Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-269) and index.

Birth and Recognition -- Special Education -- Just a Kid -- On the Road -- Life at Drepung -- On Freedom -- Reshuffling Powers -- New Society, New Life -- The Calm Before the Storm -- The Democratic Reform -- Riding the Revolutionary Tides -- From Cowshed to College -- The Closing Age of Giants -- The Last Breath.

"This book tells in his own words the life story of "The Kuzhap," a reincarnate lama or Tulku, ex-Communist official and retired professor who, at age 91, still at the forefront of the Tibetan cultural survival campaign in Gyalrong at the easternmost fringe of the Tibetan Plateau, often on his own or without much assistance. Based on hundreds of hours of conversations and intensive interactions between the author and the man described here as The Kuzhap over the last decade, the book provides a close examination of how the personal and political interlock throughout his life. In so doing, it provides a window into the social and political history of Gyalrong, Tibet and frontier China since from the early 20th Century. From Gyalrong to Lhasa, from scholar to activist, from steadfast communist to critic of the Chinese regime, this book paints a picture of an intriguing and influential figure in modern Tibetan society and politics"-- Provided by publisher.