Two Poems Posted on March 10, 2011

Continuing with poetry for the month of March this week, High Peaks Pure Earth has translated two poems from TibetCul blogs that were both posted online on March 10, 2011. As reported previously, TibetCul was suddenly taken offline on March 16, 2011 and mysteriously came back online on March 25, 2011. Fortunately, these two poems are not back online for those who'd like to see the original posts.

The Year 2008 "Field of Experiments" - A Poem by Gade Tsering

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem by young Tibetan poet from Amdo, Gade Tsering, that was originally posted on his blog in two parts on June 28 and June 30, 2010. The posts were removed on July 15, 2010.

Gade Tsering

Now that the turbulent month of March is coming to a close, it seemed like an appropriate time to post this translation. Readers may remember two poems by Gade Tsering that we translated last summer, "My Tibetanness" and "I Am Tibetan", follow this link to read the poems and a short introduction to Gade Tsering: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/07/i-am-tibetan-and-my-tibetanness-two.html

Although Gade Tsering's blog appears to be unavailable at the time of writing, Gade Tsering is very active on his Sina Microblog: http://t.sina.com.cn/tibetpoem

"I Remember, Therefore We Are" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on January 16, 2011 for the Mandarin service of Radio Free Asia and published on their website on March 14, 2011. 

In this blogpost, Woeser reflects on the importance of collective memory for Tibetans and focuses on the autobiography of Naktsang Nulo which has been translated into Chinese and was published in Taiwan on March 10, 2011. 

Highlights from TibetCul on High Peaks Pure Earth

TibetCul's Logo

*UPDATE: March 30, 2011* High Peaks Pure Earth is happy to report that TibetCul is now back online. The founder of TibetCul, Wangchuk Tseten, wrote the following on his blog on March 29, 2011:

Interestingly, TibetCul mysteriously came back online on the afternoon of March 25. We still do not know the reason behind the authorities closing and re-opening the site. 

Below is the full text of our blogpost as uploaded on March 23, 2011.

"Should Tibetans Have Protested in 2008 or Not?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia's Tibetan service on March 14, 2011 and posted on her blog on March 20, 2011.

In the blogpost, Woeser presents several Tibetan views on the 2008 uprising. The song mentioned in the blogpost is "The Sound of Unity" by Sherten, translated last year by High Peaks Pure Earth. Follow this link to watch the video and read the lyrics.

Starting in Lhasa on March 10, 2008 in, protests spread throughout Tibet. The photos shows the protest in Labrang, Amdo of March 15, 2008, Tibetan monks took to the streets to protest against oppression.

Problem Loading Page: Tibetan Blogs and Social Networking Site Inaccessible

Here at High Peaks Pure Earth we are in our third year of monitoring Tibetan blogs and social networking sites. At around this time every year, we usually notice Tibetan bloggers either posting less than usual or unable to, due to sites being closed down. Sometimes the closure of sites are temporary and sometimes they are permanent.

"Three Provinces of the Snowland, Losar Tashi Delek!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on March 1, 2011 and posted on her blog on March 4, 2011.

Woeser's blogpost is timed to coincide with Losar, Tibetan New Year. This year, there has been much discussion amongst Tibetan netizens on the regional variations when it comes to celebrating Losar, as well as the conflict in celebrating Chinese New Year when the timing does not coincide with Losar. For more on this topic, see the previous posting here on High Peaks Pure Earth titled "One Tibet, Many Tibetan New Years".

One Tibet, Many Tibetan New Years: Tibetan Bloggers Call for Unity

A Losar Card found on the popular social networking site RenRen.Com
The Tibetan reads: Good Losar, Happy Losar, Hope after Losar There Will Be A Change

High Peaks Pure Earth has been monitoring Tibetan blogs in the run up to Losar (Tibetan New Year). In 2009, we noticed that many sites were closed down in this period for "maintenance", partly also because the sensitive date of March 10 was approaching and also because many blogposts had been appearing, urging Tibetans not to celebrate Losar that year.