Tsaparang

Last updated
Tsaparang
Ngari Tsaparang 07.jpg
The ruins of Tsaparang
Tibet loc rel map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Location within Tibet Autonomous Region#Location within Ngari Prefecture
China Tibet Ngari relief location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Tsaparang (Ngari)
Location Zanda, Ngari, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Region Tibet
Coordinates 31°27′59″N79°40′14″E / 31.46639°N 79.67056°E / 31.46639; 79.67056
Altitude3,800 m (12,467 ft)
History
Founded9th or 10th century CE
Abandoned1680 CE

Tsaparang (Tibetan : རྩ་བྲང, Wylie : rtsa-brang [1] ) was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture (Western Tibet) near the border of Ladakh. It is 278 km south-southwest of Senggezangbo Town and 26 km west of the 11th-century monastery at Tholing, and not far west of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. The Tsaparang Dzong was located here. Nearby is the Bon monastery of Gurugem. [2]

Contents

Tsaparang is a huge fortress perched on a pyramid-shaped rock rising about 500 to 600 feet (152 to 183 m) at the end of a long narrow spur. It contains numerous tunnels and caves that have been carved out of the rock. At its base was a village where the common people lived. Above them were two public temples - the Lhakhang Marpo (Red Chapel) and the Lhakhang Karpo (White Chapel), and quarters for the monks. Up, a twisting stone staircase in a tunnel were the royal quarters, and at the very top, the summer palace. [3]

The English TV presenter and historian Michael Wood, in the "Shangri-La" episode of the BBC TV/PBS documentary series In Search of Myths and Heroes, suggested that Tsaparang was the historical origin of the legend of Shangri-La, and that its two great temples were once home to the kings of Guge in modern Tibet.

History

Painting showing the story of the Conversion of the Householder Yasa, who became a mendicant and was established as an Arhat, in the Red Temple in Tsparang, fifteenth century. Guge-householder-yasa.jpg
Painting showing the story of the Conversion of the Householder Yasa, who became a mendicant and was established as an Arhat, in the Red Temple in Tsparang, fifteenth century.

According to some accounts, Tsaparang was made the capital of the Kingdom of Guge by Namde Wosung, one of the sons of the Langdarma the anti-Buddhist king of Tibet 838-841 CE, after Langdarma was assassinated. The Tibetan Empire was then plunged into civil war and split into a number of independent kingdoms. [4] Other accounts say that two of Langdarma's grandsons fled to Western Tibet about 919 CE. The eldest one, Kyide Nyiamagon, established himself at Purang and conquered a large area including Ladakh and parts of Spiti. After his death his kingdom was split up between his three sons into the kingdoms of Guge, Purang, and Maryul (= Ladakh).

Guge controlled an ancient trading route between India and Tibet. It emerged in the region previously known as Zhangzhung and became an important regional power by the 10th century CE. [4]

"In the 11th century, King Yeshe-Ö, working with the famous Sanskrit translator, Rinchen Zangpo ('The Great Translator"), and the Indian master Atiśa, reintroduced Buddhism to western Tibet. Soon Tsaparang, and Tholing, also made of mud brick, were built, along with other temples and monasteries. The influence of the Guge Kingdom, particularly the monastic center of Tholing, was felt from Kashmir to Assam."

In the summer of 1624 two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, Fr. António de Andrade and Brother Manuel Marques, came to the region looking for Christian kingdoms that had long been rumored to lay beyond the Himalayas. After a harrowing journey (they were the first known Europeans to traverse the Himalayas) they arrived in Tsaparang, [5] where they managed to gain permission from the king of Guge to freely preach their religion throughout the kingdom, and left after less than a month. After gaining formal permission and funds to start a mission in Tibet from the Jesuit superior at Goa, Andrade, Marques, and three other Jesuits journeyed to Tsaparang the following summer and built a church at the foot of the citadel and another one at Rudok 130 miles (209 km) away. António de Andrade left Tibet in 1628, and in 1630 the king of Ladakh, Senge Namgyal, invaded and overthrew the kingdom of Guge, taking the pro-Jesuit king (Tri Tashi Drakpa) and his family captive. Under Ladakhi rule the mission quickly fell into disarray; Andrade was assassinated in Goa in 1634. In 1640 Manuel Marques led an expedition back in an attempt to reestablish the mission but he was captured and the rest of his party fled. He wrote a pitiful letter to the Jesuit headquarters at Agra in India begging to be rescued, but was never heard from again. [6]

In 1679–80 Tsaparang and the Guge kingdom were conquered by Central Tibet, based in Lhasa under the 5th Dalai Lama. In spite of massive damage done then, and the destruction of most of the statues and murals in both chapels by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, many magnificent frescoes have somehow survived. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world. In the novel, the people who live in Shangri-La are almost immortal, living hundreds of years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance.

Zhangzhung or Shangshung was an ancient kingdom in western and northwestern Tibet, pre-dating Tibetan Buddhism. Zhangzhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which has influenced the philosophies and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Zhangzhung people are mentioned frequently in ancient Tibetan texts as the original rulers of today's western Tibet. Only in the last two decades have archaeologists been given access to do field work in the areas once ruled by the Zhangzhung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guge</span> Historical kingdom in Western Tibet

Guge was an ancient dynastic kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. At various points in history after the 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar, upper Kinnaur district, and Spiti Valley, either by conquest or as tributaries. The ruins of the former capital of the Guge kingdom are located at Tsaparang in the Sutlej valley, not far from Mount Kailash and 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west from Lhasa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">António de Andrade</span> Portuguese Jesuit priest and explorer (b. 1580)

António de Andrade was a Jesuit priest and explorer from Portugal. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1596. From 1600 until his death in 1634 he was engaged in missionary activity in India. Andrade was the first known European to have crossed the Himalayas and reached Tibet, establishing the first Catholic mission on Tibetan soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudok</span> Village in Rutog County, Ngari, Tibet

Rudok, also spelt Rutok and Rutog, more properly Rudok Dzong, is a town that served as the historical capital of the Rudok area in Western Tibet on the frontier with Ladakh. In the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, it is described as being "picturesquely situated" on the side of a hill standing isolated in the plain near the east end of Lake Pangong.

Tibetology refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of Tibetan statues, shrines, Buddhist icons and holy scripts, Thangka embroideries, paintings and tapestries, jewellery, masks and other objects of fine Tibetan art and craftsmanship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ippolito Desideri</span> Italian tibetologist

Ippolito Desideri, SJ was an Italian Jesuit missionary and traveller and the most famous of the early European missionaries who founded Catholic Church in Tibet. He was also the first documented Tibetologist and the first European to have successfully studied both Classical and Standard Tibetan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of European exploration in Tibet</span>

The location of Tibet, deep in the Himalaya mountains, made travel to Tibet extraordinarily difficult at any time, in addition to the fact that it traditionally was forbidden to all western foreigners. The internal and external politics of Tibet, China, Bhutan, Assam, and the northern Indian kingdoms combined rendered entry into Tibet politically difficult for all Europeans. The combination of inaccessibility and political sensitivity made Tibet a mystery and a challenge for Europeans well into the 20th century.

Khorzhak Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Khorzhak town, Burang county, Ngari Prefecture in western Tibet. It is located not far to the southeast of Burang and just northeast of the Indian border. The town and temple are known as Kojanath in Hindi. The village is situated on a beautiful spot at a bend of the Karnali River from where one can see the large red wall of the temple facing the river with a huge inscription on it of the six-syllable mantra, "Om Mani Padme Hum".

Simbiling Monastery, also known as Shambuling Gompa, Shepeling Dzong and Taklakot Gompa, was located next to the large fort of Tegla Kar on a ridge near Taklakot, above the town of Purang, in the Ngari province, which is just over the border from India, in western Tibet in the valley of the Karnali River, which is known in Tibet as the Mapchchu Khambab - the 'Peacock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purang Town</span> Town in Tibet, Peoples Republic of China

Purang or Burang, known as Puhreng in Tibetan, (Nepali:ताक्लाकोट) is a town which serves as the administrative center of Purang County, Ngari Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), China. The town lies at an altitude of 3,900m in the valley of the Karnali River. The town spans an area of 3,257.81 square kilometres (1,257.85 sq mi), and has a permanent population 6,047 as of 2010, and a hukou population of 4,477 as of 2018. To the south are Gurla Mandhata and the Abi Gamin ranges. Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash are to the north. This region is the mythological and actual river nexus of the Himalaya with sources of the Indus, Ganges and Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra all within 110 kilometres (70 mi) of Purang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tholing</span> Town in Tibet Autonomous Region, China

Tholing, also called Zanda, is a town and the seat of Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, in the west of Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The town was the former capital of Guge Kingdom in western Tibet. Now it is an isolated military town. It has a well laid out new street, a post office, and telecommunication facilities. The Tholing Monastery, established in 997 AD, is in the suburbs of the town, in the Grand canyon of the Langchen Tsangpo. Historically, it was an important monastery; the second dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet emanated from it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tholing Monastery</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Tholing, Tibet, China

Tholing Monastery is the oldest monastery in the Ngari Prefecture of western Tibet. It is situated in Tholing (Zanda), Zanda County, near the Indian border of Ladakh. It was built in 997 AD by Yeshe-Ö, the second King of the Guge Kingdom. In Tibetan language 'Tholing' means "hovering in the sky forever" and is reflected by the location of the monastery at an elevation of 12,400 feet (3,800 m). The complex includes three temples, the Yeshe-O Temple, the Lhakhang Karpo and the Dukhang. There are many ancient, precious, and well-preserved frescoes.

The Tegla Kar Dzong was a fort located on a cliff above the town of Burang in Burang County, southwestern Tibet near the Nepalese border. It seems that the Tegla Kar was built during the Zhangzhung period which was conquered by the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo in the beginning of 7th century. It became the main fort of the kingdom of Burang in the 10th century during the reign of King Kori. The kingdom disappeared during the 15th century. After the decline of the kingdom the Dzong was converted into a convent. Tegla Kar and the nearby Simbiling Monastery was completely destroyed by artillery in 1967 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Maryul, also called mar-yul of mnga'-ris, was the western most Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and some parts of Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Era of Fragmentation</span> Period of Tibetan history (9th–11th centuries CE)

The Era of Fragmentation was an era of disunity in Tibetan history lasting from the death of the Tibetan Empire's last emperor, Langdarma, in 842 until Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became the Imperial Preceptor of the three provinces of Tibet in 1253, under the Yuan dynasty. During this period, the political unity of the Tibetan Empire collapsed following a civil war between Yumtän and Ösung (’Od-srung), after which followed numerous rebellions against the remnants of imperial Tibet and the rise of regional warlords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purang-Guge Kingdom</span> Kingdom of Western Tibet established in the 10th century

Purang-Guge kingdom was a small Western Himalayan kingdom which was founded and flourished in the 10th century in western Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshe-Ö</span> Tibetan lama-king (c. 959–1040)

Yeshe-Ö was the first notable lama-king in Tibet. Born as Khor-re, he is better known as Lhachen Yeshe-Ö, his spiritual name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyide Nyimagon</span> Tibetan noble

Kyide Nyimagon, whose original name was Khri-skyid-lding, was a member of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibet and a descendant of emperor Langdarma. He migrated to Western Tibet and founded the kingdom of Ngari Khorsum around 912 CE. After his death, his large kingdom was divided among his three sons, giving rise to the three kingdoms of Maryul (Ladakh), Guge-Purang and Zanskar-Spiti.

Tashigang (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་, Wylie: bkra shis sgang, THL: tra shi gang, transl. "auspicious hillock"), with a Chinese spelling Zhaxigang , is a village in the Gar County of the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. The village forms the central district of the Zhaxigang Township. It houses an ancient monastery dating to the 11th century.

References

Tsaparang Tsaparang-ruins of ancient capital of Guge Kingdom 03.JPG
Tsaparang

Specific references:

  1. 陈观胜; 安才旦 (April 2004). 《常见藏语人名地名词典》 (in Simplified Chinese) (1 ed.). Beijing: 外文出版社 [Foreign Languages Press]. p. 355. ISBN   7-119-03497-9.
  2. Allen, Charles. (1999) The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History, pp. 265-6. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: 2000 Abacus Books, London. ISBN   0-349-11142-1.
  3. Allen, Charles. (1999), p. 243.
  4. 1 2 Tibet, p. 200. (2005) Bradley Mayhew and Michael Kohn. 6th Edition. Lonely Planet. ISBN   1-74059-523-8.
  5. Oliveira, Bruna. "A missão Tibetana na Correspondência Jesuíta (1624-1631)" (PDF).
  6. 1 2 Allen, Charles. (1999) The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History, pp. 243-245. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: 2000 Abacus Books, London. ISBN   0-349-11142-1.

General references:

Further reading