Download or read book Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China gradually permitted the renewal of religious activity. Tibetans, whose traditional religious and cultural institutions had been decimated during the preceding two decades, took advantage of the decisions of 1978 to begin a Buddhist renewal that is one of the most extensive and dramatic examples of religious revitalization in contemporary China. The nature of that revival is the focus of this book. Four leading specialists in Tibetan anthropology and religion conducted case studies in the Tibet autonomous region and among the Tibetans of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. There they observed the revival of the Buddhist heritage in monastic communities and among laypersons at popular pilgrimages and festivals. Demonstrating how that revival must contend with tensions between the Chinese state and aspirations for greater Tibetan autonomy, the authors discuss ways that Tibetan Buddhists are restructuring their religion through a complex process of social, political, and economic adaptation. Buddhism has long been the main source of Tibetans' pride in their culture and country. These essays reveal the vibrancy of that ancient religion in contemporary Tibet and also the problems that religion and Tibetan culture in general are facing in a radically altered world.
Download or read book Contemporary Tibet written by Barry Sautman and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 2006 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an analysis of the Tibet question, this work explores essential themes and issues concerning modern Tibet. It considers such topics as representations and sovereignty, economic development and political conditions, the exile movement and human rights, historical legacies and international politics, identity issues and the local society.
Download or read book Unity and Discord written by and published by Virago Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role music has played as a political tool in the struggle over Tibet since the 1950s, and exposes some of the consequences of this politicisation on the musical traditions themselves and on Tibetan cultural identity. It draws on interviews with Tibetans brought up in Tibet carried out by TIN researchers, as well as a range of published and unpublished material. The study provides a historic retrospective of the transformation of Tibetan musical culture during the past half-century. Introducing the ideologies that were brought to bear on Tibetan music as Tibet came under the control of the People's Republic of China in 1951, it describes the development of the actual policies implemented until the early 1980s. It then investigates the vibrant Tibetan pop music scene that has emerged since the late 1980s. Further parts of the book analyse in details the use of music for Chinese state propaganda, as well as the way Tibetans have used music to express dissent and resist Chinese political, social and cultural domination. It examines the explicit messages and subtexts of propaganda, and questions its effectiveness. It also examines the varying forms of Tibetan 'protest songs', the metaphors used for escaping censorship, the state's reactions and its ultimate failure to fully control the feelings and perceptions of Tibetans. Finally, the book addresses the reactions to the extensive change and in particular, sinicisation of Tibetan musical culture in Tibet. Lyrics of many songs presented in the original Tibetan or Chinese as well as in English translation offer a unique insight into contemporary Tibet and its living musical culture.
Download or read book The Making of Modern Tibet written by A.Tom Grunfeld and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of Tibet and the Tibetan people that emphasises the political history of the 20th century. This book attempts to reach beyond the polemics by considering the various historical arguments, using archival material from several nations and drawing conclusions focused on available documents.
Download or read book The Struggle for Modern Tibet The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This captivating autobiography by a Tibetan educator and former political prisoner is full of twists and turns. Born in 1929 in a Tibetan village, Tsering developed a strong dislike of his country's theocratic ruling elite. As a 13-year-old member of the Dalai Lama's personal dance troupe, he was frequently whipped or beaten by teachers for minor infractions. A heterosexual, he escaped by becoming a drombo, or homosexual passive partner and sex-toy, for a well-connected monk. After studying at the University of Washington, he returned to Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1964, convinced that Tibet could become a modernized society based on socialist, egalitarian principles only through cooperation with the Chinese. Denounced as a 'counterrevolutionary' during Mao's Cultural Revolution, he was arrested in 1967 and spent six years in prison or doing forced labor in China. Officially exonerated in 1978, Tsering became a professor of English at Tibet University in Lhasa. He now raises funds to build schools in Tibet's villages, emphasizing Tibetan language and culture.
Download or read book Taming Tibet written by Emily Yeh and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The violent protests in Lhasa in 2008 against Chinese rule were met by disbelief and anger on the part of Chinese citizens and state authorities, perplexed by Tibetans' apparent ingratitude for the generous provision of development. In Taming Tibet, Emily T. Yeh examines how Chinese development projects in Tibet served to consolidate state space and power. Drawing on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork between 2000 and 2009, Yeh traces how the transformation of the material landscape of Tibet between the 1950s and the first decade of the twenty-first century has often been enacted through the labor of Tibetans themselves. Focusing on Lhasa, Yeh shows how attempts to foster and improve Tibetan livelihoods through the expansion of markets and the subsidized building of new houses, the control over movement and space, and the education of Tibetan desires for development have worked together at different times and how they are experienced in everyday life.The master narrative of the PRC stresses generosity: the state and Han migrants selflessly provide development to the supposedly backward Tibetans, raising the living standards of the Han's "little brothers." Arguing that development is in this context a form of "indebtedness engineering," Yeh depicts development as a hegemonic project that simultaneously recruits Tibetans to participate in their own marginalization while entrapping them in gratitude to the Chinese state. The resulting transformations of the material landscape advance the project of state territorialization. Exploring the complexity of the Tibetan response to—and negotiations with—development, Taming Tibet focuses on three key aspects of China's modernization: agrarian change, Chinese migration, and urbanization. Yeh presents a wealth of ethnographic data and suggests fresh approaches that illuminate the Tibet Question.
Download or read book Population and Society in Contemporary Tibet written by Rong Ma and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This extensive survey documents Tibetan society over five decades, including population structure in rural and urban areas, marriage and migration patterns, the maintenance of language and traditional culture, economic transitions relating to income and consumption habits, educational development, and the growth of civil society and social organizations. In addition to household surveys completed over twenty years, the book provides a systematic analysis of all available social and census data released by the Chinese government, and a thorough review of Western and Chinese literature on the topic. It is the first book on Tibetan society published in English by a mainland China scholar, and covers several sensitive issues in Tibetan studies, including population changes, Han migration into Tibetan areas, intermarriage patterns, and ethnic relations.--Ma Rong is a widely respected demographer and professor of sociology at Peking University. He spent five years in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution, and was one of the first Chinese students to study in the US after Deng Xiaoping's reforms, receiving his doctorate degree from Brown University.-- "The academic study of Tibet still suffers from a lack of accurate data and restrictions on access to Tibet for research. This very useful analysis will increase the quality of the discussion and help to correct many inaccurate Western impressions of Tibet." - Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong-
Download or read book A History of Modern Tibet 1913 1951 written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 944 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: V. 2. It is not possible to understand contemporary politics between China and the Dalai Lama without understanding what happened during the 1950s. This book presents an understanding of that period. It furnishes portraits of these major players and unravels the fateful intertwining of Tibetan and Chinese politics against the backdrop of the Korean War.
Download or read book Contemporary Tibet written by Barry Sautman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of Tibet is highly controversial, and Tibet, as a political entity, is defined differently from source to source and audience to audience. The editors of this path-breaking, multidisciplinary study have gathered some of the leading scholars in Tibetan and ethnic studies to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Tibet question. "Contemporary Tibet" explores essential themes and issues concerning modern Tibet. It presents fresh material from various political viewpoints and data from original surveys and field research. The contributors consider such topics as representations and sovereignty, economic development and political conditions, the exile movement and human rights, historical legacies and international politics, identity issues and the local society. The individual chapters provide historical background as well as a general framework to examine Tibet's present situation in world politics, the relationship with China and the West, and prospects for the future.
Download or read book A History of Modern Tibet Volume 4 written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is not possible to understand contemporary politics between China and the Dalai Lama without understanding what happened in the 1950s, especially the events that occurred in 1957–59. The fourth volume of Melvyn C. Goldstein's History of Modern Tibet series, In the Eye of the Storm, provides new perspectives on Sino-Tibetan history during the period leading to the Tibetan Uprising of 1959. The volume also reassesses issues that have been widely misunderstood as well as stereotypes and misrepresentations in the popular realm and in academic literature (such as in Mao’s policies on Tibet). Volume 4 draws on important new Chinese government documents, published and unpublished memoirs, new biographies, and a large corpus of in-depth, specially collected political interviews to reexamine the events that produced the March 10th uprising and the demise of Tibet’s famous Buddhist civilization. The result is a heavily documented analysis that presents a nuanced and balanced account of the principal players and their policies during the critical final two years of Sino-Tibetan relations under the Seventeen-Point Agreement of 1951.
Download or read book Being Human in a Buddhist World written by Janet Gyatso and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critically exploring medical thought in a cultural milieu with no discernible influence from the European Enlightenment, Being Human in a Buddhist World reveals an otherwise unnoticed intersection of early modern sensibilities and religious values in traditional Tibetan medicine. It further studies the adaptation of Buddhist concepts and values to medical concerns and suggests important dimensions of Buddhism's role in the development of Asian and global civilization. Through its unique focus and sophisticated reading of source materials, Being Human adds a crucial chapter in the larger historiography of science and religion. The book opens with the bold achievements in Tibetan medical illustration, commentary, and institution building during the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, then looks back to the work of earlier thinkers, tracing a strategically astute dialectic between scriptural and empirical authority on questions of history and the nature of human anatomy. It follows key differences between medicine and Buddhism in attitudes toward gender and sex and the moral character of the physician, who had to serve both the patient's and the practitioner's well-being. Being Human in a Buddhist World ultimately finds that Tibetan medical scholars absorbed ethical and epistemological categories from Buddhism yet shied away from ideal systems and absolutes, instead embracing the imperfectability of the human condition.
Download or read book Essentials of Modern Literary Tibetan written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1991-09-06 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Half of the words are read by implication." This Tibetan saying explains the main difficulty Westerners face in learning to read Tibetan fluently. This book will allow beginners to understand the logic of Tibetan grammar and syntax through graded readings and narrative explanations. The large glossary, which is indexed by page, will serve as an invaluable reference grammar for readers of Tibetan at all levels. The reading course includes a wide range of modern literary styles from literature, history, current affairs, newspapers, and even communist political essays.
Download or read book Love Letters from Golok written by Holly Gayley and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Love Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tāre Lhamo (1938–2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944–2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. In fifty-six letters exchanged from 1978 to 1980, Tāre Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche envisioned a shared destiny to "heal the damage" done to Buddhism during the years leading up to and including the Cultural Revolution. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation in a twenty-year religious career that informs issues of gender and agency in Buddhism, cultural preservation among Tibetan communities, and alternative histories for minorities in China. The correspondence between Tare Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche is the first collection of "love letters" to come to light in Tibetan literature. Blending tantric imagery with poetic and folk song styles, their letters have a fresh vernacular tone comparable to the love songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama, but with an eastern Tibetan flavor. Gayley reads these letters against hagiographic writings about the couple, supplemented by field research, to illuminate representational strategies that serve to narrate cultural trauma in a redemptive key, quite unlike Chinese scar literature or the testimonials of exile Tibetans. With special attention to Tare Lhamo's role as a tantric heroine and her hagiographic fusion with Namtrul Rinpoche, Gayley vividly shows how Buddhist masters have adapted Tibetan literary genres to share private intimacies and address contemporary social concerns.
Download or read book On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet written by Melvyn C. Goldstein and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2010-10-28 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This resource revisits the Nyemo incident, which has long been romanticised as the epitome of Tibetan nationalist resistance against China. The authors show that far from being a spontaneous battle for independence, this event was actually part of a struggle between rival revolutionary groups and was not ethnically based.
Download or read book Old Demons New Deities written by Tenzin Dickie and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first English-language anthology of contemporary Tibetan fiction available in the West, Old Demons, New Deities brings together the best Tibetan writers from both Tibet and the diaspora, who write in Tibetan, English and Chinese. Modern Tibetan literature is just under forty years old: its birth dates to 1980, when the first Tibetan language journal was published in Lhasa. Since then, short stories have become one of the primary modern Tibetan art forms. Through these sometimes absurd, sometimes strange, and always moving stories, the English-reading audience gets an authentic look at the lives of ordinary, secular, modern Tibetans navigating the space between tradition and modernity, occupation and exile, the personal and the national. The setting may be the Himalayas, an Indian railway, or a New York City brothel, but the insights into an ancient culture and the lives and concerns of a modern people are real, and powerful. For this anthology, editor and translator Tenzin Dickie has collected 21 short stories by 16 of the most respected and well known Tibetan writers working today, including Pema Bhum, Pema Tseden, Tsering Dondrup, Woeser, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Kyabchen Dedrol, and Jamyang Norbu.
Download or read book The Museum on the Roof of the World written by Clare Harris and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For millions of people around the world, Tibet is a domain of undisturbed tradition, the Dalai Lama a spiritual guide. By contrast, the Tibet Museum opened in Lhasa by the Chinese in 1999 was designed to reclassify Tibetan objects as cultural relics and the Dalai Lama as obsolete. Suggesting that both these views are suspect, Clare E. Harris argues in The Museum on the Roof of the World that for the past one hundred and fifty years, British and Chinese collectors and curators have tried to convert Tibet itself into a museum, an image some Tibetans have begun to contest. This book is a powerful account of the museums created by, for, or on behalf of Tibetans and the nationalist agendas that have played out in them. Harris begins with the British public’s first encounter with Tibetan culture in 1854. She then examines the role of imperial collectors and photographers in representations of the region and visits competing museums of Tibet in India and Lhasa. Drawing on fieldwork in Tibetan communities, she also documents the activities of contemporary Tibetan artists as they try to displace the utopian visions of their country prevalent in the West, as well as the negative assessments of their heritage common in China. Illustrated with many previously unpublished images, this book addresses the pressing question of who has the right to represent Tibet in museums and beyond.
Download or read book The Monastery Rules written by Berthe Jansen and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. The Monastery Rules discusses the position of the monasteries in pre-1950s Tibetan Buddhist societies and how that position was informed by the far-reaching relationship of monastic Buddhism with Tibetan society, economy, law, and culture. Jansen focuses her study on monastic guidelines, or bca’ yig. The first study of its kind to examine the genre in detail, the book contains an exploration of its parallels in other Buddhist cultures, its connection to the Vinaya, and its value as socio-historical source-material. The guidelines are witness to certain socio-economic changes, while also containing rules that aim to change the monastery in order to preserve it. Jansen argues that the monastic institutions’ influence on society was maintained not merely due to prevailing power-relations, but also because of certain deep-rooted Buddhist beliefs.
