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I’m certainly not the only person to be struck by the Tibetan landscape. In a famous account of the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, the first great Buddhist king, Songtsen Gampo, married two Buddhist princesses, one from Nepal and the other from China. Tibet was an expanding kingdom and the marriages offered Songtsen Gampo important alliances. Both princesses brought with them a wealth of culture and cultivation. In the instance of the Nepali princess, Bhrikuti, she brought with her a famous statue, the treasured Jowo Buddha, which still can be found in Lhasa. The Chinese princess, Weng Chen, also brought gifts and a knowledge of feng shui. Princess Weng Chen did a divination that indicated Buddhism in Tibet faced obstacles because the land was, in actuality, a reclining demoness and this demoness would obstruct the spread of the Buddha’s teachings. A solution, however, could be found through feng shui. Temples and stupas (special Buddhist monuments) could be constructed around Tibet to subdue her.

While scholars debate the historicity of this account, its “Eastern”/” Western” implications are interesting. Many scholars focus on the gendered aspects of the story, often through the lens of “Western” values. As such, the land is interpreted as “feminine”, passive, horizontal, and in need of being conquered. It is eventually overcome by the vertical “masculine” architectural elements of temple and stupa the princess says need to be built. This dynamic is also interpreted by some scholars to represent the containing of feminine elements within the patriarchal structures of Buddhism. The trouble with these interpretations, however, is they ignore the cultural particularities of Tibetan-Chinese interactions. If we set aside the historicity of the account, whether or not it actually happened, a young Chinese royal who finds herself a bride in the court of a potential Tibetan invader, is likely to be emotionally affected by the powerful Tibetan landscape. Here, she’s seeing the land as a demonic woman and given the demoness’ opposition to Buddhism, a kind of rival that needs to be subdued. In other words, her interests may not be patriarchal in nature. Furthermore, the scholarly interpretations show an overreadiness to project “western” and Chinese concepts of land onto Tibet. While Chinese and European culture may view the earth as feminine, Tibetan culture does not necessarily do so. For example, Tibetan Mountain deities are usually male and they’re mean. You don’t want to get them angry, hence the prayer flags on Mount Everest. Likewise, the gods of the earth, the Terdags, are frequently male, not female, and equally grouchy. You want to supplicate them properly before breaking ground on any buildings or structures.