Religion in Tibet

Potala.

The main religion of Tibet has been Buddhism since its outspread in the 8th century AD. Before the arrival of Buddhism the main religion here was an indigenous Shamanist religion, Bön which now comprises a sizeable minority and which would later influence the formation of Tibetan Buddhism.

There are four mosques in the Tibet Autonomous Region with approximately 4,000 to 5,000 Muslim adherents, as well as a Catholic church with 560 parishioners, which is located in the traditionally Catholic community of Yanjing in the eastern TAR.^[1]

Buddhism

Buddhism came to Tibet from India in the 7th — 8th centuries A.D. and gradually, though not without difficulties, started to prevail in this region.^[2] With the influence of the indigenous Bon religion, the Tibetan Buddhism was formed.

There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet, and nearly all were ransacked and destroyed by the Chinese communists (many of them young ethnic Tibetan Red Guards), mainly during the Cultural Revolution.^[3] Most of the major ones have been at least partially re-established but many still remain in ruins.

Bön

Bön, the indigenous animist and shamanistic belief system of Tibet, revolves around the worship of nature and predates Buddhism.^[1] Although Bön was initially the religion to which the Buddhateachings were antithetical, it now has come to be regarded as the fifth of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Hinduism

Christianity

Antonio de Andrade

The letters of Timothy I, who was Patriarch of the Nestorian Church, dated as early as the beginning of the 9th century, is the oldest evidence of Christian missionaries in Tibet.^[4] Recent historical research indicates the presence of some form of Christianity in as early as the 6th and 7th centuries in Tibet.

The Tibetan Golok people, owing allegiance to Labrang, attacked the Muslim Ninghai Army several times. The Chinese had never been able to control the Goloks before. However, this time, the Muslim Ninghai Army brought their modernized weapons, and exterminated a group of Goloks. The Muslim army then called for negotiations, during which they slaughtered the Goloks, klling "men, women and children", and drowned thousands of them in the Yellow River. After Tibetans attacked the Ninghai muslim army in 1922 and 1923, the Ninghai army returned in 1924 and crushed the Tibetans, killing numerous Tibetans.^[5]

It is not known whether Odoric of Pordenone may have entered Tibet. Antonio de Andrade established a mission station in Tsaparang (Ladakh), but after he left the community of nearly 400 in 1630, Tibetan lamas destroyed the station in 1631.^[6] Work on Bible translations into Tibetan resulted in a Bible in Tibetan script in 1948, but this specific dialect is now understood by very few Tibetans, so new works are in progress. Scripture portions and evangelistic materials ranging from written tracts to the Jesus film and other video and audio CDs are now being distributed.^[7]

Islam

There is a small Muslim population ^[1] who are scattered throughout Tibet, much of whom can be found in Lhasa and Shigatse.

Freedom of religion

The religion is freedom is virtually not guaranteed since Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China which restrict the practice of religions. Although in the past there were reports of the deaths of monks and nuns due to maltreatment in prison, there were no known reports of deaths due to maltreatment in prison during the period covered by this report. Buddhist leaders such as Gendun Choekyi Nyima and Tenzin Delek remained in detention or prison.^[1]

References