China | Gansu Province | Labrang Monastery

See Labrang Monastery

China | Xinjiang | Dragon Fighter

Rebiya Kadeer

There is a new book out about Rebiya Kadeer, from Urumqi, in Xinjiang Province, who was once reputed to be the richest women in China and was later arrested and thrown into prison on what was widely considered to be trumped-up charges. (Among other suspicious activities, she once met with evil Microsoft potentate Bill “666” Gates.) See Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China.

Despite being persona non grata in China her name is still displayed on the front of one of the department stores she owned in Urumqi (in Uighur Arabic Script). Interestingly, the Uighurs originated in Mongolia—the ruins of their Old Capital City can still be seen in Arkhangai Aimag, north of Kharkhorin. And of course, the Mongolian Vertical Script is based on the old Uighur Vertical Script . . .

Mongolia | Life & Death of the False Lama #18

Who was Dambijantsan?

A Buddhist monk; a freedom fighter for Mongolian independence; the descendant of Amursanaa (1723–1757), the Western Mongol who led the last great uprising against the Qing Dynasty of China; the incarnation of Mahakala, the Buddhist god of war; bandit, torturer, murderer, or evil incarnate? During his lifetime no one was sure who he really was, and even today the controversy about his life continues.

Born in what is now the Republic of Kalmykia, part of the Russian Federation, Dambijantsen traveled throughout Tibet, India, and China before arriving in Mongolia in 1890 where he tossed gold coins to bystanders and announced to one and all that he had come to free Mongolia from the yoke of the Qing Dynasty of China. After disappearing almost twenty years he returned to lead the attack on Khovd City, the last Chinese outpost in Mongolia. Honored by the Eighth Bogd Gegeen, the theocratic leader of Mongolia, for his efforts in achieving Mongolian independence, he went on to establish his own mini-state in western Mongolia, which he hoped to use as a base for establishing a Mongol-led Buddhist khanate in Inner Asia. His dictatorial nature and unbridled sadism soon came to the fore and he was finally arrested and imprisoned in Russia. After the Russian Revolution he returned to Mongolia, gathered new followers around him, and established a stronghold at the nexus of old caravan routes in Gansu Province, China. He robbed caravans, grew opium, and once again dreamed of creating a new Mongolian khanate in Inner Asia. Finally the new Bolshevik government in Mongolia, fearful of his rising power, issued orders for his assassination. Dambijantsan died in 1922, but in Mongolia legends persist to this day that his spirit still rides on the wind of the Gobi and continues to haunt his former lairs.

For more on Dambijantsan see False Lama of Mongolia: The Life and Death of Dambijantsan. 

China | Qinghai Province | Roerich Shambhala Stupa

After spending the winter of 1926–27 in Ulaan Baatar, Holed Up in a Building which is now being turned into the Roerich-Mongolia Museum, on April 13, 1927 the Roerich Expedition left the Mongolian capital and headed west by motor car to Amarbuyant Monastery, in what is now Bayankhongor Aimag. From Amarbuyant they traveled south by camel to Shar Khuls Oasis, following the Route Used by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1904. From Shar Khuls they proceeded further south across to Black Gobi to the Mazong Mountains, where they passed by the Desert Fortress of the notorious Ja Lama.

From here they took the traditional route to Tibet, passing near the town of Anxi, and by the last week of June reached the Nan Shan, the mountains on the northern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. At a place called Sharagolji (probably a corruption the Mongolian Shar Gol = “Yellow River”) they camped for six weeks while awaiting the beginning of the Fall caravan season onward to Tibet. According to the account of George Roerich, in his book Trails in Inmost Asia:

To commemorate the spot of our camp, Professor Roerich [his father, Nicholas] decided to build a stupa and our Mongolian friends busied themselves preparing stones and bricks for the construction. Soon the stately white structure of the stupa rose among our tents.

According to Ruth A. Drayer, in her book Nicholas and Helena Roerich, Revised Edition: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers:

It was a peaceful time. Roerich painted the Bogdo-Ulas [apparently the Bogd Khan Uul south of Ulaan Baatar, but perhaps Ikh Bogd Uul, which they would have passed on their way to Amarbuyant Monastery] several times, then sketched and painted Guardian of the Entrance, The Great Horseman, and others. The Humboldt peaks glowed white with snow, and the air was invigorating. The stillness reminded them of the Himalayan heights. At night, the group held wonderful discussions on the new Prayer to Shambhala, the prophecies of the Panchen Lama, or the need for a pan-Asiatic language to reconcile, at least elementally, the three hundred dialects of Asia. Roerich yearned to convey to the West through his paintings and books—and through the establishment of the New Country—the importance that Maitreya, Shambhala, and Gessar Khan have in Asia.

They were camped in the area where the Mahatma had rested on way to Mongolia forty years before, so they decided to commemorate the spot with a suburgan [stupa] of Shambhala. Everyone gaily joined in the construction, building the understructure of stones, reinforced with clay and grass. The top was made of wood, covered with tin from a gasoline tank, and the entire surface was given a sturdy coat of Humboldt lime and reverently painted with red, yellow, and green designs by a Buriat lama using Roerich's paints. The suburgan was completed July 2.

Nicholas Roerich wrote in his book Altai-Himalaya:

In front of the tent of Shambhala, the lamas prayed for the coming of the Blessed Rigden Jyepo and placed a polished mirror before the image. Water was poured onto the mirror and the glass seemed to come alive with strange figures appearing on the surface. When it blurred, it resembled one of the magic mirrors in ancient stories. A procession walked around the shrine with burning incense while the lama held onto a thread suspended from the roof. The altar was filled with gifts of turquoise, coral, and beads, an image of the Buddha, a silver ring with a most significant inscription, prophecies for the future, and other precious objects that had been placed there by an old lama who had helped with the construction. We also lay the Ak-dorje and the Maitreya Sangha within. After a long service, the white thread that connected the lama and the suburgan was severed, and the monument stood there alone in the purple of the desert, forever to shine brightly, defended only by invisible powers.

Here are some photos of the stupa, courtesy of the Roerich Museum in New York City, a veritable cornucopia of All Things Roerichian.

The Roerich Stupa. Note American flag to right. What passports the Roerichs were using at the time and what nationality they were claiming is a bit of a mystery, but the expedition was supported by American Wall Street financiers.

Mongols at the stupa. It is not clear if these were locals or men accompanying the Roerich Expedition.

Putting the finishing touches on the Shambhala Stupa

Circumambulating the Shambhala Stupa

What appears to be local Mongols posing at the Stupa

It is not known if the stupa still exists. Interestingly, just two weeks later, while camped at the same spot, the Roerichs made one of the twentieth century’s first recorded sightings of a UFO. Apparently it has been dispatched from Shambhala. But that is another story . . .

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Birthday Bacchanalia

To celebrate my Birthday I recently held a Bacchanalia at my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi. Present were Uyanga, Jaga, Tuul, Yooton, and Saraa.

Gorgeous Uyanga with an equally mouth-wateringly delectable Chicken

Tuul, Jaga, Yooton (a.k.a. Enkha) and Uyanga reveling at my Bacchanalia

Tuul

Yotoon, a.k.a. Enkha

Jaga (left) and Saraa, showing off her truly formidable biceps. In her senior year in High School she won First Prize in the Girls’ Arm Wrestling Competition.

Mongolia | Ulaan Baatar | Zaisan Tolgoi

It has occurred to me that while I have often mentioned Zaisan Tolgoi, the district where I live on the outskirts of Ulaan Baatar, I have never posted any photos of the Zaisan Tolgoi (tolgoi = head, or hill) itself. Since the temperatures recently soared into the mid-sixties Fº and Accounting Maven Saka had a day off work we decided that it was a good time to climb to the top of this well-known local landmark.

Approaching the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

Saka taking a breather near the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

The Ikh Burkhan (Big Buddha) and western Ulaan Baatar from the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

Ikh Burkhan (Big Buddha)

Downtown Ulaan Baatar viewed from the summit

War Memorial at the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

Mural on the inside of the War Memorial touting Mongolia-Soviet Union Friendship

More Mongolia-Soviet Union Friendship

Saka at the War Memorial

Ulaan Baatar from the War Memorial

Saka and still-frozen Tuul River beyond

Saka

New apartment complex just to the south of Zaisan Tolgoi, with Bogd Khan Mountain beyond