1 2 3 4 5 6 TIBET 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 37R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 37R 1 2 3 4 SAM VAN SCHAIK 5 6 7 8 9 TIBET 10 A HISTORY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 6 NEW HAVEN AND LONDON 37R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Copyright © 2011 Sam van Schaik 9 20 All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and 1 except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers. 2 For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact: 3 U.S. Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.com 4 Europe Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.co.uk 5 Set in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd 6 Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall 7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 8 9 Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: a history/Sam van Schaik. 30 p. cm. 1 ISBN 978-0-300-15404-7 (cl:alk. paper) 1. Tibet (China)—History. I. Title. 2 DS786.V35 2011 3 951′.5—dc22 4 2010040518 5 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 6 37R 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 For my daughters 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 37R v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 37R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Contents 9 10 1 2 3 4 List of Illustrations and Maps viii 5 Acknowledgements xi 6 Note On Pronouncing Tibetan Words xiii 7 Preface xv 8 9 20 1Tibet Appears, 600–700 1 1 2The Holy Buddhist Empire, 700–797 21 2 3Keepers of the Flame, 797–1054 41 3 4 4Patrons and Priests, 1054–1315 61 5 5Golden Age, 1315–1543 85 6 6The Rise and Fall of the Dalai Lamas, 1543–1757 114 7 7The Balancing Act, 1757–1904 146 8 9 8Independence, 1904–1950 180 30 9Under the Red Flag, 1950–1959 207 1 10 Two Tibets, 1959 to the Present 238 2 3 Notes 270 4 5 Bibliography 292 6 Index 304 37R vii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Illustrations 1 2 Rights were not granted to include these illustrations in electronic media. 3 Please refer to print publication. 4 5 PLATES 6 (between pp. 104 and 105) 7 8 1Statue of Songtsen Gampo, Potala Palace. 9 2 An ancient stone lion on top of the tomb of one of the tsenpos. 20 Photograph Amy Heller. 1 3Statues representing the three dharma kings, Palkor Chode. Photograph 2 Amy Heller. 3 4 Detail from a painted scroll, attributed to Yan Liben, National Palace, 4 Beijing. 5 5Wall painting thought to depict a Tibetan tsenpo and his entourage, early 6 ninth century, Dunhuang Cave 159. 7 6Traditional Tibetan military costume, 1921. Charles Bell Collection 8 1112/1(64). © The British Library. 9 7The ruins of the Tibetan fort at Mazar Tagh. Photograph Rachel 30 Roberts. 1 8Statue of the Tibetan queen of Songtsen Gampo and her son, the crown 2 prince Gungsong Gungtsen. Photograph Panglung Rinpoche. 3 9 The Old Tibetan Annals. IOL Tib J 750. © The British Library. 4 10 Samye, entrance to the central temple, 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection 5 1112/5(447). © The British Library. 6 11 Samye monastery, 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection 1112/5(447). © The 37R British Library. viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 12 The Lhasa treaty pillar. Photograph Kazushi Iwao. 1 13 Detail of the inscription in Tibetan and Chinese on the Lhasa treaty pillar. 2 Photograph Kazushi Iwao. 3 14 The stupa built by Yeshe O, Toling, Western Tibet. Photograph Lionel 4 Fournier. 5 15 The cave retreat of Gewa Rabsel, Dantig, Amdo. Photograph Imre 6 Galambos. 7 16 Statue of Padmasambhava, in a temple in the Chumbi Valley, 1933–34. 8 Charles Bell Collection 1112/5(78). © The British Library. 9 17 Statue of Gesar, in the Gesar temple, Shigatse, 1933–34. Charles Bell 10 Collection 1112/5(270). © The British Library. 1 2 (between pp. 232 and 233) 3 18 Schematic drawing of the Potala, from the Wise maps. Add.Or.3013. © The 4 British Library. 5 19 Painting of the fifth Dalai Lama meeting the Manchu emperor, Potala 6 Palace. 7 20 Illuminated manuscript showing Milarepa building towers for Marpa. 8 Or.16756. © The British Library. 9 21 Illuminated manuscript showing Milarepa in his cave, teaching a hunter. 20 Or.16756. © The British Library. 1 22 Two dob-dobs, or fighting monks, holding their staves, 1933–34. Charles 2 Bell Collection, 1112/5(245). © The British Library. 3 23 A geko, or monastic keeper of discipline, with ritual mace, 1933–34. 4 Charles Bell Collection, 1112/5(312). © The British Library. 5 24 Two monks in religious debate, 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection, 6 1112/5(307). © The British Library. 7 25 A Nyingma monk holding a rosary, 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection, 8 1112/5(17). © The British Library. 9 26 A Ngagpa holding a prayer wheel, 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection, 30 1112/5(70). © The British Library. 1 27 A Bonpo priest with religious implements, 1933–34. Charles Bell 2 Collection, 1112/5(76). © The British Library. 3 28 A Gelug tulku with religious implements, 1933–34. Charles Bell 4 Collection, 1112/1(195). © The British Library. 5 29 A monastic official of Tashilhunpo with servant and dog, 1933–34. 6 Charles Bell Collection, 1112/5(264). © The British Library. 37R ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 1 30 A Tibetan noblewoman from Gyantse wearing ceremonial headdress, 2 1910–20. W.P. Rosemeyer, 1112/3(171). 3 31 A government official from the Palha family in his tent at Gyantse, 4 1933–34. Charles Bell Collection, 1112/5(367). © The British Library. 5 32 A minor lay official in ceremonial garb, 1920–21. Charles Bell Collection, 6 1112/3(76). © The British Library. 7 33 Portrait of George Bogle (Younghusband, Francis. 1910. India and Tibet. 8 pl.2). 9 34 Francis Younghusband in Tibet, 1903. MSS Eur F197/646(31). © The 10 British Library. 1 35 The fort (dzong) at Gyantse, 1910–20. Charles Bell Collection, 1112/1(365). 2 © The British Library. 3 36 Charles Bell seated with the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the crown prince 4 of Sikkim, Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, in 1910. Charles Bell Collection, 5 1112/1(402). © The British Library. 6 37 Ngapo presenting a ceremonial scarf (katag) to Mao after the signing of 7 the Seventeen-Point Agreement, 1951 (Xinhua). 8 38 Mao with the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, 1954 (Xinhua). 9 20 MAPS 1 2 1Modern China and its neighbours. xix 3 2The Tibetan empire in the eighth to the ninth centuries. xx 4 3Tibet. xxi 5 4Central Tibet and Tsang. xxii 6 5Lhasa. xxiii 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 37R x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Acknowledgements 10 1 2 3 4 It is only possible to write a book like this because the Tibetans have maintained 5 a vibrant tradition of historical writing, whether in anonymous works like the 6 Old Tibetan Annals and the Testament of Ba, or religious histories by scholars 7 like Go Lotsawa Zhonupal and Pawo Tsuglag Trengwa. I also owe much to 8 contemporary scholars from all over the world who have written historical 9 studies of Tibet. My debt to them is evident in the notes and bibliography. 20 However the importance of the late E. Gene Smith is perhaps not adequately 1 represented there. For his personal encouragement and assistance, and his stag- 2 gering achievements in bringing the literature of Tibetan Buddhism to the 3 West, he is much missed. The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, which he 4 founded, is now a wonderful online library of Tibetan works. 5 I want to thank my parents, Paul and Barbara van Schaik, who have spent a 6 lifetime in international aid work all over the world. Thanks to them I was able 7 to experience in my formative years Tibetan culture at first hand among the 8 exiles of Kathmandu, and in the remote mountains and monasteries of Bhutan. 9 I would also like to acknowledge two Nyingma monks from Bhutan, Tsultrim 30 and Dawa. Here in England, for guiding me to the study of Tibet, I owe every- 1 thing to my teacher Lama Jampa Thaye. To him, and to Karma Thinley 2 Rinpoche and His Holiness Sakya Trizin as well, I owe any understanding I have 3 of the Tibetan Buddhist dharma.