The Naming of Lhasa

The Naming of Lhasa

Lhasa was originally called Gyaixoi Wotang. When the Jokhang Monastery was built, the monastery was named Rosa (the Goats Temple) in memory of the goats that had carried clay to fill up the lake for the monastery's construction.

When Princess Jincheng brought the statue of Sakyamuni from the Ramoche Monastery to the Jokhang Monastery, the Jokhang Monastery became the worshipping center. Because of this development, Rosa was renamed Lhasa, meaning "Holy Land of Buddha."

The name "Lhasa" didn't make its debut in Tibetan classics until 806, when the Tubo King Tride Songtsan erected the "Tablet to the Geqoin Monastery.'' The tablet's inscriptions read: "During the life of His Holy Tsampo Songtsan, Buddhist doctrines were spread and the Jokhang Monastery was built in Lhasa." So "Lhasa" has been in use for almost 1,200 years.

Tibet Animals

Tibet Animals

Tibet's complex topography and widely varying climates result in an abundance of natural resources. The eastern and southern parts of the region are largely covered with primeval forests, home to rare plants and animals.

There are 142 species of mammals, 473 species of birds, 49 species of reptiles, 44 species of amphibians, 64 species of fish, and more than 2,300 species of insects in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Wild animals include Cercopithecus (monkeys), Assamese macaque (monkeys), rhesus monkeys, muntjak, head-haired deer, wild cattle, red-spotted antelopes, leopards, clouded leopards, black bears, wild cats, weasels, little pandas, red deer, river deer, white-lipped deer, wild yaks, Tibetan antelopes, wild donkeys, argalis (a kind of wild sheep), Mongolian gazelles, foxes, wolves, lynxes, brown bears, jackals, blue sheep, and snow leopards.

The Tibetan antelope, wild yak, wild donkey, and argali are all rare species particular to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and are under State protection. The white-lipped deer, found only in China, is of particular rarity. The black-necked crane and the Tibetan pheasant are under the first-class protection of the State.

Tibet

Tibet

 Geography

Locked in by towering mountains, the Tibet Autonomous Region, on China's southwestern border, lies in the main part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the highest in the world. Set up as an autonomous region in 1965, it is situated 78'24"-99'06" east longitude and 26'52"-36'32" north latitude with an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers, acc ounting for 1/8 of the country's total area and ranking 2nd only to Northeast China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the country. Tibet neighbors Qinghai Province and Xinjiang in the north, Yunnan Province in the southeast, and Kashmir, India, Nepal, Sikkim (state in India), Bhutan, and Burma in the west and south.

 Climate

Tibet has a highland climate, with lower temperature and less precipitation than most parts of China. It has thin air, long hours of sunshine, and intense solar radiation. There is a great difference in climate between the north and south -- the northern Tibet Plateau has a mean annual temperature of -2 degrees Celsius and is covered with snow half of the year, and the southern Tibet valleys are much more temperate and humid.

 Administrative Division and Population

It is divided into 1 municipality, 6 districts, 1 county-level city, and 76 counties, with a population of 2.62 million as of 2000. The municipality is Lhasa, while the six prefectures are Shigatse, Ngari, Shannan, Chamdo, Nagchu, and Nyingchi. Populated principally by the Tibetan people, Tibet also has Han, Menba, Luoba, and Hui ethnic groups.

 Food 

Zanba (roasted highland barley flour), mutton, and beef are the staple food of Tibetans. Tea with butter or milk, sour milk, and cheese are the favorites of all Tibetans. Other special food includes Qingke barley wine, roasted highland barley flour, and snow-lotus.

 Culture

Tibetans like singing and dancing. Another local art is Tibetan Opera, which is one of the most famous art opera forms in China.

 

 Religion

Tibetans believe in Lamaism, which was introduced in the 13th century.

 Brief Introduction

Tibet Autonomous Region, Zang for short, is located on Southwest China's border areas, with Lhasa as the provincial capital. The Tibetans first settled along the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet.

At the beginning of the 7th century, King Songzan Gambo established the slavery kingdom known as "Bo," (called "Tubo" in Chinese historical documents). After the Tubo regime was established, the Tibetans increased their political, economic, and cultural exchanges with the Han and other ethnic groups in China. In 641, King Songzan Gambo married Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

From the 10th to 12th century, Tibet split into several independent regimes. The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) founded by the Mongols in the 13th century brought the divided Tibet under the unified rule of the Central Government.

Tibet has rich resources of hydraulic, geothermal, and solar as well as wind energy, and abounds in forest resources in the eastern gorge area. As Tibet is one of China's five major pastoral areas, agriculture and livestock breeding are the backbone of its economy, whose outputs of green pear, goat, and herbal medicine occupy important positions in China. The cultivation of highland barley, peas, horse beans, jute (fibers from a plant), and beets, and so on are also of great importance. Its industries of handicraft, ore, and agricultural machinery are developing fast.

Known as the "Roof of the World" with an average altitude of about 5,000 meters, Tibet has spectacular and fascinating snow-capped peaks, glaciers, high mountains, wide rivers, unique highland lakes, geothermal springs, vast pastoral areas, magnificent monasteries, brilliant religious arts, and interesting ethnic customs. Main famous scenic spots and historic sites include the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Drepung, Sear, and Tashlunbu monasteries, the Yalong River in southern Tibet, and the Tombs of the Tibetan Kings.

Qomolangma (Mount Everest) is a transliteration from Tibetan, meaning goddess of mountain. The 8,848-meter Qomolangma is the main peak of the Himalayas. Situated on the border between China and Nepal, it is the highest mountain in the world. This majestic peak has long attracted mountaineers, scientists, and ordinary tourists.

Tibetans are also good dancers and singers. Their dancing is beautiful with movements executed either with the arms and waist or with legs and feet, with tap dance being the most typical Tibetan style.

Yumbu Lakang Palace

Yumbu Lakang Palace

Best time to go: Summer

Yumbu Lakang, reputed as the first palace in Tibet history, is also the oldest extant building in Tibet. Lying 12 kilometers southwest of Tsedang Town of the Lhoka Prefecture, it sits atop a small hill east of the Yarlong River and faces west.

"Yumbu" means female deer, describing the resemblance of the mountain shape around, and "Lakang" means holy palace, so Yumbu Lakang means "the palace on the back legs of the doe" in Tibetan language.

Many believe the soaring building was built in the 2nd century BC especially for the first Tibetan king -- Nyatri Tsenpo -- who many believed descended from the heaven.

Legend says that in the fifth century, a Buddhist sutra fell from the sky onto the roof of Yambu Lakang. Nobody could read the book. However a sage predicted it would be interpreted between the 7th and 8th centuries, so the sutra was well kept in the palace.

Youmpu Lhakang became famous after Songtsan Gambo and Princess Wencheng spent their summer holidays there, making it their summer palace. After Songtsen Gampo transferred his capital to Lhasa in the 7th century, Yumbu Lakang became a chapel and was converted into a Gulugpa monastery during the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama (17th century).

Actually, Yumbu Lakang actually consists of three parts: a tower, some chapels, and some monk living quarters. Tibetan kings and their ministers are enshrined in part of the main chapel. Upstairs is a small chanting hall, which houses Sakyamuni and Chenrezi. A mural gallery above tells of Nyatri Tsenpo's arrival from the sky and stories about him as well as Tibetan history.

Tibet Minerals

Tibet Minerals

Tibet's complex topography and widely varying climates result in an abundance of natural resources. Snow mountains and valleys and the North Tibet Plateau house a wide variety of minerals.

There are more than 90 known mineral types in Tibet. The total reserves of 26 of these have been verified, with that of 11 ranking among the top five in China by province or region.

The region's 2,500 square kilometers of chromite (a kind of ore) deposits, concentrated along the Lake Banggong Co to the Nujiang River rift zone in northern Tibet and along the Yarlung Zangbo River rift zone, are the most in China. The Norbusa Chromite Mine in the Shannan Prefecture has become a chromite production base.

Tibet's prospective lithium deposits are among the most in the world and the region serves as China's lithium production base. Prospective copper and gypsum reserves rank second in China; boron, magnesite, barite, and arsenic, third; mica and peat, fourth; and kaolin, fifth.

Other significant mineral deposits include salt, natural soda, mirabilite, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, diatomaceous earth, Iceland spar, corundum, rock quartz, and agate.

Tibetan Ethnic Minority

Tibetan Ethnic Minority

 

The Tibetan ethnic minority, with a population of 4,593,330 (by 1990), mostly lives in the Tibet Autonomous Region. There are also Tibetan communities in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.   

With a long history, Tibetans have their own language and letters. The Tibetan language belongs to the Tibetan sub-branch of the Tibeto-Burman Austronesian of the Chinese-Tibetan Phylum. According to geographical divisions, it has three major local dialects: Weizang, Kangba and Ando. The Tibetan script, an alphabetic system of writing, was created in the early 7th century. With four vowels and 30 consonants, it is used in all areas inhabited by Tibetans.

The Tibetans first settled along the middle reaches of the Yaluzangbu River in Tibet. At the beginning of the 7th century, King Songzan Gambo began to rule the whole of Tibet and made "Losha" (today's Lhasa) the capital. He designated official posts, defined military and administrative areas, created the Tibetan script, formulated laws and unified weights and measures, thus establishing the slavery kingdom known as "Bo", which was called "Tubo" in Chinese historical documents.

After the Tubo regime was established, the Tibetans increased their political, economic and cultural exchanges with the Han and other ethnic minorities in China. In 641, King Songzan Gambo married Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In 710, King Chide Zuzain married another Tang princess, Jin Cheng. The two princesses brought with them the culture and advanced production techniques of Central China to Tibet. From that time on, emissaries traveled frequently between the Tang territory and Tibet. The Tibetans sent students to Chang'an, capital of the Tang Dynasty, and invited Tang scholars and craftsmen to Tibet. These exchanges helped promote relations between the Tibetans and other ethnic groups in China and stimulated social development in Tibet.

From the 10th to 12th century, Tibet fell apart into several independent regimes. The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) founded by the Mongols in the 13th century brought the divided Tibet under the unified rule of the central government. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the emperor conferred the titles of the "Dalai Lama" (1653) and "Bainqen Erdini" (1713) on two living Buddhas of the Gelugba sect of Lamaism. The Qing court began to appoint a high resident commissioner to help with local administration in 1728, and set up the Kasha as the local government in 1751. The Tibet proper was liberated peacefully in 1951.

The Tibetans are engaged in stockbreeding and agriculture, with highland barley as the main crop and sheep, goat and yak as the main livestock. Yaks are known as the "Boat of the Plateau".

Tibetan architecture is unique in style, with buildings neatly arranged or rising like magnificent towers and castles. The Potala Palace in Lhasa, group architecture with the highest altitude in the world, was built on the sunny side of a mountain slope. With golden roofs and whitewashed walls, the building rises naturally with the slope, looking extremely imposing. It is a masterpiece of Tibetan architecture, with superb paintings, statues and precious cultural relics.

The Tibetans have produced vast collections of first-class achievements in areas of astronomy, medicine, literature, drama, painting, sculpture and architecture. Tibetan medicine has a history of more than 3,000 years. Incorporating elements of medical theory and practice from the Han and India peoples, Tibetan medicine developed into its own system. The famous work Four Volumes of the Tibetan Medicine was written in the 7th century.

Tibetans are also good dancers and singers. Their dancing is beautiful with movements executed either with the arms and waist or with legs and feet, and the tap dance is most typically Tibetan. The Tibetan opera is one of the famous opera forms in China. They welcome their guests with kadag (a long piece of white cloth presented to express great respect and wishes of good luck for the guests).

Tibetans believe in Lamaism (a branch of Buddhism). Buddhism was introduced in the 13th century and from the 13th to 16th centuries Buddhism prevailed in Tibet.

The Tibetans have their own calendar, in which November 1st is their New Year. The Tibetan New Year is the most important festival in Tibet. Other main Tibetan festivals include the Shoton Festival, the Great Prayer Festival, the Butter Lamp Festival, the Saga Dawa Festival, the Gyangtse Horse-Race Festival, the Nakchu Horse-Race Festival, and the Yarlung Culture Festival.