At 2:28 pm on May 12th, 2008, Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province suffered an earthquake of magnitude of 8.0. The local death toll had reached 69,016 by noon of June 1st, along with a total of 368,545 injured and 18,830 people still missing. The tragedy included the collapse of an enormous number of houses... over one hundred thousand families lost their homes. Tens of thousands of children were orphaned. However, faced with this devastation, all nationalities in China were not intimidated but rather worked with one accord, together with people from all over the world, to lend a helping hand to relieve the suffering.

Wenchuan lies at the edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and is home to several ethnic groups, including ethnic Han, Tibetan, Chang, and Hui. Since ancient times, these ethnic people have been living in harmony. Though Tibet, at the center of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, was far from the epicenter of the earthquake, many touching stories passed between ethnic Tibetans and the quake victims and spread widely in Tibet after the tragedy in Sichuan.

A Prayer of an Old Tibetan Man

An old Tibetan, Sangye, is living in Sera Road, Lhasa, where many houses were built under the “comfortable housing project”. He is accustomed to reciting Buddhist scriptures before his morning tea. All his prayers are petitions and entreaties to protect life and world peace. However, since the middle of May, the old man adds a prayer for those killed in the earthquake... and also those who survived.

“I heard the news on TV. Although I dont know anyone from there, I was so sad because of the suffering from the earthquake and the destruction it caused. It was such a huge tragedy and I could not bear so many children losing their parents. Frankly, I wept several times as I watched the news. My wife was much worse than me.” Sangye said.

Sangye told the reporter that two days later after the earthquake, he and his wife, without any hesitation, decided to set 1000 RMB aside from his pension to donate to the sufferers. “I was so impressed when I saw Premier Wen (Jiaobao) immediately traveling to the disaster zone in order to closely supervise the relief,” he said.

In Tibet, many Tibetans, just like Sangye, are opening their hearts to the people in the disaster area. They freely gave their savings to the people in suffering and prayed for them.

“Doctor, please take my blood first.” In the front of the building of Xihau Book Store in Bayi District of Nyingchi Prefecture, people are hurrying to give their blood for the wounded from the earthquake in Sichuan. They are busy filling in the forms and testing the blood. Tsedro, a 62-year-old Tibetan lady, wags her tongue to the doctors and says: “Please take as much as you can. I am a healthy person. Taking more from me may save one more live.”

Tenzin, who is disabled, heads to the downtown from his home 10 kilometers away in Lungring Town of Damshung County. He insists on donating 200 Yuan even though he in fact has no income apart from a government pension. This amount of money amounts to his monthly subsidy. He says: “When I heard the speech of Premier Wen on TV, I could not control myself and broke down. I have always received help from others. Today I must contribute what I can and send my meager savings to those who desperately need our help.”

In the compound of Lhasa Welfare and Care Center, on hearing the catastrophe of the earthquake, the old Tibetans, who were having dinner, immediately set their bowls aside and began to donate their savings. In only ten minutes, they had amassed over 1000 Yuan.

Dekyi, the 66-year-old Tibetan lady, said: “We are old and lonely persons and we are used to being taken care of by the society. This is the time for us to repay society and help the country.”

The National Flag at Half-mast in the Potala Palace Square

On the dawn of May 19th , less than two months later after the people in Lhasa suffered the tragic riot on March 14th, Lhasa people gathered in the Potala Palace Square (3,600 meters above sea level) to mourn the victims in Sichuan. When the clock reached zero at midnight on May 19th, groups of Tibetans and Han Chinese volunteers sat down in the Potala Palace Square to form the shape of a heart. In front of them, a total of forty candles were burning to express their prayers and wishes.

At the moment the national flag was lowered, the volunteers called in unison: “We wish the victims of the earthquake speedy recovery from their misfortune and we will always stand by to help with any difficulties.” After this, they stood and mourned those lost in the earthquake with a threeminute silence.

On being told of the earthquake in Wenchuan, Tibetans all over Tibet immediately formed a movement to donate necessities and their savings to their compatriots in Sichuans earthquake zone. “We are their brothers

and we share the same blood. Do any other people there need our help? We must give our hearts to them,” says the elderly Sonma Phuntshogs from Dragye District in Lhasa City while he plunged his 5000-Yuan cash donation into the donation box.

Amid these donors, some had just received grants from the government for their loss of property caused by rioters who burnt out and vandalized their shops. “On behalf of the staff working in the Yichun Boutique, we would like donate three boxes of new clothes and 3,950 Yuan cash to those affected by the earthquake.” In the riot of March 14th, Yichun Boutique was one of the most severely damaged shops. The rioters not only vandalized and smashed-up the shop, but also lit a fire which burnt five staff to death. Considering their difficulties, the donation was firmly refused, but the shop owners insisted and observed: “Even with government help and help from people in general, it would be impossible for us to forget that nightmare. We perfectively understand the desperate needs of those suffering from the earthquake.” In the act of donation, those shops who suffered from the March 14th rioters acted with one accord to literally open their purses to those suffering from the Sichuan earthquake.

The 11th Penchan Lama Presided over a Prayer Meeting for Victims of the Quake

On May 21st, the 11th Panchen Erdeni Gyaltsen Norbu led a special prayer meeting in Yonghegong Lamasery, Beijing,

for those victims of the quake of Wenchuan in Sichuan. A prayer meeting accords with Gelugpa tradition, and is actually one of the major religious activities in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on reciting scriptures to propitiate and pray for world peace and preventing catastrophe. The 11th Panchen Lama personally recited the Buddhist scriptures for over one hour. Incarnates and monks of the Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China in Beijing and the Yonghegong Lamasery took part in the prayer meeting.

A parallel prayer meeting for quake victims was also held in Drepung Monastery in Lhasa on May 14th. In the Tsochen Chapel, Dampa Lungtok, the 80-year-old preceptor, sat on the throne installed at the center of the chapel to lead a recitation of Buddhist scriptures to entreat for the safety and peace of the world and survival from tragedy. After the prayer meeting, outside the chapel, monks voluntarily donated their savings for the victims in the quake. According to Ngawang Chozin, except for 10,000 Yuan out of the total 38,080 Yuan collected on this day, the monks selflessly donated the rest of the cash from their savings.

for those victims of the quake of Wenchuan in Sichuan. A prayer meeting accords with Gelugpa tradition, and is actually one of the major religious activities in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on reciting scriptures to propitiate and pray for world peace and preventing catastrophe. The 11th Panchen Lama personally recited the Buddhist scriptures for over one hour. Incarnates and monks of the Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China in Beijing and the Yonghegong Lamasery took part in the prayer meeting.

A parallel prayer meeting for quake victims was also held in Drepung Monastery in Lhasa on May 14th. In the Tsochen Chapel, Dampa Lungtok, the 80-year-old preceptor, sat on the throne installed at the center of the chapel to lead a recitation of Buddhist scriptures to entreat for the safety and peace of the world and survival from tragedy. After the prayer meeting, outside the chapel, monks voluntarily donated their savings for the victims in the quake. According to Ngawang Chozin, except for 10,000 Yuan out of the total 38,080 Yuan collected on this day, the monks selflessly donated the rest of the cash from their savings.

The Train Carries Love from the Sunlit City to the Victims

By noon of May 20th, accompanied by a long siren, a special train set off from Lhasa Railway Station to Sichuan, carrying donations valued at 12.36 million Yuan, 800 tons of goods including mineral water, medicine, barley cereals, Tsampa, and cooking oil. Up to 3.p.m of May 23rd, in tandem with the goods in the train, people across the TAR had denoted 35.6 million Yuan cash to the victims of the quake to demonstrate their profound fraternal love of the Tibetan people. These Tibetans believe their hearts and fates are closely linked with their brothers and sisters in Sichuan.

Abo, a Tibetan worker who supervises the railway in Nagqu, talks to a reporter while he is watching the train passing through the northern Tibetan grassland. He is touching and inspired. He says: “As a caretaker of the railway, besides what I can donate - a small amount of cash to show my sympathy and love to the victims in the quake, my most important task is to maintain and safeguard the railway to keep it functioning every moment so that all donated goods could quickly and successfully reach the disaster zone.”

Tibetan Entrepreneurs Lend a Helping Hand

In the aftermath of the quake in Wenchuan, Tibetan enterprises, whether state-run or private, generously extended their care and love to the victims of the quake. On May 16th, the Tibetan Medicine Co. Ltd. donated medicine, valued at 1.03 million Yuan, to the Red Cross of Chengdu. On May18th, the company again presented another package worth 90 thousand Yuan of medicine to the victims, including medicine for respiratory diseases, trauma, dehydration, and other urgent medical needs. Besides the medicine, the staff working in the company headquarters in Lhasa, the marketing section in Chengdu, and other affiliated organizations, made a total cash donation of 26 thousand Yuan.

On May 21st, Tibetan Rhodiola Pharmaceutical Holding Co. also donated 2.57 million Yuan of medicines and 160 thousand Yuan cash as well. Other donations included Tibetan Glacier Mineral Water Co. Ltd. with 30 thousand boxes of newly produced mineral water valued as 4.53 million Yuan, two donations of medicine by Cheezheng Tibetan Medicine Group, which were respectively valued at 1.54 million Yuan and 1.74 million Yuan on May 13th and 18th, a 720 thousand Yuan cash donation from Tibetan Gold Hada Group, 200 thousand Yuan cash donation from Xizang Hua Yu Mining Industry Development Co. Ltd, and 100 thousand Yuan from Tibetan Fukang Medicine Development Co. Ltd, ...