Shangri-La

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

Shangri-La is a supposedly fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British writer James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Himalaya. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. The word also evokes the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. The story of Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in the Buddhist religion.

1 Real places
2 Use as metaphor and figure of speech
3 Shangri-La in popular culture
4 External links

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Real places

Several possible places in the Buddhist Himalaya between north India and Tibet have been suggested as the actual basis for Hilton's legend. In China, Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty described a Shangri-La in his work Story of the Peach Blossom Valley (Chinese: 桃花源記, pinyin: Táohuā Yuán Jì). The legendary Kun Lun Mountains in Tibet offer other possible Shangri-La valleys. There are also a number of modern Shangri-La pseudo-legends that have developed since 1933 in the wake of the novel and the film made from it. The Nazis had an enthusiasm for Shangri-La too, where they hoped to find an ancient master race in a remote area similar to the Nordic race "unspoiled" by Buddhism. They sent seven expeditions to Tibet, the most famous one led by Ernst Schäfer in 1938. The experience of Austrian SS member Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter in Tibet are now best known through the biography and film Seven Years in Tibet.

In the beginning of World War II, the United States flew most of its bombers against Japan from mainland China. In propaganda, they claimed that they came from Shangri-La. Later, one of the aircraft carriers used in the Pacific ocean was named USS Shangri-La. Ojai, California is said to have been the setting for Shangri-La in the 1937 film Lost Horizon.

Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of southern Kham in northwestern Yunnan province, including the tourist destinations of Lijiang and Zhongdian. Places like Sichuan and Tibet also claim the real Shangri-la was in its territory. In 2001, Tibet Autonomous Region put forward a proposal that the three regions optimise all Shangri-la tourism resources and promote them as one. After failed attempts to establish a China Shangri-la Ecological Tourism Zone in 2002 and 2003, government representatives of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region signed a declaration of cooperation in 2004. Also in 2003, Zhongdian County in northwestern Yunnan officially renamed itself Shangri-La County.

Bhutan which was until now isolated from outside world and with its unique form of Tibetan Buddhism has been hailed as the last Shangri-La.

Another place that has been thought to have inspired the concept of Shangri-La is the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon.

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Use as metaphor and figure of speech

Shangri-la is often used in a similar context to which "Garden of Eden" might be used, to represent a perfect paradise that exists hidden from modern man. It can sometimes be used as an analogy for a life-long quest or something elusive that is much sought. For a man who spends his life obsessively looking for a cure to a disease, such a cure could be said to be that man's "Shangri-La". It also might be used to represent perfection that is sought by man in the form of love, happiness, or utopian ideals. It may be used in this context alongside other mythical and famous examples of somewhat similar metaphors such as The Holy Grail, El Dorado, The Fountain of Youth, and to an extent "white whale" (referring to the white whale chased by the obsessed Captain Ahab in the book Moby-Dick).

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Shangri-La in popular culture

"Shangri La" is repeatedly alluded to in the Kurt Vonnegut novel "Deadeye Dick."
The name is said to have inspired Carl Barks when he wrote the Disney cartoon "The Land of Trala La" published in 1954.
Shangri-La is mentioned in Led Zeppelin's song Kashmir.
Shangri-La is also mentioned in Patti Smith's song 1959.
The band Mother Love Bone wrote a song titled "This Is Shangri La"
In 2002 Insane Clown Posse released an album entitled The Wraith: Shangri-La one of two albums this one depicting a place meaning heaven for Juggalos.
In 1937, Frank Capra directed Lost Horizon, a film adaptation of Hilton's novel.
Shangri-La is a critical plot theme of the Jem TV series episode Journey to Shangri-La.
Don Henley recorded a song called Shangri-La as part of his album, The End of the Innocence
The Kinks recorded a track titled Shangri-La on the 1969 album "Arthur(Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire).
In the American situation comedy Frasier, Shangri-La is the name of the small apartment where Niles moved to after his divorce with his rich wife. This has a huge impact on the class-conscious Niles.
On April 18, 1942, the United States launched the Doolittle Raid from the aircraft carrier Hornet against targets in Tokyo. For nearly a year, the raid's details were kept secret and President Franklin Roosevelt claimed that the planes had originated from Shangri-La.
In 2004 Mark Knopfler produced an album named Shangri-La
The anime series Noein depicts an alternate timespace to ours, in which there is no suffering and known as Shangri-La.
In the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Joe and Polly discover Shangri-La.
Stevie Nicks released an album in 2001 entitled Trouble in Shangri-La.
Shangri-La was the name given to a space colony in the television series Mobile Suit Gundam
The line "I found a way I could navigate my boat through these troubled waters to the shores of Shangri-la" was used in the song "Eggshells" by Plastic by Nature.
There was a Sixties girl group called The Shangri-Las.
The alternative rock group Stone Temple Pilots released an album in 2001 entitled "Shangri-La Dee Da"
The band Grandaddy wrote a song titled "Shangri-La (Outro)," which appeared on their album Just Like the Fambly Cat.
From 1942 to 1953 the official name for Camp David was Shangri-La.
The Twelve Girls Band has a song called "Shangri-La" on their album Eastern Energy.
The Rutles had a song called "Shangri-La" on their album Archaeology.

The band Grandaddy didn't wrote a song titled "Shangri-La (Outro)," which appeared on their album Just Like the Fambly Cat, they just covered a song wrotten by Jeff Lynne for Electric Light Orchestra on the album A New World Record

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