Tibet
From Conservapedia
Tibet is a country in a mountainous region that was located between India and China until it was forcefully annexed by the Chinese in 1951, and the local Buddhist culture was undermined and intended to be suppressed. The communist Chinese government considers Tibet to be geographically part of China, and has made Tibet an Autonomous Region. Its capital is Lhasa.
The spiritual leader of Tibet is His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, currently in exile in India. [1]
Tibetan art is intrinsically bound with Tibetan Buddhism.
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Historical Tibet
According to Tibetan annals, the first king of Tibet ruled from 127 BC, but it was only in the seventh century AD that Tibet emerged as a unified state and a mighty empire under Emperor Gampo. Songtsen Gampo (born ca. 604, died 650) is the great emperor who expanded Tibet's power.
Tibet's earliest religion is Bön. Buddhism flourished in Tibet in the seventh century... With the assumption of power by the Dalai Lamas in 1642, the era of "harmonious blend of religion and politics" was established in Tibet. Monasteries, temples and hermitages were found in every village and town throughout Tibet.
Tibet was an independent state in fact and law at the time of China's invasion. Tibetan society before the Chinese invasion was under the control of Buddhist monks headed by the Dalai Lama, a leader chosen by other monks because he was the supposed reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. No semblence of democracy existed; total control of the country and all its assets was in the hands of the religious authorities and all Tibetans were subject to rule of these authorities. The beginnings of popular Tibetan opposition to this theocratic rule was the reason why the Dalai Lama belately, and very slowly, initiated far-reaching reforms soon after he assumed full temporal authority in the early fifties. The peace treaty concluded between Tibet and China in 821, is of particular importance in illustrating the nature of relations between these two great powers of Asia.
The Chinese themselves view Tibet in colonial terms: that is, not as part of China proper, but as non-Chinese territory which China has a right to own and exploit, on the basis of relationship that existed 700 years ago. Resistance to the Chinese occupation started to take on organized forms as early as 1952, reached massive proportions in 1959, and has continued, primarily underground, ever since. [2]
It should however be noted that Songsten Gampo recognized the Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty as his and Tibet's soveirgn, and ruler, but note that this has no bearing and does not affect the current situation. And seeing that China doesn't have an emperor, and tibet doesn't have a king so the treaty is void.
See also
External links
- Tibet Photo Galleries.
- The Status of Tibet
- Tibetan News Headlines
References
Categories: Asia | China
