Historically, Derge, which means "land of mercy", was an important centre of Tibetan culture, along with places such as Lhasa and Xiahe.[citation needed] Derge was formerly the seat of the kings of the kingdom of Derge, whose 1300-year lineage was broken with the death of the last male heir in the 1990s.[1] The kingdom was an important industrial, religious and political center in Eastern Tibet. In the early 20th century, the kingdom fell into political struggle between the final heirs to the throne, Djembel Rinch'en and Doje Senkel.[2] The latter, who had enjoyed the backing of the Chinese, yielded the kingdom to China[citation needed] in 1908 in exchange for the ousting of his rival.[2] The palace of the Derge kings was torn down after 1950 and a school was later built on the site.[3]
The town of Derge is famous for its three-storey printing house, or parkhang, built in 1729, where the Kangyur, a collection of Buddhist scriptures, and the Tengyur, a collection of commentaries, are still printed from wooden blocks.[3] It was established during the reign of Derge king Tenpa Tsering.[2] Derge has produced artists such as the Situ Panchen, the 8th Tai Situpa who was a renowned Buddhist master who helped revive Tibetan culture and language, and aided King Tenpa Tsering in setting up the Derge Parkhang or Derge printing house. The printing house, which is administered by the Religious Affairs Bureau, continues to use its ancient techniques, and utilizes no machines in the printing process.
It has been estimated that the 217,000 blocks stored at Derge comprise 70% of the Tibetan literary heritage. The Derge editions are considered especially high quality, with few typographical errors.[4]
^. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
External linksedit
Official website of Dêgê County Government
January 01, 1970
derge, tibetan, དག, wylie, officially, gengqing, town, tibetan, དག, wylie, dgon, chen, kren, chinese, 更庆镇, pinyin, gēngqìng, zhèn, town, dêgê, county, garzê, tibetan, autonomous, prefecture, sichuan, china, once, center, kingdom, kham, 更庆镇towngengqing, townvie. Derge Tibetan ས དག Wylie sde dge officially Gengqing Town Tibetan དག ན ཆ ན ཀ ན Wylie dgon chen kren Chinese 更庆镇 pinyin Gengqing Zhen is a town in Dege County in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan China It was once the center of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham Derge 更庆镇TownGengqing TownView of Derge from aboveDergeShow map of SichuanDergeShow map of ChinaCoordinates 31 48 29 N 98 34 43 E 31 80806 N 98 57861 E 31 80806 98 57861CountryChinaProvinceSichuanPrefectureGarze Tibetan Autonomous PrefectureCountyDege CountyArea Total431 6 km2 166 6 sq mi Elevation3 260 m 10 700 ft Population 2010 Total10 221Time zoneUTC 8 CST Parkhang Derge Kham in 2012 Contents 1 History 2 Culture 3 References 4 External linksHistory editSee also Kingdom of Derge Historically Derge which means land of mercy was an important centre of Tibetan culture along with places such as Lhasa and Xiahe citation needed Derge was formerly the seat of the kings of the kingdom of Derge whose 1300 year lineage was broken with the death of the last male heir in the 1990s 1 The kingdom was an important industrial religious and political center in Eastern Tibet In the early 20th century the kingdom fell into political struggle between the final heirs to the throne Djembel Rinch en and Doje Senkel 2 The latter who had enjoyed the backing of the Chinese yielded the kingdom to China citation needed in 1908 in exchange for the ousting of his rival 2 The palace of the Derge kings was torn down after 1950 and a school was later built on the site 3 Culture edit nbsp The renowned typography attached to Gonchen Monastery in Derge Sichuan China photographed by Mario Biondi in July 2009 The town of Derge is famous for its three storey printing house or parkhang built in 1729 where the Kangyur a collection of Buddhist scriptures and the Tengyur a collection of commentaries are still printed from wooden blocks 3 It was established during the reign of Derge king Tenpa Tsering 2 Derge has produced artists such as the Situ Panchen the 8th Tai Situpa who was a renowned Buddhist master who helped revive Tibetan culture and language and aided King Tenpa Tsering in setting up the Derge Parkhang or Derge printing house The printing house which is administered by the Religious Affairs Bureau continues to use its ancient techniques and utilizes no machines in the printing process It has been estimated that the 217 000 blocks stored at Derge comprise 70 of the Tibetan literary heritage The Derge editions are considered especially high quality with few typographical errors 4 nbsp Derge printing house in 2015 Derge County contains several historic Tibetan monasteries notably Palpung Monastery Gongchen Monastery Kathok Monastery Palyul Monastery Shechen Monastery and Dzogchen Monastery References edit McCue Gary 1999 Trekking in Tibet A Traveler s Guide 2 ed The Mountaineers Bookl p 239 ISBN 0 89886 662 6 Derge kingdom a b c Dorje Gyurme 1999 Tibet Handbook The Travel Guide 2 illustrated revised ed Footprint Travel Guides p 469 ISBN 1 900949 33 4 a b McCue 241 Dege and Its Role in Tibetan Culture Archived from the original on 2008 09 08 Retrieved 2009 02 16 External links editOfficial website of Dege County Government Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Derge amp oldid 1155910919, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
