The Treasury of Lives

Dhogon Sangda Dorji (rdo dgon gsang bdag rdo rje) was born in 1945 in the fortress at Chongye Dzong ('phyongs rgya rdzong) in Lhoka. Sangda Dorji was the third child of Dhogonpa Wangdu Sonam (rdo dgon pa dbang sdud bsod nams) and Sholkhang Tsering Dolkar (zhol khang tshe ring sgrol sgrol dkar). According to family history, while seasonal rituals were being performed in the government building, an oracle abruptly left the room and approached Sangda Dorji's mother, warning her that she must remain in the fortress throughout her pregnancy in order to protect her unborn son. Sangda Dorje's mother, who until then had not known she was pregnant, was brought into the room where the oracle performed protective rituals, despite the fact that women were not typically allowed into the ceremony.

Sangda Dorji spent his early childhood in Lhasa. He had an elder brother, Tsejin Lhagyab (tshe 'dzin lha skyab), an elder sister, Tsewong Chonzom (tshe dbang chos 'dzoms), a younger brother, Dechen Namgyal (bde chen rnam rgyal), and a younger sister Dechen Dolkar (bde chen sgrol dkar).

The Dhogonpa family traces its heritage directly to the royal Yarlung lineage. They were designated with the title of sde pa (local chief) under the name mgon pa until they progressively came to be classified, under the Ganden Podrang regime, as gerpa (sger pa), one of several types of estate-holding aristocrats in Tibet, both names mgon pa ba and rdo dgon pa being used until 1959. The family resided at their fortress-like palace, in Nyemo county, on one among several of their estates. The structure was built into the rock beneath it using traditional Tibetan architectural techniques, ensuring its survival over the centuries through multiple earthquakes. The building had several floors and a library with a wooden door scarred by Dzungar Mongol swords in the early 1700's. 

His mother’s lineage, the Sholkhang, were also aristocrats, of the midrak (mi drag) status, i.e. one of the highest circles of Tibetan aristocracy. After the passing of Sangda Dorji's father during his childhood, his mother remarried Yuthok Tashi Dhondup (g.yu thog bkra shis don grub, 1906–1983), which led to the addition of three half-sisters named Tsepal (tshe dpal), Tsezom (tshe 'dzoms), and Namlha (nam lha), who were raised in India and Taiwan.

During Sangda Dorji's childhood years, he attended the Nyarongsha private school (nyag rong shag slob grwa), one of several secular schools in Lhasa. He was also tutored by Tubten Yarpel (thub bstan yar 'phel), a government official. In addition to his scholastic studies, he grew up in an artistically rich environment where he developed his lifelong interest in music, dance, and song. His maternal uncle, Sholkhang Sonam Dargye (zhol khang bsod nams dar rgyas, d. 1922), was a renowned musician known for his mastery of the nangma (nang ma) musical tradition. Sangda Dorji, also a nangma musician, played a variety of traditional instruments throughout his life including piwang (pi wang) and dranyen (sgra snyan). He prided himself on playing in the authentic Lhasa style. In addition, he was well known as a master of poetry and calligraphy.

In 1956 Sangda Dorji's mother and stepfather, along with their three daughters, went to India to attend the Buddha Jayanti celebrations and decided to remain there. In 1959, he briefly served as a lay official (drung 'khor) for the finance branch (rtsis khang) of the Ganden Podrang government. When the Tibetan government was dissolved in 1959, he became a teacher at his local county school. In 1969 he married Langtong Tubten Lhamo (glang mthong thub bstan lha mo, 1945–2019), also from an aristocratic family, and they had three daughters Dechen Yangchen (bde chen dbyangs can), Dechen Dolma (bde chen sgrol ma) and Dechen Pema (bde chen pad ma).

When the Cultural Revolution reached Tibet in the mid 1960s, former aristocrats such as Sangda Dorji were forbidden from teaching. During the period the remaining members of the family who had not escaped Tibet were forced by Red Guards to carry out all the family belongings from the home and burn them. The Chinese government went on to destroy the Dhogon family palace.

Their home destroyed, Sangda Dorji and his family lived in a cowshed. During this time, he and the members of his family endured struggle sessions. On numerous occasions they were denounced and beaten, having been classified as enemies of the people due to their class background. In one instance Sangda Dorji suffered broken ribs. In the years to come, Sangda Dorji was made to go to re-education and labor camps annually. The so-called rehabilitation he endured was primarily forced labor.

At the end of the Cultural Revolution, he was reinstated as a teacher in Nyemo county. In 1980 he served as a professor of Tibetan language at the Tibet Autonomous Region Teacher's Training College. He was also one of the earliest faculty members to join the newly established Tibet University in 1985. He worked there until his retirement in 2009.

From 1992 to 1994, Sangda Dorji taught Tibetan poetry and poetics at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco) in Paris, France, at the invitation of Professor Heather Stoddard, the director of the Tibetan studies program at the time. In the English version of his obituary, first published on the French Association for Tibetan Studies website, and authored by students and colleagues Rachel Guidoni, Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy, Françoise Robin, Heather Stoddard, Nicolas Tournadre, and Alice Travers, his gift for teaching was fondly recalled:

His patient resourceful attempts at communicating the rich and complex subject of Tibetan classical poetry to a mostly French class of students with little more than two years of study of the difficult Tibetan language, created warm memories for all those who attended. During his sojourn in Paris, he organised several evening sessions devoted to Tibetan classical poetry, and at the same time he entertained his colleagues and students with music.^[1]

Through his work at Inalco, he began a collaboration with Nicolas Tournadre that resulted in the Manual of Standard Tibetan, which has become one of the principle textbooks for the study of Tibetan. He published widely in Tibetan on a wide range of topics from poetics to Tibetan customs to fiction. He remained active in his retirement, participating in conferences and tutoring students.

Sangda Dorji passed away on September 21, 2020, in Lhasa. Before he was cremated, against the no-assembly orders from the Chinese government at the time due to the COVID-19 virus, hundreds of citizens placed his body on a throne and carried him around the Jokhang Temple (lha sa tsug lag khang) in Lhasa, circumambulating the temple three times to honor him.