Table Of Content~---Tl~--~
.~.kL_._ ~
~s Tashi Dawa
···--1\.J---
- _IIAIIOLI A Soul in Bondage
Stories from Tibet
Panda Books
22780 ·
~~I
CONTENTS
Panda Books
First Edition 1992
Copyright 1992 by CHINESE LITERATURE PRESS
ISBN 7-5071- 0087-I
ISBN 0-8351-2096-1
5
Preface - Dondrup Wangbum
13
A Soul in Bondage
41
Tibet: the Mysterious Years
107
Plateau Serenade
118
Over the River
129
The Free Man Qimi
140
On the Way to Lhasa
170
/~~-· ~: ····;~
(.\ -- ~/ The Silent Sage 178
' I \ The Old Manor
"'(' ~·::•·.HI; 1.. • _.\ 197
... ·r )0 Invitation of a Century
o .~) ·• ·1·.. n· :..\J 216
~ \ AnJ IA1., ,, 1 ,: _..-, The Light on the Cliff 222
~ \ The Banished Prince
"./'~ I
• u'; :.·· '
MINfSYERO PER f DENI CUllWl.~ll f· t''M3t~··rAU
..
LHtir.:o c~ ,ntriJio p·~·· I ·( ··:· !_ :l:'Ji'i,
le L;tituz;oni Culturull u I' Cr.ht:::r:a
Published by CHINESE LITERATURE PRESS
Beijing 100037, China
Distributed by China International Book Trading Corporation
35 Chegongzhuang Xilu, Beijing 100044, China
P .0 . Box 399, Beijing, China
Printed in the People's Republic of China
Preface
Dondrup Wangbum
IN August 1991, I went to Lhasa to attend the Second
International Symposium on Gesar Culture, and was
met there by Tashi Dawa and Ma-Lihua, poet and au
thor of G/irrpses of Northern Tibet· It was the second
time I had met Tashi Dawa, the first time being exactly
ten years before at a seminar on Tibetan literature. He
was a very young man then and had just embarked on
his literary car~r.
lt was on the afternoon of August 14 in Ma
Lihua 's room that we had a rambling chat about al
most everything under the sun. In the evening, I
brought our conversation round to Tashi Dawa 's
literary works because I wanted to finish compiling An
Introduction to Contenporary Tibetan Literature which I
had started ten years before. Unfortunately, around ten
o'clock, the electricity was cut off. Tashi Dawa went
downstairs and brought back with him a lamp and we
continued in its soft bright glow.
Tashi Dawa was born in Batang County in the
Garze Tibetan Autonomous Zhou of Sichuan Province
in 1959. His father was a government official. With the
founding of the People's Republic of China, a large
number of Tibetan people were sent to work in Tibet,
Preface 7
6 A Soul in Bondage
he developed an interest in American and Latin
and his father was one of them. Tashi Dawa spent Am:erican literature, including the works of J. L. Bor~es,
most of his childhood in Chongqing, his mother's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, J. J. Rulfo, Ernest Hemm~
home. Like other children of government workers in way and William Faulkner. His early ~orks, "Reti-
Tibet, he frequently travelled from Chongqing to " "Pilgrims" and "Over the River", foWr heix -
Nyingchi, or to Shigatse or Lhasa as his father was caemnpcele , , are simple and realistic. His work " · . te
trans~~ fro~ one place to another. After graduating t>oplar, Garland and Dream" describes the work~gs
from jumor nuddle school in 1974, he studied painting of the subconscious. "A Soul in Bondage" and "Ttbet:
at the exhibition centre of the Tibet Autonomous Re the Mysterious Years" are written in a _styl~ best d,c;s
gion, and in the same year, became a stage designer at cribed as "magical realism". The publicatiOn_ of A
the local theatre. In 1978, he entered the Chinese Ope Soul in Bondage " has generated great interest m ma~y
ratic Institute to follow a one-year advanced course in circles. Those who study Latin-American literature w~l
drama. His life in Chongqing and around the familiar immediately recognize the Latin-American influence. ~ts
Jialing River formed a solid basis for him to learn o-called trilogy of illusions, "The Glory of the Wmd
Chinese, which broadened his horizons and gave him 11md Horse ", "Invitation of a Century" an~ "The
greater scope to learn about other cultures around the 1Liaht on the Cliff" is written in a more _sustamed,_d e
world. It was with an open mind, therefore, that he tailed way and delves into the heart of T~betan s~ety ·
"entered" Tibet, which, to him, was fresh and mysteri The tragic overtones are immensely mov~g ·. Op~tons
ous, and it is these qualities that are one of the about the trilogy differ, some critia> acclatming tt and
main features of his works - the first of which was denouncing it as unintelligible. Whatever one's
" Reticence" published in Tibetan Literature in 1979. however, it is undoubtedly a co~rageo~s
It was this story that brought him to the attention of and is of historical value not only to Chmese lit
the Chinese literary world. but even more so to Tibetan literature. I once
As a boy Tashi Dawa was imaginative and dreamy. a Tibetan writer, "Read Tashi Dawa's work~
He wanted to hear the wonderful music of the heavens lt'l true that he is deficient in some aspects, but his
resounding in the oppressive classroom. He hunched artl•tic methods and the questions he raises are val~a
over his desk writing science-fiction, detective stories ble. No artist will succeed without incorporating
a~ut ~is own heroism, putting all the weird ideas a ju others • strong points. " He read some and told me he
mwoorrk m. tSdodmlee tsicmheoso, l hset uwdoeunltd c oreualdd wpoitshs ihbilsy fhriaevned si notor dhisis walIln inCshpiinread, . quite possibly in other countn.e s as well,
cuss international events. Reading is Tashi Dawa •s fa the reason for being a writer is to express tho~ghts an~
vourite pastime. His early reading matter included main emotions which reflect one's own rugged life. Tasht
ly modem and contemporary Han . Chinese literature [)awa has aone through periods of depression, when
and translated versions of Russian literature. In 1980
8 A Soul in Bondage
Pretilce 9
he relt lost and hopeless, but h d'd . black mole on her chin, he could not believe his eyes.
the contrary he thought h d e I not desparr. On ,
She was still as young as ever, the only young girl in
found a way out for hims lfal1 ' explored actively and
e · He chose writin hi t.he whole village now.
career - a hard but gl . g as s
T . onous one She stood silently, then went to the stables, while
asht Dawa' s works cover a .. the others gaped. She bent down to look at the
His early works deal mostl 'thwtde range of subjects.
tiny creature, then lifted her skirt and a leg cou
Tibet. He describes its y IWI . Lhasa, the capital of
rageously, squatted, and sucked the foetus inside
mous and peo~ e, Its local events, its fu-
. prosperous Bajtao Street located . her."
City' s centre,. Jokhan T m the
and the wine stalls ~ ;mple, the sweet-tea houses
The nver of time flows backwards and the life of
range of subjects a~d c~a~: works explore a wider
Oyayang returns to its original form. Because he is
young man, Luozhu, m· th rs, such as the modem
s ·
e story "PI te Oyayang' s friend, Sangyi becomes his scapegoat and
who wears sunglasses d . a au erenade"'
ma e m Italy · . la thrown into prison. All these events show that the
and long hair. This was th ' genume jeans
old ways in Tibet still exert a powerful influence.
fame. Still later he intr d e story that brought him
. th o uces two more eh cte "The Old Manor" is clearer in meaning than
IS e veteran Agebu in "Th . . ara rs · One
and the other · th e Ntght Wtthout Stars,, '' Invitation of a Century''. The male and female pro
IS eserfL.. , taaonists, like the battered and dilapidated manor, do
Manor" The · . angqm m "The Old
. . vanety ofhts subjects t 1 tl not rebuild themselves to meet the needs of new circum
day Tibetan society from li ~ Y re ects present-
. a perspectives ltanCII, but retain in their minds outmoded thoughts
HIstory and reality th ·
• e new and the·old T hi years later, they eventually leave the new world.
0 awa persistently sets h' If b . - as
beautiful and cruel Lhamo Quzhen, owner of
ents his 11eaders with a c~e . etween these and pres
In the past tortured the young and hand-
Although his d . . angmg, kaleidoscopic world.
. . escnptive methods hi ~l'lllll, then her slave. Times change. After Lib
stmdar' even the same, as in " vary' s themes are
is transformed from being a serf to
ters , "Invitati' f Balsang and His Sis-
' · on o a Century" d .._., of the cooperative team, dira,i:or of the
Manor". ' an "The Old
poor peiiiDtl 1 uaociation and chairman of the peo
cribIne s, "tIhnrvoiutgathi othne uosfe ao f"C ent.u ry , ' Tashi. Dawa des- ple 1 1 commune while Lhamo Quzhen lives in poverty
provoking ~tory about ill:~n, ~n absurd yet ~ought ln a low hut, and becomes a plaything in the palm of
Lanaqin 'I hand .•,T he "cultural revolution" sets them
Gyayang. The latter even tu li becoends, Sangyt and
a Y mes a youn · both .on. the same level. At the end of the story he dies
era t o f th e past and shrink fr g ansto-
s om an adult to a foetus. a lonely death, she is on the J?Oint of death and the
manor has collapsed.
"When S ·
angyt caught sight of the girl with , the From his. stori~; firstly it may. be clearly observed
., .
10 ·A Soul in Bondage
fTaamoalhn~yniwtlntnbechlwa hhdowdeodoh ta"eneAgtti ey rwavcewhplty sottosedI lla Tipynaamht aet_e earvixriroT~isn'hl1~snsdlet atien h ldme ei lp hu bbacmdcie cf eipsdgcce vbhtam iaaae teos wooefoo : n hnw.a celatclc rft. Tatnhfiulaoi ptaearuenTstrohnzvd oto _Ltifa iisr rinoldesaitneomalpt tabzn eih rose wlitid htrn fl_auseltca eka i .~nrltuiod o aohsasrtingstaf,ssvnen csheioad. owntt l ioo.eondt eeAd mt s diC neTre. s ms mffitth . fI rH,t r ~tTheh iomi st iir henibetemfssarce estaasoityhhtTaeTeai lertpseerlhy ii dizhvswoaeerfnianeel nwhtath, resf ai t enhia nueg gsdafes.tTvuienct wsotnuveigsonsyltrhiw drih o goeaheo rheced eetd iit enlhd nhshalcnw ltha efd.siai bihfhpe ileaaf.esn rfoe.n soson eseye sd Dderils Ht ip pgfWar fl essedlFto rliamticy leolat D .nynaTee ntpeiah"dtpcoc iwnhgghw d nh eersy laeawivhmugseeee fr aeld t iasawai iae alhtt nahoptc nhroim" thl nlcn'u tegtptgi arr etgsmuiFroeeicirhciao ngi sep oricr ese,cnrohueeid gDe h ad'in gluar.sst8fns ncid caeiicyoaaw a etdvlo ian0t helolg aaolnopB rrpieeaiofwsssoietoaeg rlsanstnsiaa.bre nb e,dde,dnt r nnoni r va n islankcoeg as gl cyaad t d aeydb 'he,it saeh "falls d d nnce e a.osar t nl tea reeohth ttsdtortanntwsndwachithhiaxoiileh do c ogvss usove sAet pi eeod dih nvtoeirn lu ieertita strt buertanaaeohhcenft rbhnukhlo ahreysblfnots lc ece eartos e·luhsn e s lvphtoe e s cph m tetmeulmoa, pe,shennbo,kis ea dorr syrul e emuacee uw etfoso e itcngt rtoestpnwmp thnathuuhtehothh aephdre esuhditseeress seawornee raattxonlta r; et dg fsl slhe yno ea hnostidai ha enncle s d ifo gc inc ibei ,ts ksai fo w oi l t f . •UblWda mUoiTatrAsioldonraalteaotefbflullwh<oiucnysrartTarrc qTri ttS .ievatsoc lsa:hotisaustwTtn htfecaeecrr,lCrluiitsaei e tyirsd ascoidoie ailhpirdahr ssb (t conlsnleeiftdhl mitn~lpw i toueuy•n rct i eanaol eko.we,p tutsDedy c hAr a leteuarnnoteehs.tyl,Mniseomdtor niay sono.sco,peheoesx ismw f,hTtwp t Oyetrnlo ois · AiToa elo lassaisn sascTc Werrlb 'dt i,u a othutie~so eb a"•aohai eTnsao -CelsfsrerTumestritt b lfv y idaiifsou ih etsitt odbae\uw;d as m yboeneru'ii Ten seesphiinte r et ssis st fs T iatust,oa Dh ttouee bai han'craloeorraar eldmwienf iy oalneytfftrAss·atf-t a e .t tdwyni ta ph h hreota-sinsnpewsth mn stainetisHao"sfudeehcrsrtmo t roy e e peovin hetetriDLrsoolach scdth. kemi eed yeo ieeudwiaefrote niaatraTei.h snoHmes ele st selowrtlr,Toliw rt iitrno ieis sysew tbhwpasot ab iyd as wteA o ,emrtbbn?rtj a e 'runerh eitesooe.oTe,simollarsk o cr a l "S bdrrtdesin dtfvstitk s .yTobi·,oiHn,om , "ivy loi u usie.iitsonsm~se faocenmoAtbnhytlp ete g»i , onc u eofs t iaprutcyei o nrd tintnoahpyhgeloehntesnha·f o gnneo i r atidiiarsn it~assesdB cdin mTsaCi peo rseta ro obiarJa"ii_,etmutesnhnbo nlolnem my hcealPp csmo~douedtmnae deteld rerousoimtafs einneo ev y ,eT tsolbs gufms tv·aersa el~mooyti lceoaissrce otli o,ab~ nrfr easieoffl nan .s a ster hb.rn waefmRfhtg eo mynhtaoemhgcn .~odim~ ehn dii_dbshe"e"1r"ldas- nfg o 1 · .
First, he sharply contrasts modern civilization _ the
A Soul in Bondage
THERE is a Peruvian folk-song called El Condor Pasa
that I have not heard for a long time. But its simple,
yet solemn melody lingers in the mind. Whenever I
hear it, it conjures up a vision of high plateaux and
deep valleys; of bits of farm land carved out of
hillsides; of straggly crops; mill houses beside streams,
llnd low stone cottages; of mountain folk struggling
under heavy loads, the sound of cow bells, and the
lonely dust-devils whirling in the wind, under a
dazzling sun.
My visions are not of Peru and the foothills of the
high Andes. They are visions of the Pabunaigang
Mountains in the south of Tibet. I am not sure wheth
• I have actually been there, or merely dreamt of
' tho11c mountains. I cannot be sure, for I have beefi to
too mnny places to keep reality and fantasY separate. I
rt1ll1.c now that, until I finally went there, the
Pabunaigang Mountains in my mind were only the re
Geotion of a 19th century landscape by Constable.
Although it was still a quiet mountain area, the lives
or
the people had quietly slipped into the modern era.
There was a small airport, from which a helicopter
made the trip into the city five times a week.
Nearby was a electric generator powered by solar en
' In a amall restaurant next to the petrol station at
.. • ,_• • Vlllaae. I sat with a man with a beard. He was
14 A Soul in Bondage A Soul in Bondage I 5
a talker who went on and on. He was actually quite According to legend there is a paradise ~n ~rth to
we~ known, the chairman of the Himalayan Transpor the north _ the kingdom of Sangbala. It 1s sa1d that
tation_ Company; the only outfit in Tibet that owned the secret sect of the Yoga began there. The first king,
contamer trucks built in West Germany. 1 went to a Suocha Dcnapu was a disciple of Buddha, and later,
carpet factory where designers worked out their ideas went about preaching his message. Scriptures prophesy
o/n computers. A satellite disc picked up five channels that one day, the kingdom of Sangbala will be inva~ed
and br~adcast thirty-eight hours of programmes a day. hy a great host. "You will ride on, never ~ro1~g
In sp1te of the material progress that has been made hack. Twelve divisions will follow you. You will a1m
some o~ the old traditions live on among the people of your spear at the heart of Halu 'taimeng, chief of de
Pabuna1gang Mountains. For instance, the village chief mons and arch-enemy of Sangbala. And the dem~ns
who has a doctorate in agriculture still makes the curi will be routed.'' This was the anthem of the last kmg
ous "lo-lo" sound with his tongue when he speaks of Sangbala. Sangje Dapo had touched on the battle of
to me as an expression of respect. And when people Sangbala once before. He said the battle of Sangbala
ask_ ~ fav~ur they still say, "gu.ji, guji" in a would go on hundreds of years, but the demons would
plamtive vm~. Old men remove their hats and press he vanquished in the end. Then the tomb of Zunggeba
. th~ to therr breasts as a sign of respect. Although would open, and once more the message ~f the
Weights an~ measures were standardized ages ago, peo Buddha would be preached. This would contmue a
ple here still measure lengths by holding out one arm thousand years, and then great winds and ~re would
a~d indicating the length they mean by chopping at it !I weep the earth. Finally, a deluge would brmg about
w1th the palm of the other hand, from the wrist up the end of the world, but a handful of souls would be
wards, all the way to the shoulder. 11pared. The world would _beg~ again, _with religion re
Sangje Dapo, the living Buddha, was dying. He was vived. Sangje Dapo lay m h1s cot, h1s eyes fixed on
the twenty-third incarnation of the Buddha at Zatuo 110meone that only he could see, and it was this unseen
~onastery. He was ninety-eight years old, and after yporeuse·n ce that he addressed whe~ he spo~e: "When
hlffi there ~ould be no successor. Sangje Dapo and I ve crossed the Kalong GlaCier you will be s~nd
h~d been friends. I had come to write an article about .l ng in the palm of the Lord of the Lot~s. ~k _nothmg ·
him· When a religion as mysterious and as steeped in Seck nothing. In prayer you will find msprrat10n, and
1~tesg emnad nsyu cphe ta~s lLeaadmearsis, mit fdaeilcsl intoe sp. rTodhuocsee wa esruec mceys ssoern ttio ~lnri11lpllirla~rtoiossni ngw liilnl ebs rionfg t hvaits ipoanlsm. ,Y oonue ~lilne sleeea dos utto oefa rtthhe-
ments. Sanroe Dapo thought otherwise. He shook his ly puradise." . . .
h"eSaadn gabt amlae,," ahned shaiids selyoews lyt,o o"kt hoen b aat tlfea r·oawf Saya ngloboakla. blv1o 1 1hocecmne d wthoe nv isthuea liLzeo rdin otfh atht em Lsotatunst haoscwe nd1te dn nignhtot
has begun.'' .· , 1 seemed to see a ehariot driven by two angels
16 A Soul in Bondage
A Soul in Bondage I 7
whisking him away into the southern sky. the cot. The living Buddha' s eyes glazed, and gradual-
. "Two young people from Kangba are searching for ly he slipped away • - .
the way to Sangbala, " said the living Buddha. Th e funeral preparations began. There were those
" You mean to tell me, in the year 1988, a man and who wanted to bury him in a stupa so that there
a woman .... '' I asked wearily. would be a lasting monument. But Sangje Dapo was
He nodded.
cremated. I left there shortly afterwards, musing on the
"And the man was wounded?" I asked. source of inspiration in creative writing.
"Then you know the story, " replied the living When I reached home, I opened a trunk labelled
Buddha.
.. precious Rubbish". In it were all the manuscripts
Sangje Dapo, the living Buddha, began to recall the that had been r~, and some that I did not wish
story o~ the young man and woman who had come to published, all in neat brown paper envelopes. _I found
Pabunaigang Mountains, and the things they had· en an envelope marked " 840720" which con tamed an
countered on the way. As the story unfolded I realized untitled short story. This is the story:
that I was listening to a tale I had written ~ome time Jade first saw the man as she drove her sheep down
ago, and locked away in a trunk, without showing to the mountain. From where she stood he was no larger
anyone. Yet he seemed to be reciting the story, word than a black speck moving slowly across the pebbly
for word. The place was a village named A on the bottom of the dry riverbed. She could tell it was a man
road to Pabunaigang. The time was 1984. There were and that he would be coming towards her hut. She
only two characters: a young man and a young wom cracked her whip, and drove the sheep quickly down
an· The reason I never showed the manuscript to any the incline.
o~e w~s because ~ ~id' not know how to end the story. It would be dark before the man got there, thought
Listenmg to the livmg Buddha tell it made everything Jade. A few low huts built of stones from the riverbed
clear· The only difference was that at the end of my stood on a small knoll. Behind were pens for the
sto~ ~e young man meets an old man in a tavern, sheep. It was a desolate place. Two families lived here:
an~ It IS the old man who tells him where he must go. Jade and her father, and a mute woman of about fifty
II dd"idd not describe the way ahead . I could not, beca use who lived next door.
.I not k~ow it at the time. Yet the living Buddha Jade •s father was a story-teller and a singer. People
claimed that It was he who showed the two young peo came from all around to hire him. He had even been
pl~ ~e road they must travel. There was yet another invited to perfonn in the cities. At times he would be
~mCidence: both the old man in the story and the liv gone a few days, but he was also known to stay away
mg Buddha spoke of the-lines in the palm of the hand for months on end. When they came for him,. they
of the Lord of the Lotus.
would usually bring an extra horse. And he would ri~e
Others drifted into the room, and gathered round off with them, his six-stringed zither strapped to his
