The Wandering Voice of Tibet: Life and Songs of Dubhe

ABSTRACT

This article concerns the life and songs of Dubhe, one of the most influential and adulated singers of contemporary Tibet, who passed away in February 2016. The voice of Dubhe is instantly recognisable, and his artistic legacy is acknowledged by Tibetans both inside and outside Tibet. He began singing as a young nomad boy in the early 1980s, which coincided with the Tibetan cultural revival in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. Over the following decades his melodious voice, musical flair, immersion in Tibetan oral poetry and public-spirited nature deepened Dubhe’s dunglen songs (Tibetan guitar songs) and broadened their appeal. Although many Tibetans regard him as a national hero and find his songs cathartic, accessible, and patriotically expressive, little is known of his life. As a result, through the presentation of a short Tibetan oral composition this article will present some key aspects of his life and some of his most popular songs. The exploration of this extempore proverb-suffused speech shows that informative records of someone’s life can be found in small fragments. It reveals that such tiny pieces not only contain significant biographical material but also form as well as revealing socio-cultural conditions that shape one’s life.

KEYWORDS:

• Dubhe
• Tibet
• dunglen songs
• life writing

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge a huge debt to the Leverhulme Trust for awarding me a three-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in 2016 at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the University of Oxford. This support has enabled me to undertake extensive research concerning the themes of the essay and discuss them with many colleagues in conferences and workshops held in Asia, Europe, and the United States. I am also indebted to the editors and the anonymous reviewer for their insightful comments. However, the opinions expressed in this article are mine and they should not be attributed to the editors or to anyone else.

With deep gratitude this essay is dedicated to Dubhe and his birthplace Machu (rma chu)—the cradle of Tibetan dunglen art.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Lama Jabb was born and brought up in the Dhatsen tribe, a nomadic community in Northeastern Tibet. He studied in Tibet, India and the UK and received his D.Phil at the University of Oxford. He is currently a Research Fellow in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Wolfson College and Instructor in Tibetan at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. He is the author of the book Oral and Literary Continuities in Modern Tibetan Literature: The Inescapable Nation (2015) and several scholarly articles.

Notes

1 Quoted in Bsod nams tshe brtan (1976, 62). Drawing on a definition cited in Bsod nams tshe brtan (1976, 9) here the archaic title mgo zlum das chad is translated as ‘human history’.

2 For an insightful application and exposition of these four approaches consult Gyang mo mtsho (2016, 98–119).

3 ’Brug pa kun legs (2005, 1, 55). See Roesler (2014, 134–136) on Drukpa Kunleg’s unconventional concept of auto/biography. For an English translation of one of Drukpa Kunleg’s biographies see Dowman and Paljor (2000).

4 Considering this inevitable oral element, Lee (2009, 5–6) states: ‘But all biography involves an oral dimension—the recounting of memories, witness-testimony, much repeated anecdotes. And some forms of biography, such as documentary film, are not written.’

5 This phrase is a reference to the Tibetan religious revival in the early 1980s that involved the literal reopening of the doors of monastic institutions accompanied by jubilant ceremonies.

6 Khatak (kha btags) is a predominantly white scarf offered to someone in greeting or bidding farewell and it symbolises the purity of one’s heart, respect, friendship, reverence, loyalty, and trust.

7 Gesar is the main protagonist or the ultimate hero of the Tibetan national epic eponymously known as The Gesar Epic (ge sar gyi sgrung). ‘The Three Arch-protectors’ is an English rendering of the Tibetan term rik sum gönpo (rigs gsum mgon po). A more literal translation might be ‘Three Types of Lords’ or ‘Lords of the Three Families’. These are the three deities Jampel Yang (Tib. ’Jam dpal dbyangs; Skr. Mañjuśrī), Chenrezig (Tib. sPyan ras gzigs; Skr. Avalokiteśvara) and Chakna Dorjé (Tib. Phyag na rdo rje; Skr. Vajrapāṇi) who respectively embody the wisdom, compassion, and power of all the Buddhas combined. Gesar is often depicted as a combined emanation of these Three Arch-protectors.

8 The Great Chestnut (rKyang ngu) is Gesar’s omniscient horse which is seen as an incarnate of the Tantric tutelary deity Hayagrīva (rTa mgrin dmar po).

9 Grwa yas skal bzang (2016).

10 For historical accounts of this tribe and its subdivisions see ’Jam dbyang (1991, 54–56) and Khyo kho ba Tshe ring rdor rje (2013).

11 For examples of such poetic recitals for specific occasions see Thurston and Caixiangduojie (2016) and Thurston (2012, 49–73).

12 For discussions of these sub-genres of the Tibetan folksong tradition, see Skal bzang nor bu (2015, 1–36), Craun (2011), Anton-Luca (2002, 173–196), Rossi (1992, 705–709) and Sørensen (1990, 18–73).

13 The Tibetan term sang (bsang), which might be loosely rendered as purifying ritual or purifying fire smoke, is left untranslated here so as to serve as a portal to the Tibetan cultural world in which it is untranslatably enmeshed.

14 Dubhe’s An Ingrained Dream (yun ring goms pa’i rmi lam) is a typical song that expresses a national consciousness imbued with a strong desire for the reunion of Tibetan exiles and Tibetans still residing inside Tibet. For an analysis and translation of this song, see Jabb (2015, 34–38).

15 These popular Tibetan dramatic tales are performed live accompanied by song and dance in public as well as recounted at both private and public gatherings. More often than not Tibetan libretti communicate an ethical Buddhist message, but are also embedded in secular matters. For an English translation of eight famous Tibetan operatic tales, see Kilty (forthcoming). For reflections on Tibetan opera see Tsering and Henrion-Dourcy (2001), Henrion-Dourcy (2017, 5–54) and Wojahn (2016, 534–550).

16 However, such facts are difficult to ascertain due to a general reluctance to reveal any information perceived as damaging to Dubhe’s posthumous fame.

17 According to Anna Morcom’s interview with Pema Khar, the recordist for Ganlho Radio Office, it was the latter who discovered Dubhe and introduced him to Pelgön in 1986 (Morcom 2018, 132).

18 For instance, they collaborated on very popular Dunglen releases such as Song of the Skylark (Co ka’i drug ’gyur, 1990) and Meadow Gentian Flower (Spang rgyan me tog, 1988). Subsequently, their relationship became strained due to Dubhe’s inability to give up alcohol, resulting in a long period of estrangement. Be that as it may, they become reconciled a few years before Dubhe’s passing.

19 For a brief explanation of Bodhisattva (byang chub sems dpa'), see Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama ([1963] 1999, 80–83).

20 A friend of Dubhe who was present at the banquet related this story to the author on several occasions. Her identity is kept anonymous.

21 See Said (1996, 85–102), on the intellectual’s role to speak out in the name of justice and fairness without fear of the powerful and without falling victim to double standard practices in the application of democratic values and human rights norms.

22 On dunglen and its communicative potency especially regarding Tibetan identity, see Morcom (2018, 127–144) and Jabb (2011, 1–29).

23 Dubhe’s songs are part of the creative Tibetan cultural production that almost immediately followed the Cultural Revolution. On some influential Tibetan intellectuals and cultural producers during the post-Mao reform era belonging to Dubhe’s generation, see Thurston (2018, 143–162).

24 From William Wordsworth’s poem ‘To the Cuckoo’ (Wordsworth 1995, 19–20).

25 For the lyrics and music video of this song visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7s15_Ap3_w

26 gal po che la nan bshad/dam pa’i chos la brgya’ tshar.

27 Many Tibetans regard the 10th Panchen Lama as a tragic modern Tibetan hero who provided them leadership and voiced their grievances during the most terrifying time in their history. His audacity to speak for Tibetans are nowhere more apparent than in his 1962 secret report on the sufferings of the Tibetan people under Chinese Communist rule which Mao Zedong denounced as ‘a poisoned arrow shot at the Party’ (Tibetan Information Network 1997). On the heroic role of the 10th Panchen Lama, see Norbu (1997, 287–321).

28 The lyrics and music video of this song can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiO-mqydVHs.

29 On the Tibetan free verse and other literary developments during this period, see Bhum ([1991] 2008a, 112–134 and 2008b, 135–147) and Shakya (2008, 61–85).

30 On the controversy surrounding the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, see Shakya (1999, 440–446) and Hilton (2001).

31 A copy of this song can be accessed at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-S3Gg512OCk1tVqjStpNHQ.

32 For an English translation and a brief interpretation of this song, see Jabb (2015, 34–38).

33 For the lyrics and numbered musical notation of this song, see Dpal mgon (2010, 54).

34 A recording of this song can be accessed at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8n7wPfyUyVnyYHLaBDQLTQ.

35 Pelgön was the first to set this traditional song to dunglen music and perform it (Dpal mgon 2010, 68). Dubhe’s rendition—which differs slightly from Pelgön’s in terms of both tune and lyrics—turned it into a hit.

36 A less literal yet equally accurate translation of the term sa mtha’ would be ‘exile’ as in the state of a person who is driven out of his or her native land.

37 For Dubhe’s rendition of The Dirge of the Deer visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7WhWbNHZ0Q.

38 This symbolism is nowhere more apparent than on the rooftops of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries where two deer—a male and a female—sit attentively on either side of the Wheel of Dharma representing Buddhism and reception of it. In The Dirge of the Deer and Kyabchen Dedrol’s allusion to it one might also hear echoes of Milarepa’s legendary conversion of the hunter Gonpo Dorji, his hunting dog and the hunted deer. For an exploration of this legend and its influence upon the artistic and dramatic traditions of Tibet and Bhutan, see Paul Alexander Draghi’s PhD dissertation (1980).

39 For Dubhe’s rendition of The Dirge of the Ewe visit https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/j_LbJNJyIQTW46oU-oX02w.

40 Pelgön was the first to set these two ballads to dunglen music and once again Dubhe helped to popularise them. So much so that many dunglen enthusiasts are no longer aware that these ballads were first performed on the public airwaves and cassette tape by Dubhe’s mentor. The lyrics and numbered musical notations of both dirges can be found in Dpal mgon (2010, 81, 226–227).

41 For a selection of poem and prose tributes to Dubhe, including one by the current Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, visit Gtsang rdo’s WeChat platform (2019a) at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jePauvjJlx_4SPuApNsAgw. For performance tributes visit this very same online platform at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QbRBtYE-K9HmSE3NsPfDog (Gtsang rdo 2019b).

42 For an intimate rendering of this song visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wMMSYnWckQ.

43 I am grateful to Tsedup Karko for this anecdote.

44 ‘mgo nag bod ’di dga’ sa/ khu byug sngon mo kyo red’. From Gungthang Rinpoche’s poem-song Praising the Cuckoo (khu byug la bstod pa) made famous by Pelgön’s performance of it as a dunglen song in the 1980s, see Dpal mgon (2010, 14).