AHP 62: ECHOES OF THE UPPER YANGTZE: A DIGITAL MEMORY OF CONTEMPORARY TIBETAN PASTORALISTS THROUGH THE LENS OF A LOCAL MAN འབྲི་ཆུའི་སྟོད་རྒྱུད་ཀྱི་བྲག་ཅ། སྒ་སྟོད་ཇོ་བོ་འགྲམ་གྱི་འབྲོག་སྡེ། 长江源头之声—原住民镜头下关于游牧民族的光影记忆
Creators: name: འདན་མ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རབ་རྒྱས།, 'Dan ma bkra shis rab rgyas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Yushu Tibetan pastoralist, Yushu yak herding, Yushu herding family, Yul shul pastoralists, Qinghai yak herding,

description: Echoes of the Upper Yangtze offers rare insight into the life of a Tibetan pastoral family, showcasing their deep religious devotion and close bonds with animals and nature. While reflecting the shared experiences of many Tibetan communities across the Plateau, the book highlights this family's unique journey. Against the backdrop of urbanization, nomad settlement, and expanding tourism throughout Tibetan areas, 'Dan ma bkra shis rab rgyas provides an unfiltered, picturesque portrayal of a once-remote Tibetan community grappling with change, raising concerns about the future of their rich cultural traditions and ancestral knowledge.

-Sanggay Tashi (Sangs rgyas bkra shis སངས་རྒྱས་བཀྲ་ཤིས།), University of Colorado-Boulder 

 

A valuable work documenting changing Tibetan pastoral life, featuring authentic photos conveying a strong visual sensibility.

-Klu rgyal 'bum ཀླུ་རྒྱལ་འབུམ། Northwestern University

Personal narratives and historical reflections delve into Tibetan pastoralists' lived experiences and challenges in maintaining traditional livelihoods amid rapid socio-economic changes. This powerful exploration of memory is an insightful illustrated account of life on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. 

-Caihuan Duojie (Caihua Dorji; Tshe dpal rdo rje ཚེ་དཔལ་རྡོ་རྗེ།) Qinghai Minzu University 青海民族大学

 

Echoes of the Upper Yangtze: A Digital Memory of Contemporary Tibetan Pastoralists Through the Lens of a Local Man by 'Dan ma bkra shis rab rgyas is a visual triumph, offering compelling insights into the author's pastoral Tibetan family in Thang skyid (Tuanjie) Village, Yul shul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, PR China. Some 300 local photographs and maps comprehensively showcase a Tibetan family, including its members, livestock, housing, transportation, and activities, alongside striking landscapes and scenes from a pastoral Tibetan village. Consisting of fifteen parts, including an introduction, references, and non-English terms, it chronicles various aspects of the focus community in vivid life narratives of locals that do not avoid dilemmas such as herding vs. schooling and tradition vs. modernity. These stories reflect rapid economic and educational development challenges, further enriched with eye-catching photos on almost every page. The photographs feature captions offering valuable perspectives on this vibrant pastoral Tibetan family and community life - depicting family dynamics, dominant livestock and food, common modes of transportation and camps, traditional tools and instruments, and essential rituals and practices. Photographs and accompanying narratives provide readers with insights into both past and present, highlighting evolving life, culture, landscapes, and artifacts of the focus Tibetan family and its community from the 1960s to the 2020s. A visual journey into the nuances of Tibetan pastoral life emphasizes Thang skyid's significance and the role of local yaks, offering a fresh and innovative model for better understanding Tibetan life and culture through the lens of those who live it. 

-Tshe dbang rdo rje ཚེ་དབང་རྡོ་རྗེ། (Caixiangduojie 才项多杰), Qinghai Normal University青海师范大学

 

'Dan ma bkra shis rab rgyas shares his upbringing with the majestic yaks of his homeland in Echoes of the Upper Yangtze: A Digital Memory of Contemporary Tibetan Pastoralists Through the Lens of a Local Man. Vivid photographs and poignant stories explore the vital role yaks played in his family and community while highlighting the challenges traditional herding faces in a changing world. Join him on a journey of resilience and love for a way of life deeply connected to the land.

-Rigdrol Jikar (Rig grol རིག་གྲོལ། Rou Zhuo 肉卓) Qinghai Normal University 青海师范大学

 

 

 

This important collection of photo essays documents not merely pastoralists' tales but multifaceted and unique Tibetan encounters with nature, animals, plants, and socio-economic policy interventions in the headwaters of major global rivers on the Tibetan Plateau in China. While enduring the harsh plateau climate, 'Dan ma bkra shis rab rgyas imbues the book with affection for family and shared love for the natural surroundings. This uplifting narrative is firmly rooted in a richness of local ecological wisdom, transmitted through generations, and elevated by the author's steadfast connection to his homeland.

-Nyangchak, Peking University 北京大学

 

A family clings to an age-old way of life in a remote pastoral community on the vast Tibetan Plateau, herding yaks across rugged terrain and preserving traditions passed down over generations. Their days are simple and challenging yet filled with quiet reverence for the land and a deep-rooted sense of purpose. As their world begins to shift – a transition they never sought yet can no longer ignore - they face choices that will redefine their place in a rapidly modernizing society. This understated and profound story reveals the universal struggle between holding on and letting go.

-Huadan Zhaxi (Dpal ldan bkra shis དཔལ་ལྡན་བཀྲ་ཤིས།) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

 

A pastoral Tibetan life unfolds with remarkable details, drawing on the author's family's daily experiences as primary sources. Yaks are the principal means of livelihood for a herding family and have special symbolic meaning within the family unit. The life of yak herding, such as patterns of transiting between seasonal pastures, is elaborately described. Human-wildlife conflict can wreak havoc on the herders' dwellings and possessions, yet local people maintain a magnanimous attitude towards domestic animals and wildlife. Despite the harsh alpine natural environment, local herders have developed unique adaptive mechanisms and established a spiritual connection with the natural world. However, in today's rapidly changing society, all is in flux, including the herders' lifestyle. As the price of Caterpillar fungi, a medicinal herb, has skyrocketed, becoming a major and nearly instant source of income for households, some locals have come to rely on this unstable income, abandoning the centuries-old practice of animal husbandry. The move to towns to pursue better lives and compulsory education for children has shaken traditional values and ways of life. With maps, charts, lists of non-English terms, and numerous photographs, Echoes of the Upper Yangtze takes readers on a captivating journey through space and time.

-Kelsang Norbu (Gesang Norbu, Skal bzang nor bu སྐལ་བཟང་ནོར་བུ།)