CITATION: Karma Dondrub (CK Stuart, ed). 2013. Tibetan Nomad Childhood. Asian Highlands Perspectives 26.
SUMMARY: Karma Dondrub's (Kar+ma don 'grub) life begins on the boundless Tibetan grassland in 1983 in Yushu (Yul shul) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai (Mtsho sgnon) Province. Living in a black yak hair tent, Karma Dondrub begins tending his family's yak calves as soon as he can walk, in a grassland so barren that he is startled upon first seeing a tree at the age of eight. Charlatan livestock-stealing monks, anthrax, death, birth, happiness, and encounters with modern education create a powerful, unparalleled account of Tibetan nomad childhood in the late twentieth century - a way of life that will soon be forever gone.
When I first read Karma Dondrub's lived experience as a nomad boy in Northeast Tibet, two books came immediately to mind. First, it reminded me of Urgunge Onon's My Childhood in Mongolia (1972), a similar attempt at capturing the spirit of nomad life as lived by a boy. Secondly, it irresistibly conjured up images of Clifford Geertz's Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author (1988). The latter book's first chapter is significantly titled 'Being There,' and subtitled, 'Anthropology and the Scene of Writing'. There can be no doubt: Karma Dondrub was there, and in 'being there', he succeeds in inverting Geertz's subtitle, which becomes 'The Author as Anthropologist'. This is a major achievement for a twenty-two year old writing in a foreign language. Trying to establish himself as a writer, he inadvertently sheds light on a kind of knowledge that is not easy to come by in other accounts of Tibetan nomad life. The author has succeeded in portraying dimensions that must escape foreign observers, because they lack the mole's-eye-view of a resident insider. What strikes me in the first place is the omnipresence of the spoken word in negotiating problems in everyday nomad life. Legends and proverbs pervade family life, dealing with the herders' community at large, and ingraining into the individual's mind metaphors of caution and social responsibility. It is a necessary education, as the dangers of nomad life are many, natural, as well as human; wild animals, bad weather, shortage of water, sickness, banditry, and poverty, all conspire to make the nomad's experience a hard one. In addition, storytelling provides psychological and behavioral training, teaching people to deal with problems of life, love, and death. Secondly, I was impressed by the deeply religious quality of nomad life that also allowed, in times of social change, freedom to try out modern ways of warding off calamities, as on the occasion of the anthrax threat. Thirdly, I have learned more about the daily problems of Han-Tibetan relations in a frontier situation. Nothing is hidden in Karma Dondrub's description. Wim van Spengen
A beautifully written and fascinating account of Tibetan life that anyone interested in Tibet will definitely want to read. Melvyn C. Goldstein, John Reynolds Harkness Professor in Anthropology; Co-Director, Center for Research on Tibet
Tibetan Nomad Childhood provides a rare first-hand account of the rhythms and vicissitudes of Tibetan nomad life in the 1980s. This lyrically simple book follows its author from childhood to the present, where he is studying English in Xining and working on a language and cultural preservation project. Most of the work dwells, though, on a short period of time before he goes to school in the county town at the age of eight. Karma Dondrub's vivid recollections portray not only scenes of friendship and community, but also danger and discord; they also include a valuable collection of traditional proverbs, folktales, songs, and stories. The stories delve into the most important aspects of pastoral life: the ever-important need for sources of water, grassland conflicts, livestock predation, trust, and betrayal. There are no platitudes here and the book does not romanticize nomad life or shy away from difficult topics, such as the low social status of butchers. Following the author's family and the larger community through a raid by bandits, an anthrax infection, the death of his older brother, and a visit by bandits disguised as monks, the narrative shows the richness and complexity of pastoral society. Through interspersed stories, vignettes from his life, and sayings, Karma Dondrub portrays the beauty and pain of a way of life that, as he tells us, is rapidly fading into the past. The pasture - its brilliant stars, rippling streams, and bone-chilling cold - comes completely alive for the reader. This book will be of interest to everyone who is concerned about contemporary Tibetan culture, society, and livelihood. Emily Yeh, University of Colorado
Karma Dondrub's novel is a heart-rending account of growing up in a stark landscape as a Tibetan lad. Particularly touching is how he deals with the disenchantment of his first love. This is a book that will definitely transport the reader into a different time, place, and mind. Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania
A terrific debut. Karma Dondrub does not flinch from the cruelties, hardships, and sorrows affecting Tibetan nomads in tents, grazing lands, and Chinese-administered cities. But neither does he shy away from the beauty, friendships, and family feelings that enrich nomad life. The author celebrates the storytellers who enthralled him as a youth. With his gift for economic but vivid narrative, a light touch as narrator, and the descriptive lyricism of his prose, he earns a place among their ranks. Rob Linrothe, Skidmore College, New York
This authentic account of life on the grasslands is valuable for its detail and depth of insight, and more so because it is written in the first person, by a young Tibetan from a nomad family. Religion, social and political structures, and the realities of life and death in the Tibetan highlands are described in frank, straightforward language. A useful book for western students and scholars. Paul Nietupski, John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio USA
As China's long-overlooked minority nationalities gain voice through the spread of secondary and tertiary education, a new window is opening on the communal and personal histories of some remarkable people. One such individual is Karma Dondrub, a young Tibetan who was born in a yak-hair tent and spent his childhood tending livestock in a remote region of Qinghai Province. His life story is also the chronicle of a gentle, pastoral people who have been buffeted by forces, both natural and human, beyond their control. Even more remarkable is the fact that Karma Dondrub, who has only been studying English since 2001, wrote this memoir entirely in English. His is a story that cannot but move anyone who reads it. Richard Baum, Professor of Political Science, UCLA
Karma Dondrub narrates truly captivating tales of his life growing up on the grasslands of Eastern Tibet. He paints a picture that highlights the turbulent and wonderful experiences of youth. Douglas Duckworth, Florida State University
This remarkable memoir, presented in spare, straight-forward prose, by a young Tibetan man, offers the reader an extraordinary opportunity to peer into a way of life that has existed on the high plains of his homeland since time immemorial, yet still remains hidden from most of our eyes. Like many Tibetan nomads, Karma Dondrub is not certain of his birthday, just that it was sometime in 1983, in a black, yak-hair tent. He didn't see a tree until he was eight years old and has never received a vaccination. In an age of instant communication it is difficult for many of us to comprehend that millions of our fellow humans still lead such lives - and for that reason alone Karma Dondrub's book is essential reading. Lewis Simons, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
At last, the high grasslands have a truly Tibetan voice. From bears, bandits, and anthrax to first love and school days, Karma Dondrub brings the harshness and austere beauty of the plateau to life with a wealth of fascinating detail. His unsentimental storytelling allows readers to go beyond stereotypes and discover the authentic lives of some of the world's last nomads. Andrew Sewell, Langnan University, Hong Kong
A rare look into a little known part of the world through the eyes of a local young man coming of age. Interlaced with folktales, anecdotes, and real-life horrors and triumphs, the narrative stirs the readers' imagination and augments understanding of a remote and challenging way of life. Keith Dede, Lewis & Clark
With each turn of the page the color of the land, customs, and culture of the Tibetan nomad people playfully comes to life. Journey high on the Tibetan Plateau with Karma Dondrub as your guide, and experience life in this remote part of the world. Thoroughly enjoyable. Dave Webb, University of Western Australia
This is an extraordinarily revealing account of the true life of a young Tibetan man and of the lifestyle from which he has grown. A grand work of a true lived life. Huadan Zhaxi, Humbolt University, Berlin
Karma Dondrub's vivid recollection of his early years as a nomad boy living in the vast grasslands of Qinghai is a remarkable story that shows his deep affection for his family and the traditions that have helped him find his place in the world. He opens a window into a fascinating traditional culture that we know far too little about, and from which we have so much to learn. Katherine Morton, Australian National University
Above and beyond being a vivid description of a fascinating and fast disappearing lifeway, Karma Dondrub's autobiography is also a skillfully crafted coming of age story. As a child growing up on the Tibetan grasslands, Karma, always quiet, longs to say something, and also wishes that "more things [would] happen" so that "time would accelerate." In this well-told wish-fulfilling tale, Karma is drawn irrevocably into the modern world; more things happen, time accelerates, and he eventually finds his voice and learns to speak out. Gerald Roche, Qinghai Normal University, China
In unpretentious language, Karma Dondrub tells the story of his everyday life as a Tibetan herding boy. He shares the extremes of weather, his affection for his animals, and love for his mother. In delightfully deadpan style he narrates the dramas of anthrax, cattle thieves, tricksters impersonating monks, and of moving pastures to escape double taxation. Woven throughout are magical fables of lamas creating water sources, and bears eating people. Karma Dondrub succeeds in drawing in the reader to feel the normality of a life that might otherwise seem exotic to us. This book will attract those interested in Tibet, as well as all those who just appreciate a good story. I look forward to the next book, and hope he writes a whole series! Susan Jolly, University of Sussex, Brighton
Paints an intriguing and exotic picture of life on the vast grassland with the innocent and heart-warming vision of a nomad child. A wonderful read! Yuwei Shi, The Monterey Institute, Monterey, California
This work vividly recreates a way of life that will probably pass from the scene as China increasingly modernizes. Every effort must be made to preserve a record of vanishing ways of life in the more distant parts of a nation that is coming to play an important role on the world stage. This particular effort is a contribution to this larger goal, and its publication is to be greatly applauded. It is fascinating reading in its own right and adds to our knowledge of a culture and way of life very distant from what most readers will have experienced in their own lives. David Bertelson, University of Hawaii-Manoa (retired)
SUMMARY: Karma Dondrub's (Kar+ma don 'grub) life begins on the boundless Tibetan grassland in 1983 in Yushu (Yul shul) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai (Mtsho sgnon) Province. Living in a black yak hair tent, Karma Dondrub begins tending his family's yak calves as soon as he can walk, in a grassland so barren that he is startled upon first seeing a tree at the age of eight. Charlatan livestock-stealing monks, anthrax, death, birth, happiness, and encounters with modern education create a powerful, unparalleled account of Tibetan nomad childhood in the late twentieth century - a way of life that will soon be forever gone.
When I first read Karma Dondrub's lived experience as a nomad boy in Northeast Tibet, two books came immediately to mind. First, it reminded me of Urgunge Onon's My Childhood in Mongolia (1972), a similar attempt at capturing the spirit of nomad life as lived by a boy. Secondly, it irresistibly conjured up images of Clifford Geertz's Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author (1988). The latter book's first chapter is significantly titled 'Being There,' and subtitled, 'Anthropology and the Scene of Writing'. There can be no doubt: Karma Dondrub was there, and in 'being there', he succeeds in inverting Geertz's subtitle, which becomes 'The Author as Anthropologist'. This is a major achievement for a twenty-two year old writing in a foreign language. Trying to establish himself as a writer, he inadvertently sheds light on a kind of knowledge that is not easy to come by in other accounts of Tibetan nomad life. The author has succeeded in portraying dimensions that must escape foreign observers, because they lack the mole's-eye-view of a resident insider. What strikes me in the first place is the omnipresence of the spoken word in negotiating problems in everyday nomad life. Legends and proverbs pervade family life, dealing with the herders' community at large, and ingraining into the individual's mind metaphors of caution and social responsibility. It is a necessary education, as the dangers of nomad life are many, natural, as well as human; wild animals, bad weather, shortage of water, sickness, banditry, and poverty, all conspire to make the nomad's experience a hard one. In addition, storytelling provides psychological and behavioral training, teaching people to deal with problems of life, love, and death. Secondly, I was impressed by the deeply religious quality of nomad life that also allowed, in times of social change, freedom to try out modern ways of warding off calamities, as on the occasion of the anthrax threat. Thirdly, I have learned more about the daily problems of Han-Tibetan relations in a frontier situation. Nothing is hidden in Karma Dondrub's description. Wim van Spengen
A beautifully written and fascinating account of Tibetan life that anyone interested in Tibet will definitely want to read. Melvyn C. Goldstein, John Reynolds Harkness Professor in Anthropology; Co-Director, Center for Research on Tibet
Tibetan Nomad Childhood provides a rare first-hand account of the rhythms and vicissitudes of Tibetan nomad life in the 1980s. This lyrically simple book follows its author from childhood to the present, where he is studying English in Xining and working on a language and cultural preservation project. Most of the work dwells, though, on a short period of time before he goes to school in the county town at the age of eight. Karma Dondrub's vivid recollections portray not only scenes of friendship and community, but also danger and discord; they also include a valuable collection of traditional proverbs, folktales, songs, and stories. The stories delve into the most important aspects of pastoral life: the ever-important need for sources of water, grassland conflicts, livestock predation, trust, and betrayal. There are no platitudes here and the book does not romanticize nomad life or shy away from difficult topics, such as the low social status of butchers. Following the author's family and the larger community through a raid by bandits, an anthrax infection, the death of his older brother, and a visit by bandits disguised as monks, the narrative shows the richness and complexity of pastoral society. Through interspersed stories, vignettes from his life, and sayings, Karma Dondrub portrays the beauty and pain of a way of life that, as he tells us, is rapidly fading into the past. The pasture - its brilliant stars, rippling streams, and bone-chilling cold - comes completely alive for the reader. This book will be of interest to everyone who is concerned about contemporary Tibetan culture, society, and livelihood. Emily Yeh, University of Colorado
Karma Dondrub's novel is a heart-rending account of growing up in a stark landscape as a Tibetan lad. Particularly touching is how he deals with the disenchantment of his first love. This is a book that will definitely transport the reader into a different time, place, and mind. Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania
A terrific debut. Karma Dondrub does not flinch from the cruelties, hardships, and sorrows affecting Tibetan nomads in tents, grazing lands, and Chinese-administered cities. But neither does he shy away from the beauty, friendships, and family feelings that enrich nomad life. The author celebrates the storytellers who enthralled him as a youth. With his gift for economic but vivid narrative, a light touch as narrator, and the descriptive lyricism of his prose, he earns a place among their ranks. Rob Linrothe, Skidmore College, New York
This authentic account of life on the grasslands is valuable for its detail and depth of insight, and more so because it is written in the first person, by a young Tibetan from a nomad family. Religion, social and political structures, and the realities of life and death in the Tibetan highlands are described in frank, straightforward language. A useful book for western students and scholars. Paul Nietupski, John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio USA
As China's long-overlooked minority nationalities gain voice through the spread of secondary and tertiary education, a new window is opening on the communal and personal histories of some remarkable people. One such individual is Karma Dondrub, a young Tibetan who was born in a yak-hair tent and spent his childhood tending livestock in a remote region of Qinghai Province. His life story is also the chronicle of a gentle, pastoral people who have been buffeted by forces, both natural and human, beyond their control. Even more remarkable is the fact that Karma Dondrub, who has only been studying English since 2001, wrote this memoir entirely in English. His is a story that cannot but move anyone who reads it. Richard Baum, Professor of Political Science, UCLA
Karma Dondrub narrates truly captivating tales of his life growing up on the grasslands of Eastern Tibet. He paints a picture that highlights the turbulent and wonderful experiences of youth. Douglas Duckworth, Florida State University
This remarkable memoir, presented in spare, straight-forward prose, by a young Tibetan man, offers the reader an extraordinary opportunity to peer into a way of life that has existed on the high plains of his homeland since time immemorial, yet still remains hidden from most of our eyes. Like many Tibetan nomads, Karma Dondrub is not certain of his birthday, just that it was sometime in 1983, in a black, yak-hair tent. He didn't see a tree until he was eight years old and has never received a vaccination. In an age of instant communication it is difficult for many of us to comprehend that millions of our fellow humans still lead such lives - and for that reason alone Karma Dondrub's book is essential reading. Lewis Simons, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
At last, the high grasslands have a truly Tibetan voice. From bears, bandits, and anthrax to first love and school days, Karma Dondrub brings the harshness and austere beauty of the plateau to life with a wealth of fascinating detail. His unsentimental storytelling allows readers to go beyond stereotypes and discover the authentic lives of some of the world's last nomads. Andrew Sewell, Langnan University, Hong Kong
A rare look into a little known part of the world through the eyes of a local young man coming of age. Interlaced with folktales, anecdotes, and real-life horrors and triumphs, the narrative stirs the readers' imagination and augments understanding of a remote and challenging way of life. Keith Dede, Lewis & Clark
With each turn of the page the color of the land, customs, and culture of the Tibetan nomad people playfully comes to life. Journey high on the Tibetan Plateau with Karma Dondrub as your guide, and experience life in this remote part of the world. Thoroughly enjoyable. Dave Webb, University of Western Australia
This is an extraordinarily revealing account of the true life of a young Tibetan man and of the lifestyle from which he has grown. A grand work of a true lived life. Huadan Zhaxi, Humbolt University, Berlin
Karma Dondrub's vivid recollection of his early years as a nomad boy living in the vast grasslands of Qinghai is a remarkable story that shows his deep affection for his family and the traditions that have helped him find his place in the world. He opens a window into a fascinating traditional culture that we know far too little about, and from which we have so much to learn. Katherine Morton, Australian National University
Above and beyond being a vivid description of a fascinating and fast disappearing lifeway, Karma Dondrub's autobiography is also a skillfully crafted coming of age story. As a child growing up on the Tibetan grasslands, Karma, always quiet, longs to say something, and also wishes that "more things [would] happen" so that "time would accelerate." In this well-told wish-fulfilling tale, Karma is drawn irrevocably into the modern world; more things happen, time accelerates, and he eventually finds his voice and learns to speak out. Gerald Roche, Qinghai Normal University, China
In unpretentious language, Karma Dondrub tells the story of his everyday life as a Tibetan herding boy. He shares the extremes of weather, his affection for his animals, and love for his mother. In delightfully deadpan style he narrates the dramas of anthrax, cattle thieves, tricksters impersonating monks, and of moving pastures to escape double taxation. Woven throughout are magical fables of lamas creating water sources, and bears eating people. Karma Dondrub succeeds in drawing in the reader to feel the normality of a life that might otherwise seem exotic to us. This book will attract those interested in Tibet, as well as all those who just appreciate a good story. I look forward to the next book, and hope he writes a whole series! Susan Jolly, University of Sussex, Brighton
Paints an intriguing and exotic picture of life on the vast grassland with the innocent and heart-warming vision of a nomad child. A wonderful read! Yuwei Shi, The Monterey Institute, Monterey, California
This work vividly recreates a way of life that will probably pass from the scene as China increasingly modernizes. Every effort must be made to preserve a record of vanishing ways of life in the more distant parts of a nation that is coming to play an important role on the world stage. This particular effort is a contribution to this larger goal, and its publication is to be greatly applauded. It is fascinating reading in its own right and adds to our knowledge of a culture and way of life very distant from what most readers will have experienced in their own lives. David Bertelson, University of Hawaii-Manoa (retired)
Download the book Tibetan Nomad Childhood for free or read online
Continue reading on any device:
Last viewed books
Related books
{related-news}
Comments (0)