China has 56 different groups of people. The native Tibet people are among those groups. Over 90% of the population in China is Han Chinese. So many of the other tribes are minority.
In the view of History, Tibet has been part of China for over 1000 years. For this, a well-known American writer, Michael Parenti illustrated the story of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. He wrote that many Buddhists still believed that, before the Chinese Communist party took over Tibet in 1959, old Tibet was a spiritually orientated kingdom “free from the egotistical lifestyle, empty materialism, and corrupting vices that beset modern industrialized society” (Thomas, 2007). Many western news media, travel books, novels, movies have shown a very different image of Tibet from what it originally was. However, when the history of Tibet was seriously paid attention, an unexpected story was told.
It is hard to know the fact that the position of Dalai Lama was created by a Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan in the 13th century for political stability. Several centuries later, another Chinese Emperor sent troops to Tibet to support the Grand Lama, who was only 25, entitled “Dalai Lama”(Ocean of intelligence), the ruler of all Tibet. Parenti(2007) remarked that “Here is a historical irony: the first Dalai Lama was installed by a Chinese army.”
Actually, the history of Tibet was violent, brutal, and Dalai Lama was the head of Tibet, enjoying supreme power over his fellows. Murders and conspiracy were among the government struggles, which might surprise a lot of people, who believe that the relationship among the rulers was harmonious. Also, there was no clear division between politics and religion. The monks and Dalai Lama were the ruling group on the top of the power pyramid. The Tibetans have not separated politics and religion. Dalai Lama was the supreme god in Tibet who owned all the properties including slaves and serfs. He lived in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace. Addition to that, a small numbers of high-ranking lamas owned the wealth of the monasteries. For instance, the Drepung monastery owned 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen.
Before 1959, the majority of Tibetans was serfs and slaves. They were subjected to their masters, landlords, monks and a few powerful people. Most of Tibetans were born to be slaves, imposed on heavy taxes, subject to terrible tortures and death penalty. Parenti described it clearly in detail.
In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation--including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation--were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs. Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.” Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet. (2007)
National Geographic once reported the issue of sexually abusing young boys by the monks during the present Dalai Lama's rule. Dalai Lama’s explanation was "there may have been some instances, but it was never widespread.”(2002)
Despite of the fact that Tibet was not a harmonious Buddhist civilization, the west has often presented a false interpretation. Parenti(2007) spoke up directly, saying that many westerners have misunderstood the reality in Tibet thinking that it is “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” In fact there was a group of soldiers being regarded as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs.
Pico Lyer (2004) stated that the Dalai Lama has made little headway in protecting the 6 million Tibetans who live in Tibet. For the image of Dalai Lama, Richard Gere once decribed him in this way:
The subsequent brutal occupation by the Chinese forced the young Dalai Lama into exile in 1959, along with tens of thousands of his fellow Tibetans……
The Dalai Lama, 69, does not belong solely to the Tibetans anymore--he belongs to us all. With a vast and profound knowledge of Buddhism, an open heart and the exceedingly rare ability to touch deeply people of all religions, races and backgrounds, he has emerged over the past half-century as one of the very few universally respected beings on our planet.(2005)
DaLai Lam himself addressed that:
Today, the Tibetan freedom movement is in a much stronger and better position than ever before and I firmly believe that despite the present intransigence of the Chinese government, the prospects for progress in bringing about a meaningful dialogue and negotiations are better today than ever. (1999)
Actually, this is a common image of Dalai Lama in the western world. It was said that he was purged by the “brutal” Chinese government and he led his people to strive for human right and the highest Buddhist beliefs. Therefore, it would be a big surprise for the west to understand that Dalai Lama was the ruler of a feudal, non-human province state. Nowadays, he was regarded as a kind, humble, wise, and lovable spiritual leader of human right activities. He even got the Nobel Prize in 1989, which entitled him as “a protector of human right by using peaceful means”. He did say a lot of good words about human right and condemn PRC’s misbehave in Tibet. However, does such a previous supreme ruler of a feudal state deserve the Nobel Prize?
He embraced the idea of human right only right after his exile in 1959. Before that, what he did was totally contradictory to his complement in 1989. At the same time, the influence of America in Tibet is also a discredit to his Nobel Prize ownership. There were resistances against the Chinese troops in the 1950s, which was supported by the CIA. Parenti pointed out the fact the Dalai Lama has gained support from CIA for military resistance against China. They established military training and support camps in Nepal and numerous airlifts. A CIA-trained guerrilla was sent back to Tibet for military action. If Dalai Lama does support peaceful means for human right, he would have known the violent deed of his people and rejected what they were doing.
It is hard to not to consider the political factors against the Nobel Prize owner. After his exile, he and his men have been supported by the American government financially. His political belief is a myth, but it is hard to exclude him from the pro-American group. For this, Parenti(2007) mentioned that most monks fled abroad with Dalai, who ere all supported by the CIA. The Tibetan exile community has been secretly pocketing $1.7 million from the CIA, and this fact was revealed by the U.S. State Department in 1998. Even Dalai himself personally received $186,000 a year. In 2007, president Bush presented him the U.S. Congress's highest civilian honor. It is hard to believe that Dalai Lama’s political vision has nothing to do with the interest of America.
All in all, many don’t comprehend the truth of Tibet. Dalai Lama, the so-called spiritual leader of human rights, remains a controversial figure in the political field. Of course, for CCP, he was a separatist, aiming at the independence of Tibet. Prime Minister Weng Jia Bo, during a 16th March 2008 international press conference, stated that the riot in Tibet was planned and led by Dalai Lama. The reliability of the prime minister’s words remain doubtful. However, there is a need to know that Dalai Lama, the so-called human right protector has been receiving money from the American government. And his previous role in Tibet as a supreme and divine political leader and an oppressive landlord does contradict with the Nobel Prize he got in 1989.
In the view of History, Tibet has been part of China for over 1000 years. For this, a well-known American writer, Michael Parenti illustrated the story of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. He wrote that many Buddhists still believed that, before the Chinese Communist party took over Tibet in 1959, old Tibet was a spiritually orientated kingdom “free from the egotistical lifestyle, empty materialism, and corrupting vices that beset modern industrialized society” (Thomas, 2007). Many western news media, travel books, novels, movies have shown a very different image of Tibet from what it originally was. However, when the history of Tibet was seriously paid attention, an unexpected story was told.
It is hard to know the fact that the position of Dalai Lama was created by a Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan in the 13th century for political stability. Several centuries later, another Chinese Emperor sent troops to Tibet to support the Grand Lama, who was only 25, entitled “Dalai Lama”(Ocean of intelligence), the ruler of all Tibet. Parenti(2007) remarked that “Here is a historical irony: the first Dalai Lama was installed by a Chinese army.”
Actually, the history of Tibet was violent, brutal, and Dalai Lama was the head of Tibet, enjoying supreme power over his fellows. Murders and conspiracy were among the government struggles, which might surprise a lot of people, who believe that the relationship among the rulers was harmonious. Also, there was no clear division between politics and religion. The monks and Dalai Lama were the ruling group on the top of the power pyramid. The Tibetans have not separated politics and religion. Dalai Lama was the supreme god in Tibet who owned all the properties including slaves and serfs. He lived in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace. Addition to that, a small numbers of high-ranking lamas owned the wealth of the monasteries. For instance, the Drepung monastery owned 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen.
Before 1959, the majority of Tibetans was serfs and slaves. They were subjected to their masters, landlords, monks and a few powerful people. Most of Tibetans were born to be slaves, imposed on heavy taxes, subject to terrible tortures and death penalty. Parenti described it clearly in detail.
In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation--including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation--were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs. Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.” Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet. (2007)
National Geographic once reported the issue of sexually abusing young boys by the monks during the present Dalai Lama's rule. Dalai Lama’s explanation was "there may have been some instances, but it was never widespread.”(2002)
Despite of the fact that Tibet was not a harmonious Buddhist civilization, the west has often presented a false interpretation. Parenti(2007) spoke up directly, saying that many westerners have misunderstood the reality in Tibet thinking that it is “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” In fact there was a group of soldiers being regarded as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs.
Pico Lyer (2004) stated that the Dalai Lama has made little headway in protecting the 6 million Tibetans who live in Tibet. For the image of Dalai Lama, Richard Gere once decribed him in this way:
The subsequent brutal occupation by the Chinese forced the young Dalai Lama into exile in 1959, along with tens of thousands of his fellow Tibetans……
The Dalai Lama, 69, does not belong solely to the Tibetans anymore--he belongs to us all. With a vast and profound knowledge of Buddhism, an open heart and the exceedingly rare ability to touch deeply people of all religions, races and backgrounds, he has emerged over the past half-century as one of the very few universally respected beings on our planet.(2005)
DaLai Lam himself addressed that:
Today, the Tibetan freedom movement is in a much stronger and better position than ever before and I firmly believe that despite the present intransigence of the Chinese government, the prospects for progress in bringing about a meaningful dialogue and negotiations are better today than ever. (1999)
Actually, this is a common image of Dalai Lama in the western world. It was said that he was purged by the “brutal” Chinese government and he led his people to strive for human right and the highest Buddhist beliefs. Therefore, it would be a big surprise for the west to understand that Dalai Lama was the ruler of a feudal, non-human province state. Nowadays, he was regarded as a kind, humble, wise, and lovable spiritual leader of human right activities. He even got the Nobel Prize in 1989, which entitled him as “a protector of human right by using peaceful means”. He did say a lot of good words about human right and condemn PRC’s misbehave in Tibet. However, does such a previous supreme ruler of a feudal state deserve the Nobel Prize?
He embraced the idea of human right only right after his exile in 1959. Before that, what he did was totally contradictory to his complement in 1989. At the same time, the influence of America in Tibet is also a discredit to his Nobel Prize ownership. There were resistances against the Chinese troops in the 1950s, which was supported by the CIA. Parenti pointed out the fact the Dalai Lama has gained support from CIA for military resistance against China. They established military training and support camps in Nepal and numerous airlifts. A CIA-trained guerrilla was sent back to Tibet for military action. If Dalai Lama does support peaceful means for human right, he would have known the violent deed of his people and rejected what they were doing.
It is hard to not to consider the political factors against the Nobel Prize owner. After his exile, he and his men have been supported by the American government financially. His political belief is a myth, but it is hard to exclude him from the pro-American group. For this, Parenti(2007) mentioned that most monks fled abroad with Dalai, who ere all supported by the CIA. The Tibetan exile community has been secretly pocketing $1.7 million from the CIA, and this fact was revealed by the U.S. State Department in 1998. Even Dalai himself personally received $186,000 a year. In 2007, president Bush presented him the U.S. Congress's highest civilian honor. It is hard to believe that Dalai Lama’s political vision has nothing to do with the interest of America.
All in all, many don’t comprehend the truth of Tibet. Dalai Lama, the so-called spiritual leader of human rights, remains a controversial figure in the political field. Of course, for CCP, he was a separatist, aiming at the independence of Tibet. Prime Minister Weng Jia Bo, during a 16th March 2008 international press conference, stated that the riot in Tibet was planned and led by Dalai Lama. The reliability of the prime minister’s words remain doubtful. However, there is a need to know that Dalai Lama, the so-called human right protector has been receiving money from the American government. And his previous role in Tibet as a supreme and divine political leader and an oppressive landlord does contradict with the Nobel Prize he got in 1989.
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