My Tibetan Childhood: When Ice Shattered Stone

345 Pages·2014·2.268 MB·English

by  Naktsang Nulo

My Tibetan Childhood
translation provided by
ANGUS CARGILL and
SONAM LHAMO
edited and abridged by
ANGUS CARGILL
with a foreword by
THE 14TH DALAI LAMA,
TENZIN GYATSO
a foreword by
RALPH LITZINGER
and an introduction by
ROBERT BARNETT
My
Tibetan Childhood
When Ice Shattered Stone
Naktsang Nulo
duke university press Durham and London 2014
© 2014 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞
Designed by Natalie F. Smith
Typeset in Minion Pro by Copperline
library of congress cataloging- in- publication data
Naktsang Nulo.
My Tibetan childhood : when ice shattered stone / Naktsang Nulo;
translation provided by Angus Cargill and Sonam Lhamo;
edited and abridged by Angus Cargill ;
with a foreword by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,
a foreword by Ralph Litzinger,
and an introduction by Robert Barnett
pages cm Includes index.
isbn 978-0-8223-5712-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8223-5726-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Naktsang Nulo. 2. Children—China—Tibet Autonomous
Region—Biography. 3. Tibet Autonomous Region
(China)—History—1951– i. Cargill, Angus. ii. Title.
ds786.n327 2014 951'.5055092—dc23 [b] 2014009913
on the cover: The author and his brother in Chinese clothing
at their first government school. Courtesy of the C. V. Starr East
Asian Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

CONTENTS
foreword
by the 14th Dalai Lama,
Tenzin Gyatso
ix
foreword
by Ralph Litzinger
xi
introduction
A Note on Context
and Significance
by Robert Barnett
xv
translators’ note
liii
author’s preface
1
prelude
The Charnel Ground
9
one
Born on the Wide
Tibetan Grasslands
13 appendix
Guide to Abridgment
two
and Chapter Changes
A Childhood with Herdsmen,
from Original
Bandits, and Monks
269
49
glossary
three
271
By Yak Caravan to the
Holy City of Lhasa index
71 283
four
Witness to Massacre on
Our Tragic Journey through
Desolate Places
131
five
Torture and Imprisonment,
Starvation and Survival
183

FOREWORD
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
My Tibetan Childhood is the autobiography of a young Tibetan that vividly
describes the brutal repression of Tibet by Chinese forces in the 1950s. The au-
thor personally witnessed the events he describes in this book, and he records
them convincingly and straightforwardly. Today, only a few elderly people
remain who can recount these sad events from personal experience. Candid
recollections such as these are of great value not only to new generations of
Tibetans who want to understand the recent history of their own people but
also to readers abroad who are interested in what actually happened in Tibet.
This book, originally written in Tibetan, was earlier translated into Chi-
nese. Now, it has been translated into English. Readers of both Chinese and
English who are already familiar with what took place in Tibet after 1950 will
recognize what is described here; for others it may be a revelation. Either way,
I am sure the candor of these recollections will convince readers of the justice
of the cause of Tibet and lead them to lend us their support.