Hidden Tibet: History of Independence and Occupation by Sergius L. Kuzmin Edited by Andrey Terentyev Translated from Russian by Dmitry Bennett Originally published as: Hidden Tibet. History of Independence and Occupation. Sergius L. Kuzmin. 2010. St. Petersburg: Narthang. Copyright © 2011: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior per- mission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-93-80359-47-2 Published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P. 176215, and printed at Indraprastha Press (CBT), Nehru House, New Del- hi-110002 Contents Introduction v Chapter 1. Geography and Origin of the Tibetans 1 Chapter 2. Antiquity and the Middle Ages 9 Chapter 3. Epoch of the Qing Empire 41 Chapter 4. Last Years of Independence 83 Chapter 5. Religion and Culture 109 Chapter 6. State, Society and Economy 129 Chapter 7. “Peaceful Liberation” and Its Consequences 157 Chapter 8. From the People’s Uprising to the Cultural Revolution 207 Chapter 9. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Results of the Mao Period 287 Chapter 10. Reconstruction and Modernization 347 The Tibetan People’s Struggle, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Refugees 353 Religion 387 Autonomy and Demography 409 Language, Education and Culture 418 Condition of the Natural Environment 424 Economy 428 Militarization 434 Living Standards and Health Care 436 Chapter 11. Tibet, an Inseparable Part of China? 441 Statehood in International Law and in the Chinese Tradition 441 On China and the “Chinese Dynasties” 452 Solution to the “Ethnic Problem” in China 470 The Status of Tibet: a Historical Retrospective 480 Chapter 12. Decline of the Tibetan-Mongolian Civilization? 503 References 509 Introduction Tibet is one of the most esoteric places on our planet. People from different civilizations have a hard time understanding its history, religions and customs. Some aspects of the history of Tibet are unknown to many – partly because of the country’s isolation that lasted for many centuries, and partly due to specifics of its political system and international relations. Propaganda became another such obstacle during the more recent decades. If Tibet was always an inherent part of China, then why is it not the same as China? What should we make of Tibetans’ regular declarations: is it separatism or a national liberation movement? Following the October Revolution, the Soviet Union and Russia has gone through several stages in ways of covering the last half century of events in Tibet. The initial response was unconditional praise mounted on everything done there by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and explanation of all actions of its opponents as the machinations of imperialists.1 Then, following the decline of Soviet–Chinese relations during the Khrushchev era, criticism came into vogue. Attention was directed at Maoists “perverting Marxism”. However, some works became a source of valuable historical information.2 Once the relationships between the USSR and PRC normalised again, a pluralism of views was established. Different perspectives started to coexist in Russia, ranging from worshiping Mao Zedong and/or the Chinese reforms to rejecting the latter altogether from the human rights perspective. Even during the most recent times, these trends continue to gather momentum with more impartial takes on the situation becoming progressively rarer. Publications from the “stagnation” period also became scarce. This coincided with PRC’s decision to step up the propaganda regarding Tibet, especially abroad.3 Specifically selected Tibetans and Tibetologists from PRC were sent out on organised tours, foreign journalists were invited into 1 E.g. Gurevich, 1958. 2 E.g. Bogoslovsky et al., 1975; Bogoslovsky, 1978. 3 Modern Politics of China in Tibet, 2000. vi Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupation Tibet, exhibitions and publications were organised, internet sites were created, etc. Documents that were meant to support the position of the Chinese authorities started to be published. At the same time documents that have the opposite effect continued to be suppressed. The activity of foreign leftist propagandists has also increased.4 Chinese authorities as well as Tibetan emigrants have been producing a lot of materials in foreign languages (e.g. in English and Russian) for the past 50 years. It is clear that this way they voice those arguments that they themselves consider to be the strongest. It should be noted that information that comes from both sides may be verified in a very few cases. Accurate verification would only be possible with the help of independent expertise commissions, which at present are not allowed by the Chinese authorities. As far as the history of Tibet is concerned, it has been portrayed on many occasions, and there are a number of good overviews which analyze publications, documents and research on the topic in great detail. The key writings are listed at the end of this book. There is no sense in repeating these works. It is more interesting to synthesise and juxtapose that information to answer the questions that seem banal: What is Tibet? Was it independent or part of other countries? Where are the foundations of the modern Chinese stance on the Tibetan issue? To what extent is the inclusion of Tibet into the PRC beyond controversy, and what did Chinese reforms bring to Tibetan people? What do Tibetans themselves think on this issue? This book strives to answer these questions by comparing different and sometimes opposing points of view. Historical facts are given in chapters 1–10, and their analysis in context of international relations at different periods in Chapter 11. The aim of this book is not to conduct a detailed analysis of sources that used Chinese and Tibetan languages, but rather to provide a synthesis of research in different fields at this current point in time. Therefore, for the most part, overview publications were utilised in the creation of this book. These publications contain links to a multitude of sources that were listed and analysed in great detail. At the same time, this book contains little known and previously unpublished information. The text also contains footnotes to sources that are listed at the end of the book. For internet sites, references state the dates of their last checking. If a paragraph contains several phrases belonging to the same source, the footnote is given after the first but not last phrase. Quotations are included in commas, omissions within paragraphs by omission points, omissions of one or several phrases or paragraphs by one sign <…> irrespective of how many phrases or paragraphs were omitted. All work has been done without outside financial support and under the personal initiative of the author. The author would like to sincerely thank everybody who 4 E.g. Parenti, M. Firendly feudalism; Ely, M. The true story... Introduction vii has helped him in this project by submitting photographs, messages that came to be included in the book, giving consultations, participating in discussions for this book: Archives of the Russian Geographical Society, Jose Ignacio Cabezon, Alex Catanese, Deutsche Bundesarchiv, DIIR Archive of Central Tibetan Administration, L. Chandra, Don Croner, Sonam N. Dagpo, Sergey V. Dmitriev, Irina R. Garri, A.J. Goryainov, Palden Gyatso, Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, Tsering Dolma Khangsertsang, Ray Kreisel, Losell Doll Museum at Norbulingka, Norbulingka Institute Archive, Norzin Dolma, Ngawang Riglam, Nawang Rabgyal Norpa, Tenpa Soepa, Ngawang Tukje, A.I. Roshchin, Charlotte & Jerome Ryan, Savetibet Foundation, Tatiana L. Shaumian, Tashi, Tsering Norzom, Urgen Tenzin (TCHRD), Thuptan Samphel, TibetInfoNet, Tempa Tsering, Kelsang Takla, Andrey Terentyev, Sonam Topgyal, Ngawang Woebar, Tsering Woeser, Alison Wright, Julia Zhironkina. I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam, Head of Research and Translation Department at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, for his meticulous checking of facts, proofreading the English manuscript several times, and for reading it again for publication; I also thank Ms Fiona Halar for the many hours she spent initially editing the English version, and Ms Kerry Wright for the final editing and proofreading. I would like to thank Tsering Namgyal for his important work with the book layout. This English translation is based on first Russian edition published in 2010. It is almost identical to that, but contains some minor changes. First, some passages, which seem to be interesting almost exclusively for a Russian audience, have been shortened: discussions on propaganda in the Russian media and widespread views in Russia in regards to the current situation in Tibet; content of some popular books with some errors regarding Buddhism and Tibet; analysis of current relations between Russia and China. Second, some misprints and errors occurring in the Russian edition were corrected. And third, some English-language sources were quoted instead of their Russian translations used in the edition of 2010. CHAPTER 1 Geography and Origin of the Tibetans he Tibetan Plateau, located in the centre of Asia, is one of the largest and Thighest areas in the world. Its area is 2,200,000 square kilometres. Significant parts of Tibet are at altitudes of 3,000–4,000 meters above sea level while the height of the mountains reach 5,000–7,000 meters. The peaks of high mountains are covered with ice and snow. Therefore, Tibet is often called the Land of Snowy Mountains (Land of Snow). The highest mountain in the world, Jomo Langma (Everest), the height of which is 8,848 meters, sits on the border of Tibet and Nepal. Another high mountain, Kanchenjunga (8,598 meters) is situated on the border of Tibet, Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim. Many other high mountains fringe Tibet like a precious necklace: Mount Kailash, Zari, Yarlha Shambo, Chomo Kenreg, Gangkar Shama, Nyenchen Thangla, Machen (Amnye Machen).