China and Tibet? Was Tibet ever free?

Question

Westerners keep saying "free Tibet" and believe that China took over Tibet and is now an occupying force. However, my question is; was Tibet ever a sovereign country?

According to the Chinese from an older generation, like 1920s; Tibet was always a part of China, and it was never a sovereign nation. It was when China was going through so much chaos in the early 1900s did Tibet try to split away, at which point the stupid Chinese commies went there and to re-establish authority by killing monk.

The point is the world thinks of Tibet as a sovereign state, which China recently conquered, but according to older Chinese Tibet was always apart of China and got smacked around when they tried to leave. Can anyone confirm this.

It would be a shame if the western world has been fighting a cause based on lies. But then again stupid liberals often act on lies and false facts. Liberals are like children looking for a purpose for living.

Answer 1

long time ago

Answer 2

I'd caution TheDude about using as a factual source the Wikipedia article, which is written by a supporter of the Dalai Lama. It's extremely hard to find impartial histories of the kingdom of Tibet, but one of the best, Melvyn C. Goldstein's "The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama," notes that Tibet became part of the Chinese empire when the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered the kingdom back in the 13th century. (Mongols, not Chinese!) Since then the cultures and histories of China and Tibet have been intertwined, though Tibet has always been a unique culture with its own language, history and mythos. Seven centuries of Chinese colonialism have done nothing to diminish this, and in this day and age, such attempts to wipe out a particular culture and language are inexcusable. This is why the "Free Tibet" movement still flourishes, and it's why so many Westerners, especially those who follow the Dalai Lama, support it.

The argument regarding the traditional beliefs of "the Chinese from an older generation, like 1920s," leaves me cold. There are many Japanese from the 1930s and 40s who still believe that Japan had the right to invade China, Korea and southeast Asia, and that Japan has no reason to apologize to those nations for its behavior during World War II. Should we support that sort of mindset, just because a particular generation says so? I don't---I actually get very angry when I hear these lies propagated by the Japanese nationalist right wing. The people who believe this propaganda are in fact ashamed of Japan's defeat and exposure of its war crimes to the world. Similarly, I think China's treatment of Tibet is shameful and the Chinese government is well aware of it: but the more people in the West protest against China's violation of civil rights---not only in Tibet but among its own citizens--- the more defensive the Chinese become. It will be interesting to see how long China can defend itself as it's forced to open its doors for the Olympics in 2008.

Finally, you expose the weakness of this argument by blaming liberals for supporting Tibet's sovereignty. In fact, many conservatives here in the U.S. also support the Dalai Lama and the "Free Tibet" movement. I don't think conservatives, at least the ones I know, are "looking for a purpose for living." They live pretty freaking well and don't apologize for it. And they do not support the Chinese government's treatment of Tibet.

Answer 3

Every person involved in Tibetan Studies in the whole world, excepting only the PRC, knows that Tibet was independent from the fall of the Manchu Empire in 1913 until he was invaded by the Peoples Liberation Army in the 1950's. If there is any difference of opinion among them, it is on the nature of this independence. Was it de jure or onlt de facto? Still, it can't be denied either way. Even an official Chinese history close to the time of the event says that the Thirteenth Dalai Lama "expelled Chung Ying and proclaimed independence."

To say the least, your current choice of "best answer" leaves a great deal to be desired.

Answer 4

Tibet is of coz a part of China since the monarchy reign in China during the Qing dynasty where Emperor Qian Long sent an army to press down the rebellion in Tibet which requested by the Lama. Qing emperor also hand pick the Lama if there is reincarnation chosen by the late Lama. British did force the Nationalist China to sign a referendum called Lhasa Convention to free Tibet and make Tibet under the British colony which rejected by the previous Qing government and again, the attempt failed when Nationalist China rejected. Thus the convention is still not effective and the Tibet claim of independent is illegal until today. Therefore, the 'invasion' of China is to be considered as liberation and not 'aggression'. You can read the articles below here.

Answer 5

from what i've heard, Tibet become part of China in the Qing dynasty.

why the so called "tibet liberation" being supported by western nations?

The reason is, China is considered an enemy to those nations.

the funny thing is, most Tibetan people don't even want the so-called "free tibet".


at this point, Tibet is a part of China, and will continue be a part of China, until the day China fall apart, if that day ever come..

Answer 6

Your facts are totally wrong.

The Tibetan Empire ruled significant parts of Asia for hundreds of years. In modern times, Tibet was autonomous until it was conquered by the BRITISH, not the Chinese, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was at this time that Britain, as part of a colonial game, set China up as a ruler of Tibet. China claimed Tibet as a province, but had no effective rule. While the People's Republic of China has never renounced a CLAIM to Tibet, Tibet enjoyed self-rule again for about 40 years between 1912 and 1950. Thus Tibet has only been under Chinese rule for about 50 years.

Nice try, but us "stupid liberals" have the facts on our side again on this issue.

Next time, read some history and quit relying on name-calling and innuendo.

Answer 7

Not only was it free but it cultually influenced China deeply.

I see a lot of Chinese nationalism over this. But China has to come to terms with the fact that it never controlled the entire Tarim Basin, Manchuria and tibet through its history.

Of course now the PRC has occupied it and hence the nationalist propoganda.

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

Yes it was a free country. I copied part of the history into the answer.

You can read the rest from the website.

Here is the link of a brief history of Tibet.

http://www.friends-of-tibet.org.nz/tibet.html

A brief account of Tibet, its origin, how it grew into a great military power and carved for itself a huge empire in Central Asia, then how it renounced the use of arms to practise the teachings of the Buddha and the tragic conseguences that it suffers today as a result of the brutal onslaught of the Communist Chinese forces is given in the following passages.

Five hundred years before Buddha Sakyamuni came into this world i.e., circa 1063 B.C., a semi-legendary figure known as Lord Shenrab Miwo reformed the primitive animism of the Shen race and founded the Tibetan Bon religion. According to Bonpo sources there were eighteen Shangshung Kings who ruled Tibet before King Nyatri Tsenpo. Tiwor Sergyi Jhagruchen was the first Shangshung King.

Shangshung, before its decline, was the name of an empire which comprised the whole of Tibet. The empire known as Shangshung Go-Phug-Bar-sum consisted of Kham and Amdo forming the Go or Goor, U and Tsang forming the Bar or Middle, and Guge Stod-Ngari Korsum forming the Phug or Interior.

As the Shangshung empire declined, a kingdom known as Bod, the present name of Tibet, came into existence at Yarlung and Chongyas valleys at the time of King Nyatri Tsenpo, who started the heroic age of the Chogyals (Religious Kings). Bod grew until the whole of Tibet was reunited under King Songtsen Gampo, when tha last Shangshung King, Ligmigya, was killed.

The official Tibetan Royal Year of the modern Tibetan calendar is dated from the enthronement of King Nyatri Tsenpo in 127 B.C. This lineage of Tibetan monarchy continued for well over a thousand years till King Tri Wudum Tsen, more commonly known as Lang Darma, was assassinated in 842 A.D.

Most illustrious of the above kings were Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen and Ralpachen. They are called the Three Great Kings.

The Great King Songtsen Gampo with his Nepalese and Chinese Queen

During the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (629-49) Tibet became a great military power and her armies marched across Central Asia. He promoted Buddhism in Tibet and sent one of his ministers and other young Tibetans to India for study. He first took a Tibetan princess from the Shangshung King as his wife and then obtained a Nepalese consort. After invading the Chinese Empire he also obtained a Chinese princess as one of his wives. The two latter wives have been given prominence in the religious history of Tibet because of their services to Buddhism.

During the reign of King Trisong Detsen (755-97) the Tibetan Empire was at its peak and its armies invaded China and several Central Asian countries. In 763 the Tibetans seized the then Chinese capital at Ch'ang-an (present day Xian). As the Chinese Emperor had fled, the Tibetans appointed a new Emperor. This memorable victory has been preserved for posterity in the Zhol Doring (stone pillar) in Lhasa and reads, in part:

"King Trisong Detsen, being a profound man, the breadth of his counsel was extensive, and whatever he did for the kingdom was completely successful. He conguered and held under his sway many districts and fortresses of China. The Chinese Emperor, Hehu Ki Wang and his ministers were terrified. They offered a perpetual yearly tribute of 50,000 rolls of silk and China was obliged to pay this tribute

It was during his time that Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, was founded by Guru Padmasambhava, who also established the supremacy of Buddhism and coverted the indigenous deities into guardians of the Dharma. King Trisong Detsen also expelled the Chinese monk (Hoshang) and banished the Chinese Chan school of Buddhism from Tibet forever and adopted the Indian system. He also declared Buddhism as the state religion of Tibet.

During the reign of King Ralpachen (815-36) the Tibetan armies won many victories and in 821-2 a peace treaty was concluded with China. The inscription of the text of the treaty exists in three places: One outside the Chinese Emperor's palace gate in Ch'ang-an, another before the main gate of Jokhang temple in Lhasa and the third on the Tibetan-China border at Mount Guru Meru. Eminent Tibetan scholars, Kawa Paltsek and Chogru Lui Gyaltsen, worked with Indian scholars, invited them to Tibet and prepared the first Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicon called the Mahavyutpatti.

In 838 King Ralpachen's brother, Tri Wudum Tsen, ascended the throne. He tried to reinstate the Bon religion and persecuted the Buddhists. After his assassination by a Buddhist monk the kingdom was divided between his two sons. With warring princes, lords and generals contending for power the mighty Tibetan Empire disintegrated into many small princedoms and a dark period fell over Tibet during 842-1247.

In 1073 Konchog Gyalpo founded the Sakya monastery. His son and successor, Sakya Kunga Nyingpo, formulated the tantric traditions of the great scholars Marpa and Drogme and founded the Sakya sect. The Sakya lamas grew in power and from 1254 to 1350 Tibet was ruled by a succession of 20 Sakya lamas. The Mongols, who invaded many countries of Europe and Asia, also invaded Tibet and reached Phenpo, north of Lhasa. However, Prince Godan, the ruling Khan, was converted to Buddhism by Sakpa Kunga Gyaltsen, popularly known as Sakya Pandita, and the invading force was withdrawn. The next Khan, Kublai, was also converted to Buddhism by Sakya Pandita's nephew and successor, Sakya Phagpa. In return, Kublai Khan gave recognition of full sovereignty over "the three provinces of Tibet : U-Tsang, Dhotoe and Dhome" to Sakya Phagpa.

The influence of the Sakya priest-rulers gradually declined after the death of Kublai Khan in 1295. In 1358 the province of U (Central Tibet) fell into the hands of the Governor of Nedong, Changchub Gyaltsen, a monk of the Phamo Drugpa branch of Kagyud school, and for the next 86 years, eleven Lamas of the Phamo Drugpa lineage ruled Tibet.

But, after the death of Drakpa Gyaltsen, the fifth Phamo Drugpa ruler, in 1434, power passed into the hands of the Rinpung family who were related to Drakpa Gyaltsen by marriage. From 1436 to 1566 the heads of the Rinpung family held power.

Meanwhile, Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa, one of the greatest scholars of Tibet, was born in 1357. He founded Gaden, the first Gelugpa monastery, in 1409 and began the Gelug lineage.

Good Luck

Answer 10

Tibet is situated between the two ancient civilizations of China and India, but the tangled mountain ranges the Tibetan Plateau and the towering Himalayas serve to distance it from both. The Tibetan language is a member of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Tibetan history is characterized by a special dedication to the Buddhist religion, both in the eyes of its own people as well as for the Mongol and Manchu peoples. Tibet is nicknamed "the roof of the world" or "the land of snows".

Contents [hide]
1 Prehistory
2 Mythological origins
3 The Tibetan empire
3.1 First appearance in history
3.2 Founding of the dynasty
3.3 The reign of Songtsän Gampo
3.4 The reign of Trimang Löntsän (650-677)
3.5 The reign of Tridu Songtsän (677-704)
3.6 The reign of Tride Tsuktsän (704-754)
3.7 The reign of Trisong Detsän (756-797)
3.8 The reign of Mune Tsänpo (797-799)
3.9 The reign of Tride Songtsän (799-815)
3.10 The reign of Ralpacan (815-838)
3.11 The reign of Langdarma (838-842)
4 Tibet divided
5 The Mongols and the Sakya school (1236-1354)
6 Rise of the Phagmodru (1354-1434)
7 Rise of the Geluk school
8 18th and 19th centuries
9 British intervention and occupation
10 Chinese military expelled
11 In the People's Republic of China
12 Notes
13 Bibliography
14 See also
15 External links



[edit] Prehistory
Chinese and "proto-Tibeto-Burman" may have split sometime before 4000 BC, when the Chinese began growing millet in the Yellow River valley while the Tibeto-Burmans remained nomads. Tibetan split from Burman around AD 500.[1][2].

Prehistoric Iron Age hill forts and burial complexes have recently been found on the Chang Tang plateau but the remoteness of the location is hampering archaeological research. The initial identification of this culture is as the Zhang Zhung culture which is described in ancient Tibetan texts and is known as the original culture of the Bön religion.


[edit] Mythological origins
The first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsanpo (Wylie: Gnya'-khri-btsan-po), is supposed to have descended from the sky, or immigrated to Tibet from India. Because of his strange physical features such as having webbed hands, and eyes which close from below, he is supposed to have been greeted by the locals as a god. The king remained connected to the heavens with a rope and rather than dying ascended the same rope again.

The legendary King Drigum Tsenpo (Dri-gum-brtsan-po) provoked his groom Longam (Lo-ngam) to fight with him, and during the fight the King's heaven-cord was cut, he was also killed. Drigum Tsenpo and subsequent kings left corpses and were buried.[3]

In a later myth, first attested in the Maṇi bka' 'bum the Tibetan people are the progeny of the union of a monkey and rock ogress. The Monkey in fact a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Tib. Spyan-ras-gzigs) and the ogress in fact the goddess Tara (Tib. 'Grol-ma).


[edit] The Tibetan empire

Map of Tibetan Empire in 820 in relation to other signficant powersA series of emperors ruled Tibet from the 7th to the 11th century. At times Tibetan rule extended as far south as Bengal and as far north as Mongolia.


[edit] First appearance in history
Tibet first enters history in the Geography of Ptolemy under the name batai (βαται), a Greek transcription of the indigenous name Bod. Tibet next appears in history in a Chinese text where it is referred to as fa. The first incident from recorded Tibetan history which is confirmed externally occurred when King Namri Löntsän (Gnam-ri-slon-rtsan) sent an ambassador to China in the early 7th century.[4]


[edit] Founding of the dynasty
Tibet began at the castle named Taktsé (Stag-rtse) in the Chingba (Phying-ba) district of Chonggyä (Phyongs-rgyas). There, According to the Old Tibetan Chronicle

"A group of conspirators convinced Stag-bu snya-gzigs [Tagbu Nyazig] to rebel against Dgu-gri Zing-po-rje [Gudri Zingpoje]. Zing-po-rje was in turn a vassal of the Zhang-zhung empire under the Lig myi dynasty. Zing-po-rje died before the conspiracy could get underway, and his son Gnam-ri-slon-mtshan [Namri Löntsen] instead led the conspiracy after extracting an oath of fielty from the conspirators."[5]

The group prevailed against Zing-po-rje. At this point Namri Löntsän was the leader of a fledgling state that would become the Tibetan Empire. The government of Namri Löntsän sent two embassies to China in 608 and 609, marking the appearance of Tibet on the international scene.[6]


[edit] The reign of Songtsän Gampo
Songtsän Gampo (Wylie: Srong-brtsan Sgam-po) (born ca. 604, died 650) is the great emperor who expanded Tibet's power and is traditionally credited with inviting Buddhism to Tibet. When his father, Namri Löntsän died by poisoning, circa 618,[7] Songtsän Gampo took control after putting down a brief rebellion.


A statue of Emperor Songtsän Gampo in a cave at YerpaSongtsän Gampo proved adept at diplomacy as well as on the field. The emperor's minister Myang Mangpoje (Wylie: Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang) defeated Sumpa ca. 627.[8] Six years later (c. 632-3) Myang Mangpoje was accused of treason and executed[9][10][11] He was succeeded by minister Gar Songtsän (Mgar-srong-rtsan).

The Chinese records record an envoy in 634. On that occasion the Emperor requested marriage to a Chinese princess and was refused. In 635-6 the Emperor attacked and defeated the Azha (‘A zha) people, who lived around Lake Koko Nur in the northeast corner of Tibet, and who controlled important trade routes into China. After a successful campaign against China in 635-6.[12] The Chinese emperor agreed to provide a Chinese princess to Songtsän Gampo.

Circa 639, after Songtsän Gampo had a dispute with his younger brother Tsänsong (Brtsan-srong), the younger brother was burnt to death by his own minister Khäsreg (Mkha’s sregs) (presumably at the behest of his older brother the emperor).[10][13]

The Chinese princess Wencheng (Tibetan Mung-chang Kung-co) departed China in 640 to marry Songtsän Gampo, she arrived a year later. Peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsän Gampo's reign.

Songtsän Gampo’s sister Sämakar (Sad-mar-kar) was sent to marry Lig-myi-rhya the king of Zhang Zhung. However, when the king refused to consummate the marriage, she then helped her brother to defeat Lig myi-rhya and incorporate Zhang Zhung into the Tibetan Empire.

In 645, Songtsän Gampo overran the kingdom of Zhang Zhung in what is now Western Tibet.

Songtsän Gampo died in 650, he was succeeded by his infant grandson Trimang Lön (Khri-mang-slon). Real power was left in the hands of the minister Gar Songtsän.


[edit] The reign of Trimang Löntsän (650-677)
The minister Gar Songtsän died in 667, after having incorporated Azha into Tibetan territory. Between 665-670 Kotan was defeated by the Tibetans. Emperor Trimang Löntsen (Khri-mang-slon-rtsan) married Thrimalö (Khri-ma-lod), a woman who would be of great importance in Tibetan history. The emperor died in the winter of 676-677, and Zhang Zhung revolts thereafter. In the same year the emperor's son, Tridu Songtsän (Khri-'dus-srong-rtsan), was born.[5]


[edit] The reign of Tridu Songtsän (677-704)
Emperor Tridu Songtsän ruled in the shadow of his powerful mother Thrimalö on the one hand and the influential Gar (Mgar) clan on the other hand. In 685, the minister, Gar Tännyädombu (Mgar Bstan-snyas-ldom-bu) died and his brother, Gar Thridringtsändrö (Mgar Khri-‘bring-btsan brod) was appointed to replace him.[14] In 692, the Tibetans lost the Tarim Basin to the Chinese. Gar Thridringtsändrö defeated the Chinese in battle in 696, and sued for peace. Two years later in 698 emperor Tridu Songtsän invited the Gar clan (over 2000 people) to a hunting party and had them executed. Gar Thridringtsändrö then committed suicide, and his troops loyal to him joined the Chinese. This brought to end the power of the Gar family.[5]

From 700 until his death the emperor remained on campaign in the north-east, absent from Central Tibet, while his mother Thrimalö administrated in his name.[15] In 702 China and Tibet concluded peace. At the end of that year, the Tibetan imperial government turned to consolidating the administrative organization (Tibetan: khö chenpo; Wylie: mkhos chen-po) of the northeastern Sumru (Wylie: Sum-ru) area, which had been the Sumpa country conquered 75 years earlier. Sumru was organized as a new "horn" of the empire. During the summer of 703, Tridu Songtsän resided at Öljag (‘Ol-byag) in Ling (Gling), which was on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, before proceeding with an invasion of Jang (‘Jang). In 704, he stayed briefly at Yoti Chuzang (Yo-ti Chu-bzangs) in Madrom (Rma-sgrom) on the Yellow River. He then invaded Mywa but died during the prosecution of that campaign.[15]


[edit] The reign of Tride Tsuktsän (704-754)
Gyältsugru (Wylie: Rgyal-gtsug-ru), later to become King Tride Tsuktsän (Khri-lde-gtsug-brtsan), was born in 704. Upon the death of Tridu Songtsen, his wife Thrimalö ruled as regent for the infant Gyältsugru.[15] The following year the elder son of Tridu Songtsen, by the name of Lha Balpo (Lha Bal-pho) contested the succession of his one-year-old brother but, at Pong Lag-rang, Lha Balpo was "deposed from the throne" (རྒྱལ་ས་ནས་ཕབ་).[15]

Thrimalö had arranged for a royal marriage to a Chinese princess. The Princess Jincheng (金成) arrived in 710, but it is somewhat unclear whether she married the seven year old Gyältsugru[16] or the deposed Lha Balpo.[17] Gyältsugru was officially enthroned with the royal name Tride Tsuktsän in 712,[15] the same year that dowager emperess Thrimalö died.

The Arabs and Turgis became increasingly prominent during 710-720. The Tibetans were allied with the Arabs and eastern Turks. Tibet and China fought on and off in the late 720s. At first Tibet (with Turgis allies) had the upper hand, but then started losing battles. After a rebellion in southern China, and a major Tibetan victory in 730, the Tibetans and Turgis sued for peace.

In 734 the Tibetans married their princess Dronmalön (‘Dron ma lon) to the Turgis Qaghan. The Chinese allied with the Arabs to attack the Turgis. After victory and peace with the Turgis, the Chinese attacked Tibet by surprise. The Tibetans suffered several defeats in the east, despite strength in the west. The Turgis empire collapsed from internal strife. In 737, the Tibetans launched an attack against the king of Bru-za (Gilgit), who asked for Chinese help, but was ultimately forced to pay homage to Tibet. In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of general Gao Xianzhi, who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia and Kashmir. By 750 the Tibetans had lost almost all of their central Asian colonial possessions to the Chinese. However, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat against the Qarluqs and Arabs on the Talas river (751), Chinese influence decrease rapidly and Tibetan influence resumed.

In 755 Tride Tsuktsän was killed by the ministers Lang and Bal. Then Tagdra Lukong (Stag-sgra Klu-khong) presented evidence to prince Song Detsän (Srong-lde-brtsan) that "they were disloyal, were causing dissension in the country, and were about to injure him also. … Subsequently, Lang and ‘Bal really did revolt, they were killed by the army, their property was confiscated, and Klu khong was, one assumes, richly rewarded."[18]


[edit] The reign of Trisong Detsän (756-797)
In 756, Prince Song Detsän was crowned Emperor with the name Trisong Detsän (Wylie Khri sron lde brtsan) and took control of the government after a one-year interregnum during which there was no emperor. In 755 China had been greatly weakened by internal rebellion, which would last until 763. In contrast, Trisong Detsän's reign was characterized by the reassertion of Tibetan influence in Central Asia and against China. Early in his reign regions to the West of Tibet paid homage to the Tibetan court. From that time onward the Tibetans pressed into the territory of the Tang emperors, reaching the Chinese capital Chang'an (modern Xian) by 763/764. Tibetan troops occupied Chang'an for fifteen days and installed a puppet emperor while Emperor Daizong of Tang was in Luoyang. In the meantime, the Kyrgyz negotiated an agreement of friendship with Tibet and other powers to allow free trade in the region. An attempt at a peace treaty between Tibet and China was made in 787, but hostilities were to last until the Sino-Tibetan treaty of 821 was inscribed in Lhasa in 823 (see below). At the same time, the Uyghurs, nominal allies of the Tang emperors, continued to make difficulties along Tibet's Northern border. Toward the end of this king's reign, in fact, Uyghur victories in the North caused the Tibetans to lose a number of their allies in the Southeast.[19]

Recent historical research indicates the presence of Christianity in Tibet in as early as the sixth and seventh centuries, a period when the White Huns had extensive links with the Tibetans.[20] A strong presence existed by the eighth century when Patriarch Timothy I (727-823) in 782 calls the Tibetans one of the more significant communities of the eastern church and wrote of the need to appoint another bishop in ca. 794.[21]


[edit] The reign of Mune Tsänpo (797-799)
The reign of Mune Tsenpo (Wylie Mu ne btsanpo) is scantily recorded.


[edit] The reign of Tride Songtsän (799-815)
Under Tride Songtsän (Khri lde srong brtsan) there was a protracted war with Arab powers to the West. Early on it appears that Tibetans captured a number of Arab troops and pressed them into service on the Eastern frontier in 801. Tibetans were active as far West as Samarkand and Kabul. Arab forces began to gain the upper hand, and indeed, the Tibetan governor of Kabul submitted to the Arabs and became a Muslim about 812 or 815. The Arabs then struck East from Kashmir, but were held off by the Tibetans. In the meantime, the Uyghurs attacked Tibet from the Northeast. Strife between the Uyghurs and Tibetans continued for some time.[22]


[edit] The reign of Ralpacan (815-838)
The reign of Ralpacan (Wylie Khri gtsug lde brtsan) was characterized by conflicts with the Uyghur state to the North. Tibetans attacked Uyghur territory in 816 and were in turn attacked in 821. After a small Tibetan raid into Chinese territory, the Chinese promised to give princesses to both the Uyghur and Tibetan rulers as their consorts. These marriages, plus the Sino-Tibetan treaty completed in 821 (recorded on stone in Lhasa and described below), insured peace for almost two decades.[23]


[edit] The reign of Langdarma (838-842)
The reign of Langdarma (Wylie Glang dar ma, whose regal title was in fact Tri Uidumtsaen Khri 'U'i dum brtsan was plagued by external troubles. The Uyghur state to the North collapsed under pressure from the Kyrgyz in 840, and many displaced persons fled to Tibet. Langdarma himself was assassinated, apparently by a Buddhist hermit, in 842.[24][25]


[edit] Tibet divided
Upon the death of Langdarma, there was a controversy over whether he would be succeeded by his alleged postumous heir Yumtän (Wylie: Yum brtan), or by another postumous son (or nephew) Ösung (Wylie: 'Od-srung) (either 843-905 or 847-885). A civil war ensued which effectively ended centralized Tibetan administration until the Sa-skya period. Ösung's allies managed to keep control of Lhasa, but Yumtän was forced to go to Yalung where he established a separate line of kings. [26] In 910 the tombs of the emperors were defiled.

The son of Ösung was Pälkhortsän (Wylie: Dpal 'khor brtsan) (either 893-923 or 865-895). The latter apparently maintained control over much of central Tibet for a time and sired two sons Trashi Tsentsän (Wylie: Bkra shis brtsen brtsan) and Thrikhyiding (Wylie: Khri khyi lding, also called Kyide Nyigön [Wylie: Skyid lde nyi ma mgon] in some sources). Thrikhyiding emigrated to the western Tibetan region of upper Ngari (Wylie: Stod Mnga ris) and married a woman of high central Tibetan nobility, with whom he founded a local dynasty. [27]

After the break-up of the Tibetan empire in 842, Nyima-Gon, a representative of the ancient Tibetan royal house founded the first Ladakh dynasty. Nyima-Gon's kingdom had its centre well to the east of present-day Ladakh. Kyide Nyigön's eldest son became ruler of the Mar-yul (Ladakh) region, and his two younger sons ruled western Tibet, founding the Kingdom of Guge and Pu-hrang. At a later period the king of Guge's eldest son Kor-re, also called Jangchub Yeshe Ö (Byang Chub Ye shes' Od), became a Buddhist monk. He sent young scholars to Kashmir for training and was responsible for inviting Atisha to Tibet in 1040, and thus ushering in the so called Chidar (Phyi dar) phase of Buddhism in Tibet. The younger son, Srong-nge, administered day-to-day governmental affairs; it was his sons who carried on the royal line. [28]

Central rule was largely nonexistent over the Tibetan region from 842 to 1247, yet Buddhism survived surreptitiously in the region of Kham. Durhing the reign of Langdarma three monks had escaped from the troubled region of Lhasa to the region of Mt. Dantig in Amdo. Their disciple Muzu Saelbar (Mu-zu gSal-'bar), later known as the scholar Gongpa Rabsal (Dgongs-pa rab-gsal) (832-915), was responsible for the renewal of Buddhism in Northeastern Tibet and is counted as the progenitor of the Nyingma (Rnying ma pa) school of Tibetan Buddhism. Meanwhile, according to tradition, one of Ösung's descendants, who had an estate near Samye sent ten young men to be trained by Gongpa Rabsal. Among the ten was Lume Sherab Tshulthrim (Klu-mes Shes-rab Tshul-khrims) (950-1015). Once trained, the young men were ordained to go back into the central Tibetan regions of U and Tsang. The young scholars were able to link up with Atisha shortly after 1042 and advance the spread and organization of Buddhism in Lhokha. In that region the faith eventually coalesced again with the foundation of the Sakya Monastery in 1073.[29] Over the next two centuries Sakya monastery grew to a position of prominence in Tibetan life and culture. The Tsurpu monastery, home of the Karmapa sect of Buddhism, was founded in 1155.


[edit] The Mongols and the Sakya school (1236-1354)
Tibetans learned in 1207 that Genghis Khan was conquering the Tangut empire. The first documented contact between the Tibetans and the Mongols occurred when Genghis Khan met Tsangpa Dunkhurwa (Gtsang pa Dung khur ba) and six of his disciples, probably in the Tangut empire in 1215. [30]

After the Mongol Prince Köden took control of the Kokonor region in 1239, in order to investigate the possibility of attacking Song China from the West, he sent his general Doorda Darqan on a reconnaissance mission into Tibet in 1240. During this expedition the Kadampa monasteries of Rwa-sgreng and Rgyal-lha-khang were burned, and 500 people killed. The death of Ögödei the Mongol Qaghan in 1241 brought Mongol military activity around the world temporarily to a halt. Mongol interests in Tibet resumed in 1244 when Prince Köden sent an invitation to Sakya Paṇḍita, the leader of the Sakya sect, to come to his capital and formally surrender Tibet to the Mongols. Sakya Paṇḍita arrived in Kokonor with his two nephews Drogön Chögyal Phagpa ('Phags-pa; 1235-80) and Chana Dorje (Phyag-na Rdo-rje) (1239-67) in 1246. This event marks the incorporation of Tibet into China, according to modern Chinese historians. Pro-Tibetan historians rightfully argue that China and Tibet remained two separate units within the Mongol Empire.


Kublai KhanWhen Möngke became Qaghan in 1251, he assigned the various districts of Tibet as appanages to his relatives. Kublai Khan was appointed by Möngke Khan to take charge over the Chinese campaigns in 1253. Since Sakya Paṇḍita had already died by this time Kublai took Drogön Chögyal Phagpa into his camp as a symbol of Tibet's surrender. Kublai was elected Qaghan in 1260 following the death of his brother Möngke, although his ascendance was not uncontested. At that point he named Drogön Chögyal Phagpa 'state preceptor'. In 1265 Drogön Chögyal Phagpa returned to Tibet and for the first time made an attempt to impose Sakya hegemony with the appointment of Shakya Bzang-po (a long time servant and ally of the Sakyas) as the Dpon-chen ('great administrator') over Tibet in 1267. A census was conducted in 1268 and Tibet was divided into 13 myriarchies.

In 1269 Drogön Chögyal Phagpa returned to Kublai's side at his new capital Khanbaliq (modern day Beijing). He presented the Qaghan with a new script designed to represent all of the languages of the empire. The next year he was named Dishi ('imperial preceptor'), and his position as ruler of Tibet (now in the form of its thirteen myriarchies) was reconfirmed. The Sakya hegemony over Tibet continued into the middle of the 14th century, although it was challenged by a revolt of the Drikung Kagyu sect with the assistance of Hülegü Khan of the Ilkhanate in 1285. The revolt was suppressed in 1290 when the Sa-skyas and eastern Mongols burned Drikung Monastery and killed 10,000 people.[31]


[edit] Rise of the Phagmodru (1354-1434)
The Phagmodru (Phag mo gru) myriarchy centered at Neudong (Sne'u gdong) was granted as an appanage to Hülegü in 1251. The area had already been associated with the Lang (Rlang) family, and with the waining of Ilkhanate influence it was ruled by this family within the Mongol-Sakya framework headed by the Mongol appointed Pönchen (Dpon chen) at Sakya. The areas under Lang administration were continually encroached upon during the late 13 and early 14 centuries. Janchub Gyaltsän (Byang chub rgyal mtshan, 1302-1364) saw these encroachments as illegal and sought the restoration of Phagmodru lands after his appointment as the Myriarch in 1322. After prolonged legal struggles the struggle became violent when Phagmodru was attacked by its neighbours in 1346. Jangchub Gyaltsän was arrested and released in 1347. When he latter refused to appear for trial, his domains were attacked by the Pönchen in 1348. Janchung Gyaltsän was able to defend Phagmodru, and continued to have military successes until by 1351 he was the strongest political figure in the country. Military hositlities ended in 1354 with Jangchub Gyaltsän as the unquestioned victor. He continued to rule central Tibet until his death in 1364, although he left all Mongol institutions in place as hollow formalities. Power remained in the hands of the Phagmodru family until 1434. [32]


[edit] Rise of the Geluk school
Lobsang Gyatso (Wylie transliteration: Blo-bzang Rgya-mtsho), the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, (1617-1682) was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet.

The 5th Dalai Lama is known for unifying Tibet under the control of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, after defeating the rival Kagyu and Jonang sects and the secular ruler, the prince of Shang, in a prolonged civil war. His efforts were successful in part because of aid from Gushi Khan, a powerful Oirat military leader. The Jonang monasteries were either closed or forcibly converted, and that school remained in hiding until the latter part of the 20th century.

In 1652 the Fifth Dalai Lama visited the Manchu emperor, Shunzhi. He was not required to kowtow and received a seal.

The fifth Dalai lama initiated the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, and moved the centre of government there from Drepung.


The Potala Palace in LhasaThe death of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1680 was kept hidden for 15 years by his assistant, confidant, and possibly son Desi Sangay Gyatso (De-srid Sangs-rgyas Rgya-'mtsho). The Dalai Lamas remained Tibet's titular heads of state until 1959.

During the rule of the Great Fifth, the first Europeans visited Tibet. Two Jesuit missionaries, Johannes Gruber and Albert D'Orville, reached Lhasa in 1661.[citation needed] They failed to win any Tibetan converts to Christianity. Other Christian missionaries spent time in Tibet, with equal lack of success, until all were expelled in 1745.

In the late 17th century, Tibet entered into a dispute with Bhutan, which was supported by Ladakh. This resulted in an invasion of Ladakh by Tibet. Kashmiri help restored Ladakhi rule on the condition of that a mosque be built in Leh and that the Ladakhi king convert to Islam. The Treaty of Temisgam in 1684 settled the dispute between Tibet and Ladakh, but its independence was severely restricted.


[edit] 18th and 19th centuries
Main article: History of European exploration in Tibet
The Sixth Dalai Lama enjoyed a lifestyle that included drinking, the company of women, and writing love songs. Declaring him to be unworthy as a monk, Mongol leader Lha-bzang Khan invaded Tibet with the approval of China's Kangxi emperor in 1705. The Dalai Lama died soon afterwards, probably killed by some one. Tibetans angrily rejected the spurious Dalai Lama candidate Lha-bzang brought with him and turned to the Dzungar (or Oyrat) Mongols for relief. The Dzungars defeated and killed Lha-bzang, but then proceeded to sack Lhasa and loot the tomb of the fifth Dalai Lama. They stayed until a Chinese expedition expelled them in 1720. The Chinese were hailed as liberators and patrons of Kelzang Gyatso, who they installed as the seventh Dalai Lama. Following the Qing withdrawal from central Tibet in 1723, there was a period of civil war. Amdo, meanwhile, was declared a Chinese territory under the name Koko Nor (blue lake). (This became the province of Qinghai in 1929.)

China began posting two high commissioners, or ambans, to Lhasa in 1727. Pro-Chinese historians argue that the ambans' presence was an expression of Chinese sovereignty, while those favouring Tibetan claims tend to equate the ambans with ambassadors. "The relationship between Tibet and (Qing) China was that of priest and patron and was not based on the subordination of one to the other," according to the 13th Dalai Lama.[33]

Pho-lha-nas ruled Tibet with Chinese support in 1728-47. He moved the Dalai Lama from Lhasa to Litang to make it more difficult for him to influence the government. After Pho-lha-nas died, his son ruled until he was killed by the ambans in 1750. This provoked riots during which the ambans were killed. A Chinese army entered the country and restored order. In 1751, the Qianlong emperor issued a 13-point decree which abolished the position of regent (desi), put the Tibetan government in the hands of a four-man kashag, or council of ministers, and gave the ambans formal powers. The Dalai Lama moved back to Lhasa to preside over the new government.

In 1788 the Gurkha King Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded Tibet. Unable to defeat the Gurkhas alone, the Tibetans called upon reinforcements from the Chinese Qing Dynasty. The Qing-Tibetan army defeated the Gurkhas.

The Qianlong emperor was disappointed with the results of his 1751 decree and the performance the ambans. "Tibetan local affairs were left to the willful actions of the Dalai Lama and the shapes [Kashag members]," he said. "The Commissioners were not only unable to take charge, they were also kept uninformed. This reduced the post of the Residential Commissioner in Tibet to name only."[34] In 1792, the emperor issued a 29-point decree which appeared to tighten Chinese control over Tibet. It strengthened the powers of the ambans, who were in theory put on a par with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas and given authority over financial, diplomatic and trade affairs. It also outlined a new method to select both the Dalai and Panchen Lama by means of a lottery administered by the ambans in Lhasa. In this lottery the names of the competing candidates were written on folded slips of paper which were placed in a golden urn.[35] The tenth, eleventh and twelfth Dalai Lamas were selected by the golden urn method.[36] The ninth, thirteen, and fourteenth Dalai Lamas, however, were selected by the previous incarnation's entourage, or labrang, with the selection being approved after the fact by Beijing.

The British forced the Tibetans to withdraw from Nepal. In the 19th century, the power of the Qing government declined. As Chinese soldiers posted to Lhasa began to neglect their military duties, the ambans lost influence. After the invasion of Tibet by General Zorawar Singh wars were fought with the Indian Kingdom of Jammu and were concluded with peace treaties at Ladakh in 1841 with Maharaja Gulab Singh.[37] and Nepal in 1856[38] without the involvement of Beijing. According to Chinese source, Nepal was a tributary state to China from 1788 to 1908.[39] Chinese government claimed that in the 1856 treaty, both Nepal and Tibet claimed to be allegiance to China.[40] The 1856 treaty provided for a Nepalese mission in Lhasa which later allowed Nepal to claim a diplomatic relationship with Tibet in its application for United Nations membership in 1949.[41]


[edit] British intervention and occupation
Main article: British expedition to Tibet

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
"Tibet" (1878) is an account of early British attempts to gain influence in Tibet.The authorities in British India renewed their interest in Tibet in the late 19th century, and a number of Indians entered the country, first as explorers and then as traders. Treaties regarding Tibet were concluded between Britain and China in 1886[1], 1890[2], and 1893[3], but the Tibetan government refused to recognize their legitimacy [citation needed] and continued to bar British envoys from its territory. During "The Great Game", a period rivalry between Russia and Britain, the British desired a representative in Lhasa to monitor and offset Russian influence. In 1904, they sent an Indian military force under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Younghusband, which, after some fighting, occupied Lhasa. In response, the Chinese foreign ministry asserted that China was sovereign over Tibet, the first clear statement of such a claim.[42]

When the British mission reached Lhasa, the Dalai Lama had already fled to Urga in Mongolia, Younghusband found the option of returning to India empty-handed untenable, he proceeded to draft a treaty unilaterally, and have it signed in the Potala by the regent, Ganden Tri Rinpoche, and any other Tibetan officials he could gather together as an ad hoc government. The Tibetan ministers whom Younghusband dealt with had apparently, unknown to him, just been appointed to their posts. The regular ministers had been imprisoned for suspected pro-British leanings and it was feared they would be too accomodating to Younghusband.[43]

A treaty was concluded which required Tibet to open its border with British India, to allow British and Indian traders to travel freely, not to impose customs duties on trade with India, a demand from British that Lhasa had to pay 2.5 million rupees as indemnity and not to enter into relations with any foreign power without British approval.[44]

The Anglo-Tibetan treaty was accordingly confirmed by a Sino-British treaty in 1906 by which the "Government of Great Britain engages not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet. The Government of China also undertakes not to permit any other foreign State to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet."[45] Moreover, Beijing agreed to pay London 2.5 million rupees which Lhasa was forced to agree upon in the Anglo-Tibetan treaty of 1904.[46] In 1907, Britain and Russia agreed that in "conformity with the admitted principle of the suzerainty of China over Thibet"[47][48] both nations "engage not to enter into negotiations with Thibet except through the intermediary of the Chinese Government."[47] In 1910, the Qing government sent a military expedition of its own to establish direct Chinese rule and deposed the Dalai Lama in an imperial edict. The Dalai Lama once again fled, this time to India. "By going in and then coming out again, we knocked the Tibetans down and left them for the first comer to kick," wrote Charles Albert Bell, a British diplomatic officer stationed in Sikkim and a critic of the Liberal government's policy.


[edit] Chinese military expelled
Following a revolution in China, the local Tibetan militia launched a surprise attack on the Chinese garrison stationed in Tibet. Afterwards the Chinese officials in Lhasa were forced to sign the "Three Point Agreement" which provided for the surrender and expulsion of Chinese forces in central Tibet. In early 1913, the Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa and issued a proclamation distributed throughout Tibet which condemned, "The Chinese intention of colonizing Tibet under the patron-priest relationship" and stated that, "We are a small, religious, and independent nation."[33] Tibet and Mongolia are said to have signed a treaty in 1913 recognizing each other's independence; however there is no way to verify the existence of such document.[49]

In 1913-14, conference was held in Simla between Britain, Tibet, and the Republic of China. The British suggested dividing Tibetan-inhabited areas into an Outer and an Inner Tibet (on the model of an earlier agreement between China and Russia over Mongolia). Outer Tibet, approximately the same area as the modern Tibet Autonomous Region, would be autonomous under Chinese suzerainty. In this area, China would refrain from "interference in the administration." In Inner Tibet, consisting of eastern Kham and Amdo, Lhasa would retain control of religious matters only.[50] In 1908-18, there was a Chinese garrison in Kham and the local princes were subordinate to its commander.

In a session attended by Tibetan representatives, British chief negotiator Henry McMahon drew a line on a map to delineate the Tibet-Indian border. Later Chinese governments claimed this McMahon Line illegitimately transferred a vast amount of territory to India. The disputed territory is called Arunachal Pradesh by India and South Tibet by China. The British had already concluded agreements with local tribal leaders and set up the Northeast Frontier Tract to administer the area 1912. The Simla Convention was initialed by all three delegations, but was immediately rejected by Beijing because of dissatisfaction with the way the boundary between Outer and Inner Tibet was drawn. McMahon and the Tibetans then signed the document as a bilateral accord with a note attached denying China any of the rights it specified unless it signed. The British-run Government of India initially rejected McMahon's bilateral accord as incompatible with the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention.[51][52]

By 1918, Lhasa had regained control of Chamdo and western Kham. A truce set the Yangtze River the border. At this time, the government of Tibet controlled all of Ü-Tsang as well as Kham west of the Yangtze River, roughly the same borders as the Tibet Autonomous Region has today. Eastern Kham was governed by local Tibetan princes of varying allegiances. In Amdo (Qinghai), ethnic Hui and pro-Kuomintang warlord Ma Bufang controlled the Xining area. The rest of the province were under local control.[4]

During the 1920s and 1930s China was divided by civil war and then distracted by the anti-Japanese war, but never renounced its claim to sovereignty over Tibet, and made occasional attempts to assert it. During the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama, Beijing had no representatives in his territories. However, in 1934, following the Dalai Lama's death, China sent a "condolence mission" to Lhasa headed by General Huang Musong.[53] Since 1912 Tibet had been de facto independent of Chinese control, but on other occasions it had indicated its willingness to accept subordinate status as a part of China provided that Tibetan internal systems were left untouched and provided China relinquished control over a number of important ethnic Tibetan areas in Kham and Amdo.[54]

In 1938, the British finally published the Simla Convention as a bilateral accord and demanded that the Tawang monastery, located south of the McMahon Line, cease paying taxes to Lhasa. In an attempt to revise history, the relevant volume of C.U. Aitchison's A Collection of Treaties, which had originally been published with a note stating that no binding agreement had been reached at Simla, was recalled from libraries.[55] It was replaced with a new volume that has a false 1929 publication date and includes Simla together with an editor's note stating that Tibet and Britain, but not China, accepted the agreement as binding.[5] The 1907 Anglo-Russian Treaty, which had earlier caused the British to question the validity of Simla, had been renounced by the Russians in 1917 and by the Russians and British jointly in 1921.[56] Tibet, however, altered its position on the McMahon Line in the 1940s. In late 1947, the Tibetan government wrote a note presented to the newly independent Indian Ministry of External Affairs laying claims to Tibetan districts south of the McMahon Line.[57] Furthermore, by refusing to sign the Simla documents, the Chinese Government had escaped according any recognition to the validity of the McMahon Line.[58]

Tibet established at Foreign Office in 1942 and in 1946 it sent congratulatory missions to China and India (related to the end of World War II). The mission to China was given a letter addressed to Chinese President Chiang Kai-sek which states that, "We shall continue to maintain the independence of Tibet as a nation ruled by the successive Dalai Lamas through an authentic religious-political rule." The mission agreed to attend a Chinese constitutional assembly in Nanjing as observers.[59]

In 1947-49, Lhasa sent a "Trade Mission" led by the Tsepon (Finance Minsiter) W.D. Shakabpa to India, Hong Kong, Nanjing (then the capital of China), the U.S., and Britain. The visited countries were careful not to express support for the claim that Tibet was independent of China and did not discuss political questions with the mission.[60] These Trade Mission officials entered China via Hong Kong with their newly issued Chinese passports that they applied at the Chinese Consulate in India and stayed in China for three months. Other countries did, however, allow the mission to travel using passports issued by the Tibetan government. The U.S. unofficially received the Trade Mission.

The mission met with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in London in 1948.[61]


[edit] In the People's Republic of China
The Chinese Communist government led by Mao Zedong which came to power in October lost little time in asserting its claim to Tibet. In 1950, the People's Liberation Army entered the Tibetan area of Chamdo, crushing resistance from the ill-equipped Tibetan army. In 1951, Chinese representatives in Beijing presented Tibetan representatives with a Seventeen Point Agreement which affirms China's sovereignty over Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later.[62]

The Chinese government at first attempted to reform Tibet's social or religious system in Ü-Tsang. Eastern Kham and Amdo were incorporated in the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai respectively. Western Kham was put under the Chamdo Military Committee. In these areas, land reform was implemented. This involved communist agitators designating "landlords" — sometimes arbitrarily chosen — for public humiliation in "struggle sessions."

The Chinese built highways that reached Lhasa, and which then extended the Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani borders. The traditional Tibetan aristocracy and government remained in place and were subsidized by the Chinese government. During the 1950s, however, Chinese rule grew more oppressive with respect to the lamas, who saw that their social and political power would eventually be broken by Communist rule. Prior to 1959, Tibet's land was worked by serfs which represented a majority of the Tibetans.

By the mid-1950s there was unrest in eastern Kham and Amdo, where land reform had been implemented in full. These rebellions eventually spread into western Kham and Ü-Tsang. In 1959 (at the time of the Great Leap Forward in China), the Chinese authorities treated the Dalai Lama, by now an adult, with open impiety. In some parts of the country Chinese Communists tried to establish rural communes, as was happening in the whole of China. These events triggered riots in Lhasa, and then a full-scale rebellion occurred.

The Tibetan resistance movement began with isolated resistance to PRC control in the late 1950s. Initially there was considerable success and with CIA support and aid much of southern Tibet fell into rebel hands, but in 1959 with the occupation of Lhasa resistance forces withdrew into Nepal. Operations continued from the semi-independent Kingdom of Mustang with a force of 2000 rebels, many of them trained at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado, USA. In 1969, on the eve of Kissinger's overtures to China, support was withdrawn and the Nepalese government dismantled the operation. See [6].

The resistance in Lhasa was soon crushed, and the Dalai Lama fled to India, although resistance continued in other parts of the country for several years. Although he remained a virtual prisoner, the Chinese set the Panchen Lama as a figurehead in Lhasa, claiming that he headed the legitimate Government of Tibet in the absence of the Dalai Lama, the traditional head of the Tibetan government. In 1965, the area that had been under the control of the Dalai Lama's government from the 1910s to 1959 (Ü-Tsang and western Kham) was renamed the Tibet Autonomous Region or TAR. Autonomy provided that head of government would be an ethnic Tibetan; however, de facto power in the TAR is held by the general secretary of the Communist Party, who, as of 2006, has always been a Han Chinese from outside of Tibet. The role of ethnic Tibetans in the higher levels of the TAR Communist Party remains limited.

During the mid-1960s, the monastic estates were broken up and secular education introduced. During the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards, which included Tibetan members, inflicted a campaign of organized vandalism against cultural sites in the entire PRC, including Tibet's Buddhist heritage. Of the several thousand monasteries in Tibet, over 6000 were destroyed[7], according to Chinese source, only a handful religiously or culturally most important monasteries remained without major damage,[63], and thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns were killed, tortured* [citation needed] or imprisoned.

Since 1979 there has been economic reform, but no political reform. Some PRC policies in Tibet have been described as moderate, while others are judged to be more oppressive. Most religious freedoms have been officially restored, provided the lamas do not challenge PRC rule, renounce the Dalai Lama, and stay within dictated confines. Foreigners can visit most parts of Tibet, but it is claimed that the less savoury aspects of PRC rule are kept hidden from visitors [citation needed]. Foreign visitors are often subject to harassment by police.

In 1989 the Panchen Lama died. The Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama but without confirmation from the Chinese government, while the PRC named another child, Gyancain Norbu. Gyancain Norbu was raised in Beijing and has appeared occasionally on state media. The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family are unknown. It is widely believed that they are imprisoned, while Beijing contends that they are living under a secret identity for protection and privacy.[8]

The Dalai Lama is now seventy-one years old, and when he dies a new child Dalai Lama will, by tradition, have to be found. In 1997, the 14th Dalai Lama indicated that his reincarnation "will definitely not come under Chinese control; it will be outside, in the free world." [9]

The PRC continues to portray its rule over Tibet as an unalloyed improvement from the pre-1950 era of Tibetan feudalism, and some foreign governments continue to make occasional protests about aspects of PRC rule in Tibet. The Dalai Lama is widely respected as a religious leader, and is received by foreign governments as such.

to hi_sakura: i agree with you completely and exspetailly the example of japan , but the asker of the question seems totally lost on the subject , thats why i just copied the whole article, lol. i never use wiki as my complete referance and untill a couple of weeks ago never used it at all , but the base has gotton wide enough that it is a good place to start and go from there