Yale Himalaya Initiative, Fear of the Pure One: What the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River’s History Can Tell Us About Asia’s Water Future

Part of Yale Himalaya Fall 2017 reception and Seminar.
5:30-6:00 pm Reception, Luce Hall Common Room
6:00-7:00 pm Seminar, Luce Hall Room 202
“The Yarlung Tsangpo or “Pure One of Yarlung” is one of the eight major South, Southeast and East Asian rivers that descend from the Tibetan Plateau. It rises in southwestern Tibet, transverses the Plateau, drops through the earth’s deepest canyon, and then crosses India and China’s disputed border. The Tibetans written record of their relationship with this river stretches back over a thousand years. The Pure One, as they called it, was considered both a giver and taker of life: it was venerated for its life-giving waters in an arid, alpine environment and feared as the fast-flowing home of the capricious and deadly glu, a class of water spirits that sort revenge on those who disrespected them. The twin themes of the rivers’ pure waters and (hydro-)power shaped the river valley’s history, and with India and China building competing water diversion schemes and hydro-electrical projects throughout its basin, they will continue to shape its future.”