Return to Tibet at economist.com

The Economist is running an interesting series of observations by a journalist returning to Tibet for the first time since the 2008 unrest. Of Lhasa, the unnamed author observes, “An occasional visit by a journalist gives the impression that the city is open. It is still far from it.” In Shigatse, however, he seems to go along with his guide’s claim that the locals all accept Gyaincain Norbu (the one appointed by the government) as the true Panchen Lama, speculating that, “China’s success, so far at any rate, in keeping Xigatse [sic] relatively calm will make it all the more inclined to try the same tactic when the Dalai Lama dies.”

Trees for Tibet

http://treesfortibet.blogspot.com

I have set up this blog with the hope to raise money to help the people of Lowah village in Amdo province, East Tibet. They live in an area called Mangra and 1000’s of peoples livelihoods are effected by the increasing problem of desertification. Amdo is also an area which has maintained a very strong nomadic culture.

This way of life is under threat by new Chinese law and if the nomads grasslands are also destroyed by the desertification they will be forced from their land in to Chinese cities. This sadly will help contribute to the death of a proud and unique way of life.

A Fable From the Himalayas

A wonderful short film, made in Himachal Pradesh,showing the importance of trees in the fight against climate change.

The Lost World

Here is a very interesting documentary by the BBC about Tibet in the 1930s and leading up the Chinese invasion of Tibet. It has a lot of very rare and amazing footage of the Dalai Lama and his family, festivals in Lhasa, and the Chinese occupation. It also includes commentary from the Dalai Lama, Samdhong Rinpoche, and others like the Dalai Lama’s sister-in-law.

British Perceptions of Tibet in the late 19th to the early 20th century

For centuries Tibet has been a place of intrigue in Western minds. From as early as the time of Herodotus (484-425 BCE) the mythical perceptions of Tibet were already present in the West. In Herodotus’s third book of his work Histories apodeixis he describes fox-sized ants who would lived nearby tribes of people who lived north of the Indians. The fox-sized ants would dig up the sand to construct their underground homes while unearthing amounts of gold dust in the process. In the mornings gold-seekers would quickly come to gather up as much sand as possible before fleeing from the pursuing giant ants.¹

As centuries passed the beliefs associated with Tibet in the West were no longer confined solely to these types of “mythical” and “mystical” beliefs, by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the British perceptions of Tibet were now not only based from that of myth but also of historical images derived mainly from the academic research of British officials. The British perceptions of Tibet and Tibetans during this period were diverse, and in some cases conflicted by opposing perceptions, but they were largely rooted or influenced by British imperialist aims. To many British perceptions, Tibet was a mysterious and unexplored frontier that intrigued curiosities, imperialist desires, as well as fears; to others Tibet was the land of a people who were believed to be an immoral, dirty, ignorant and over-religious race of people; and to others Tibet was the land of a degenerative form of Buddhism that acted as a blinding influence on the Tibetan people with a despotic ruling class of Lamas who extorted the Tibetan people. However, although the British perceptions of Tibet in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries were diverse, they were heavily influenced by the imperialist colonial desires of the British.

Ngabo Ngawang Jigme (1910 – 2009)

Ngabo Ngawang Jigme died a few days ago, just two months short of his 100th birthday. For good or ill, Ngabo had been one of the major figures in Tibetan politics since the 1940s. The scion of an aristocratic family, he rose through the ranks of the old Tibetan government to become one of the four members of the Kashag, which was generally the highest rank below the ruler. In 1950, at a crucial moment in Tibet’s history, the Kashag appointed Ngabo the governor of Kham (which in practice meant the area around Chamdo) and the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan forces on the frontier with Chinese-controlled territory; this was just as the new People’s Republic of China was consolidating its rule over the eastern Tibetan areas and moving its armies into place to attack the Tibetan government’s territory. Ngabo felt that it was futile to meet the Chinese with arms and that the only hope lay in a negotiated surrender; thus, when the People’s Liberation Army advanced on Chamdo, Ngabo surrendered. Ngabo became the Tibetan government’s lead negotiator in the talks that produced the 17 Point Agreement by which Tibet acquiesced to joining the PRC. He ignored the instructions given by the Kashag as utterly unrealistic and argued that if Lhasa disapproved of the agreement he signed they could simply refuse to ratify it.

The Influence of the Occult on the 1939 German Expedition to Tibet

Ernst Schäfer and his expeditionary team in Lhasa in 1938

In the late spring of 1938 a German expedition team arrived in Calcutta with the aim of entering into Tibet. The expedition team consisted of: Zoologist, ornithologist, and expedition leader Ernst Schäfer; Entomologist, photographer, and camera operator, Ernst Krause; Ethnologist, Bruno Beger; Geophysicist, Karl Wienert; and technical caravan manager Edmund Greer. As well as being scientists, all of the five members were also officers in the SS. Weeks before the German invasion of Poland on September 1^st, 1939, the team had returned from their expedition and had successfully entered Tibet and had collected a large amount of scientific material.¹ Occultism, the belief in the existence of secret, mysterious, or supernatural agencies, has been claimed to have links to Nazism and its beliefs on the roots of the Aryan Race. For many, the 1939 German expedition to Tibet was proof of this link. Some theories claim that Hitler held occultist beliefs of a hidden population of Aryan supermen in the Himalayas and that the expedition was thus driven by Hitler’s desire to find these people. Other’s point to Himmler and claim that it was his occult beliefs in Tibet that led him to sponsor the expedition and then use it to serve his occultic interests. However, contrary to the claims of many sensational genres of literature, the 1939 German Expedition to Tibet was not driven by occult beliefs on the roots of the Aryan race, but rather by the scientific interests of Ernst Schäfer.

Free Dhondup Wangchen!

The New York Times reports that Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker who was arrested after recording statements from his countrymen criticising the government’s rule of Tibet, is now on trial for subversion. His film, entitled Leaving Fear Behind, was smuggled out of China shortly before he was arrested in March 2008. He has apparently been tortured while in custody, which, unfortunately, does not seem surprising. Now he has written a letter, smuggled out of prison, saying that his trial on charges of state subversion has begun. This is a particularly blatant and unconscionable attempt by the government to stamp out any public discussion by Tibetans of the issues confronting, and everyone who cares about their own freedom or that of their neighbors should call upon the Chinese government to free Dhondup Wangchen. Furthermore, the public should pressure American authorities and other influential parties to pressure China to show leniency in this case. Since Dhondup Wangchen has apparently not been accused of violent acts or political organising, this seems like the sort of case where the Chinese government might bend under pressure.

Please see the take action page on the Leaving Fear Behind site for suggestions on contacting the authorities in China and in your home country.

http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/take-action.html

The seed of a new Tibet policy in Kham?

The ICT reports on an interesting, if temporary and idiosyncratic, development in rural Dhrango County in Kham (near Nyarong; outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region): at the time of the Dalai Lama’s birthday a couple months ago, instead of preventing the public from celebrating, local officials actively promoted the celebrations.  They apparently handed out photographs of the Dalai Lama and, according to one source, they even “gave a speech in praise of the Dalai Lama”! It’s not unprecedented for CCP officials in rural areas to organise religious festivals, such as, for instance, a festival honoring a local god or King Gesar, etc.;  but a living political figure is something different, and the Dalai Lama is normally considered radioactive in Chinese politics.

Family’s odyssey a history lesson

Tale of Tibetans’ exile unfolds as woman studies her uncle’s life

Sep 11, 2009 04:30 AM

Dasey Wangkhang Silva is the niece of one of the first two Tibetans to come to Canada. She is documenting that pivotal time in history.

Stuart Laidlaw

Faith and Ethics Reporter

Dasey Wangkhang Silva is worried.

Her oldest relatives are getting on in age and soon they will be gone – taking with them the stories of an important chapter in her people’s struggle to survive.

“Their memories are too important for us to lose,” she says. “I want to keep them alive.”

She has already lost her uncle, Tsering Wangkhang, who died 10 years ago. He was one of the first two Tibetans to come to Canada at the invitation of Pierre Trudeau and Bata Shoes in the 1970s. She fears the story of how this country opened its arms to the followers of the Dalai Lama will soon be forgotten.