“Namseling” means “the place of the God of Wealth”.
Namseling Manor is located in Namseling Village, Zhaqi Township, Zhanang County, about 25 kilometers away from Shannan City.
It is the earliest manor in Tibet. It was built in the late Tubo Dynasty and reached its current scale during the Phagdru Regime. It took 26 years to complete the construction
It is a microcosm of Tibet’s feudal serfdom society, embodies the Tibetan’s ingenuity in manor-style architectural art
Brief
Namseling Manor was once the estate of a feudal aristocrat in Zhanang County, developed on the basis of the “Jang·Tashi Roden” Manor.
The original Tashi Roden Manor was located in the present Laba Village, with a four-story main building founded by “Jang·Tashi Roden.”
As the power of the feudal manor grew, the scale of the Tashi Roden Manor was no longer the ideal paradise for Tibetan nobles.
Therefore, a new manor was built in an open area north of the Tashi Roden Manor, with a seven-story main building, known as “Namseling Manor.”
In the mid-13th century, the Sakya Regime (A regime that was built and controled by Sakya Pa) established “thirteen – 10 thousand households” in Tibet with the support of the Yuan Dynasty central government and ruled over Tibet.
“Phagdru 10-thousand households” implemented a series of reform measures in its jurisdiction to consolidate its power and expand its influence.
During the reign of Phagdru 10-thousand households under Dorje Palsang, many manors were established and rebuilt with expansion including Namseling Manor.
The Langsailing Manor family produced some prominent figures, including two living Buddhas from Dorgé Monastery, the scholar Panchen Lobzang Yeshe (who left behind three enduring works), and the local government leader “Kalön”
During the Cultural Revolution in 1960s of 20 century, the manor suffered destruction, with all subsidiary buildings demolished; the main building and inner and outer walls are also incomplete and precarious.
The severe collapse of the interior of the main building led to the fifth to seventh floors being mostly nonexistent.
In 2006, Namseling Manor underwent emergency repairs funded by the local goverment, following the principle of restoring the manor’s main structures to their original state. So that, the main building of the manor was largely restored to its original condition
The Construction
Namseling Manor, despite some damage, retains its main building and wall structure, making it one of the most well-preserved ancient noble manors in Tibet today.
The manor features a unique architectural technique of stone and rammed earth construction with a harmonious ratio of earth and stone pressure, a design concept rarely seen in Tibetan history.
It combines the luxury of the old Tibetan aristocracy with the misery of the serfs, encompassing various elements such as prisons, hovels, stables, granaries, living rooms, monastic halls, secret passages, defensive walls, and moats, showcasing remarkable design and craftsmanship.
The main building of the manor, reaching seven stories high, stands on a stone base wall over 7 meters high at the bottom, transitioning to rammed earth walls with stone slabs in between, with a wall thickness of about 1.4 meters and a total height of 22 meters.
The perimeter is fortified with shooting holes and double walls, including a 5-meter-wide moat between the inner and outer walls, all built with stones for defense.
The main building faces south within the inner wall slightly north of the center.
The eastern half of the main building is entirely constructed with stone walls adorned with eight auspicious patterns, with an additional 4.3-meter-wide annex at the eastern end, clearly showing signs of later additions.
In front of the main entrance, there is a rectangular platform with steps on the front and left sides for access, designed with wider and lower steps in the front and narrower and higher steps on the left.
Additionally, arrow slits are strategically placed around the main building, allowing guards to shoot enemies from above if they breach the defensive walls and moats, serving a crucial defensive purpose in ancient warfare.
Apart from the main building, there is a shorter South Tower with stables and livestock sheds on the side.
Surrounding the main building are several small low houses.
To the north outside the manor walls, there is a large field used as a wheat threshing ground after harvest each year.
On the south side outside the manor walls, there is a picturesque orchard (now transformed into a farmhouse resort) with an area comparable to that inside the walls, featuring apple, peach, and apricot trees as well as various flowers along the roads and in the woods. A pavilion within the flower beds enhances the beauty of the garden.
Namseling Manor stands as a prime example of early high-rise buildings constructed with stone and rammed earth in Tibetan history, representing a significant historical witness to the transition from a slave society to a feudal serfdom system in Tibetan society. It provides valuable evidence for the systematic study of the formation and developmental period of feudal manors in history.
The Main Building and the Linca
The steps of the Namseling Manor are high, leading up along the steps is the main entrance of the building. The exquisite carved door pillars with intricate carvings of “God of Wealth Leading the Elephant” and “Mongol taming the Tiger” images adorn the door, which are typical Tibetan guardian images.
Namseling Ground Floor
Under the old Tibetan feudal serfdom system, almost all noble manors had punishment rooms and prisons specifically designed to punish serfs.
The lowest level of the Namseling Manor is the prison. The entrance to the prison is tightly guarded by a 7-centimeter thick wooden door. Upon entering the prison, the air is filled with a damp and decaying smell, chilling to the bone. The only ventilation and light source in the prison are four arrow slits less than 10 centimeters wide in each corner. Even on scorching days outside, the dungeon remains as cold as ice.
The entire prison surrounds the manor, although it is over 5 meters high, the limited ventilation and lighting facilities still make it feel extremely oppressive. When three to five “prisoners” were shackled together and thrown into the prison, they couldn’t sit or lie down, enduring dampness, coldness, and hunger, forced to labor during the day and locked in the dungeon at night.
Additionally, this level also serves as a place for keeping livestock.
Namseling The Third Floor
Upon entering the main building, one is already on the third floor of the entire building (the first floor being the prison, and the second floor being the warehouse). However, this floor is not yet where the privileged live. The rooms on this floor vary in size and lighting, some are spacious while others are dark and gloomy, some even have intricately carved beams and pillars, giving the feeling of entering a maze. This floor houses the granary, although the entrance to the granary is on the fourth floor. There are only a few small rooms on this dimly lit floor, occupied by several “Nyamba” (grain stewards), with the rest dedicated to the granary, consisting of 5 rooms with 4 grain outlets, Tibetan-style movable grain boards for easy access, and incredibly spacious granaries.
Namseling The Fourth Floor
Upon reaching the fourth floor of the main building, you will find the rent collection and treasure storage secret room. The rent collection room is quite spacious and serves as the entrance to the granary, but the grain inlet is small, allowing only grain to be poured in, making it difficult to see how much grain is inside. Next to the rent collection room is the “Shag-Khang,” the meat storage room, where beef, lamb, and pork pile up like mountains all year round, provided for free by serfs in large quantities to support the noble lifestyle. The only remaining items are the cowhide ropes used for hanging meat and the densely packed meat hooks on the beams.
This floor also houses a place called “Dzo-Khang,” specifically for storing the mountains of gold, silver treasures, and valuable household items of the nobles. Although “Dzo-Khang” is spacious, it is well hidden and managed by a steward highly trusted by the nobles, whose living quarters are also on this floor. Next to “Dzo-Khang” is a small bedroom for the noble’s chief steward, whose status is second only to the nobles and must be a trusted confidant of the manor owner, making them one of the most important figures in the entire manor.
Namseling The Fifth Floor
This floor is where the family members of the manor owner reside. The previous four floors lay the foundation of their luxurious lifestyle, but from here on, you can witness their actual living spaces. This level features large and small bedrooms intricately arranged, along with a living room, balcony, skylight, and bathroom, all exquisitely designed. Especially notable is the huge skylight that leads directly to the top floor, ensuring ample ventilation and natural light, keeping the rooms warm in winter and cool in summer. The first rays of the morning sun in winter can penetrate through the skylight and balcony, reaching the bedrooms, while the fragrance of rain-soaked woods in summer can waft into every room above this level.
However, each room’s specific decoration and interior design may vary, but they all boast luxurious elegance. There is also a grand common reception hall on this floor, with 3 rows of 12 columns, primarily used to entertain esteemed guests. The walls are adorned with exquisite murals depicting religious themes, celebrations, as well as blessings for disaster relief and peace. It is said that some of the artists who painted these murals were invited from Dratang Monastery (known as the origin of Tibetan murals and Dunhuang murals), using painting techniques that are now lost, making the murals at Namseling Manor even more precious.
Namseling The Sixth Floor
This is where the true owner of Namseling Manor resides. In addition to all the facilities of the previous fifth floor, this floor is even more luxurious and extravagant in its decoration. Furthermore, this level includes a secret meeting room and a morning tea room. Due to the appearance of a living Buddha in their family, it is a daily ritual for the manor owner to recite scriptures upon waking up, hence a Buddhist hall and scripture repository are also set up here.
Namseling The Seventh Floor
Namseling Manor, having given birth to three living Buddhas, has a Buddhist hall specially constructed on the top floor (seventh floor). Although simple, it consists of a bedroom, balcony, and scripture room, where ordinary people (including nobles) are generally not allowed to enter. The living Buddha is the most respected individual in the family, holding a prominent position in both the monastic and secular realms, thus receiving great reverence with dedicated attendants catering to their every need, embodying the saying “no distracting music, no laborious writing.”
Namseling Linka – the garden
Located 50 meters south of the manor, Linka of Namseling Manor consists of front and back yards. It is said that in the past, the Namseling Linka housed numerous rare birds, exotic animals, unique flowers and plants, and precious trees. There were over 20 different varieties of apple trees alone, including tropical crops, which surviving in Tibet is considered a miracle. According to local elders, tropical crops were gradually acclimatized to the plateau climate through successive transplanting, starting from the tropics and moving hundreds of kilometers to higher altitudes until the plants adapted to the highland climate.
Although Linka has undergone several damages, the remaining tree species include pine, cypress, apricot, pear, peach, apple, hawthorn, ginseng fruit, walnut, poplar, willow, and more, along with bamboo, roses, and various unidentified exotic plants. Amidst the murmuring water and chirping birds, it feels like a secluded paradise.
The noble Linka primarily serves as a venue for nobles to celebrate, drink, dance, worship, and entertain, where servants are generally not allowed to enter.
One of the distinctive features of the former Tibetan local government was the integration of politics and religion, with intricate connections between politics, power, and religion permeating every aspect of social life.
Namseling’s family produced three living Buddhas. The prominent white-ma grass daughter wall (in Tibet, only families with living Buddhas can build the white-ma grass daughter wall) quickly became a symbol of their prestigious status. Additionally, the manor owner embedded religious decorations like the “Six-Syllable Mantra” and the “Great Compassion Mantra” on the main exterior wall.
