A Year In Tibet

by Sun Shuyun

Sun Shuyun grew up in China and has always been fascinated by Tibet and by Buddhism. Accompanied by a television crew, she spent a year in a remote town in the Tibetan mountain area and recorded what life is like for people there.

Despite half a century of Communist rule, the residents of the town of Gyantse have been returning to religion and much of he traditional way of life. But as Sun Shuyun follows the daily lives of a shaman and his family, of monks, a village doctor, a Party worker, a hotel manager and a ricksha driver, it becomes clear that the community is facing the pressure of change.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, China, Asia, Biography, History, Buddhism

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sun Shuyun was born in 1963. She graduated from Beijing University and won a scholarship to Oxford. A filmmaker and television producer, she has made documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, and the Discovery Channel.

See also: 書雲 and ಸನ್ ಶುಯೂನ್

Reviews

[Mike Mason]

What a wonderful book. The Chinese writer and a tv crew spend a year in a Tibetan village recording life and creating a documentary for the BBC.

Fascinating stories of families struggling with poverty but getting on with life. The Shaman who spits on patients faces but will also recommend they go to nearby hospitals. The choice of hospital being based on horoscopes. The hundreds of Gods and demons to be worshipped or avoided.

The description of Sky burials. Where the deceased body is chopped and hammered into small chunks for the Vultures to devour. The heavy drinking of Chang a fermented barley. A daughter being told of her arranged marriage a few days before…so she doesn’t run away. The polyandry- wives having multiple husbands (brothers).

Lovely writing style with photographs of the people commented on. Enjoyed also the description of Buddhism and concept of Karma. But best some of the Tibetan proverbs. My favourite:

‘Children’s feet have calluses from following the sheep; men’s bottoms have them from sitting too long and drinking; women’s hands have them from working’ I read this out to my wife…she didn’t laugh.

I need to find the tv documentary.

[Jiju]

A Year in Tibet takes you on a wonderful journey along with the author Sun Shuyun to witness and understand more about the life of few individuals in the town of Gyantse in Tibet.The individuals in the book live a life of hardships that come with the extreme weather, economic limitations and the Chinese rule in the country. Yet, there is joy, love, strong family bonds, a deep connection to rituals and Buddhism and the constant drive to survive. Each character has lived through various political turmoils and changes in the cultural landscape but are rooted in their Buddhist values, celebration of life and physically intense way of living. Many of their cultural traditions may seem alien to us from different parts of the world and some are eye opening as well. The author( as a Chinese citizen) has written the book quite well and is very objective as she covers topics which could be difficult for her to cover as many of the issues caused in Tibet are by the Chinese. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like to know more about this wonderful land of mountain, monastries and lakes -Tibet.

[Brian]

A perceptive perspective on Tibet, the author is a Chinese woman who was raised in China but later studied in Britain. She was in a remote part of Tibet making a film for the BBC for 18 months. We are used to reading about Tibet from a Western perspective. So this book is quite unique. When Sun discussed the Cultural Revolution with Tibetans she could offer her perception of what she experienced in China.

“My grandma, like most Chinese of her generation, was a Buddhist. Her sole consolation was the paradise she believed in. I sided with my (communist) father. Mao was the Savior. Communism would bring paradise on earth.” Sun was interested in Tibet when she was a child. But she regrets how she treated her grandmother because she was following the party line in the ’60’s during the Cultural Revolution.

On sky burial, when the human corpse is cut up and fed to vultures: “I had expected something far more brutal, far bloodier. There is something dignified and peaceful about it and it produces no waste or pollution. By giving their bodies to the vultures, Tibetans are performing their last offering in this life.” “Giving is in Tibetans’ nature in life or in death.”

On Tibetans consumption of alcohol: “Tibetans live for pleasure and die for it too.”

A must read. And I would love to see the TV show.

[Cara Cross]

After reading this, I feel as if I have a new understanding of a world I never knew existed. Despite feeling as if the story was disjointed and moved slowly, the connection with the characters was genuine and heart warming.

[Peter Willoughby]

It seems along time since I watched this docuseries on the BBC so I though I would read the book as a reminder.
This was a wonderful series and the book is well written with great characters and a totally different way of life.

[Anne Deane]

An amazing project - spending a year in a remote village in Tibet. Most informative in understanding a completely different culture. A worthwhile read. I did find it a bit slow going - but that fits with the nature of the project - slowing to the pace of life in the village. 6/10.

[Shirley]

The author, Sun Shuyun, filmed Tibetans near the town of Gyantse, for a year (2006-2007). She got to know one Tibetan family really well in particular and focused the book on them, which was interesting. I certainly had no idea that polyandry was so common among Tibetans (especially the ones who live in the countryside - as most do - as opposed to in Lhasa). The Tibetan family has one wife who's married to three brothers; the oldest brother is mentally impaired - the author thinks it might have stemmed from PKU, but Tibetans think that he had bad karma from a previous life.

This is a worthwhile read to get a sense of real Tibetan lives - which are normally somewhat inaccessible to outsiders. When I visited Tibet a few years ago (right after the author had finished her year there, apparently), I definitely found this to be the case (due to factors such as travel restrictions, a monton of censorship, language barriers, and the fact that I looked Chinese, which I felt both constantly apologetic and occasionally defensive about). Certain chapters did bring back some memories of my trip there, such as the one about sky burials (after Tibetans die, they are hacked to pieces by a sky burial master and then fed to vultures at a very high point - for religious reasons but definitely practical in a terrain where burying a body would be impractical), which reminded me of how my husband and I ended up getting lost while trekking above one of the monasteries and ended up at a sky burial site, and when we were eating lunch on the ground, vultures kept circling above us in the sky!

Sun went there because she had found Tibet captivating over numerous shorter visits and wanted to document a unique people. I agreed with her concluding assessment: "It is certainly not a paradise. There is too much poverty, too much illness, too much tension and control. But it is extraordinary, it is spectacular, and it is unique."

[Yvonne]

Maybe 3.5 stars. My frustration was that although I enjoyed the book, I felt I hadn't come to grips with the country or its people and there were still so many unanswered questions. It seems it is impossible to find those answers, if one looks at the author's comment at the end. Although she had studied and lived in the country she states that she is all too aware of the 'limitations of presenting Tibet'. "It requires a lifetime, if not several, to understand Tibet".

[Natalie Fermoyle]

This is a fascinating account of the lifestyle of an ancient cultural group clutching to its roots while its youth question their future. It is eye opening to learn of the hopes and fears that prompt a community to act in ways that would shock and delight anyone living in modern society. Tibet appears to be a land of both unrestrained impulses and dutiful obligation, of both vibrant colour and rustic simplicity. Although slow in parts, the unique nature of what Sun Shuyun experienced in Tibet dragged me to the end like a weary traveller, yearning for home.

[Kristi]

I picked this up thinking it was a novel. I didn't realize until I started reading that it was a true account of a film-maker and her year filming in Tibet. I didn't like it at first, having a hard time following the characters, but they grew on me.

[Jennifer]

This is written by a Chinese woman who was making a documentary about a Tibetan village. I enjoyed the information about the shaman and how he rectified traditional vs. modern medicine. I really want to try yak butter tea, just once.

[Karen]

I couldn't wait to finish this. Slow moving, some interesting details about Tibet. Don't do well with books who have all foreign names, never did get to grips with this and gave up trying to understand who was who, married to who etc.

[Christie Parkin]

A good book, but I would have like some more in depth goings on. This has made me want to find out more about Tibet.

[Geomet Agape]

this is the first book i bought with my own money. also the first non-fiction book about a country and its culture i know nothing about.

[kagami]

This was a very interesting insight into daily life in present-day Tibetan countryside - all the more so because of the author's predominantly Chinese, but also English background.

Some of the questions the author asks seem strange to a westerner, for example during the funeral rites for a dead person, the author wants to ask the shaman whether there really are spirits roaming out there. Well, I thought, how is he supposed to know for sure? He obviously believes in them so can you just respect that and not pester the poor man? But then, the author very eloquently explains the way any trace of religious practice or superstition was forcefully erased from her parents' daily lives during the height of the Communist rule and how she was brought up to feel nothing but disdain for any such matters.

I was very impressed by the description of the sky burial and the practical reasons for it. Also, the story about one wife sharing several husbands was completely new to me and I found the interviews relating to that practice fascinating and insightful but at the same time sensible.

"A Year in Tibet" offers many lines of thought regarding the Chinese presence in Tibet. For example, the central government seems to be trying to melt down Tibetan culture by making going to school compulsory for children but then only providing classes (and exams) in Mandarin. No wonder the kids start off with great enthusiasm for going to school which then gradually fades into apathy because of the inability to understand what is being taught.

This book is a documentary so there is no story line to get excited about, but I felt privileged to have been allowed a glimpse into the lives of these real people, most of whom have as troubled a past as the whole country's turbulent last century.

[Changeling72]

Shuyun and her crew established themselves in a Tibetan town for a whole year and followed the lives of a bunch of the townsfolk, but in particularly a shaman and his family in a nearby village. It was only on reading this book that I realised that polygamy is practised in Tibet. As a Chinese, Shuyun provides a sympathetic, even empathetic on occasion, view of the lives of the often desperately poor natives on this mountain kingdom. She reflects on the crucial role of the Buddhist religion in Tibetan society and the impact of the Chinese occupation and subsequent Tibetan Uprising of 1959. She follows, too, the local monastery and the monks and devotees that people it. I found her account of sky burial to be fascinating, if a little gruesome to me Western sensibilities, but, as she says, it does make sense. Throughout, I found myself warming to the characters she follows, angry with the Chinese occupation, suppression and destruction and sad that infant mortality is so high and alcohol abuse so prevalent. I missed the tv documentary when it was screened, so I will have to see if I can get the dvd.

[Taldragon]

another book for book club, this is a non-fiction account of a year (2006/7) the author spent in Tibet filming for a documentary. as i havent seen the documentary, the book did feel somewhat incomplete.

it deftly combines present-day Tibet with it's history (esp the 1960s, during the Cultural Revolution), relations with China and the tension therein.

it's not my usual taste, but it was an interesting (albeit short) read of a culture all its own.

[Kit]

A pleasant read.

Liked the descriptions of the life, the vistas, the conflict between the author's state imposed view of Buddhism versus what she observed with the Tibetans.

It felt cut short abruptly at the end- the author had a spare month at the end of filming, stated that she felt so inspired by these locals who had let her into their lives, yet chose not to spend that extra month with them.

[Paige]

While I found this interesting overall, it was also worthwhile to come at Tibet from this perspective--there are so many similarities of speaking from a position of privilege, even when one is a person of colour.

[Fran]

Very interesting material and point of view - a Chinese perspective on a regional community in current day Tibet.

[Vanessa]

The book of the TV programme. Very interesting, with more details and information about the people and customs, with insight into everyday lives and how tradition merges into modern.

[Steve Castley]

Sun Shuyun shares an interesting memoir with her readers. Marriage practices, death rituals and daily life are all shared. I enjoyed reading this book and looking through a window at another world.