Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

Description: Creator’s Description: Following Chinese occupation, all types of ritual territories recognized by Tibetans across the Tibetan plateau either became defunct, or went into abeyance and then revived -- often spectacularly -- in modified forms. This study deals with an example of non-revival and strategic withdrawal from one regionally and locally important Tibetan ritual territory. It provides a case study of developments up to 1995 at the mountain known as “Eastern Conch Mountain” (Shar dung ri) in A mdo Shar khog. The study documents why all major pilgrimage activities around the mountain were left in abeyance in spite of the real possibilities Tibetans had for reviving them once again. Important factors in this process are identified in the dynamics of the local post-1980 revival of Tibetan religion in Shar khog, changing attitudes towards demanding ritual practices, and the regime of modern developments that have been vigorously promoted around Eastern Conch Mountain by the Chinese state, including the banishment of lepers, tourism, mountaineering, nature conservation, and efforts to inscribe seminal aspects of modern Chinese nationalism, such as the Long March, upon an older Tibetan cultural landscape.

Means of availability: online