Namling County (; ) is a county of
Shigatse
Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histor ...
in the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...
.
Geography
Namling is the current administrative name given to the valleys of Oyuk, Tobgyet, and Shang ... ssociated.. with both Buddhism and Bon
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...
. Through these valleys respectively flow the Nang-gung-chu'mang ra chu'' Tobpu-chu, and Shang-chu rivers, with their various tributaries, which rise amid the southern slopes of the Nyenchen Tanglha range to the north, and flow southwards to converge with the Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
alled the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet
The lower reaches of the
Yarlung Tsangpo River
The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Da ...
make "a sharp U-turn around
Namjagbarwa Peak in Pai, Namling County." This is regarded as the starting point of the
Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon
The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, also known as the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the Tsangpo Canyon, the Brahmaputra Canyon or the Tsangpo Gorge ('), is a canyon along the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Tibet), Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet Autonomous ...
in
Nyingchi Prefecture
Nyingchi (), also known as Linzhi and as Nyingtri, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. The administrative seat of Nyingchi is Bayi District.
Nyingchi is the location of Buchu Monastery.
Econom ...
, which stretches and averages over in depth. The county has three geysers.
Town and townships
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Namling Town (, )
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Car Township (, )
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Dagna Township (, )
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Doqoi Township (, )
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Êma Township (, )
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Gyamco Township (, )
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Karzê Township (, )
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Lhabupu Township (, )
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Mangra Township (, )
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Numa Township (, )
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Putang Township (, )
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Dakce Township (, )
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Qum Township (, )
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Ratang Township (, )
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Rindü Township (, )
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Sogqên Township (, )
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Tobgyai Township (, )
Climate
Development efforts
The Namling County Schools Project was founded by
Tashi Tsering in 1991, and has been sponsored by the
Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive.
In c ...
-
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...
Sister City Project (BLSCP) since 1994. As of 2013, it supports 53 rural elementary schools.
As of 2006, 15 out of the county's 17 towns had
cell phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
service.
As of 2001,
potatoes
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...
have been introduced in Aimagang (Emagang) as a crop for herdsmen in the county. Potatoes and vegetables were shipped to markets in
Xigazê
Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histori ...
, and production of peas and wheat decreased.
The 2009
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
outreach efforts in rural areas of the county appear to have had a positive impact in comparison to a similar non-intervention area of
Tingri County
Tingri County or ''Dhringgri County'' (; ), is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The county comprises the upper valley of the Bum-chu or Arun River, with the valley ...
, according to
Medicus Mundi Switzerland.
In 2010, protests of environmental damage by
gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...
resulted in arrests and at least one fatality.
In 2011, Qin Weiqiang, secretary of the Namling County Party Committee, said that after the "
Lhasa–Xigazê Railway is put into operation", the number of tourists in Namling County was expected to increase.
Culture
"The famous local specialities are silver utensils, Tibetan sword and so on. Namling Town is the office place of Namling with a population 5,000, where are many monasteries."
Traditional Tibetan opera is popular in Namling County, and government funding efforts to preserve the tradition were started in 2005. "Xiangba Tibetan play in Namling County of Tibet has a history of more than 700 years. It is one of the four major schools of the blue-mask Tibetan play, and was born in the late 18th century." Local residents preserve "some traditional Tibetan operas such as "Princess Wencheng", "Chimei Gongdan", "Langsa Wenbo" and so on." "Tongdong Gyaibo (1365-1455), the founder of Tibet Opera, was born in Ngamring County. Legend has it that the iron chain bridge over the Xiongqoi River in Namling County was built with funds collected by Tongdong Gyaibo through performances."
Namling County and the Xiangqu River Basin were a cultural center of the
Supi tribe, known as "The Kingdom of Women", and "one of the earliest tribes in Tibet." After "the end of the sixth century, the Supi tribe moved its political center to the Lhasa River Basin."
As of 1999, the county was home to the
critically endangered Golden-headed box turtle (Cuora aurocapitata).
Monasteries
Yungdrungling Monastery "is located at the foot of the Yulha Jiesam mountain in the Numa village in Namling County about 90 km. from Xigazê. The monastery is surrounded by dense wood ... it is one of the four major monasteries of Bon religion in Tibet."
Danag Monastery, over 800 years old, is located in Danag Village.
The remains of the Dingma Monastery, an 11th-century
Kadampa
300px, Tibetan Portrait of Atiśa
The Kadam school () of Tibetan Buddhism was an 11th century Buddhist tradition founded by the great Bengali master Atiśa (982-1054) and his students like Dromtön (1005–1064), a Tibetan Buddhist lay master. ...
monastery, are located on a hill in the Oyuk Valley. It was founded by Ram Dingma Deshek Jungne, a student of Geshe Potowa.
The Gongon Lhakhang temple, in Oyuk Township, was said to be built by
Songtsen Gampo
Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepa ...
, and frequented by
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 ...
and his students
Namkhai Nyingpo and King
Trisong Detsen
Tri Songdetsen () was the son of Me Agtsom, the 38th emperor of Tibet. He ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Tri Songdetsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet, playing a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and th ...
in the 8th century.
Oyuk Chigong or Oyuk Jara Gon is a hermitage located at Jarasa in lower Oyuk. It is "the abode or castle of the protector deity Dorje Lekpa: guardian of the
Dzogchen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
teachings."
The Gelukpa monasteries of Drungzhi and Sogchen are located in the Tobgyel Valley.
Gadan Chiokorling Monastery, located from the county center, originally called Gegon Songrapling Monastery, became part of the Gelgupa Sect during the reign of the
5th Dalai Lama.
Notable people
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Mokchokpa Rinchen Tsondrü (1110-1170?) of the
Shangpa Kagyu
The Shangpa Kagyu (, "Oral Tradition of the man from Shang") is known as the "secret lineage" of the Kagyu school of Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism and differs in origin from the better known Dagpo Kagyu schools. The Dagpo Kagyu are the linea ...
was born in the Lhabu grasslands of the county's Shang Valley.
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Lobsang Yeshe, Fifth Panchen Lama (1663–1737) was born in Namling County.
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Tenpai Wangchuk, 8th Panchen Lama
Tenpai Wangchuk (1855–1882) was the eighth Panchen Lama of Tibet.
8th Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, also known as Namgyal Wangdui Gyaltsen, was born in 1855 in Namling County (རྣམ་གླིང་རྫོང་། 南木林), Shigats ...
(1855–1882) was born in Namling County.
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Chadrel Rinpoche
Chadrel Rinpoche (; born 1940 in Shigatse), also known as his dharma name Jampa Trinley (), is a Gelug lama of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1954, he joined the Tashilhunpo Monastery at the age of 15. He was a close disciple of Choekyi Gyaltsen, the 10 ...
(b. 1940) was born in Namling County.
* Guisang Sang (b. appx. 1958), who joined the Tibet Mountaineering Team in 1982, was the first woman in Asia to reach the top of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
twice.
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Tashi Tsering (educator) (1929-2014)
References
External links
Map of locations in Namling County
{{Towns in Xigazê
Counties of Tibet
Shigatse
Gold mining in China