Religion and life:
Two Sides of Stories of Tibet in China
A Final Project For The United Nations Temple of Understanding Internship
Summer,2021
The story of Tibet in China reported by Western media is oftentimes only one-sided: one that involves suffering and pain. But this story also has another side. Having personally travelled to Tibet before, I combined my online research and my personal experience in Tibet to present the side of Tibet covered up by media. I hope to use the essay as a gateway for a start of two-way communication, so that we together, can form a two-sided understanding of what the world really looks like.
Introduction
Tibet as a currently-claimed autonomous state by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used to be governed by the Dalai Lama. This ended in 1959, when the CCP took full control over Tibet. These two diplomatic forces have undergone conflicts ever since then. Even today in 2021, whenever people bring up the topic about Tibet, there will usually be a discussion on the horrendous purge that one claims the Chinese government has undertaken in the past years. Between the Chinese media and the Western media, there has always been significant differences when it comes to Tibet. Fox News had an article titled Cultural Genocide? What China is doing in Tibet today. The San Diego Union-Tribune called Tibet in China today “Hell on Earth.” BBC has also claimed that “China [is] coercing thousands of Tibetans into mass labour camps.” These reports by Western media paints a similar and general picture that is a one-sided story in which Tibetans who are living in a real-life dungeon need to be set free from China in order to maintain their freedom of belief. In reality, these reports stems from the lack of understanding and personal experience. The story of Tibet in China is oftentimes only one-sided: the side that is reported by Western media. But this story also has another side. This essay will examine the other side of story of Tibet based on my research and my personal research.
Religion&Life: Government Construction Project for Tibetan Buddhism
In July 28, 2016, The New York Times has published an article on how several organizations such as International Campaign for Tibet and Human Rights Watch have asked China to stop taking down Buddhist halls in the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, the world’s largest buddhist academy, in Sertar, Tibet. The article saw the destruction of Buddhist buildings as the government’s means of influencing the life of the monks and continuing the purge of Buddhists. News sources such as BBC has published pictures that only zoomed in on the ruins in the academy in their reports, allowing these photos went viral through media. The part missed out by BBC was that, in fact, the government-led destruction was for the construction of the safer renovated dormitories for the Buddhist monks. Despite the beauty of the numerous red housing in Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, a scenery also treasured by thousands of photographers, these constructions completed by monks themselves are highly dangerous as they are purely made from metal plates and wooden boards. They could face severe damages and casualties from mudslide and fire.
There has been an official report on a fire in the buddhist academy in 2014. [1] Six thousand people, some are firefighters and some are even civilians, spent six hours putting out the fire and securing zero injuries and death. To progress from data numbers in reports to first-hand experience, I visited Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in 2019. There were new dormitories under construction, with many of them being put into use already. Not only have the government sponsored the reconstruction, but it also tries to keep most of the traditional style of the older building. All of these government project costs huge amount of budget, which in a way shows how much the government is trying to provide a safer and more scientifically-designed area for the monks to practice their religion.
Religion: Buddhist Studies and Practice in Tibet Today
During my trip to the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, Khenpo Sodargye introduced us to their programs and shared about their current student population. I was surprised to encounter teenagers, elders, and even children on campus. Khenpo Sodargye explained how with short weekly programs, younger children could also pay visit to study the teachings of Buddha. People of every age and origins came to this holy land to pursue their faith; the government’s action has only made their path of faith safer. When we visited the house of a Tibetan nomad who was the friend of our local friend, the family hall was set in the bedroom so that they can see the religious figures every day when they wake up. It has been a daily ritual for him and the family. Being one of the poorest families in that town, government officials often visit them, offering to build new residence place for them for free. When he shared with us the great news of his daughter admitted to a top public school tuition-free, he also proudly tell us about his new understandings from buddhist scripts. Everyone is proud of what they believe in and I saw the unexpected empathy that each has for another, the empathy missed out by media.
Beyond funding local schools and poor families to access of better life and education, the government also funded heavily in academic research. Southwest University for Nationalities, located in Chengdu, has desginated a special building to collect rare buddhist scripts donated by one of the most renowned Tibetan Buddhism scholars Ellis Gene Smith since 2007. The Ethnic Literature Center in the university that focus on rescue, preserve, and study the ancient manuscripts of ethnic groups in China.
Life: Infrastructural development in Tibet
According to a graph of revenue from 2020, it shows the collection of revenue for the CCP from all of the provinces and autonomous states. The two major areas where mass constructions of religious housings constructions are being completed are Sichuan and Xizang, which receives a total of seven hundred billion RMB annually from Beijing to fund infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
When I visited Tibet in 2019, I was shocked to see the construction of infrastructure in Tibet, especially the roads, to some extent has also exceeded certain more modern cities in China. These may seem irrelevant to religious practices and religious freedom in Tibet, yet it was these roads and transportation developments that allow religious leaders like Khenpo Sodargye to visit and give speeches in major cities in China as well as in foreign countries to spread Buddhist teachings.
Life: Access to Education and Language Studies
Since 2007, Khenpo Sodargye has founded multiple Wisdom and Compassion Elementary Schools, the most famous one in Tibet being the Shangluokema school. To keep it functioning, the school receives annual government funding, crowdfunding, and also donations from Buddhist community. During my visit to the school, I saw the art classroom filled with creative paintings from little children and also hand-crafted artifacts. I see no difference of the talents they showed in their painting from any peers in my school. The tidy room, clean environment, and modern teaching equipments were beyond my expectations. To further support students with belief, a Buddha statue is also present in the yard for worshipping. From government’s data, in 2019, the government has designated a total education budget of 4 billion dollars in Tibet. From 2010 to 2019, Tibet has received over 23 billion dollars of funding purely for the development in education systems. With these financial support, around 99.71% of children in Tibet can enroll in primary school education. Each child receives an average total of 9.8 years of education.
Additionally, Tibetan language is undetachable from the Tibetan culture, being the core for its culture. This Tibetan language study experience in China has remained hotly debated between Chinese and Western media. To quote a report by Reuters, “Tibetan language learning eroded under China's ‘bilingual education’” as China made mandarin Chinese the primary language of instruction. In reality, however, families have full liberty in choosing to place their children inclasses where mandarin is the primary language or the Tibetan class where Tibetan is the primary language. With the need to use Tibetans back home and the need to use mandarin as a language of instruction, it actually boosts the bilingual education, creating a necessity for studying both of the languages.
China is also not the only country in the world that has listed only one of its many dialects or regional language into the official languages. According to a study conducted by the North Carolina State University, there are 54 countries who have English as their official language. Yet, learning English has never stopped people in India to learn their own regional language. The same logic and reality applies to Tibetan language education in China.
Conclusion
Having said so much about the progress the country is making to ensure the wellbeing of Tibetans and protecting their faith, are there no flaws or no more space for improvements? No, there will always be many problems to fix, just like every other country does. There will always be progress and places for improvement. As the UN has long advocated the idea of “Unity in Diversity”, it means to treat others without prejudice and see all sides of the story to achieve the ultimate unity.
In ancient Chinese, there is a saying that “Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; heed only one side and you will be benighted.” This essay shows a version of Tibet that is rarely being described by the media. I hope to use it as a gateway for a start of two-way communication, so that we together, can form a two-sided understanding of what the world really looks like.
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