Talk.Politics.Tibet FAQ

talk.politics.tibet FAQ v.3.70

Last-modified: 24 Aug 1996 Version: 3.70

This FAQ was created for the Usenet newsgroup talk.politics.tibet and addresses various issues that are discussed in that newsgroup on a recurring basis. Some controversial issues are dealt with by quoting published arguments on both sides, in addition to relevant primary source material. Also included are the addresses of various organizations that deal with Tibet and a guide to the additional sources of information that are available, both on the Internet and in print.

The maintainers of this FAQ are:
Peter Kauffner (Peter.Kauffner@tclbbs.com)
Nima Dorjee (tibet@acs.ucalgary.ca)

Send comments and suggestions to Peter.Kauffner@tclbbs.com.

This version includes some additional statistics on education in question D3.

Introduction
What are the meanings of specialized words used on TPT (glossary)?

Historical Issues
What are the major events of Tibetan history (timeline)?
What were the roles of the Dalai and Panchen Lamas in Tibetan history?
Did slavery exist in old Tibet?
What is the historical basis of the Chinese claim to Tibet?
What was Tibet's status during China's Qing dynasty (1644-1912)?
What was Tibet's status immediately prior to China's 1950-51 invasion?

Human Rights
Are Tibetan women being forced to have abortions?
How are Tibetan political prisoners treated?
How many Tibetans have died as a result of the Chinese occupation?

Statistical Issues
What is the total population of Tibet?
How many ethnic Chinese live in Tibet (population transfer)?
What are Tibet's economic statistics?

Further Information
What World-Wide Web sites have further information about Tibet?
Where do I find information concerning travel to Tibet?
What Tibet-oriented mailing lists can I subscribe to?
What are the addresses of some organizations that deal with Tibet?
What books about Tibet would you recommend?

Sources

Section A: INTRODUCTION

A1) What are the meanings of specialized words used on TPT (glossary)?


 The following is a glossary of words related to Tibet. When the
 pronunciation of a word differs from what one might expect from the
 standard spelling, a phonetic spelling is given between slash marks (//).
 Words in all CAPITAL letters have glossary entries of their own. The tonal
 indicators for Tibetan are as follows: 1--high; 2--low; 3--falling;
 and 4--middle. For Chinese (Mandarin), the tonal indicators are: 1--level;
 2--high rising; 3--low rising; and 4--falling.

 AMBAN--A representative of the QING emperor who resided in the territory of
      a tributary state or dependency. The Qing mission in Lhasa was usually
      headed by two Ambans of equal status.
 AMDO /ahm'doh'/--The Tibetan name for a region located northeast of Lhasa.
      It includes the bulk of QINGHAI province, as well as the Kanlho Tibetan
      Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province. Along with KHAM and U-TSANG,
      it is one of Tibet's three historic regions. Each of these regions
      speaks its own distinctive dialect of Tibetan. Amdo is also known in
      Tibetan as Dotoh province.
 BOD [Tibetan /puh3/]--The Tibetan word for TIBET. The word Bod may be derived
      from BON.
 BODPA [Tibetan /puh4ba4/]--The Tibetan word for "Tibetan," both as a noun
      and as an adjective.
 BON [Tibetan /puhm2/]--Tibet's pre-Buddhist, animist religion. Cf. NYINGMAPA
 CCP--Chinese Communist Party. The ruling party of China since 1949. (The
      Chinese government prefers "CPC"--Communist Party of China.)
 COMMISSION OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES--TGIE's legislative branch. The Tibetan exile
      community has held CPD elections every three years since 1960.
 DALAI LAMA [Tibetan /ta1le4 la1ma4/]--Tibet's most renown line of incarnate
      LAMAs. The Dalai Lamas reigned as kings of Tibet from 1642 until 1959.
      The current Dalai Lama has lived in exile since 1959. Seequestion B2.
 DL-- DALAI LAMA
 GELUGPA /ge'luk'pa'/--The dominate Buddhist sect in Tibet and Mongolia. The
      literal translation of Gelugpa is "model of virtue." The sect was
      founded by the Tibetan monk Tsongkhapa in the 15th century and is also
      known as the Yellow Hat sect. Cf. RED HAT.
 HAN /han4/--The Chinese word for an ethnic Chinese. More precisely, a Han is
      someone whose primary or ancestral language is Chinese (Han4yu3) and
      who does not belong to any of China's various other officially
      recognized ethnic groups.
 KAGYUPA--Tibet's third largest monastic order. The name means "transmitted
      word." The Kagyupa order consists of several sub-orders, including Karma
      Kagyupa, widely practiced in both Tibet and Sikkim, and Dukpa Kagyupa,
      the dominate faith of Bhutan. Cf. KARMAPA.
 KARMAPA--A line of incarnate LAMAs whose traditional residence is at Tsurphu
      Monastery near Lhasa. The Karmapa heads the Karma Kagyupa branch of the
      KAGYUPA order and is also known as the Black Hat lama. The 16th Karmapa
      died in Chicago in 1981. A successor was enthroned at Tsurphu in 1993,
      although some Karma Kagyupa members still support a rival candidate.
 KASHAG [Tibetan /ka1shaa3/]--A group of four men appointed by the Dalai Lama
      to supervise day to day government administration. The group is often
      referred to as Tibet's cabinet. In 1992, TGIE's constitution was
      amended to make the Kashag responsible to the COMMISSION OF PEOPLE'S
      DEPUTIES.
 KHAM--A region of eastern Tibet which is sometimes referred to as the
      province of Domae. Western Kham is now in TAR (q.v.) while eastern Kham
      is in China's Sichuan (Szechwan) province.
 KMT--Kuomintang [Chinese /gwo2min2dang3/] The ruling party of China from
      1928 to 1949. The ruling party of Taiwan since 1949. It is also known
      as the Nationalist Party.
 LAMA [Tibetan /la1ma4/]--The literal translation of this Tibetan word is
      "superior one." The word has several meanings, but is most commonly
      used to refer to incarnate lamas or TULKU. Other Buddhist spiritual
      teachers may be referred to as root lamas. cf. YOGIN.
 LHASA [Tibetan /lhe1sa4/]--The capital and largest city in Tibet with a
      population of 170,000. Lhasa is a shortened form of lha sacha, which
      means "god's place."
 LOSAR--Tibetan new year. The next Losar will be on February 8, 1997.
      Cf. MONLAM CHENMO.
 MCMAHON LINE--The boundary for the eastern section of the frontier between
      Tibet and India. It runs from the eastern end of Bhutan to the great
      bend in the Brahmaputra River. British and Tibetan negotiators agreed
      to this boundary in a conference held in Simla, India in 1914. The line
      is named for Sir Henry McMahon, the head of the British negotiating
      team. Although China claims territory south the McMahon Line, it has
      generally respected the line in practice.
 MANCHU--a people who lived in what is now northeastern China for many
      centuries. Until 1636, they were known as the Jurchen. From 1644 to
      1912, China was ruled by emperors of Manchu ancestry. Cf. QING.
 MONLAM CHENMO--The "great prayer festival," which begins three days after
      LOSAR and continues for ten days. China currently prohibits the public
      celebration of Monlam and other Buddhist holidays in Tibet.
 NYINGMAPA--"The old order," Tibet's second largest monastic order. Nyingmapa
      priests are not usually required to be celibate. The sect's rituals
      include many elements that were derived from BON.
 PANCHEN LAMA [Tibetan /pen1jeen4 la1ma4/]--A title used by the head LAMA of
      Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. His spiritual authority is second
      only to that of the DALAI LAMA within the GELUGPA sect. Seequestion B2.
 PAP--People's Armed Police. A paramilitary force created in 1983 to patrol
      border areas and to guard government buildings. It was used extensively
      to suppress demonstrations in Lhasa between 1987 and 1991. Cf. PSB.
 PLA--People's Liberation Army. The official name of the Chinese armed forces
      since 1949. The PLA is a combined service and includes ground, air,
      and naval units.
 PRC--People's Republic of China. The official name of China since 1949.
 PSB--Public Security Bureau. China's principle agency for enforcing criminal
      law, i.e. the regular police. Cf. PAP.
 QING /ching1/--A dynasty of MANCHU origin which ruled China from 1644 to 1912.
 QINGHAI /ching1hi3/--A Chinese province created in 1928 to administer the
      bulk of Tibet's AMDO region. In 1992, the population of Qinghai was
      estimated to be 4.61 million, [Fiske94] of whom 58 percent were ethnic
      Chinese, 20 percent were ethnic Tibetan, and 14 percent were Hui
      (Chinese Muslim). The ethnic Chinese population is concentrated in the
      vicinity of Xining, the capital. All of the province's other prefectures
      are classified as "Tibetan autonomous." Qinghai can also be referred to
      as Kokonor, the region's Mongolian name.
 RANG-BTSAN /rang2dsen4/--The Tibetan word for "independence" or "self-
      government."
 RED HAT--Any of various Tibetan monastic orders established prior to the 15th
      century when the GELUGPA order was founded. The three largest Red Hat
      sects, in order of membership, are: NYINGMAPA, KAGYUPA, and Sakyapa.
      The Tibetan term corresponding to Red Hat (Zhvamar) refers only to
      the followers of the Sharmapa, a TULKU of the Karma KAGYUPA sub-order.
 ROC--Republic of China, the official name of China from 1911 to 1949.
      Although the ROC government has ruled only Taiwan since 1949, it still
      claims to be the legitimate government of all China, including Tibet.
 SELF-DETERMINATION--The determining by a people of the form their government
      shall have, without reference to the wishes any other people. The
      Charter of the United Nations calls for, "respect for the principle of
      equal rights and self-determination of peoples."
 SERF--A peasant bound to perform feudal obligations for a lord. In 1959,
      about 60 percent of Tibet's population were legally classified as serfs.
      (In Tibetan, serfs are known as mi ser or "yellow people").
 TAR--Tibet Autonomous Region. China created TAR in 1965 to administer the
      Tibetan regions of U-TSANG and western KHAM. Despite its name, the TAR
      government does not in fact enjoy any significant degree of autonomy.
      The region's top policymaker is CCP Secretary Chen Kuiyuan, an ethnic
      Chinese appointed by Beijing.
 TASHI DELEK--A common Tibetan greeting.
 TGIE--Tibetan government-in-exile. Seequestion B2.
 TI-- Tibetan independence. TI can also stand for "Taiwan independence."
 TIBET--The Tibetan government-in-exile refers to the entire Tibet-Qinghai
      Plateau as "Tibet." But the word can also be used to refer to TAR (q.v.)
      only. "Tibet" is a word used in various European languages and was
      derived from the Arabic Tubbat, which was in turn derived from the
      Chinese TUFAN. [Partridge66]
 TPT--talk.politics.tibet. The Usenet newsgroup for which this document is
      the FAQ.
 TSAMPA--roasted barley flour, a staple of the Tibetan diet. Various Tibetan
      celebrations, such as LOSAR, are marked by tossing tsampa into the
      air.
 TSHONGDU--Tibet's national assembly, established in the 1860s. Included the
      heads of major government departments as well as representatives from
      the larger monasteries. Decisions were made by consensus.
      Cf. COMMISSION OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
 TUFAN /tu3fan1/--A Chinese name for Tibet used during the Tang dynasty
      (618-907). The second syllable of Tufan was traditionally pronounced
      /bo/, which means "warlike." [Giles1]
 TULKU [Tibetan /drue1ue1ku4/]--A person who is considered to be the
      reincarnation of a great spiritual teacher. The preferred translation
      of tulku is "incarnate LAMA." An older, less accurate, translation is
      "living Buddha." The Dalai and Panchen Lamas are Tibet's best-known
      tulku.
 U-TSANG /oh'tsong'/--The Tibetan name for central Tibet, now included in
      TAR (q.v.).
 XIZANG /she1tsong4/--The modern Chinese name for Tibet. The word is derived
      from U-TSANG and has been in use since the 18th century. [Kolmas67]
      The literal translation of Xizang is "western storehouse" or "western
      storeroom," not "western treasure house" as is sometimes
      claimed. [Giles2]
 YOGIN--A spiritual teacher who is not bound by monastic vows.

talk.politics.tibet FAQ v.3.70

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