 26,000 terms, the Brda dag 1m$-3n#-#=;-081-$#-WvWv,,--ò-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=#=-6{=-<$<$-E#=-.k ming tshig gsal ba—or as it is more popularly called “Geshe 0}+-WW--3n#-14~+-&{,-1}-1-ApAp$$--##}},-;-0}+-<<mm-3n#-14~+-9}$=-<<mm-+0v-E;-ò- Chödrak’s Dictionary”—was the most comprehensive Tibetan 0bo#=-.-+{-,m-=}#-9v;-ò-8Ds$=-){-0}+-ò-!q-3|-0[[;-08m-1"=-&{,-+#{- dictionary in existence prior to the publication of the Great 0<{=-&}=-<E#=<m<m- .-(1998-1972)1&}#-#m=-1946 ;}:-0P1=-Es0- Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary in 1985. The Brda dag ming tshig %m$-k 1949 ;}:->}:-"$-#7m1=-<#-#m=-^^mm,-0+#-#,$-%%{-<m$-.:-ò- gsal ba [Orthographical Dictionary] was completed in 1946 by the scholar Geshe Chökyi Drakpa (1898-1972), who was born 0)0k 3n#-14~+-+{8m-^:^:-AA$-$-#m-+}+-ò-P}1-.-.}=- “[[m+-;-&q#-.8m-8'm#- in Mongolia but spent most of his life in Tibet. The woodblocks K{,-1m-9v;-8+m:kk <m-9$-@@mm-1m#-0W-08m-:{-0-9m=kk [[{-0}-*1=-%+- for the dictionary were carved in 1949 under the patronage of :$-#m-;#-I{=-21kk co;-ò-;v=-.8m-80+-.-$$-#m=-AA{{+kk” 6{=-- the Horkhang family. 0P#=#=-1-*#-_p-RR}}-;-8AA:-:-8EE}-08m-<}In the afterword to the volume, the author writes: “In this ;}-!-T-%,-6m#-#m-1'v#-_p- “%{=-.-8+mhuman realm, the world of joy and 9$-=}#-.}8m-9v;-ò-[[{{=-<m$-k #$=sorrow,/ all human beings dream .+1 8 0v 1 k ■ %,-0}+-<<mm-V}$=-=v-1m-3|-7+-.-+#{-1m$of/ looking back from the dead/ .-&}=-E#=-.=-=}k” 6{=-^^:-:-9}+-<<$-$-k and struggle to leave some small GESHE CHÖDRAK’S 1m-!!}}:-6m#-#m=-3n#=-0%+-+{-"}$-#m-1m,legacy." Following the full five ORTHOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY stanzas of this memorable poem .:-"}$-#m-EE}}#=-.}-+#{-8ò,-&}=-8/{;■ Pema Bhum are the words: "This too was written >>m=-^^:-0:-$1k 1"=-+0$-+{-#(m=by Geshe Chödrak, who was ;-8HHmm=-#<m0-&{-6m$-!q-Hm,-&{-08m->}:-"$-0=}+-,1=-+.;-80:-1&}#-,=born in Mongolia but spent his life in Tibet, the Land of Snows." <<$-+{-;v#=-=v-06{+-.-#=:-8JJm,-8+},-*{$=-8+m8m-,$-ò-#=;-;}k WW-,#-.{-%m,-,-9}+-.8m-1m-:m#=-+.{-ù,-"$-#m=-ò=-:0=-#}$-18m- Some have speculated that perhaps these verses are written not ;}-:0=-T-0%t8m-,$-;-RR}}-07$-&}=-8/#=-(1m-8+m-=v-9m,-P+-1-&}+k)+$-k by him but by his friend Gedun Choephel. It is now clear that ]]m:-0)$-,$-&}=-+$-+1m#=-0=;-0}+-Wv+-,$-&}=-;-1"=-<m$-k '}- Horkhang Sonam Pelbar, who helped both of these scholars and ,$-)-:-,-*=-14+-.8m-WW--#:-&}=-8Ap$$--WW-9m#-_p-\w:-1",-WW-1m-C$-"{- knew them well, also held this opinion. (See feature article in this Newsletter.) &$- (张克强, 1917-1989) =}#=-<<mm=-3n#-14~+-+{8m-0C;-;-AA--+$In 1957, the Nationalities Publishing House in Beijing 8E{EE{{;-AA{{+-&-3$-WW-9m#-_p-0\w:-,=-1957 ;}:-+.{-ùù,-,-AA=-=-<m$-k +{,=-07v$-3n#-14~+-+{8m-8EE}}-+},-WW-&{:-8/{;-6m$-k 3n#-14~+-+{-+$-+{8m- published the Brda dag ming tshig gsal pa with Chinese 14+-.-.}-+#{-0<{=-&}=-E#=-#(m=-<$,<m<m- E#=-<<$-$-0}+-"1=-9}$=-;- translations for each term and definition. Lobsang Chöpak (whose identity is unknown to me) and Zhang Keqiang—a ==0-0}k <m$-.:-+{-;=-.:-0WW0-0-.8m-3n#-14~+-<<mm-.:-#6m-#%m#-8+m-#- scholar of Buddhism and in particular Tibetan Buddhism, as well +.{-14~+-"$-#m-+.{-+!},-"$-ò-0bo#=-9}+-.-,m-!}-;v1-))mm-9-UU}0-f-&{,- as translator of Jonang Taranatha’s Religious History of India— were responsible for the Chinese translations. From then on, the 1}8m-UU}}0-+.},-;-3#=#=-.-RR}}-07$-8'1-+.;-1&}#-,=-6;-8+{0=-=v#,$-k <m$-.:-+{-0}+-<N} <m<m-NN};-Wv,->>m-+.{-+AAm0=-'-:m$-1m,-.:-+{$-=$-#m- dictionary circulated more widely and its reputation, along with of its author Geshe Chödrak, spread throughout all Tibetan +{0-+AAm0=-=v-0F}=-){-0}+-<}#-.}+-#(m=-=v-.:-0WW0-9}+k 8+m-,m-0}+-<<mm- that NN};-Wv,->>m-<m$-.:->>m-+.{-+AAm0=-;-8>o:-0-*{0=-.8m-+.{-13~,-#-<}=-+{- regions. An original print from these woodblocks can be found 1m,-,-9$-#-E=-<m#-9m,-,}k

0}+ <m-1m$-3n#-(m=-Dm-HsHs#-%}$-[#-#m-0+#-(m+-%,k

0L-+#-1m$-3n#-#=;-0k

26 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]]m-;}-2005 2005 ;}8m-%%}},-"k

+.{-+AAm0=-+{-+{$-=$-#m-+{0-+AAm0=-=v-*},-9}+-%0=-+{8m-,$-+},aam#-%$=$=-<<$-$-+{$-=$-#m-;v#=-W:-<}#-]o8m-#9},-@@}}#=-=v-0C;-;-AA8m8m1m$-3n#-M1=-0aamm#=-9}+-.8m-#9=-@@}}#=-=v-+{-+#-#m-8EE{;-0<+-M1=0amaam#=-9}+k +{-9$-0}+-<<mm=-+#-9m#-7{:-0-+{-+{$-=$-#m-3n#-14~+-7{:08m-aamm#-%$=-=v-8/}=-.8m-+.{-13~,-6m#-9m,-;=-&{k 3n#-14~+-+{8m<}#-E$=-8#}+-%$=-,m-<}#-E$=9}$=-Q}#=-+<o=-#%m#-_p-0!}+1{+-.:-#=;-AA{{+-:{-;-<}#-E$=8#}+-131=-:{-AA=-=-9}+-+{-+.{:-,k #=;-AA{{+-!-9m#-;=-ApAp$$--08m-1m$3n#-M1=-<}#-E$=- 1 ,=- 72 0:-9m,-.-+$-k #=;-AA{{+-"-9m#;-UU{{0=-!0=-9$-[[:-:-<}#=-E$=1 0Pm-8#}-07v$-9}+k 3n#-14~+-+{-.:-ò-0WW0-.8mI{=-=v-9$-+#{-0<{=-&}=-<E#=<m<m- .1&}#-,=-:$-#m-3n#-14~+-+{-W-W[{ W-[[{+- !}-;v1-)m-9-U}0-f-&{,-1}8m-U}0#=:-aamm#-#,$-+#}$=-<<mm=-1m$-3n#- +.},-;-3#=-.-R}-07$-8'1#=:-.-#$-1$-6m#-83~;-&q&q+-+$-k +.;-1&}#-,=-8+m-#-#.{14~+8E{EE{;-0<+-0WW0-0-,=-#=}#-(:-A=A=- "$-;-#,$-08m-”0L-+#-1m$9}+-,-9$-k :m#-#,=-#=:-0I{8m- 3n#-#=;-0k” !0=-;-+#{-0<{=-1&}#-;-({=-1m$- Title page from Geshe '--3~#=-<<mm=-&q#-^^}$-#)}$-06m,-.- Chödrak’s Orthographical '{-Pw0-_p-8EE}}-+}#=-<<mm=-#$-#m-!q-S- Dictionary, donated to Library by Professor ?-U{-1{-)}#-;#=-<<mm=-(:-RR}}=-1- Latse Lozang Jamspal of 07}+-.:-1{-;-0NN{{#-+#}=-ApAp$$--8ò# Columbia University. :m#-#,=-#=:-0I{-!0=;-0}+-<<mm-:m#-#bo$-#m-+.{-+{0-#6,.-+$-13u$=-.:-3n#-14~+-8+m-9$-02~,-1v,-W-0v:-3u+-,=-1*}$-WvWv-1{+.:->o>o:k :m#-#,=-#=:-0I{-1'v#-0aamm;-I{=-3n#-14~+-8+m-+!:8+},-W-0v=-##}},-1-.:-0WW0-,=-02~$-1-3:-0:-;v=-9}+-.-3~$-::-UU{0=!0=-=-#,=-1$-.}-6m#-_p-8JJ}}#-(}-AA=-=-8ò# +{-,=-9$-[[:-:-.:-ù,AA=-){- 1995 ;}-0:-;-3n#-14~+-8+m-*{$=-T-;-[[:-:-.:-AA=-=-9}+k .:-*{$=-I{=-1-+#-_p-+.{-ùù,-"$-#m=-Wv-13,-%m-9$-1-0I}+-.:-P}1-..}8m-^:^:-AA$-$-#m-+}+-<<mm-3n#=-0%+-$,-.}-+{-0!}+-1{+-+}k ■ ■

in the Rare Books Collection of Latse Library, thanks to the generosity of Columbia University professor Lozang Jamspal. The woodblock print is not elongated like most traditional Tibetan texts, but is in the shape of modern-format books. It consists of two volumes printed on Tibetan paper. If this edition is not the first instance of the transition to modern-format printing using Tibetan woodblocks, it is certainly among the earliest. The layout of the dictionary also follows modern conventions in that terms are listed on the left with corresponding definitions on the right. [Traditional Tibetan glossaries usually listed words, and sometimes definitions, in paragraph-format and were often in verse.] This dictionary is likely the first instance of the transformation of what Tibetans call "dag yig" or glossaries into the structure of the modern dictionary. Yet, unlike modern publications, the pages of this dictionary are not numbered consecutively. Rather, the paging starts again for entries beginning with a new letter. For example, all entries under “ka” comprise pages 1-52 of the dictionary, and the page numbering starts again with “1” for entries under “kha.” Once this dictionary was published, Geshe Chödrak then thought about expanding and revising the volume; he collected many additional terms for which he wrote definitions, and filed them away. During the Cultural Revolution, however, his wife Metok feared that her husband would face even harsher suffering under a variety of charges. Not daring to keep anything that could be used against him, she was compelled to burn his notes. Like other Tibetan books, Geshe Chödrak’s dictionary was banned during the Cultural Revolution. When the Cultural Revolution ended, the dictionary was rehabilitated and in many areas the copies previously left unsold were snatched up by buyers as soon as the books reached the market. The Brda dag ming tshig gsal ba had its fifth printing in 1995. In this last printing, the publishing house omitted without explanation the lyrical verses that had concluded the previous printings. ■ ■

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 27

+#{-0<{=-&}=-<E#=<m<m- .8m-

3n#-14~+-<m-^:-A$-k 8+m-,m-=}$-1-*#-.8m-P}1-9m#-+#-_p-P}1-.-.}-=v-9m,->>mmQQ{$-1};-Ap$-$-08m-$,-,-$#-+{-9m,-;k 0L-+#-1m$-3n##=;-08m-1'v#-_p-^:^ AA$-#m-3u;->>m=-Ap$-9}+k (kk8+m:-e=-.k

28 |

The Afterword

to Geshe Chödrak’s Dictionary This poem, whose authorship is discussed in the preceding articles, concludes the Brda dag ming tshig gsal ba. And so I would say that

[m+-;-&q#-.8m-8'm#-K{,-1m-9v;-8+m:k <m-9$-@m-1m#-0W-08m-:{-0-9m=k [{-0}-*1=-%,-:$-#m-;#-I{=-21k co;-ò-;v=-.8m-80+-.-$$-#m=-A{+k 8+m-,-8#8-9m=-:$-#m-Wv+-84n,-0v-+$-U}0-1-I{=-=v-06# +{-06m,-#6,->m=-;{#=-0<+-,}:-+$-$,-.8m-E#=-.-co;ò-0!}+k ;-;-8&+-(,-&}=-<m-&{-+$-+1-.8m-K{,-M1=-06{$=-,=8+=k #6,->m-;#-I{=-0=#=-.8m-,}:-+$-14|=-.8m-"$-=m1-8+m+#-;#=k k&}=-,}:-#(m=-1{+-c$-.}8m-;#-I{=-;k #}$-ò-*}=-.-8+m-+#-1-1&m=-.=k 1m-7=-9v,-:m$-7=-.8m-:m,-800-_pk +{0-&u$-8+m-(m+-1m-9m-9v;-ò-06# 1-0%};-Q{#=-01-Km-08m-K{;-7m$-#m=k 1m-;}-0%t-#=v1-+;->m=-7+-.-;k #6,->m=-0%}+-*+-%m-A{+-1-${=-<$-k #6,-;-/,-.-%t$-7+-${=-.:-1*}$-k M1-+!:-8+m-9m=-[{-6m$-[{-0-:vk M1-.-T-X,-:m#=-.8m-#bo$-;v#=-;k M1-+#-*}=-0=1-"}1-.8m-80+-.-9m=k M1-\o,-#7m#=-.8m-#}-8/$-Bp:-*}0-<}# k

In this human realm, the world of joy and sorrow,

%{=-.-8+m-9$-=}#-.}8m-9v;-`o-[{=-<m$-#$=-%,-0}+-<mV}$=-=v-1m-3|-7+-.-+#{-1m$-.-&}=-E#=-.=-=}k k

This too is written by Geshe Chödrak, who was born in

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]]m-;}-2005 2005 ;}8m-%%}},-"k

All human beings dream of Looking back from the dead, And struggle to leave some small legacy. Many here have left behind their lineage, sons or students. Still others have set down brilliant words and reputation. Some build centers for religious learning or sacred supports, then die. And see the legacy of still others: their wealth and fine estates! With neither wealth nor dharma, this beggar Has left as legacy�nothing named above, But to cover the cost of the food he consumed, This small book for humankind. Thirteen years were spent in the busy Writing of this unsolicited volume. I am certain it holds some wee benefit for others, But will they praise or slam it? With this act of virtue, May I soon achieve the state of All-Seeing Through lifetimes of effort in proper study of Teachings on the five areas of knowledge.

Mongolia but spent his life in Tibet, the Land of Snows.

;}-Wv=-<m-3n#-*}k

;

HISTORICAL NOTES

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-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr - 1904 ;}:-0}+-<m<<m-=-131=- #2~-0}-6m#-9m,k ?#-0:-,m ;-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr ?#-0:-+.:-8E{ EE{1=-AA{+-.8m-ò=-3~+-,m- 1904 <<m-;-3#=-W;-=W QQ{-:v-+.:-8EE{1=-AA=-.8m-SW;-=A :{8m-3#=-.:-6m#-9m,k ?#-0:-,m ?#-0r -WW-#:-?v:- ;}:-+AmAAm,-'m8m-+1#-+.v$-#m=-0}+-<<m-WW;-=-[-=:-+.v$-8'v#-A=Ly8m-!+-ò-3#=-.:->m>>m-+},-9m,k 9}$=-E#=-=v-8+m-,m-0}+-9m#-#m- .8m-;}-+{:-8"{;-9}+k ao0-@}@@}#=-02,-WW;-:m$-;v#=-<<m-%%}0=3#=-.:-*}#-1-+{-9m,-.:-0<+k ;-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr -<}#-$}=- co#=-8+m-W:-#-I{=-=v-9{-co8m-3#=-.:-+$-+AmAAm,-'m8m-+1#-+.v$?#-0:-,m 06m-%,->m>>m-+0v-1{+-<<m-#7v#=-=v-U#=-+.:-ò-0)0-.8m-3#=-.:- +$-0&{&&{0=-){-0}+-ò-84v;-08m-co#=-VV{,-;-0K{,-,=k WW-,#-1,6m#-9m,k 3#=-.:->m>>m-,$-+},-M1=-3,-.-#=v1-ò-0#}=-9}+k 'v-NNm+-#bo$-#m=-<<$-;}-<=-<<m-I{=-,=-0}+-9m#-/;-!+-<m<<m-#=:^ >>m-3#=-.:-6m#-0)},-){-0}+-ò-1,-'v8m3,-.-+$-.}-:v-9v;-=}-=}8m-#=:-8>o:-+$-k 3,-.-#(m=-.:-;- 8>o:-7{:-08m-WW-0}+-<,-^:co#=-V{VV{,-(({;-*0=-A=k A 3#=-<m<<m-#,8-#)1-+$-Qt-#6=k #6,-9$-;-3#=-W;-:0=W W;-:0=9m,-,8$-;-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr -!0=-+{:-+AmAAm,-'m8m-+0$-8}#?#-0:-,m 6{=-.8m-+{0-*{:-;=-"};-@p$-3,-.-0%=-1v-8+},-A=-9} AA=-9}+k 3,.-#=v1-.-,m-+1m#=-0!:->m>>m=-9{-co8m-&}=-;v#=-<<m-&{-0-0I}+-=-+$- _p-9}+-.8m-;-3#=-<m<<m-9v;-1m-3~8m-&{+-ò-0)},-.8m-3#=-.:-6m#-9m,.-1-#)}#=k 0}+-"1=-OmOOm;-0}:-W-W ==0-_p-8EE{1=-Wv8m-+1m#=HHm;-0a#=-A{AA{+-=-9m,k 9v;-1{+-.:-'$-k 3#=-.:-8+},3#=-.:-8+m-#=:-#)}+-A{AA{+-1",-,m*{$=-+$-.}8m-!0=-=v-E$=- 150 +.:/r-:,-"8{- (A.H. Francke 1870–1930) 9}+-,8$-k :m1->m>>m=-+.:-E$=- 60 ;7{:-08m-8':-1,-WW;-;-"0-<<m-9{-co8m-&}=-.-6m#/0-%{%%{k +{-;=-3#=-.:- 20 L-I{9m,-6m$-k "}$-,m-1}-:r-5,- (Moravian) 6{=QQm$-#m-@@}#=-=v-0!q:-9}+k 3#=-.:.8m-9{-co8m-Es0-1*8m-&}=-3~#=-<m<<m-3~#=-1m8+m- 1907 0:-ò-;-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr 6{=?#-0:6m#-9m,k 1}-:-5,-Es :r 0-1*8-9m-==+-&}=-,m.8m-"-9m#-8}]-_p-+.:-8EE{1=-AA=-9}+-,8$-k 9{-co8m-&}=-+.{-M1=-9v;-!+-ò-0\w\w:-){-9v;/r-:,-"8{-9m=-P}1-aamm#-#m-;=-131=1m-3~=-:$-!+-ò-PP}#-*v0-.:-AA{{+-.-+{-9m,k 06#-.8m-I{=-=v-"}$-#m-;=-:}#=-3~=-0}++{:-0K{,- 1885 ;}:-;-3#=-=v-Es0-1*8ò-8EE{1=-0+{-08m-&{+-ò-+1m#=-.-9m,-,18+m8m-&}=-"}""}-*}#-1:-@@{=-.-+$-1(1-ò-9{3#=-.:->>mm-1m$-;=-?v:-Ly8m-3n#-?#-.:co8m-#=v$-:0-0}+-9m#-_p-\w:-08m-E-amaam#-A=A 6{=-.-+}:-,=-;-3#=-/}-(-:v-0\w:-){-0}+.-1-7+k U#=-+.:->m>>mm-+.:-"$-6m#-<$< (1=-'{-+}+-ò-0)$-9}+k 9m,-,8$-;}02t#=-){-9{-co8m-&}=-+$-8K{KK{;-08m-+.{-&-0}+#%m#-;=-1-8#}:-0:- 1908 ;}:-3#=9m#-_p-+.:-ùù,-,-AA{{+-8#}-0P1=k 1}-::-:rr 5,-Es0-1*8-,m 0-1*8-,m-9{-co8m-#=v$-:0-0}+-9m#-_p- ;-3#=-<m-?#-0 r :-6{=-.8m-3#=-.:- .:-8+},-131=-&+-8ò# 3#=-.:-8+m8m-co#=-V{VV{,-8}#\w:-1",->m>>m-9{-co8m-&}=-3~#=-*}#-1-+{-9m,- >m-8H-.:-8+m-8':-1,->m-)m:-;m,-E}$.-:{+k <{=-#=;-W:-,-0}+-9m#-U#=- ={:-,-9}+-.8m-1$8-&{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m- _p- 1925 ;}:-9{-co8m-&}=-.-"v-ao-1*:W RR},-)t#-_p-9v;-@@}#=+.:-ò-8+{0=-1",-*}#-1-,m-9{-co8m-&}=-.- 1"=-+0$- Hartmut Walravens ;#=- @@m,->>m=-W-#:-!9m,-;k 1}-:-5,:r &}=-3~#=-,m-!0=-+{:-9{- <m=-1"}-8+},-#,$-0:-*v#=-I{-&{k =}-=}8m-#=:-8>o:-1{-;}$-6{=-.8m-3#=.:-E#=-%,-+{-+.:-8E{EE{1=-AA{+-8#}co8m-&}=-;v#=-0}+-9m#-_p-+.{-ù,-A{AA{+-1",FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 29

0P1=-9}+k "v-ao-1*:-@m@@m,-,m-;-3#=-?#-0r #=-?#-0:-+.:-8E{EE{1=#=-?#-0r AA{{+-1",-1}-::-5,-&} :rr =-3~#=-<m<<m=-;-3#=#=-"v;-ò-#=}-[[}}$-AA=-){k +{8m-3~#=-1m:->o>o:-,8$-k 1920 ;}:-"}$-!-RR}},-)t#-_p-#,=-((}:>>m=-+{:-=m-!}-@m-;,-&}=-3~#=-<<m- (the Church of Scotland) :}#=-:1-8}#-_p-#=:-8>o:-1{-;}$-#m-P}1-aam#-AA{+-.8m-8#,-8"v:k #=:-8>o:-1{ :-1{-;}$-0)},-,=-;}-#(m=-1-8#}:-0:-1}-:-5,-&} :r =3~#=-<m<<m=-;-3#=-?#-0r #=-?#-0:-U:-#=}8m-3u;-ò-<<{{-;$-?#-0 #=-?#-0r ;$-?#-0rr :;$-?#-0:-7{ 0-6m#-;-3#=-<{<<{-;$-ò-+.:-8EE{1=-AA=-){- 1935 0:-ò-Wv,-[}[[}$AA=k ò=-:0=-##},-18m-%%}+-<<m-0}+-9m#-#m-3#=-.:-M1=--8+mW:-#%m#-;-#%m#-8K{KK{;->>m=-/,-3u,-co#=-VV{,-70-1}-Ap$-9}+k 9{-co8m-3#=-.:-8+m-+#-&}=-;v#=-HmHHm;-0a#=-A{AA{+-.8m;#-&-<-%#-9m,-.-0$}$$},-ò-1{+k 9m,-,8$-9m#-3#=-DD}+-ò-(:08m-3#=-.:-8+m-+#-;-[:-6m0-A=-3| AA=-3|-+{-;-==+-&}=-#6,-9$-9}+k 1m-!!}}:-6m#-#m=-+{$-!0=-;-3#=-?#-0r:->>mm-:m,-*$-,m-!+-9m#-#m-=+=+&}=-<<mm-*}#-,=-0<+-<<m-9}+k ;-3#=-?#-0r #=-?#-0:->m>>m-P}1-aamm#-.-/ #=-?#-0r -.-/rr -.-/:,-"m-,m- 1896 %%{-+]o$-;}-(m-co-P-Hs#-#m-*}#-,=-;-3#=-=v-&}=(({;-ò-8AA}:k !0=-+{ 0=-+{:-1}-:-5,-&} :r =-3~#=-<m<<m=-9{-co8m-#=v$:0-0}+-9m#-_p-\w:-%$=-<m<<m-*+-;-0=1-3u;-'-3~#=-Ap$-9}+k /r-:,-"m -:,-"m-9m=-*}#-1:-0}+-"1=-9}$=-=v-#%m#->o:->m>>m=-#}-0+{-08m&{+-ò-0}+-<m<<m-&}=-!+-ò-\w:-+#}=-.8m-0=1-3u;-;-W0W [[}:-A=W0A ,8$-k :m1->m>>mm=-"}=-;-3#=-<m<<m-1m-={:-/;-&{-0=-,$-.8m-&}=+.{-M1=-"-8+},-+#{-^^}:->>m-&{+-ò-,{-2~8m-PP}#-W-0v-6m#-;=-#}-0;},-+!8-0-1*}$-%{%%{k 0}+-]]m-;-==0-.8m-&}=-!+-<m<<m-0=1-RR}-+}:,=-;-3#=-<m<<m-"-!+-#2~-0}:-07v$-k ;-3#=-<<mm-?#-.:-,m-8+mW:-0}+-<!+<m<m- +$-9m-#{8m-8KK{{;-0-;-6m0-8'v#-AA=-=-.8m-0Wv+-:m1-DD}+-,=#=:-#)}+-AA=-=-.8m-/;-!+-+-<P} <m<m-PP}#-+{0-%m#-9m,k ;-3#=-<m<<mm-?#-0 ?#-0rr ?#-0:-;-,$-&} =-<m<<m-M1-.-1m-1$},-.8m-&{+-òk 3#=-.:-8+m-(m+-+0v-%,->m>>m-&}=-+.{-/;-&{-0-+$-1m-8H-0:-+0v1{+-<m<<m-9m#-#7v#=-=v-+.:-8+{0=-AA=-.-1-7+k &}=-!+-1m8H{HH{=-.8m-;-3#=-<m<<m-==m1-.-3~8m-$#-Wv,-,-9}+-.8m-#,8-#)1-+$-k Qt-#6=k W;-:0=-0%=W @@}#=-aam#-#m=-3#=-.:-ò-1v-8+},AA=k #=:-8>o:->m>>m-0I}+-A-;-D}DD}1->>m-8Ks-:m#=-<m<<m-:m,#}$-+$-k EE}$-#m-Fy-8JJ}#-#m-!!}:-0%=-#2~-0}-8'm#-K{,-==m1-.8m83~-0-+$-8K{KK{;-08m-#,=-3u;-80v:-8+},-AA=-9}+k 3#=-.:->>mI}+-3n#-#m-&-,=-<<$-$-3#=-.:-;-?#-0r:-+$-k DD}1-;-0r-4:k ({,-K}#-.-;-.}-;m=-==-6{=-;-3#=-<m<<m-9v;-1m-3~8m-"-!+-ò8'#=-.8m-?v:-Ly-+$-+AmAAm,-!+-<m<<m-*-$+-=}:-8'}#-A=AA=-<m$-k 30 |

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:0-**}},-I-%%mm-,=k

FEATURED ARTICLE

Origins of the 'Tibet Myth' in Western Fiction ■ Ramon

"Tibet? Does Tibet exist?" But of course it must. K.A. Goonan, The Bones of Time. New York: Tor, 1996, p. 151

“

0}+-+1k 0}+-9}+-+1k” +{-;}=-9}+k `o=-<<mm-:v=-.k <}-E$=- 151 ;=-H$=k

989 ;}:-[0=0=-1#},-_-;8m -_s -R-1-;-,}-)){;-6m-0+{8m#7{$=-K#=-/v;-0-+{=-&}=-<m<<m-+0v-8HH{,-+{-8'm#K{,-=}==},-9}$=-<<m-83|-1{+-6m-08m-13~,-AA{+-ò->o:-%m$-k "}$-#m-13,-$,-E#=-W;W ]]m8m-"}$=-=v-9$-P{:-UU{0=-<m$-8'm#W;K{,-=}==},-9}$=-,=-0}+-;-<{=-K}#=-80:k +{8m-+0$-#m=-ao0@@}#=-WW;-"0-+#-_p-0}+-;-[-au$-#m-8Js;-'$-+{-0=1-9v;-;=8+=-.:-8/{;k ;}-0%t8m-,$-;k W;W ]]m8m-"}$=-=v-QQ}#-0J,07}-f-+#-#m=- “0}+-“ %{=-.-;-1m$-#m=-8K{KK{;-9$-+},->>m=-8KK{;1m-8K{KK{;->>m-QQ}#-0J,-0%t-[#-07}=-9}+k +.{:-,-){)){:-,-&&}-/)){:-)};}8v-=m- (Bernardo Bertolucci) 9m- “=$=-W=WW=-&u$-&u$-“ (Little +$-k 06$-06#-?+-,}+- (Jean-Jacques Buddha, 1993) <<m- “0}+-ò-;}-0ò,-“ (Seven Years in Tibet, 1997) Annaud) 1:-@m,-=m-!}:-={-07m- (Martin Scorsese) 9m- “!q-1ò,-“ 0%=-#-1-#-1-;=-@m@@m-1-@@m-1-0}+-<<m-:$-06m,(Kundun, 1997) #=;-08m-QQ}#-0J,-*},-9}+k +{8m-":-K}#-07}8m-au$-P}1->m>>m-JJ{$0-:m$-1}-6m#-#m=-<$-0} <<$-0}+-(m-3|-0-6m#-8'm#-K{,-;-#:-;=-<$<<$-<{=K}#=-W-WW-&{:-(({;k 1999 ;}:-0}+-<m<<m-+:-=}- (Tibet fashion) ;-8>o:-0->-%$-&{,-.}-6m#-Ap$-k +{-9$-0}+-.-+]o$-00-+:-1#(m=-){k 1={=={,-0P{-,}:-0v81-13,-#6,-Q}$-#=:-1=={,-0P{-

N. Prats

he awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama in 1989 elevated the Tibetan charismatic leader to a worldwide symbol of nonviolence, marking the apex of

his international fame and making the whole world utterly aware of Tibet at large. In consequence, the manifestations of the Western world's mythical view of the Land of Snows registered a spectacular growth. In ten years, over a dozen fiction movies featuring topics loosely labeled “Tibetan” were produced by the international film industry, starting with Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993), Jean–Jacques Annaud's Seven Years in Tibet (1997), and Martin Scorsese's Kundun (1997), in an escalation of Tibetanization. In addition, a long string of fictionalized accounts contributed to further the popularity of a virtual Tibet. The "Tibet fashion" would come, though, to a paradigmatic change in 1999, when two middle-aged Tibetans, Khyentse Norbu, alias Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and Jamyang Norbu,1 adopted two of the most cherished creations of Western civilization—soccer, the most widespread sport in the world, and Sherlock Holmes, the most proverbial of detectives— in order to Tibetanize and restore them to the Western audience.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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:m,-.}-&{-+$-k 8'1-+A$=-,} AA$=-,}:-0v#(m=-,=-ao0-@}@@}#=-W;-"0W <<m-NN};Wv,-ò-&{=-+#8-'$-A{AA{+-.8m-#=:-Ap$A-+$}=-#(m=-—841-QmQQm$-;-=0= 0L;-&{=-&{-08m-;v=-P{+-F$-)}))};-+$-k &{=-9}$=-E#=-<m<<m-#=$-K};-.-<{:;}#->}1-=m-—0}+-1+}#-_p-0\w\w:,=-ao0-@}@@}#=-.8m-PP}}#-.-.}-;-9$-[:80v;-&{+-#=:-P}1->m>>m-0I}+-#6m:R$=k "}$-#(m=-,=-:$-:$-=-,=QQ}#-0J,-6m#-—/}:-0 (The Cup)k 8Ks#-9v;-+$-?}-=m-Am-9-#(m=-,=- Q}#-0J,-#,1-=8m-8K{;-131=-9;-0:->o:-0-6{=-.8m-<$-#m-:m-;8m-8&:-#6m8m-:m-1}k ( 1(1-8K{KK{;->>m=-07}=-.k) 8D0-DmDDm++$-auau$-P}1-6m#-—<{:-;}#->}1- Shangri-La, from the story-board of the film Lost Horizon. =m8m-+<<m;-8"}:k (Xm-;m)—P}1-8KmKKm- (www.spiritone.com/ ~dlevine/art/shangrila.html) A 0P1=-&}=-8+m-#(m=-<m<<m=-ao0A=k They did so by means of a film—The The Cup (a Bhutan–Australia @@}#=-.8m-0}+-<<m-8Js;-'$-+{-+<}<<}#=-131=-&{,-.}-6m#-;-0[;k co-production)—and a novel —The Mandala of Sherlock du;->m>>m=-:$-#m-1'v#-1-:$-#m=-7-0-06m,k ao0-@}@@}#=-.8m-0}+-<<m- Holmes (Delhi)—which they directed and wrote respectively. 8Js;-'$-+{-9$-P{:-U{UU{0=-<m$-k +-,m-$$m$-I{-1{+-.8m-""}-,=-8Js;- Both pieces mark a significant turning point in this story. Like the '$-+{-(1=-8#}-3u#=-9}+-+}k snake that consumes its own tail, the Western myth of Tibet had ao0-@}@@}#=-.-M1=-0}+-;-8Js;-'$-[{[[{=-.-+{-;}-S-1$-.}8m- reached its climax, to enter a phase of inexorable decline. ##},-;-#_p#=-*v0k 1:-"m-.}-;}-(1254-1324)9m-!+-E#=-%,The fascination of the West with Tibet goes far back in >>m- “841-QmQQm$-W=-0<+k W 7{ : -0-+{ 8 m ,$-#m 0} + -<m <m < !} ! : -;Km K = -9} + “ time. It could have stemmed from Marco Polo's (1254–1324) .-+{-,=-F$-6m#-&#=-9}+-,-9$-k ò=-:0=-0%t-06m-,=-0}+-<m<<m-=- fabulous account of "Tebet" in his legendary Description of the *}#-;-#}1-.-+$}=-=v-((}=-.:-I}+-1",->>m-9{-co8m-&}=-;v#=-(({;- World World, but most probably it started to develop in the aftermath 1",-M1=-<m<<m=-0}+-;-0[[}+-#)1-+$-$,-={$-+#-({(({;-08m-I{=-=v- of the narratives and reports of the Catholic missionaries who 0}+-<m<<m-8Js;-'$-+:-8#}-3u#=-.:-1$},k 9m,-,-9$-8+m-!!}:- allegedly set foot in Tibet since the fourteenth century. Yet, it >>m-0P1=-&}=-(({;-1",-,m-ò=-:0=-0%t-+]o8m-*+-+$-ò=-:0=- was the works written by a handful of late--nineteenth and early– (m-co8m-%%}+-;-0}+-;-0K};-*v0-.8m-V}$=-Wv-0-+$-k #=$-;=-.k twentieth century explorers, secret agents, scholars, spiritual 1"=-.k &}=-.-=}#=-;=-^p$-^p$-6m#-1-#)}#=-Ap$-1{+k seekers, late missionaries, etc., who succeeded in reaching ò=-Wv,-ò-#=$-W-%,-+$-k W W-%,-+$-k Qw-8Js;-%,k #=$-0-R}#->o:k Tibet, that actually prompted the open curiosity of the wide 6m-0k 0!#-W-WW-*{0=-.k "{:-V$-ò VV$-ò-;v=-.-=}#=-<<m-E=-=v-8'}#- public for that land, culture, and traditions, which were often .8m-0}+-<m<<m-9v;-"1=-+$-k :m#-#,=k NN};-Wv,-;-#}$-#=;->m>>m- characterized as secret (when not secretive), magic, mysterious, 1m-8+m-:m#=-<m<<m=-ò=-9v,-*v$-$v8m-,$-;-1m-1$-.}8m-+}-'$-H$=-.:- sacred, peaceful, forbidden, secluded, hostile…. That literary >o:k outcome would decisively contribute to constructing a peculiar 0P1=-&}=-+{8m-8K=-0v:-0}+-<m<<m-!!}:-;-W-0-+1m#=-0=;- view of Tibet, an archetype of sorts that entered the Western 32 |

;-P{-+.{-14~+-"$-#m-#=:-8JJm,k ]m-;}-2005 ;}8m-%},-"k

%,-6m#-<:-1:-Es0-%m$-k 0}+-<m<<m-1-+AAm0=-<m#-ao0-@@}#=-.-M1=<<m-$$m$-;-bo#=-9}+-+}k [#-.:-ò-+{=-0}+-.8m-!!}:-;-3~:-'$+1m#=-0=;-0-6m#-[{[[{=-=v-0%t#-9}+k 9v;-!}!!}:-.-1$-.}-6m#-;13~,-,k 0}+-.-,m- “:$-Ap$-"1=-Pw0-.}-+$-9v;-N}NN};-13:-'$%,->m>>m-+#8-:m;-:m;-+$-k 0#-/{0=-.8m-1m-+1$=-“ (1929 ;}:;},-B},-;-+.{-ù,-A=-.8m AA=-.8m- D. Macdonald 9m-R-18m-6m$-"1=k) 21-1-9m,-.:k &}=-<m<<m-(1=-;{,-;-P{-#%m#-_p-#6};-08m-+.{-#6m#=},-.}-6m#-+$-k &{=-/v;-ò-Ap$-08m-&}=-.8m-1m-+1$=-<m#-9m,k /;-&{:-0}+-1m-:{-:{-&}=-.-M;-1-:{-9m,-.:-&-8'}#-A{AA{+-%m$-k *-,""}1-&{,-ò-$}=-84n,-AA{+k f-V$-:{ VV$-:{-:{-9$-A1=-0P{-+$-<{=-:0<<m-0+#-(m+-R-1-W-0v-:{-9m,k R-1-1$-&{-0-8'm#-K{,-;=-0G;081-"}$-3~:-Qw-8Js;->m>>m-%%}0=-+$-X,k Wv,-8A1=-<m<<m-0=1-3u;8+m-+-W8m-0:-ò-#,=-9}+k 1+}:-,-0}+-.8m-%m-6m#-9m,-,-9$-/;&{-0-8'm#-K{,->m>>m-E#=-3~+-;=-0G;-0-6m#-;-&-8'}#-A{AA{+k &{=-#-08m-0}+-.-K}#-07}8m-1m-'-—0+{,-(1=-<}:-9$-1mM1=-+#8-=-6m#-,m-Rudyard Kipling >>m=-0P1=-.8m-E#=%,-#)1-Wv+-" +-"r 1->>m- Teshoo R-1- (1898 ;}:-;},-B},-;-+.{+-"r +-"m ù,-A=k A ) 7{:-0-+{-;=-9}$=-=v-E#=k 9m,-,-9$-K}#-07}8m-0}+A=k .-0I}+-A-A=-){ AA=-){-(}-1",-&{=-1$-08m-+{0-,m-9$-+AAm,-;,->>m-P}1.-.}-9m,-.- James Hilton 7{:-0=-0P1=-.8m- “#,1-=8m8K{KK{;-131=-9;-0:->o:-0k“ (1933 ;}:-;},-B},-;-+.{-ù,A )7{:-0-+{-9m,k $-3~=-auau$-8+m8m-,$-#m-<$-#m-:m-;A=k "$-.-0}+-<<mm-“ S-8}+-##}},-.}8m-V}$=-“ 7{:-0:-#0(Shangri–La) ( .8m-+#},-.-6m#-#m-1m$-k)7{:-0-8+m8m-8Ap$-"v$=-1m-<{=-<<$-$-k P}1-..}-+{=-<1-L-;8m-!!}}:-;-<{=-K}#=-Ap$-6m$-+{=-RR}}-""}}-@@{{-0-9m,-;=-&{k <1-L-;-+$-<$-#m-:m-;-#(m=-a-({-9m,-.-;-*v#=-'$-#,$-:}#=k) ( <1-L-;-,m-=$=-W=WW=-&}=-;v#=-<<m-##=-;1->m>>m-9m+-cu;->m>>m-+#6m$-6m#-9m,-%m$-k [-auau0-[m[[m+-&q#-#m-1-9v1-U}UU}0-f-(1875 ;}:EE}$-=={{:-,{8v-9}#-_p-02t#=k) #=:-84v#=-#,$-1",-:-<m-9-9m-[[{=+1,- Helena Blavatsky 7{:-08m-#}-+},-R}#->o:->m>>m-0P1=-&}=+#-_p-0!}+-9}+k +{-,=-:-<m-9-9m-:m-1}-.-0##=-0I}+-3+-1*},.}-*}0-.- Nicholas Roerich ("}$-#m-8EE{1=-%%},-"$-EE}$-=={:-,{8v9}#-;- 1923 ;}:-""}}-8AA{+-A=k A ) #m=-:$-#m-:m-1}-+$-+.{-+{0-+#-_p-KKmm=k ò=-:0=-#}$-18m-;}-:0=-=v1-%t8m-,$-#m-+.;-8A}AA}:-(1=-({=-&{,.}8m-!0=-=vk “#,1-=8m-8K{KK{;-131=-9;-0:->o:-0-“ 7{:-0+{=-8E}EE}-0-1m-M1=-3|-:m$-;}-0WW-+$-6m-0+{-0#-/{0=-0%=-<<m-9},-

soul. In particular, it fostered a special perception of the Tibetan people. For many travelers, Tibetans were not just a "cheerful, happy-go-lucky people of hardy nature and curious customs" (D. Macdonald, The Land of the Lama, London 1929), but the living paradigm of the committed religious practitioner: the homo religiosus par excellence. Almost every Tibetan was envisaged as a deeply religious person, or even an expert meditator, and every monk as a compassionate and wise lama. Lamas, were considered to be typically endowed with paranormal or magical powers—clichés that have partially survived to this day. All in all, nearly everything Tibetan was considered beyond normal standards. The earliest Tibetan character—a likeable one, albeit much distorted—popularized by ﬁction is the Teshoo Lama of Kim (London 1898), Rudyard Kipling's celebrated adventure tale. Nevertheless, the honor of being the ﬁrst bestseller on pseudo-Tibetan themes goes to Lost Horizon (London 1933) of James Hilton, another British writer. We do not know the genesis of Hilton's Shangri-La (a "lamasery" hidden in the Blue Moon Valley of the Tibetan plateau), but it is likely that he had come to know about and was inspired by Shambhala (note

#,1-=8m-8K{;-131=9;-0:->o:-6{=-.8m-+{0&u$-.:-#6mk Cover of a pocket book edition of Lost Horizon. (www.noosfere.com/ showcase/pocket.htm)

the similarity of this name with Shangri-La), the mythical realm of Tantric Buddhism that had been described in the esoteric writings of the Russian Helena Blavatsky, the alma mater of the Theosophical Society

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),-+$-X,-.8m-8'm#-K{,->m>>m-:m-1}-6m#-1$},-.:-AA=-9}+-.=-1m-M1=<<m-9m+-={1=-+0$-1{+-ò-0\o#-%%{-0P1=-au$-+{-;1-[}$=-&{,-.}Ap$-k 8+m-,m-+{0-+<o<o=-18m-;v#=-=v-+.{-ù,-A=-.AA=-.-&{=-*}#-19m,-.-+$-k +{-+.{-ù,-A=-,=-;} AA=-,=-;} =-,=-;}-06m-21-;=-1-8#}:-08m-I{=-;au$-P} $-P}1-+{-+$-1m,-#%m#-.8m-QQ}#-0J,-—/-:,-"m- "0-:-9m=8D0-DmDDm+-AA=-){-?}-=m-!-9m-A-+#8-M1-E$=-#(m=-*}0-*},-.-:{+k +{-,m-W:-'$-0}+-<m<<m-QQ}#-0J,-*}#-1-9m,-,}k ao0-@}@@}#=-.-M1=-0}+;-9m+-+0$-<}:-08m-T0=-J{JJ{$-;-6},-,=-;}-T-0%t8m-I{=-=v->m;-@p$#m “#,1-=8m-8K{KK{;-131=-9;-0:->o:-0-“ ;-^p$-1*8-9$-au$1*v+-<m<<m-+{0-#=v1-8KKm-8#}-0P1=-9}+k !0=-+{-+$-13u$=-.:k “#,1-=8m-8K{KK{;-131=-9;0:->o:-0-“ W;W ]]m8m-%%{$-;-;1-[}$=-Ap$-0-+{=-R}RR}-""}-@@{-,=k ao0@@}#=-.8m-\w-8Js;-:m$-;v#=-;-Wv=-9}+-<$<<$-1m$-E#=-&u$-08m+AmAAmm,-'m8m-P}1-.-.}-=m-:{;- H >}-=m-!m,-=m-(Cyril H. Hoskins) 7{:-0=-“ 1m#-#=v1-.k 0}+-<m<<m-R-1-6m#-#m-M1-*:k"(The Third ;},-@},Eye: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama ;- 1956 ;}:-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) 6{=-.-0P1=k +{0-8+m-,m-0}+A=k Wv+-,$-&}=-!}!!}}:-;-K}#-07}8m-au$-6m#-9m,-%m$-k T RR}-07$-:1-.7{:-0-6m#-#m-1m$-*}#-,=-0P1=-9}+k P}1-.-.}=-0<+-.-W:-,k ;}-"-<=-<m<<m-##},-;k T RR}-07$-:1-.-7{:-0-6m#-"}8m-;v=-;bo#=-,=-"}-:$-#m-#<m=-!-#6,-ò-0\w\w:k !q-60=->}-=m-!m,->m>>m=/-:,-=m-.-[{[[{=-+1,->>m-P}1-.-.}-) ?-;{#-07,-L-:- L{-5{+- ,m;( >>m=-0P1=-.8m- “0}+-ò-1$},-1=={,(Alexandra David-Neel) .-+$-\w-1-1",->m>>m-1(1-ò-#,=-.k“ (With Mystics and /-:,-=m8m-!+-<m<<m-.:-1- 1929 ;}:-.-:m=Magicians in Tibet =m-;-+.{-ù,-A=AA=-<m$-k +AmAAm,-9m#-#m-.:-1- 1931 ;}:-;},@},-ò-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) 7{:-0-W-0v-##},-1-9}+-.8m-0P1=-au$-+#A=k ;=-"{-07$-R$=-9}+-.:-${=-=}k L{-5{+- ,m;->m>>mm-0P1=-+{0+{-,m-0P1=-&}=-+{-:m#=-<m<<m-;1-3n#=-L{8v-80v1-6m#-9m,-;k +{8m-,$-ò-1$-&{-0-0}+-<m<<m-,$-&}=-<<m-,$-ò-9}+-.8m-8'm#-K{,-;=0G;-08m-ao=-1*v-+$-k Qw-8Js;->m>>m-*0=-;1k Es0-.-*}0-;v#==}#=-0I}+-#6m:-07v$-9}+k +{0-8+m-@@m=-=v-Ap$-08m-0}+-8K{KK{;>>m-K}#-07}8m-au$-#m-P}1-.-.}-M1=-;-co#=-V{VV{,-&{-<}=-<m#-9m,k L{-5{+- ,m;->m>>mm=-au$-:m$-"-<=-<$-0P1=-.-;=< <$-0P1=-.-;=E#=-&{-0,m- “1={=={{,-9},-T-X,->>m-R-1-1m-/1k" (Mipham, The Lama of +AmAAm,-!+-<m<<m-.:-1- 1938 ;}-;},-@},-;-+.{-ù,Five Wisdoms 34 |

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(founded in New York in 1875), and then picked up in the books and paintings of another Russian, the highly acclaimed artist Nicholas Roerich (his museum opened in 1923, also in New York). The 1930s was the time of the Great Depression, and in a world in need of beats of hope Lost Horizon—with its utopian portrayal of a

=m-:{;- >}-=m-!m,-=m81R}-07$-:1-.-+$-1m##=v1-.-6{=-.8m-.:-#6mk H

Cyril H. Hoskins alias T. Lobsang Rampa and The Third Eye

serene and long human life and a better world—easily captured the public fantasy, achieving a great success (it was also the ﬁrst paperback ever published) to the extent that a feature movie— directed by Frank Capra and later awarded two Oscars—

bearing the same title followed only four years later, to become the first ever film of the pseudo-Tibet genre. Riding the wave of growing Western interest in Tibet, at least three sequels to Hilton's Lost Horizon commenced to appear half a century later. Before that, possibly stimulated by Lost Horizon's international success, Cyril H. Hoskins—an obscure English writer familiar with Western occultism—penned The Third Eye: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama (London 1956), a fiction book about Tibetan religion, which he signed under the name of T. Lobsang Rampa, the master who he claimed had inhabited his body and transformed his personality years before. Mr. Hoskins surely benefited from the availability of works like Alexandra David-Neel's With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet (London 1931; Mystiques et magiciens du Thibet, Paris 1929), a landmark in its type, where she largely dealt with paranormal powers, occult techniques, and psychic feats

A A=-.-+$-k /-:,-=m8m-!+-<m<<m-.:-1- 1935 ;}:-.-:m==m-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) 7{:-+{-8K=-V}$=-<m<<m-f-.-R-1-9},-),-7{:A=k 0-6m#-+$-1(1-ò-0P1=k @@m=-=v-f-.-+{-1}-:$-#m-#=}=-0v:0+#-(:-A=k A @@}#=-#6,-.-6m#-,=->}-=m-!m,-=m-9m-0:-ò-P}1A=k ;1-8+m-0)m$-,=-9}$-1",-,m->m,-:m#->:-:-(Heinrich Harrer) 9m=-0P1=-.8m- “0}+-ò-;}-0ò,k“ (Seven Years in Tibet +AmAAm,-!+-<m<<m-.:-1- 1953 ;}:-;},-@},-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A 8':A=k 1,-!+-<m<<m-.:-1- 1952 ;}:-5{,-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A )7{:-0-+{-9m,k A=k +{-,m-H,-*}8m-8KmKKm-%$=-W:-KmKKmm=-.8m-0P1=-&}=-<m#-9m,-.-+{-+.{-ù,AA=-1-*#-_p-9v,-*v$-#m-,$-;-!+-9m#-1$-.}:-/0-\w\w:-A=k A (0}+A=k 9m#-#m-8>o:-6m#-<$-9} <<$-9}+-.8m-1m$-;- “0}+-,$-;}-0ò,k“ 7{:-6m$-k WW-#:-1{#-;}:-#,-Im-;-?-BB{=-O-&{,-0}+-<<m-:m#-#bo$-6m0-8'v#-"$#m=- 1995 ;}:-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) +{0-+{-,m-+{$-:0=-<m<<m-ao0-QQm$A=k .-6m#-[-=:-&}&&}}+-*v0-.:->o:-08m-+$}=-Ap$-#m-:-c}cc}+-9m,-;k +{=0}+-+{-ao0-QmQQm$-ò-#:-;=-<$<<$-1$},-3,-%,-ò->o:k “1m#-#=v1.” ,m->-%$-1>>}#=-Bp:->m>>m=-&{=-KKm,-.8m-+.{-+{0-<<m-*}-#bo$-ò-3u++{-0}+-8K{KK{;->>m-K}#-07}8m-au$-#m-;1-3n#=-L{8v-80v1-#(m=-.:->o:k au$-+{0-+{=-ao0-@}@@}}#=-.8m-={1=-,-9}+-.8m-0}+-<<m-'$-0J,-;-co#=VV{{,-*{0=-9}+k [#-.:-ò-PP}#-.-.}-1$-&{-0=-0}+-7{:-0-%m-9m,-1m<{=-.81-^p$-21-;=-1m-<{=-.=-"}-3~=-auau$-+{=-0}+-<m<<m-:m#-#bo$+$-&}=-;v#=-=}#=-#=;-0}:-1$},-9}+-.:-9m+-&{=-A=k A #}$-**}}=-;=-#6,-0}+-0I}+-#6m8m-W{-0:->o:-08m-au$-:m$-+$au$-*v$-E$=-80}:-1m-&u$-0-6m#- 1989 ;}8m-##}},->>mm-3~$-::-*},-9}+k au$-#m-(t=-3+-07$-$,-#$-W:-9$-k ^p$-<=-<m#-+$}=-9}+,$-06m,-9m,k (+.{:-,k R. B ?{-"-5};-(R. B Ekvall) >>m=0P1=-.8m- “#,1-;-W0-#)+-.8m WW0-#)+-.8m-:=-]o:k” (Tents against the 1956 ;}:-,{8v-9}#-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) 7{:-0-W-0v-+$-k F. R A=k Sky >{-L{- &{1-)m))m:-=m-(H. R. Hyde-Chambers)9m=-0P1=-.8m-”R1k 0}+-<m<<m-au$-:m$-6m#” (Lama: A Novel of Tibet 1984 ;}:-;},-@},-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A )7{:-0-W-0vk) 9m,-,8$-1$-.}-6m#-K}#A=k .-W-9,-ò WW-9,-ò -9,-ò-<}:-08m-0P1=-&}=-9m,k #%m#-<{=-\o,-E}EE};->>m-+.{6m#-;k *{-9}-L}:- ?{-;m-+AmAAm,-(Theodore Illion) 7{:-0=-0P1=.8m-“#=$-08m-0}+-ò-R-1-+$-k '#-.k <{=-:0-%,->m>>m-DD}+ò-Qw=-&=-<m<<m=-bo#=-.k—0}+-<m<<m-#=$-0-8AA{+-.8m-X{-1m#” (In

attributed to Tibetan religions, so that it became one of the books that most influenced future writers of Tibet fiction. DavidNéel herself authored a few novels, the most appreciated of which is Mipham, The Lama of Five Wisdoms (London 1938; Mipham, le Lama aux Cinq Sagesses, Paris 1935), which she wrote in collaboration with Lama Yongden, a Sikkimese Buddhist monk whom she later adopted as stepson. Another work that somehow paved the way to Hoskins, although on a totally different level, was Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet (London 1953; Sieben Jahre in Tibet, Wien 1952), a memoir—immediately translated into numerous languages2— which brought an unprecedented first-hand testimony by a contemporary Westerner who had succeeded in living for a long time in the exclusive Lhasa, making Tibet more present than it had never been in the West. As for The Third Eye, it very quickly made the bestseller lists, turning into the second milestone for fiction about Tibet. The book had an impact on the Western imagination, all the more so because most of its readers, little or not at all familiar with things Tibetan, thought the story reflected to Tibetan culture and religious tradition. A fair number of novels and tales on Tibet-centered topics did appear on the market before 1989, besides the ones mentioned. Leaving aside their unequal value, few were realistic (like R.B. Ekvall's Tents against the Sky, New York 1954, or F.R. Hyde–Chambers' Lama: A Novel of Tibet Tibet, London 1984), while many were the result of an oftentimes wild imagination. We merely need to recall the whimsical In Secret Tibet: In Disguise amongst Lamas, Robbers, and Wise Men--A Key To The Mysteries Of Tibet (London 1937; Rätselhaftes Tibet, Hamburg 1936) by Theodore Illion. Among other fanciful notions about Tibet, the author included in his supposed travelogue an explanation and illustrations of how "Tibetan monks levitate stones by using an acoustic levitation technique with the aid of drums" (p. 195), a device employed for monastery construction! And let us mention as well Lionel Davidson's adventure story

Secret Tibet: In Disguise amongst Lamas, Robbers, and

The Rose of Tibet (Harmondsworth 1962). The book is rife with

+AmAAm,-!+-<m<<mWise Men—a Key to the Mysteries of Tibet)

bizarre elements, and an erotic ingredient is incorporated. It

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.:-1- 1937 ;}:-;},-@},-;-+.{-ù,-+$-k 8':-1,-!+-<m<<m-.:1- 1936 ;}:->1-.v:-Gm-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A )W-0v8}k P}1-.-.}-8+m:A=k 0}+-<m<<m-!!}:-;-+#-'$-'-3~-3~#=-<m#-9}+k "}=-V}$=-Wv8m-;1-9m#%m#-_p- “0}+-<m<<m-f-.-M1=-<m<<m=-H-0Ly$-,=-L}-0-0:-'$-;-8/#=-=v8'v#-*v0-“ %{=-e-6m$-+.{-13~,-ò-0!}+-9}+k P}1-.-.}-8+m-W:-,k *0=-8+m-;-0K{,-,=-+#},-.-9$-06{$=-.:-0<+k ;{-9{-,};- L{5{+-=},- (Lionel Davidson) >>m=-0P1=-.8m-#=:-K}#=-83~;08m-au$- “0}+-<m<<m-1{-)}#-WW-={-"(1962 ;}:-?:-1},-=m-5}:-*m-;-+.{ù,-A=k A ) 7{:-0:-9$-9-13:->m>>m-Es0-&-1$-.}=-"{$=-9}+-.-+$A=k 8+}+-&#=-<<m-&-9$-8HH{=-9}+k ao-1-;-amaam0-#9}#=-1{+-.8m-M;8A}AA}:-1-&m#-%%}$-0bo#=-.8m-+#},-.-6m#-+{0-+{8m-0I}+-#6m-AA=-9}+k ]]m:-0)$-+{-+#-#m=-8DDm#-^^}:-AA{+-1m-&}#-<$< “#}-!0=-,1-Ap$-;+{-+#-#m=-8DmDDm#-^^}:-AA{+-” %{=-+$-k “+{-3~=-:$-(m+-<m<<m=-+{-AA{+-.8#}#-1m-*v0-” %{=-+$-k 9$-au$-8H{HH{,-.-.}-,-:{- “0v+-1{+-+{-+##m=-f-.-M1=-"}1-ò-1m-8'v#-... 9m,-,-9$-131=-131=;-@m@@m-;}#=-<<m-1m-9$-+#},-.-+{8m-,$-;-8EE}-*v0-;k M;-8A}AA}:-1-"<=-<m<<m=-13,-1}-:{:{-*{$=-0%t-:{-AA{+-*v0k” 8+m-;-8K=-0v-+!8$;-%,-8#8-:{-8Ap$-0-,m-**}=-1{+-+{k “0v+-1{+-#=v1-Wv,-1-&+.:-1$;-8+},-ò-8E}EE}-+#}=-Ap$-k” (1994;}8m-Mandarin .:"$-#m-<}#-0v8m-WW0-<-%,->>m-.:-#6m-<}#-E$=- 121 +$- 2004 0:k) 1989 ,=- 1999 ;}8m-0:-;-0}+-8K{KK{;-au$-:m$-=v1-%t[#-+.{-ù,-A=-9} AA=-9}+k ò=-:0=-(m-co-P-#%m#-8#}-3u#=-,=-<$< au$-:m $-:m$-0%}-T-21-*},-9}+k +{-+#-;=-1$-&{-0-+AmAAm,-!+k =m.,-98m-!+k /-:,-=m8m-!+-0%=-=v-0P1=-9}+k +{-+#-;=-"<=-<m#-+.{-13~,-ò-1m$-8+},-A=-.-#<1-#=;-W:k A A=-.-#<1-#=;-W:k 1:-"m- /-:v8v-*m-"m,- (Mark Frutkin) >>m=- 1904 ;}:-+AmAAm,'m=-0}+-;-02,-84v;-A{AA{+-!0=-+1#-#m-I{=-8K$=-#=:-8#}+.-?{-Lm-1},-Lm-",-Lm-;m:- (Edmund Candler) >>m-0P1=-&}=-;#6m-0%};-,=-0P1=-.“0}+-;-02,-84v;-” (Invading Tibet 1991 ;}:-,{8v-9}#-;-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) +$-k A=k ?m=-;m-078)+-*m- ?,-=m-!:-)}))}-:}-(Elizabeth Ann Scarborough) 9m=0P1=-<m$-k au$-#m-,$-#m-1m-'-#2~-0}-,m-<1-L-;-9m-0$-&{,-9m,%m$-#){:-%}%%}},-ò-80}+-.8m-cu;-.8m-!q-0v+-1{+-#6},-ao-1-6m#-9m,-.8mA )k A=k “[0=-0%} ; -0-1 *8-1 - ” (,{ 8 v - 9} # -;- 1992 ;} :-+.{ - ù , -A=k "{,-1m-&};- (Ken Mitchell) >>m-$}-13:-%,->>m-#,=-!!}}:-6m#-;36 |

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centers on a monastery where one thousand bare-breasted priestesses live, who "do it whenever they can," though in fact they are not allowed sex. "But they do it. They can't help themselves […]." We are told that "those women […] keep the monks very busy. […] But sometimes people can get in from outside. Some of the women can do it ten times in one night." That, of course, leads to certain difficulties, so that "three women have to be kept constantly on the go aborting them" (pp. 121, 240; Mandarin Paperbacks edition, 1994). Between 1989 and 1999, more than 30 novels about Tibet were published and about 15 more have come to light in the opening years of this century—mostly in English, Spanish, or French. The following titles can be listed among them: Mark Frutkin's Invading Tibet (New York 1991), a story based on the works of Edmund Candler, the journalist who accompanied the British invasion of Tibet in 1904; Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's Last Refuge (New York 1992), where the protagonist is a young woman who is the reincarnation of Tertön, the emissary of Shambala; Ken Mitchell's Stones of the Dalai Lama (Vancouver 1993), a mystical journey dotted with humor; Kathleen Ann Goonan's The Bones of Time (New York 1996), with a female convert who becomes the Dalai Lama; or Eliot Pattison's fourvolume saga on the pro-Tibetan Chinese police inspector Shan Tao Yun: The Skull Mantra, Water Touching Stone, Bone Mountain, and Beautiful Ghosts (New York 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004). Fiction about Tibet has traditionally covered a variety of literary categories—mystery, detective stories, historical fiction, science fiction, biographical fiction, mythological motifs, adventure tales, mountaineering stories, etc.—and has frequently been related to the broad field of religious issues. Since the Dalai Lama became a Nobel Laureate in 1989, however, there has been a noticeable shift of focus in this fictitious literature towards the contemporary situation of Tibet. This shift can be partly attributed to the heightened international awareness of the Tibetan cause, which itself has received the support of many Hollywood icons and mass media celebrities.

#+-1}-9m-J-9m=--W,-.W “_s_-;8m-R-18m-L}-” (0,-"}8v-0v:-;- 1993 W,-.;}:-+.{-ù,-A=k A ) "-*m-;m,- ?,- Gy-,,- (Kathleen Ann A=k >>m=-0P1=-.8m-au$-&}=-;v#=-0\w:-,=-_s :-,=-_s -R-18m:-,=-_-;8m Goonan) cu;-!q:->o:-08m :-08m-0v+-1{+-%m#-KKmm=-9}+-.8m-“ò=-<m<<m-:v=-.k” (,{8v-9}#;- 1996 ;}:-+.{-ù,-A=k A )k ?{-;m=-?{-*m- /+-*m-=m,->m>>mA=k 01-.}-06m-%,->m>>m-au$-%{%%{k 0}+-+},-;-W0W [[}:-AA{+-.8m-WW-1m8m-({,W0K}#-.-O,-)8} ,-)8}-9},-1m-'-#2~-0}-9m,-.8m-“*}+-!}:->m>>m-##=-” +$-k HH{“&u - 9m = -L} - ;-:{ # -.k ” “:v = -.8m - :m - 0} k ” “9m + -ò - 8} $-08m - 8H{ ” (,{ 8 v - 9} # -;-1999k 2001k 2002k 2004 0%=-=v - +.{ ù,-A=k A )W-0v-0%=-=}k A=k 0}+-8K{KK{;->>m-K}#-07}8m-0P1=-au$-#m-:m#=-'-3~#=--#=$0-$}-13:-%,k ({,-K}#-#=$-K};->m>>m-au$-k ;}-Wv=-<m<<m-K}#-07}k 3,:m#-#m-K}#-07}k [-auau$-k #=:-K}#=-V}$=-Wv8m-au$-k :m84|#=-<m<<m-au$-=} $-=}#=-Ap$-9}+-.-+$-k !0=0=-1$-.}:-WW-&{-08m-&}=;v#=-<m<<mm-0I}+-#6m-%,->>m-au$-9$-Ap$-9}+k 9m,-,-9$-_-;8m -,-9$-_s -R-11&}#-;-,}-)){{;-6m-0+{-#7{$=-/v;-I{=-P}1-:m#-#m-_u#-"-+{-0}+-<m<<m+{$-=$-#m-#,=-%$=-<m<<m-*}#-;-8"}:-9}+k _u#-"8m #-"8m-8>o:-0-+{8mWv-13,->m>>m-&-8#8-<=-,m-0}+-+},-;-W;W ]]mm8m-*}#-#m-<{=-K}#=-'{1*}:-=}$-0-+{-9m,-;k +{-9$-&{=-!+-E#=-%,->m>>m->}-;m-5}8v-Bm-9m1m-'-M1=-+$-9}$=-E#=-%,->m>>m-0J,-8JJm,-+$-W$-0 W a#=-W-0v8mWv+-;1-M1=-<m<<m=-W0W [[}:-AA=-.-;-0K{,-,=-Ap$-k 0}+-<m<<m-!!}:-;-9$-+#-.8m-<{=-9},-=0-0L;= Ap$-0-;-0K{,,=-K}#-07}-8Js;-'$-%,-M1=-:m1-9;-ò-8E}EE}-${=-9m,k +$}=9}+-,m-K}#-07}-;=-W;-0:-0I} WW;-0:-0I}+-.-1-9m,-,1k ■ ■

With the dissemination of more accurate knowledge of Tibet, its demystiﬁcation is advancing step by step. This not so bad, though. Isn’t it said that reality surpasses ﬁction? ■ ■ See "A Conversation between Jamyang Norbu and Elliot Sperling,” Latse Library Newsletter 2 (fall 2004):14-- 17. 2 There is also a Tibetan translation of the book: Bod nang lo bdun. ((McLeod Ganj: Amnye Machen Institute, 1995.) 1

Additional Reading on the Mythicization of Tibet Bishop, Peter. Dreams of Power: Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Imagination. London: Athlone Press; Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993. Brauen, Martin. In collaboration with Renate Koller and Markus Vock. Dreamworld Tibet: Western Illusions. Trumbull, CT: Weatherhill; Boston: Shambhala, 2004. Dodin, Thierry and Räther, Heinz. Imagining Tibet: Perceptions, Projections, and Fantasies. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. Lopez, Donald S., Jr. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Shakya, Tsering. “The Myth of Shangri-la: Tibet and the Occident.” Lungta 5, pp. 20-23.

.+-1-80v1-,=-0\w:k :0-*},-I-%m- (Ramon N. Prats) ,m-?m-@-;m-9m-,0-;{-=mUU}0-f-&{,-1}8m-<:-@}@@}#=-:m#-.8m-&&{-3,-`o-0}+-:m#-.8m80v1-:1=-.8m-13,-#,=-R$=-<m$-k UU}0-f-+{:- 1995 0:-`o-0}+-<m<<m-!+-9m#-+$-P}1-:m#-#m-+#{-G,-&{,-1}-#,$-k +{$-=$-"}$-,m-=m-.{,->m>>m-):-=m-;}-,-E}EE}$-=={:-,-9}+-.8m.}1-.{8v-11{0-:-UU}0-f-&{,-1}- (Pompeu Fabra University) ,-=$=-W=-&} WW=-&}=-;v#=-<<m-+#{-G,-&{,-1}-9m,k

Ramon N. Prats holds a doctoral degree in Tibetan Studies from the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples (Italy), where he was associate professor of Tibetan language and literature until 1995. He is presently professor of Buddhism at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain.

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FEATURED AUTHOR

ROARS ECHOING THROUGH THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS In Memory of Yidam Tsering, Lion of the Snowy Mountains (1933–2004) ■ Lara

Maconi

n 24 October 2004, the inﬂuential Tibetan

Because he was illiterate in Tibetan, Yidam Tsering

poet Yidam Tsering, nicknamed “Lion of the

adopted diverse poetic devices in order to express what

Snowy Mountains,” passed away in the city

he considered a Tibetan sensibility through poetry written

of Lanzhou in Gansu Province. Yidam Tsering was

in Chinese. His project regarding Tibetan tradition was

among the ﬁrst generation of Tibetan writers who started

one of recollection, recuperation, and re/construction,

writing in the Maoist years following the foundation of

but also invention. Reading his work with a cross-cultural

the People's Republic of China (PRC). He was widely

perspective is useful for avoiding simplistic approaches

known in China, Tibet, and

to contemporary Tibetan

the Tibetan diaspora as one

culture and literature and

of the most vigorous and

leaves room for otherness

unconditional spokesmen

and complexity.

on Tibetan identity. He was

Throughout the last

reckoned among the most

half-century, Chinese came

representative and original

to serve as the ofﬁcial

ﬁgures in the contemporary

language in Tibet, and

Tibetan literary world,

a previously unknown

both for his work and for

literature—writing in

his outspoken views on

Chinese by Tibetan

Tibetan cultural revival and

authors—developed in the

renewal. In his speeches

Land of Snows. At the

and essays, Yidam Tsering

same time, Tibetan mother-

stressed the importance of developing a modern

Poet Yidam Tsering

Tibetan literature written in Tibetan, especially given Chinese cultural and linguistic domination in Tibet. What makes such advocacy particularly interesting is that he wrote solely in Chinese.

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tongue literature, which was censured during the Cultural Revolution, was revived after 1980 and has received varying levels of governmental support. Thus, Tibetan literature now reﬂects a broader dynamic of two cultures coexisting

within a single social context. Though the relationship

Army (PLA) arrived in Tibet. The Army made a good

between the two is complex and sometimes antithetical,

ﬁrst impression, distributing food and money to local

cultural coexistence has nonetheless produced interesting

villagers. Tibetans were recruited to participate in the

results in terms of literary and linguistic hybridization.

“construction of a new Tibet.” Many Tibetan youngsters

Yidam Tsering’s poetry emerged in the context of

of humble origin joined the revolutionary ranks; in

rapid political and cultural transition, that is, the birth

exchange, they were nourished, dressed and educated

of a modern socialist Tibet under Mao's leadership. In

(in Chinese) according to the new Maoist revolutionary

this context, a new progressive Tibetan intelligentsia

principles. Yidam Tsering was one of those youngsters.

began to express considerable enthusiasm for change,

Ever since the Long March, the Chinese Communist

modernization, republican ideals, and socialist values,

Party realized the potential of Tibetan recruits from poor

while the Tibetan traditional order was radically upset.

families: some were genuinely attracted to the promise

In exploring the context that gave rise to Yidam Tsering’s

of an egalitarian society, while other young boys simply

work, it is essential to stress the faith of certain Tibetan

drifted into the ranks of the PLA. In the conclusion of

intellectuals in socialism as an international set of

Snowy Mountains Collection, his ﬁrst collection of poems,

aspirations (not speciﬁcally identiﬁed with Maoism), and

written in 1964 but published only in 1980, Yidam

the subsequent disappointment of these Tibetans upon

Tsering acknowledges his initial enthusiasm for socialist

realizing how values could be distorted in practice.

ideals:

In the ﬁeld of arts and literature, previously unheardof literary concepts, such as Socialist Realism and Revolutionary Romanticism, confronted traditional Tibetan literary and artistic outlooks. The new Maoist policy promoted the complete secularization and politicization of literature—a sharp contrast to traditional Tibetan written literature, which was mainly an elitist activity, reﬁned in taste, and rich in religious meaning. The new literature, created by the masses, for the masses, and in the language of the masses, had to eulogize the heroic constructions of socialism. Yidam Tsering’s life and literature mirrored the construction of a modern socialist Tibet. To understand his development as a writer is to understand the change in his political and social commitment, particularly after the storm of the Cultural Revolution. Yidam Tsering was born on 10 February 1933 in the village of Congzhi (Congtse) in the area of Tsongka (Tshong kha) or what is known in Chinese as Ping’an County, Qinghai. His birth into a poor family left him little prospect for receiving an education. In pre-1950 Tibet, the great majority of Tibetans were illiterate, and it was only in his adolescence that Yidam Tsering attended a Xining primary school, where he studied Chinese and rudimentary Tibetan. He was still in school when in August 1949 Chinese soldiers of the People’s Liberation

When I joined the revolution, I was just a 15 or 16 year-old baby. At that time, all I knew was that the Old Society meant suffering. Except for this, everything was obscure to me. In the revolutionary ranks, I was taught the Party’s principles and Mao’s revolutionary philosophy. I became a Party member and really thought the Party was instilling me with wisdom and ideals. (Snowy Mountains Collection, 181) Yidam Tsering’s faith in an egalitarian utopia and class struggle as the deterministic force constituting societies prevailed throughout the 1950s, as he participated in various political movements. He was particularly active in the ﬁeld of folk arts and literature, working as a performer, lyricist, teacher, choreographer and director of a dance troupe. Eventually, he was appointed deputy director of the Preliminary Group of the Gansu Folk Art Research Committee. In 1955, he started to collect, arrange and translate Tibetan folk songs into Chinese, and in 1963 he published Wedding Songs, a collection of Chinese translations of fourteen folk songs from his homeland. Yidam Tsering’s interest in folk literature derived not merely from the pro-folkloric policy of the pre-Cultural Revolution years. Folk songs and any genuine manifestation of popular culture were

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 39

permanent sources of inspiration and ﬁelds of constantly

societies, and ultimately to the realization that existence

renewed investigation for the poet.

itself is suffering. Yidam Tsering’s social views on

The excesses of the Cultural Revolution deeply affected Yidam Tsering’s life and philosophy. Like many other intellectuals in the PRC, Yidam Tsering was

life matured into a cosmological awareness, into a meditation on ultimate truths. By proposing a distinctive literary language, Yidam

stigmatized as a ‘black line’s black specimen’ and a

Tsering expressed his own sense of otherness vis à vis

‘reactionary nationalist.’ His works were censured,

Chinese culture in a creative way. He adopted diverse

and he was rehabilitated only in 1980. His political

strategies to differentiate his works from ofﬁcial Chinese

and philosophical reﬂections matured during those

literary discourse, including the use of highly evocative

dark years. In a few poems (censured at that time) he

symbols and images rich in Tibetan cultural connotations

denounces the corruption of the Party’s political ideals

(such as the ancient Tibetan symbol of the ‘snow lion,’

and the oppressive atmosphere of the time. The tone

and the term ‘Snowland,’ a name for Tibet), and the

of these poems reveals Yidam Tsering’s untamable

evocation of well-known Tibetan historical ﬁgures. He

disposition, his more sentimental than political thirst

also stressed the importance of traveling around Tibet to

for Justice and Equality, and his more humanistic than

regain contact with one’s own territory and culture and to

socialist meditations—values that he would develop in

recover a relationship between self and place. Several

much later poetry.

of Yidam Tsering’s poems record one speciﬁc stage of the

During the self-searching period of the Cultural Revolution, Yidam Tsering acquired a new awareness of

poet’s travels in Tibet and of his meditative journey. When considering the linguistic strategies that

Tibet identity and culture. He grew increasingly curious

Yidam Tsering adopted to convey his sense of cultural

about the speciﬁcity of Tibetan culture, age-old traditions

distinctiveness, it is essential to realize how linguistic

and splendor of which he knew little. He realized that

issues became crucial questions in his reﬂections. The

his ‘Mother’ (Tibet) was getting weaker, that it needed

Indian writer Raja Rao has described the dilemma facing

the support of her ‘son’ to survive. He considered that

writers such as Yidam Tsering, for whom the core of

both culture and economics were fundamental aspects

the problem lies in the question of how to “convey in

in the process of preserving and developing speciﬁc

a language that is not one’s own the spirit that is one’s

Tibetan attributes. Ever since that period, Yidam Tsering

own.” For Yidam Tsering, Chinese was the language of

was increasingly concerned with developing and

his intellectual make-up but not of his emotional make-

improving Tibetan society, Tibetan-language education,

up. Yidam Tsering’s poems were always written out of

and Tibetan literature written in the mother-tongue.

linguistic tension, where the difﬁculty of ‘translating’ into

It was only in the post-Cultural Revolution years, and

Chinese a ‘world’ supposedly experienced, conceived,

following the general revival of culture in the PRC, that

and felt in Tibetan, coexisted with the conscious and

Yidam Tsering wrote the bulk and the best of his poems.

unconscious will not to completely abandon the mother

In addition to Snowy Mountains Collection (published in

language. In his poems, Yidam Tsering attempted to

1980 but containing poems written between 1958 and

construct a linguistic variation on Chinese such that the

1965), Yidam Tsering published ﬁve volumes consisting

Chinese language is no longer Chinese, and Tibetan

primarily of poems and some essays: Snow Lion

becomes the necessary referent to understand this new

Collection (1991), Snowland Collection (1992), Snow

brand of Chinese. Providing Chinese with neologisms,

Rhymes Collection (1996), The Snowland Sun (1997),

semantic and phonetic translations, new images and

and The Lion of the Snowy Mountains Roars (1999). The

new linguistic solutions, Yidam Tsering challenged the

poems in these volumes illustrate the evolution of Yidam

established structures and the authoritative exclusivity

Tsering’s philosophy: from meditations on the “sufferings

of Chinese expressions. By reading Yidam Tsering’s

of the old society” to reﬂections on the sufferings of all

poems in a cross-cultural perspective, one experiences

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a sort of ‘revitalizing explosion’ of canons: the canon of Tibetan tradition and its established values, as well as the canon of Chinese linguistic and literary standards and its

Anthologies and other works by Yidam Tsering

civilizing discourse. The very axioms upon which canons are based are undermined, and the ensuing dualism makes room for otherness, complexity, and creativity. Yidam Tsering was deeply concerned by the future of the new generation of Tibetan intellectuals. To his frequent contact with younger writers and students Yidam Tsering brought a communicative temperament and oratorical skills, which greatly helped him establish a lively human and intellectual dialogue. Many of his poems have been translated into Tibetan at the initiative of young Tibetan writers and editors. He is by far the most popularly translated of sinophone Tibetan writers. This fact indicates the great appreciation felt for Yidam Tsering’s poetry on the part of Tibetan-educated readers, as well as the affection and respect for the person of Yidam Tsering held by a new generation of Tibetan intellectuals. For the young, he is a symbol of moral integrity and human dignity, a powerful literary spur, and a source of enthusiasm and hope for a better future. Young Tibetans see in Yidam Tsering’s poems the complex mélange of frustration and hope, faced by Tibetans today. The roars of the Lion of the Snowy Mountains will forever echo throughout the mountains of the Land of Snows.

Hunli ge (Wedding songs). Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi chubanshe, 1963. (96 pp.) Xueshan ji (Snowy mountains collection). Lanzhou: Gansu renmin chubanshe, 1980. (187 pp.) Xueshi ji (Snow lion collection). Xining: Qinghai renmin chubanshe, 1991. (271 pp.) Xueyu ji (Snowland collection). Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe, 1992. (198 pp.) Xueyun ji (Snow rhymes collection). Hezuo: Gannan Zangzu zizhizhou wenlian and Zla gsar (Moon Shine), 1996. (120 pp.) Xueyu de taiyang (The snowland sun). Beijing: Zuojia chubanshe, 1997. (400 pp.) Xueshan shizi hou (The lion of the snowy mountains roars). Lanzhou: Gansu renmin chubanshe, 1999. (250 pp.) Xueyu zheren de sibian zhi hua. Jushi shouci dechu yueqiu you shui de kexue jielun (Flowers of the

REFERENCES Maconi, Lara. “Lion of the Snowy Mountains: The Tibetan

thoughts of a snowland sage: Scientiﬁc conclusions on the existence of water on the moon proven

Poet Yi dam tshe ring and his Chinese Poetry:

for the ﬁrst time in the world). Beijing: Dangdai

Reconstructing Tibetan Cultural Identity in Chinese.”

Zhongguo chubanshe, 1999. (316 pp.)

Chapter 7 in Tibet, Self, and the Tibetan Diaspora: Voices of Difference, edited by P. Christiaan Klieger, ed., 165–194. PIATS 2000, no. 2. Leiden: Brill,

Lara Maconi (Ph.D. candidate) is a research assistant

2002.

and lecturer in Tibetan Studies at Langues 'O INALCO

Rao, Raja. Foreword to Kanthapura (1938), quoted in B.

in Paris. Having graduated in Chinese Studies from Ca'

Ashcroft, G. Grifﬁths, and H. Tifﬁn, eds., The Empire

Foscari University in Venice, her present research concerns

Writes Back, p. 39. New York: Routledge, 2001.

contemporary Tibetan literature, with a focus on works

Yidam Tsering. “Two Poems.” Translated by Herbert J. Batt. In Manoa: Songs of the Snow Lion 12:2. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2000.

written in Chinese, and questions of identity and diglossy. She is a frequent contributor to the literary magazine Neige d'Aout, Lyrisme et Extrême-Orient Extrême-Orient.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

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Four Poems by Yidam Tsering Crystalline Seeds: Thönmi Sambhota Since the man of Thon1 sowed the thirty crystalline seeds, The annals of civilization have recorded the splendid vestige of the three skor skor, the four ru, and the six sgang.2 Afterwards, an ice-knife and a snow-sword dismembered the body of Dbus, Gtsang, Amdo, and Khams, But the fertile seeds still lie buried deep in the Bod pa’s pure heart! 3 Even the cold of a doubly severe winter can no longer lock up the sowing season! Today the jade dragon has already roared, the seeds are ready to sprout. Barefoot, I reclaim the land of my heart to cultivate a brand-new century! 6 January 1983 Translated by Lara Maconi

晶亮的种子吞米桑博扎 Author’s notes: 1. Thon mi Sam bho ta is the creator of the Tibetan alphabet. Thon mi (that is, a person from Thon or a person whose surname is Thon) and Sam bho ta (a man’s ﬁrst name) together produce the full name Sam bho ta from Thon. The thirty seeds are the thirty letters of the Tibetan alphabet. 2. These are Tibetan ancient territorial divisions: above the three skor of Mnga’ ris; at the center the four ru of Dbus Gtsang; below the six sgang of Mdo Khams. 3. Bod: This is the name Tibetans use to refer to themselves (the name

大从吞地人播下三十颗晶亮的种子，文明的史册收揽了三部四茹刘冈的胜迹，后来冰刀雪剑割裂了卫藏多康的肌肤，萌芽的种子还埋在蕃域人的完美的心理。再冷的严冬也锁不住播种的季节！今朝玉龙已经咏啸，种子就要发芽，我赤脚垦拓心田，耕植崭新的世纪！

of the nationality). Tubo is the [Chinese] phonetic transcription of the

1983。1。6

name that we use to refer to ourselves. Xizang in Tibetan is “Bod.” The use of the term Zang originated during the Qing dynasty and is derived from the name of the region of Gtsang, one of the three regions in the designation ‘Mdo, Dbus, Gtsang’.

Yidan Cairang. “Jingliang de zhongzi.“ In Xueyu de taiyang. Beijing:

1. 吞米桑博扎：史称藏族文字的创制者，吞米：即“吞”地方的人（或吞姓人），桑博扎：即名字，就是：吞地人桑博扎。30颗种子：指藏文 30字母。 2. 指藏族古代区划：即上阿里三部，中卫藏四茹，下多康六冈（部，茹，冈均为区划单位）。 3.蕃：藏族从古至今的自称（即族名），如吐蕃就是自称的译音。“西藏”在藏语里称“蕃”。“藏”源于清时朵卫藏的省称。陇南一藏乡亦

Zuojia chubanshe, 1997, p. 118.

称“蕃域”。

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What is True Cannot be Falsiﬁed

真的假不了

A black stone soaked in the river cannot be washed white. A white stone placed under the sun cannot be darkened.

黑石头泡在河里洗不白，白石头放在太阳下晒不黑，即便把它们埋在灰堆里，天降的雨水还会鉴别！

Even if they were buried in a pile of ash, The rain could still distinguish them! What is true cannot be falsiﬁed. What is false cannot be true. This, indeed, is not difﬁcult to understand!

真的假不了，假的真不了，这本来就不是费解的难题！ 1963。春。草于西北民院

Spring 1963 (Lanzhou) Translated by Yangdon Dhondup

Author’s note: This is the the ﬁrst time I tried writing in the second form of the style of 4, 1, 2: “Four lines and two lines in two stanzas.” I have written more than 30 poems in this style, but before they could be published, they were seized from my house and burned during the Cultural Revolution. This poem alone remained in my head. Now, I show from where this style came.

Yidan Cairang. “Zhende Jiabuliao.” In Xueyu de taiyang. Beijing: Zuojia chubanshe, 1997, p. 56.

FALL 2005 LATSE LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

| 43

The Path

路

On the road I relish the speed of a horse’s hoof. In the desert I admire the heavy load a camel carries. On the snow mountain that frightens the eagle, I see the yak with its tongue stuck out jumping like a ﬁerce tiger from the ravine!

坦途上我欣赏马蹄的速度，沙漠里我钦佩驼背的重负，但是连岩鹰都胆颤心惊的雪山上，我看见吐舌的牦牛象跃涧的猛虎！

Beneath the feet of those who struggle, there will always be a path!

奋斗者的足下都有一条通途！

Please do not to think too highly of the one who dives into the water-The necklaces of my ancestors are the corals deep in that sea!

请不要把那潜水的本领说得太玄，我祖先的项链就是那海底的珊瑚！我祖先的项链就是那海底的 1981。12。于兰州

December 1981 (Lanzhou) Translated by Yangdon Dhondup

Yidan Cairang. “Lu.” In Xueyuji. Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe, 1992, p. 8.

答辩

I praise the Amazon, which sings the greatness of the native Americans. I gasp in admiration when the Nile accumulates The splendour of the Thousand and One Nights. But I do not therefore blame at all my mother, Because the Yellow River and the Yangtse River offer Gesar to a world of bright stars!

我赞亚马孙河鼓起印第安古歌的壮伟，我叹服尼罗河我起《一千零一夜》的星辉，但是并不因此对我的生身母亲说三道四，因为黄河长江把《格萨尔》捧给群星灿烂的世界! 各民族的文明历史都不是天界的赐予！

The civilization of each nationality is not granted in a day! My responsibility is not to dress up that unfamiliar mother from the faraway place, But to transform my mother’s milk into wisdom that composes epics!

Winter 1981 Translated by Yangdon Dhondup Yidan Cairang. “Dabian.” In Xueyuji.. Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe, 1992, p. 5.

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我的责任不是从别处引进装束陌生母亲，而是把生母的乳汁化作我谱写史诗的智慧！

1981 年冬

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