Mêdog County
This article possibly contains original research. (September 2007) |
Mêdog County
墨脱县 • མེ་ཏོག་རྫོང་། | |
|---|---|
Location of Mêdog County within Tibet | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Region | Tibet |
| Prefecture | Nyingchi Prefecture |
| County seat | Metog |
| Area | |
| • Total | 34,000 km2 (13,000 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,500−3,500 m (−10,000 ft) |
| Population (2010 Census) | |
| • Total | 10,963[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
Mêdog, Metok, or Motuo County (Tibetan: མེ་ཏོག་རྫོང་,, Wylie: Metog Rdzong; simplified Chinese: 墨脱县; traditional Chinese: 墨脫縣; pinyin: Mòtuō Xiàn), also known as the Pemako (Tibetan: པདྨ་བཀོད་, Wylie: pad ma bkod, THL: Pémakö, ZYPY: Bämagö "Lotus Array", Chinese: 白马狗熊), is a county as well as a traditional region of the Nyingtri Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China. It further stretches across McMahon Line into neighboring Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh; today one-third of historical Pemako - Lower Pemako - lies in Upper Siang district, which is claimed by China, what was casus belli for the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
Geography
Medog County is located in the southeast of the Tibet Autonomous Region and at the lower branch of Yarlung Tsangpo River. Medog County covers an area of 30,553 km2 (11,797 sq mi).
The average altitude of the county is 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level.་Metok county is also called Pemakö. Pemakö is located in the average altitude ranging from 1,000–3,500 metres (3,300–11,500 ft) above seas level. It covers 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi) stretching from south of Kongpo and Powo through the lower Yarlung Tsangpo River into Arunachal Pradesh, surrounded by high mountains: the tallest is Namcha Barwa at 7,782 metres (25,531 ft)). Pemako has lush vegetation and many species of wild animals. Unlike other parts of Tibet, it receives plenty of rain, and has diverse biomes: there are subalpine coniferous forests in the north and temperate coniferous forest in the south in the low-lying area of the Yarlung Tsangpo gorges.
Climate and wildlife
Medog has a favourable climate caused by the relatively low elevations in parts of the county (down to just 600 m above sea level in the Yarlung Zangbo river valley) and by the South Asian monsoon, which brings moisture from the Indian Ocean. The area is lush and covered with trees and includes the Medog National Animal and Plant Reserve Area. It has more than 3,000 species of plants, 42 species of rare animals under special state protection, and over a thousand hexapod species.[clarification needed]
History
Tibet as whole was ruled by small princely rulers, sometime called Pon-, Dzongpon and by some monastery. Pemako was no exception. It came under the rule of Powo king who ruled whole area of which defines Pemakoe (Now Metok county and part of Arunachal Pradesh — upper Siang). During Powo rule Pemako people had good relations with the Poba people, they jointly fought against Abors (Adis, mishmis etc.) who regularly disturbed the pilgrimage. Hardly any people lived in Pemako before Tsangla migrants settled in the region, currently Pemakopas makes up the majority of the population. As we always talk about Greater Tibet or Bhoet Chenpo at one time in Tibetan History all area of Drukyul, Dremong yul, Lha-dhak yul and Mon-yul were under the great king of Tibet, half ancestor of Pemako peoples the Tsangla group immigrated internally to the land of hidden valley to escape aggression in their original homeland. When first Tsangla people arrived in Pemako region they found that the land was unused, they settled in the lower Yarlung valley, surrounded by Kongpopas in the northwest and Pobas in the northeast and Lopas in the south, Tsangla adopted many customs from them but still retained their original language which they still speak at home. By 1931 Tibetan national government was able to dismantled Powo kingdom and region come under direct rule of central Tibetan Government, Lhasa. Pemako region came into the jurisdiction of Tibetan central Government. Ganden Phodrang (Tibet govt) had its governor stationed in Metok Dzong who look after the territory and established communications between Lhasa and region of Pemako. Hence tax to be paid to Tibet Lhasa govt which was compulsory for all the people living in the region in the form of cash or kind. Region of pemako was divided among different monastery and different aristocratic family. Some region of Pemako pay tax to Sera monastery in form of grains, chillis, bamboo poles for prayer flags (Dharchen), products made of cane, medicinal herbs such as yertsa-goonbu, mushroom and animal skin. Some regions of Pemako was under Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche as monastic entitlement of nyingma lineage.Head of the Tsang la requested powo for help fight against abor,but there was no evidence of powo ruled on Pemakoe and was unfamiliar in pemakoe.Some books referred pemakoe was ruled by powo is an contradiction of the claim.
Transportation
Mêdog used to be the last county without a permanent road access in China, due to the landscape of being surrounded by several high-elevation mountain ranges. A first, simple road was built in 1970s, nevertheless it was usually blocked by ice and snow on the mountains in the winter, made it only a seasonal access. In December 2010, the Chinese government announced a project of renovating the road into a permanent highway from Bomê to Mêdog County,[2] including excavation of a new tunnel under the mountain range. The renovation was completed in 2013.
Before the completion of the highway, transportation in Mêdog primarily relied on foot. Hiking to Mêdog is also a popular activity among tourists, although Mêdog hiking is generally considered as highly exacting and risky. A primary route of accessing Mêdog begins in Bomê County, which inspired the route of the current permanent highway. Another important route for traveling to Mêdog on foot starts in Paizhen(派镇, a township in Mainling County) and travels all the way along the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon to Mêdog township, which is a route particularly popular among backpackers.
Economy
Farming is the main industry in Medog County. It is abundant with paddy, soybean, cotton and gingeli, etc. Hairy deerhorn, gastrodia tuber, muskiness, and hedgehog hydnum, etc. are special products of the area.
Demography
Medog county has a population of 10,963 according to 2010 census,[3] and most people who live in the county are of Tshangla, Khamba people and Lhoba ethnic group. The most renowned part of Medog is known as Pemako. Its inhabitants speak a form of Tshangla (Chinese: 仓洛, Cāngluò) related to that spoken in eastern Bhutan. They practice the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Population according to 2009 in Various villages:
Medog Towship/Metog with a total population of 1,878
Baibung Village/Bepung with a total population of 2,138
Dexing Village/Beshing with a total population of 1,549
Damu Village/Tamu with a total population of 729
Phomshen Village with a total population of 1,266
Gyalhasa Village with a total population of 812
Gandain Village with a total population of 647
Gedang Village with a total population of 680[4]
Medog county is surely not a homogeneous society, different ethnic people lived here from many centuries, people like Tshangla, Kongpowas, Poba Tibetans, Khampa and Lopa(Adi, mishis etc.) live here but Tshangla speakers make up the majority about 60% of the total population of 10,000-12,000, remaining are Khampas, kongpowas and Lopas. People in Pemakod called themselves Pemakopa Pa refers to people in Tibetan language, (According to 2001 census in Metok county (Dzong) there are about 10,000 people ). In exile Pemakopa people spread through the world, but mainly concentrated in Tibetan Settlement of Miao choephelling, Tezu Dhargyeling, Tuting and area, Orissa-Jerang camp, Tibetan Women Centre - Rajpur, Clementown, Delhi area, some in Europe and North America.
Frank Kingdon-Ward was the first Westerner to describe the area in his 1925 book, Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges. In his 1994 "Tibet Handbook", Hong Kong-born Victor Chan describes the extremely difficult trek from Pemakö Chung to the beyul Gonpo Ne, one of the remotest spots on earth. A modern journey by Ian Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team to Pemakö received book-length treatment in his 1994 The Heart of the World.
Migration
This study explores the history of migration by different Buddhist peoples from eastern Bhutan, the neighbouring Tawang area and the Tibetan plateau to the ‘hidden land’ (Tib. sbas yul) of Pemakö, and the circumstances that induced migrants to leave their homelands. The descendants of these diverse migrants who settled in the southern part of Pemakö - the Tuting, Geling and Singa Circles of Upper Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh - became officially classified as the Memba and Khamba1‘Scheduled Tribes’ (hereafter ST) by the Indian administration during the early 1950s, in order to incorporate them all into the newly independent Indian state. These ST categories were constructed on the basis of supposed common group origins and spoken language, and thus convey the impression that Upper Siang’s Buddhist population consists of two different groups, both of which are internally homogeneous. However, both written sources of the British and post-independence Indian administration and my own fieldwork data demonstrate clearly that Pemakö’s Buddhist population traces its origins back to a wide variety of homelands. Moreover, the ST labels are themselves exonyms that carry certain stereotypes and negative notions, especially the label Memba. Thus, both the Memba and Khampa labels meet with disapproval by local peoples so labeled. The present study retraces the various migration histories and movements of Pemakö ancestor populations. This allows some preliminary explanation of the autonyms used by these migrants themselves, in contrast to the generic exonyms, such as Memba and Khampa, that external agents haveapplied to them. We can also demonstrate that, in large part due to the religious status of the region as a hidden land, Pemakö became an ethno-linguistic melting pot for migrants from many different places. This diverse group nevertheless developed a common Buddhist identity vis-à-vis their nonBuddhist neighbours, while simultaneously maintaining clear group boundaries among themselves according to place of origin and/or residence.
Since 1904 the year Kabgye Dudjom Rinpoche was born in Pemako, people from all over Tibet especially from Khams, Golok and Utsang, descended in Pemako and settled near their Lama. Gradually intermarriage between the first settler and second wave settler produce what is today Pemakopa spread around the world. Descendant of Pemakopa are hard working, strong, smart and intelligent people. Descendant of Pemakopa are spread across the Globe in this times. Today Pemakopa has unique cultural identity and dialect that can be compared to any other region and dialect of Tibet. Tsangla is collequial of Pemakoe. Eastern Bhutaness sharing same language in the form of text, therefore, Tsangla has text no longer use in Pemakoe.
Migration from eastern Bhutan during the early 19th century
According to historical socurces, Orgyan Drodül Lingpa (b. 1757), recognised as the 5th reincarnation of the Kagyü master Gampopa, was a key 18th-century religious figure actively involved in the exploration of Pemakö. By the end of the 18th century, due to his priest-donor relation with the king of Powo who controlled the region of Pemakö, Orgyan Drodül Lingpa travelled down the Tsangpo gorge. In a dream he received instruction to build a temple on a nearby hill. The foundation to Rinchenpung was laid in 1806 and the temple became the centre of religious life in Pemakö. It is reported that he, “[…] took under his wing […] [a whole] assemblage of inhabitants of Klo and Mon”and his teachings and activities became widely known. Today, a larger group of Pemakö’s population correlates its migration history with the agency of Orgyan Drodül Lingpa. According to local Pemakö oral traditions, there was an important Lama in Lhasa whose name was Gampopa. Hisfame had spread widely in Tibet and at the time when he went to Pemakö many people from eastern Bhutan accompanied him. These people not only “were encouraged by the legendary reputation of these ‘hidden lands’”, the reason “to flee there in the 19th century [was] to escape from oppressive taxation in the area of eastern Bhutan and elsewhere”.
Local oral accounts describe this situation as follows: “The Mön king was very cruel. People had to work very hard for him. They started to look for a new place to live and so left Mön and thus they came to Pemakö. First a few came and later more and more followed. ” On their way, these migrants were held up by local non-Buddhist populations described as ‘Lopas’ (Tib. klo pa), who only allowed them to pass through their territory after paying a toll. Being unable to pay, the migrants had to stopover and their journey was delayed for almost two years. After their arrival in Pemakö the migrants leased a plot of land near Metog from the local Lopa, but the land was covered with trees and bamboo and inhabited by demons and spirits. After these evil forces were expelled from the land the migrants used the wood and bamboo to build houses and they cultivated the land. The good news circulated and more than one hundred households followed. In 1913, roughly a century after this major Bhutanese and Mönpa migration movement occurred, George Dunbar visited the Pemakö region and reported that: “About a hundred years ago a band of emigrants from Darma [i. e. Bhutan] crossed the main range, it is conjectured by the Doshung La, and settled in the valley about Marpung, which is probably the oldest settlement. ” From Marpung these migrants gradually spread “ousting the earlier inhabitants from the best land on either bank of the river, but permitting them to remain on their holdings in the unproductive tracts lying immediately below the gorge and about the 29th parallel”. Even though these migrants counted themselves at the time as the fourth generation settled in Pemakö29, their ties with Bhutan seem to have remained strong in certain respects, since they once in their lives went back to Bhutan to pay respect to the Trongsa Penlop. The historical timeframes in the above accounts correspond to what Bailey was also told in 1913 by a man from Kapu, who claimed his grandfather to be one of the original migrants from Bhutan about hundred years earlier, but which Bailey interprets as “just another way of saying ‘a long while’”. Bailey’s impression was that this time period “had not been so long that the immigrants were truly settled”
However, in the early 1880s, Kinthup, one of the Panditexplorers, reports several settlements and monasteries between Pemaköchung and Mayum, and we can assume that at the beginning of the 1880s the Buddhist migrants had established them as a recognisable group in the region. By the start of the 20th century, their settlement area stretched from Payi to Kopu on the right bank of the Tsangpo gorge, and from Pango to Mayum on the left bank. Several of the non-Buddhist groups were engaged in conflicts with Memba settlers over the limited resources of land and food, and according to the situation they formed alliances among each other that were renounced as quickly as they were tied. Bailey reports that, “[a]bout the year 1905 the Abors raided up the valley and burnt the village of Hangjo below Rinchenpung and penetrated as far as Giling. Up to this time the Powo administration had allowed the frontier villages to settle their accounts with the Abors as best they could, but now became alarmed and sent troops down the Tsangpo valley to help their subjects on the frontier”. These battles and the victory over the local non-Buddhist populations are still part of Memba memories in Pemakö. In order to consolidate their authority, the Powo administration established an outpost, the Kala Yong Dzong, at Nyereng in the Yang Sang Valley around 1908. This military takeover of the valley and the outpost offered security for Buddhist pilgrims and settlers coming down from the Tsangpo and Chimdro Valley. During the following decades, this Powo Tibetan influence in the form of tax collection and trade control extended as far south as the villages of Karko and Simong. Nevertheless, the main areas of settlement were, at least up to the beginning of the 1940s, located on the upper stretches of the Tsangpo Valley and, as Godfrey reports after a flight over the area up to Namche Bawar, only few scattered “Bhutia” villages were recognisable further down stream.
Migration from Tibet during the 20th century
During the early 20th century, various waves of migrants from parts of the south-eastern Tibetan plateau, a region generally known as Kham, first began to arrive in areas immediately adjacent to Pemakö, such as the Mishmi Hills to the southeast and Chimdro to the east. In 1906/07, Noel Williamson reported a Tibetan settlement as established in the upper Dibang River area of the Mishmi Hills, whose settlers-originally arriving there for trade-came from the “province of Darge” [i. e. the Derge kingdom] in Kham at an unknown date. In 1913, the British Mishmi Expedition explored the upper Mathun Valley and came across a colony of Kham Tibetans settled at Mipi. They were refugees from a devastating flood in the Yidong Valley of Pome which had occurred around the turn of the century, and arrived in the Mishimi area via the neighbouring region of Chimdro. A further group of about two thousand Tibetans from parts of Kham, Derge, Powo and elsewhere arrived in the Mishmi hills gain via Chimdro around 1902/03, guided by Jampa Jungne, the head of Riwoche monastery in Kham. Jampa Jungne interpreted imperial China’s western expansion onto the eastern Tibetan Plateau at the time as a sign to depart for Pemakö, and thus escape military invasion and colonisation. Disillusioned after conflicts with the local Mishmi inhabitants, and convinced that this place was not the hidden land they sought, the majority of the settlers returned to Tibet around 1909. The numbers of migrants arriving around the Pemakö region from eastern Tibetan regions such as Chamdo, Dragyab, Gonjo and Derge gradually increased, and they mainly settled in the Chimdro valley and around Metog Dzong. With their fellow countrymen on the southern side of the mountain range, these Tibetan migrants established extensive trade relations with several groups in the Abor Hills. During the same period, the Yang Sang Valley within Pemakö became the centre of Buddhist activities, where Buddhist masters and their disciples wandered through the hills discovering religious treasures and establishing several pilgrimage sites that seasonally attracted larger groups of pilgrims. Following the introduction of Indian administration several of these pilgrimage places fell into neglect because “[n]o Tibetans from across the border come nowadays for worship as they used to do in large numbers in the past”. However, the number of permanent Tibetan settlers in Pemakö continued to increase. While stationed at Tuting, Hranga noted in the 1950s that, “By enquiry I found that these villages came into being some 46 years ago […]. Some of the Khambas (and I think most of them) came from Chimdru. ”In 1944, James was told by the Head Lama Pema Yeshi that his father was the one who started the Khampa colony in the Yang Sang Valley. At that time Pema Yeshi was a small boy. Around 1954 Lama Pema Yeshi died and his position as Head Lama was taken over by his son Sangtapji. Whereas in 1944, only two permanent Tibetan settlements were reported at Nyereng and Tasigong with 23 houses in total,in 1956 the Buddhist population, most of them being Khampa, consisted of around 350 people and they had established several villages, small monasteries and nunneries in the valley. Not everyone coming down the Tsangpo or Yang Sang Valley was attracted merely by the pilgrimage sites. Until the mid-1930s, the kingdom of Powo enjoyed a certain degree of independence from the Central Tibetan administration. It is also said that the 26th Kanam Depa of Powo had a penchant for shady characters and surrounded himself with them, and the region became infamous for its marauding gangs. The wilderness of Pemakö, and the fact that the southern part was controlled by the British and later Indian authorities, offered a good hideout for criminals, outlaws and tax fugitives as is reported in British and Indian administrative documents. The last major migration movement into Pemakö was set in motion around 1949/50 by China’s invasion in Tibet. In the beginning of this exodus, the majority of these refugees came from eastern Tibetan regions hoping to return to their homes after some time, thus they established temporary settlements around Metog Dzong and the Chimdro Valley. The situation in Chimdro must have been tense at that time and most likely due to a constant influx of new refugees, in January 1959 a “land dispute between the Rekho Khambas and the Riwoche Khambas caused [a] massacre of the former by the latter”. Therefore, more and more refugees desired to move further south into the Yang Sang Valley where not only the main pilgrimage sites are located, but also land was available. However, after the establishment of the Indian administrative post in Tuting in 1953, entering Indian Territory became more difficult and people crossing the border usually had to ask for permission. But not only Tibetan refugees have asked for permission to settle permanently on the Indian side. A number of Pemakö residents from north of the McMahon Line went down on permits to visit the holy places and their relatives, and in fear they might settle in Indian Territory, the Dzongpön of Pemakö requested the Indian administration not to allow any of his people to settle south of the border without his approval, to which the Indian officer agreed, since the Mishmi and Abor groups already had the feeling that Tibetans were encroaching on their land. The escape of the Dalai Lama in 1959 was a final signal for thousands to follow him into exile, and many from the nearby region of Kongpo and Pome also set out to Pemakö in the hope of reaching an earthly paradise with an unending supply of food, rivers of milk, and where people didn’t have to work to make a living. Often these refugees encountered Chinese troops on their way and many lost their lives or were captured and brought back. But those who were able to escape were welcomed by the local Buddhist population who provided them with food and shelter, as did the Indian Army. On the eve of the Sino-Indian War in 1962, many of the Tshangla and Tibetan families who had been settled in the Tsangpo Valley above the McMahon Line for generations, abandoned their homes and also sought refuge in India. This flow of refugees was finally stopped by the outbreak of the war in October 1962. From the mid-1950s until January 1962, the Indian administration registered 7004 refugees entering the Siang Frontier Division via Mechukha, Manigong and Tuting/Geling. Most of them were eventually evacuated to different Tibetan settlements around India, but around 1000 were allowed to settle temporarily in Tuting. The reason for all those who decided to settle permanently in southern Pemakö was the sacredness of the land, as I was informed. Ever since then, Tuting became the biggest settlement for southern Pemakö’s Buddhist population. Nevertheless, the main areas of distribution, with the Tshangla speakers settling in the Tsangpo Valley between Tuting and Geling, and the Khampa/Tibetan in the Yang Sang Valley[5]
Ever since Pemako was first opened to outside world thousands of people from different walks of life settled in the region, among them, earliest were the Tshangla people from Eastern Bhutan who fled their homeland and took refuge there. Among the first clans of Tshangla people were the Ngatsangpas (Snga Tsang pa)who paved ways for others to join them in their plight for a promised land free from sufferings. The exodus of Tshangla community continued from beginning of the 18th century right until the early 20th century. Political and religious turmoil in Tibet forced many Tibetans to join Tshangla people in Pemako a land where religious serenity pledge through many revered Lamas who had been to this land, prophesied by Guru Rinpoche in the mid-8th century to be a land of final call where devotees would be flocking at the time of religious persecutions, the last sanctuary for Buddhism, with the time Pemako's popularity grew more and more, with the popularity many Tibetan people particularly from Kham followed their Lamas and settled alongside Tshangla populace. Over the period of time Tibetans and Tshangla migrants amalgamated to form an homogeneous group called Pemako pas ( Pad-ma dkod pa). The process of infusion gave birth to a new Tshangla dialect called Pemako dialect. People who reside in Pemako enclave are of mixed blood originated from early Tshangla settlers and different Tibetan tribes, Standard Tibetan is spoken in Pemako with many other Tibetic languages such Khampa language, Kongpo dialect, Poba Language etc., Tshangla language is often called Pemako Dialect and it's the lingua franca of the region
Tsangla
Today Majority of People in Pemako speak a Dialect continuum of Tshangla language, history has it that Tshangla speakers migrated from Eastern Bhutan in around 17th century during Drukpa conquest of Bhutan which was led by Zabdrung Ngawang Ngamgyal, it was reported that over several hundred families made their way to Pemako, among the first settlers were the Ngatshang and Chitsang later they were joined by many more people who left their homeland in a quest for better life.
Tshangla speakers may have been the first one to settle in Pemako, but many other groups also made their way to Pemako, in contrast to Tshangla people who came from South of Pemako various Tibetan tribes from Kham and Amdo also settled in Pemako whose descendants intermarried with existing Tshangla populace gave birth to what we now called Pemakopas, people of Pemako do not have common homogeneous ancestry but presence of large Tshangla speakers left a profound impact on its identity. Pemako language has become synonymous with Tshangla language and Tshangla identity but people in pemako do not call themselves Tshangla, they call themselves Pemakopas i.e. People of Pemako due to hundreds of years of assimilation with neighboring Tibetan tribes, most have mixed ancestry (i.e. Tsangla, Tibetan, also some with Lhopa ancestry).
See also
External links
The website of Mêdog Government: http://www.motuo.gov.cn/
Notes
- ^ http://www.citypopulation.de/php/china-xizang-admin.php?adm2id=542624.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Edward Wong (December 16, 2010). "Isolated County in Tibet Is Linked to Highway System". The New York Times. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
- ^ http://www.citypopulation.de/php/china-xizang-admin.php?adm2id=542624.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://eng.tibet.cn/Features2009/09mtgl/zjmt/200904/t20090423_471714.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publicationFiles/JBS/JBS_Vol26/26-2.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)