Derge
Derge (Wylie: Sde-dge; ZWPY: Dêgê; simplified Chinese: 德格; pinyin: Dégé) is a small town in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's Sichuan province.
History
Derge was traditionally part of the Tibetan region known as Kham. During the period of rule by the Republic of China (1911-1949), it became nominally part of Xikang province, which included parts of former Kham. In 1930, a Tibetan army invaded Garze, capturing it without much resistance. However, in 1932, the Tibetan army withdrew after suffering defeats elsewhere at the hands of the warlord of Qinghai, Ma Bufang. Chinese warlord Liu Wenhui reoccupied Garze, and signed an agreement with the Tibetans formalizing his control of the area east of the Yangtze River. In 1950, following the defeat of the Kuomintang forces by the People's Liberation Army, the area fell within the control of the People's Republic of China. Xikang was merged with Sichuan in 1955, where Derge and Garze received its present administrative status.
Culture
Derge is famous for its printing house where Kangyur, collection of Buddhist scriptures and Tengyur, collection of commentaries, are printed from wooden blocks since early in 18th century. The Dergé printing house is one of the three most important Tibetan printing establishments in the world.
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