English-speaking Monks and their Disappearing Lifestyle

USCPFA Member John Marienthal has had the good fortune to travel to all 23 of China's provinces. In 1995, while living in Xinjiang for a year, he managed to arrange a trip to neighboring Tibet. (see blog posts one and post two.) One aspect of Tibet--which dragged down every visitor--was the altitude difference. It is the highest place on earth, starting in Lhasa at about 12,000ft. 

"The most recognized building in Tibet—the Potola Palace-- was built in the 13th century as a fortress. It sits high on a ridge. Fortunately, when we visited, our bus took us around back (and we were able to avoid the endless staircase). 

Potola Palace

"What most impressed me—aside from the beauty of the palace and a dance performance that was being staged for a different tourist group, was spotting my first solar cooker. Apparently, Lhasa has most direct sunshine in the world. The monks had welded a metal camera-like tripod that held a teakettle. At the bottom of the kettle was the focal point of a large parabolic solar reflector. I asked how long it took to boil tea. He said about fifteen minutes. (Yes, of course. Because of the altitude.)

"We had a new guide who was not very well-versed in the history of the palace. His grasp of English was also very basic. Still, he did his best, matching up each room with a description in his guidebook, and then translating that to us. At one point we passed a group of monks in meditation. I lingered to let the group go ahead, and one of the monks turned to me and said in perfect English, 'I’m sorry. Your guide is mistaken. He has confused this shrine with another room.' I was delighted to find this fluent English speaker—although I woudn’t have guessed him to know the language in a thousand years. In fact, so many times, we would be talking, assuming the people around us couldn’t follow our conversation only to realize that they did. Moral of the story: don’t gripe and moan--especially in elevators. You never know who understands you.
"We visited the living quarters of the Dalai and Panchen Lamas. The Dalai lives in India. The Panchen Lama has visiting quarters in the Potola Palace, but he usually lives in Beijing. As we left the Potola Palace by climbing down the endless front steps, I felt tired and overwhelmed. Still, we pushed onward to Ganden Monastery, which is built on a high ridge that is over 12,200 feet high. 

Ganden Monastery

There is no fresh water on the ridge. Each morning the young novitiates carry water buckets down the ridge, then carry fresh water back 800 feet to the top. This is said to teach humility and service to one’s fellow man. Instead of making the climb, we browbeat our guide into driving us up to the top of the ridge. It was a scarily narrow road with no shoulders to pull off onto, no barriers to prevent a tumble off the side. But it saved us walking up the endless ridge.
This monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution , as it was the largest monastery. It became a target of the young red guards who were out to liberate people from “old ideas,” smash the old, and bring forth the new. To destroy the monastery, they commandeered an artillery piece, dragged it atop a nearby ridge, and shelled the monastery for three days. At the time the monastery had over 6000 monks and novitiates. Two thirds of all the buildings were destroyed.
When we visited in ‘95 the monastery was being rebuilt. Many of the outlying buildings that had been destroyed were to become the new living quarters for the new monks. We asked how many new monks would there be, and a lively discussion ensued. The answer? Maybe 400. Maybe 1600. Prior to 1960—and the onslaught of the Cultural Revolution—families routinely offered their sons into the monastery system. (A third of young men followed this path.) But this was 1995. How many people would continue to do that?