Shangri-La: Difference between revisions
Kirlilovr22 (talk | contribs) Tag: repeating characters |
Undid revision 343441321 by Kirlilovr22 (talk) |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
Did you know that the modern squirrel eats nuts. SO they must live in Shangri-la too! They must be Immortal and they WILL I repeat WILL eat all your nuts. So protect your nuts! I say protect! |
Did you know that the modern squirrel eats nuts. SO they must live in Shangri-la too! They must be Immortal and they WILL I repeat WILL eat all your nuts. So protect your nuts! I say protect! |
||
==Location== |
|||
TURTLES LIVE IN SHANGRI-LA AND ARE IMMORTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO THEY MUST EAT THE SQUIRREL'S NUTS!!!!!!!!!! SQUIRRELS PROTECT YOUR NUTS FROM TURTLES BECAUSE... I like turtles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
|||
[[Image:Zhongdian-sumtseling-gompa-c12.jpg|left|thumb|[[Zhongdian]] in [[Yunnan]]]] |
|||
Several places in the Buddhist Himalaya between northern [[India]] and [[Tibet]] have claimed to be the location for Hilton's fictional Shangri-La, largely to attract [[tourism]]. |
|||
In [[China]], [[Tao Qian]] of the [[Jin Dynasty (265-420)|Jin Dynasty]] described a Shangri-La in his work ''[[Story of the Peach Blossom Valley]]'' ([[Chinese character|Chinese]]: [[:zh:桃花源 (文学)|桃花源記]], [[pinyin]]: Táohuā Yuán Jì){{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}. In modern China, the [[Zhongdian]] county was renamed to 香格里拉 (Xiānggélǐlā, Shangri-La in Chinese) in 2001, to attract tourists. The legendary [[Kun Lun Mountains]] in Tibet offer other possible Shangri-La valleys. |
|||
A popularly believed inspiration for Hilton's Shangri-La is the [[Hunza Valley]] in northern [[Pakistan]], close to the Tibetan border, which Hilton visited a few years before ''Lost Horizon'' was published.<ref> {{Cite news | title=Shangri-la Valley | date=June 20, 2006 | accessdate=2006-07-29 | publisher=[[Adventure Tours Pakistan]] | url=http://www.atp.com.pk/tours/Shangri-La%20Valley.html}}</ref> Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description in the novel. A [[Shangrila Resort|Shangri-La resort]] in the nearby [[Skardu|Skardu valley]] is a popular tourist attraction. |
|||
Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of southern [[Kham]] in southwestern [[Yunnan]] province, including the tourist destinations of [[Lijiang City|Lijiang]] and Zhongdian. Places like [[Sichuan]] and [[Tibet]] also claim the real Shangri-La was in its territory. In 2001, [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] put forward a proposal that the three regions optimise all Shangri-la tourism resources and promote them as one. After failed attempts to establish a China Shangri-la Ecological Tourism Zone in 2002 and 2003, government representatives of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region signed a declaration of cooperation in 2004. Also in 2001, [[Zhongdian]] County in northwestern Yunnan officially renamed itself [[Shangri-La County]]. |
|||
[[Bhutan]], which until 1999{{Dubious|date=January 2010}} was largely isolated from the outside world and has its unique form of Tibetan Buddhism, has been hailed as the last Shangri-La. |
|||
Another place that has been thought to have inspired the concept of Shangri-La is the [[Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon]]. |
|||
TV Presenter and historian [[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]], in the "Shangri-La" episode of the PBS documentary series ''In Search of Myths and Heroes'', suggests that the legendary Shangri-La is the abandoned [[city]] of [[Tsaparang]], and that its two great temples were once home to the kings of [[Guge]] in modern Tibet. |
|||
[[United States|American]] explorers [[Ted Vaill]] and [[Peter Klika]] visited the [[Muli Tibetan Autonomous County|Muli]] area of southern [[Sichuan Province]] in 1999, and revealed that the Muli [[monastery]] in this remote region was the model for James Hilton's Shangri-La, which Hilton learned about from articles on this area in several [[National Geographic Magazine]] articles in the late 1920s and early 1930s written by Austrian-American explorer [[Joseph Rock]]<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/tibet/1402958/Could-this-be-the-way-to-Shangri-La.html "Could This Be the Way to Shangri-La?"] by Timothy Carroll, Electronic Telegraph, London, July 29, 2002</ref>. Vaill completed a film based on their research, "Finding Shangri-La", which debuted at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 2007. |
|||
==Modern usage== |
==Modern usage== |
||
Revision as of 00:13, 12 February 2010
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. In the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance. The word also evokes the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. In the ancient Tibetan scriptures, existence of 7 such places are mentioned as Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung. One of such places is mentioned to be situated somewhere in the Makalu-Barun region.[1]
Did you know that the modern squirrel eats nuts. SO they must live in Shangri-la too! They must be Immortal and they WILL I repeat WILL eat all your nuts. So protect your nuts! I say protect!
Location
Several places in the Buddhist Himalaya between northern India and Tibet have claimed to be the location for Hilton's fictional Shangri-La, largely to attract tourism.
In China, Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty described a Shangri-La in his work Story of the Peach Blossom Valley (Chinese: 桃花源記, pinyin: Táohuā Yuán Jì)[citation needed]. In modern China, the Zhongdian county was renamed to 香格里拉 (Xiānggélǐlā, Shangri-La in Chinese) in 2001, to attract tourists. The legendary Kun Lun Mountains in Tibet offer other possible Shangri-La valleys.
A popularly believed inspiration for Hilton's Shangri-La is the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan, close to the Tibetan border, which Hilton visited a few years before Lost Horizon was published.[2] Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description in the novel. A Shangri-La resort in the nearby Skardu valley is a popular tourist attraction.
Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of southern Kham in southwestern Yunnan province, including the tourist destinations of Lijiang and Zhongdian. Places like Sichuan and Tibet also claim the real Shangri-La was in its territory. In 2001, Tibet Autonomous Region put forward a proposal that the three regions optimise all Shangri-la tourism resources and promote them as one. After failed attempts to establish a China Shangri-la Ecological Tourism Zone in 2002 and 2003, government representatives of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region signed a declaration of cooperation in 2004. Also in 2001, Zhongdian County in northwestern Yunnan officially renamed itself Shangri-La County.
Bhutan, which until 1999[dubious – discuss] was largely isolated from the outside world and has its unique form of Tibetan Buddhism, has been hailed as the last Shangri-La.
Another place that has been thought to have inspired the concept of Shangri-La is the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon.
TV Presenter and historian Michael Wood, in the "Shangri-La" episode of the PBS documentary series In Search of Myths and Heroes, suggests that the legendary Shangri-La is the abandoned city of Tsaparang, and that its two great temples were once home to the kings of Guge in modern Tibet.
American explorers Ted Vaill and Peter Klika visited the Muli area of southern Sichuan Province in 1999, and revealed that the Muli monastery in this remote region was the model for James Hilton's Shangri-La, which Hilton learned about from articles on this area in several National Geographic Magazine articles in the late 1920s and early 1930s written by Austrian-American explorer Joseph Rock[3]. Vaill completed a film based on their research, "Finding Shangri-La", which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
Modern usage
There are a number of modern Shangri-La pseudo-legends that have developed since 1933 in the wake of the novel and the film made from it. The Nazis had an enthusiasm for Shangri-La, where they hoped to find an ancient master race, similar to the Nordic race, unspoiled by Buddhism. They sent one expedition to Tibet, led by Ernst Schäfer in 1938.
Another pseudo-legend involves the Ojai Valley as the location for the 1937 Frank Capra film Lost Horizon. The outdoor scenes of the villagers of Shangri-La and a cavorting Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt were in fact filmed in nearby Sherwood Forest (Westlake Village) and Palm Springs. The exterior of the grand lamasery was built and later dismantled on the Columbia Ranch in Burbank, California.[4] However, according to film historian Kendall Miller in the photodocumentary bonus feature on the "Lost Horizon" DVD, an aerial shot of Ojai Valley taken from an outlook on Highway 150 was used to represent the Shangri-La valley.
United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, being considerably fond of Hilton's novel, named the presidential retreat, now known as Camp David, "Shangri-La" in 1942. That April, United States bombers secretly launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet bombed Tokyo in a daring raid led by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. Since Tokyo was far out of range of any American bomber base at the time, there was intense speculation as to where the bombers had come from. President Roosevelt facetiously told a press conference that the bombers had flown from Shangri-La. In line with this pleasantry, one of the aircraft carriers used in the Pacific Ocean was subsequently named USS Shangri-La.
In 1937, Lutcher Stark, a prominent Texas philanthropist, started building his own Shangri-La in Orange, Texas. His Shangri-La was a beautiful azalea garden situated along a cypress/tupelo swamp. By 1950, thousands of people were traveling to Orange to visit Shangri La. Every major magazine dealing with gardens published photographs of the beautiful Shangri La in Texas. In 1958, a major snowstorm struck east Texas, destroying thousands of azaleas and closing the garden for forty years. The garden has recently been renovated and is now open to the public once again.
Use as metaphor and figure of speech
Shangri-la is often used in a similar context to which "Garden of Eden" might be used, to represent an awesome paradise that exists hidden from modern man. It can sometimes be used as an analogy for a life-long quest or something elusive that is much sought. For a man who spends his life obsessively looking for a cure to a disease, such a cure could be said to be that man's "Shangri-La". It also might be used to represent perfection that is sought by man in the form of love, happiness, or Utopian ideals. It may be used in this context alongside other mythical and famous examples of somewhat similar metaphors such as The Holy Grail, El Dorado, The Fountain of Youth, and to an extent "white whale" (referring to the white whale chased by the obsessed Captain Ahab in the book Moby-Dick).
Politically and geographically, the independent and previously independent nations isolated from the West, such as Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tuva, Mongolia, the Tocharian Tushara Kingdom of the Mahābhārata and the Han Dynasty outpost Dunhuang have each been termed Shangri-Las.
See also
References
- Allen, Charles. (1999). The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: Abacus, London. 2000. ISBN 0-349-111421.
- ^ The Makalu-Barun National Park & Buffer Zone Brochure coauthored by Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha, Rabindra Man Joshi and Khagendra Sangam, Published by MBNP, July 2009
- ^ "Shangri-la Valley". Adventure Tours Pakistan. June 20, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
- ^ "Could This Be the Way to Shangri-La?" by Timothy Carroll, Electronic Telegraph, London, July 29, 2002
- ^ http://maroon.uchicago.edu/voices/articles/2002/04/23/doc_spotlight.php
External links
- www.LostHorizon.org information about the book, movie, and real life Shangri-La's.
- Liisa Berg, "Shangri-La: Utopia or Reality?".
- Shangri-La, Yunnan, China - magic and majesty Travel article with photos.
- Shangri-La Photo Gallery Photo gallery of Shangri-La and surrounding areas
- Shangri-La in Yunnan: Another Day in Paradise
- Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center Orange, Texas, USA.