Tibetan Language Blogsites Back Online

High Peaks Pure Earth has noticed that Tibetan language blogsites are back online now - albeit in sanitised form as posts of a political nature have been removed.

As first reported on Global Voices on August 28, all Tibetan language blogsites (except for one) were inaccessible for almost the whole month of August. The reasons for the closures of the blogsites were unclear at the time but now it appears to be linked to a wider effort within the People's Republic of China to eradicate anonymity on the web.

A September 5 article in the New York Times reports that in compliance with secret government orders, web users are required to log on under their true identities to post comments. For a commentary on these new regulations, please see this blogpost by China internet expert Rebecca MacKinnon.

Tibetan language blogsite tibetabc.cn has returned online with a new notice (photo above) on the main page that reads:

Because of difficulties we are unable to recreate the blog pages. For this reason you first need to log onto the administration page and recreate your new blog profile. Our apologies for creating many difficulties, one more thing to say, please pay careful attention to the content of your posts.

Another popular Tibetan language blogsite, tibettl.com, carries a smaller notice (photo above) that simply reads:

Create a new blog account and after creating a new account you can access your old account.

"A Year in Tibet: Not At All Unexpected ‘Foreign Publicity’" by Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser originally written for Radio Free Asia on August 12, 2009 and posted on her blog on August 19.

Above: Screenshots advertising "A Year in Tibet" from China Tibet Information Center  

Above: "A Year in Tibet", BBC and CCTV versions

"A Year in Tibet: Not At All Unexpected ‘Foreign Publicity’" by Woeser

Recently, from CCTV to the Nanfang Zhoumo (Southern Weekend newspaper), the Chinese media were full of praise for a documentary titled “A Year in Tibet”. One critique was particularly thought-provoking calling the documentary “unexpected ‘foreign publicity’”. Here, ‘foreign publicity’ refers to propaganda targeted at foreigners and even though it was written in quotation marks, I couldn’t help but immediately think of the Chinese Department for External Propaganda.

As a matter of fact, there are two different versions of this five episodes long documentary: the BBC version and the CCTV version; the associated book also exists in English and in Chinese. I watched the BBC documentary and read the Chinese edition of the book. I noticed two particular points about the documentary: firstly, there is a slight difference between these two versions. It is said that every episode of the CCTV version is 12 minutes shorter than the BBC one and some of the commentary has also been modified. Secondly, although both versions differ from each other, the Chinese media have credited the CCTV version with some of the same comments the BBC version received, for example the remark: “obtained the West’s and the Dalai Lama’s approval”.

Now, what is the main effect of editing out 20% of each episode? And in terms of conveying certain contents, how was the commentary modified? Moreover, can these things really be regarded as insignificant? Judging from my experience and knowledge of living in China, I believe that one should by no means ignore such details. It is just like what the Chinese independent intellectual Ran Yunfei said when he criticised the claim that China had so-called “independent think-tanks”: “in a country with strict thought control and without freedom of speech, an independent think-tank cannot exist, there only exists a ‘septic tank’ that only praises the government, glossing over and covering up its own defects and blemishes – I believe that it should be mere common knowledge and the most basic judgement to recognise this Chinese reality. However, if one says things contrary to the reality, then one must either be really blind, or rather consciously choose to be selectively blind.”

One does not even have to refer to only films on sensitive topics such as Tibet; for instance, taking the volume “Modern Chinese History” written by an historian residing in the US as an example. When it was published in mainland China, although it was claimed that only “appropriate and cautious editing work had been carried out”, compared to the original edition published in Hong Kong, a great number of parts had been either obliterated or modified, even to the point where scholars teasingly called it “one country, two editions”. I spoke to Shuyun, the producer and director of “A Year in Tibet”, and during the recent phone conversation, she implicitly expressed her sense of being helpless about some parts being deleted, and with regards to the Chinese edition of the book, she admitted to me in a letter that “in the published version, some parts that touched my deepest emotions have unfortunately been obliterated.” I expressed my understanding, but now I think, this sort of understanding in itself cannot be normal, knowing that it has clearly been edited, how can one then claim ownership for the reviews, which the English version received?

Two years ago, Shuyun told me about the film, which at the time was still in the making. She also mentioned that the China Tibetology Research Centre, which is a subdivision of the United Front Department of the Party Central Committee, would be involved in the project from the beginning to the end. To be honest, when such an evidently dubious academic department with very explicit ideology is involved, I very much doubt that the documentary can hold a very high level of impartiality, authenticity, and objectivity. Even such a work unit as the editorial bureau of the magazine “Tibetan Literature”, I know that every time they make their way to the countryside to collect folk songs and tales, every department has to give the green light. Thus, it will be more so for a production unit coming from Beijing, which also has the China Tibetology Research Centre in the background. How can an artwork created under such conditions really possess any independent spirit? It is hardly surprising that in the book “A Year in Tibet” we encounter one particular feature: an elderly Tibetan asks the production unit of the documentary for a favour, he wants his son who is a ngakpa (a tantric practitioner) to become a member of the county’s CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) National Committee. This is to show that the production unit “and the county’s leaders are very familiar with each other”.

Also, when they film the “Han Panchen Lama” recognized by the Chinese government or when she portrays him in the book, it seems that the film and the book wants to show the Tibetan people’s strong belief in him. There are indeed many Tibetans who take a khatag and queue up to have this little child bless them by touching their heads, but they only do this because apart from being able to obtain a reward from the authorities in form of an extra allowance, they might also be faced with disciplinary warnings of severe punishment if they don’t do it. Were the filmmakers actually aware of all these essential and important factors? In view of this, it is also hardly surprising that, as it is reported in China, the film’s supervisor, also the Vice-Director General of the China Tibetology Research Centre, Gelek, admits that “A Year in Tibet” is successfully carried out 'foreign publicity' by the respective government departments in charge. Also, the documentary fits in with the Chinese Propaganda Department’s line from a few years ago: when the Chinese Propaganda Department held a discussion in response to “the Dalai Clique has long established public relations and has engaged in distorting publicity [in the west], one Ph.D. holder said: “Publicity materials should be written for the foreigners to read, thus, we have to ponder over the Westerners’ way of thinking and language habits. We need to penetrate their language system so as to say whatever we want to say.”

"Bad News" - Tibetan Bloggers Report the Arrest of Writer Therang

On 31st July 2009, a Tibetan blogger writing from Lhasa posted news of the arrest of Tibetan writer Tashi Rabten (bKra shis rab brtan) who writes under the pen name of Therang (the’u rang) which could mean demons or spirits.

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated the original post from Tibetan that was originally posted here: www.tibetabc.cn/u/cher/archives/2009/2009731165922.html (NB: www.tibetabc.cn is inaccessible at the time of writing)

Various Tibetan blogs have reported Therang's disappearance and express concern for him, one example is here: www.cmbod.cn/u/lzcljc/archives/2009/21503.html. The photos below are taken from the blogpost on www.cmbod.cn/u/ganglin/archives/2009/21496.html

More details about Therang and his writings can be found on the Tibetan language website Khabdha: www.khabdha.org/?p=3484



"Bad News"

Intelligent, wise and courageous brother from the land of snows named Tashi (bkra shes), also known as Therang (the’u rang), was secretly arrested by the enemy on July 26th. There are no traces of him left behind, just like a bird took off from a rock.

According to a few reliable friends, after the uprising in 2008, not only did the government interrogate him on many occasions, they also were closely monitoring his movements and making him report regularly on all his activities. At the end of 2008, thinking about the miserable fate of the Tibetan people, he wrote a book critical of the government titled "Written in Blood" (Khrag yig). By applying the meatphor of flesh and blood, the book revealed the oppression and crimes of the Communist government, therefore, he became a thorn in the eyes of the government. The brave and wise Therang is currently undergoing pain and suffering in a dark prison of the Communist government.

Isn’t it regretable for the Tibetan people to lose such a young brave person like him? If all the people with affection for our nationalities and the courageous youths are being disappeared like this, then what is the point of just shouting and raising our fists in the air? Are there able people amongst us Tibetans? Shouldn’t the Tibetan people be rising up when faced with such obstruction? How many people like Therang are there amongst us who are not afraid of talking about the plight of our people? How many people are there amongst us who are as intelligent and as brave as Therang? How many people are there among us who are so young and determined? Shouldn’t we be rising up behind this great thinker?

Written immediately after hearing the bad news from Lhasa on July 28th, 2009.

"Looking at Criminal Cases to Examine the Non-Special Policies Towards Ethnic Minorities" by Woeser

Long live the great unity of all the peoples of the whole nation

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser originally written for Radio Free Asia on July 14, 2009 and posted on her blog on July 24.

As Woeser mentions, this blogpost is a continuation of an earlier article that examined China's policies towards its ethnic minorities titled "Does This Kind of Special Policy Really Exist?" and also a response to various comments to that article, including a comment left here on High Peaks Pure Earth.

"Looking at Criminal Cases to Examine the Non-Special
Policies Towards Ethnic Minorities"

By Woeser

Quite a few people commonly assume that ethnic minorities in China, such as Tibetans and Uighurs, enjoy the privileges of some type of special policy of “two restraints and one leniency” (fewer arrests, fewer death penalties and greater leniency). I recently wrote a brief article for Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Tibetan programme, which was also translated into English and published on High Peaks Pure Earth. Somebody left a comment criticising that “these special policies are applied in criminal cases, not in political cases. As a Tibetan grown up in China, you should know the difference.”

I would like to thank the person who posted the comment for calling my attention to this, reminding me of the known criminal cases that happened on Tibetan grounds; why not conveniently look at some of these specific cases to examine the Party’s special policies towards “ethnic minorities”. To keep it brief, I am going to introduce two exemplary cases. One of them occurred in Lhasa two years ago. There is an establishment named “Boundless Recreational Centre” where people can indulge in sensual pleasures. Apart from owning several hundred prostitutes, they also possess numerous thugs coming from inland China and because they have high officials working in the background at management level, they intimidate others, dominate the market, and at every opportunity gather a mob to beat people up; they are the “mafia”. One day, these thugs smashed the bar of a Tibetan businessman; his friend, a Tibetan painter, was also beaten and injured. Subsequently, the two men and another friend, a Tibetan entrepreneur, decided to pay the centre a visit to demand an explanation and request the troublemakers to formally apologise; a few of their fellow townsmen, all of whom were from Chamdo, accompanied them. In order not to make the situation any worse, they called and informed the police before they set off. Following their arrival at the centre, because they found the doors shut and the staff gone, a few Tibetans broke some window panes; this held up traffic for one hour but did not cause a serious brawl. Soon after, those three Tibetans were arrested and sentenced to four years of harsh punishment by Chengguan District's Lhasa City People's Court. On the surface, this judgement was passed for the offence of stirring up trouble and disturbing public order. But in reality, it was because it alerted Zhang Qingli, the Autonomous Region’s party secretary, who labelled all these Tibetans as belonging to an entirely fabricated “Khampa Organisation”, groundlessly turning them into a politically tainted “criminal clique.” As a result, these people received unreasonably harsh punishment. Even if the defendants had made an appeal and demanded to commute the original sentence, it would still have been dismissed. Up to this date, the three Tibetans are still in prison serving their sentence.

The other criminal case happened four years ago in the countryside of Gomjo (Ch. Gongjue) County in Kham. In the name of carrying out official duties, the deputy chief of the county’s Public Security Bureau led three policemen to the countryside, but in reality they were taking out their guns and hunting. They shot animals belonging to first- and second-grade nationally protected species. Moreover, they asked the villagers to provide horses to give them a lift... Because it was not his turn to provide a horse, one villager expressed the wish to refuse, so the deputy chief and the three policemen brutally beat him up causing severe injuries and life-long disability. The villager’s family took this matter to court and the police side actually had to pay a small indemnity which the family did not accept. After three years of continuous appeals to the higher authorities, they finally won the lawsuit and received increased compensation, but they had also evoked the officials’ utmost hatred. They hence deliberately provoked them, invented a different criminal matter and then finally arrested the disabled villager’s family on suspicion of stirring up trouble and disturbing public order. They were sentenced to three years.

In Tibet, these kinds of unjustly administered criminal cases are ubiquitous because officials’ own interests are high above the law. Consequently, criminal cases are created, politicised, and furtively used by public organs who often abuse public power to retaliate against a personal enemy. There are too many cases to be counted that they have been determined to be “political cases” and received harsh punishments. An acquaintance of mine, a white-collar Tibetan worker who used to work for some bank in Lhasa, once shouted “Free Tibet!” when he was drunk and went to prison for a whole year. In all these cases, can we find any trace of the so-called “two restraints and one leniency” policy? Of course, when relatively minor crimes of thievery are actually reported to the authorities only very few fines are given. If they take people into custody, they would have to provide food and accommodation, it would be too much trouble, so they commonly just turn a blind eye and do not ask questions. Such practices are also rather common. But this has always given people the wrong impression that these thieves enjoy the privileges of the special policy of “two restraints and one leniency”.

In fact, a netizen with a very good sense of humour quite accurately summarises the CCP’s policy towards ethnic minorities like this: “there is suppression for main issues, and there is connivance for minor issues; firmly confine religion, and Mandarin Chinese precedes; the Han are in power, the Party is the heart; transmitting wealth from the West to the East, present small economic sops and baits; accelerate assimilation, and peace reigns under heaven.” Subsequently, I also very much agree with what one of my friends, who belongs to the Hui minority, once said: “with the aim not to give certain groups of the Han masses any reason to feel dissatisfaction and grievance towards ethnic minorities and with the aim to give those big Han fascists as little excuses as possible to assault ethnic minorities, I suggest to abolish those 'superficially clever', sympathetic policies towards ethnic minorities that in fact only exist in name, but are devoid of any substance...”.

"The Chinese and Tibetan Legal Contexts: Which is Worse?" by Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser originally written for Radio Free Asia on June 26, 2009 and posted on her blog on June 30.

In this article Woeser re-visits the theme of her earlier blogpost titled 'Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?' dealing with the issue of legal rights for Tibetans. In the weeks since the blogpost was written, Chinese lawyers have been in the news as Beijing shut down an independent legal research centre that, amongst other activities, published an insightful report and enquiry into the events in Tibet of 2008 that boldly spoke against official state narrative.

It has also since been reported that another Beijing lawyer, Li Dunyong, was barred from representing Tibetan amateur filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who faces charges of 'inciting separatism' for making a documentary.

Finally, for more on the five monks from Labrang monastery who escaped to India, see this article from the New York Times published on June 20.

The photo shows a closed trial after the verdict has been passed, as broadcast on Gannan TV (TV of southern Gansu province), where two Labrang Monastery monks Tsultrim Gyatso and Thabkhay Gyatso were on trial. This is a photo of the television screen taken by a local Tibetan so it's not very clear.

The Chinese and Tibetan legal contexts: which is worse?
By Woeser

Last month, two Tibetan monks were again punished by authorities because they took to the streets during the protests in March last year. The sentence was extremely harsh and they had to pay a tremendous price: Tsultrim Gyatso was condemned to life imprisonment while Thabkhay Gyatso was condemned to a fifteen-year jail sentence. In reality, these two monks from Labrang Monastery were not the only ones to receive this kind of harsh punishment. News coming from the whole Tibetan territory confirms that up till today, many Tibetans still remain in detention, and many Tibetans are still sentenced secretly. This was notably the case in Jomda County, Chamdo Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, where six monks have recently been sentenced to 12 to 15 years imprisonment.

Faced repeatedly with hard times, Tibetans can only accept their fate and endure adversity. For instance, since they were arrested and condemned, more than a year ago, Tsultrim Gyatso and Thabkhay Gyatso’s family have not been allowed to visit them in prison, or to attend their trial. In addition, the two monks have been tortured during their imprisonment so that they would confess, and have been compelled to take a lawyer appointed by the authorities for their trial. In the meantime, five monks from Labrang Monastery were able to flee to Dharamsala. Even though it was a very painful experience, this is extremely lucky since the monks would have otherwise run the risk of being detained and condemned to the same kind of harsh sentence.

Even though the main reason that his license to practice law was revoked was that he represented two Tibetans who had been detained during their trials, lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who has just been prevented from taking the bar examination for registration, still spoke bluntly to foreign media: “As Chinese citizens, Tibetan monks should enjoy legitimate legal rights that entitle them to an open and fair trial as stated in the law. Even if the Chinese authorities want to prove that China is a country of rights as they say, then they should provide the defendants with an open and fair trial, to show how China protects the legal rights of the defendents, instead of merely announcing the sentence.”

In recent years, in China, a group of courageous human rights lawyers have assumed safeguarding rule by law, defending human rights, protecting the citizen’s legal rights and safeguarding justice as their own responsibilities. They have been active in providing legal services for public welfare and for safeguarding citizen’s rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of belief, racial equality, human rights workers’ rights, ethnic minorities’ rights, rights of equality, the right to information, the right to participation, the right to supervision. However, they have been considered by the Chinese political and judicial system as well as by special interest groups as a challenge, and have continuously been attacked and criticized. Recently, authorities have acted very harshly towards these lawyers, and at once have revoked the license of more than a thousand lawyers, stating that they failed the bar examination for registration. This created a sensation in news around the world.

Even if lawyers face the risk of having their license suspended, such as Jiang Tianyong and Li Fangping, they still fight for the statutory rights of Tibetans who are not being treated fairly and speak on behalf of silent Tibetans. This already is very valuable. What is really moving is that when I sent an article that I wrote not long ago entitled ‘Tibetan Lawyers, Why Don’t They Come Forward?’ to lawyer Jiang Tianyong, he, who is in a difficult situation, said tolerantly, “I can understand my fellow Tibetan lawyers, they have no space or opposition margin, once they are hit, then it’s over, they cannot be lawyers any more.” In fact, when I heard these words, I was extremely sad. Thus it can be seen that the Tibetan legal context is far worse than the Chinese legal context.

It must be said that in real life, many of us do not understand at all, as citizens, which rights we are entitled to enjoy, or how many rights we have. Also, what does the legal system, often described as holy and sublime, eventually mean as far as citizens are concerned? I wrote in a previous article that many Tibetans have always lacked the consciousness of their rights and of how to safeguard their rights. Especially when there is high political pressure, because of extreme fear, they will not dare to fight for their own rights. However, whatever circumstances may be, we must understand what our rights are as human beings, even if under the system in this country, human rights have already been cut down greatly. We must not only understand, but also fight for and most importantly defend our rights. This is because human rights are strongly linked to human dignity and humans’ intuitive knowledge of what is right or wrong. Therefore, human rights are worth fighting for.

Beijing, June 24, 2009

Heavy Rainfall and Serious Floods in Amdo Machu

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a Tibetan blogpost about the recent heavy rainfall and serious flooding in Amdo's Machu area (Tibetan: rma chu rdzong, Chinese: 玛曲县 maqu xian, Gansu Province) on the evening of July 20, 2009 that left five people dead.

Screenshot taken from Google Maps, A marks the county of Machu.
The nearest big towns are Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Xining in Qinghai Province.

The blogpost represents another example of citizen journalism in Amdo and official state media has only reported on the floods in Chinese and not Tibetan (or English). For dramatic photos and an official news report in Chinese see http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-07-22/084318272323.shtml.


High Peaks Pure Earth came across the blogpost (photo above) on a young Tibetan middle-school student’s blog.


The motto on his blog (the last three lines on the photo above) reads:

I am searching for a sky that will empower me,
I am searching for a sky under which there is equality and freedom,
I am searching for a sky under which there is no deception and hypocrisy.

The blogpost was written on the afternoon of July 21 and includes this photo:

The writing on the photo reads: Her name is Trakho (bkra kho). She is from Machu Tsho Ru. Her beloved children drowned in floodwater. Now, her hope rests with her simple, young, sick handicapped daughter and rents a room from the neighbours.

Read more accounts and see photos of the floods on the following Tibetan blogs:
http://www.tibetabc.cn/u/freedomfreedom/archives/2009/200972121548.html
http://www.tibetabc.cn/u/murchenchep/archives/2009/2009721222749.html

News from Machu

On the night of 20th July, a flood destroyed villages around Machu County (Dzong). Countless numbers of people’s houses have been washed away. More importantly, three children were carried by the floodwater. Although the mother was stricken with grief, she is searching for her children.

This morning when I arrived, the cries of families who lost everything and the mother of the three children filled my ears and this made me weep. Sadly, the family lost everything; the income earner is not only handicapped but is also of ill health. The family will face great difficulties in the future. Her beloved children and belongings accumulated through blood and sweat have been washed away by the floodwater. Now her life has been plunged into darkness.

I am only a poor student and lacking means to help people of my race. I appeal to brothers and sisters of the land of snows, to think and give support for the future livelihood of the mother and child .

"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated Jamyang Kyi's third letter to her friend Norzin Wangmo (Nor ‘dzin dbang mo). The letter was orginally written in Tibetan and posted on Jamyang Kyi's blog on 6th June 2009.

Regular readers of High Peaks Pure Earth will be familiar with the friendship between Jamyang Kyi and Norzin Wangmo. The emotionally written first two letters from last year were translated and published here on 5th January 2009. Norzin Wangmo is currently serving a five year prison sentence for sending emails and making phone calls abroad last year. Jamyang Kyi herself was arrested and detained for some time in 2008 and wrote a blogpost full of emotional anguish about her experience, the tones of this experience can also be detected in her letters.

Jamyang Kyi mentions Phuntsog Wangyal, one of the most important figures in modern Tibetan history who, as she points out, spent eighteen years in prison starting in 1958. Phuntsog Wangyal's autobiography 'A Tibetan Revolutionary' was originally released in English in 2004 and was translated into Tibetan and published by The Tibet Times in Dharamsala in 2006.

"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

Today I am trying to finish the third letter. I know that you are waiting for the letter which should be written in Chinese since all letters must be checked by the jailors. When I realised that the letter will not be passed on to you by the jailors, I started to think of composing a letter which would reach you eventually and it took me some time to prepare this letter. This is the reason why this letter is late. When I wrote my first letter to you, I really did not know how to begin the letter and wondered how you would understand the letter.

It was a year after your arrest around 3rd April that I wrote my first letter which contained over a hundred words. The letter was filled with my sadness, the reason is that I could not write all the things I wanted to say and discuss with you, whilst writing the letter I was in tears and could only write some words of encouragement in the letter.

A month after sending the letter, I still had not heard any news from you, so I started to think that you may not have received my letter. Then I called your sister to try to find out about your situation. After some days I heard that you had received my letter and we also learned that you are so busy all the time with heavy physical work and you would be punished if you did not finish your work in time. I heard they deprived you of your right to make a phone call to your son Dhondup Dorje once a month. I also heard that in order to regain the right to call your son, now you have been working double time and this has caused you to lose weight.

The day we learned that you had received our letters, it was delightful news and immediately I wrote the second letter. I went to Karma Mindru Tibetan Restaurant to look for my niece and tell her to post the letter in the morning. She told me that she had finished her letter to you. My niece met you only once and you two do not know each other well. She knows you because I talk about you. She promised to write to you every month. I am so happy to see her doing this.

When I wrote my second letter, I was not as sad as the previous time, yet I was not sure what I should write. It is difficult for me to write something which is artificial in the letter. I know you would not be satisfied if I wrote only a few sentences. At the time I was reading ‘A Tibetan Revolutionary’, a book about Phuntshog Wangyal and wrote to you about the book. The reason why I mentioned the book to you is that Phuntshog Wangyal spent eighteen years in jail and whilst in prison he read many books, as a result he eventually became a famous scholar. You should learn from his courage and perseverance that will bring great benefits for your life in the future.

The punishment given to you by the jailor is an attempt to intimidate you. You should not fall into a deceiving trap and I hope that you will devote yourself to reading books the little time you have. If I were to write a more direct letter, I fear that the jailor would not give you the letter.

It is raining today and the weather brings sadness. I remember one time at the end of the autumn, while all the leaves turned a yellowish colour, you with your son, and three members of my family went hiking, when we reached the forest, a (fire) guard prevented us from going further. The children started to play with stones and built the shape of a house. We three adults played a traditional stone game from Ngapa Khyungchu. Do you remember? I remember telling you that I will write down the rules of the game, recently I have started the project along with a collection of folk music of the Ngapa Kyungchu.

How come we Tibetans are so unfortunate? All the people who love our nation have been wasted one after another. At the beginning of March this year, Sanggya Dundrup passed away. I thought of writing something about him, but I was unable to as it was so painful. When he was alive, Sanggya Dundrup voluntarily taught Tibetan language to a group of children in Xining and he loved his students. He was teaching on the day he passed away, and this demonstrates his affection for his nation and this is also the legacy he left for us to carry forward. His death is a great loss to his family and to all of Tibet.

Palsa la (dPal bzang lags), the place where we played the stone game is exactly located on the hillside which stands behind our office building. From the window of the restroom on the top of the building you can see the mountain range, and every time I recall our meeting my heart pains like a weight of stone pressing on it. The pain in my heart lingers on as this year there are so many sad incidents. In the meantime, I have not found an answer why I always think of you with such deep sorrow. Therefore, it is impossible for me to find a moment of clear mind resembling the pure sky. Since last year I have been taking sleeping pills to calm down my mind and heart. When people ask me to sing a song, I reply to them that I have no reason to sing songs this year.

I wrote in my last letter that four years is not a long time to console and give strength to you, nonetheless, I am counting the years on my fingers. Dear friend, it has been a year and two months since your arrest. There is not a single day that passes by without my missing you.

To All Those Longing and Hoping, Summer is Approaching, the Dragon Boat Festival has Arrived!

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost originally written in Chinese by a Tibetan blogger calling himself "The Lost Curse" and was prompted by the Dragon Boat Festival holiday* (端午节 - duanwu jie) which this year fell on May 28th.

The Chinese government grants a 3-day holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival that this year also coincided with the Tibetan holy month of Saga Dawa (sa ga zla ba). In different years of his life, Lord Buddha took birth, achieved Enlightenment and passed away attaining Nirvana, all three of these important events are celebrated in the festival of Saga Dawa.

Which festivals to celebrate and which festivals not to celebrate have been the subject of much debate this year for Tibetans. Perhaps the most well-known example earlier this year was the decision by Tibetans in all Tibetan areas not to celebrate either Chinese New Year or Losar, Tibetan New Year. At the same time, it was reported that Tibetans were forced to celebrate Chinese and Tibetan new years against their will. Not long after, a newly designated 'celebratory day' was introduced by the Chinese government in the form of "Serf Emancipation Day".

This Tibetan blogger has cleverly used the enforced celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival instead of Saga Dawa as a starting point from which to ruminate on the greater issue of patriotism and concepts of a nation. By invoking Chinese historical figures and writing in an ironic style (that continues in the comments), this blogger has managed to avoid making overtly political statements related to Tibet.

Interestingly, one politically provocative was removed from the blog (High Peaks Pure Earth has translated it below the article), it is unclear who removed it and for what reason. However, the other comments are worth reading and show the familiarity and friendship between the blogger and the readers.

*The original link http://danda-466572.tibetcul.com/59786.html only works with Internet Explorer.

To All Those Longing and Hoping, Summer is Approaching,
the Dragon Boat Festival has Arrived!
By "The Lost Curse"

Recently, the work unit held a mass meeting demanding that the country’s cadres not celebrate the Saga Dawa Festival and also instructing their families not to participate. Three days ago, the work unit held a small meeting demanding all of us to correctly celebrate our Dragon Boat Festival and commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. After the meeting was over, I fostered a great interest towards this patriotic poet, who during his lifetime loved his country and after his death loved his country more than ever. Personally, I don’t remember history that well; I barely remember how Qu Yuan died; I cannot recall if he fell from grace with his superiors, lost all hope in his official career, took too many blows in life and jumped into a river or if he, facing all the corruption among officials, seeing the GDP drop severely, could not be bothered anymore and hence jumped into a river? Or did he jump and sacrifice his life when the Qin Dynasty was established and the northern as well as the southern sphere of his home soil (the Chu State) had disappeared? If he jumped because he saw his small homeland vanishing in an instant, well then he really was a truly remarkable patriot, and his end was really very tragic.

Talking about patriotism, Murong Fu, as vividly put in writing by the old fellow Jin Yong, was probably even more patriotic than Qu Yuan; he devoted everything to his thoughts and ideas, performing the greatest martial art stunts in order to restore his country (the Yanguo). But in the end this was not achieved, and he became insane. He was also a truly remarkable patriot, and his end was also really very tragic.

Now someone will surely ask: how is it possible that the two greatest patriots Chinese history ever witnessed are both so tragically tainted? Well, this is why: the surge of world events is gigantic; those who follow prosper, whereas those who oppose perish. These two people both opposed the great undertaking of uniting this ancient nation named China. They did not intentionally nurture the desire to divide the nation and to split China. Yet looking at it objectively, their behaviour did work towards obstructing the unification of the motherland and the great revival of the Chinese nation, going against the interest of the Chinese nation as a unit, hurting the feelings of the Chinese people who have the idea of unity. This is exactly why writing poems was fruitless; jumping off a building or into a river didn’t work either, and even if Qu Yuan had become the King (of the Chu State), would it have made any difference? Or would Murong Fu who had become the son-in-law of the Western Xia Dynasty’s emperor have been able to restore his country?......On a different note, at present, as a Marxist, one’s aim would be to eliminate the differences between countries and ethnic groups, to implement communism, and to liberate all human beings. Patriotism shouldn’t be growing as the size of a country diminishes; it should be: the bigger the country the greater the patriotism; along the lines of, it should be so until all its mountains and rivers have turned “red” and until there is no country to love. Hence, why tell people to excessively commemorate Qu Yuan? Isn’t it enough to just stay at home and eat some zongzi (rice dumplings)...... But the general masses can still say: if one cannot love a small country, how can one love a big country? We common people should still love Qu Yuan’s patriotic spirit, no matter whether what he loved was Hunan, Hubei, Henan, or Hebei. Besides, we’ve all got some days off now, everybody enjoy some nice food, there’s nothing wrong with that... so, let’s celebrate!

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, let’s celebrate, and eat some moon cakes! Lha Gyalo!








July 10 2009
Comment:
Oh, there’s a lot going on here. It seems I’m a bit late, the Dragon Boat Festival was a month ago, really sorry! I’m still in the process of acclimatising; everyday my brain feels muddy and obtuse, there’s no leisurely sophistication anymore, it’s all in black and white, all in decimal points, like a swarm blowing into my face...painful!
Sigh, long time no see. My deskmate is as charming as ever. Enjoying the festival and writing a short commemoration for an ancient honoured personality. It’s just showing respect for the patriotic Qu Yuan. You are a good cadre! I’m thinking that cadres who are this obedient will be above me in the future as sports committee members or as art and literature committee members, wow, amazing!!! Committee member comrade, what are you going to do on July 1st (the day the Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921), and then it’s August 1st (the day of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army in 1927), and after that it’s October 1st (the day of the declaration of the People’s Republic of China in 1949). The good cadres will be really busy! I think highly of you!!!


[The following comment was subsequently deleted from the blog]

Comment:
Those stupid Tibetans! They just don’t deserve to stay in China, just get out of here!

The Lost Curse's reply:
You are hostile towards Tibetans; you are against Tibetans speaking out! Who are those stupid Tibetans? Apart from me, which other ones are there? Tell me! Idiots should get out of China? Chinese citizens should be deported because they’re stupid? According to which paragraph of the law is this? Are the stupid Tibetans in fact a foreign nation? Should we apply the same law that is used against foreigners? I see, you don’t only know anything about law, you are actually also a separatist!







June 15 2009
Comment:
Very well written, very discerning.

The Lost Curse's reply:
Thanks a lot!









June 12 2009
Comment:
Hey, zongzi actually taste really good.

The Lost Curse's reply:
In terms of taste, they are quite good, although I don’t really like eating sweet things.
They say that the Koreans have already successfully declared the Dragon Boat Festival as Korean cultural heritage, and the Chinese are naturally very unhappy about that. But taking zongzi as an example, South Asia is the home of rice; many have the habit of eating rice wrapped in a palm leaf, for instance, the Dai minority, the Thai people etc. Each one of them differs and is unique in terms of taste and style. In the future we should jointly hold a South Asian zongzi Festival, wouldn’t that be great? You would approve by raising both of your hands, right? Yes, the world’s people unite!









June 1 2009
Comment:
Haha! A most intriguing piece of writing!
Be grateful, be happy, eat zongzi, commemorate Qu Yuan, I’m brimming with tears...The Saga Dawa Festival has nothing to do with zongzi, nothing to do with Qu Yuan, we just have to yield in order to avoid conflict...

The Lost Curse's reply:
But we are happy! We are in their favour: let’s take good care of ourselves. Let’s not leave the house (let’s look after each other), we might get lost; let’s stay at home with our brothers and sisters, eat zongzi, which our forefathers have never eaten, and yearn for a patriot, which our forefathers have never heard of...!









30 May 2009
Comment:
I always thought that the Dragon Boat Festival is our greatest celebration, our act of kindness. Let us reject this extremely ignorant and backward religious Saga Dawa Festival, and grant us the exclusive authority to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Some Koreans say that the Dragon Boat Festival is theirs; some countries’ people are just really irritating. I am currently at home feeling deeply thankful, eating some zongzi. Patriotic feelings will arise naturally.

The Lost Curse's reply:
It is!!! Celebrating traditional Chinese festival really is such an act of happiness! Eating jiaozi (dumplings), eating tangyuan (stuffed sweet dumplings), eating yuebing (mooncakes), eating zongzi, eating...eating...eating...eating...eating... You didn’t eat the wrong food, right?! Today’s the 29th; do we not have to eat yuebing? You definitely mustn’t eat the wrong thing...