Library of Congress

Jimpa Legtsog

Jimpa Legtsog [Tib. spyin pa legs tshogs] was a monk from Drepung Monastery. In this interview, he discusses the regional composition of the various khamtsen in Loseling College and his personal history regarding how he joined the monastery. He discusses the initial duties when entering the monastery, including whether to participate as a chöndze or do the shöndre work tax. He also discusses being in the monastery during the artillery shelling of Norbulinga in the 1959 uprising and the monks' perceptions of this. And he discusses the monastic officials who were running things, the Work Team, and how monks earned a living. He talks in detail about the state of Drepung Monastery in 1959 and the stages it went through from then until the Cultural Revolution. He also talks about the effects of the Cultural Revolution on the monastery and how monks left the monastery to live in the community. Finally, he details the re-admission of monks to the monastery after 1980, including the procedures for re- admittance, and details of the livelihood in the monastery after 1980.