Tibet

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Location of Tibet on a world map
Yangbajain Valley, about 100 kilometers northwest of Lhasa
Ferry traffic over the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Zangbo)

Tibet is an extensive highland in Central Asia that is often referred to as the roof of the world . Isolated by the Himalayan mountains on the southern edge, Tibet developed its own culture and, as early as the 7th century, also developed independent states ( Shangshung , Tubo ) that stretched over parts of the highlands. In the middle of the 13th century, Tibet came under the rule of the Mongolians in the catchment area of ​​the Chinese multi-ethnic state .

Tibet had its own state well into the 20th century. The current membership of Tibet in the People's Republic of China is controversial under international law ( see: Tibet's status ). A Tibetan government in exile has existed since 1959 , which is not recognized internationally, but is supported by many countries.

The Chinese administrative division of most of the historical metropolitan area today comprises the Tibet Autonomous Region (AGT) with the capital Lhasa as well as ten autonomous districts and two autonomous counties in the provinces of Qinghai , Sichuan , Yunnan and Gansu . Parts of the historical Tibet or the settlement area of ​​the people of the Tibetans outside of China are in Pakistan , India , Nepal , Bhutan and Myanmar .

Use of language

In the usage of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Xīzàng西藏, (Tibetan bod ljongs བོད་ ལྗོངས །) stands for the Autonomous Region of Tibet . The term bod chen (= "Greater Tibet") in the Tibetan language is based on the expansion of the Tibetan Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries. bod and bod yul, on the other hand, usually do not include the regions of Amdo and Kham in Tibetan, Eastern Tibetan regions outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.

geography

The highlands of Tibet, which in its extreme south encompass a large part of the Himalayan Mountains and extend at an average altitude of 4500 meters, are considered to be the highest region in the world.

The high plateau of Tibet is desert-like , the driest part is the western area of ​​the alpine steppes known as Changthang (Tibetan for "northern level (s)"). The main reason for the drought is that the Himalayas shield the highlands to the south from the Indian monsoon rains and that the interior is dominated by a continental climate .

Tibet is surrounded by the mountains of the Himalayas in the south and west, the eastern Tibetan-Chinese marginal chains in the east (Min Shan, Minya Konka , Hengduan Shan ), the Karakoram in the northwest and the Kunlun Shan in the north, but there are also numerous in the interior Mountain bars crisscrossed. Tibet borders from west to east on the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh and the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh , Uttarakhand , Sikkim and Assam (according to the Chinese view) and Arunachal Pradesh (according to the Indian view and current political borders) as well as the countries Nepal , Bhutan and Myanmar (Burma), with a total length of the border with these three countries of almost 4000 km.

Tibetan cultural area

Location of the East Tibetan regions of Amdo and Kham

"Geographical" Tibet (i.e. the highlands of Tibet including the peripheral mountains in China and neighboring countries) extends over an area of ​​2.5 million km² and is traditionally divided into several cultural regions.

Tibetans or Tibetan-speaking groups can be found in all of these Tibetan cultural regions, although in the peripheral areas there are often other peoples who are not always linguistically related or culturally closely connected to the Tibetans ( Muslims in Amdo and Ladakh). For this reason, despite all the similarities, the Tibetan cultural area is also characterized by a certain cultural diversity.

Tibet Autonomous Region

Detailed map of the Tibetan cultural area and the autonomous Tibetan administrative divisions of the PRC

The Tibet Autonomous Region is an administrative unit of the People's Republic of China . It covers an area of 1.2 million km²  - the former central Tibetan provinces of Ü and Tsang, Ngari, large parts of the Changthang and the western part of the Kham cultural region.

The Tibet Autonomous Region corresponds to "political Tibet", that is, the territory administered by the Lhasa government before 1951 or 1959. The northern and eastern parts of the Tibetan cultural area are, for the most part as autonomous districts, parts of the Chinese provinces of Qinghai , Gansu , Sichuan and Yunnan .

climate

The Yardrog Yutsho (Yamdrok Lake) located 110 kilometers southwest of Lhasa at an altitude of 4441 meters.

Tibet has a highland climate with large daytime temperature fluctuations and lots of sunshine. The temperature differences between the south of Tibet and the north are also considerable.

The most moderate climate is found in the lower elevations of southeast Tibet. There are also the cities of Lhasa , Gyantse and Shigatse . Lhasa has an average temperature of 8 ° C, Shigatse 6.5 ° C, while to the north the Tibetan plateau rises to over 4500 meters and in the northern half of Tibet the annual average temperature is below 0 ° C ( permafrost area ).

Most of the inhabitants of Tibet live in the area between Lhasa and Shigatse as well as on the eastern edge of the Tibetan highlands, while the north, the central area and the west of Tibet are almost uninhabitable.


Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Lhasa
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 6.8 9.2 12.0 15.7 19.7 22.5 21.7 20.7 19.6 16.4 11.6 7.7 O 15.3
Min. Temperature (° C) −10.2 −6.9 −3.2 0.9 5.1 9.2 9.9 9.4 7.6 1.4 −5.0 −9.1 O 0.8
Temperature (° C) −2.2 1.1 4.6 8.0 12.0 15.6 15.4 14.5 12.8 8.0 2.2 −1.8 O 7.5
Precipitation ( mm ) 0 1 2 8th 25th 71 118 131 60 10 2 1 Σ 429
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
6.8
−10.2
9.2
−6.9
12.0
−3.2
15.7
0.9
19.7
5.1
22.5
9.2
21.7
9.9
20.7
9.4
19.6
7.6
16.4
1.4
11.6
−5.0
7.7
−9.1
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g
0
1
2
8th
25th
71
118
131
60
10
2
1
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: Climate in Lhasa . Klimadiagramme.de. Retrieved October 31, 2015.

Tibet during the Ice Age

One theory sees the highlands of Tibet in a central position, since it assumes an almost complete glaciation of the highlands. The significant increase in the albedo (whiteness) in the area of ​​the Tibet plateau (approx. 30–40 ° north latitude) led to a cooling of the atmosphere and thus to a global temperature drop of approx. 5 ° C due to the favorable radiation location. This favored the formation of flatland glaciers in Scandinavian and North American regions, which led to a self-reinforcing effect, whereby Tibet's ice surface continued to grow and its outlet glacier tongues flowed down through the edge of the plateau to about 1000 to 2000 m above sea level (glacial). Due to the Milanković cycle , the temperature increased and led to an increase in the snow line of almost 500 m - this and the glacial-isostatic lowering of the plateau, according to Matthias Kuhle , initiated the melting of the flatland glaciers and the outlet glacier tongues of the Tibetan ice and caused a reduction in global albedo and thus a rewarming (interglacial).

population

According to a Chinese census in 2000, the following population proportions result for the various provinces of the highlands of Tibet. This list contains all Tibetan autonomous regions of the People's Republic of China plus Xining and Haidong. The last two were included to complete the list for Qinghai Province and also because the Tibetan government-in-exile claims these two areas as part of Greater Tibet.

Tibetans and Han Chinese in Tibet, broken down by region according to the 2000 census
total Tibetans Han other
Tibet Autonomous Region (AGT)
AGT total: 2,616,329 2,427,168 92.8% 158,570 6.1% 30,591 1.2%
Lhasa.png - Lhasa 474,499 387.124 81.6% 80,584 17.0% 6,791 1.4%
Qamdo.png - Qamdo 586.152 563,831 96.2% 19,673 3.4% 2,648 0.5%
Shannan.png - Lhokha 318.106 305,709 96.1% 10,968 3.4% 1,429 0.4%
Xigaze.png - Shigatse 634.962 618.270 97.4% 12,500 2.0% 4,192 0.7%
Nagqu.png - Nagchu 366.710 357.673 97.5% 7,510 2.0% 1,527 0.4%
Ngari.png - Ngari 77,253 73.111 94.6% 3,543 4.6% 599 0.8%
Map of Nyingchi.png - Nyingthri 158,647 121,450 76.6% 23,792 15.0% 13,405 8.4%
Qinghai Province
Total Qinghai : 4,822,963 1,086,592 22.5% 2,606,050 54.0% 1,130,321 23.4%
Xining.png - Xining 1,849,713 96.091 5.2% 1,375,013 74.3% 378,609 20.5%
Haidong.png - Haidong 1,391,565 128.025 9.2% 783.893 56.3% 479,647 34.5%
Haibei.png - Haibei 258,922 62,520 24.1% 94,841 36.6% 101,561 39.2%
Huangnan.png - Huangnan 214,642 142,360 66.3% 16,194 7.5% 56,088 26.1%
QinghaiHainan.png - Hainan 375.426 235,663 62.8% 105,337 28.1% 34,426 9.2%
Golog.png - Golog 137.940 126,395 91.6% 9.096 6.6% 2,449 1.8%
Location of Yushu Prefecture within Qinghai (China) .png - Yushu 262,661 255.167 97.1% 5,970 2.3% 1,524 0.6%
Location of Haixi Prefecture within Qinghai (China) .png - Haixi 332.094 40,371 12.2% 215,706 65.0% 76.017 22.9%
Province Sichuan
Aba.png - Ngawa 847,468 455.238 53.7% 209.270 24.7% 182.960 21.6%
Ganzi.png - Garzê 897.239 703.168 78.4% 163,648 18.2% 30,423 3.4%
Location of Muli within Sichuan (China) .png - Mule 124,462 60,679 48.8% 27.199 21.9% 36,584 29.4%
Yunnan Province
Diqing.png - Dêqên 353,518 117.099 33.1% 57,928 16.4% 178.491 50.5%
Gansu Province
Gannan.png - Gannan 640.106 329.278 51.4% 267.260 41.8% 43,568 6.8%
Location of Tianzhu within Gansu (China) .png - Tianzhu 221,347 66,125 29.9% 139.190 62.9% 16,032 7.2%
Total for Greater Tibet
With Xining and Haidong 10,523,432 5,245,347 49.8% 3,629,115 34.5% 1,648,970 15.7%
Without Xining and Haidong 7,282,154 5,021,231 69.0% 1.470.209 20.2% 790.714 10.9%

Estimates by the Tibetan government-in-exile in 1996 showed different figures. According to this, 6 million Tibetans and around 7.5 million Han Chinese lived in the highlands of Tibet ; Han Chinese are already in the majority in all cities of Tibet.

history

The Tibetan Empire at its greatest expansion towards the end of the 8th century.
Sumtseling Gompa Monastery
Tibetan wooden houses in Zhongdian

Kingdom of Tibet

The Kingdom of Tibet arose in the early 7th century. Between the 7th and 10th centuries, Tibet was a strong, warlike empire. After the weakening of the position of the Tibetan kings in the 10th century, the formative form of Tibetan society developed in central Tibet. The ownership and rule were of the feudal type: some of the peasants had a hereditary right to a piece of land, but had to do unpaid labor (ula) and pay taxes. The rest were serfs who were tied to their noble landlords or to the monasteries, which were among the largest landowners. This form existed until the late 1950s.

Mongolian rule

In 1240 Tibet was conquered by the Mongolian Khan Güyük Khan and incorporated into his empire. Köden, Güyük Khan's younger brother, was appointed temporary governor of the conquered Tibet region in 1247. In the middle of the 13th to the middle of the 14th century, members of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism were appointed viceroys by the Mongolian khans. The area of ​​China was only occupied by the Mongols at the same time , the Chinese were not granted special state rights, so that there has been no sovereign China since then.

In 1368, the Han Chinese, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, overthrew the Mongol rulers and restored the independence and sovereignty of China, on whose territory the Ming dynasty , which ruled until 1644, was established. "Succession unrest" broke out in Tibetan territory, but a direct influence of the Ming rule on the sovereignty of Tibet, as aimed at by the Mongolian Yuan dynasty , cannot be proven from this period. What is known, however, is a measure of the Ming dynasty, which, however, only had an indirect impact on Tibet. She initially enacted a law in her domain that forbade its own people to learn the teachings of Buddhism from Tibet.

In 1578 the Altan Khan , a Mongolian ruler, member of the Tümed , enthroned the first Dalai Lama . In return, the Mongol received an honorary title, so that the Lama could now make sure of protection. Altan Khan was a powerful general whose troops fought successfully against the Ming dynasty from 1541 to 1571. Tibet remained under the influence of the Mongol rulers. The Han Chinese had nothing to counter this. When Altan Khan died in 1582, his son Sengge Düüreng continued to rule Tibet, but after his death in 1586 there were no successors.

During the last invasion of the Mongols at the beginning of the 17th century, the power of government was transferred to the highest cultic-religious representatives of the youngest of the four religious lines, the Gelugpa School. Two rivals in the conflict over rule over Tibet during this period were the two Mongols Choghtu Khong Tayiji , a member of the Chalcha, and Gushri Khan , an Oiraten - Khoshuude (also Qoshote ). The latter became King of Tibet in 1638 and supported the fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatsho , who was appointed supreme authority of the Tibetan state in 1642. Furthermore, a government ( Ganden Phodrang ; Tib .: dga 'ldan pho brang ) was created, which ruled from 1642 to 1959. After Gushri Khan's death from 1655 to 1668, Dayan Otschir Khan , 1668 to 1701 Dalai Khan and 1703 to 1717, his son Lhabsang Khan, followed as kings . In 1679 Sangye Gyatso was appointed by Lhabsang Khan as the Tibetan supreme regent, with the title "Desi of the 5th Dalai Lama".

As nomads , Mongolian peoples mostly moved around Central Asia in warm seasons and were therefore not always present in Tibet. Therefore, in addition to the Dalai Lama, they also appointed a local administrative regent who bore the title Desi (Tib .: sde srid ) and thus de facto constantly exercised executive state authority in Tibet .

At the end of the 17th century, foreign rule was again emerging in neighboring China. This time, however, not from the Mongols. In East Asia, the rulers of a Tungus people , the Manchu descended from the Jurchen , grew stronger . They brought down the Ming dynasty of the Han Chinese in Beijing as early as 1644 . However, they did not gain rule over the whole of China until 1662, as the Han could still rule in southern China with a few opposing emperors. The Manchu established the Qing Dynasty ( Manchurian daicing gurun ). For Tibet this was initially of no importance. The exercise of power by the first Manchurian regent Dorgon , the uncle of the underage first Manchu emperor in Beijing Shunzhi , was directed primarily inward to consolidate the power of the Manchu in China. The successor emperor Kangxi began an external policy. In 1701 he occupied the Tibetan-Chinese border and trading town of Lucheng in Dartsedo (Kangding). An occupation of Tibet did not take place, however, and Tibet remained a region in the Mongolian sphere of influence.

Until the beginning of the 18th century, Tibet remained a region under the Mongolian sphere of influence, but with a well-developed, established state of its own .

Manchu sphere of influence

In 1717, Tsewangrabtan's army occupied Lhasa and killed Lhabsang Khan. The Manchurian Emperor Kangxi took advantage of this weakness of the Mongols and marched to Lhasa in 1720. The emperor put the 7th Dalai Lama in office and declared the area of ​​Tibet a protectorate . A garrison of Qing Dynasty Imperial soldiers was also stationed in Lhasa at this time . After the emperor's death, however, the Manchus withdrew their troops in 1723.

In 1727 the new Manchu emperor Yongzheng established the office of amban in Tibet, who controlled the government in Lhasa. This began a period of direct influence by Manchurian emperors on the Tibetan government in Tibet, but their existence was not in question. The Manchu dynasty, however, obtained the right to participate in Tibetan politics to a slowly increasing extent through Ambane, who had been sent as imperial envoy to the court of the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace , since 1727 . They also influenced the ritual of finding a new Dalai Lama. Ultimately, however, this did not change the existence of a Tibetan state and its powers that were accepted by the changing rulers in Beijing. After Manchu forces entered Tibet for a short time due to an internal Tibetan civil war and left again after the pacification, the Manchurian troop strength in Tibet amounted to 500 in 1733. Phola Tedji ruled Tibet between 1728 and 1747 and was given a royal title by the Manchu Emperor Qianlong as ruler of Tibet . He created his own Tibetan army with 25,000 soldiers. Phola Tedji's son Gyurme Namgyel replaced his father in office after his death in 1747.

From 1751, with the consent of the Manchu, the Dalai Lama took over political rule again in addition to the religious office. The 7th Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyatsho ruled Lhasa from 1751 to 1756 . With this extension of the powers of a Dalai Lama, the Manchurian protectorate as a form of rule in Tibet actually ended and the construct of suzerainty began , which existed for over 160 years and offered advantages for both states, but did not change anything in the Tibetan system of rule and its state. For the Manchu rulers, suzerainty over Tibet had an advantage: Through it, China continued to claim the extent of its protection claims as far as the Himalayan ridge. Primarily addressed to external enemies, it thus stated when the Manchurian protected area would be entered and a war with Beijing would be provoked, which none of the smaller surrounding states would have wanted to get involved in. For even less defensive Tibet and its population, the suzerainty of the Manchu in turn guaranteed protection against external enemies and thus external peace. Because of this constellation, Tibet was sometimes shown as part of China in the old atlases .

Since the establishment of suzerainty, there has only been an influence of the Manchus in the eastern outskirts of Tibet to the Chinese lowlands. These are the areas with a larger proportion of the Han Chinese population. In addition, hardly any Chinese from the lowlands had the motivation to cross the undeveloped or sparsely populated areas of Tibet for several hundred kilometers. Every trip in Tibet was arduous and impossible to manage without a guide who knew the place. There was almost nothing in Tibet with which the Han Chinese could trade and which would have justified such an elaborate journey. That was true until the 20th century.

In 1774 the British official George Bogle of the East India Company made contact with government agencies in Tibet while traveling through Bhutan to Tibet. The company wanted to eliminate Bhutan's role as an intermediary in trade with Tibet. He met the Panchen Lama in Shigatse . From this contact Bogle hoped to be able to bypass the Chinese influence in trade with Tibet; however, he made no significant progress during his months' stay.

In the 19th century people lived in a feudal system among the lamas. The large monasteries owned the majority of the land, monopolized the educational system and most of the economic activities, and collected taxes. There was no foreign trade, with the exception of India, Turkmenistan and China.

The Dalai Lama was seen as the head, but his influence fluctuated with his personal abilities. His sphere of influence extended far into eastern Tibet (especially Kham ), especially at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama , but never again encompassed the entire Tibetan area as it did during the Yarlung dynasty . Above all, Amdo ( Inner-Tibet ) was not subject to any Lhasa government of a Dalai Lama, even if the Gelugpa order was able to set up some powerful monastery centers there. Due to the tulku system of reincarnation , there were long periods in which the Dalai Lama was too young to carry out his office. During this period, alongside a system of regents, the Panchen Lama was seen as an effective ruler of the country.

British occupation

During the Great Game phase , Russia wanted to gain strong diplomatic influence over Tibet. The attempts of Lord George Curzon , the British Viceroy of India , in return to contain this influence by diplomatic means, were ignored by the Tibetan government. In response to this attitude, which was regarded as an affront , the British Tibet campaign began in November 1903 under the leadership of Francis Younghusband , in order to build up negotiating pressure through step-by-step action against the poorly equipped Tibetan army.

It was only after the occupation of Lhasa and the flight of the 13th Dalai Lama to Outer Mongolia that the British dictated an agreement to the remaining Tibetan representatives and the Amban of the Qing Emperor in September 1904 to open the border for trade with British India . In the agreement, they achieved that Tibet was not allowed to trade with any other nation and that no other nation was allowed to lay telephone lines or establish transport links. It was also stipulated that only the British had the right to establish military bases in Tibet. It was also determined that Tibet could not enter into negotiations with other countries without the consent of the British. It was not until 1906 that this contract was confirmed by the Chinese government.

In the Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1907 , England and Russia agreed on their spheres of interest in Central Asia and established the suzerainty of Manchu-China over Tibet. In 1910 the Manchurians sent their own military expedition to consolidate this claim. The Dalai Lama, having barely returned from exile , fled again, this time to India. As a result of the Chinese Revolution in October 1911, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the associated end of the Empire in China, the Chinese troops left Tibet.

Statehood 1913

The historical flag of Tibet - used by the Tibetan government in exile . Their possession is prohibited in the People's Republic of China .

In the spring of 1912 there was only one small Chinese garrison left in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama returned and entered Lhasa in June 1912. After the last Manchu-Chinese troops were driven out of Lhasa at the beginning of January 1913, the Dalai Lama solemnly proclaimed Tibet's independence on February 14, 1913: “Tibet would be ruled without any outside interference” . The outer symbols such as the flag and anthem were also determined. In Tibet, a state now independent of China developed with its own army, government and currency, which existed for over four decades. At the same time a (later questioned) friendship treaty was signed with Mongolia , which had also just declared independence.

China made no serious attempts to fend off Tibetan independence or enforce a claim to Tibet, nor was it able to exercise any government power in Tibet. The reasons for this may also be found in the fact that China was split up during the warlord era following the turmoil of the revolution and in the 1920s and 1930s due to the civil war between the warring parties and was considerably weakened by the Second Sino-Japanese War . Chinese claims were only represented in the occasional loud speech or public appearance, such as a condolence mission to Lhasa led by the right-wing Kuomintang General Huang Musong , which took place on the occasion of the death of the 13th Dalai Lama.

The civil war that continued in China after Japan's surrender in 1945 caused concern in Tibet. In response, all Chinese officials were expelled from the country and their own army was upgraded. An appeal to the governments of Great Britain, India and the USA in 1949 was unsuccessful, leaving Tibet politically isolated.

Incorporation into the People's Republic of China

Lhasa in 1938
A delegation of Tibetans in India on September 8, 1950 with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (center)

After the Communist Party came to power and the People's Republic of China was founded under Mao Zedong in October 1949, the claim to Tibet and its annexation to the Chinese "motherland" reawakened. The intention of the "liberation" of Tibet from the "British imperialist yoke" by China 's People 's Liberation Army was announced in January 1950 by Beijing Radio. On October 7, 1950, the People's Liberation Army reached the Tibetan town of Qamdo , where it met minimal resistance from the poorly equipped Tibetan army . One month after the surrender of the army in eastern Tibet by the governor of Kham, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigmê , the 14th Dalai Lama took over the government of Tibet in Lhasa at the age of 15, three years earlier than usual. A subsequent appeal to the United Nations was unsuccessful; it failed because of the "unclear legal status of Tibet" due to rejection by Great Britain and India.

After negotiations with China began, representatives of the Tibetan government signed the 17-point agreement under political pressure in Beijing on May 23, 1951 , without, however, having the authority to do so from their government. The agreement stipulated the integration of Tibet in China, with Tibet being assured, in addition to regional autonomy and religious freedom, a guarantee that the existing political system in Tibet would remain unchanged. In addition, reform processes should only be initiated by the Tibetan government without pressure from Chinese central authorities.

Three days later, the Tibetan government learned about the signing and the contents of the agreement over the radio. Since the religious-political system of Tibet and the position of the Dalai Lama were to remain unchanged, the government in Lhasa approved the agreement on October 24, 1951. A few days later, the People's Liberation Army set out for central Tibet and, within a few months, established a strong military presence in Lhasa, the number of which was almost equal to the population.

At this point, the Chinese government made no attempts to change the social or religious system in the newly created Tibet Autonomous Region , but eastern Kham and Amdo were treated like any other Chinese province. The attempt by the Communist Party to implement land reform there by setting up people's communes and making the nomads settle down resulted in initial discontent among the population. In the 1950s, major unrest broke out in these areas, which eventually spread to western Kham and Ü-Tsang. In 1955 there was a spontaneous uprising, which was bloodily suppressed. The US secret service CIA secretly sent instructors into the country and supported the insurgent guerrilla fighters with money and weapons. Subsequently, the union of different tribal groups led to a nationwide rebellion, which was organized in the Khampa resistance " Chushi Gangdruk ".

In 1959, at the time of the Great Leap Forward in China, the Chinese leadership treated the now adult Dalai Lama with open irreverence. On March 10, 1959, the Tibet uprising broke out in Lhasa . After the shelling of the Norbulingka by Chinese troops on March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama, who was staying there, fled to India. Two days later fighting broke out in the city and the popular uprising was brutally suppressed on March 21st. According to the exile Tibetans, tens of thousands of Tibetans died in the fighting. Tibet was badly affected by the Cultural Revolution , the Red Guards destroyed several thousand monasteries and other cultural monuments between 1966 and 1969. Almost all cultural and religious institutions in Tibet were destroyed. What appeared to the majority of the Han Chinese at the time of the "Cultural Revolution" as a political conflict, however, appeared to the Tibetans as a national conflict that was directed against them as a people and originated from the Han . The statements about the extent to which Tibetans were involved in the destruction are contradictory.

Todays situation

The situation in Tibet remains very tense. There were unrest in Lhasa between 1987 and 1989, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency by the authorities, later followed by the unrest in Tibet in 2008 and the self-immolation of Tibetans in 2012. China always used war rhetoric .

The Chinese police and military presence in Tibet is enormous, the population is under constant control and is severely suppressed. It is strictly forbidden to just mention the current Dalai Lama or even to spread pictures of him. Human rights organizations also complain about the lack of freedom of religion and the press, strict birth controls, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances .

Coin rights over time

time Embossing Means of payment Client
from 7th century In the form of silver and gold bars and gold dust Srang and Sho Tibet
from 1640 Imported silver coins from Nepal weighing approx. 5.4 g Mohars or Tangka Tibet
1763-1791 First self-minting of silver coins in Tibet Tangka Tibet
1792-1835 Silver coins minted in Lhasa Tangka and Sho China and Tibet
1840-1908 Silver coins minted in Lhasa Gaden Tanka Tibet
1909-1911 Silver coins minted in Lhasa Shokang, Srang China
1911-1959 Banknotes (until 1959) and coins (until 1954) are printed or minted in various mints in Lhasa and from 1932 in the Tashi Lekhung mint, 3 km north of old Lhasa. Skar, Sho, Srang, Tangka Tibet

Tibet's status

Map of the official borders of the Republic of China (since 1912), including mainland China , Mongolia , Tibet, Tuva, and the Kachin State . Claims to the areas on the mainland are in fact no longer made today.

Historical Notes on Tibet's Status

Until the beginning of the 18th century, Tibet was a region without defined borders, with small autonomous princely states in the east and in the heartland with rival princes, monasteries and sects who fought each other in recurring civil wars involving belligerent Mongol tribes.

In 1720 a Chinese army drove the Tsungar warriors out of Tibet. The emperor's soldiers were greeted with joy by the Tibetans and treated the population "with great moderation," according to a Western missionary. An imperial delegation brought the official recognition of the 7th Dalai Lama on April 21, 1721 and presented the trilingual state seal; the administration and autonomous government in Lhasa were reorganized, the office of regent (desi) abolished, and a council of ministers ( bka 'shag , Kashag) established. Its chairman and deputy were appointed by the emperor. Tibet was now under the direct sovereignty of the empire. It has now been defined as an integral part of China by a tributary state outside the actual Chinese territory. Within Tibet, the stronger ties to the Chinese central authority, which were further strengthened by the dispatch of the ambans, who were equipped with great powers, led to a longer period of stability.

In the wake of the British-Russian colonialist tension ( The Great Game ) at the end of the 19th century, the late Qing Empire of China as well as the Qajar Shahtum of Persia were regarded as far too weak partners, and Great Britain favored an independent buffer state (this period also belongs to the roots of the conflicts in Afghanistan to the west). For a long time, the British-Russian conflict in the Tibetan highlands was primarily conducted at the level of the secret service. The situation changed with the appearance of the British invading army in Tibet under Francis Younghusband (1903-1904). In the course of the Xinhai Revolution , the collapse of the Empire and the establishment of the first Chinese Republic, when China was weakened and primarily involved in internal conflicts, the 13th Dalai Lama, who had previously found refuge in British India, called for support the British could count on independence. Kashag ministers who refused to follow him on this path were murdered, unruly monasteries destroyed and their abbots severely punished. The Panchen Lama, second high dignitary of the Gelugpa, had to flee to China. Tibetan independence, which only applied to central Tibet (the provinces of Ü and Tsang), was not recognized by any state in the world, not even Great Britain or later the USA. In terms of international law, Tibet between 1913 and 1951 can therefore be compared with de facto regimes such as Abkhazia , South Ossetia , Transnistria , etc.

The view of the Tibetan government in exile

Flag of Tibet . This flag is banned in the People's Republic of China.

The Tibetan government-in-exile believes that at the time of the Chinese People's Liberation Army invasion , Tibet was an independent and fully functional state and that the military invasion and ongoing occupation are a violation of international law and the right to self-determination . Furthermore, Tibet has not been an integral part of China for 700 years (since the 14th century), as it is represented by the People's Republic of China, but has only been under the influence of the Mongols or the Manchu for a short time, but never under the influence of the Han- Chinese. Tibet has had diplomatic contact with other nations: with Nepal since 1856 and with Great Britain since 1903.

The 17-point agreement - also known as the “Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet” - is invalid according to the Tibetan view, since it was signed by Tibetan delegates due to military pressure from China. Furthermore, China is accused of having disregarded the domestic political autonomy and religious freedom guaranteed in the agreement.

On September 22, 1987, the Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatsho made a proposal for rapprochement with China in the form of a five-point peace plan.

  1. Conversion of all of Tibet, including the eastern provinces of Kham and Amdo, into a non-violence zone
  2. Abandonment of the Chinese policy of population relocation
  3. Respect for the human rights and democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people
  4. Restoring and protecting the Tibetan environment
  5. Start serious negotiations on the future status of Tibet and relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples
Coat of arms / seal of the Tibetan government in exile and Tibet before the Chinese occupation

The Chinese government rejected the plan.

The Chinese government's point of view

From the perspective of the mainland Chinese government, Tibet has been an integral part of China for several hundred years. According to historians loyal to the government, the marriage of Songtsen Gampo to the Chinese princess Wen Cheng in the 7th century marked the beginning of China's cultural dominance over Tibet - an interpretation that is hardly shared internationally. From the 13th century onwards, Tibet was an administratively indivisible part of China, although in the 13th century a Mongolian, i.e. not a Chinese foreign rule began over Tibet. According to the mainland Chinese view, the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso tried to split Tibet from China in 1894 with the help of the British imperialists . That year the governor of the Chinese emperor was expelled from Tibet by the Dalai Lama. The colonial power Great Britain had a military presence in China and politically supported the secession of Tibet, which forced the Chinese government to stand still. From the perspective of the Chinese government, the declaration of independence of 1913 never became effective under international law , as it was never recognized by either China or any other state. With the suppression of foreign influence on Tibet (1950) and the conclusion of the 17-point agreement (1951), the traditional state was restored. At the same time, the Chinese government also claims to have freed the people of Tibet from a feudal system of oppression. This exemption was advocated by the 10th Penchen Lama Chökyi Gyeltshen in a telegram to Mao Zedong . However, Chökyi Gyeltshen was only eleven years old at the time.

The Chinese government rejected the 5-point plan of Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatsho on October 17, 1987, accusing him of widening the gap between him and the Chinese government. She also accuses the Dalai Lama of being a political exile who has long sought to divide China abroad. A dialogue with the Dalai Lama is only considered for them as soon as he renounces the pursuit of a so-called independence of Tibet. To this end, he must recognize in a public and unequivocal declaration Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of Chinese territory and the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate government and undertake to cease all activities to divide the fatherland.

View of other countries

The international law arguments put forward by other countries are very different. The International Legal Commission stated in the 1960 ICJ Report that Tibet was de facto an independent state at least in 1951 and had already met the recognized criteria for a state in the years 1913–1950. However, several states each have their own official point of view.

Germany

Tibet was first mentioned in the German Bundestag in 1986 due to the small parliamentary question from MPs Petra Kelly , Herbert Rusche and the DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group (printed matter 10/5666) as well as the response of the federal government (printed matter 10/6127).

The status of Tibet under international law is controversial. The German federal government, in agreement with the international community of states, regards Tibet at the political level as part of the Chinese state association, even if Tibet should have fulfilled the prerequisites of an independent state in the course of its eventful history. However, it supports the Tibetan claim to autonomy , especially in the cultural and religious area, as an adequate expression of the Tibetan people's right to self-determination. Contacts with the Dalai Lama exist only in his capacity as religious leader .

Other bodies come to different conclusions on the question of international law. The scientific service of the German parliament presented in 1987 at the request of members of the Bundestag Petra Kelly states:

“The international community assumes that Tibet is part of the Chinese state association, but the status of Tibet has not been clarified. At the time of the forcible incorporation into the Chinese state association, it was an independent state. China has not acquired an effective territorial title because it goes against the basic principle of the ban on annexation resulting from the ban on force. The effectiveness of actual rulership over an area cannot bring about any acquisition of territory. " 

In 1996, the German Bundestag established with a very large majority the violent suppression of Tibet and China's policy of repression:

“Beginning with the inhumane military actions since the invasion of China in 1950, the violent suppression of Tibet and its quest for political, ethnic, cultural and religious self-determination continues to this day. China's continued policy of repression in Tibet has resulted in serious human rights violations, environmental destruction and massive economic, social, legal and political disadvantages for the Tibetan population and ultimately the Sinization of Tibet. "

Since May 1995 there has also been an intergroup in the German Bundestag, the Tibet Discussion Group, which continuously deals with the Tibet issue.

In 1998, however, the then Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer confirmed that Tibet was part of the People's Republic of China. He declared that the red-green federal government was in the continuity of the old government with its China policy. Tibet is seen as an integral part of China, and all aspirations for independence are seen as separatism and are not supported. Fischer (at that time still in the opposition) also took part in the introduction of the Bundestag resolution on Tibet in 1996.

European Union

The European Parliament has published various resolutions on Tibet since 1987. It repeatedly condemned the violations of human rights and religious freedom by the Chinese authorities.

In the resolution of December 15, 1992 it stated that the Tibetan people are a people within the meaning of international law and that they have the right to self-determination. It also condemned the military occupation of Tibet by Chinese troops and expressed concern about the threat to the "national identity" of the Tibetan people.

In the European Parliament, members of the over-party Tibet Interest Group represent the interests of Tibetans.

United States

The US Senate adopted on 23 May 1991 a Resolution , after Tibet, including those regions that have been incorporated into the Chinese provinces, according to current guidelines of international law is an occupied country, form the true representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. The Chinese government was then asked to withdraw its armed forces from Tibet.

India

On April 13, 2005, the governments of India and China agreed a number of cooperation agreements, which among other things also include a joint declaration on the mutually recognized border. Basically, the current current armistice line from the 1962 border war is recognized as the common border. The Chinese state expressly waives claims south of the McMahon Line (state of Arunachal Pradesh) and in particular in the Tawang district , in Sikkim and in the Ladakh region . The Indian government, on the other hand, recognizes the sovereignty of China in the area north of the McMahon Line, in the Chinese Autonomous Region of Tibet and on the Aksai-Chin Plateau.

Republic of China (Taiwan)

The attitude of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Tibet was described in the opening speech of the International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet on September 8, 2007 by its President Chen Shui-bian as follows:

“During the inauguration conference of the Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation in 2003, I announced our new policy and emphasized that the Taiwan government will no longer treat people of the Tibetan government-in-exile as Chinese people. Instead, we will handle our relations with Tibet and China separately under this fresh perspective on our relations with Tibet. "

“During the introductory meeting of the Tibetan-Taiwanese Exchange Foundation in 2003, I announced our new policy and emphasized that the Taiwanese government no longer regards the people of the Tibetan government-in-exile as the Chinese people. Instead, based on this new perspective on Tibet, we will treat our relations with Tibet and China separately. "

He also expressed his support for any solution proposed by the Dalai Lama on the Tibet issue.

Culture

Buddhism

The holy mountain Kailash is of great importance in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibet is the center of Tibetan Buddhism known as Vajrayana . Buddhism in Tibet had first developed in four major Buddhist schools ( Nyingma , Kagyu , Sakya and Gelugpa ) from the 8th century and later from the 11th century . The internationally best-known Lama of Tibetan Buddhism is the 14th Dalai Lama , who lives in exile in India . He is also an important representative of a Mahayana school (Gelugpa) and is recognized by the Tibetan government in exile as head of state. The pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion is the Bon (also called Bon religion); it is heavily permeated by Buddhist influences - just as Tibetan Buddhism was influenced by Bon.

literature

In addition to the oral tradition of the Gesar epic, a deeply religious literature developed in Tibet at the latest with the introduction of the Tibetan script in the 7th century. From the 13th century, the mirror of poetry (Tib. Snyan ngags me long ), the poetics of the Indian scholar Dandin, became the norm for literary composition. It was only with the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China that the statically established tradition for over 800 years was broken and modern scientific, political and literary genres were able to establish themselves. While the keyword “Tibetan literature” usually means the great treasure trove of religious texts, drama, poetry, narrative literature and the rich oral tradition often take a back seat. Famous examples of Tibetan literature are the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the Gesar Epic .

music

Traditional Tibetan music is divided into folk songs and cult music, which is indispensable for religious ceremonies. The poetic stories belonging to the first genre and mostly accompanied by stringed instruments are recited by shepherds, during field work, at weddings or by begging musicians and borrow from Chinese, Mongolian or Indian folk music. The sacred music is carried by wind and percussion instruments, alternating or in connection with the deep, monotonous singing of the monks. Outside of Tibet, religious music is better known, especially in conjunction with Western musicians, while the diverse forms of popular music play a greater role within the country.

art

Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings are a religious art form .

Statues, bells and ritual objects made from the alloy Dzekshim represent a special cultural treasure .

Museums

There are several museums in the world that focus on Tibetan culture and art. In Lhasa, to the southeast of the Norbulingka Palace, is the Tibet Museum . Another Tibet museum is in Dharamsala , India , where many refugees have settled. This museum was founded in 1998 to commemorate the loss of Tibetan culture and human life and exhibits, among other things, a photo collection of life stories. Two other museums, mainly devoted to Tibetan religious art, are located in the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, also in Dharamsala, and in the Tibet House in New Delhi . The Tibetology Institute Namgyal houses a museum about Tibet in Gangtok , not far from the Tibetan border in the Indian state of Sikkim . The Namgyal Institute specializes in Tibetan language, literature and traditions, including Tibetan Buddhism. The museum has an important collection of statues , shrines , imagery , masks , thangkas and other Tibetan art.

Outside of Asia, the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Staten Island , the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan , the Field Museum in Chicago , the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Musée Guimet in Paris house a large collection of Tibetan art. In the German-speaking area, the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin , the Museum of Five Continents in Munich, the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich and the Heinrich Harrer Museum in Hüttenberg ( Carinthia ) are particularly important.

kitchen

The typical diet is based on the products of the country; With its harsh climate, it restricted agriculture (e.g. barley is the dominant grain) and places special nutritional demands on its inhabitants. The ubiquitous salty butter tea covers the fluid requirement in a physiologically sensible way. Usually yak butter is used for this , which is also used in the butter lamps - also for ritual purposes.

A well-known Tibetan meal is tsampa , a wholemeal flour made from roasted barley that only needs to be mixed with hot butter tea. It is also mostly eaten for breakfast, as a snack or during pilgrimages and on longer journeys. The main products and foods come from agriculture and from our own cultivation.

medicine

The Tibetan art of healing is characterized by a deep connection between religion, philosophy and culture. Traditional diagnostic practices are:

  • See, feel, hear
  • Pulse diagnosis
  • Urine and tongue diagnosis

Treatment methods:

  • Energy point massages
  • Medicinal baths and water treatments
  • Oral mineral substances and herbs

economy

Nomads' tent during their wanderings in summer

Agriculture and ranching

The vast majority of the Tibetan population works in agriculture. Farmers and herders make up over 85% of the Tibetan population. Due to the politics of the 1970s and 1980s and the population growth among the Tibetan herders and the resulting increase in the number of animals, the existing steppes are severely polluted and their quality is deteriorating to an alarming extent. In order to relieve the steppes, alternative jobs are being sought for some of the ranchers. As part of this program, it was decided in September 2007 that by 2010, 100,000 of the nomads who inhabit the mountain slopes of the upper reaches of the major rivers in northern Qinghai Province will have to leave their homes in order to be resettled in the cities.

tourism

The tourism industry is currently developing strongly. While there were 1.2 million tourists in Tibet in 2004, of which almost 100,000 were international tourism, there were over 25.6 million tourists in 2017, mainly from the rest of China, an increase of 10% compared to 2016 Tourism is now the main employer in Tibet. More than 300,000 people work in tourism, but only around 100,000 people work as farmers or shepherds.

The Lhasa Railway

The Lhasa Railway, which opened in 2006, is now providing significant impetus for tourism . It has carriages with panoramic windows and stops at places with a special view. Thanks to the Lhasa Railway, there is now a daily, mostly sold out train connection between Beijing and Lhasa with a travel time of 48 hours. In 2007, the number of tourists in the Tibet Autonomous Region increased by 60.4% to 4.02 million. Revenue increased 75.1% to 4.8 billion yuan ($ 658 million). In 2011, the number of domestic and foreign tourists in the Tibet Autonomous Region was 8.5 million, and in 2013 it was 12.91 million. The number of tourists continues to rise. In 2018 there were 33 million tourists in Tibet. To protect the clay and wood construction of Potala, the main tourist attraction in Lhasa, the number of visitors has been limited to 2,300 per day. But there are also fears that even this number could be too high for the Potala structure. In order to expand tourism, attempts are therefore being made to promote other destinations in Tibet for tourism. The Chinese State Council is planning to develop Lhasa itself into an international tourist destination by 2020. To this end, a new, modern tourist district with hotels, shops and entertainment establishments is to be built and the urban transport network expanded.

New airlines are also being set up to promote tourism. The world's highest civil airport opened in September 2013 in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan. The Daocheng Yading Airport is located in the district of Daocheng, Autonomous Tibetan Prefecture Garzi and is from Yading Nature Reserve in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau only 159 kilometers away. Yading is advertised to tourists as "the last Shangri-La" and "the last pure land on the blue planet".

Daocheng-Yading Airport is 4411 meters above sea level and is now the world's highest civil airport. Previously that was Bamda Airport in Qamdo in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which is 4,334 meters above sea level.

According to official bodies, over 30,000 Tibetans already make a living from tourism in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Critical sources doubt, however, that the economic progress of tourism will also reach the Tibetan population. So were z. B. In 2003, one hundred Tibetan travel guides were dismissed and replaced by Chinese ones. Due to a lack of education, most jobs in the tourism sector remain inaccessible for Tibetans. Tibetans who received their education in exile are denied tour guide jobs. In 1995, it was estimated that 75% of Lhasa stores were Chinese-owned and over 90% of vendors in the vegetable market were Chinese.

Mining

Mining is to become the third pillar of the Tibetan economy. So far, it is still in its infancy, but it is now being developed with determination. Tibet has deposits of mineral resources such as chromium, copper, magnesite, boron, lead, gold, petroleum, iron, lithium, potassium chloride, aluminum, zinc and others. Little is being promoted yet, but the development of dismantling is a focus of the Beijing government's current five-year plan . In January 2007, the Chinese government announced the discovery of large mineral deposits under the Tibetan highlands. The deposits are not very far from the Lhasa Railway and could double China's mineral resources of zinc, copper and lead. However, critics fear that mining these deposits could damage the ecosystem in Tibet.

Other branches of industry

The basic and building materials industry is also one of the industries that are currently particularly subsidized. A smaller branch of the economy are traditional handicrafts such as carpets, pulu (hand-woven wool) and handicrafts.

Jobs

The following is a list of the number of jobs in the Tibet Autonomous Region, broken down into the various economic sectors. Characteristic are the unbroken dominance of agriculture and animal husbandry and the extensive lack of jobs in industry and craft.

Number of employees in the various economic sectors in the AGT
Unit: 10,000 people
year 1985 1990 2000 2003
Total number of employees 105.72 107.88 124.18 132.81
Number of employees divided into economic sectors
Agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing 85.58 87.08 90.98 85.14
Mining and quarry 0.47 0.41 0.35 2.22
Manufacturing industry 1.92 1.60 2.87 1.56
Electricity, gas, water supply, transportation and telecommunications 2.81 3.71 3.88 4.31
Construction 1.99 1.67 3.56 7.90
Research and technical services 0.35 0.37 0.23 0.53
Wholesale and retail 3.65 3.31 7.33 7.25
Banking and insurance 0.35 0.34 0.62 0.62
Social, healthcare, education and culture 3.89 4.15 5.46 13.67
Public administration 3.38 4.23 5.73 6.16

Economic growth

Since 1999, Tibet's economic development has been supported under the Western China Development Program . This program was created to support the backward areas in western China in their economic development after the economic successes of the coastal provinces. A key element of this plan is building better infrastructure.

traffic

The Friendship Highway , the main road between Nepal and Lhasa, in August 2005

Between 2002 and 2012, the total length of the paved trunk roads in the Tibet Autonomous Region was almost doubled. It has been extended from around 36,000 km to 65,200 km.

According to the Tibetan Office for Traffic and Transportation, work is currently underway in the Tibet Autonomous Region to expand the road network. According to official figures, twelve billion yuan (almost one and a half billion euros) were to be spent on building 5,000 kilometers of roads in 2013, thereby connecting a further 258 villages to the Tibetan highway network. In the meantime, work has also begun on the construction of an expressway from Lhasa to Nyingchi on the border with India and the road connection to four high-mountain airports.

Starting in 2001, a railway, the Lhasa Railway, was built from Golmud on the northern border of Tibet to Lhasa, which had its maiden voyage on July 1, 2006. It is the highest railway in the world so far (as of 2012), runs over a pass of 5072 m above sea level, was partly built on permafrost soil and runs through earthquake areas. The railway opens up Tibet for the first time through rail transport. In 2014 the line was extended with the railway line from Lhasa to Xigazê .

There are international airports in Qamdo , Nyingchi and Lhasa .

ecology

In the 1950s, major clear-cutting began in Tibet's forests, especially in the east of the country. Countless transports of Tibetan wood left the region mostly in the direction of central China. In Tibet, as in other comparable regions worldwide, the consequences are high levels of erosion in the high mountains, accompanied by landslides and increased rockfall, as well as rising water levels in rivers, which leads to floods. In order to avoid further environmental damage, the amount of wood felled in the Tibet Autonomous Region was reduced from 210,000 m³ to 50,000 m³ between 1990 and 2002. At the same time, a large-scale reforestation program was and will continue to be carried out.

Another problem arises from the population development of Tibet. The population has more than doubled in the past half century and as prosperity grew, Tibetan meat production quadrupled from 1978 to 2003, according to official Chinese sources. But this also quadrupled the number of nomad animals on the steppes. The basis of an ecologically compatible livestock farming of the Tibetan nomads is that there is sufficient pasture area. However, it cannot be expanded further in Tibet. Pasture competition and overgrazing arise. Without the policies of overgrazing and partial devastation in the 1970s and 1980s, the problems would be slightly smaller.

The competition for pasture is exacerbated by the fact that, following classic nomadic behavior, households attach importance to owning the largest possible herds. Owning a large number of animals is a sign of prosperity and is considered a safeguard for bad years, which are currently increasing in number.

All of this increases the pressure on the steppe landscape, the quality of which has suffered severely in the last few decades. For nomads, it is imperative to create new life opportunities in the larger communities and cities in order to pull people away from the steppes and thereby relieve the steppes.

The pressure on the steppe landscape has also reduced the vegetation on the upper reaches of many rivers to a great extent. Soil erosion and environmental degradation are becoming more and more critical. For this reason, the central government of China decided to invest 103.5 billion yuan from 2000 to protect the natural forests in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, which includes 13 provinces and 770 counties.

In March 2013, the Tibetan Autonomous Forest Administration announced the start of a new ten-year reforestation program. The main focus of the money would be on growing forests in several regions and creating protective forests in the vicinity of the capital Lhasa. The conversion of arable land into forests is also the focus of the reforestation project.

Web links

Portal: Tibet  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the topic of Tibet
Wikisource: Tibet  - Sources and Full Texts
Wikivoyage: Tibet  Travel Guide
Commons : Tibet  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files
Wikibooks: History and Politics of Tibet  - Learning and Teaching Materials
Wikibooks: Tibet  - Learning and Teaching Materials
Wiktionary: Tibet  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Exile Tibetan Groups and Human Rights

Chinese government

Technical article

photos

literature

German

English

  • Li An-che: History of Tibetan Religion. A study in the field . New World Press, Beijing 1999, ISBN 7-80005-225-7 .
  • Christopher Beckwith : The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, Chinese during the Early Middle Ages . Princeton University Press, Princeton-New Jersey 1987, ISBN 0-691-02469-3 .
  • Victor Chan: Tibet Handbook . Avalon Travel Publishing, California 1994, ISBN 0-918373-90-5 (A Pilgrimage Guide)
  • Dung-Dkar Blo-Bzang Phrin-Las : The Merging of Religious and Secular Rule of Tibet . Foreign Languages ​​Press, Beijing 1993, ISBN 7-119-00672-X .
  • A. Tom Grunfeld: The Making of Modern Tibet . University of California Press, London-Delhi 1987, ISBN 0-520-21951-1 .
  • Jin Hui: Social History of Tibet, China: Documented and Illustrated . Intercontinental Press, Beijing 1995, ISBN 7-80113-022-7 .
  • Wáng Jiāwěi 王家伟, Nyima Gyaincain (Nyi-ma rGyal-mtshan / Nímǎ Jiānzàn 尼玛 坚赞): The historical status of China's Tibet (Zhōngguó Xīzàng de lìshǐ dìwèi 中国 西藏 的 历史 地位), Beijing, China Intercontinental Press chūbǎnshè 北京 五洲 传播 出版社 2003, ISBN 7-80113-304-8 .
  • Michael van Walt van Praag: The Status of Tibet. History, Rights and Prospects in International Law . Wisdom Publications, 1987, ISBN 0-86171-070-3 .
  • Geoffrey Samuel: Civilized Shamans. Buddhism in Tibetan Societies . Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC / London 1993, ISBN 1-56098-620-4 .
  • Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Matthew T. Kapstein, Gray Tuttle (eds.): Sources of Tibetan Tradition. Columbia University Press, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-231-13598-6 .
  • David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson : A Cultural History of Tibet . 3. Edition. Orchid Press, 2004, ISBN 974-524-033-8 .
  • Tsering Shakya : The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet since 1947 . Penguin Compass, New York 2000, ISBN 0-14-019615-3 .
  • Sam van Schaik: Tibet: A History . Yale University Press, New Haven (CT) 2011, ISBN 978-0-300-15404-7 .
  • Gray Tuttle, Kurtis R. Schaeffer (Ed.): The Tibetan History Reader. Columbia University Press, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-231-14469-8 .
  • Zhang Tianlu: Population Development in Tibet and Related Issues . Foreign Languages ​​Press , Beijing 1997, ISBN 7-119-01867-1 .
  • Zheng Shan: A History of Development of Tibet . Foreign Languages ​​Press, Beijing 2000, ISBN 7-119-01865-5

Individual evidence

  1. Tibet "Encyclopeadia Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica Ltd. London, 2013. Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. ^ Matthias Kuhle (1998): Reconstruction of the 2.4 Million qkm Late Pleistocene Ice Sheet on the Tibetan Plateau and its Impact on the Global Climate. Quaternary International 45/46, pp. 71-108 (Erratum: Vol. 47/48: pp. 173-182 (1998) included)
  3. ^ Matthias Kuhle (2004): The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and LGM) ice cover in High and Central Asia. Development in Quaternary Science 2c (Quaternary Glaciation - Extent and Chronology, Part III: South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica. Eds: J. Ehlers, PL Gibbard), pp. 175-199
  4. Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家 统计局 人口 和 社会 科技 统计 司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家 民族 事务 委员会 经济 发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China ("2000 年 人口普查 中国 民族 人口 资料"). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族 出版社), 2003. ( ISBN 7-105-05425-5 )
  5. ^ The Government of Tibet in Exile: Tibet: Proving Truth from Facts (PDF; 340 kB). Chapter: Population transfer and control. DIIR Publications 1996 (White Papers)
  6. Tibet - The History of My Country. The Dalai Lama in conversation with Thomas Laird , Scherz-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-502-15000-8 .
  7. ^ Gray Tuttle: Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China. Columbia University Press, New York 2005. ISBN 0-231-13446-0 . P. 27.
  8. thdl.org: The Periodization of Tibetan History: General Chronology ( Memento of February 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ Diercke Schulatlas , George Westermann Verlag, 1914, pp. 26-27. The 74th edition of this atlas work, published in 1933, shows Tibet, including the present-day Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Gansu as well as areas of Western Sichuan and Yünnan as an independent state (pp. 34–35).
  10. ^ Tibet Justice Center: Proclamation Issued by His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIII . 1913 (engl.)
  11. ^ Melvyn C. Goldstein, "On modern Tibetan History: Moving Beyond Stereotypes," Columbia University Press
  12. Melvyn C. Goldstein, ibid
  13. Andreas Lorenz: Dilemma on the roof of the world. , spiegel.de of June 9, 2012 , accessed on June 9, 2012
  14. ^ Revolt of the Monks: How a Secret CIA Campaign Against China 50 Years Ago Continues to Fester; A Role for Dalai Lama's Brother ( Memento from March 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ^ The Government of Tibet in Exile: Tibet: Proving Truth from Facts (pdf, 332kb). Chapter: The National Uprising. 1996 (Engl.)
  16. ^ FAZ, March 10, 2011: March 10, 1959. Popular uprising against China in Tibet. “On March 10, 1959, the Dalai Lama was unusually invited to a theatrical performance at the headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army outside the capital Lhasa. Sections of the Tibetan population feared that the Dalai Lama would be kidnapped. On March 10th, about 300,000 Tibetans gathered at his residence to prevent him from attending the theater performance. Armed clashes then broke out. The Tibetans were severely inferior and poorly armed. Therefore, the fighting ended after two days. There were 86,000 deaths on the Tibetan side. The Dalai Lama fled into exile. ” ( Memento from March 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  17. Th. Heberer : Beijing issues the “Administrative Method for the Reincarnation of a Living Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism”. Analysis against the general background of the Tibet issue. Journal of Chinese Law, Issue 1/2008 ( PDF )
  18. Page no longer available , search in web archives: Violent unrest in Tibet, India and Nepal .@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.berlinerumschau.com
  19. China's political leadership suspects a targeted action by the Dalai Lama behind the series of self-immolation by Tibetans; , Spiegel , March 7, 2012.
  20. Freedom House 2010 report on Tibet
  21. US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2009 Human Rights Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), March 11, 2010.
  22. ^ Melvyn Goldstein , Cynthia Beall: China's Birth Control Policy in the Tibet Autonomous Region . In: Asian Survey . 31, No. 3, March 1991, pp. 285-303. JSTOR 2645246 . doi : 10.1525 / as.1991.31.3.00p0043x .
  23. Amnesty International, Amnesty International: "China - Amnesty International's concerns in Tibet" , Secretary-General's Report: Situation in Tibet, E / CN.4 / 1992/37.
  24. Blondeau / Buffetrille: Le Tibet est-il chinois? Paris: Albin Michel, 2002, p. 56; also Grunfeld: The Making of Modern Tibet, op. cit., p. 44 f.
  25. Barry Sautman: Tibet's Putative Statehood and International Law http://chinesejil.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/1/127.full
  26. Jamyang Norbu: Independent Tibet: Some facts . Rangzen Alliance, March 4, 2010.
  27. ^ The Forgotten History of Tibet's Role in Nepal's 1949 UN Application . google.com. October 3, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  28. ^ Tibet Justice Center: Five Point Peace Plan . Sep 21 1987 (engl.)
  29. ^ Mathias Bölinger: China and Tibet - A Chronicle , Deutsche Welle, March 6, 2009
  30. ^ John Powers : History as propaganda: Tibetan exiles versus the People's Republic of China . Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 31ff.
  31. Western politicians overlook the history of Tibet . Report on the press conference on the occasion of the 3rd session of the National People's Congress . China Internet Information Center, March 4, 2010 (German translation).
  32. ^ DTV Lexicon in 20 volumes, April 1974, ISBN 3-423-03070-4
  33. In March 1959, the Chinese government dissolved the aristocratic local government of Tibet and freed more than 1 million serfs. Press release from the Chinese Embassy in the USA.
  34. History of Tibet - The Peaceful Liberation of Tibet 1951 . China Internet Information Center (German translation).
  35. ^ ICJ Report on Tibet from 1960 .
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This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 3, 2006 .

Coordinates: 32 °  N , 87 °  E