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No longer Everest

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No longer Everest: Westerners urged to recognize original name of world's highest peak

 

BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Though the Chinese marked the location of Mount Qomolangma. the world's highest peak, on their map more than 280 years ago, Westerners today continue to refer to the peak as Mount Everest, rather than Tibetans' Goddess Qomolangma, the peak's original name.

 

It is time, say scholars and Tibetans, for the world to rectify the error made by British colonialists over a century ago.

 

"In an era when colonialism has long been past, it is high timefor the Western world to respect us Tibetans by recognizing the highest peak on earth in its Tibetan name, Qomolangma," Gelek, a Tibetan scholar with China's Tibetology Center in Beijing, said.

 

Blindly believing themselves the first to discover the tallest mountain straddling the border of China's Tibet and Nepal, Britishpeople named the peak in honor of George Everest, a British surveyor general of India who led a team in surveying the Himalayan ranges in the early 1840s.

 

In a paper published in 1958, Lin Chao, a late prestigious expert on geographic history and topography with Beijing University, noted that the British man did not deserve the honor, as it was Tibetans themselves who first discovered the peak.

 

According to Lin's research, the Manchurian and Han (or Chinese)languages in names of Qomolangma first appeared in different editions of the Atlas of the Whole Imperial Territory in 1719 and 1721 respectively during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

 

The survey and marking of Qomolangma on the map by Chinese people preceded the British colonists' mapping by more than 130 years, Lin said.

 

In the Tibetan language, Qomolangma represents the mother goddess of the earth.

 

"The British colonists gave the name only because they thought it had no name," Prof. Chen Qingying, an expert with the Tibetology Center, said. "It was very cocky and blind of the British to believe that they could make discoveries everywhere andpose themselves as discoverers."

 

Basang Cering, a Tibetology major from Shigatse of Tibet studies in the Central University for Ethnic Minorities, said he was convinced that no Tibetans could accept the British name for the world's highest peak.

 

"How could they name our goddess after a foreign man?" he said."The sound is disharmonious with the legends about the holy peak we Tibetans have known from generation to generation. This is a disrespect and discrimination against our Tibetan culture."

 

Prof. Losang Tenzin, working at Basang Cering's university, said, "It's not simply a question of the name. The name, as well as the peak, holds dear and remains very important to us, it has become part of the Tibetan culture."

 

Xu Tiebing, a professor of international relations at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, noted that the name given by the indigenous people should be fully respected in compliance with thenorms governing international relations.

 

"It was excusable for Westerners to call the peak 'Everest' because of their ignorance of its Tibetan name," Xu said. "But nowso many years have passed and it is really a high time for them torectify the error."

 

Gelek said it is also the duty of the international Tibetology community to use Tibetan names for Tibetan things.

 

"When Qomolangma becomes the only word the people worldwide useto refer to the highest peak on earth, I, as a Tibetan, will then feel at ease and very contented."

 

Surely, Gelek said, the goddess Qomolangma, too, will feel relieved when that day comes.

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/...tent_633565.htm

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Very god Compilation. But does this really mean anything as it is already popular as Mt. Everest?. By the way, I have read in lots of English Book also that the Name of Mt. Everest was that Qmolongmo in Tibet and I have found mentioning the name of SAGARMATHA also as its local name in lots of issues of Brtish Newspapers but unfortunately I cannot remember the issues of those newspaper. Anyway, Is there anything wrong if Chinese call it Qomolongmo, Nepali SAGARMATHA and rest of the World Everest. Anyway Thnak you very much for letting us know the dispute.

 

Yogesh

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May be Chinese and Tibetian call Qmolongmo. It is easy for them to pronouce also.

 

We will continue to call it Sagarmatha I guess. It will be hard to call it with different name than we are used to calling it.

 

Rest of the world will don't care about the new name. They will keep on calling it Mt. Everest. unless they are with some Chinese or Tibetians. biggrin.gif

 

just a thought.

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Hi there !

 

What a gorgeous amalgamation of adventurous news.

 

Himal jee seems to be right about the sagarmatha. It's good to call sagarmatha instead of everest by we nepalese.

 

Thanks and regards !

 

Sajan

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If Nepal Government rename it as Sagarmatha as official name, as currently it is Mt. Everest, then rest of the world has to write it Sagarmatha. So all the power goes to Nepal whether to change name or not. This is my view.

 

We can see, no news paper now write Culcutta, they write kolkotta, also they write Myanmar for Burma.

 

As per calling Mt. Everest for Sagarmatha, I think it was to honour George Everest who declared that Sagarmatha was the highest peak of the world. In my view, he deserved it.

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If Nepal Government rename it as Sagarmatha as official name, as currently it is Mt. Everest, then rest of the world has to write it Sagarmatha. So all the power goes to Nepal whether to change name or not. This is my view.

 

We  can see, no news paper now write Culcutta, they write kolkotta, also they write Myanmar for Burma.

Bharat ji

Does Nepal have all the power to rename its' official name to Sagarmatha so that rest of the world has to follow?

 

It's a big question....

 

I think China has right to do so also because of our silent government, half of our Sagarmatha was taken by China when they took Tibet.

 

We can only question :-

Where was our Nepalese government?

Did our govenment know anything about this or speak anything about it?

 

As per calling Mt. Everest for Sagarmatha, I think it was to honour George Everest who declared that Sagarmatha was the highest peak of the world. In my view, he deserved it

Yes, Sir George Everest deserves for mapping the peak in 1852.

 

 

 

Published in today's METRO

 

China wants the name changed by next year - the 50th anniversay of the first ascent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tensing Norgay.

 

..........

 

Qomolangma is the Chinese equivalent of the Tibetian name for the peak, Chomolungma. Nepal calls it Sagarmatha.

 

Sir Edmund's son, Peter, who has climbed the mountain twice, said " I am happy with Mount Everest."

Edited by himal_rai

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Everest, Qomolangma or Sagarmatha?

 

If Everest is unacceptable, why should the world not prefer the Nepalese name to the Chinese or Tibetan one? Who are the Chinese, of all people, to accuse others of raping Tibet? And how is the "English language hegemonism" of which China complains worse than its Chinese language equivalent?

 

for more click the link below

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,73...,843477,00.html

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Himal ji,

thanx a lot for enlighting us abt whats goin on around Sagarmatha. I strrongly believe that if the official name of the Mt Everest is to be changed (which i dont know why it should), it should be none other than Sagarmatha. The whole world knows Sagarmatha, the highest peak in the world, is situated in Nepal. So doesn't Nepal have the power to say, " we are perfectly fine by the name Mt Everest!"?

Mt everest is not only a Nepali heritage, but is one of the natural beauties of mother Earth. It was introduced to us by the name of Mt Everest, the whole world knows it by the name of Mt Everest, so i dont think theres any point in continue this agrument abt changing the name.. ki kaso Hima Ji? If we are not bothered by its "Western" name, why should the Chinese or Tibettan be? As we all know, a book can not be judged by its cover, Mt Everest will always be Mt Everest.

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Bro I think you did not read my previous reply.

 

>> So doesn't Nepal have the power to say, " we are

>> perfectly fine by the name Mt Everest!"?

 

I think China has right to do so because of our silent government, half of our Sagarmatha was taken by China when they took Tibet or after taking Tibet.

 

That mean half of the what we call Sagarmatha lies in China (Tibet) also.

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