Tibetan Documentary-The Heaven-blessed Culture of Khampa Ep1

yes stepping into the kampa area lingering in this gravity-defying landscape of formidable peaks meandering along paths on mountain tops it feels as if our perception of north and south has been changed to east and west yes these are the hunduan mountains which trench 1 300 kilometers from north to south according to the traditional geographical concept of the tibetan people they are known as the four rivers and six ranges and they are home to the kampar tibetans the hyundai mountains are unique among all mountain ranges on earth because their ridges are oriented north south the elevation of ching hai tibet plateau is around 4500 to 5000 meters long ago the elevation here was just a thousand meters or so but as a result of conversion of asian and european continents over millions of years numerous mountains rivers and lakes were formed changing the climate and other natural conditions in late spring or early summer gusts of wind arrive here all the way from the indian and pacific oceans and they bring with them moisture from tropical monsoons this constant moisture channeled by the unique geography of the hungarian mountains and the valleys of the himalayas nurtures every corner of the plateau after much effort in september 2009 the origin of the three rivers research expedition finally defined the geographical coordinates of the yangtze river the yellow river and the valentine river their upriver sources are the dam chew cartoon and tsar2 respectively it is here in this area covering 318 000 kilometers that the three rivers originate right in the heart of the plateau it is if you like the resting place of their souls people call this china's water tower and it's no exaggeration this gigantic water tower stands out among a series of famous mountain ranges such as the kunlun kuku and the tangula mountains with more than 2 000 peaks at an elevation of over 5 000 the metres mountains on earth for eons these three rivers have nourished the chinese people and chinese civilization these mighty rivers flowing parallel enter enormous gorges and take innumerable twists and turns while singing a song of harmony about the chinese people in the tibetan language the snow-capped peaks of the mountain group known as mingling centered in the handwan mountains is known as kawat gabor kawad kapoor kang ring bochu fung in ali prefecture and yan chen lashan in northern tibet are equally regarded as the most sacred mountains in tibet mount crown prince the main peak of mingling gangrel stands at 6740 metres above sea level snow water oozes from the mountain into the lantau river opposite bull village dozens of tibetan households have lived on this terrace across from the water for generations buu in tibetan means ugg but to express it more vividly we can say that bull village is like an infants lying in the arms of coward but in recent years drinking wine has become something of a fashion in big cities since bull village lies in the valley of the lantang river where there is plenty of sunlight a broad range of temperatures and a plentiful supply of water there can be no place more suitable to plant grapes than here this old couple have three acres of grapes here right now it's time to harvest the grapes as required by the wine producers the old couple cover the bunches of grapes with paper the coated grapes will remain on the vine until the frosts come in october in due course the dehydrated grapes will be shipped out to brew ice wine which is both rare and highly sought after however old cena is less interested in who the end user is than he is in the sutra hall only the villagers know that old cena also goes by the nickname grandpa bear about 20 years ago he was a well-known hunter and perhaps his nickname was derived from the fact he has hunted down no less than 15 bears in the nearby forest but these days grandpa bear is not the man he used to be is in the eyes of the people of eastern tibet coward gabor is one of the most sacred mountains it is in fact regarded as an honor of a lifetime to make a pilgrimage here and walk around it every year streams of pious pilgrims undertake the long and arduous journey to this holy site prostrating themselves in reverence at regular intervals along the way it's said that the first man to undertake a pilgrimage around kawai gabor did so around 700 years ago his name was taoku he was of the kama kagu sect and he was the second reincarnation of jumdah people have been making the pilgrimage here ever since mount baimar which lies east of the origin of the three rivers stands between the jinsha river and the lanshang river the forest here is home to a special primate the yuan nan snub-nosed monkey these monkeys are said by many to have faces very similar to our own these strange mountain inhabitants were first discovered by a french missionary in 1890 the diet of these monkeys is primarily made up of a special lichen also known as osnia which is found in forests of coniferous trees such as spruce or fur as the slowly growing asners feed on the sap of the trees a proliferation of them would endanger the forest the monkeys however devour many of the asners fulfilling a vital role in the biological chain in the forests of the hongduan mountains one of tibet's most sacred creatures is the black necked crane like the monkeys the black neck cranes are rare and unique to china the tibetans call them jeongjung gamor which means the white divine birds as the only plateau bird in the world they are a national first class protected species treated with reverence and welcomed by the local people the black neck cranes arrive on the ching hai tibet plateau in summer to breed and in winter they congregate on the farmlands food mountains is home to a hot spring fish while we know that spring water comes from a cave at the foot of mount viraja the fish however seem to come from nowhere a long time ago chappelle monastery a monastery dedicated to the native born religion stood on the mountain during buddhist festivals monks would play music by the fountain and upon hearing it the fish inside the cave would emerge finding this to be more than a little unusual the monks decided to feed the fish and the tradition has continued for a thousand years right up to the present day in kampa this respect for wildlife finds its expression everywhere for instance the famous julia monastery in dalton county are nurseries for a frequent visitor the second class national protected animal the tibet eared pheasant early summer is a busy time for farmers in various parts of cumber as they prepare to harvest bali at altitudes as high as that found in dangchen county and chamdor the distribution of bali is dictated by the landscape and it results in stacked terraces a truly amazing natural spectacle in the valley lies rewatcher county and the barley fields are on both sides of the road a harvested barley will be dried on a shelf the locals are now heading for the pastures most of which are located in the grass-covered hills at an altitude of 4 000 meters or more the family of choi yum dralkar from shilang village pitched their tent here several days ago thirty-seven-year-old choi yom drongkar is mother to three children and her youngest don drop one yao is just nine months old in summer people here become extremely busy grazing the livestock among the herds of cows they were both pregnant and milking cows unfortunately just a few days after her arrival at the pasture cholum drolkar no just six months ago her sister 20 year old children became a nun but as this month is the summer retreat month for monks and nuns children has come home to lend a hand after they are born calves graze for about two months but in order to ensure they receive adequate nutrition they cannot be weaned until they are five months old summer is the peak season for cows to produce milk and whatever remains after the carbs have had their share will be taken to the market chodron dearly loves her carbs so she occasionally feeds them milk drinks the yak is a mammal well adapted to this highest altitude region and tibetan shepherds cannot do without them the yak is an amazing animal it provides food milk wool for tents manure for fuel and can be used as a means of transport for these reasons the tibetans call it nor which means treasure there is however something odd about the origin of the yak some hold that the yak originated in tibet and that wild yaks are the ancestor of the domesticated animals and the listing historical records tell us that yaks were hybridized with cattle during the joel dynasty scientists after analyzing yak fossils have concluded that around three million years ago wild yaks were widespread over the entire northeastern eurasian continent however with the subsequent rising of the tibetan plateau and events that transformed the landscape and climate the yaks migrated here becoming one of the area's earliest inhabitants all things leave their own trails today after billions of years of transformation the hunduan mountains boast formidable peaks and deep rivers while the tibetan plateau features clusters of mountain ranges and rushing rivers the evolution of species in this area resulted in the hungarian mountains becoming colorful and vibrant and over time the people of this area developed the wisdom needed to breed animals and thrive in this challenging region rongchag county located in the upper riches of the dardul river has a number of unique multi-story buildings the local people call them towers or according to dynasty historical records in particular the later handbook southwestern barbarians these towers go by another name cheong long this means there have been towers here since at least the eachine or hand periods over 2 000 years ago the family of burucha from swore pool village lives in this tower to a tower with people living in it is called the home tower and the one for defense is called the guard tower next to burritos home tower is a guard tower that is 40 meters high looking closer at it the entire guard tower is made up of irregular stones that are not joined together using any adhesive substances yet despite years of exposure to the elements it remains intact was constructed by one of his great great grandfathers about 150 years ago his great-great-grandfather was a monk and to this day the family has retained several buddhist instruments passed down from his time as for the ancient guard tower 58 year old burucha has no idea when it was built or who was the builder ancient stone towers are found in the greatest opposite swarp jungle and kujal ding of denbar now only 260 dialogue remain but in the past there were perhaps as many as 10 000 of them they were at one time referred to as the oriental pyramids in may 1978 the site of a primitive societal village dating back to about four or five thousand years ago was discovered in the chandor area as the site stands on the west shore of the lantang river close to a carib village it is called the carob site excavations have confirmed that the carob site is one of the highest neolithic sites ever excavated it's located at an elevation of over three thousand one hundred meters from fajr foreign among the remains found at the carib site were a group of buildings in a half cave structure some believe the structure first appeared in the yangshao culture of the yellow river basin the people who inhabited the carob site used tools such as microlifts and shells and they ate foods such as corn these people in whose veins ran the blood of both ancient tribes who migrated here five thousand years ago and that of the indigenous tribes represent the first spark of civilization on the plateau this area that is the origin of the three rivers absorbs the quintessence of heaven and earth on the great plateau it nourishes all living creatures of the hunduan mountains and also nurtures the ethnic minorities of the region people as homes have been here for thousands of years creating a glorious and splendid plateau culture during the songstem gampor era in the seventh century the tuhora dynasty established its capital in lhasa making the lassa valley the political economic and cultural center of the region this is the cradle of one of the three historical and geographical regions in the tibetan tradition the three regions include ngari kosum north of tibet the four regions of rue and sang the center of tibet and the six plateaus of dolkar south and east of tibet most indoor people speak a nomad dialect while the calm people use the calm dialect about one thousand years ago during the heyday of the tang dynasty princess wen chang and princess ching chang of tongue were married to tibetan kings from that time on the tang tibet ancient road formed a bridge between tibet and the central plains in terms of cultural exchanges even today in the heart of tibetans princess wenchang is still revered as a bodhisattva and there are many legends about her gear the capital of the usual tibetan autonomous prefecture shanghai province the three thousand kilometer long tibet road winds its way from chiang an in the remote calm areas this temple with han and tibetan building styles demonstrates this is the place where princess wenchang once came 1 300 years ago in the princess wenjang temple in the bono valley we can see nine statues of buddha carved on a cliff the main statue is of tathagata while the other eight statues are eight bodhisattvas the temple is also called nampa nang sed chokhang the book history of tibetan kingdoms also tells how princess wenchang turned here and had statues carved at that time the han princess arrived at dan majan accompanied by a tibetan envoy she had the statue of maitreya bodhisattva carved on the cliff rising to a height of 80 feet and she also had two volumes of wishes of samantabhandra inscribed at the same time foreign not far from the bono valley is the lag bar valley known for its enchanting scenery and numerous piles of rocks inscribed with many prayers they line both sides of a tranquil crystal clear stream they are convincing evidence of the people's love and admiration for this great princess at the entrance to the legba valley the stream flows into the tian on the cliff there's an ancient stone carving after being identified by experts from the qinghai provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology it's been confirmed as a cliff carving from the time of princess wenchang and it's been given the name princess wenchang worshipping the buddha the man in tibetan costume with brigade wrapped tower like around his head is songstein and the hand lady beside him is his wife princess wenchung as the head stream of the yangtze river the tongtian river is about a few feet away from the origin of the ten thousand yangtze river over the centuries this pagoda has witnessed the rushing and surging of the endless rivers over the centuries but in which dynasty was it built the mysteries and veils of the plateau created in this area known as the source of the three rivers gradually revealing themselves with the advent of the 21st century people are devoting more attention to the depth of the areas surrounding the origin of the three rivers in a studio in chengdu a pressing cultural preservation project is now in full swing with singers and instrumentalists coming from remote rural areas to record a type of folk dance and song from barton passed down from generation to generation as planned by the gaza prefecture government all forms of national vocal music here will be recorded digitally and preserved so that future generations can appreciate and study them fifty-five-year-old professor norbu gyalsen was born in shinlong county by the ya long river his hobby is to explore every ditch and ravine in the hungarian mountains and record what he finds using his camera um foreign the mountains as they stand face even taller mountains while the rivers as they lay place even longer rivers our ability to comprehend what we see is limited the mountains and rivers have been here countless thousands of years as we look down from the peak we see villages scattered around valleys and riversides and we find sufficient reasons to make this wonder and how among these cold inhospitable deserts precipitous cliffs steep slopes dense forests and lakes but they flourished by the origin of the three rivers and became a driving force for civilization you

Channel: Kangba TV

Views: 190,909

Rating: 4.6313043 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, scenery, Tibet

Id: R1FiaHFQG9E

Length: 34min 50sec (2090 seconds)

Published: Thu May 12 2016