"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.

"Why Was the Documentary To Commemorate the Yushu Earthquake Banned?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on April 7, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on April 14, 2011, the one year anniversary of the Yushu earthquake. 

Blessings for Yushu

Popular photo on Tibetan blogs commemorating the earthquake of April 14, 2010

"Those Eternally Lit Butter Lamps…" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on December 19, 2010 and posted on her blog on December 29, 2010.

In the blogpost, Woeser reflects on the past year and focuses on the earthquake in Tibet of April 2010 and on Dolkar, wife of imprisoned Tibetan environmentalist Karma Samdrup.

The painting titled “Mother Earth” was painted in memory of the Yushu earthquake by the Beijing artist Liu Yi (200 cm x 450 cm, 2010). The picture shows how monks rescue victims of the disaster; it also shows how Tibetan believers show deepest respect and concern for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The image of His Holiness appeared in late spring/early summer of 2010 in a painting by a Chinese artist.   

A Blogpost and A Poem About the Mudslides in Drugchu

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost and a poem both written about the devastating mudslides that affected Drugchu (Chinese: Zhouqu) in Amdo.

"They Are Everything To Us!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for Radio Free Asia on May 4, 2010 in Beijing and posted on her blog on May 17, 2010.  

 

This is another blogpost by Woeser to reflect on the earthquake in Kham (the previous article can be read here) and another to identify the spirit of resistance in recent actions by Tibetans. For another example, see Woeser's article "Farming Boycott": Continuation of Non-Violent Non-Cooperation written in March 2009.

 

 

"They Are Everything To Us!" 

By Woeser

The earthquake that happened on April 14 in Yushu was bitter and tragic. During the relief work carried out just afterwards, it was just like one Tibetan aid worker announced in a message: “…we will never forget the crimson-and-marigold of the relief work in Jiegu (Kyegudo) that made people dissolve in tears.” The “crimson-and-marigold” symbolises the thousands upon thousands of Buddhists of the Snowland: our Rinpoches, Lamas, monks and nuns. 

When the foreign media present in the disaster area carried out interviews, they took notice of the Buddhist monks who with all their strength participated in the relief work; they also took notice of the Chinese media trying hard to avoid mentioning the monks’ efforts, pointing out that “even the daylong broadcast of mourning on Wednesday excluded any images of the monks, whose crimson-and-marigold robes have been a ubiquitous sight on the streets of Jiegu.” (New York Times). Even worse, ten thousand Buddhist relief workers were forced out of the disaster area on the sixth day after the earthquake, a fact which the local authorities will find hard to deny.

The behaviour of the Buddhist relief workers reconciled the merciful and benevolent spirit of Buddhism and the love for one’s compatriots, like the common saying “blood is thicker than water” describes; moreover, it actually also contained a kind of sense of resistance. For quite a while now, and particularly since 2008, when resistance spread across Tibet, the image of Tibetan monks in China has been demonised and the living conditions of Tibetan Buddhists have been characterised as being treated like prisoners. Yet, because of the unexpected earthquake, the Buddhists monks’ actions at all costs opened people's eyes. Also, we are able to understand ordinary people’s belief in the Buddhists through the plain words of a Tibetan who had lost his loved ones: “They are everything to us!”

The local authorities regarded the Buddhist monks’ actions as a battle to win over people’s hearts, which eventually drove them mad so they expelled the monks. Yet, the unfairness with which the monks were treated, in fact aroused a great deal of sympathy even in the national media, so the truth has actually come out and many more people have become aware of it, thus reverting the damaged reputation of the monks and revealing the real relationship between the monks and the authorities. Therefore, in the whole process of their voluntary rescue efforts, being forced to stop rescue work, leaving the disaster area and the dynamic actions between them and the people, the authorities, the army and the media, they displayed a very outstanding sense of resistance unique to monks. In the process of carrying out these actions, Tibetan religion and its influence among the people become the crucial element of support. Moreover, no matter how dissatisfied and annoyed those who hold power are, because of the earthquake, because of the will of the people, because of the world’s attention, for now they are forced to be tolerant. Although the time of tolerance is very brief, it has still provided the possibility to reveal the real image of the monks, which has in return entirely eliminated the demonisation of Tibetan monks, which had already been ‘achieved’ by the government for many years.

It is also worth mentioning that the monks bravely and confidently faced up to interviews with the media, they even took the initiative and asked to be interviewed. For example, when the New York Times journalist interviewed a Buddhist relief worker, the monk directly spoke out the truth, pointing out that “we just want to save people, yet they consider this tragedy as an ideal opportunity for propaganda.” Since this truth occurred in a public space and by no means one that is limited to religious Buddhists, through the reports of journalists (not only foreign ones, also a few Chinese journalists), the message, which Tibetan monks wanted to tell the world, could be delivered, this is truly very well done.

Also, the funerals at which thousands of victims were cremated received an unprecedented amount of attention because death and dealing with death has always been of immense importance for human beings, superseding nationality, religion and country. But even more because according to local traditions and culture, the funerals of the many victims is something that no official relief workers, soldiers, or police officers, but only Buddhist monks in temples can take in hand. The videos recording the events at the time portray the grand, tragic, and solemn scenes, which is so different from any other cultures and which only belongs to the culture of the local nationality, in this special moment, turning the crimson-and-marigold Buddhist monks into astounding characters. No matter how much the local authorities water down their influence, the monks still managed to thrill people. In fact, they still managed to convey some type of spirit of resistance, which is not violent, but which is rooted in the essence of a non-violent non-cooperation with “Tibetan characteristics”.

The Anthropologist J.C. Scott, who wrote “Weapons of the Weak”, expresses that even those who are most oppressed possess some assets with which they can fight, perhaps even more than most people think. They can make use of these assets to resist oppression; this type of resistance is also much stronger, more profound and effective than most people commonly assume. Yes, for us, the assets to fight can all be found in our own religion, traditions and culture. The significance of forty thousand monks as the relief workers is the force that was able to contend with the disaster when the disaster happened.

Beijing, May 4, 2010

Earthquake in Tibet, Letter from a Tibetan monk in the Earthquake Area

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a letter from a Tibetan monk originally written in Tibetan on April 21, 2010 from Kyegudo, the area in Kham affected by the April 14 earthquake.

The letter gives a personal perspective on the relief work on the ground, insights into the amount of work done by monks and nuns and criticises the Chinese soldiers. Overwhelmingly, the monk sees the Chinese relief efforts as a performance with the emphasis on media and show. The visits by Chinese leaders are as well measured in the amount of hours that the relief efforts were halted for.

This is the fifth earthquake related post on High Peaks Pure Earth, see our previous posts for more Tibetan reactions, critical questions and the detention of Tibetan scholar Shogdung:

1. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-initial-reactions.html
2. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-tibetan-netizens.html
3. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-tibetan-blogger.html
4. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-leading-tibetan.html

 

Don’t Use the Tragic Incident as A Stage for Your Performance

The earthquake in Kyegudo occurred at 7:40 on April 14th and it was really a powerful one. Right at the beginning, I heard that this earthquake hugely damaged our monastery and two fellow monks had died. Shortly after that we heard more news, one after another, saying that the death toll was rapidly increasing.

More than two hundred monks left the monastery for Kyegudo to rescue the people who were buried underground but because of the traffic on the way, we arrived in Kyegudo at around 8 in the evening. When we got there, we realised that this was a really devastating earthquake. The electricity poles had fallen down and all the houses were razed down to the ground. As we contacted the local rescue office in the town to identify the location where we could start our work of saving people’s lives, we were told that the office was already closed for the day and they suggested that we contact the office the next day.

We knew it was urgent so we just ran to all the places where there were people likely to be trapped underground after the earthquake. We approached a school which was partially damaged with probably around twenty students trapped below the ruins of the building. We saw that some Chinese soldiers were digging the ruins and trying to rescue the students. We were at the back of the school building from where we could see the lower part of a student’s body and a man there was saying “before sunset, the children might ... ,” a cry of a student came up from below the rubble. When the monks used ropes to remove the broken beams and tilestones, a soldier appeared before us and asked “What are you doing?” We replied “there is a student down there in the ruins.” He took a glance at the scene and said “ha ha, this student is already dead, his head is smashed, and it's dangerous to stand on the rubble.”

However, in order to save the life of the student, a monk told the Chinese man "I have no regrets if I can save the life of the student by entering into the hole.” But he was refused to do so and we could not do anything but just try to dig the rubble from the front side of the building with the Chinese soldiers.

It is maybe because of our compassionate hearts or out of love for our fellow people, all the monks had so much strength to contribute to the rescue work. When we were working so hard to get close to the bottom of the rubble, the soldiers were just staring at us in a surprised manner. After a while, the media arrived at that spot and  another surprising incident that occurred was that a man who was said to be the leader of the region grabbed the shoulder of a monk and rudely said “get out of here, get out of here.” When the young monks tried to fight back the leader, the elderly monk stopped the young monks and said “please do not act like this, the most important job right now is to save the lives of the people.”

When we were leaving that location, all the soldiers picked up the digging instruments and the ropes and pretended to be rescuing the lives of the people underneath while the media were taking pictures of them.

At that point, a question that popped up suddenly in my mind was what was the priority between saving the lives of the people and filming the soldiers? All the soldiers left after they had co-operated with the filmmakers and they were said to have gone to another rescue location in the town. But the truth is that they fled to the mountains after they heard that the dam in the upper village had been damaged and a possible flood would be occurring soon.

One of people from Nangchen area, whose father had died, said “an earthquake is a kind of natural disaster, it can't be helped but the failure to save the lives of the people is caused by such rumour.” At 7 on the second day morning, we went to the rescue office and continued to work on the rubble. A dead body of a housewife from Nangchen county was found and her two year old son was buried on the second floor of the ruined house. We hoped that the son was still alive so we continued to dig the ground with the soldiers who run away again when another small wave of earthquake occurred. When I encountered the behaviour of the Chinese soldiers, I was wondering where these brave heroes of Wenchuan earthquake were and why they did not show up in Kyegudo.

While the soldiers were going to have lunch, a young boy was begging with tears in his eyes that the soldiers come back to rescue his people as soon as possible. By seeing this scene with my own eyes, I felt so sad and suffered tremendously. The rescue team of the armies went back to their camps for meals whenever they were slightly hungry.

After thinking about this for a while, I realised that all the TV programmes confused my mind and each of the people shown on TV was a perfect actor. As a matter of fact, rescue work is not an easy job. For example, when one part of a second-floor building has fallen down, the other side can collapse at any time and thus the people who are rescuing lives nearby are at great risk. Therefore, the people who are in danger and saving other’s lives must be those who love their fellow people or willing to sacrifice their lives for others. These people are only few in number and most of the people are just actors on the TV screen.

Around the afternoon of that day, some of the Chinese rescue workers arrived and left the spot after one hour by saying there was nobody in the ground and they said “even if there were people down there, we cannot do anything to help them.” We told the soldiers that they should not act like that and there is probably life under the ruins of the houses. Unfortunately, they did not pay any attention to what we said and left the spot shortly afterwards.

All the TV programmes are saying that the people from different nationalities are united and working side by side and the touching moments of helping each other can be seen everywhere. But, in reality, there is more disappointment and anger amongst the people of China and the Tibetan people.

When we were going to rescue lives in the northern part of the town, we had not seen anyone sent there by official rescue teams. When we got there, we only saw many people holding banners on which they wrote their rescue slogans and we also witnessed a group of photographers taking pictures and filming them.

One of the unfair, sad, and disheartening things is that they claimed that all the rescue work done by the monks and ordinary Tibetans were counted as the merit of the Chinese rescuers. The truth is that the whole city was guarded by heavily armed police. I was thinking of how it would be useful if the government sent more rescue teams instead of sending more security forces to control the people in the region. After I got another moment to think about the policy of the regime, I wondered what the target was of the guns carried by the soldiers? When I realised that the real targets of the guns are the people of Kyegudo who had just lost their loved ones, tears started to fall from my eyes.

I had heard Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Kyegudo. Although Wen said “your loss is our loss and your suffering is our suffering”, which allegedly moved many people in the region. However, the effect of his visit was obviously that all the corners of the town were blocked and the rescue workers turned into actors of the state TV news.

On the fifth day after the earthquake, President Hu Jintao visited the earthquake region and greeted the rescue soldiers by saying “you must be very tired now and I want to express my sincere thanks to your great efforts.”  He did not utter a single word about the fifteen thousand monks and nuns who were tirelessly working on the ground. On the contrary, a lot of incidents of abusing and torturing the monks and nuns were taking place and the work they are doing is threatened by saying “it is time to restrain.”

I can confidently say here that we did a better and more efficient job than what the soldiers did and we did not do anything illegal. We do not have any wish for anyone to come to us to express his or her appreciation for our work. It is beyond our expectations and we feel so sad to hear that our life-saving work is considered as criminal activity by the authorities.

The road towards the town and all the roads inside the town were closed for more than 11 hours while Hu Jintao was visiting. The consequence of Hu’s unpopular visit to the region is immeasurable in the context of saving the lives of the people. What I know is that on the same day of Hu Jintao’s visit, a group of monks were on their way to Trango Monastery to rescue the monks over there, but they were stopped on the way and the driver of the vehicle was even warned by the police.

All the artificial political show and senseless action of the officials indeed delayed the time to rescue the people who were crying for help from underneath the rubble as well as distributing food to those who were starving and dying. However, since the Chinese are good at acting and propaganda, it seems that the Chinese government has drawn the eyeballs of the international community.

Finally, I want to call for one thing, that this tragic incident should not being used as a stage for political actors and saving lives of the people should be the top priority of the agenda of the government. Please do not bring any unnecessary suffering to the survivors of the earthquake.

Performing political drama on the stage built above the lives of thousands of people is another tragic scene and an inhumane action.

The consciousness of the deceased, on April 21, 2010

Earthquake in Tibet, Leading Tibetan Intellectual "Shogdung" Detained in Xining

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated two blogposts from the Xining-based Tibetan website www.sangdhor.com. The first blogpost reports the arrest of a prominent Tibetan writer and intellectual called Shogdung (ཞོགས་དུང་ Zhogs Dung, his pen name meaning "morning conch") on April 23, 2010 and was posted online on April 25, 2010. The second blogpost is an open letter to victims of the earthquake in Kham.

Shogdung's real name is Tagyal (bkra rgyal) and he was a member of staff at the Nationalities Publishing House in Xining. He is the author of several books including the recent publication gnam sa go 'byed (The Line Between Sky and Earth) about the events in Tibet of 2008. In 1999, to mark the centenary of Lu Xun's death, Qinghai Tibetan News (mtsho sngon bod yig gsar ’gyur) carried two articles by Shogdung, which ignited huge debate amongst the Tibetan intellectuals in Amdo. Shogdung argued that Tibetans could only overcome their colonised condition through wholesale modernisation. He argued that Tibetans should embrace modernisation and disassociate from traditional Buddhism learning as a means of overcoming their present condition. In fact, Shogdung's hyper critical attack on traditional Tibetan cultural practices was seen by many Tibetans as remnant of the Cultural Revolution and the fact that his article was published through an official channel, it was seen as resembling the view of the CCP.

From the blogpost it would appear that Shogdung's detention is related to the earthquake in Kham of April 14. Just three days after the earthquake, on April 17, a group of prominent Tibetan intellectuals based in Qinghai's Xining province had written an open letter of condolence to the victims of the disaster. Shogdung was one of the signatories of this open letter (in his real name Tagyal) and it was published on his blog. 

The open letter expresses condolences and at the same time is critical of the Chinese government in their handling of the earthquake relief efforts. Other signatories of this open letter include well known Tibetan writer and singer Jamyang Kyi and other members of the group known as the New School of Thought. The New School is a group of progressive writers who are critical of the past and argue for the need for internal reform and change in Tibetan tradition. They are highly critical of the negative aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan version of the open letter carries the pen names of the signatories but the Chinese version gives their full names, and also includes short descriptions of the people, and this is the version that appears below in translation.

Read more about Shogdung in this essay "Inventing Modernity in A mdo: Views on the Role of Traditional Tibetan Culture in a Developing Society" by Lauran Hartley.

***Update April 26, 2010, 2pm GMT: The website http://www.sangdhor.com/ is currently inaccessible.

A Brief Account of the Detention of Friend Shogdung

Several days ago, thousands perished in the massive earthquake in Yushu and it caused suffering for tens of thousands of people. People who are from different countries and languages came together to mourn the tragedy and donated to the people in both direct and indirect ways. However, at this time, to everyone's surprise, while we are mourning for our brother and sisters, our friend Shogdung was arrested by the national security offices.

At 5pm on April 23, apparently five or six police officers from Xining Police Station came to the Qinghai Nationalities Publishing House and took Shogdung to his house and then they searched his library and house. After taking some pictures, they took him away. In the evening at 10pm, several police officers came to his house again and took his two personal computers, saying that the police behavior was not so rough. Again at 3am in the morning, according to his wife Lhatso, the police came again to his home and handed them the arrest warrant and asked for some bedding for him. Taking the arrest warrant, in the early morning, two of his daughters and others went to see him at the local police station but they were not able to meet him and his whereabouts are still unknown.  

Three days after the earthquake, he had wanted to go to Yushu but he did not get the permit to go there. So he stayed in Xining. Until the day of his arrest, he was busying himself with helping the relief efforts and counseling for injuries. Needless to say, at this time the arrest brought additional sad news for his family and friends. However, we think about our brothers and sisters who died in the earthquake, we should not be that sad. Since the day of his arrest, friends and others constantly called us and asked his condition and all expressed bemusement and surprise. However, if we think about this carefully, we should not be surprised at all. Just one month ago, isn't it that Kirti Kyab from Zoege county  and other teachers were arrested and not yet released? After that isn't it that Therang (Tashi Rabten) and Shokjang (Druklo) from North West Nationalities University were also arrested? Who knows what will happen to every one of us? This is for now and we are worrying about how this is going to develop in the future.

 To the People in the Affected Area as Well as Those Who Are Concerned About the Disaster

Early morning on April 14, 2010 at 7:49, an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck Kham Yushu County. According to the media, ten thousand are injured but under close scrutiny, the real number could exceed the announced number. At the same time, this earthquake severely affected Pelyul, Derge and Dzachukha counties in Kardze prefecture.

In fact, we peace-loving and in an inferior position (Tibetans) are not only shrouded by a great might, military force and brutality. This time a natural disaster has struck. Only by forcing oneself to endure, we should follow the teachings of our ancestors that heroes would not shed tears when crying bitterly and should stand up. Bearing in mind the teachings of our ancestors that everything is impermanent, we should wipe away the tears that have fallen on the cheek. We should also remember well the rule that the family members have to live on though the dead will not return any more.   

No matter how far the fall, we have common flesh and blood that is joined and shared and can not be torn apart, nor can the character of our nationality be bought off, therefore, we who live in Xining, Qinghai province, several writers, express our condolences and sympathy with the Yushu brothers and sisters affected by the disaster, offer our condolences to the dead and are pooling funds and furthermore are preparing to visit the affected areas personally as soon as possible. However, as the news from the mouthpiece for the Party organisations can not be believed, we dare not believe in the Party organisations. The Party organisation ordered to temporarily suspend sending people to the disaster area for political purposes. For this reason, we in faraway Xining out of concern for you and your suffering send you this letter, apart from this, there is nothing else we can do. This is also heartfelt and sincere!

In summary, we have a reminder or statement, hope all scholars and cadres empathise with the people of disaster areas to offer food, clothing and medicine! However, do not send your donations to the accounts of a certain organisation or a certain group as if you were paying taxes. The best thing to do is to send somebody one can fully trust to send one’s contributions. Because, who can say that there is no corruption or the bad habit of arrogating to oneself.

Carrying the pain and feeling helpless residents of Xining:

Jamyang Kyi (Well known singer, social commentator)

Tagyal (Well known Tibetan scholar, leader of the New School of Thought)

Lhamo Kyab (Well known bilingual scholar, one of the leaders of the New School of Thought) 

Tabo (University Professor, one of the leaders of the New School of Thought)

Sangdhor (Well known young Tibetan scholar and core member of the New School of Thought)

Sangay Dhondup (Well known young Tibetan scholar)

Menla Kyab (Well known artist)

Mayche (Well known young scholar)

Earthquake in Tibet, A Tibetan Blogger Asks...

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost originally written in Chinese by a Tibetan blogger calling themselves "The Lost Curse" and is a sharp piece on the earthquake in Tibet. The blogpost was published on April 16, 2010, just two days after the earthquake struck.

"The Lost Curse" imagines what questions they would ask in an official press conference on the earthquake. Last year, High Peaks Pure Earth translated another blogpost by "The Lost Curse" that was a biting satirical commentary piece about China forcing Tibetans to celebrate the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival instead of the traditional Tibetan festival of Saga Dawa.

This blogpost on the earthquake is in a similar ironic style that is cutting and thought-provoking and also displays impressive knowledge about Chinese history and traditions. For example, "The Lost Curse" refers to the Han Dynasty's Zhang Heng. As the China blog "Jottings from the Granite Studio" tells us: 

Zhang Heng (78-139) was quite the Han dynasty renaissance man. Despite his fame as a poet of considerable talents, a celebrated scholar of the classics, and an official serving at court, Zhang’s greatest and best-known contributions actually came in the field of science and engineering. [...] Zhang Heng is perhaps most famous for inventing the world’s first seismometer, the 候风地动仪 houfeng didongyi.

"The Lost Curse" poses a series of questions about official reactions to the earthquake and the relief efforts, along the way mocking the Chinese bureaucracy, drawing parallels with the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, quoting Mao, referring to the belief that animal reactions supposedly should forewarn impending earthquakes and sharply critiquing the Han-Chinese fad for Tibetan mastiffs that the affected earthquake area Jyekundo in Kham is famous for.


High Peaks Pure Earth has been monitoring online reactions to the earthquake by Tibetan netizens, this is our third post. The first post can be read here:
http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-initial-reactions.html

and the second post can be read here:
http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-tibetan-netizens.html

*** Update April 23, 2010: The original blogpost appears to have been "harmonised". ***

Tentative Questions for the Earthquake Press Conference

by "The Lost Curse"

1. There is something to make one angry and disappointed and confused - How was the Qinghai Seismological Bureau not able to anticipate the earthquake? Especially, how is it that no one has come out to talk about the events? Is there no Seismological Bureau in Qinghai? If there is such a Bureau what is the Qinghai Seismological Bureau doing? It is such a big department that has a lot of expenditures - are the people who work there useless? If they are of no use, then it is time to close the office or to change the staff. (I suggest: replacing the office with more sensible staff who have no political motivations, the team should be composed of snakes, rats, frogs  and 2 crows, the snake would be the Party Secretary, the frog would be the Bureau Director, the rats would be the engineers, one crow would be working as the office manager and one crow would be the press officer, this team would take over the Seismological Bureau, as soon as they start working, although they are not Party Members, I can guarantee with my own integrity that these five comrades will be more capable of predicting earthquakes than the current staff). Additionally, certain netizens, no matter how many 50 cents you get, don't tell me that earthquakes can't be predicted, be careful that the Dong Han dynasty's Zhang Heng might come out and slap you saying that you are humiliating your ancestors. If you look at Tibetan astrology, then two or three people in a small office have been able to predict many earthquakes. It is clear that the Qinghai Tibetans’ way of predicting earthquakes is backward. If you accept that it is not possible to predict earthquakes or if you consider earthquakes to fall under the rubric of metaphysics, then why establish this office and fill it with staff and spend so much money on this department? Was it to have ordinary people give their lives, homes and wealth to you? Was is so that people would be born peacefully and then not even know how they died? Was it to maintain stability before the earthquake and then to deny the "rumours", or was it to be seen as promoting knowledge about earthquakes afterwards and to count the frequency of earthquakes in the world?
   
   
2. If it is because of lack of intelligence or resources that you failed to predict the earthquake, then at 5.39 am when the 4.7 earthquake happened what were you doing? Logically speaking, when the earthquake happened, the National Monitoring Centre should have known at that time- and the prefecture and county Seismological Bureaus should also have known. At the very least there should be someone on duty 24 hours. (Even hiring an illiterate person who could just sit and watch and shriek in the monitoring office at 5.39 am would be enough) Heaven sent a clear signal; why wasn’t a warning sent early, why wasn’t a notice released? Was it to preserve harmony or to maintain stability? Was this why a warning was suppressed? Was it to show that Chinese and Tibetans are one family and that the people and the army are inseparable like fish and water? Was it for the Shanghai World Expo? Or are there other unknown reasons? Out of generosity, I am making these conjectures: if it wasn't that they knew but didn't warn, had doubts but didn't warn, it can only be that they weren't able to issue a warning because they are retarded or they are careless and failed in their duty, right, my bureau leaders? Please answer, how come no one is replying? Is it because they all died in the earthquake?
   
   
3. In the past there were several earthquakes in the 1990s and there was an earthquake two years ago. Why was it not possible to take bitter lessons from those disasters and establish an early warning mechanism in the Yushu prefecture? Is there a satellite warning system? At 5.39am when the first earthquake struck, were all the Jiegu leaders asleep? After the earthquake struck, what happened that there was such a lack of medicine and relief materials and it turned into an emergency? Weren't there any emergency relief supplies? Even in the Mao era, it was said that preparation of war and preparation for natural disaster was for the people!!!
   
   
4. After many school dormitories collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake, how come the Yushu prefecture didn’t take any notice? Don’t you know that Yushu is on the seismic belt? The school dormitories were not renovated-isn’t it possible to reconstruct? Apart from natural disasters, where is the responsibility of the related persons? What lessons can we learn from this experience? How is it that in the Prefecture headquarters area all the people’s houses are of such poor quality that they have broken like eggs? If these houses that could not withstand earthquakes are built privately, then shouldn’t the government issue some advice or policy regarding this? Likewise, in Yushu, why is it that in the aftermath of the earthquake, there is such a big difference to be seen between the people’s houses and government offices? Why is it that during a 7.1 Richter scale earthquake, the first was shown to be so poor and the second was so strong? I saw an electricity pole that had fallen at a 45 degree angle and behind that I saw people’s houses that had totally collapsed. This was almost satirical. If people say that these people’s houses had been built a long time ago, then how do you explain the new houses that farmers and nomads have moved into which are now in ruins? This is something to turn your stomach.
   
   
5. Right after the earthquake, the distance was very far and transportation was blocked- so to arrive there on the spot was very difficult.  The current conditions are better than the conditions in Wenchuan- why is it not possible to airdrop food and rescue workers from planes?
   
   
6. Were there no animals in Jyeku at that time? Didn’t they have any abnormal reactions (to predict the quake)? Have our people sold off all their Tibetan mastiffs?

............

There are many questions. But for today I will stop here. I will continue to monitor the relief effort. At the same time, I thank the nation’s people for their support. I thank the brothers and sisters who are participating in the relief effort without regard for altitude sickness.

Earthquake in Tibet, Tibetan Netizens Express Grief and Solidarity

Following on from our blogpost from yesterday, High Peaks Pure Earth has continued to monitor online reactions to the earthquake in Tibet by Tibetan netizens.

Many expressions of grief and solidarity have appeared online on blogs and social networking sites in the forms of photos, poetry and statements. The photo below has appeared on several Tibetan blogs such as this blog here and also on Tibetan writer Woeser's blog.

 

Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum

For our Yushu brethren

Many Tibetans are also organising themselves to provide aid on the ground or to raise funds. The Tweet below by Woeser written on April 14, 2010 states:

Serthar Buddhist Institute at Larung Gar have set up a Yushu earthquake rescue team, 1000 monks will set off for the disaster area on 15th!

Tibetan students in Beijing have also launched a fundraising campaign mobilising Tibetan students on various university campuses throughout the capital. The students are fundraising for two local NGOs, "I Love Green Lhasa" and "Children of the Snow-Covered Plateau".

Strikingly, High Peaks Pure Earth has observed many statements and expressions of solidarity amongst Tibetan netizens. Although this phenomenon was noted earlier in the year with Tibetan netizen online activity, the earthquake seems to have strengthened these feelings such as in the statement below:

My dear compatriots, a catastrophe once again descended on the children of the snowland, mercilessly robbing the lives of our vivacious brethren

In times of great difficulty, every one of us Tibetans must join hands in solidarity and go through the crisis together

Offer prayers to those compatriots who left us due to the disaster

May the three precious jewels of the Buddha, Sangha and Dharma lead their souls to the most pure and holy rebirth

Offer our greatest regards to our compatriots in the disaster area

All of us Tibetans will be forever with you

The same Tibetan blogger also posted a poem written earlier today, April 15, 2010, that mourns for victims of the earthquake and at the same time calls for solidarity:

Song of Sorrow

Days without love
Numbing
Dawn brought the darkest pain
Home has faded away
Soul has been orphaned
Grouted metal and rubble filled Yushu
Yushu wet with tears
Fellow brethren
Those in the ruins can not be kept waiting
Stand together
With strength we will bring peace to the dead
Go forward together
With our belief we will subdue heaven and earth
Fight the elements
Turn the tide
Establish our everlasting existence
Build up our bright future home

April 15, 2010

The poem prompted this exchange in the comments section:

• We can not change the fact that the disaster has struck, let us unite to help our fellow compatriots and loved ones to build up their homes! We shouldn't be left with only feelings of regret, I hope that this unfortunate incident will make us more united!

• [Reply] Only united can we Tibetans stand among the nations in the world

Strangely, the main Tibetan language blog-hosting sites are down. One Tibetan language site that is accessible carries photos from the earthquake area and has provoked the following two comments by Tibetan netizens:

http://tbyouth.org.cn/article/news/2010/04/15/455/

I mourn all the lives of my fellow Tibetan countrymen lost in this earthquake. We must share both happiness and suffering together. With one heart we must face this natural calamity.

I deeply mourn the lost lives of people in Yushu in the earthquake. We should consider yesterday's calamity as a natural disaster and work hard on tomorrow's victory and happiness. With all our strength we must continue to survive.

High Peaks Pure Earth will continue to monitor Tibetan netizen reactions and post them here.

Earthquake in Tibet, Initial Reactions from Tibetan Netizens

It has been reported both by Chinese state media and Western media that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck in Tibet early this morning, April 14, 2010. Whilst Chinese media refers to the affected area as the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu (玉树) in Qinghai province, Western media has been calling it Western or North Western China inhabited by "ethnic Tibetans" or part of the "Tibetan plateau".

In fact, the area known in Tibetan as Kyegundo (སྐྱེ་རྒུ་མདོ། skye rgu mdo) is considered by Tibetans to traditionally be part of Kham, eastern Tibet. Although spelt Kyegundo, when spoken it sounds more like Jyekundo. This Google map shows the position of Kyegundo in relation both to Lhasa and also to the provincial capitals of Qinghai and Gansu, Xining and Lanzhou, to the north east.  Here is the link to the map on the website of Tibetan and Himalayan Library, an excellent resource site.

Whilst media reports on the technical details of the natural disaster and the ongoing aid efforts, High Peaks Pure Earth has been looking at the online responses by Tibetans as expressed on blogs and social networking sites.

Just hours after the earthquake, Tibetan netizens were expressing their grief and anxiety. These Tibetans wrote the following status updates on a Chinese language social networking site for Tibetans and seem to be mostly Tibetan students based in Chinese urban centres:

The status updates read:

• May the Buddhas protect our brethren!
• Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum
• I want to go to Yushu, I'll go there soon!
• Fortunately, due of economic underdevelopment in Yushu and the remote location, most housing would only be buildings for officials, so compared to earthquakes of the same level in other areas, the number of casualties would be relatively small.
• I don't want to pray, I want to do something!

One netizen anxiously writes:

All of my relatives are in Yushu, I can't get through to them, so anxious! hope they are ok

This netizen then wrote a short poem about her feelings:

My Loved Ones

Dears, my only relatives
You are my everything, in this world, my everything
It's only because of you that I live
It's only because of you that I can feel joy, sorrow
Before I get there, you mustn't leave me
Before I rescue the lost lambs
You mustn't abandon me
You are all my guardian spirits -- my everything
I will always serve and revere you
Dears
Promise me, you won't leave me so soon
Promise me, you won't leave me alone
Promise me, that I will still be able to see your bright smiles in my dreams
Promise me, your hands will stay warm like the sun's rays
I will always pray for you, my brethren, my loved ones.
You all must stay alive.

Today, the most popular Tibetan blog portal TibetCul has a black and white banner on its website to commemorate the earthquake:

High Peaks Pure Earth will continue to monitor Tibetan netizen reactions and post them here.

Twittering Tibet

Earthquake in Tibet. An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale jolted 'dam gzhung (Ch: Damxung), 82 km from Lhasa, Latitude: 30.274°, Longitude: 90.711°, at 4:30 pm on October 6th. 'Dam gzhung is part of Lhasa Municipality. Read a report about the earthquake from Chinese state media in English here and in Tibetan here.



As misleading reports come through about houses being razed down to the ground in Lhasa, where else to hear the news but from the horse's mouth? Someone in Lhasa has been twittering regularly about daily life in Lhasa and has the following to say about the events of that day:

An earthquake was felt in Lhasa just a minute ago, the quake lasted for only 3 seconds, people were running on the street, dogs barking.
04:33 PM October 06, 2008

And now people were laughing on the street, as if something "exciting" happening.
04:35 PM October 06, 2008

Historically Lhasa wasn't an earthquake zone...", said **** of **** Hotel. It seemed that most people weren't feeling panic.
08:30 PM October 06, 2008

The epicenter of the recent quake was in Damxung County (82km away from Lhasa), the qake measuring 6.6 degress on Richter scale.
09:56 PM October 07, 2008

More than 100 bldgs were destructed in Damxung County, > 30 dead. Nothing much happened in Lhasa, students had a half-day leave.
09:57 PM October 06, 2008

Had hotpot again till 4am, met 2 primary school students on the way back home, they were scared of quake & decided to sleep at Jokhang Sq.
04:47 AM October 07, 2008

And I have to emphasize that the quake only had an extremely minor effect on Lhasa, **** & the buildings around were affected at all.
05:42 AM October 07, 2008