CULTURE AND HISTORY

Kalsang Yangchen (#24)

Kalsang Yangchen played tug-of-war and wrestled with boys as a child, but most of the time she was busy with household chores. After she married a lama from the Ngagpa tradition, she traveled to pilgrimage sites and received the Kalachakra blessing given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Norbulingka Palace.

Kalsang Yangchen’s husband was a traditional doctor as well as a Ngagpa, who are believed to possess special tantric powers, such as controlling rainfall, taming and vanquishing souls which have risen after their death, and curing mental and physical illness. Kalsang Yangchen describes a few of these practices in detail.

Kalsang Yangchen’s husband joined the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force and shot a Chinese army leader. To avenge their leader’s death the Chinese planned to capture and disembowel Kalsang Yangchen if they could not find her husband. After the Dalai Lama to escaped to India, the Chushi Gangdrug guerillas began to flee and took Kalsang Yangchen with them. She was separated from her husband, who went to battle the Chinese again, and she continued on to India. She was later reunited with her husband in Missamari.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, farm life, religious festivals, Ngagpa tradition, life under Chinese rule, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, Chinese oppression, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Tsering Palden (#15)

Tsering Palden’s large family lived as nomads in a remote area, who exchanged animal products for rice, wheat and other goods in Bhutan and among Tibetans. He explains why his village, Doomba, is highly respected by the Tibetans and he describes the legend behind the hills and mountain near his village. In exchange for guarding the border with Bhutan, the people of his village were given the right to sell incense “at any distance the white bird could fly for 18 days.”

Tsering Palden gives many details about marriage customs. He says, “Here [in India] you have something called falling in love, in Tibet it was in the parents’ hands.” When Tsering Palden was 19, his family brought a girl from another place and told him she was his bride. He explains how parents matched the zodiac signs for each couple and consulted lamas for divination and astrological calculations before a marriage is decided.

The Chinese did not arrive in Tsering Palden’s region until around 1958. Daily life was disrupted as the Chinese began giving silver coins to the poor and appointing them to leadership positions while subjecting the original village leaders to thamzin ‘struggles sessions.’ He provides an account of his return to Tibet in 1994 to visit his relatives and describes the changes that have taken place in Tibet.

Topics Discussed:

Nomadic life, trade, customs/traditions, escape experiences.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Pasang Dolkar (#23)

“There is a saying that goes, ‘In summer you may want to purchase Phari, while in winter you may want to sell it off,’ ” says Pasang Dolkar about her beloved birth place. She describes her beautiful town in summer and names the variety of flowers that covered the fields. Phari is also a cosmopolitan center where people traveled to trade goods from all over Tibet, as well as from Nepal, India, Bhutan and China. She tells of her childhood chores and describes her home.

Pasang Dolkar has fond memories of the annual horse-racing festival. She also explains the Tibetan practice of sky burial of the dead and the significance of this unusual ritual. She recounts the local myth of a romance between the mountain gods and the legend surrounding the story. She also describes the hot springs of Khambu, where people went to be cured of every kind of ailment.

When the Chinese came to Phari, they arrested the four wealthiest families. Pasang Dolkar’s father-in-law worked for the Tibetan government so the Chinese army considered her husband’s family to be “rebels” and was going to arrested them. She and her husband abruptly left their cherished homeland and all their possession in order to flee to Bhutan.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, religious festivals, trade, life under Chinese rule, Chinese oppression, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Pema Wangdu (#64)

Pema Wangdu is from Powo in eastern Tibet. He gives a detailed account of how Powo was an independent state since the time of the Chogyal ‘religious kings.’ Pema Wangdu explains that these historical chronicles are handed down by oral transmission from generation to generation.

Pema Wangdu recounts details about how people in his region raised their livestock for special breeds with unique feature. He explains how the animals were named and how they grazed on their own and returned home to be milked. Traditional natural methods such as bled-letting were used for treating diseases in animals. He also describes the marriage customs in Powo, which involved many community members and elaborate rituals. Pema Wangdu explains traditional clothing, weapons, and funerals.

Pema Wangdu fled Tibet with his family after the Chinese began to inflict hardships on the Tibetans. During their escape, Chinese soldiers killed some of the people in his group, including his wife, leaving Pema Wangdu to care for his7-month-old son. He arrived in India in 1960 and married a woman from his village who had also fled from Tibet and helped him care for his son.

Topics Discussed:

Kham, yak herding, religious life, customs, life under Chinese rule, escape experiences.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Ngodup Lhamo (#88) (alias)

Ngodup Lhamo comes from Powo Yikong and belonged to a farming family. She recalls the problems faced by Tibetan women during childbirth. Since there were no hospitals or trained medical personnel, the majority of the births took place at home. Birth-related problems were viewed as the result of evil spells so rituals and prayers were performed to promote an easy birth.

Ngodup Lhamo also recalls fond memories of typical childhood games she played and discusses enjoyable festivals such as Losar ‘Tibetan New Year’ when her family drank home-brewed beer from silver bowls and told stories of ancient kings.

After the Chinese invasion, the Chinese began arresting people in Ngodup Lhamo’s village, falsely accusing them of helping the Defend Tibet Volunteer Force. She, along with five other families, escaped through Pema Koe and reached Tuting in India. Although they faced many problems as refugees, gradually the settlements in India improved, just as His Holiness the Dalai Lama assured them when he visited Bylakuppe in the early days.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, women and birthing, religious festivals, life under Chinese rule, escape experiences, early life in Bylakuppe.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Choekyi (#21) (alias)

Choekyi is the eldest of 16 children. Her family worked as pastoral farmers who both farmed and raised animals. They lived a very isolated life with no schools or doctors. Choekyi says, “It was all work, and playing was out of the question.” Helping her parents during sowing season and tending animals were her chores, but she had no complaints.

Choekyi provides a vivid description of various aspects of farming activity and her simple life. She describes how she slept with sheep and goat droppings in winter because they acted as insulation. She explains the complete process of making butter and cheese, including how the fresh milk was poured in leather pouches and kept in river water to cool it.

Choekyi’s encounter with the Chinese first occurred when they came to her region looking for grasslands for the animals they had procured. A month after hearing that His Holiness the Dalai Lama escaped to India, she and her family left Tibet. From Phari it was a night’s journey to Bhutan and they traveled with their belongings and the small children on 14 yaks.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, farm life, herding, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Dawa Dolma (#77)

Dawa Dolma and her childhood friend, Tsamchoe, now in their eighties, recount their life experiences in Tibet. In summer, their village became a trading ground for a thousand traders who exchanged salt and grain. Nomads came with their goods, tents were set up, and Dawa’s village became a lively market place for two weeks each year. The local people sold their wares such as woven carpets and clothes. A tax officer would come from Lhasa to collect taxes from the traders.

The lives of Dawa Dolma and Tsamchoe began to change after they both married and had to cope with the challenges of raising a family while earning a livelihood. The friends separated when Dawa Dolma left Tibet with her husband and child soon after the Chinese arrived in their village, fearing that her daughter would be taken to school in China. Tsamchoe witnessed villagers being subjected to thamzin ‘struggle sessions’ inflicted by the Chinese.

Tsamchoe and her family soon followed Dawa Dolma into exile, taking the same route through Nepal. Today, they are still friends and neighbors living in the same refugee settlement.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, festivals, first arrival of Chinese, life under the Chinese, thamzin, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Tsering (#79) (alias)

Tsering is a nomad from the Thoe Ngari region in Utsang. He become a salt-trader at the age of fifteen and Tsering describes step-by-step how Tibetans gathered salt and took it to Ladakh, where they traded it for barley, rice and wheat. From start to finish, the process of salt trading—including removing salt from the lakes, filling the saddle bags, loading them on the yaks and sheep, traveling to Ladakh, and returning home—took the traders around two months.

Tsering then explains how the salt trade came to an end when the Chinese suddenly barred Tibetan salt traders from traveling to Ladakh. With their livelihoods threatened and with no means to challenge the Chinese on their own, all of Tsering’s fellow villagers left to join the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force in Dhoporang.

The journey took several days and before the villagers could reach Dhoporang, Chinese soldiers intercepted and captured around 300 of them, including Tsering. Some villagers were arrested and the remainder, after months of indoctrination by the Chinese, were sent back to their village.

Topics Discussed:

Nomadic life, salt trading, first appearance of Chinese, life under Chinese rule, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Apey (#1)

Apey is the fourth child of seven. He became a monk at Sama Datsang at the age of eight and remained there until the age of 18. He was forced to leave the monastery and return home to support his family, who had become poor due to the unfair actions of Apey’s uncle. Apey helped his family pay taxes to the Tibetan government. Later he went to serve Dapon ‘Colonel’ Mogya, the highest Tibetan military officer.

When the Chinese arrived in Tibet, Apey fought as part of the Tibetan army against the Chinese even though he was not a Tibetan government soldier. After the fall of Chamdo and capture of Dapon Mogya, Apey went to Lhasa and warned people about the invasion of the Chinese, but at that time, they did not believe the Chinese would come to Lhasa.

Apey took up work as a wool trader for an aristocratic family in Lhasa. When Apey learned that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had left Tibet, Apey escaped by crossing over a mountain pass to Sikkim and ultimately he reached Kalimpong. He later joined the Indian army and remained there for seven or eight years.

Topics Discussed:

Kham, taxes, monastic life, invasion by Chinese army, trade, escape experiences, early life in Bylakuppe, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Paljor (#4)

Paljor’s village, Changdong, is a day’s journey from Lhasa. His family worked as farmers and grew different types of crops and flowers. The village Changdong was an estate of Sera Mey Nyetsang. His family was poor and life was made more difficult due to the high taxes paid to the government. His sister was given to the estate in lieu of tax payment. After the disintegration of his family due to his father’s death and the inability to pay all their taxes, Paljor became a servant of the abbot of Gyumed Monastery and served on his estate in Tsang.

Paljor is one of the fortunate Tibetans who received the first Kalachakra initiation given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Norbulingka in Tibet. He also witnessed the Dalai Lama when he was escorted from Amdo to Lhasa as a little child. He gives a vivid account of the official ceremonies and arrangements for His Holiness’ journey to Lhasa.

Paljor escaped to India in 1959 amid growing apprehension that he would be arrested by the Chinese. He nearly made the fatal mistake of returning to Tibet after reaching India, thinking the situation would have improved after a short time.

Topics Discussed:

Utsang, childhood memories, farm life, taxes, invasion by Chinese army, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, Kalachakra in Tibet, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Tenzin Lhagyal (#20)

Tenzin Lhagyal is from a village called Nyapso. He demonstrates and describes how, as a child, he used to play different games with stones and yak horns. Usually the prize would be chang ‘home-brewed beer,’ which everyone, winner and losers, drank together, debating and analyzing the game.

The land in Tenzin Lhagyal’s village was placed under the control of the estate of Ling Rinpoche, senior tutor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Having been a servant to the previous land owner, Tenzin Lhagyal was called to Lhasa to look after the horses of the estate.

Tenzin Lhagyal did not face many problems after the Chinese invasion although he worked on a road crew when tax was imposed on Ling Rinpoche’s estate by the Chinese. Tenzin Lhagyal remained in Lhasa until the Chinese took control of the city in 1959. When he heard the news that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had escaped from Tibet, he decided to leave as well. He felt fortunate to join some soldiers of the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force who were also fleeing Tibet. He came to India through Bhutan and worked on a road crew before moving to Bylakuppe.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, farm life, forced labor, Chushi Gangdrug guerillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Tashi Phuntsok (#14)

Tashi Phuntsok was born in Gyangtse to a farming family. As a child, he enjoyed loving parents and the opportunity to learn how to read and write. His education ended abruptly with the death of his teacher and his parents had him learn tailoring instead. Tashi Phuntsok’s story reveals different aspects of the Tibetan way of life, including the Tibetans’ concept of marriage and the marriage ceremony. He explains, for example, that when he married, rather than bring home his bride, he became a makpa ‘man living with his wife’s family after marriage.’ Tashi Phuntsok shares other views on agricultural practices, weaving, and birth control in Tibetan society.

Tashi Phuntsok describes how his life changed when the Chinese arrived in Tsang after annexing Chamdo sometime in 1954 or 1955. He gives a vivid account of how, in the name of helping poor Tibetans, the Chinese forced wealthier Tibetans to hand over their possessions, including clothes, grains, and grass for their horses. If they did not comply Tashi Phuntsok’s family might have been beaten or imprisoned. His family escaped one night to Bhutan and Tashi Phuntsok says he was extremely sad to leave his country. From there they traveled to Missamari in Assam and eventually settled in Bylakuppe, India .

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, farm life, first appearance of Chinese, life under Chinese rule, Chinese oppression, escape experiences.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Dorji Phuntsok (#27)

Dorji Phuntsok describes his childhood days as very happy because they had plenty of tsampa ‘roasted barley flour’ to eat and chang ‘home-brewed beer’ to drink. His family was a tenant and tilled the land belonging to Nyazong Monastery. His father was a blacksmith who made agricultural tools. Dorji Phuntsok traveled with his father from village to village and helped with his work. He explains how the barter system was used instead of money.

When Dorji Phuntsok was around 28 years old, the Chinese came to his area of Tibet. They attempted to bribe him to report on the movements of his landlord. Rather than be an informant for the Chinese, Dorji Phuntsok remained loyal to his landlord and told him the Chinese were planning to capture him and suggested that he flee. Later, Dorji Phuntsok helped five Khampa men and women escape by showing them the way to India. He also eventually escaped from Tibet with his wife and two young children.

Dorji Phuntsok and his family came to Bylakuppe, India,, where he worked extremely hard during the initial years of the settlement. He tells a story of how the braying of his donkey, which he put in his field, would frighten away the elephants that came to eat his crops.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, first appearance of Chinese, escape experiences, early life in Bylakuppe, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Ngawang Chomphel (#33)

Ngawang Chomphel spent his early years living in a monastery, where his father was the head lama’s business manager, and roaming the plains of Tibet as a nomad. He recalls his childhood was filled with “happiness, plenty of milk and [I was] physically healthy.” As a boy he grazed the animals in the fields with large dogs to protect from the livestock from wolves.

Before seeing them himself, Ngawang Chomphel heard rumors about the sufferings imposed by the Chinese. When the Chinese did come to his region, some of the neighbors reported his father to the Chinese saying that he had repressed them. Fearing for his life, Ngawang Chomphel’s father escaped to India a day before he was to be subjected to thamzin ‘struggle session.’ At that time, Ngawang Chomphel and his wife were harvesting crops in a nearby village and did not know his family had fled. He soon felt compelled to also escape after hearing people say, “The tree may be gone but the branch is here. So we will thamzin the son.”

Traveling to Bhutan was not difficult because Ngawang Chomphel had frequently taken that route as a trader. Starting new life in exile in Bylakuppe was challenging— Ngawang Chomphel helped to build the settlement which was threatened by dangerous elephants.

Topics Discussed:

Childhood memories, nomadic life, life under Chinese rule, escape experiences, early life in Bylakuppe.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List

Samdup (#60)

Samdup gives a vivid account of his early idyllic life in Porang, a land surrounded by Tibet’s snow-capped Himalayas. The traditions in Porang differed somewhat from the rest of Tibet, such as celebrating Losar, the Tibetan New Year, two months ahead of the official date. The celebrations lasted for many days with Tibetans from the whole district coming together for songs, dances and horse races.

Samdup recites a story that has been passed orally from generation to generation about the Khochar Jowo. It is the tale of how the Jowo [icons] of Jamphelyang, Chenrezig and Chakna Dorji were created. Samdup also describes the custom in his region of sky burials—leaving the corpses to be eaten by vultures.

When the Chinese arrived in Porang, they labeled Samdup a rebel because he worked for the monastery. Fearing capture, his family fled from their village, hiding some of their possessions with the hope that they would return to Tibet in a year or two.

Topics Discussed:

Trade, yak/sheep herding, religious festivals, first appearance of Chinese, life as a refugee in India.

Read Full Interview (PDF)

Return to List