| Unknown Tibet This is the letter I’m going to mail to primary Italian newspaper (after our General Election) in respect of the attitude the media adopted in Tibet crisis and consequently the way they conditionate the feeling we, western populations, have upon China. This letter is intended for Italians readers who are not fluent in history of this part of the world. I would like to offer an input for those who wish to deepen the history of this region even if I must confess that I’m pretty sure that this letter will never be published. Infact for some “unknown” reason the anti-chinese feeling should be kept high and unfortunately this target is shifting to be more and more strong in the near future in western countries. Last year I travelled to Central Asia including Pamir in order to know/see the Chinese neighbours. During this trip I first realized how strong has grown the anti-chinese attitude among we Italians, even before the Tibetan crisis, it is latent slowing shaping day bay day. The main accusation was..: “they (the Chinese) have destroyed their (Tibetan) culture.". Of course since the chinese economical growth is followed by the destruction of the Antique-because- no-Good and because I live in a country where we breathe and highly consider the Antique, I feel sadness. However this couldn’t be the reason for anti-chinese feeling. Instead it’s clear to me that the anti-chinese feeling is wearing the Tibetan attire, which is only a pretext, and that in a near future under the guidance of an “obscure” pilot could shift from feeling into behaviour, like in the case Islam and Iraq. Now we have Buddhism and China what else in the future? I’ve been in China in 1981 for the first time and since then I’ve seen what it has been done for 1,3 bln population. I’ve lived in China for five years studying mandarin and working for a primary Italian bank. I’ve visited Tibet too in 1985 and I remember when I left Lahsa on a tibetan bus going to Golmud, something that at that time was absolutely forbidden for we foreigners. Neverthless I strongly believe that impressive and long standing culture which is a great inheritance for Chinese population will prevail..world center is shifting to the East... ----- “I deeply respect the uniqueness and spirituality of tibetan buddhism but I see that this growing mass-lamaism, very new-age style and deeply ignorant, has the same characteristics and is manoeuvred the same way the world demonized (wrongly) the Iraq. By the way, I must say that at that time whereas I’ve heard strong and aloud Pope Giovanni Paolo II’s voice against the war in Iraq, one of the few defying the United States, we never heard the voice of Holiness Dalai Lama, Peace Nobel. Dalai Lama warns of the cultural genocide: during the ’40 Tucci (italian renowned tibetologist) preconized it when talking of tibetan culture matching with modernity. I fear that the monks living abroad are themselves fastening it through their close attending of Hollywood jet set, arriving to proclaim the actor Steven Seagal as reincarnated holy lama (tulku).. if that’s the case I would be the Madonna!!! We should ask whether the loosing of spirituality is really Chinese fault or rather if this is the ultimate desperate attempt by the tibetan clergy to keep out the hands of modernity from touching inside these holy mountains…. time is passing by … Tucci at that time described Tibet as an ancient island floating over a world smashed by the new ideas. So I think that should be kept separated these to topics: cultural identity and indipendency. The path to the holy mountains has been opened many years ago, many monks live abroad breathing the consumerism and the materialism they try to oppose. In Lahsa the Chinese ambans, the governors, were residing there since the 1750. Dalai Lama’s role (a mongolian word meaning ocean od wisdom) was created in the XVI when the Yellow Hat sect prevailed over the others through the help of the Mongols they called in. Nowdays the tibetan buddhism still see these sakya, yellow hat, red hat etc sects facing each other, an internal power conflict as it happened in each teocracy. When in 1904 Captain Younghusband invaded Tibet, Dalai Lama escaped north seeking refugee among the Chinese. In 1911 when Chinese Empire collapsed Dalai Lama escaped the Chinese, seeking protection under the British and declaring Tibet independent. That was the only Independency (under English protection as before under China) Tibet had ever had. Even if weakend because of internal caos China didn’t give up to its pretension to sovereignity of Tibet refraining nevertheless from any action because deterred by the strong presence of the British. The renowed tibetologist Alexandra David Neel in her trip to Lahsa in 1920 had to pass from north through Mongolia down to Tibet because the southern passage was closed by the British. Afterwards because of the impeding world war the Colonial Powers where less concerned to that area. In 1933 at the death of then Dalai Lama the Reting Abbot got in power. He was favorable to approach the Chinese opposing the former Dalai Lama’s party favourable to the British. The Abbot had to abdicate in favor of a third abbot, one opposing to the others till the monks in Sera Monastery revolted in 1947 to be quelled by the army of Prince Regent. When the Communist Chinese arrived to Tibet, the second religious autorithy, the Tashilama always favouring China returned to Lhasa from the Mongolian exile where he was forced by the then Dalai Lama, close to the British. The killing and deep suffering of tibetan monks and populations by hands of Chinese Communist in the 1959 (not before) are those suffered everywhere in China and were shared by all of them. Nowdays Tibet as well as the autonomous regions inhabited by non han (Chinese), deeply attracts and fascinates the Chinese who are proud of the cultural diversity in their country. China nowdays is not the same as in 1959, the populations in these last 30 years has covered an astonishing growth not only economical but social too and the World should have to praise it. Instead the World has lauched a new crusade exploiting the ignorance and fear for China’s enormous influence thus forgetting that in the last ten years each time we embraced a crusade we disregarded History. Finally It must be remembered that the Old Europe has plenty of hotbeds for potential etnical claims Italy in primis, are we ready for a new era of global turmoil?” |
My Experience of Culture and Religion in Tibet