Visiting Lhasa, Tibet

Duane and I visited Lhasa, Tibet earlier this month. A fascinating place with an ancient and conflicted history that today is still one of the most religious places on earth. So this blog will be more about political and social history than a travel log.

Lhasa City

First, Duane and I were planning to go to Lhasa and then Kathmandu when the earthquake hit Nepal one week before we left.  We cancelled the plans for Kathmandu and hoped that we would still be allowed to visit Lhasa.  To visit Lhasa, any non-Chinese person must have a Tibetan Tour Permit.  This is not issued until a couple days before you leave so after the earthquake I was afraid we wouldn't be allowed to go.   There were casualties on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest and some of the relief efforts were crossing into Nepal along the Friendship Highway that runs between Lhasa and Kathmandu.  In addition roads going towards the Mt Everest Base Camp were only open to Relief vehicles.   Fortunately our plan was to stay in and around Lhasa, so we got the tour permit. The other requirement for visiting Tibet is that you will have an approved guide accompany you everywhere.

   

Prayer Flags on the top of houses.  Usually a
Chinese Flag is also present

 Some historical background before I tell you about the current situation in The Tibetan Autonomous Region.   I know my American friends will be disappointed to learn that most of what you think you know about Tibet came from a CIA campaign in the 1960’s.   During this period there were large not very covert operations along side the Tibetans to push back the Chinese who had invaded Tibet in the 1950’s. The US view of Tibet was shaped by the need of the US government to gain support for their actions.  That doesn't mean everything you were told was a lie just that it was a selective dissemination of information.

The first time I heard the Chinese version of events was while attending graduate school.  I had many Chinese classmates. One told me, they learn in school that the Chinese invaded Tibet to end slavery.  Well I thought that was nonsense.  However, it turns out that Tibet did indeed still have slavery in the 20^th century. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. The Tibetans believed that if you were born into a poor or surf family it was because of your past life sins. And, they were very cruel to these people. Of course that isn't why China wanted Tibet but ending slavery is an easy sell. You can see how muddled the picture is becoming.

Historically, Tibet has been a very unstable region with many periods of governance by others. Many of the Chinese dynasties did claim Tibet; however there were varying degrees of supervision. Many allowed the Tibetan some form of self-rule. The last dynasty, Qing, did include Tibet and had large military outposts in Tibet. It was during the post dynasty period (1919 to 1949) that Tibet had complete self-rule.

 

Potalba Palace- In the past, home to the Dali Lama

 The Mongols also held Tibet are various times in history and are quite close to the Tibetans both ethnically and religiously.  Tibetan Buddhism was exported to Mongolia during the period of the Khans. It was the Mongols who introduced Buddhism to China during the times when the Mongols invaded and ruled China.  When Mongolia was annexed into the Soviet Union,  it gave the US even more reason to try and keep Tibet from becoming pro-soviet.   At one point even the UK tried to expand their empire into Tibet from India. 

One can hardly imagine a worse fit than Communist China and Buddhist Tibet.  Sixty years after the Chinese takeover, Tibet is still “resisting” assimilation.  China calls it Tibetan Liberation and will celebrate 60 years of liberation this summer.  There is no way militarily that the Tibetans will ever defeat the Chinese and with each new generation the Chinese slowly work to instill new thinking in the population.

Two cute little girls who watched me shop

An example of this is the educational system here.  Education was provided solely by the Buddhist monasteries prior to the current Chinese governance.  It was common for 2 out of every three children to become monks (for life) as both a way to get an education and because Buddhism reigns over every part of Tibetan life.  The monasteries had thousands of monks.  Several in the Lhasa area had 6,500 monks at the time of the takeover.  Now the Chinese allow no more than 600 Monks at any one monastery.  In addition the Chinese opened non-religious schools to educate the populous.  However if you lived in a village; there wasn't a school. Or if your parents had suspicions about the schools you didn't go.  

Currently in Tibet, there are a pretty good sized number of ethnic Tibetans in their 30’s or older who did not go to school.  This may be one of the reasons that the Tibetan language and customs are still very much alive – “home schooling”.  Just like in other areas of China there is a big push to provide more education.  Currently if a child does well in elementary school, they can get into a boarding school located in mainland China.  Boarding school is quite common here as the children living in small towns and villages move after 6^th grade to a boarding school to get a better education. Oh, and the parents pay for this education! Of course, the Tibetans want education for their children but it comes with a cost.  The children will speak nothing but Chinese at school and will learn the Chinese version of their history.

The Chinese use a wide variety of measures to control the Tibetans.  First Tibetans are not allowed to have passports. They have Chinese identification cards.  Therefore they are not free to go to other countries.  Until recently many traveled illegally through the Himalayas to India. The Tibetan Monks who travel to the US come from the Tibetan communities in India.  A few years ago the Chinese government offered money for Tibetans to return and then tightened the border.  Speaking badly about the Chinese will get you black-listed.  This means you won’t be able to get a job.  These is still great advantage to being a government official, especially in Tibet. There is a lot of political power available to make life difficult for dissenters as well as monetary kick backs to “clean up” someone’s record.

In addition there are a number of things the Chinese government does to keep this type of dissent out of the ears and eyes of the mainland Chinese Citizens.  For example no map or globe is allowed in China that shows Tibet or Taiwan in a separate color. (As in not part of China). 

Visiting Tibet today is a fascinating experience.  Tibetans are very proud of their religion and ethnic origin.  While they all speak Chinese, they would rather speak Tibetan. I shared a bench with an older lady who lit up when I greeted her with Tashi Delek.  Every day there are large crowds of locals and pilgrims who circumambulate the Potalba Palace and the Jokhang Temple.  Many devout Tibetans (which is a redundant phrase) walk around the Potalba Palace praying while holding their prayer beads or prayer wheels. Once inside the religious part of the palace, they will pray in the assembly hall, as well as in front of many special statues often leaving a small donation in every location.  At the Jokhang Temple, some pilgrims prostrate (lay on the ground) every step of the way, thus inching around the 1 km circle.  The Jokhang Temple has 4 large incent burners that pilgrims feed as the make the walk.  Prostration is an important expression of Tibetan devotion ideally Tibetans will prostrate themselves 100,000 a year.  Each motion involves touch their hands to the foreheads (representing the mind), mouths (speech) and chest (body) before lying flat with arms outstretched.

I personally found the Buddhist religion quite complicated.  There are many representations of the past, present and future Buddhas.  There are protectors some of who look pretty scary.  My favorite was the compassionate Buddha with 1000 eyes.  The one who sees everything you do and is still compassionate. This is the patron Buddha of Tibet.

Sera Monastery Debating Monks

The Sera Monastery is famous for the debating monks.  It is actually the older Monks quizzing the newer ones.  It was a lot of fun watching their dramatic style.  The teacher Monk Slaps his hands together for a quick answer and slaps the back of the hand for a wrong answer.   Sere Monastery is also where the locals bring their children for blessing of good sleep and no nightmares.  Each child received a black mark on their nose from the Monk.

Ganden Monastery

The Ganden Monastery is 45 km outside Lhasa, on a mountain top.  (Elevation over 14,000 feet).  There are spectacular views all around.  This Monastery was damaged after the Chinese invasion and then destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.  The majority of it has been lovingly rebuilt with traditional materials. This Monastery was founded in the 1400’s by Tsongkhapa. The Tibetans call these Monks the yellow hats. This was a major teaching Monastery and is where the current Dali lama took his final examinations. 

Pray Flags going up the mountain near Ganden Monastery. Directly center in the
picture are the barracks for the military stationed at Ganden Monastery

Around Ganden Monastery is a small village that reminds me so much of the buildings of the American Indians.  We could see the clay bricks baking in the sun, and the piles of Yak dung used as fire starter.

Many women in Tibet still wear the traditional dress on a daily basis.  In other words this is not a dress up costume for ceremony.  I loved the style so I had one made for me.  The apron signifies a married woman but you’ll notice that it is a decorative item not a practical one. 

I found that kindness was the bedrock of the Tibetan people.  They are very kind and civil towards each other and just as kind to guests.  For most part, what you see is a Gandhi-esque type determination to maintain their language, alphabet, and way of life against a behemoth more interested in homogeneity.