The Environment of Tibet

With China bordering to the east, Burma to the south-east, India, Bhutan and Nepal to the south, Pakistan to the west and Turkistan to the north-west. This mineral-rich nation with a history of thousands of years and a unique geographic location has a language, culture and tradition distinct from that of her neighboring countries. Until the Chinese invasion, Tibet was a completely independent and sovereign nation. Populated by more than six million people, Tibet (inclusive of all the three regions Do-Toe, Do-me and U-Tsang), stretches over 2.5 million square kilometers. It is over ten times the size of Japan and seven times the size of France, with an average height of 3500 meters above sea level.

Towards the north from the east of Bodhgaya.

There liesPurgyal, known as Tibet.

She has soaring peaks like ladders to the sky

Blue lakes like the mandala of turquoise

Snow-white mountains like crystal stupas

Pale grasslands like the golden flowers

Her summer is bedecked with turquoise flowers.

O, the Lord of Snowland, Arya Avalokiteshvara,

Therein are found your disciples.

These lines from the Kadampa

Tibet is surrounded by mountain ranges and dotted with untouched ponds and lakes. It is a land richly endowed with aromatic medicinal plants, virgin forests; pasture lands with wild-flowers. Indigenous wild animals here includetigers, leopard, bear, lynx, white bear, ogre and ogress, hill dog, snow leopard, godson’s antelope and others, also found living freely with no fear of human predators.

To the west of Tibet lie the Himalayan ranges that extend more than 2400 kilometres. This range is 200 to 350 kilometers wide. Mount Everest, known also as JomoLangma or Gang GyalmoThonthing, at 8848.13 meters above sea level, is the highest peak in the world. In the region of Ngari, western Tibet, there is Mt. Kailash, known as GangkarTise or Gang Rinpochein Tsang area there are NodjinGangzang and JomoKharag; in Central Tibet there are NyenchenThangla and YarlaShambu; towards the border of Tibet and Bhutan there lie Kula Hari and Tsari-tra, the holy place of pilgrimage; in the region of Kham there are ChumarGangchag, MinyagGangkar, RongtsanKhawaKarpo and MeriGangkar; in the region Do-Me there are MachenPomra,GangkarPhyogleNamgyal, DrongriMugpo of Serta, NyempoYuchen and many others. Primordial trees, as old as a thousand years with a girth of 20 to 40 meters and over 50 to 60 meters tall, symbolize the antiquity of the land.

Tibet is also the source of many rivers, as this oral tradition of Ngari goes:

TachogKhabab flows through Dro-shod valley

Dro-shod is the source of horses in Tibet

MajaKhabab flows through Purang region

Purang is the land of belles in Tibet

LangchenKhabab flows through Guge region

Guge is the source of the ample wealth of Tibet

SengeKhabab flows through the valley of Ladakh

Ladakh is the land of heroes and valiant people

A History of Nangchen Adorning the Ears of the Gentle says:

From the valley of Drina descends golden yellow Drichu

From YagraTagtse descends vermillion red Machu

From Khradhom valley descends the blue jeweled Dzachu

From Chi,Dho and Phug descends the treasure of barely

– ChichuKarmo

KeyGeographical Features

There are four rivers descending from the four directions of Mt. Kailash in Ngari region.The TackokKhabab originates in the east of Mount Kailash and flows from the upper region of Ngari down to the valley of Tsang,where it merges with the Kyichu River of central Tibet,flowing through Yarlung.Dagpo and Kongpo. It then winds to the right side of NamchagBarwe mountain into Mustang and flows through the eastern region of India, becoming the Brahmaputra. Finally it descends into the Indian Ocean. The Ma Cha Khabab originates in the south of Kailash and flows from the region of Purang into Nepal and then through the state of Uttar Pradesh in India it merges with Ganges River and finally descends into the Ocean. The LangchenKhabab originates in the north of Kailash and flows through DhapaThoding of Ngari region and becomes the Sutlej River flowing through Rampur, Kinnaur valley and Punjab from where it flows via Pakistan and finally descends into the Arabic Ocean. The SengeKhabab originates in the west of Kailash and flows though Ngari Gar and then becomes the Indus flowing through Ladakh, Kashmir and Pakistan, finally descending into the Arabic Ocean.

Then there is the Drichu River, descending from the glaciers to the south-west of KulhaTendhong mountain of the Dhangla range. It flows via Dechen into the Chinese regions of Hubei and Anhuiand, and finally descends into the ocean to the east of Shanghai. The Ma-chu River in the region of Do-Me descends from the eastern side of the Bayan Hari mountains and finally flows into Inner Mongolia via Golog and Dege from where it flows through Shanxi and Henan and finally descends into Boohai ocean of Shangdong. Moreover there are many other rivers such as Kyichu and Nyangchu in Central Tibet, Dzachu, Ngomchu, Nyagchu,Gyamo and Ngyulchu in Kham and Tzongchu, Luchu, Sangchu and Drugchu in Do-Me.

With more than 2,000 ponds and lakes in Tibet. The highest lake, Lake NamtsoPhugmo is 1,940 square kilometers in area. The Lake Kohonor in Amdo is 1,635 square kilometers in area. Among other well-known lakes in Tibet are MaphamYutso (Manasarovar), NganglaRingtso, YardrogYutso, DangraYutso, and Ziling Tso in western Tibet, LhamoLatso in central Tibet, and Yilung Tso in Kham. In these lakes and ponds can be found hundreds of swamps, ducks, nakuli(Indian name), spoon-bills, fowl, fish, fish-otters, tortoises and innumerable other species of animals.

In Tibet, there are some areas in the region of Do-Me which are vast, uninhabited grassland plains. These infinite expanses of grasslands are filled with a countless variety of flowers. Tibet also has many natural resources. For instance, there are rich mineral and liquid resources found underground, and there are evenly-blowing, strong winds which can be used for energy in the northern region. In most of the places the sun is hot and direct and shines for a long period of time. As such, Tibet has much potential to change into a nation that is endowed with all the modern amenities.

Tibet has domestic animals such as Yak, Dri (female Yak), male and female Dzo (hybrid of Dri and ox), cow, ox, horses and mules, donkeys, cattle and sheep, and others that are reared by both the farmers and nomads.

In ancient times, Bon religion and culture was widespread in Tibet. However, during the reign of TrisongDetsen, Buddhism was introduced in Tibet and this led to the development of many monastic communities. There were more than six thousand monasteries and temples throughout Tibet. In these there were innumerable priceless and holy representations of Buddhist icons, images and scriptures and infinite numbers of images made of gold, silver, Lima (produced from melting many precious metals), copper, bronze and medicinal clay, as well as Buddhist scriptures, both hand-written and printed, comprised of the Kangyur and Tangyur (Buddhist Canon) and the collected writings of many Tibetan Buddhist master scholars running into hundreds of thousands of volumes. More than 500,000 monks and nuns and more than 10,000 Tantric practitioners lived in these monasteries.

Nonetheless, the lay population of Tibet was a majority. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the economic mainstay of these people. Nomads of Tibet encamp in the high valley and plain areas in the northern regions, migrating to places in pursuit of better pastures for their animals. Nomads live in felt tents made of yak wool. They wear fur gowns, fur hats, and thin woolen gowns and hats during summer. On special occasions, they dress themselves up in fine woolen clothes. Their staple food is comprised of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, butter, and cheese. They also eat meat and barley-flour (Tsam-pa). Animal husbandry is their only economic activity. Consequently, their life is not that busy but they eat and drink well. Especially during summer when the entire grassland is covered with beautiful flowers, the nomads have a leisurely lifestyle. There are many prosperous nomads who own tens of thousands of sheep, thousands of horses and other possessions. The nomads produce wool, yak tail, butter, cheese and salt collected from the salt mines of the northern plain. They barter or sell these for other basic necessities such as Tsam-pa, barley and grains and fine woolen cloths.

Farming Concerns:

The farmers live in the lower regions of Tibet in houses made of stones, earth or wood. The valley of Tibet has a mild and temperate climate and fertile soil. Because of this and ample water resources, they produce barley, wheat, peas, rice and various fruits. Tsam-pa made from fried and ground barley is their main staple food. Meat, butter, milk, yogurt and vegetables are also found in abundance. Both the farmers and nomads wear ornaments made of gold, sliver, turquoise, coral and so forth with designs unique to their localities.

No doubt, Tibet lacks modern amenities, but she is self-reliant for every-day existence. Its unpolluted land, water and air are beneficial both to mankind and other living things.