Ｊａｍｐａ　Ｇｙａｔｓｏ

The Legendary Homeland of Gesar

The reincarnation Bargya is one of the abbots of the Chacha Monastery in Axu Town, Dege County in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. As a high profile identity with profound Buddhist knowledge, Bargya Rinpoche is also the local administrator in charge of the famous Gesar Temple. Being very fond of the King Gesar(an oral epic) he became an activist for it by devoting himself to promoting the culture of the Gesar in order to advance the cultural of ethnic Tibetans.

Legend tells us the Axu Grassland was the birthplace of the hero Gesar. Speaking of this birth place the oral epic itself says, “If you question the birth place of Joru (the nickname of Gesar), the answer is at Kyisurya Gekhang Dor where the two rivers converged and two precipices face each other as if the plumes of an arrow. This place is covered with a green carpet of grass. At its edge was the nest of roc and behind that a jade mountain summit, while to the right the mountain is shaped like a roaring tiger and to the left the mountain is a red cliff.”

This ballad is very popular amongst local people who believe that the description of the environment in the oral epic exactly matches the local terrain, mountains, rivers and the Axu Grassland; even the name of the area is almost identical. This part of the grassland is known as “Kyisur Gekhang Dor”, graced

with two rivers in a valley converging at the beginning of the grassland into one big river crossing the luxuriant grassland and then slowly rolling on. Beyond the grassland, two mountains stand opposite each other. Is this a coincidence?

Not far from the Gesar Temple, a giant rock, shaped like a frog, was described in legend as the birthplace of Gesar. According to Bargya Rinpoche, the legend also says when Gesar was born, many auspicious omens spontaneously appeared; for instance, the sky was filled with floating auspicious clouds, and a rainbow appeared over the grassland. Dragons were dancing in the sky and at the same time a huge clap of thunder shook the earth. Meanwhile, the mother of Gesar, suffering overwhelming physical pain, crawled out of the tent and climbed onto a frog-shaped giant rock. She pushed hard with her legs in order to relieve the pain. Her struggling was so intense it cracked the giant rock in two and left two footprints on the surface of the rock. On one side of the rock is the body print of a nude boy of around three years old. According to legend the newly born Gesar already looked like a boy of three. He jumped from his mothers body, relaxed on the rock and gazed into the far distance. His pose is reflected in the impression of the head, back, hip and leg on the rock. Local people were all convinced by this story and paid homage to the rock through worship, hanging sutra banners, placing mani stones and burning incense for the next thousand years. Later, Dege Lingtsang Landlord, who in the legend was the offspring of the hero Gyatsa Xiekar and also the brother of Gesar in the epic, built the Gesar Temple beside the rock. The Dege Sutra Printery was also built in the same period.

According to Bargya Rinpoche, the Gesar Temple is a two-storey building. The first floor is large and in the middle is a spectacular bronze statue of Gesar riding on horse. Bargya Rinpoche recalls that in his childhood, whenever he entered the hall he felt a profound reverence. Behind the statue of Gesar, stand thirteen Orma warriors of the Ling Kingdom, including rocs, dragons, lions, tigers, wild asses, wolfs, eagles, white bears, golden snakes, wild cows, long-horned deer, and so on. On the sides of the hall are a total of 12 large Buddhist statues and on both sides of the statue of Gesar are a total of thirty heroes. The statue of Gesar is also accompanied by a total of 13 concubines, including Drumo and Mesa. All of the aforementioned statues have distinct and individual features matching the characteristics of individuals depicted in the epic of the King Gesar.

The surrounding walls of the main hall are covered with murals, mainly depicting the stories of Gesars life and his achievements. This mural is regarded as a highly valued example of painting on Gesarrelated themes.

Bargya Rinpoche observed that the temple preserves enormously important Gesar treasures, which were exclusive to Dege Lingtsang Landlord. Maybe the most important treasures are the vermillion seal and the ivy scourge of Gesar. Other treasures include the helmets of Gesar and the commanders of the Ling Kingdom, precious swords, spears and weapons, the precious swords of hero Nyan Ca Aden,

and highly valued relics of Tenpa Gyaltsen - the father-in-law of Gesar.

Growing up under the Infl uence of the Epic King Gesar

Bargya Rinpoche was born in 1952 in Golok of Qinghai Province. His parents are named respectively Molun and Pema

Tso. At the time of his birth, his two uncles were recognized as reincarnations of two monasteries in Kham. Since one of his uncles was the reincarnation of the Dege Sheqin Monastery, the whole family followed his uncle to migrate to Dege.

Only after Bargyas birth, the abbot of Chacha Monastry passed away. In order to search for the reincarnation, the monastery dispatched monks to invite Karmapa Rinpoche of the Tsurpu Monastery (Kagyu Sect) to foresee the coming reincarnation.

In the summer of 1955, the sixteenth Karmapa Rinpoche was chosen as a member of the Peoples Congress. Returning from a conference in Beijing v i a L h a s a a n d t h e n D e g e County, the eminent monks in Chacha Monastery reported on their preliminary search for the incarnation. They finally presented three candidates to Karmapa Rinpoche for an accord on the final confirmation of one of the three candidates. By following the traditional religious rites and sutra recitation, Karmapa Rinpoche confirmed Bargya was the seventh reincarnation of Chacha Monastery. He also presided over successive confirmation procedures, including ordination.

Chacha Monastery is on the mountain behind the Axu grassland. Standing beside the Gesar Temple, Chacha Monastery looks spectacular between mountains and a river. When the three-year-old boy was confirmed as the soul boy, Bargya was still had a childlike innocence. Apart from learning scriptures in the monastery, Bargya incarnation often ran out of the monastery to visit the Gesar Temple and the birthplace of Gesar to hear the stories of Gesar told by elders. He was very interested in the stories about the birth rock with the footprints on it and frequently listened to performances of the epic.

When Bargya Rinpoche was still a child, there were many famous bards who had intimate knowledge of singing and reciting the epic. In fact, the life experience and artistic engagement of these bards were his favorite stories. Their performances of the epic were so captivating they virtually convinced Bargya to believe in the existence of the hero Gesar and his magic powers (including the stories about the birth of Gesar and the prints left on the rock).

Bargya Rinpoche was endowed with a sound education in the monastery. Since the age of three he learned Tibetan language. At four to five years old he had even learnt scripture recitation. Having a command of Tibetan language and scriptures, he seized every spare moment to read the epic of the King Gesar while he visited the historic site and observed the relics of Gesar. He made every effort to learn the epic King Gesar from childhood until he was an adult.

The Gesar Temple and the Gesar Culture

The Axu grassland is rich with legends and relics of the hero Gesar.

The Legendary Homeland of Gesar

The reincarnation Bargya is one of the abbots of the Chacha Monastery in Axu Town, Dege County in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. As a high profile identity with profound Buddhist knowledge, Bargya Rinpoche is also the local administrator in charge of the famous Gesar Temple. Being very fond of the King Gesar(an oral epic) he became an activist for it by devoting himself to promoting the culture of the Gesar in order to advance the cultural of ethnic Tibetans.

Legend tells us the Axu Grassland was the birthplace of the hero Gesar. Speaking of this birth place the oral epic itself says, “If you question the birth place of Joru (the nickname of Gesar), the answer is at Kyisurya Gekhang Dor where the two rivers converged and two precipices face each other as if the plumes of an arrow. This place is covered with a green carpet of grass. At its edge was the nest of roc and behind that a jade mountain summit, while to the right the mountain is shaped like a roaring tiger and to the left the mountain is a red cliff.”

This ballad is very popular amongst local people who believe that the description of the environment in the oral epic exactly matches the local terrain, mountains, rivers and the Axu Grassland; even the name of the area is almost identical. This part of the grassland is known as “Kyisur Gekhang Dor”, graced

with two rivers in a valley converging at the beginning of the grassland into one big river crossing the luxuriant grassland and then slowly rolling on. Beyond the grassland, two mountains stand opposite each other. Is this a coincidence?

Not far from the Gesar Temple, a giant rock, shaped like a frog, was described in legend as the birthplace of Gesar. According to Bargya Rinpoche, the legend also says when Gesar was born, many auspicious omens spontaneously appeared; for instance, the sky was filled with floating auspicious clouds, and a rainbow appeared over the grassland. Dragons were dancing in the sky and at the same time a huge clap of thunder shook the earth. Meanwhile, the mother of Gesar, suffering overwhelming physical pain, crawled out of the tent and climbed onto a frog-shaped giant rock. She pushed hard with her legs in order to relieve the pain. Her struggling was so intense it cracked the giant rock in two and left two footprints on the surface of the rock. On one side of the rock is the body print of a nude boy of around three years old. According to legend the newly born Gesar already looked like a boy of three. He jumped from his mothers body, relaxed on the rock and gazed into the far distance. His pose is reflected in the impression of the head, back, hip and leg on the rock. Local people were all convinced by this story and paid homage to the rock through worship, hanging sutra banners, placing mani stones and burning incense for the next thousand years. Later, Dege Lingtsang Landlord, who in the legend was the offspring of the hero Gyatsa Xiekar and also the brother of Gesar in the epic, built the Gesar Temple beside the rock. The Dege Sutra Printery was also built in the same period.

According to Bargya Rinpoche, the Gesar Temple is a two-storey building. The first floor is large and in the middle is a spectacular bronze statue of Gesar riding on horse. Bargya Rinpoche recalls that in his childhood, whenever he entered the hall he felt a profound reverence. Behind the statue of Gesar, stand thirteen Orma warriors of the Ling Kingdom, including rocs, dragons, lions, tigers, wild asses, wolfs, eagles, white bears, golden snakes, wild cows, long-horned deer, and so on. On the sides of the hall are a total of 12 large Buddhist statues and on both sides of the statue of Gesar are a total of thirty heroes. The statue of Gesar is also accompanied by a total of 13 concubines, including Drumo and Mesa. All of the aforementioned statues have distinct and individual features matching the characteristics of individuals depicted in the epic of the King Gesar.

The surrounding walls of the main hall are covered with murals, mainly depicting the stories of Gesars life and his achievements. This mural is regarded as a highly valued example of painting on Gesarrelated themes.

Bargya Rinpoche observed that the temple preserves enormously important Gesar treasures, which were exclusive to Dege Lingtsang Landlord. Maybe the most important treasures are the vermillion seal and the ivy scourge of Gesar. Other treasures include the helmets of Gesar and the commanders of the Ling Kingdom, precious swords, spears and weapons, the precious swords of hero Nyan Ca Aden, and highly valued relics of Tenpa Gyaltsen - the father-in-law of Gesar.

Growing up under the Infl uence of the Epic King Gesar

Bargya Rinpoche was born in 1952 in Golok of Qinghai Province. His parents are named respectively Molun and Pema

Tso. At the time of his birth, his two uncles were recognized as reincarnations of two monasteries in Kham. Since one of his uncles was the reincarnation of the Dege Sheqin Monastery, the whole family followed his uncle to migrate to Dege.

Only after Bargyas birth, the abbot of Chacha Monastry passed away. In order to search for the reincarnation, the monastery dispatched monks to invite Karmapa Rinpoche of the Tsurpu Monastery (Kagyu Sect) to foresee the coming reincarnation.

In the summer of 1955, the sixteenth Karmapa Rinpoche was chosen as a member of the Peoples Congress. Returning from a conference in Beijing v i a L h a s a a n d t h e n D e g e County, the eminent monks in Chacha Monastery reported on their preliminary search for the incarnation. They finally presented three candidates to Karmapa Rinpoche for an accord on the final confirmation of one of the three candidates. By following the traditional religious rites and sutra recitation, Karmapa Rinpoche confirmed Bargya was the seventh reincarnation of Chacha Monastery. He also presided over successive confirmation procedures, including ordination.

Chacha Monastery is on the mountain behind the Axu grassland. Standing beside the Gesar Temple, Chacha Monastery looks spectacular between mountains and a river. When the three-year-old boy was confirmed as the soul boy, Bargya was still had a childlike innocence. Apart from learning scriptures in the monastery, Bargya incarnation often ran out of the monastery to visit the Gesar Temple and the birthplace of Gesar to hear the stories of Gesar told by elders. He was very interested in the stories about the birth rock with the footprints on it and frequently listened to performances of the epic.

When Bargya Rinpoche was still a child, there were many famous bards who had intimate knowledge of singing and reciting the epic. In fact, the life experience and artistic engagement of these bards were his favorite stories. Their performances of the epic were so captivating they virtually convinced Bargya to believe in the existence of the hero Gesar and his magic powers (including the stories about the birth of Gesar and the prints left on the rock).

Bargya Rinpoche was endowed with a sound education in the monastery. Since the age of three he learned Tibetan language. At four to five years old he had even learnt scripture recitation. Having a command of Tibetan language and scriptures, he seized every spare moment to read the epic of the King Gesar while he visited the historic site and observed the relics of Gesar. He made every effort to learn the epic King Gesar from childhood until he was an adult.

The Gesar Temple and the Gesar Culture

The Axu grassland is rich with legends and relics of the hero Gesar.

But Gesar Temple is the main source of this culture. Pilgrims come to the temple to pay homage to and worship Gesar as their divine protector. The pilgrimage in Gesar Temple never stops but rather increases in popularity year by year in the long history and ever-lasting devotion of the local people. Therefore, on one hand, scholars recognize that this is the key site for the study of King Gesar so that they could gain insight into the diffusion, evolution, and advancement of Gesar culture while artists maintain their folk heritage. Herdsmen and farmers have made it their cultural activities site. From every aspect, this place has become the center of Gesar culture by displaying the variety, richness, and many functions of Gesar.

Nevertheless, in the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, Gesar Temple was associated with the “the representative of old obsolete stuff which must be discarded” and was nearly destroyed, including the mural on the wall, sculptures, painting scrolls, and other valuable relics. At the same time, Chacha Monastery suffered a similar tragedy. As the abbot of the monastery and devotee of the Gesar epic, Bargya Rinpoche feels a deep regret which is beyond words.

Chacha Monastery and Gesar Temple

The famous Buddhist benefactor Chodron Gyalpo built the Chacha Monastery. According to legend, when the benefactor Tobdan Drakpa Gyaltsen was making chacha for the proposed monastery, the water he used for mixing the clay suddenly turned to liquid gold. This singular phenomenon stunned the adherents and therefore, the proposed monastery was named the “Auspicious Chacha Monastery”. Accompanied by over 500 monks, the monastery opened with one college for learning scripture and two colleges for meditation which is the most influential meditation college in the Kagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Since Bargya Rinpoche began his childhood in this monastery, including his study of literature and scripture, he has a special and deep affection for the monastery. After the 1980s, ethnic and religious policies were changed in line with other favorable national policy changes, all of which brought about a new prosperity for Chacha Monastery and the Gesar Temple as well. Accordingly, in 1984, supported by the relevant government departments, the Chacha Monastery and the Gesar Temple renovations were completed and reopened to the public.

Due to constraints on funds, Bargya Rinpoche launched a fundraising campaign amongst the agencies and the community based on his personal prestige. His fund-raising successfully achieved the erection of the Gesar Monument by changing the focus of the original temple to stress the cultural contents of Gesar in order to preserve the vernacular culture. Many citizens, including the county governor Gong Jianzhong and other cadres, generously

contributed money from their modest incomes for the monument. At the same time the local farmers and herdsmen, being short of cash, offered their labor for the construction of the monument. The masons and artisans sculpted Gesar and Gesars beloved concubines Drumo and Mesa as well as the 30 individual heroes. They created murals and painting scrolls while lost relics were collected from the community. In order to provide something tangible for the adherents and visitors, a series of books of the King Gesar was purchased to place inside the monument. Finally, it became one of the earliest national monuments to Gesar.

Accordingly, Bargya Rinpoche had a giant bronze statue of Gesar erected on the grassland east of the monument by collecting funds from local cadres and local people.

A Plan to Build the Gesar Museum

Pursuing his vision to protect and foster Gesar culture, Bargya Rinpoche gathered his resources in preparation to build a Gesar Museum just shortly after his accomplishment of the Gesar Monument.

As one of the leading proponents, Bargya Rinpoche is seeking to advance Gesar culture in not only the Axu grassland but also the whole area of Dege, with increasing success. This involves static treasures including Gesar Temple, the Gesar Monument, and preparation of the Gesar Museum, painting scrolls, Gesar masks and sculptures, as well as valuable performing arts such as Gesar-related Tibetan opera, singing and dancing. These performing arts are particularly beloved by and all-pervasively amongst local farmers and herdsmen. On one hand, all of these areas of non-material cultural heritage are gaining a favorable environment and atmosphere for their preservation. On the other hand, the ancient and living oral epic King Gesar embodies a vital artistic force with which the community as a whole is deeply and widely intimate, an active epic tradition living in the minds and hearts of locals and also one of the key components of Tibetan folkloric cultural arts.

In order to preserve the Gesar culture, Bargya Rinpoche strives to integrate local activities with both environmental protection and cultural tourism in order to maintain a sound cultural industry. He advocates planting trees and protecting the grassland. He believes the ecology of the homeland of Gesar must be protected in order to preserve the flora and fauna, the clear water, fresh air and freedom from pollution.

During 1991 to 1992, Bargya Rinpoche studied in the Beijing Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China. Due to his devotion to the people and to his hometown, Bargya Rinpoche was chosen to serve respectively as the vice Chairman of the Peoples Congress of Dege County, the director of Buddhist Association of Dege in 1994, and the vice director of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan Province in 2008.

At present, the Axu grassland is a harmonious, unified and peaceful environment. Still, Bargya Rinpoche is girding his loins for a start on building the Gesar Museum in the homeland of Gesar so that Gesar culture can be preserved.