- Hardcover: 720 pages
- Publisher: Orchid Press Publishing Limited (30 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 9745240141
- ISBN-13: 978-9745240148
- Product Dimensions: 22 x 15.6 x 4.2 cm
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
904,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #96 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > Tibet
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
This is Ekai Kawaguchi's account of his legendary solo trip, beginning in 1899, through a Tibet long hostile to all outside visitors. Disguised sometimes as a Chinese doctor and at others as a native Tibetan, this Japanese monk managed to traverse practically the entire length of Tibet - largely on foot - a feat of outstanding courage and endurance, as well as good fortune. However, the real value of the account is the author's careful and detailed observations of Tibet, Tibetans and the rule of the 13th Dalai Lama, whom he met a number of times. Kawaguchi was both awed by the Tibetans' religious devotion and knowledge and shocked by some of the cruelty, corruption and sexual licence he saw around him.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Amazing Journey
18 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Everyone should read this book. Especially those with an interest in Tibet. In 1897 a Japanese Buddhist Monk left Japan to walk into Tibet to gather Buddhist Scriptures and learning.
He first went to India to learn to speak Tibetan and then after some years, he walked into Tibet, avoiding the usual checkpoints. He had to do this because generally the penalty for incursion into Tibet was death - to that person and everyone who helped them.
His account of the journey was nothing short of miraculous. His route was the highest and most difficult and the stories of how he survived leave you breathless. He survived on practically no food and on one frozen occasion, he kept himself alive overnight in the winter in inadequate clothing by meditating.
Eventually he bluffs his way in and is admitted to a monastery where he begins study and eventually, although he is not a doctor, he establishes a reputation as a skilled doctor by reason of his skills which are far better than the local doctors - in fact, he believes the best advice in Tibet is to avoid their doctors if you want to live. He even becomes physician to the Dalai Lama.
He remained there 3 years observing every thing around him. His descriptions of local society, religion, customs, marriages, funerals, appointment of Lamas including the Dalai Lama, government, punishment, ignorance, superstition, cleanliness (or the opposite) and practically everything else you could think of (including the relationship with China) is fascinating and a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the present situation with China and the world.
I first borrowed a first edition of this book and went back to borrow it so many times that I finally decided that I had to own a copy of my own. So should you.
He first went to India to learn to speak Tibetan and then after some years, he walked into Tibet, avoiding the usual checkpoints. He had to do this because generally the penalty for incursion into Tibet was death - to that person and everyone who helped them.
His account of the journey was nothing short of miraculous. His route was the highest and most difficult and the stories of how he survived leave you breathless. He survived on practically no food and on one frozen occasion, he kept himself alive overnight in the winter in inadequate clothing by meditating.
Eventually he bluffs his way in and is admitted to a monastery where he begins study and eventually, although he is not a doctor, he establishes a reputation as a skilled doctor by reason of his skills which are far better than the local doctors - in fact, he believes the best advice in Tibet is to avoid their doctors if you want to live. He even becomes physician to the Dalai Lama.
He remained there 3 years observing every thing around him. His descriptions of local society, religion, customs, marriages, funerals, appointment of Lamas including the Dalai Lama, government, punishment, ignorance, superstition, cleanliness (or the opposite) and practically everything else you could think of (including the relationship with China) is fascinating and a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the present situation with China and the world.
I first borrowed a first edition of this book and went back to borrow it so many times that I finally decided that I had to own a copy of my own. So should you.
An Important and Entertaining Book
26 Mar 2012
Format:Hardcover
Three Years in Tibet is an important and inadvertently hilarious book. Kawaguchi was a Japanese Buddhist scholar; his fastidious and serious disposition is immediately apparent, and at complete odds with the environment in which he found himself. I've read most of the available accounts of travellers in Tibet that have been written since the mid-1800's. This book shines due to its lack of sentimentality. Kawaguchi's Tibet is plagued with filth, less than perfect monks, and customs that he finds abhorrent. He gets lost and robbed. In one, somehow incredibly amusing, passage he ends up near tears and almost freezing to death in the company of two bleating sheep. In great detail, he describes the customs and culture, as well as the details of life in the Lhasa region. He was able to pass as Chinese, and therefore was able to live freely in the city - visitors from other foreign nations were deported. The book is almost 700 pages long, but it is so interesting, informative, and engaging that I didn't want it to end. The only reason which I can think of that this book isn't more talked about is that it does not fit in with the currently popular mythologized version of Tibet as a homogenous utopia. This is unfortunate, as the portrait that Kawaguchi paints is of a very real and diverse society. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, China, or travel writing. It is also chock full of information useful to historians and other scholars. Best of all, it is an easy and delightful read.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
