Holiday in Lhasa
I came, I saw, I learned, I left. .....I remember.
This is the sub (sequent) stack for the previous stack about a 1996 backpacking trip:
From the bus, as I approached Lhasa, I saw pilgrims fully prostrating forward on the ground, getting up from the dust, walking a few paces further along the road, and then fully prostrating once more. I learned they were coming from towns and villages to Lhasa on a pilgrimage and would do this the whole way.
This was confronting; it exhibited a level of intensely focused religious devotion I have not seen before or since. A similar practice can be seen in the picture below, at the Jokhang temple.
I wondered how many of these people at Jokhang Temple (above) had walked into Lhasa from far away. Some probably lived in Lhasa, but others would have been pilgrims from towns and villages.
I stayed in a Tibetan run hotel.
It had a view of Lhasa’s major landmark, the Potala Palace, from the street. In fact, I think the Potala could be seen from almost anywhere in the city.
The day after arrival, I went to report to my guide, a sad looking Han Chinese man of about forty, who took me to an unimpressive museum related to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan history. I have no photos of it, and I can’t find online records of what it might have been. The modern more impressive structure called “The Tibet Museum”, built in 1999, has the purpose, like art, history, music, to serve the party, and promote the party’s narrative.
Whereas the modern one has exhibits showing why Tibet is happily part of China, the old one had, …old stuff, and was not particularly organised.
It had Tibetan jewellery and art, and it had a car given by the British to the Dalai Lama, (a previous incarnation).
The vehicle I saw on display was similar to this one, (pictured above) also taken to Tibet in parts and reassembled. I attempted to find information on it, but it seems to have been deleted from history. This photo is from The Indian Defence Review.
However:
Particularly memorable was a vase with a painting of a monk chasing young naked boys. It had a creepy paedophile feel, but I don’t know if it was
representative of Tibetan art,
an unusual piece placed there to create a negative feeling toward the Dalai Lama and the monastic system, or
a complete fake designed with the same purpose.
Propaganda takes many forms, museums being one.
Tell the world
After a while, the guide lost interest in me. He hadn’t after all, actually escorted me anywhere much and we barely spoke. He was a miserable individual, the lowest in the party-state monitoring system, and I think deep in his heart he felt deep shame for his way of making a living.
Shortly after he was out of sight, three Tibetans came up to me and started conversation - in unexpectedly good English. They wanted me to report to the outside world the oppression they were living under and specifically referred to protests that had happened in recent years (mid 90’s) that had been put down violently. I had sympathy for their plight, but I had to be straight with them, look them in the eye and say that the world knows, but cannot, or will not, do anything.
The next day I visited Drepung monastery. On the ceiling were musty leather covered weapons and shields, a reminder that Tibet was originally a warrior nation.
I noticed the ceiling because some monks persuaded me to put my head in a cavity in the rear of a sculpture of a horse buddha and I had to kneel down and contort somewhat to do this. I would be blessed, apparently.
Not sure why they thought it was so funny though.
The Potala Palace, both seen at a distance, and visiting inside, is a “must see” on every tourists list. It is impressive at a distance, and I can’t think of anything larger and more impressive in all of the territory demarcated as the PRC.
Nevertheless, Chinese history books refer to Tibet as having been upgraded by Chinese contact and like all “minority groups” Tibetans are good at singing and dancing - 能歌善舞1，but that’s about it.
Looking at the same location today, using satellite maps, we can see the area is now more of a pleasant open space for outdoor public events. When I visited, it was a rectangular space, and my guess about the placing of the jet fighter here, is that it was to publicly symbolise the technological prowess and military superiority of China over Tibet. A daily reminder to visitors and locals:
You have been defeated.
I visited the Jokhang Temple area, and observed monks in robes and people at prayer.
For all the criticism of “能歌善舞” ， the Han stereotype of “minorities” singing and dancing, these elements of culture - music and dance - appeared to still have real strength at the time of my visit.
This performance above did have tourists attending, but the audience is overwhelmingly Tibetan locals and they had a clearly living, vibrant culture.
Traditional clothing was normal and commonly seen in the mid 1990’s.
Walking in hills within Lhasa, I was struck by the prevalence of Mani stones. I was given slightly different explanations for them, but creating and placing them is a form of devotion.
On this journey I had been into Eastern China having read up on its history, especially modern history. My knowledge of China was a knowledge of Han China. This body of knowledge was limited to no further west than Xian. Once I headed west from there, I was learning new things every stop on the journey. I was virtually flipping through the guidebook and making up the itinerary only in a broad outline and filling in the details along the way.
Today we ask Chat GPT a question and receive back if not the truth, at least the commonly accepted story that most people believe. All my ideas about Tibet and Western China originate with what I actually saw, heard, and was told by people living there at the time, a quarter of a century ago. So while I claim no serious expertise, I was forced to learn some basic history and current affairs about Tibet, from Tibetans.
When I see a three minute CCP TikTok by some self described western influencer peddling the CCP version of history and clocking up the views, I think of the guy who told me about the price of Yaks and the old empire of Tibet. I think of the three men who wanted me to tell the world of Tibet’s plight, I think of the Tibetan influence on Tang Dynasty rock art at Bing Ling Si, and I feel sickened that young people in the west will have their views about Tibet formed by these toadies, who think it’s edgy to back an evil dictatorship against the world.
At the time, The Lonely Planet Guide claimed that 75 % of Lhasa’s population was Han Chinese. I couldn’t vouch for that as it did not really look that way. What we do know, is that in the years that have followed, The non-military Han population in Lhasa is estimated at around 25 % of Lhasa’s population2, and the (Han) military proportion of the population would also be significant, so the claims of Lhasa being flooded with Han people are not unfounded.
Han presence and development has meant Sinification, the erosion of Tibetan cultural identity, and a complete lack of autonomy for Tibetans in the Tibetan (so-called) “Autonomous” Region and the other parts of Tibet that have been severed and attached to adjacent Chinese provinces.
While the world temporarily became concerned with the fate of Uyghur and other Turkic peoples to the West, Tibet slipped off the radar completely. In the minds of decision makers in Beijing, it has been successfully pacified, and the lessons learned are being applied in Xinjiang. These lessons include taking children to boarding schools to break the link with their families and their culture.
Tibet Action Institute Tweet Link
For those of us who support true (not CCP defined) Freedom and true (not CCP defined) Human Rights, the subjugation of Tibet represents the defeat not only of Tibetans, but a battle lost in the ongoing battle for the rights of all humanity.
Don’t forget Tibet.
Without doing an extensive study of Chinese textbooks, I get the general impression Chinese kids think of minority groups and think of singing and dancing, because thats the only way they are described, if at all, the first time they learn about them. These stereotypes are further reinforced in the news and entertainment media, who’s role is to enhance the power of the party.
How Much Does Beijing Control the Ethnic Makeup of Tibet? Chinafile Sep 2, 2021.