Global InformationChushul Chakzam information
Chushul Chakzam ཆུ་ཤུལ་ལྕགས་ཟམ | |
|---|---|
 Old Chain-Bridge at Chaksam. | |
| Coordinates | 29°19′38.31″N 90°41′9.56″E / 29.3273083°N 90.6859889°E |
| Crosses | Yarlung Tsangpo |
| Locale | Qüxü County, Lhasa Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Material | Iron suspension |
| Trough construction | Plank footway |
| Pier construction | Stone piers |
| Total length | 150 yards (140 m)[1] |
| Width | 30 centimetres (12 in)[2] |
| Height | 15 feet (4.6 m)[1] |
| History | |
| Designer | Thang Tong Gyalpo |
| Opened | 1430 |
| Closed | 1950s |
| Replaced by | Qushui Yaluzangbujiang Bridge |
| Location | |
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| Chushul Chakzam | |||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tibetan | ཆུ་ཤུལ་ལྕགས་ཟམ | ||||||
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| Chaksam Chuwori | |||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tibetan | ལྕགས་ཟམ་ཆུ་བོ་རི | ||||||
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The Chushul Chakzam (Tibetan: ཆུ་ཤུལ་ལྕགས་ཟམ), or simply Chakzam which literally means "iron bridge" in Standard Tibetan, was a suspension bridge that spanned the Yarlung Tsangpo river in modern-day Qüxü County near Lhasa, Tibet. It was built in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo.[3] The southern bridgehead was built on the mountain Chowuri, which is sacred in Tibetan Buddhism. This mountain was a site where Guru Rinpoche and Trisong Detsen had meditated during the 8th Century.[2] When it was built, its main section was the longest unsupported span in the world, with a central span estimated at around 150 yards (140 metres).[1]
In 1444, a monastery Chaksam Chuwori (Tibetan: ལྕགས་ཟམ་ཆུ་བོ་རི) was founded on the southern bridgehead.[1][2] During its existence, the monastery served as the seat of Chakzampa school of Tibetan Buddhism.[2] Supported by the bridge toll, the monastery at one point hosted about 100 monks.[4] The monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.[5]
- ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
Waddellwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Gerner, Manfred (2007). Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo: Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder (PDF). Translated by Verhufen, Gregor. Centre for Bhutan Studies. ISBN 978-99936-14-39-5.
(p12) This monastery is located at the holy mountain of Chuwo Ri (Chu bo ri), above the southern bridgehead of his iron chain bridge across the Yarlung Tsangpo river. Chuwo Ri is one of eight original meditation caves of Guru Rinpoche and the eighth century king of the Dharma, Trisong Detsen. (p32) In Tibet, the large monastery of Chakzam Chuwo Ri (lCags zam Chu bo ri) that Thangtong Gyalpo founded in 1444, located at the southern bridgehead of his famous 'Chakzam' across the Yarlung Tsangpo river, above its confluence with the Kyichu river (sKyid chu) became his main seat. Later, the monastery of Chakzam Chuwo Ri became the main monastery of the Chakzampa school as well as the seat of the Chakzampa Tulkus. (p83) Chinese engineers tore down this bridge during the construction of the new concrete bridge in about 1950 (p85) 30 centimetres wide
- ^ Dundul Namgyal Tsarong, Ani K. Trinlay Chödron, In the service of his country: the biography of Dasang Damdul Tsarong, commander general of Tibet, Snow Lion Publications, 2000, ISBN 1-55939-151-0, p. 26
- ^ Dowman, Keith (2008). The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide (PDF). Vajra Publications. p. 137. ISBN 978-9937-506-04-5.
The 100 monks of this gompa were supported by the bridge toll.
- ^ Lungta. Amnye Machen Institute. 2001.
the monastery of Lcags zam Chu bo ri ... was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.