Tales of Tibet: Sky Burials, Prayer Wheels, and Wind HorsesHerbert J. Batt Vivid images of Tibet spring to life in this landmark book, the first to offer a selection of fiction by Tibetan authors, both men and women, ever published in the English-speaking world. In translation from the original Chinese, contemporary Tibetan and Chinese writers lead us to a numinous land above the clouds. Narratives of Tibetan hunters, Buddhist rituals, and burial ceremonies lure us into haunting and unfamiliar settings where life, death, love the universal themes of literature assume a magical aura. The Tibetan writers depict the struggles of contemporary Tibet through the eyes of traditional Buddhist culture. The Chinese authors use that same culture to create an alternative oriental model for China as it confronts a tidal wave of western rational materialism. Thus the drama of contemporary Chinese culture is shifted into a unifying Tibetan perspective: time revolves in an eternal circle, progress is illusion, and all actions lead to nothing. These literary gems several banned in China will captivate students and general readers looking for a unique encounter with a Tibet struggling to maintain its age-old civilization under the cultural onslaught of the Chinese regime." |
Contents
A Fiction | 23 |
A Ballad of the Himalayas | 63 |
Encounter | 77 |
Copyright | |
12 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Tales of Tibet: Sky Burials, Prayer Wheels, and Wind Horses Herbert J. Batt,Tsering Shakya No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
abbot asked Barkhor began bodhisattva body Bretherton British Buddha Buddhist Chimi China Chinese Chung climbed coins courtyard dark Dhargye door Dorje eyes face father felt fiction Gansu gave gazed Ge Fei girl grass ground Gyantse hand head heard heart horse Incarnate Lama inside Khampa knew language laugh legs Lhasa lived long-haired looked Lopa Ma Jian Ma Yuan Machrung Machu village Master Melong monk mother mountain mouth musk deer musk sac Nechung never Newman night Norbu Pockface Sonam Rigzin prayer wheels pulled Qian Long Rigzin from Gonjo river road robe Sangsang sheepskin Shigatse shoulder Sky Burials sleep snow soldiers stared stood story stupa sutras Tabei tent thought Tibet Tibetan writers tiny told took trees tsampa turned Ugyen voice walked watched Wenqin wind woman Yarlung Tsangpo River young Younghusband Yuan