Xizang

An autonomous region of China in the southwest part of the country north and west of the Himalaya Mountains. Controlled by China since 1720, it became an autonomous province in 1951 and was formally proclaimed an autonomous region in 1965. Xizang is a center of Buddhism, but many Buddhists have fled since the 1950s to escape religious persecution. Lhasa is the capital. Population: 2,610,000.

For more information on Tibet, visit Britannica.com.

Western fascination with the remote and inhospitable landscape of Tibet can be traced back to the writings of Herodotus. Well before it could be mapped or visually documented, the country occupied a key position in the Western imagination as a source of rare commodities such as gold and as the homeland of esoteric religious practices. By the 18th century a handful of Europeans had managed to assail the Himalayan peaks and produce accounts of their experiences, some of them illustrated. Prince Henri d'Orléans was probably the first to photograph the country, en route to Indo- China in 1889-90. As in so many other regions during this period, the photographer began to eclipse the draughtsman in creating a visual record of spaces and places. However, the camera could still not easily encompass the immense plains of the Tibetan plateau or the towering peaks of the Himalayas, so that travellers to Tibet in the next century concentrated on its inhabitants and their built environment.

The 1903-4 Younghusband Expedition to Tibet began the process by which a particularly British way of seeing Tibet emerged. Younghusband battled his way to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and several members of his force carried cameras. The surgeon and ‘Antiquarian to the Force’, Lieutenant-Colonel L. A. Waddell, took hundreds of photographs and published some of them in his book Lhasa and its Mysteries (1905). A pattern was established by which the construction of ideas about Tibet was determined by political and aesthetic criteria and communicated to the British public through publications, lantern shows, and (later) films. In the early 20th century, British scholar-officials such as Waddell and his successors Charles Bell, Basil Gould, and Hugh Richardson saw photography as crucial to their attempts to define Tibet as an independent nation with distinctive religio-cultural traditions but a need for British protection. The images they produced or commissioned also responded to the demands of a public keenly interested in Tibetan Buddhism. British photographs made in Tibet between 1903 and 1947 thus present us with evidence of the evolution of present-day ‘Shangri-La-ist’ constructions of Tibet. They allow us to trace the development of key Western tropes (such as particular ways of viewing the Dalai Lama's palace—the Potala) and the invention of visual traditions including the repeated photo- documentation of religious ceremonies such as the Palden Lhamo procession and monastic masked dance, described by many British commentators as ‘Devil Dances’. The density of the photographic record for certain subjects suggests that British photography of Tibet became embedded in colonial practices, with officers literally standing in their forebears' footsteps to rerecord the same subjects. Their photographic engagement with Tibet stimulated the British public's imagination and created a demand for more of the same. Having learned to ‘see’ Tibet through the aesthetic and ideological framing devices adopted by a powerful British elite, many contemporary views (and viewers) of Tibet unwittingly absorbed the influence of this colonial gaze.

— Clare Harris

Bibliography

• d'Orléans, H., De Paris au Tonkin à travers le Thibet inconnu (1892)

Although Tibet is geographically closer to India, Buddhism reached that country many centuries after its arrival in east Asia. This is due to a combination of geographical and economic reasons. Tibet is the highest country in the world located on a vast plateau occupying over 1.5 million square miles surrounded by high mountains. For a country the size of western Europe, it has a tiny population, estimated at some 6 million in the present century. Isolated between the economically and culturally advanced civilizations of India and China, Tibet had few readily accessible natural resources and only a subsistence economy, so there were few trade missions or caravans for monks to attach themselves to. It was thus not until the 7th century ce that Buddhism made an appearance. Traditional chronicles speak of three ‘diffusions’ of Buddhism, the first of which begins with Songtsen Gampo (Tibetan, Srong bstan sgam po, ca. 618-50), the first of the three ‘religious kings’. This king had a Nepalese and a Chinese wife, both of whom brought Buddhist artefacts with them to Tibet. The second ‘religious king’ was Trisong Detsen (Tibetan, Khri srong lde brtsan), who invited the scholar- monk Śāntarakṣita from India to promulgate Buddhist teachings. The latter made little progress, and withdrew in favour of Padmasambhava, a tantric guru and popular Tibetan folk hero. It is said that through his magical powers Padmasambhava was able to overcome the demons who were obstructing Buddhism's progress in Tibet. These ‘demons’ can, perhaps, be identified with practitioners of the indigenous Bön religion, a form of central Asian shamanism which imprinted something of its distinctive character, including an interest in rites, rituals, and magical practices surrounding death, on Buddhism. With the ‘demons’ subdued and the way clear, Śāntarakṣita returned to Tibet, and with Padmasambhava co-founded the first monastery at Samyé (bsam yas) c.767 ce. Another important missionary to arrive in this period was Kamalaśīla, who played a decisive role in ensuring that Tibetan Buddhism developed along Indian rather than Chinese lines. The third ‘religious king’, Relpa Chen (Tibetan, Ral pa can, r. 815-36), continued the construction of temples and monasteries and as a result of royal patronage the ranks of the Saṃgha began to swell. This led to a backlash against Buddhism and Relpa Chen was assassinated in 836 and succeeded by Lang Darma (Tibetan, glang dar ma), a king less favourably disposed to Buddhism, who was himself subsequently assassinated by a Buddhist monk. The arrival of Atiśa (982-1054) from India in 1042 marks the start of the second diffusion. Atiśa laid emphasis on the conventional monastic curriculum, but his disciples also included more colourful individuals who became known as Mahāsiddhas or ‘great adepts’. Chief among these tantric gurus are Marpa (1012-97), Milarepa (Tibetan, Mi la ras pa, 1040-1123), and Gampopa (Tibetan, sgam po pa, 1079-1153). Gampopa established this lineage as a monastic order known as the Kagyüpa (Tibetan, bka' brygud pa). Two further orders were established during the high medieval period, the Sakyapa (Tibetan, Sa skya pa) and the Gelukpa (Tibetan, dge lugs pa). The latter, a reform movement founded by Tsongkhapa (Tibetan, Tsong kha pa, 1357-1419), went on to become the most influential in both the spiritual and temporal spheres, effectively ruling Tibet from the 17th century through the office of the Dalai Lama. Together with the Nyingma pa (Tibetan, rnying ma pa), who trace their origins to Padmasambhava, these constitute the four main orders of Tibetan Buddhism.

After many centuries of relative isolation, the 20th century was turbulent. The country was invaded by China in 1959, leading the Dalai Lama to flee into exile in Dharamsala in India. The Communist Chinese authorities have suppressed Buddhism and persecuted monks and nuns in an effort to purge the country of ‘superstition’ and what it regards as a medieval feudal social system. According to Tibetan authorities, 1.2 million people were killed during the Chinese invasion and its aftermath, and some 150,000 have since sought refugee status in India and the West to escape the ongoing repression. Large tracts of Tibetan territory have been annexed, and the reduced political entity that remains, called by the Chinese the ‘Tibetan Autonomous Region’, has a population of only 2 million. Although the excesses of the Cultural Revolution have now subsided, Buddhism is still strictly controlled. Most of the 6,000 monasteries that existed in Tibet were destroyed. The few that have been restored are today inhabited by only a handful of monks instead of the thousands they were home to formerly.

Region in southwestern China, bordered by Burma to the southeast; India, Bhutan, and Nepal to the south; India to the west; and Chinese provinces to the north and east. Located in the Himalayas.

• The Dalai Lama, religious and civil leader of Tibet, was forced into exile in 1959, when the Chinese annexed the country.

Historical Background

Tibet is a country with ancient religious and mystical traditions that, over the last two centuries, have become the focus of occult legends. The peaceful accumulation of data on Tibet was abruptly altered following the Chinese communist invasion in October 1950, when Tibet lost its independent status. On May 23, 1951, Tibetan leaders were obliged to sign a Sino-Tibetan agreement for "the peaceful liberation of Tibet."

Tibetans had formerly been a separate people with a distinctive language, culture, and religion, but had been in an uneasy relationship with China since 1720, when the Manchus entered Tibet to help drive out Mongol invaders and used the situation to become overlords. Over the subsequent period, the acknowledgment of Chinese suzerainty was the price of Tibetan autonomy, but for practical purposes Tibet was an independent state.

The 1950 invasion was justified by the Chinese as necessary in order to destroy inequitable feudalism in Tibet and to bring progress, education, and social justice. In practice, this involved suppression of the Buddhist religion, destruction of monasteries and their libraries, and the public humiliation of priests. Tibet was a theocratic society and any reorganization of its governmental system would necessarily involve the destruction of the power held by the Buddhist religious functionaries.

In all fairness, it must be said that these and other reported violations of human rights were largely paralleled by similar excesses in China itself in the early period of the communist revolution and the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. Since then, however, the age-old Buddhist religion of Tibet has been largely suppressed and related occult practices replaced by practical socialism and exploitation of Tibetan resources and territory.

Religion and Superstition

Buddhism came to Tibet from India in the eighth century

C.E. and it pushed aside the earlier polytheistic and magical religion of the Tibetan people. However, the price of the conquest was the integration of many of the old deities, beliefs, and occult practices into the unique form of Buddhism that emerged in the land. Also moving into Tibet from India was a form of Hindu tantra, with its emphasis upon the subtle energies of the body and ritualized sex. Strong superstitions, belief in ghosts, demons, and magic coexisted with deep mystical thought.

The apostle of Buddhism in Tibet was named Padmasambhava and entered the country in the 1740s. As Buddhism developed, it divided into various sects, the degree of acceptance of the local religion being an important differentiating factor. The four main groups are popularly distinguished by the color of the hats their followers wear. The older Red Caps or Ningmapas, for example, follow the Adi-Yoga or path of the Great Perfection, founded by the guru Padmasambhava, while the Yellow Cap sect or Gelugpas follow a Middle Way Buddhism; the Kargyütpas, or Followers of Successive Order (deriving from the great Tibetan saint Milarepa, died 1135, successor of the revered gurus Marpa, Tilopa, and Naropa) follow the way of Mahamudra or Great Symbol. As with the various sects of Hindu religious philosophy, with their many subtle emphases, the general overall philosophy of the four groups is the same.

By the fifteenth century a teaching had emerged in Tibet that the heads of all of the many monasteries were bodhisattvas, highly evolved beings who were refraining from entering Nirvana to assist other souls in their spiritual pilgrimage. The monastic rulers, or lamas, thus attained a unique role in Tibetan Buddhism as well as significant political power as temporal rulers.

The present spiritual leader of Tibet, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, who escaped to India in 1959, and the other lamas and their successors, are dedicated to keeping alive the spiritual traditions and the political aspirations to independence of the Tibetan people.

Like his predecessors, the Dalai Lama is claimed as a living incarnation of the Divine Spirit, and was discovered as such by traditional search and testing. When a Dalai Lama (or any lama for that matter) departs from life, priests traditionally conduct a search for his successor through signs and visions. Selected children are tested by their ability to recognize objects belonging to the former Dalai Lama. After identification, the child is brought to the holy city of Lhasa and initiated as a monk in the monastery of the Potala, which becomes a power center of the Divine Spirit, which issues forth from the Dalai Lama over the whole of Tibet. As Tibetan Buddhism has spread to the west and lamas have died in the west, the search for successors has also been conducted in the families of Western converts and several European children have been "identified" as reincarnated lamas.

The title "Dalai Lama" is from a Mongolian term meaning "Wide Ocean," and is not normally used by Tibetans among themselves, who prefer such terms as "Precious Protector" or "Precious Ruler," of Kundun (Presence), implying spiritual association. The first Dalai Lama was Tsong Ka-pa, born in Am-do in 1358. His disciples became the Yellow Hat sect, as distinct from the earlier priesthood of the Red Hats.

In addition to the regular monastic disciplines of complex prayer, meditation rites, and regular religious festivals, lamas traveling through Tibet were expected to act as oracles, fortune-tellers, and healers for the ordinary people. Prayer wheels with the mystic mantra "Om mani padme Hum" (Om, The Jewel in the Lotus) and rosaries were in use all over the country, and groups of prayer-flags fluttered around the villages. In the monasteries, tankas (complex symbolic mandala banners) became a focus for mystical meditation.

It is not difficult to understand why Lamaism should be permeated with demonology in view of the vast and terrifying grandeur of the Tibetan environment, in which the forces of nature appear to have the power of supernatural beings. Belief in magic was once universal.

The Dalai Lama came under attack in 1998 when he publicly announced that Dorje Shugden practices should no longer be performed by any sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Shugden has been regarded as a protector spirit of the Geluk sect, to which the Dalai Lama himself belongs. However, after studying ancient texts and consulting the state oracle, the Dalai Lama is convinced that Shugden is a hungry spirit and therefore incorrect to worship and regard as a protector for the Buddhist. Due to the Dalai Lama's opposing view, he is accused by some Buddhists for being a religious censor. Since the Tibetan culture and religion is thought to be near extinction, the Dalai Lama attempted to set a level of commonality between all sects of Buddhism. The great controversy that resulted from this attempted act of unification, may have also been the cause for the deaths of three monks in the Dalai Lama's inner circle.

Dissent within the Tibetan culture may be the result of the larger issues that still exist between Chinese and the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Chinese government seeks to control, and ultimately squelch, the Tibetan Buddhism religion. Ultimately the set-up of the religious hierarchy may become the demise of the religion itself. The Dalai Lama exists as the highest, top authority, while the Panchen Lama is the second in command, and the Karampa is the third in power. Presently the Panchen Lama, a boy of ten years, will be the one to choose the next Dalai Lama. However, with the aging Dalai Lama living in India, the Panchen Lama is still being held under Chinese supervision. This is a direct example of the Chinese wishing to control the Buddhist chain of command, and influence the continuity of the religion. The Chinese government conducted the search for this present Panchen Lama but the Dalai Lama announced their discovery publicly before ever having met him. The boy has never even been in Dharmsala, India. Thus, the boy has become a political pawn between the Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhism) and the Chinese government.

The Karampa, third in command, has been raised to heed the Chinese government as well. However, on December 28, 1999, he made his escape from Tibet to India to be united with the Dalai Lama. The two men met " 'as if a father was meeting his dear son after a long separation' ". The Dalai Lama reported his spirit as clear and strong saying after proper instruction he will be able to make great contributions. The struggle between Tibet and China continues and therefore the outcome of the survival of Tibetan Buddhism.

David-Neel's Psychic Sports

For centuries, Tibet was a forbidden territory to Westerners, and only a handful of Europeans succeeded in penetrating the country, usually in disguise. From 1912 on, an intrepid French-woman, Alexandra David-Neel, began a series of travels through Tibet over fourteen years. She acquired the rank of lama.

An Oriental scholar, David-Neel learned Sanskrit and Tibetan and studied the various forms of Buddhism and Lamaism. She became the first European woman to penetrate the holy city of Lhasa. Although skeptical regarding the supernatural, she gained firsthand experience of Tibetan ghosts and demons and saw the paranormal feats of mystics. In her book With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet (1931), she revealed how Tibetan mystics acquired the ability to live naked in zero temperatures by generating a protective body heat (tumo), how they learned to float in air and walk on water, and how they brought corpses back to life or created thoughtforms that had independent existence.

She described such feats as "psychic sports," acquired by special mind and body training. Amongst such feats was the lung-gom training of "inner breathing" and meditation, which enabled an individual to travel at high speed for days and nights without stopping, sometimes with the feet hardly touching the ground. David-Neel herself witnessed a lung-gom-pa, or swift traveler. She described the special training necessary for feats of levitation and for thought-reading and telepathy ("sending thoughts on the wind").

She successfully experimented in the creation of a tulpa or phantom thoughtforms. After a period in isolation following special concentration techniques, she claimed that she succeeded in creating a phantom monk, who became a guest in her party, seen and accepted by the others. But in the course of time, this phantom form changed from a fat jolly monk, becoming lean, mocking, and somewhat malignant, and it was necessary for her to concentrate on special techniques to destroy a phantom, which was beginning to take on independent life.

She explained that Tibetans believed that such psychic phenomena were the result of utilizing natural forces by the powers of the mind. Her experiences seem to have been the result of a long and intimate association with Tibet and its peoples in a period when magic and mystery were more common. Few subsequent travelers have reported such remarkable phenomena, and her books survive as a unique record of a Tibet that has largely been destroyed. However, they helped create the image of Tibet as a place where the most successful mastery of the occult arts had been made. The spread of Buddhist masters to the west has done much to offer a more mundane picture of Tibetan life.

Tibetan medicine, the fundamentals virtually unchanged for 2,000 years, is completely intertwined with Tibetan Buddhism, in that they are based on the most essential Buddhist belief, that of karma. Thus, unhealthy human actions, such as, greed, hatred, and desire can be the cause of disease. Like karma, disease can be caused from present as well as past actions. Disease is also thought to be caused by an imbalance of the three basic humors of the body—air, bile, and phlegm. Diagnosis consists of three techniques, visual observation, pulse reading, and questioning. Simply put, Tibetan medicine is highly holistic in the areas of diagnosis and treatment. Treatments are usually always of the non-invasive variety. Lifestyle changes are recommended, medicines are made of herbs, and "surgery" consists of acupuncture, cauterization, hot and cold compresses, hot springs and vapor treatments.

A lot can be learned from Tibetan medicine by Western countries, as it and its practitioners listen and are aware of the individual body, as an extension of religion. The body then exists as only part of the whole scheme of the universe.

It is still too early to predict whether the upheavals of the last half of the twentieth century will involve a permanent loss of spiritual and psychic identity for the Tibetan people. Those many Tibetans who moved into exile have established strong enclaves of traditional Tibetan culture and many people have given of their time, energy, and financial resources to see that the manuscripts and artifacts taken out of the country are preserved.

Sources:

Bernard, Theos. Land of a Thousand Buddhas. London: Rider, 1952.

Bromage, Bernard. Tibetan Yoga. London: Aquarian Press, 1952.

"A Buddha Busts Out: Inside the Dramatic Escape of a Living Buddha." Newsweek 135 (March 6, 2000): 38.

Chang, Garma C. C., trans. The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa. 2 vols. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1962.

——. Teachings of Tibetan Yoga. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1963.

David-Neel, Alexandra. My Journey to Lhasa. London: William Heinemann, 1927.

——. With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet. London: John Lane, 1931. Reprinted as Magic & Mystery in Tibet. New York: Claude H. Kendall, 1932. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1956.

David-Neel, Alexandra, and Lama Yongden. The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects. Calcutta, India: Maha Bodhi Society of India, n.d.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y. Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa. London: Oxford University Press, 1928.

Gore, Donald R. "Tibetan Medicine." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 42 (Winter '99): 270-71.

Harrer, Heinrich. Return to Tibet. London: Weinfeld & Nicholson, 1984.

——. Seven Years in Tibet. London: Rupert Hart-Davis; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1953.

Klein, Richard. "The World's Youngest Political Prisoner." The Humanist. 59 (March 1999): 91.

Tibet and Freedom. The Tibet Society of the United Kingdom, 1961.

Tibetan Government in Exile Official Website. http://www.tibet.com/. June 19, 2000.

Waddell, L. Austine. Tibetan Buddhism: With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in Its Relation to Indian Buddhism. London: W. H. Allen, 1895. Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1972.

Wilson, Mike. "Schisms, Murder, and Hungry Ghosts in Shangra-La." Cross Currents 49 (Spring 1999): 251.

Woodward, Kenneth. "A Scratch in the Teflon Lama." 131 (May 11, 1998): 64.

This article is about the administrative region of the People's Republic of China. For the historical/cultural region, see Tibet. For other uses, see Tibet (disambiguation).

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Tibet Autonomous Region
Chinese : 西藏自治区 Xīzàng Zìzhìqū Tibetan : Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs
Abbreviations: 藏  (pinyin: Zàng)
Origin of name	See Origin of name
Administration type	Autonomous region
Capital (and largest city)	Lhasa
CPC Ctte Secretary	Zhang Qingli
Chairman	Qiangba Puncog
Area	1,228,400 km2 (474,300 sq mi) (2nd)
Population (2004)  - Density	2,840,000 (32st) 2.2 /km2 (5.7 /sq mi) (33st)
GDP (2008)  - per capita	CNY 39.59 billion (32st) CNY 13,861 (28th)
HDI (2006)	0.621 (medium) (31st)
Ethnic composition	92.8% Tibetan 6.1% Han 0.3% Hui 0.3% Monpa 0.2% others
Prefecture-level	7 divisions
County-level	73 divisions
Township-level*	692 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-54
Official website http://www.xizang.gov.cn/
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 *As at December 31, 2004
Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), also called Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibetan: ; Wylie: Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs; simplified Chinese: 西藏自治区; traditional Chinese: 西藏自治區; pinyin: Xīzàng Zìzhìqū, literally: "western depository" derived from the Chinese name for Ü-Tsang (simplified Chinese: 卫藏; traditional Chinese: 衛藏; pinyin: Wèizàng)), is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Within the People's Republic of China, Tibet is identified with the Autonomous Region, which includes about half of cultural Tibet, including the traditional provinces of Ü-Tsang and Kham (western half). Its borders coincide roughly with the actual zone of control of the government of Tibet before 1959. The Tibet Autonomous Region is the second-largest province-level division of China by area (spanning over 470,000 sq mi/1,200,000 km²) after Xinjiang.

Unlike other autonomous regions, the vast majority of inhabitants are of the local ethnicity. As a result, there is debate surrounding the extent of actual autonomy of the region. The Chinese government argues that Tibet has ample autonomy, as guaranteed under Articles 112-122 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as well as the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy of the People's Republic of China, while some human rights organizations accuse the Chinese government of persecuting and oppressing the local population.^[1]

The Central Tibetan Administration, commonly referred to as the Tibetan Government in Exile and headed by the Dalai Lama considers the administration of Tibet by the Chinese government as an illegitimate military occupation and holds that Tibet is a distinct sovereign nation with a long history of independence, though the Dalai Lama currently does not seek full independence for Tibet, but would accept Tibet as a genuine autonomous region within the People's Republic of China.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Government 3.1 Administrative divisions 4 Demographics 5 Towns and villages in Tibet 6 Economy 7 Tourism 8 See also 9 Footnotes 10 Further reading 11 External links 11.1 Pro Chinese rule and policies in Tibet 11.2 Contra Chinese rule and policies in Tibet 11.3 Apolitical

History

For the history of the area before 1959, see History of Tibet.

See also: History of the political divisions of China

From 1912 to 1949, the present extent of the Tibet Autonomous Region (comprising Ü-Tsang and western Kham) was ruled by the government of Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama. Other parts of historic Tibet (eastern Kham and Amdo) were not under the administration of the Tibetan government during the twentieth century; today they are distributed among the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Following Soviet practice, there is a convention that the governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region is an ethnic Tibetan, while the general secretary of the local Communist Party committee is an outsider, usually Han Chinese. Notable general secretaries of the local party committee include Hu Jintao, who served in the 1980s.

In 1950, the Chinese Army invaded the Tibetan area of Chamdo, crushing minimal resistance. In 1951, the Tibetan representatives, under Chinese military pressure, signed a seventeen-point agreement with the Chinese Central People's Government affirming China's sovereignty over Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later.^[2][3] Western Government secret intervention into Tibet began before the 1959 CIA supported insurrection. British MI6 agent Sidney Wignall, in his recent autobiography, ^[4] reveals that he travelled to Tibet with John Harrop in 1955 posing as mountaineers. Captured by the Chinese authority, Wignell recalled that he was surprised to find two CIA agents were already under Chinese detention. Tibetan exiles trained in a CIA camp in Colorado clashed with Chinese forces in 1959 during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year, after which the 14th Dalai Lama, with CIA help, went into political exile in India. After 1959, the CIA trained Tibetan guerrillas and provided funds and weapons for the fight against China. However, the effort stopped when Richard Nixon decided to seek rapprochement with China in the early 1970s. Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison, in The CIA's Secret War in Tibet ^[5], reveal how the CIA encouraged Tibet's revolt against China — and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement. The New York Times reported on October 2, 1998 that the Dalai Lama's administration acknowledged that it received $1.7 million a year in the 1960s from the CIA, but denied reports that the Tibetan leader benefited personally from an annual subsidy of $180,000. The money allocated for the resistance movement was spent on training volunteers and paying for guerrilla operations against the Chinese, the Tibetan government-in-exile said.^[6][7]

Though minimally active within the TAR, the international Tibet independence movement seeks autonomy within the PRC or independence for the TAR and other Tibetan regions.

Geography

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The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on Earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over 4,572 metres (15,000 ft). Mount Everest is located on Tibet's border with Nepal.

The Chinese areas of Xinjiang, Qinghai and Sichuan lie to the north and east of the region; It has border disputes with the Republic of India to the south including the McMahon Line of South Tibet. The disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir is to the west, and its boundary with that region is not demarcated/undefined; other countries to the south are Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal. Tibet also shares a short southeastern border with the People's Republic of China autonmous province of Yunnan.

Government

See also: List of Chairmen of the Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region is a province-level entity of the People's Republic of China. It is governed by a People's Government, led by a Chairman. In practice, however, the Chairman is subordinate to the branch secretary of the Communist Party of China. As a matter of convention, the Chairman has almost always been an ethnic Tibetan, while the party secretary has almost always been a non-Tibetan. The current Chairman is Qiangba Puncog, who is a native of Qamdo Prefecture. The current party secretary is Zhang Qingli, who was previously the party secretary of Tai'an and Lanzhou, and commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Administrative divisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Autonomous Region is divided into one prefecture-level city and six prefectures.

Map	#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Tibetan	Wylie	Type
	1	Ngari	阿里地区	Ālǐ Dìqū	མངའ་རིས་ས་ཁུལ་	Mnga'-ris Sa-khul	Prefecture
	2	Nagqu	那曲地区	Nàqū Dìqū	ནག་ཆུ་ས་ཁུལ་	Nag-chu Sa-khul	Prefecture
	3	Qamdo	昌都地区	Chāngdū Dìqū	ཆབ་མདོ་ས་ཁུལ་	Chab-mdo Sa-khul	Prefecture
	4	Xigazê	日喀则地区	Rìkāzé Dìqū	གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་ས་ཁུལ་	Gzhis-ka-rtse Sa-khul	Prefecture
	5	Lhasa	拉萨市	Lāsà Shì	ལྷ་ས་གྲོང་ཁྱེར་	Lha-sa Grong-khyer	Prefecture-level city
	6	Shannan	山南地区	Shānnán Dìqū	ལྷོ་ཁ་ས་ཁུལ་	Lho-kha Sa-khul	Prefecture
	7	Nyingchi	林芝地区	Línzhī Dìqū	ཉིང་ཁྲི་ས་ཁུལ་	Nying-khri Sa-khul	Prefecture

These in turn are subdivided into a total of seventy-one counties, one district (Chengguan District, Lhasa) and one county-level city (Xigazê).

Demographics

The Tibet Autonomous Region has the lowest population density among China's province-level administrative regions, mostly due to its mountainous and harsh geographical features.

In 2000, 92.8% of the population were ethnic Tibetans, who mainly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön.

Han Chinese comprised 6.1% of the population ^[8] However, the region has seen some Han migrants began early in the decade, especially since the 2006 completion of a railway line linking Tibet with the rest of China. ^[9]

Muslim ethnic groups such as the Hui and the Salar have long inhabited Tibet Autonomous Region. Another Muslim group is the Tibetan Muslims, who are ethnically Tibetans but believe in Islam. They are counted as Tibetans by the Chinese government. ^[10]

Smaller tribal groups such as the Monpa and Lhoba, who follow a combination of Tibetan Buddhism and spirit worship, are found mainly in the southeastern parts of the region.

In 2009, the American organization Freedom House put Tibet in the “Worst of the Worst” list of most repressive disputed territories and nations in the world, together with Russia’s Chechnya and South Ossetia.^[11]

Towns and villages in Tibet

Lhasa

Further information: List of towns and villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region

Economy

Main article: Economy of Tibet

The Tibetans traditionally depended upon agriculture for survival. Since the 1980s, however, other jobs such as taxi-driving and hotel retail work have become available in the wake of Chinese economic reform. In 2007, Tibet's nominal GDP topped 34 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion), nearly triple the 11.78 billion yuan (US$1.47 billion) in 2000. In the past five years, Tibet's annual GDP growth has averaged 12%.

While traditional agricultural work and animal husbandry continue to lead the area's economy, in 2005 the tertiary sector contributed more than half of its GDP growth, the first time it surpassed the area's primary industry^[12][13]. The collection of caterpillar fungus, known in Tibeta as Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis), in late spring / early summer is in many areas the most important source of cash for rural households; it contributes an average of 40% to the rural cash income and 8.5% to the TAR's GDP^[14] [see also Hannue]^[15]. The re-opening of the Nathu La pass (on southern Tibet's border with India) should facilitate Sino-Indian border trade and boost Tibet's economy^[16].

In 2007, the Chinese news media reported that the per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents in Tibet averaged 11,131 yuan (US$1,464) and 2,788 yuan (US$367) respectively. ^[17].

The China Western Development policy was recently adopted by the central government to boost economic development in western China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region.

• Lhasa Economic and Technological Development Zone

Tourism

Tourists were first permitted to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region in the 1980s. While the main attraction is the Potala Palace in Lhasa, there are many other popular tourist destinations including Jokhang Temple, Namtso Lake, and Tashilhunpo Monastery. Some areas remain restricted to tourists.

See also

• China Tibetology Research Center
• List of prisons in Tibet Autonomous Region
• List of universities and colleges in Tibet

Footnotes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Gyatso, Tenzin, Dalai Lama XIV, interview, 25 July 1981.
3. ^ Goldstein, Melvyn C., A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951, University of California Press, 1989, p. 812-813.
4. ^ [A Spy On the Roof of the World]
5. ^ Morrison, James, The CIA's Secret War in Tibet, 1998.
6. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD61538F931A35753C1A96E958260 Dalai Lama Group Says It Got Money From C.I.A. Retrieved on March 29, 2008
7. ^ http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol5/v5n09tibet_body.html Reassessing Tibet Policy http://www.fpif.org/pdf/vol5/09iftibet.pdf (same)
8. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456954/html/nn5page1.stm
9. ^ http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/31913.html
10. ^ Hannue, Dialogues Tibetan Dialogues Han
11. ^ Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies (PDF), Freedom House, March 2009
12. ^ Xinhua - Per capita GDP tops $1,000 in Tibet
13. ^ Tibet posts fixed assets investment rise
14. ^ Winkler D. 2008 Yartsa gunbu (Cordyceps sinenis) and the fungal commodification of rural Tibet. Economic Botany 62.3
15. ^ Dialogues Tibetan Dialogues Han
16. ^ China and India to trade across Himalayas | World news | The Guardian
17. ^ Tibetans report income rises

Further reading

• Hannue, Dialogues Tibetan Dialogues Han, travelogue from Tibet - by a woman who's been travelling around Tibet for over a decade, ISBN 9789889799939
• Sorrel Wilby, Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's 1900-Mile Trek Across the Rooftop of the World, Contemporary Books (1988), hardcover, 236 pages, ISBN 0-8092-4608-2.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tibet

Pro Chinese rule and policies in Tibet

• Tibet Autonomous Region official website
• China, Tibet and the Chinese nation
• China Tibet Information Center
• Chinese government white paper "Tibet -- Its Ownership And Human Rights Situation" (1992)
• Chinese government white paper, "Tibet's March Toward Modernization" (2001)
• (Chinese) Naming of Tibet
• PRC Government Tibet information
• Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet (May 2004)
• (Chinese) Tibet Online
• Tibet Tour (Tibet Tourism Bureau Official Site)
• (Chinese) Tibet University
• White Paper on Ecological Improvement and Environmental Protection in Tibet
• White Paper on Tibetan Culture and Homayk
• Asia Times: Why Tibet is part of China
• Tibetan language radio (China National Radio 8, part of the time Kazakh, Korean, Mongolian and Uighur are broadcast, but Lhasa Tibetan dominates.)

Contra Chinese rule and policies in Tibet

• Central Tibetan Administration (Government in Exile)
• Amnesty International Report 2004
• Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) on Tibet-related issues
• Repression in Tibet, 1987 - 1992
• Students for a Free Tibet
• - photos and information on Tibet (and Nepal)
• Free Tibet website
• The Government of Tibet in exile
• Tibet Online - Tibet Support Group
• Tibetan Studies WWW Virtual Library
• Faith in Exile - A video by the Guerrilla News Network
• Freedom of expression violations in Tibet
• Canada Tibet Committee
• Religious repression in Tibet "getting worse" in 2007
• China deepens religious repression in Tibet-report
• China Terrorizes Tibet

Apolitical

• Large map of Tibet
• Haiwei Trails - Timeline of Tibet
• The Tibet Map Institute
• Railway map of China
• Tibet map collection

v • d • e   (Tibetan) Autonomous Region of Tibet Lhasa (Capital) History · Politics · Economy Province-level divisions Prefecture-level city Lhasa Prefectures Nagqu · Ngari · Nyingchi · Qamdo · Shannan · Xigazê List of Tibet County-level divisions

v • d • e Tibetan autonomous areas in the People's Republic of China Regions Tibet Lhasa · Nagqu · Qamdo · Shannan · Xigazê · Ngari · Nyingchi Provinces Qinghai Haibei · Hainan · Haixi (Mongols and Tibetans) · Huangnan · Golog · Yushu Sichuan Garzê · Ngawa (Tibetans and Qiang) · Muli Gansu Gannan · Tianzhu Yunnan Dêqên See also Political divisions of China

v • d • e Province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China Provinces Anhui • Fujian • Gansu • Guangdong • Guizhou • Hainan • Hebei • Heilongjiang • Henan • Hubei • Hunan • Jiangsu • Jiangxi • Jilin • Liaoning • Qinghai • Shaanxi • Shandong • Shanxi • Sichuan • Yunnan • Zhejiang Autonomous regions Guangxi • Inner Mongolia • Ningxia • Tibet • Xinjiang Municipalities Beijing • Chongqing • Shanghai • Tianjin Special Administrative Regions Hong Kong • Macau Territorial disputes Paracel Islands • Senkaku Islands • Spratly Islands • South Tibet • Taiwan (see Legal status of Taiwan)

v • d • e County-level divisions of Tibet Capital: Lhasa Lhasa City Chengguan · Lhünzhub County · Damxung County · Nyêmo County · Qüxü County · Doilungdêqên County · Dagzê County · Maizhokunggar County Nagchu Prefecture Nagchu County · Lhari County · Biru County · Nyainrong County · Amdo County · Xainza County · Sog County · Baingoin County · Baqên County · Nyima County · Shuanghu Special District1 Chamdo Prefecture Qamdo County · Jomda County · Gonjo County · Riwoqê County · Dêngqên County · Zhag'yab County · Baxoi County · Zogang County · Markam County · Lhorong County · Banbar County Nyingtri Prefecture Nyingchi County · Gongbo'gyamda County · Mainling County · Mêdog County · Bomê County · Zayü County · Nang County Shannan Prefecture Nêdong County · Zhanang County · Gonggar County · Sangri County · Qonggyai County  · Qusum County · Comai County · Lhozhag County · Gyaca County · Lhünzê County · Cuona County · Nagarzê County Xigazê Prefecture Xigazê City  · Namling County · Gyangzê County · Tingri County · Sa'gya County · Lhazê County · Ngamring County · Xaitongmoin County · Bainang County · Rinbung County · Kangmar County · Dinggyê County · Zhongba County · Yadong County · Gyirong County · Nyalam County · Saga County · Gamba County Ngari Prefecture Gar County · Burang County · Zanda County · Rutog County · Gê'gyai County · Gêrzê County · Coqên County Note: 1 — De facto independent jurisdiction, nominally part of Nyima.

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