Derge (; ) is a town in

Dêgê County Dêgê County (; ) is a county in southern China, which was formerly one of the Kham region's five independent kingdoms - the Kingdom of Derge - but is now administered as a county in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in far northwestern Sich ...

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, often shortened to Ganzi Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the western arm of Sichuan province, China, bordering Yunnan to the south, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west, and Gansu to the north ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China. It was once the center of the

Kingdom of Derge The Kingdom of Derge was an important kingdom in Kham from the 15th to the 19th century. It was a center of industry, religion and politics, with the seat of its kingdom in the town of Degé. The kings of Derge followed a 1300-year lineage. A ...

in Kham.

History

Historically, Derge, which means "land of mercy", was an important centre of Tibetan culture, along with places such as

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

and

Xiahe Xiahe (; ) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhi ...

. 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. 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. The latter, who had enjoyed the backing of the Chinese, yielded the kingdom to China in 1908 in exchange for the ousting of his rival. The palace of the Derge kings was torn down after 1950 and a school was later built on the site.McCue, 241.

Culture

The town of Derge is famous for its three-storey printing house, or ''parkhang'', built in 1729, where the

Kangyur The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur ( Tengyur) ('Translation of Trea ...

, a collection of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

scriptures, and the

Tengyur The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises". The Buddhist Canon To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to b ...

, a collection of commentaries, are still printed from wooden blocks. It was established during the reign of Derge king Tenpa Tsering. Derge has produced artists such as the

Situ Panchen Situ Panchen (full name Situ Panchen Chögyi Jungney) (1700–1774), also known as the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche, was an influential Tibetan painter, writer and medical innovator as well as a notable figure in the histories of Karma Kagyu and the ...

, the 8th

Tai Situpa Tai Situpa (; from ) is one of the oldest lineages of tulkus (reincarnated lamas) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism In Tibetan Buddhism tradition, Kenting Tai Situpa is considered as emanation of Bodhisattva Maitreya and Guru Padmasambhava ...

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. Imprimerie de Dergue - Derge

Derge County contains several historic Tibetan monasteries, notably

Palpung Monastery Palpung Monastery () is the name of the congregation of monasteries and centers of the Tai Situpa lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the name of the Tai Situ's monastic seat in Babang, Kham (modern Sichuan). Palpung mean ...

Gongchen Monastery Gonchen (also known as Derge Monastery) is a large Sakya Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the town of Derge, in Sichuan, China. Gonchen is located in the ethnic Tibetan cultural region of Kham. Description The main chapel of the monastery is an e ...

Kathok Monastery Katok Monastery (, THL ''Katok Dorjé Den''), also transliterated as Kathok or Kathog Monastery, was founded in 1159 and is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" in Tibet of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, built after Samye Monastery. It ...

Palyul Monastery Palyul Monastery (), also known as Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Choling Monastery and sometimes romanized as Pelyul Monastery, is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded in 1665 by Rigzin Kunza ...

Shechen Monastery Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Kham, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in ...

and

Dzogchen Monastery Dzogchen Monastery (Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན་དགོན། ''rdzogs chen dgon'') is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Kham within modern day Dêgê County, Garzê Tib ...

References

External links

Official website of Dêgê County Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dege Populated places in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Towns in Sichuan