Renaissance Series: Amplify Tibet’s Revolutionary Beats

The live broadcast of Episode 2 of the Renaissance Series will start shortly – please stay tuned! To ask questions or participate in the online discussion during tonight’s episode, go to: http://bit.ly/cl6Hmx.

The second installment in SFT’s Renaissance Series will explore the rhythms and beats of Tibetan resistance and dissent in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Program to include performances of Tibetan songs banned in Tibet, commentaries on resistance through music, “reactionary ringtones” sharing and much more.

The program will highlight the popular Tibetan singer, Tashi Dhondup, who was sentenced to 15 months of “re-education” through labor on January 5, 2010 for including revolutionary songs on his album titled  “Torture Without Trace”.

Tonight’s program 6-9pm

- Reception & Petition Signing

- Introduction by TenDolkar, SFT USA Grassroots Director

- “Tibetan Resistance through Music” by Robbie Barnett, Director of Modern Tibetan Studies, Columbia University

- “Torture Without Trace” by Tashi Dhondup

- “1958-2008” sung by Golok Dawa

- “For That I Shed My Tears” by Tashi Dhondup

- “Unable To Meet” by Tashi Dhondup

- “Yi Re Kyo” by Kunga

- “Phayul Drenlu” by Jamyang Kyi, sung by Tenzin Kunsel

- “You and Me” by Jamyang Kyi, sung by Tenzin Dolma

- “Hope of the Son of the Snow City” by Kunga

- “No Regrets” by Tashi Dhondup

- Performance by Tenzin Wangchuk (MOAMENT)

- Performance by MC Rebel (Tenzing Choephel)

- “New Generation” by Yudrug

Background on these revolutionary beats:

Banned Lyrics, Reactionary Songs by Bhuchung D. Sonam, a young Tibetan writer & activist living in Dharamsala, India

Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup detained report issued by International Campaign for Tibet

The Times Online: Tibetan singer Tashi Dondrup arrested over ‘subversive’ CD

Download Music & Ringtones Banned in Tibet:

Son of the Snow City by Kunga:

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Yi Re Kyo by Kunga:

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Torture Without Trace by Tashi Dhondup

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Unable to Meet by Tashi Dhondup

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1958-200 by Tashi Dhondup

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Let’s Go by Tashi Dhondup

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For That I Shed My Tears by Tashi Dhondup

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No Regrets by Tashi Dhondup

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Tibet Has Good Karma by Tashi Dhondup

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Phayul Dren Llu by Jamyang Kyi

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You and Me by Jamyang Kyi

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New Generation by Yudrug:

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For the first time in English:

Kunga’s Yi Re Kyo with English subtitles

Kunga’s “Ghangdruk Ghi Dhunlam” (Son of the Snow City) with English subtitles

Jamyang Kyi’s “You and Me” with English subtitles

Jamyang Kyi’s Phayul Dren Lu with English subtitles

Also see 5 videos translated by High Peaks Pure Earth from detained Tibetan Singer, Tashi Dhondup: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/03/torture-without-trace-five-songs-by.html
*Special thanks to Khenrap Yeshi and Thupgon for their translations and Jigdo for HQ videos.

"Going Home" By Dolkar Tso

Screenshot of Dolkar Tso's 5th Blog

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Dolkar Tso which was posted on her blog on July 21, 2010. Dolkar Tso is the wife of businessman, environmentalist and philanthropist Karma Samdrup, sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 24, 2010 in Xinjiang on charges of alleged "grave-robbing".

Dolkar Tso started blogging in June 2010 during her husband's trial, providing a personal insight into the case. Her blogs, hosted on Chinese site Sohu.com, have been repeatedly closed down and she is currently on her 5th blog.

Whilst the case of Karma Samdrup and his imprisoned brothers Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal fades out of the news, Dolkar Tso's blogpost is a portrait of a distressed woman trying to imagine how best to carry on for the sake of the family. The blogpost starts with the summer, usually the time of the year when the family would leave the city of Xining and go home to the grasslands. The English translation reflects the original Chinese language nostalgic internal monologue style and confused grammar.

Follow this link to see all posts by Dolkar Tso that High Peaks Pure Earth has translated to date.

Dolkar Tso and Karma Samdrup's daughters

My favourite part of the year is going home, the children getting excited before their exams and starting to think about seeing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the fresh air, green grass and blue sky... My children, the beautiful scenery of home may still be as tranquil as it was before but something in the air has changed, your mother really doesn't want you to be aware of these changes or to see them.

Summer was such a wonderful time, my husband would often come back with us to the grasslands of Yushu, we would breathe in the scent of various herbs, see black pearl-like yaks and white cloud-like sheep. When the tents were up, we would see the neighbours in far off tents, we would smile at each other, looking up to the skies, red faced under the sun with white teeth. Children who are born and grew up on the grasslands are kind-hearted and sincere. My husband loved to take photos of us, that was our best and happiest time.


Kids are still playing and noisily running around the public square in Xining, among these kids, one experienced the major earthquake in April, witnessed destruction and death, lost his mother; two of them haven't see their father for half a year and perhaps have to wait fourteen and a half more years. The boy who lost his mother still doesn't know what death means; my two girls whose father suffered injustice still don't know what separation means. The younger daughter once wrote in her essay "Secret" that she wants to marry the same kind of man as her kind, big and tall father when she grows up. If this is true that the fifteen years have to be used to prove my husband's innocence, a seemingly endless amount of time is needed to show that this was a miscarriage of justice, would my daughters still remember what their father looks like? The time of their youth will be spent without a father, at the time when they begin to think about getting married, will the shadow of their father not appear in their partners?

This kind of thing really makes me feel pain. But what else can I think about? With parents on the one hand, I have to force myself to pretend I am strong enough to take the pain. With the children on the other hand, I can only pretend that nothing has happened. But no one can control my thoughts, not even myself. My husband's figure, which has become so slight, always appears in front of my eyes, I hear him describing his experiences of torture, this time the world was able to admire his courage and steadfastness but I can not get rid of the overlapping images in my mind of the tall and thin physique of my husband. It was like films and documentaries I had seen, images of Nazi concentration camps actually appeared in my mind.

Never did I dream that these misfortunes would happen. In a sound legal system, I never thought my husband would face these grievances. If he is not bogged down by this misfortune, he will still pursue the protection of culture and the environment and continue to study wall paintings, stone carvings, ancient philosophy, and the connection between ancient life philosophy and current environmental disasters, he will miss his two lovely daughters and simple and honest chats with his friends; the happiness of today also carries with it the feelings of yesterday, my quiet life to his surprise has been hijacked by "aliens"[1].

How is he now? Is he starving? Is he being beaten again? Is he subject to abuse? Nobody dares to think of these things. The parents are of benign countenance, family members are neither obsequious nor arrogant. They are on my side by comforting me that there are no difficulties that cannot be overcome and no time that would stand still as long as we adhere to our original minds and do not lose ourselves. My friends say the most valuable thing is: he is still himself, your husband will not be changed.

Good and evil stand together, the contrast between black and white is so obvious. The world is always a mixed blessing, no one knows what tomorrow will look like, the evil of all will collapse, sooner or later; insist on the good but encountering difficulties is Buddhist practice in itself.

[1] This is a reference to a "funny" message left by Sohu.com when a blog is deleted that the blog has been "abducted by aliens".

SFT UK at the UK’s Biggest Student Festival!

Wales has many positive qualities, but its weather isn’t usually one of them. So I’m glad to say that stereotype didn’t hold true when we headed to Pembrey in Carmarthenshire for Beach Break Live, the UK’s biggest student festival. The sun shone down on our little stall all week making our time there all the better.

We went with two aims in mind – to sell our lovely range or merchandise and to spread the word about SFT UK’s fantastic work, hopefully getting lots of new people involved. Whilst our sales could have been better, we did meet lots of enthusiastic people and almost everyone that stopped at our stall signed our petition to free Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen or joined our email list or stayed for a chat about what we do. Some of them were keen to start campaigning at their universities and colleges and one of them, Sophie, is starting a new SFT group at the University of Plymouth this year and left with a box load of leaflets, postcards and other great stuff to get the group off to a flying start. Watch this space to see how she gets on.

Whilst we worked hard making our stall the most beautiful on site and keeping it open for over 12 hours a day, there was still time for fun and the week was full of memorable moments. From the impromptu yoga class outside our stall, to dancing at the Granny Gaff, from our neighbours at On Your Beach accidentally making tea with vodka, to a barbeque on the beach at sunset.

Massive thanks go to our volunteers Fenya, Sonam, Gabby, Lizzie and Pete who were tireless throughout the week; we really could not have done it without you guys.

To find out more of our pictures click here

photos & report prepared by Ben Martin

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High Peaks Pure Earth Summer 2010 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Winter holiday reading list to create the Summer 2010 reading list!

With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth recommends books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below to see the books on Amazon.

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment or short review...if you have any of your own recommendations, please let us know!


On Tibet and Tibetan Literature:





The Struggle for Tibet by Wang Lixiong and Tsering Shakya

Published in November 2009 by Verso Books, "The Struggle for Tibet" features two leading Chinese and Tibetan intellectuals in a landmark exchange of views. Additionally, Wang and Shakya each offer their analyses of the 2008 events in Tibet.


"Lhasa: Streets with Memories" by Robert Barnett

Published by Columbia University Press in July 2010, this is the paperback edition of the 2006 hardback that explores Lhasa lyrically and powerfully. Robert Barnett delves into Lhasa's past, the buildings and the city streets, interwoven with his own recollections of unrest and resistance. To read more about the book go to this page of the Columbia University Press website.


Tibet's Last Stand?: The Tibetan Uprising of 2008 and China's Response by Warren W. Smith

Published in November 2009 by Rowman and Littlefield, "Tibet's Last Stand?" is the first book-length analysis of the 2008 Tibetan protests.

"Murder in the High Himalaya" by Jonathan Green

Published by Public Affairs in June 2010, "Murder in the High Himalaya" tells the true story of two young Tibetan women who decided in August 2006 to escape Chinese rule in Tibet and flee to Dharamsala, India. Through a secretive underground network of Tibetan guides, the two friends, along with four dozen other refugees, embarked on a perilous journey that would lead them to Nepal along a dangerous former trade route: the Nangpa La Path, through Cho Oyu Mountain. On September 30, 2006, after weeks of harrowing travel, as they were nearing the border of Nepal, the band of refugees was fired at by the Chinese Army Guards. Kelsang, sick, frost-bitten, and delirious in the high altitude was struck by a bullet from behind. This event was witnessed by a group of Western mountain climbers including Sergui Matei, a Romanian hiker, who captured Kelsang's murder on video.

The murder of a young Tibetan nun by the hands of Chinese border guards at the rooftop of the world offers a unique parable for the tale of modern Tibet. Read an extract that was published in the Daily Mail in the UK here.


"Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World - Tibetan Buddhism and Today's World" by Samdhong Rinpoche

Published by World Wisdom Books in October 2006, this is a series of in-depth interviews with the present Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche on his views on politics, religion, philosophy and non-violence.

Tibetan Poetry in Translation:


The Nine-Eyed Agate: Poems and Stories by Jangbu, Translated by Heather Stoddard

To be published at the end of July 2010, The Nine-Eyed Agate is a collection of poetry and stories by Chenagtsang Dorje Tsering, alias Jangbu. More information from the publishers, Lexington Books, here.





Tibet's True Heart: Selected Poems by Woeser, Translated by A.E Clark

Published in 2008 by Ragged Banner Press, "Tibet's True Heart" is the first collection of poetry in a single volume by Woeser in English. Sample poems from the volume can be read on the website of Ragged Banner and the High Peaks Pure Earth review of the volume can be read here.


In the Forest of Faded Wisdom: 104 Poems by Gendun Chopel, Translated by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Published in November 2009 by University of Chicago Press, "In the Forest of Faded Wisdom" is a collection of new translations of poetry by Gendun Chopel from Tibetan into English. Gendun Chopel wrote poetry throughout his life and this volume is a good introduction to one of Tibet's foremost twentieth-century cultural figures.



Tales of Tibet: Sky Burials, Wind Horses and Prayer Wheels by Herbert Batt (ed.)

Published in July 2001 by Rowman And Littlefield, "Tales of Tibet" brings together fiction on Tibet in translation by Tibetan and Chinese writers such as Tashi Dawa and Alai.





Song of the Snow Lion: New Writing from Tibet (Manoa 12:2) by Frank Stewart (ed.)

Published in October 2000 by University of Hawaii Press, "Song of the Snow Lion" features fiction, poetry and essays from Tibet and an overview essay by guest co-editor Tsering Shakya.


Biography / Autobiography:




Jesuit on the Roof of the World: Ippolito Desideri's Mission to Tibet by Trent Pomplin

Published in October 2009 in USA and to be published in January 2010 in UK by Oxford University Press, "Jesuit on the Roof of the World" is the first full-length study in any language of Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733), a Jesuit explorer and missionary who travelled in Tibet from 1715 to 1721. 

Falling Through the Roof by Thubten Samphel

Although not a work of translation, High Peaks Pure Earth recommends this first piece of fiction by Thubten Samphel (born in Tibet, educated in India) that was published in early 2009 by Rupa & Co and focuses on a group of Tibetan students at Delhi University. Following on from Tsewang Pemba's 1966 work Idols on the Path and Jamyang Norbu's The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes: The Missing Years published in 2002, Samphel is the third exile Tibetan to tackle the novel form in English. Read a review of "Falling Through the Roof" from Himal magazine on the website TibetWrites.

Dramatic Photos: Tibetans Detained After Anti-Mining Protest in Shigatse

Dramatic new photos obtained by RFA show Chinese security forces detaining up to 30 Tibetans in Shigatse after an anti-mining protest. On May 21st, local Tibetans in the U Yuk Sogchen sub-district of Namling Shigatse protested environmentally destructive gold mining activities which have affected their only sources of drinking water, grazing ground for cattle, and have brought an increasing number of Chinese miners to the region.

The protest took place after repeated appeals by Tibetans in Namling to the local authorities for an end to the hazardous gold mining.

View the high resolution photos on SFT’s flickr or below.

(more…)

FOOTBALL, ROBBEN ISLAND & THE RELATIVISM OF POLITICAL CRUELTY

From JamyangNorbu.com Well, the World Cup’s over and the teams and visitors have all gone home, but the afterglow of achievement hasn’t entirely faded for South Africans. The people of this struggling “rainbow nation”, especially its new president Jacob Zuma, can be deservedly proud of having successfully hosted this tremendous international sporting event. Over forty years ago Zuma was a player himself, in fact the captain of the Rangers club, one of the teams that made up the Makana Football Association, organized by the prisoners of South Africa’s notorious Robben Island state prison.

An article in the New York Times mentioned that in Robben Island “…soccer brought relief from the exhausting life of breaking rocks in a quarry. It conferred dignity on prisoners subjected to beatings and humiliating body searches.” An inmate, Lizo Sitoto who was imprisoned on Robben island from 1963 until 1978, claimed that “football saved many of us. When you were outside playing, you felt free, as if you were at home.”

Nelson Mandela was kept in an isolation unit and not allowed to play football, but it appears that he somehow managed to keep himself physically fit. On Thursday February 11, 1990, when he was released from Robben island and the whole world celebrated his freedom, some observers noticed how spry and energetic he looked in spite of his 27 years behind bars.  His physical and mental fitness, was of course, in great part, the product of his own discipline, political focus and iron will.

(more...)

"I Am Tibetan" Series: Poem by Mu Di

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem originally written in Chinese by a Tibetan calling themselves Mu Di, 牧笛, meaning "reed pipe". This poem was originally posted by Tibetan writer Woeser on her blog on February 15, 2010 along with several other poems of the same title. High Peaks Pure Earth has now translated all of the other poems and prose pieces that appeared in that blogpost: I Am Tibetan by Gade Tsering I Am Tibetan by Adong Paldothar I Am Tibetan by Dechen Hengme I Am Tibetan by "Son of Snow" Dhondup The poem below forms part of the series of poetry and prose pieces on High Peaks Pure Earth titled "I Am Tibetan".

The Tongue of Our Mothers

Tibetan as a language has a great history and a rich literature. For centuries it evolved on the Tibetan plateau, its influence often flowing down into other Himalayan cultures such as those of Ladakh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tawang and so on. Scholars and researchers maintain that Tibetan is the only language today in which one can access the full body of Buddhist literature, including all the root texts and the commentaries.

In the new millennium, when the Tibetan language is thriving in places like Bhutan, Ladakh and, curiously, on the internet, it is coming under systematic attack in Tibet. Watch this short video from Reuters reporting on how Tibetans in Tibet fear the loss of their mother tongue because of China’s education policies as well as cultural and economic imperialism in Tibet. I hope that the strength of our language and our spirit will withstand China’s effort to forcibly assimilate us.

A Digital Celebration of HHDL’s 75th by Tibetans in Tibet

Beginning on July 6th, the 75th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan web users in Tibet and China flooded popular Chinese language social networking websites with images of the Dalai Lama. Contained in status updates, profile pictures, and photo albums, images of  the Dalai lama and the banned Tibetan national flag filled popular networking sites 51.com and Qzone. This outpouring of expression and protest, largely by young Tibetans comes as China intensifies it’s crackdown on vocal Tibetans.

This “digital celebration” of His Holiness’s birthday from inside Tibet is joined by reports that thousands of Tibetans in Tawu, Kham South-Eastern Tibet, held a massive long life prayer where His Holiness’s portrait was honored followed by cultural performances and a traditional horse racing competition. As well as a video showing thousands of Tibetans in Golok Amnye Machen, Amdo North-Eastern Tibet, offering prayers and dedicating songs to their spiritual leader.

Bellow is a collection of images posted by Tibetan web users inside Tibet and China.

Banned in Tibet, SFT’s Summer 2010 Newsletter online!

We are proud to release the latest edition of SFT’s official newsletter “Banned in Tibet,” online! You can view it below, download it in PDF format, or view the high-res JPEG photos of each page for viewing or printing!

Featured articles include:

• Monks Lead Kyegundo Quake Relief Efforts

• Tibet’s Own Satayagraha

• March 10th 2010 & Losar: Because I’m Tibetan

• A Letter from SFT’s Executive Director, Tenzin “Tendor” Dorjee

• Breaking Boundaries on the Web: Thoughts from Blogger Activist, Dechen Pemba

• The Rise in Student Protests in Tibet

• SFT Takes the Capital by Storm at the 2nd Anual Tibet Lobby Day

• Google Breaks up with China

Please spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else interested in reading more about SFT’s creative work over the past year. In addition to the digital edition of Banned in Tibet, we also have print copies available. To order copies of the newsletter, please contact tdolkar@studentsforafreetibet.org.

Banned in Tibet is more than just an overview of Students for a Free Tibet’s activities — it’s a voice for the Tibetan people and a call for freedom from China’s brutal occupation of Tibet.