Windhorses of Eastern Qinghai and Central Amdo

By SUSAN TRIMBLE

Windhorses (Lungta) are small pieces of paper inscribed with galloping horses that are scattered from the tops of mountains. Sometimes prayer flags are also called windhorses...they are for the same purpose of sending prayers and wishes high into the heavens in the hope that they will be answered.

DURING the Qiang migration from Central Asia a hardy people passed through present-day Qinghai. Some mixed with the local nomadic tribes and settled there. Today Qinghai is home to a dozen ethnic groups, including Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Tu, and Han.

Qinghai forms a large part of the Tibetan Plateau and has average altitudes of just over 3,000 meters. Many snow-covered mountain ranges form natural barriers, and hundreds of icy rivers crisscross the province. Kokonor, the largest salt lake in China, is found in the east. There are many other freshwater and salt lakes. Qinghai has always been considered "away and beyond" and as such, its borders were regularly contested. The modern history of Qinghai began in 1727 when the Ma family gained and held control. Ma Bufang, a Muslim warlord, finally gave control to the Communists in 1950. The fourth largest province in China, slightly larger than Texas, Qinghai's population is only 5 million of which one half are ethnic minority people, and one quarter of those are Tibetan. There are many more horses, sheep and yaks than people in Qinghai. The climate and topography are extreme. Life is very tough.

The colorful Tu women.

Over the past four years I have traveled several times to Qinghai's eastern area, often referred to as central Amdo. Amdo is the uncommonly known name for the Tibetan area of eastern Qinghai and southern Gansu. It is a vast area that includes parts of the provincial designations of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. Amdo is bounded by Xinjiang and Gansu in the north, the Gansu Corridor in the east, the Kham area of Qinghai and Sichuan in the south and the Kunlun Mountains in the west. Amdo is referred to by some as a cultural province in that it is an area still largely inhabited by nomadic tribes and farmers of the Tibetan ethnic group and therefore dotted with many monasteries.

Arriving in Xining by air is exciting if only because the airport is so small and easy to get in and out of. A forty-minute drive through rather drab and monotonous suburbs brings you to the city. Xining is a city struggling to modernize, struggling in spite of poor economy, large unemployment, and harsh living conditions. Dafo Temple, an ancient Mosque and a very important Neolithic site called Liuwan are interesting sites to visit if you have some time to kill in Xining. However, most people are intent on leaving quickly.

The heart of Amdo stretches from Xining to Linxia (Gansu), to Qinghai Lake, and Xiahe. Looking at this area as a cultural province, you are first bombarded with Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries, and monks, and then you are fully confused by cities dotted with stately mosques and typical Chinese temples. It takes significant time and an excellent resource guide to make any sense of it all.

Farmers and herdsmen are concentrated in this beautiful area of central Amdo. There are mighty mountains, high grasslands and rivers rushing through rocky gorges. The most perfect environment for people who still enjoy their nomadic heritage and who choose to live in the high altitudes where their yaks and sheep thrive best. Where there are Tibetans in sufficient numbers, there will be monasteries that play the major part in their daily lives.

In the surrounding area of Xining is Youning Monastery (Gonlung), situated in a sunny gorge inhabited by Tu minority people. Their colorful costumes, exquisitely embroidered aprons and shoes, and most unusual hats are a striking contrast to the earthen dwellings in which they live. The Tu people believe in Tibetan Buddhism and 400 year-old Gonlung is their spiritual center.

Qutan Monastery (Drotsang) is about an hour out of Xining toward Lanzhou. Situated high on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley, this lovely monastery is 600-year-old Ming style and demonstrates the close relations maintained with the emperors during the Ming Dynasty. Most impressive are the still bright and shining murals that flank the exterior covered corridors of the main hall. These murals alone are worth the visit to Qutan.

Ta'er Monastery (Kumbum), outside of Xining, is one of the six most renowned Gelugpa monasteries. Built on the sacred ground where Tsongkapa, the reformer of Tibetan Buddhism and founder of the Gelugpa (Yellow Sect), was born, Kumbum has an aloof and mysterious air about it.

Traveling southeast from Xining to Tongren you pass through several Han and Hui villages strung out along the northern reaches of the Yellow River (Ma Chu) and finally enter a largely Tibetan-inhabited area known locally as Repkong. The largest monastery in Repkong is Longwu (Rongwo Gonchen). Older than both Labrang (in the Amdo part of Gansu) and Kumbum, Rongwo, (1301) is reputed to be the third largest monastery in Amdo.

Upper and Lower Wutun monasteries are not more than seven kilometers from Tongren city center. Upper Wutun (Sengeshong Yago) is magnificently decorated. Every surface of the entire assembly hall has been carved and painted with traditional Repkong designs. It is a perfect study of patterns. Lower Wutun (Sengeshong Mago) is a much livelier monastery, the location for ceremonies and festivities that draw crowds of local worshippers. Also important in terms of Repkong art, this monastery has exquisite carving and frescos that are unequalled elsewhere. Living within the two Sengeshong monasteries are about fifty famous thangka artists.

"Windhorses."

Among the five villages where Sengeshong is situated, the non-monastic population has an unusual number of highly skilled and well-known artists who also produce the famous Repkong art. The style and techniques have been passed down through several generations of local families, normally on the male side.

From Sengeshong, you can look across the river to Guomari Monastery (Gomar) and to Nianduhu Monastery (Nyentog). Both have fine examples of Repkong art, some old and some new.

Many more monasteries are found throughout the eastern part of Qinghai. They are storehouses of strange and beautiful art traditions -- as well as painting, you will discover clay sculpture, butter sculpture, appliqué, embroidery, woodcarvings, etched stone and carved tiles.

Qinghai's colorful people pass on their various traditions through rich music and dance, as well as through their multinational festivals, many of which you can see in Amdo's heartland.

Leaving Repkong by the road eastwards to Gansu, you will enter an area of strange and mysterious mountain peaks. This is the Shopone valley. Strange tales are told of past inhabitants of this valley. Down through harsh foothills you finally arrive at the beautiful rolling Ganja Grasslands, home of many Tibetan nomads.

Storehouse of art.

The nomads' life is all work and that work is freedom and happiness to them. Living in yak wool tents during the summer months, the nomads tend their yaks and sheep, moving as is necessary to find fresh green meadow grass and wildflowers on which to graze. Winter is normally spent in a house made of clay and earth. The children will attend school if possible and the adults will make the many necessary preparations for moving as soon as spring arrives. Their family, their animals and their beliefs are of utmost importance to the nomads.

Life is very tough in Qinghai. The heartland is wild and hauntingly beautiful. It beckons to you like a charismatic stranger...lets you in, lashes fiercely out at you, and then waits to see if you have the inner strength to stand sturdy in your own footprints. The unique character of the people of Qinghai is a result of the blending of many customs, beliefs and heritages. The ability to adapt to new cultures, to accept the toughest of hardships, to live one culture within another, to wait for chance knowing that it may never come, to find joy in nature's worst as well as in her best -- that is the spirit of Qinghai.

Windhorses thrown to the wind as prayers are chanted, caught again by the wind, they flutter from high mountaintops, whispering another prayer for another person. Windhorses carry prayers from Qinghai.

The names in brackets are Tibetan and are given for your ease if you visit the area. Many of the ethnic minority people in eastern Qinghai speak only their local dialect. In central Amdo, many place names used are Tibetan.

Andreas Gruschke's Amdo Volume 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo is the best authority for detailed exploration, explanation, photographs, and historical data. It is written beautifully, and has a large collection of great photos -- a monumental treasure for anyone with an interest in Qinghai.