Gongchen Monastery
   HOME
*





Gongchen Monastery
Gonchen (also known as Derge Monastery) is a large Sakya Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the town of Derge, in Sichuan, China. Gonchen is located in the ethnic Tibetan cultural region of Kham. Description The main chapel of the monastery is an extensive complex which resulted in it being called the "great monastery". The monastery has a notable design, with striped walls of white, dark red and gray, colors unique to the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Below the monastery itself is the famous Derge Parkhang (Printing House), built in 1729, where the Buddhist scriptures the Kangyur and the Tengyur and other Buddhist works are still printed from wooden blocks in traditional handwork. The printing house, run by monks of the monastery, continues to use ancient techniques and uses no electricity. The roof is used for drying the printed sheets. It houses some 217,000 engraved blocks of scriptures from all Tibetan Buddhist sects including the Bon and about 2,500 pages are hand-produced eac ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the Sichuan Basin and the easternmost part of the Tibetan Plateau between the Jinsha River on the west, the Daba Mountains in the north and the Yungui Plateau to the south. Sichuan's capital city is Chengdu. The population of Sichuan stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai to the northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west. In antiquity, Sichuan was the home of the ancient states of Ba and Shu. Their conquest by Qin strengthened it and paved the way for Qin Shi Huang's unification of China under the Qin dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms era, Liu Bei's state of Shu was based in Sichuan. The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ache Lhamo
Lhamo, or Ache Lhamo, is a classical secular theatre of Tibet with music and dance that has been performed for centuries, whose nearest western equivalent is opera. Performances have a narrative and simple dialogue interspersed with comedy and satire; characters wear colorful masks. The core stories of these theatrical plays are drawn mostly from ancient Indian Buddhist folk tales, lives of important people and historical events from Tibetan civilization. However the ceremonial, dance and ritual spectacles strongly reflects the Tibetan Royal Dynastic period. Very similar traditions are found in Bhutan and other regions influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture. There are at least three unique schools of ''Lhamo'': Kyimulunga, Gyangara, and Chungba. History Oral accounts credited the foundation of Ache Lhamo tradition to 14th-century mystic Thang Tong Gyalpo. Lhamo is considered to have both spiritual and non-spiritual roots. The procedure and style in which Ache Lha ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Woodblock Printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is created by carving a wooden block to leave only some areas and lines at the original level; it is these that are inked and show in the print, in a relief printing process. Carving the blocks is skilled and laborious work, but a large number of impressions can then be printed. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 AD. Woodblock printing existed in Tang China by the 7th century AD and remained the most common East Asian method of printing books and other texts, as well as images, until the 19th century. ''Ukiyo-e'' is the best-known type of Japanese woodblock art print. Most European uses of the technique for printing images on paper are covered by the art term woodcut, except for the bl ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mario Biondi (writer)
Mario Biondi (born 17 May 1939) is an Italian writer, poet, literary critic, journalist and translator. His reputation is mainly due to the novel ''Gli occhi di una donna'', which earned him the important Italian award Premio Campiello in 1985.Britannica book of the year: 1986 -R. McHenry, Daphne Daume, J.E. Davis - 1986 Page 312 "Another historical novel was Mario Biondi's Gli occhi d'una donna, a long chronicle, seen through the eyes of a woman, of the rise and fall of two Italian families, one ..." He has a keen interest in Central Asia and Tibetan history and culture, and in recent years has travelled all of the Silk Road through Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and many provinces of China, among which Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Qinghai and obviously Xizang (Tibet). Biography Born in Milan and grown up near Lake Como, he graduated from Bocconi University and then worked for sixteen years in publishing (Einaudi, Sansoni, Longanesi), as Chief Press Officer before be ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Parikrama
Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indic religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only to the path along which this is performed. Typically, in Indic-religions the parikrama is done after completion of traditional worship ( puja) and after paying homage to the deity. Parikrama must be done with dhyāna (spiritual contemplation and meditation). In Hinduism, parikarma of religious deities in a temple, sacred rivers, sacred hills and a close cluster of temples as a symbol of prayer is an integral part of Hindu worship.http://www.hindunet.org/faq/fom-serv/cache/31.html Why do we perform Pradakshina or Parikrama?http://www.hinduism.co.za/kaabaa.htm Kaaba a Hindu Temple?Hindus invariably circumambulate around their deities Hindu temple architecture include various Pradakshina paths. There could a parikarma path surrounding the chief deity, an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Kingdom Of Derge
The Kingdom of Derge was an important Monarchy, kingdom in Kham from the 15th to the 19th century. It was a center of industry, religion and politics, with the seat of its kingdom in the town of Dêgê County, Degé. The kings of Derge followed a 1300-year lineage. At its height, the population of the kingdom consisted of 12–15,000 families. The northern border of the kingdom was defined by Qinghai Lake; on the east, the boundary terminated at those states that utilized the Horpa variation of the Rgyalrongic languages, Chantui and Litang; the southern and western boundaries were defined by Batang, Sichuan, Batang, Sanai (Tibet), Sanai, Gonjo County, Gonjo and Draya; and Lhato and Chamdo, respectively. The kingdom was known for its metal working and was an important center in the establishment of the Rimé movement in Tibetan Buddhism. The royal family of Derge were known as supporters of art, producing such artists as Situ Panchen, the kingdom's senior court chaplain, who is a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Eric Teichman
Sir Eric Teichman (born Erik Teichmann; 16 January 1884 – 3 December 1944 in Norfolk, England) was a British diplomat, orientalist, travel writer and photographer. He was a son of Emil Teichmann and Mary Lydia Schroeter, and younger brother of Max Teichmann (1876, Eltham, Kent -1963) and Oskar Teichman (1880, Eltham, Kent - 1959). He was educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University. At the time of his death, he had been serving as adviser to the British Embassy at Chungking. Travels Teichman has been described as "one of British diplomacy's dashing characters, flamboyantly enigmatic explorer-cum-special agent. He went on a number of "special missions" and "fact-finding journeys" throughout Central Asia, as early as before World War I. In 1935 he travelled by truck across the Tarim Basin to Kashgar, and there by pony and on foot across the Pamir and Karakoram ranges to Gilgit, and then to New Delhi. In 1943 he began his final foreign journey fro ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Phayul
Phayul.com (''Fatherland'' in Tibetan) is a leading English language news portal. website that publishes news and opinion about Tibet and Tibet-in-exile. Created in 2001 by Tibetan exiles in India, it is published in the English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ... from Dharamsala. The site also includes book reviews, stories, essays, and a discussion forum. Its director is Tenzin Norsang Lateng and the editor is Kalsang Rinchen. References External links * Tibet Tibetan diaspora Tibetan news websites Tibetan society Internet properties established in 2001 Indian news websites Dharamshala Mass media in Himachal Pradesh {{Tibet-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Voice Of Tibet (Norway)
Voice of Tibet is a radio station based in Norway transmitting shortwave radio programmes in the Tibetan language as well as Mandarin Chinese. The station began broadcasting on 14 May 1996 and was founded by three Norwegian NGOs: Human Rights House of Bergen, Norwegian Human Rights House, The Norwegian Tibet Committee and Worldview Rights. Its broadcasts target Tibet and China as well as India, Bhutan and Nepal. It receives funds from the United States National Endowment for Democracy. Voice of Tibet states that its goal is to provide news on Tibetan people, Tibetan life, Tibetan culture, culture, events, and issues both inside Tibet and in the global Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan exile community. They air the Dalai Lama's latest public speeches in serialised form. With a portion of programming targeting Chinese listeners, they report on Chinese democracy movement, democracy movements in China. They carry reports on Environmental issues in China, environmental issues, healt ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of providing accurate and uncensored reporting to countries in Asia that have poor media environments and limited protections for press freedom and freedom of speech. Based on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, it was established by the US International Broadcasting Act of 1994 with the stated aim of "promoting democratic values and human rights", and countering the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as providing media reports about the North Korean government. It is funded and supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors), an independent agency of the United States government. RFA distributes content in ten Asian languages for au ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Tibetan Center For Human Rights And Democracy
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is a Tibetan non-governmental nonprofit human rights organization. The TCHRD investigates and reports on human rights issues in Tibet and among Tibetan minorities throughout China. It is the first Tibetan non-governmental human rights organization to be established in exile in India. The TCHRD publishes articles on censorship and discrimination faced by Tibetans in Tibet; keeps databases on Tibetan political prisoners in China, Tibetans who have self-immolated, and Tibetans who have died in detention; and publishes reports and yearly human rights updates. The TCHRD has emphasized that an "important source of support for the Tibetan people comes from the Chinese community from both within and outside China." Lobsang Nyandak, President of the Tibet Fund and former Representative to the Americas for the Dalai Lama, was the founding Executive Director. See also * 1959 Tibetan uprising * 1987–1989 Tibetan unrest * 2008 T ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According to some early Tibetan sources like the ''Testament of Ba'', he came to Tibet in the 8th century and helped construct Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. However, little is known about the actual historical figure other than his ties to Vajrayana and Indian Buddhism. Padmasambhava later came to be viewed as a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet. Starting from around the 12th century, hagiographies concerning Padmasambhava were written. These works expanded the profile and activities of Padmasambhava, now seen as taming all the Tibetan spirits and gods, and concealing various secret texts ('' terma'') for future tertöns. Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124–1192) was the author of the ''Zangling-ma'' (Jew ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]