"The Used Geta Rinpoche" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 28, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on October 5, 2011.

This series of posts covers Woeser's summer travels to Amdo, Kham and Lhasa and follows on from the last post "The Kardze Pledge". Woeser goes deep into the modern history of Kham in this post, focusing on the 1930s and the figure of Geta Rinpoche (or Getag Tulku), a reincarnated Lama who was one of the early Tibetan Communists.

"Why Are Different Numbers of Self-Immolations in Tibet Talked About?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on January 11, 2012 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on January 22, 2012.

This post follows up Woeser's previous blogpost titled "Why Didn’t Kalon Tripa Read Out Tapey’s Name?" in which Woeser criticised Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay for omitting Tapey's name when reading the names of Tibetans who have self-immolated. For those readers unfamiliar with the case of Tapey's self-immolation in 2009, see an earlier article by Woeser titled "Tibet is Burning".

The picture shows a cartoon by @hexiefarm for the Tibetans who self-immolated,
"Buddha's Tears", from the cartoonmovement website.

"Why Didn’t Kalon Tripa Read Out Tapey’s Name?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written between January 7 and 9, 2012 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on January 15, 2012.

From January 1 - 10, 2012, the Kalachakra teachings given by the Dalai Lama took place in Bodh Gaya, India. In this blogpost, Woeser focuses on Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay's speech held at the teachings where he read out the names of Tibetans who had self-immolated in Tibet. For those readers unfamiliar with the case of Tapey's self-immolation in 2009, see an earlier article by Woeser titled "Tibet is Burning". 

At the time of writing this article, there were 16 Tibetans inside Tibet who had self-immolated, including 3 this year. However, on January 14, there was again news from Ngaba of another self-immolation, which means the number has increased to 17. This year in just 14 days there have 4 Tibetans who have self-immolated. (Photo by @tonbani)

"The Kardze Pledge" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 21, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 12, 2011.

In a series of posts making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham, the post below is the follow up to "Mani Gego’s Yak Meat Processing Plant". This post finds Woeser still in Kardze Prefecture and this time focuses on non-violent resistance which appears to be particularly strong in this region. It was in Tawu, Kardze Prefecture, that Tsewang Norbu's self-immolation on August 15, 2011 took place.


Read a French translation of this post here: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/l%E2%80%99engagement-de-garze/

Photo taken on July 28, 2011

"Mani Gego’s Yak Meat Processing Plant" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 7, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 17, 2011.

In a series of posts making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham, the post below is the follow up to "Magnificent Dzogchen Monastery". This post finds Woeser still in Kham and this time the post focuses on local Tibetan objections to yak meat processing plants in the area. These tensions described in the post give context to events that unfolded some months later also in Kardze Prefecture, see this report by Radio Free Asia from December 1, 2011.

The family planning propaganda poster

The Most-Read Postings on High Peaks Pure Earth in 2011

Woeser's Audience with the Dalai Lama... on Skype

A Happy New Year to all High Peaks Pure Earth readers!

2011 was the third full year of translations and blog postings on High Peaks Pure Earth, thank you all for reading, commenting, supporting, sharing and getting in touch. We are happy to see so many of you not only here but also with us on our Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus pages.

Here is a quick round-up of our blogposts that were popular over 2011:

High Peaks Pure Earth Winter 2011 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Summer 2011 reading list to create the Winter 2011 reading list!

With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth suggests books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below the photos to see the books on Amazon.

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment or short review... if you have any of your own recommendations, please let us know!

"Lhasa? Lhasa!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth presents the English translation of a blogpost by Woeser written on October 13, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on October 22, 2011.

This post continues a series making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham. Previous posts are "Impoverished Matö County", "Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu", "Sershül Monastery In Recent Years" and "Magnificent Dzogchen Monastery".


This post has also been translated into French and is available here: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/lhassa-lhassa/

A picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Sera Monastery onto which a work group painted a mustache to try and stop pilgrims and tourists from recognising the Dalai Lama. However, this old Lhasa woman knows it’s the Dalai Lama in the painting, and despite police supervision close by, she still bows deeply ... (Photos taken by Woeser on March 30, 2010)

"Magnificent Dzogchen Monastery" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 4, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 11, 2011.

In a series of posts making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham, the post below is the follow up to "Sershül Monastery In Recent Years". In this post, Woeser touches on environmental destruction in Kham as well as describing all the things that make the restored Dzogchen Monastery "magnificent". The next post in this series will describe Woeser's impressions on arriving in Lhasa.

"Sershül Monastery In Recent Years" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 1, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 7, 2011.

The blogpost was written once Woeser arrived in Lhasa and is a continuation of Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham. The post below is the follow up to "Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu". At this time, Woeser was also tweeting her impressions from the journey and the tweets contain some important information. Below are translations of three tweets from August 3, 2011.

I’ve been travelling through Eastern Tibet (modern-day Kardze prefecture in Sichuan Province). Where there are mountains, they’re digging mines; where there are rivers, they’re building hydroelectric stations; and where there are mountains and rivers, they’re digging mines and building hydroelectric stations. One of the locals told me that the officials, from high to low, are selling whatever there is in Kardze that can be sold: the development rights for the Zachu River have already been sold to the Huaneng [Power] Company.

"Tibet is Burning" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on October 18, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on October 26, 2011.

Woeser writes and reflects on the recent series of self-immolations by Tibetans. Since the article was written, there has been one more self-immolation on November 3, 2011 by a Tibetan nun Palden Choetso, 35, of Geden Choeling Nunnery in Kardze, eastern Tibet.


This post is also available in French: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/55/

"Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on August 24, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 31, 2011.

In July, Woeser and her husband Wang Lixiong travelled by road to Lhasa and these posts were written about the places they visited on the way. Woeser's previous post was on the impoverished county of Matö while this post focuses on Yushu, the area in Kham that was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on April 14, 2010.

Woeser has previously written about the earthquake and described incidents that happened in the aftermath. On the anniversary of the earthquake, Woeser wrote about how a documentary film to commemorate the earthquake was banned.

"Impoverished Matö County" By Woeser

The logo of the county seat, written in Chinese, not in Tibetan
(Today’s Matö County belongs to Qinghai Province, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)  

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on August 17, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 28, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes about the once prosperous county of Matö (Tib: རྨ་སྟོད། Ch: 玛多, Maduo) in eastern Tibet, located in today's Qinghai Province. Woeser questions the official rationale given for the impoverishment of Matö county and chooses to focus on environmental degradation brought on by mining, dam building and gold panning and the impact on the nomads. 

For High Peaks Pure Earth readers interested in the full China Dialogue article "Tibet's Disappearing Grasslands" mentioned by Woeser, follow this link: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3828-Tibet-s-disappearing-grasslands

Read a French translation of this post here: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/la-province-amdo-sombrant-dans-la-pauvrete/

"Does Tibet Need This Kind of Memorial Site?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 15, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on July 13, 2011.

In this blogpost Woeser continues her ruminations on Ganden Monastery, originally started in the article posted earlier online titled "Who is Responsible for the Destruction of Ganden Monastery?" 

This is Ganden Monastery on October 7, 1991; Photo by Wang Lixiong

My New Book “Tibet: 2008” By Woeser

The creator of the Tibetan calligraphy is Lama Jigme Gyatso of Labrang Monastery, Amdo.

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on July 15, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 23, 2011.

In the blogpost, Woeser introduces her new book "Tibet: 2008", published in Taiwan earlier this year. As Woeser mentions, she documented 2008 in real time as it happened on her blog, the Tibet Updates can be read online here and were also later published in book form. 

For those interested reading the poem "The Fear in Lhasa" in its entirety, the translation used below is by Ragged Banner and can be read by following this link: http://www.raggedbanner.com/pTFIL.html

Finally, Lama Jigme Gyatso, mentioned in the post as creating the calligraphy for the book cover, was detained for the fourth time on August 20, 2011 and his whereabouts are still unknown. See Woeser's blogpost calling for international attention for his case: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2011/08/attention-lama-jigme-arrested-for.html

"The Hero Propagated by Nationalists" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written in July 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 4, 2011.

Woeser's article focuses on the historical figure of Zhao Erfeng, known as the last Qing Amban in Tibet. Although Woeser has mentioned Zhao Erfeng in previous blogposts, this is the first article to focus solely on him. Woeser also mentions Chinese scholar Wang Hui, High Peaks Pure Earth readers shouldn't miss Woeser's previous article about Chinese scholars on Tibet titled "Who Are The Real Orientalists?".

Photo of Zhao Erfeng facing execution

"Who Are the Real “Orientalists”?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 27, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 9, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes a searing criticism of Chinese scholars with regard to their stance on Tibet, in particular Wang Hui and Shen Weirong.

And in other news, High Peaks Pure Earth congratulates Woeser on receiving a Prince Claus Award from the Dutch Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. In their press release, the Prince Claus Fund describes Woeser as "an audacious writer/blogger from Tibet, whose work provides a unique outlook on the complexity of present-day Tibet."


Read a French translation of this post: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/qui-sont-les-vrais-%C2%AB-orientalistes-%C2%BB/

"Attention: Lama Jigme Arrested for the Fourth Time!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was written and posted on her blog on August 24, 2011. In this blogpost, Woeser reports the re-arrest of Lama Jigme. 

Interestingly, the first news of the arrest emerged in a Tibetan blogpost hosted by Sangdhor.com on August 23, 2011, that has since been removed, see the screenshot below of the original post in Tibetan.

A reference is also made in Woeser's blogpost to the Chinese Panchen Lama's visit to Labrang Monastery, for more information on this visit, see this article from the New York Times.

"The Xinhai Revolution And Tibet" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written in July 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on July 30, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser casts her eye over the historical Xinhai Revolution of 1911, ruminates on the repercussions it had for Tibet and also compares the fate of Tibetans with Mongolians and Uyghurs. For our own ruminations on the concept of "nationalities" or "minorities", read our 2009 post "Going Minzu".

Read a French translation of this post here.

The “Republic of the Five Nationalities” that appeared in China after the Xinhai Revolution

Showing the 56 ethnic minorities that were identified after the establishment of the People’s Republic

"Who is Responsible for the Destruction of Ganden Monastery?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 17, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 26, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes about the destruction of Ganden Monastery. The photos taken by her Father that Woeser refers to were compiled into an impressive book published in Taiwan by Locus Publishing in 2006 as "Forbidden Memory: Tibet During the Cultural Revolution". Although there is no English translation of the publication, it has been published in Japanese and Tibetan. 

This is Ganden Monastery on October 7, 1991. Photo by Wang Lixiong.