RESISTANCE AND REVOLUTION
These interviews highlight efforts by Tibetans - many of whom were Buddhist monks - to fend off the Chinese invasion and protect His Holiness the Dalai Lama before he fled to India.
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
Select an interviewee from the list below or scroll down to browse the interview summaries and key topics. After each summary, a link is provided to the entire interview transcript.
All interviews are in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat software installed on your computer in order to open these files.
1. Thupten Chonphel (#26)
2. Tashi (#11)
3. Gadak (#75)
4. Tashi Topgyal (#70)
5. Yeshi Wangdu (#78)
6. Tenzin (#80)
7. Wangdu (#87)
8. Jampa Tashi (#3)
9. Ngawang Lobsang (#13)
10. Kunchok Jungnay (#22)
11. Tsering Tashi (#35)
12. Thupten (#36)
13. Thupa (#40)
14. Lobsang Khetsun (#45)
15. Khenrab Dakpa (#46)
16. Tinlay Dorjee (#47)
© 2009 Tibet Oral History Project. These translations and transcripts are provided for individual research purposes only. For all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: Tibet Oral History Project, P.O. Box 6464, Moraga, CA 94570-6464.
Born in Kham Lhorozong, Thupten Chonphel lived with his parents and six siblings in a remote village. At the age of 10, he joined a Bonpo monastery, but alternated his time between helping his parents at home and studying at the monastery. The Chinese arrived in their village in 1949 and villagers were forced to transport Chinese supplies on any animals they owned.
When the Chinese oppression increased, Thupten, Chonphel along with about 100 people, tried to resist and fight the occupation. When the the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force entered his region, he joined them and fought with weapons they received from the United States. After the fall of Lhasa, over 3,000 guerillas began to flee along with thousands of other Tibetans.
After 11 months working on road construction in India, Thupten Chonphel went back to Mustang and joined the Chushi Gangdrug again in 1960. They received more weapons from the United States along with the arrival of six Tibetans trained by the CIA, but food was scarce and they suffered greatly. After fighting for nine years, Thupten Chonphel went to Nepal and later to India , where he took his vows at a Gelugpa monastery.Topics Discussed:
Kham, childhood memories, monastic life, life under Chinese rule, forced labor, resistance fighters, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as refugee in India.
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At the age of nine, Tashi became a monk and remained at the monastery for ten years. During this time many people from the region of Kham moved to Tashi’s region of Gyangtse in order to escape Chinese atrocities and ongoing battles. Later, the Chinese also overtook Shigatse and Gyangtse. Food shortages became a problem after the Chinese invasion and many children were taken away from their families, never to return.
When the armed conflict started in 1958, Tashi and a monk companion joined the Chushi Gangdrug Defend Tibet Volunteer Force in Tsethang, where the biggest Volunteer Force camp was based. Tashi describes the Tibetan guerrilla force, its formation and equipment. He also gives an account of how the Chushi Gangdrug guerillas challenged the Chinese army with their limited manpower and inferior weapons.
Tashi and many other Chushi Gangdrug fighters fled to India under fire from the Chinese. Tashi describes early life in exile. He later joined the Indian Army where he served for 20 years.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, monastic life, religious festivals, invasion by Chinese army, forced labor, oppression, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Gadak tells how Bon, the earliest religion of Tibet, originated and how Bon and Buddhism complement each other. Gadak, who belonged to a wealthy nomadic family, describes how the Chinese disturbed the nomads’ harmonious coexistence with nature by extracting minerals from Tibetan land and by harvesting medicinal plants from the soil.
Determined to fight against the Chinese occupation, Gadak helped form a resistance group, which received air-dropped weapons from the United States. After 22 days of intense fighting, he and his only remaining companion surrendered to the Chinese. They were imprisoned and forced to perform hard labor. Many of the prisoners died from unsanitary conditions or went insane and were shot by the guards. Gadak was eventually released and sent back to his village.
Gadak witnessed the Cultural Revolution in 1965-66 in Tibet, when the Chinese destroyed Buddhist monasteries and subjected Tibetans to thamzin ‘struggle sessions.’ Gadak fled in 1966, but when he reached Bhutan, the Indian Intelligence agencies suspected he was a spy for China.
Topics Discussed:
Nomadic life, Bon, first appearance of Chinese, resistance fighters, life under Chinese rule, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, imprisonment, forced labor, brutality, thamzin, escape experiences.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Born in Shopo in the Ba region, Tashi Topgyal fondly recalls the childhood days he spent with his family there. He became a monk at a very young age and joined Zeze Monastery, a large monastery of 800 monks located 3-hours away from Shopo. He explains that religion was so embedded in the Tibetan way of life that every family sent one son to practice the Buddhist dharma as a monk. Tashi Topgyal describes his monastic life in detail, reporting that it represented an important phase of his life.
At the age of 19, he left his monastery to travel to Lhasa and joined the Drepung Monastery there. He was completely transformed at the age of 22, when he joined the Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas to fight against the Chinese army in 1959. Tashi Topgyal says the Chushi Gangdrug could not fight the Chinese for long because their stock of arms and ammunition quickly dwindled. That same year, he and many other resistance fighters escaped to India.
In 2007 Tashi Topgyal visited Tibet and spent eight months in his village. He describes his impression that, though Tibet’s bigger towns have developed, the isolated regions, such as his native village, remain very poor.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, monastic life, brutality, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas.
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Yeshi Wangdu hails from Gyerong, which is located between the Tibetan provinces of Dhotoe and Dhomay. His hometown is close to the Chinese border and had been dominated by the Nationalist Chinese for many years before the Communist Chinese invaded.
Yeshi Wangdu’s family engaged in farming as well as cattle-rearing. His mother refused to accede to the Chinese’ demand to send him to school in China and instead she sent him to Lhasa. In order to survive there, Yeshi Wangdu donned monk’s robes and joined the Drepung Monastery near Lhasa.
Later, hearing about the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force fighting the Chinese, Yeshi Wangdu left the monastery to join the Force. He describes how the Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas escorted His Holiness the Dalai Lama safely out of Lhasa. He also describes how he confronted Chinese soldiers at Yarlung Phodang and the protective amulet he wore, which he believes protected him from the Chinese bullets.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, first appearance of Chinese, monastic life, Norbulingka defense, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, Dalai Lama’s escape, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Tenzin was ordained as a monk in his village in Amdo at the age of eight. Years later, when the Chinese arrived in Amdo and began oppressing the villagers, he left for Lhasa hoping it was safer there. Tenzin joined Sera Monastery and later gave up his vows in order to volunteer as a security guard at Norbulingka to protect His Holiness the Dalai Lama from the Chinese.
Tenzin gives an eyewitness account of the events that occurred in Lhasa around March 10, 1959. He and perhaps over 1,000 men surrounded Norbulingka until the Dalai Lama was able to escape. Tenzin describes in detail the shelling of Norbulingka and the burning of the Jowo Ramoche statue by the Chinese.
After leaving Lhasa Tenzin joined the Chushi Gangdrug Guerrilla Force, but because they were ill-equipped, they could not withstand the weapons used by the Chinese. After being fired on by Chinese airplanes Tenzin and other Chushi Gangdrug fighters fled to India. Tenzin returned to Tibet in 1986 and 2005, visiting Norbulingka where he saw the Golden Throne, built for the Dalai Lama before he fled to India.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, monastic life, life under Chinese rule, Norbulingka, March 10th Uprising, Dalai Lama’s escape, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
At age 17, Wangdu joined the Tibetan army as a form of tax payment for his family. The Tibetan peaceful policies were supported by the fact that the Tibetan army was more engaged in construction work than in military training and exercises. Wangdu provides a description of the unique construction methods used to build a palace in Lhasa.
Wangdu served as a Potala Palace guard from 1956 to 1959. He was an eyewitness to the shelling of the Potala Palace by the Chinese and the Tibetan uprising on March 10 and 12 of 1959. Wangdu explains how the Tibetans in Lhasa attempted to protect Norbulingka and prevent His Holiness the Dalai Lama from being captured by the Chinese.
Wangdu refused to surrender and escaped from the Potala Palace with a group of fellow guards to collect more weapons from a far away storage depot. They were unable to complete their mission because the Chinese had already taken over that area and the guards decided instead to follow the Dalai Lama’s trail into exile.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, Norbulingka, March 10th Uprising, Dalai Lama’s escape, invasion by Chinese army, resistance fighters, escape experiences.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Jampa Tashi is from Markham in eastern Tibet. He became a monk at the insistence of his parents and enrolled in a monastery in his village. Later, he left the monastery, went to Central Tibet and engaged in business until the Chinese occupation of Lhasa in 1959.
Jampa Tashi personally witnessed the events at Norbulingka in Lhasa on March 10, 1959 when the Chinese used artillery shells to suppress the Tibetan uprising. He was one of the volunteers who gathered to guard His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He saw the dead bodies of men and horses lying around Norbulingka during the uprising. On his escape to India he joined up with a group of Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas.
In India Jampa Tashi was sent to Simla to work on road construction. Life was hard and the climate was harsh. Later, he came to Bylakuppe when the settlement project started. Initially, life was very difficult as the place was a thick jungle. He and other Tibetans cleared the jungle, built roads and made a place for other Tibetan refugees who followed.
Topics Discussed:
Monastic life, invasion by Chinese army, Norbulingka, March 10th Uprising, Dalai Lama’s escape, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Ngawang Lobsang led a multi-faceted career—as a monk, a trader and, later, as a guerrilla fighter. He joined a monastery at age 7 or 8 and as a young adult left the monastery seeking revenge for his father’s death. Then he became trader, transporting food, cooking utensils and clothing on yaks, which he traded for butter and cheese with nomads in Bhutan.
Ngawang Lobsang became a member of the Chushi Gangdrug Resistance Force around age 20. In spite of their limited man power and weapons, the Chushi Gangdrug fought the Chinese successfully over 20 times. Ngawang Lobsang provides detailed accounts of some of these encounters and pays tribute to Chushi Gangdrug’s leader, Andrug Gonpo Tashi. He believes he and his companions escaped death as a result of protective amulets they wore and their modus operandi of fighting during the day and changing camp locations at night.
After fleeing to India, Ngawang Lobsang soon traveled to Mustang in Nepal, where other soldiers had regrouped to form a fighting unit. After training for two or three years, lack of food and weapons eventually forced many guerillas to return to India. Before coming to Bylakuppe, India, where he started a family, Ngawang Lobsang served in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
Topics Discussed:
Monastic life, trade, invasion by Chinese army, Dalai Lama, thamzin, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, CIA training, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Kunchok Jungnay first became aware of the Chinese in Tibet when he saw an airplane fly over his region, which caused great fear among the people. Never having seen an airplane before, they called it the chasha ‘iron bird.’ When the Chinese initially arrived in his village, they flattered the small children and gave them cigarettes. Once they became addicted to the nicotine, the Chinese would not give them any more cigarettes.
Kunchok Jungnay left his village, Birizong, at around 23 years of age and joined the Tibetan Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force at Chatsa Diguthang. The Chinese army approached in large numbers, while the resistance fighters numbered only 50 to 100 horsemen at the most. The Chushi Gangdrug members fought for three days and nights, but ultimately lost the battle. Kunchok Jungnay recalls terrifying moments during the attack when bullets from Chinese guns were “popping like grains frying over a fire.”
After escaping to India, Kunchok joined the Indian Army at Chakrata. He served there for 14 years and then moved to Bylakuppe, India, where he lives with his family. When Kunchok visited Tibet in 1989, Kunchok learned that his parents had died of starvation in 1969.
Topics Discussed:
First appearance of Chinese, resistant fighters, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, Dalai Lama’s escape, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Tsering Tashi’s recalls working from an early age in the fields with his parents. Since they did not own their land, they had to work twice as hard to pay taxes. When the Chinese arrived they began demand grains from the farmers. Two years after the Chinese’ arrival, Tsering Tashi’s father died while working at a Chinese construction site. It fell upon Tsering Tashi to take care of his family because his older brother was a monk living in a monastery.
Being young and daring, Tsering Tashi decided to join the Chushi Gangdrug Volunteer Force in their fight against the Chinese. When their resistance efforts were crushed by the Chinese military, Tsering Tashi escaped to India with the remaining guerrillas. Crossing over the mountain passes, the Resistance Fighters reached Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India, where they survived by taking turns begging.
After spending four months in the extremely hot region of Missamari and watching six or seven Tibetan refugees die each day from the poor conditions, Tsering Tashi was sent to construct roads in Bomdila. He subsequently joined the Indian army in 1961 and later settled in Bylakuppe in 1975.
Topics Discussed:
Farm life, taxes, life under Chinese rule, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Thupten’s earliest memories of the Chinese are from when he was a monk. He explains how the Chinese befriended the monasteries to gauge the actual power of the monks. He believes the Chinese feared the monks more than the Tibetan Army, which had limited arms and manpower.
Thupten was in Lhasa in March of 1959 and describes the uprising of the Tibetans, who stood united against the Chinese’ plot to kidnap His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the mass uprising of March 10, 1959, a Tibetan was publicly stoned to death at Norbulingka for conspiring with the Chinese to kidnap His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
When the war began in Lhasa, Thupten and many young monks stood guard at the Sera Tseri. After seven days, the monks learned that Lhasa was lost to the Chinese and that His Holiness had left for a foreign country. They began their own escape, walking for over a month and evading the bombs dropped daily by Chinese airplanes. In contrast to his early tranquil days as a monk at Sera Monastery in Tibet, Thupten joined the Indian Army and fought in Bangladesh.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, monastic life, first appearance of Chinese, invasion by Chinese army, Norbulingka, March 10 th Uprising, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.
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Thupa hails from a family of farmers and his father served as a leader of the region’s nomadic division. Thupa happily became a monk at age 10 when his family carried out the tradition of sending the youngest son from the family to the monastery. He loved performing the cham, an annual Buddhist dance performance, and delighted in scaring the spectators with the masks worn by the dancers.
Thupa was given the job of treasurer for the TindhuTulku, a reincarnated lama, and was required to travel for trade to distant places. He found it difficult to remain a monk and received permission to leave the monkhood while retaining his position as treasurer. He later married the sister of the TindhuTulku.
The Communist Chinese entered Thupa’s region around 1949. When fighting between Tibetans and the Chinese increased, Thupa was asked by the TindhuTulku’s father to keep the Tulku safe. The Tibetans tried to impede the Chinese military and obstructed their water supply, but they could only temporarily stop the advancing troops. Thupa describes the many dangers he faced and was eventually able to escort his family and the Tindhu Tulku safely into exile.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, religious festivals, monastic life, invasion by Chinese army, resistant fighters, life under Chinese rule, escape experiences.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Lobsang Khetsun’s parents inducted him into Gaden Monastery as a monk when he was 7 years old. He describes the various monastic organizational structures and daily rituals at the monastery. Gaden Monastery was not initially affected by the Chinese invasion.
In 1959, during the Monlam festival, Lobsang Khetsun along with 50 monks each from the Sera, Ganden and Drepung monasteries were requested to volunteer as security guards for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Norbulingka, His Holiness’ summer residence near Lhasa. The monks relinquished their vows in order to take up guns and changed from their monk’s robes into layman’s clothing. They were provided with guns by the Tibetan government and were trained to use them.
Lobsang Khetsun tells the complete story of the bombardment by the Chinese army of Norbulingka and Chokpori, atop which stands the Tibetan Medical Centre. After the shelling ending the monks guarding Norbulingka fled and Lobsang Khetsun made his way to the Indian border. In India he joined the Indian Army and fought in Bangladesh.
Topics Discussed:
Monastic life, defense of Norbulingka, Dalai Lama’s escape, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.
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Khenrab Dakpa belonged to a farming family from the village of Boompa where nearly 300 families lived. He earned a living as a mule driver, traveling to China, India and Lhasa transporting goods. He and other traders witnessed the Communist Chinese mistreating the Kuomintang Chinese during travel to China and they anticipated the same fate for the Tibetans. Villagers began preparing by trading sheep for guns, while others were doubtful that the Chinese would harm them.
Khenrab Dakpa was captured by the Chinese when he was 31 because the Chinese considered travelers like him to be troublemakers. He was sent to labor camp and interrogated frequently. After escaping from prison after six months, Khenrab Dakpa joined the Chushi Gangdrug Resistance Force. He estimates there were 3,000 people at the guerilla camp in Lhoka.
Khenrab Dakpa discusses the courage and sacrifice of the Force’s members. He makes special mention of Andrug Gonpo Tashi, founder of the Chushi Gangdrug, who is also known as Jindha ‘Sponsor’ for his offerings to the great monasteries of Tibet. Khenrab Dakpa also praises Lukhangwa, who was the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for his heroism and loyalty to the Tibetan people.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, trade, invasion by Chinese army, resistance fighters, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, imprisonment, forced labor, escape experience.Read Full Interview (PDF)
Born in Lingpar village in Gyego District, Tinlay Dorjee spent his early days tending cattle and collecting firewood for his family. Occasionally he had to do field work as a form of paying taxes or penalties to the Tibetan government.
After the Chinese arrived and claimed to be liberating the Tibetans, they ordered the villagers to attend lengthy evening meetings. He describes in detail how the Chinese segregated the Tibetan society and how the sadhak‘landlords’ and ngadhak ‘leaders’ were subjected to thamzin ‘struggle sessions.’ Tinlay Dorjee was falsely accused of possessing a gun and relentlessly harassed during the night meetings. The Chinese instituted a policy called "Three Oppositions and Two Allowances" in which Tibetans no longer had to pay taxes or repay loans.
Tinlay Dorjee describes in detail the efforts of the Chushi Gangdrug guerillas, who were desperately trying to defend the Tibetans against the superior weapons of the he Chinese. Both of Tinlay Dorjee’s brothers, who were monks, decided to join the Chushi Gangdrug. Villagers supported the Resistance Force by offering food and supplies. When theChushi Gangdrug were forced to flee to India, the villagers were left on their own under the Chinese occupation.
Topics Discussed:
Childhood memories, life under Chinese rule, Norbulingka defense, Chinese oppression, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, life as a refugee in India.Read Full Interview (PDF)