High Asia Book Club
House of the Turquoise Roof
Dorje Yudon Tuthok
Book Discussion on May 29 2026
Location: Ngatso Cafe - 39-08 63rd St, Woodside, NY 11377
Abstract
This frank and thoughtful autobiography of Tibetan noblewoman describes life in upper class Lhasa society before the Chinese invasion. The author possesses an insider’s view of the highest government circles - both her father and her husband were cabinet ministers - as well as a novelist’s sensitivity for the revealing detail that brings this fascinating past to life.
The timelessness of this world, its slow but unmistakable modernization, and the abrupt transition brought about by the Chinese invasion are vividly portrayed. Mrs. Yuthok’s outlook on life is grounded in the Buddhist principles she learned as a close disciple of well known lamas and spiritual teachers.
Valuable for its historic record as well as for the light it sheds on the position of women in Tibetan society, these memoirs are essential reading for anyone interested in Tibetan society past or present.
About the Author
Dorje Yudon Yuthok 1912–1998) was a Tibetan noblewoman and author who penned the memoir House of the Turquoise Roof (1990). As a member of the Lhasa aristocracy and wife of a cabinet minister, she provided a rare, intimate account of upper-class Tibetan life before the 1959 Chinese occupation, focusing on family, tradition, and her Buddhist practice.
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