Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule

by Tubten Khétsun, Matthew Akester (Translator)

Born in 1941, Tubten Kh'tsun is a nephew of the Gyatso Tashi Khendrung, one of the senior government officials taken prisoner after the Tibetan peoples' uprising of March 10, 1959. Kh'tsun himself was arrested while defending the Dalai Lama's summer palace, and after four years in prisons and labor camps, he spent close to two decades in Lhasa as a requisitioned laborer and "class enemy."

In this eloquent autobiography, Kh'tsun describes what life was like during those troubled years. His account is one of the most dispassionate, detailed, and readable firsthand descriptions yet published of Tibet under the Communist occupation. Kh'tsun talks of his prison experiences as well as the state of civil society following his release, and he offers keenly observed accounts of well-known events, such as the launch of the Cultural Revolution, as well as lesser-known aspects of everyday life in occupied Lhasa.

Since Communist China continues to occupy Tibet, the facts of this era remain obscure, and few of those who lived through it have recorded their experiences at length. Kh'tsun's story will captivate any reader seeking a refreshingly human account of what occurred during the Maoists' shockingly brutal regime.

Genres: China, History, Biography, Memoir

344 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2007

Reviews

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique look at Tibet under Chinese rule that seems to be severely under served in the English language. In many ways, the author's journey is unspectacular (something he touches on at the end of memoir) and that is what makes it so intriguing. This is not a war memoir or travel memoir with big moments or action but what sort of hardships, oppression, and loss that normal Tibetan's faced in the mid-late 20th century. I must also give credit to the Author (and translator) for their prose. It has a flow like a gentle wave on a beach, really carrying you in a way that keeps you engaged even when most of the book is describing manual labor. Highly recommend to anyone interested in the area or looking for a low-key memoir.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

We can read the hard data from pro-Tibet and independent humanitarian organizations: one-to-two million unnecessary deaths in Tibet under Chinese rule, the suppression of freedoms in Tibet, the destruction of Tibetan culture by the Chinese, the movement of vast numbers of Chinese to Tibet. This extraordinary autobiography, though, tells the simple (well, maybe not so simple) story of one Tibetan's life under Chinese rule from the 1950s through the 1970s (he left in 1979). Tubten Khetsun's family was upper-middle class, so he was educated and considered by the Chinese as being "privileged."

In fact the book begins with the initial Chinese takeover in 1949. From then until the time he finally left Tibet, Khetsun (with an almost eidetic memory) details the ordinary and not-so ordinary and personally observed events of his life and Tibet, including many, many years of incarceration and working on Chinese prison labor projects (such as building a power station and roads); the Chinese exhortations to work and the abusive "struggle" sessions; the starvation and other suffering of the Tibetan peoples; the deaths of friends, family members, and fellow prisoners; and much, much more.

Again, it is a personal story told humbly, without any ego or personal aggrandizement, and with an amazing memory for detail, but it really is the universal story of the Tibetan people. Highly, highly recommended.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly excellent first person account of growing up and living in Tibet at the nexus of political repression brought on by the Chinese take over in 1959. The auther, Tubten Khetsun, was a teenager and working in the palace of the Dalai Llama when he was forced into exile and the country was taken over. He was subsequently jailed for four years only to be released to find out that conditions outside of prison were almost as bad as within. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to understand Tibet and related issues surrounding that region of the world. I found it especially poignant given the current circumstances surrounding Tibet, the Dalai Llama, China, and the 2008 summer olympics.

[Gabriela Lingren · Rating 5 out of 5]

So poignant! I couldn't put this book down. Makes you think about people's resilience, but also how cruel we are to each other.

[Wangdi Tshering · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well documented hardship faced by Tibetans after the occupation by China.

[P C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confirmed, have never read a Tibetan memoir that didn't completely wreck me.