Jokhang Temple Square, 11/2006
Ten months ago, standing at Jokhang temple, I lamented the presence of Chinese guards in the streets of Lasa. This morning’s news caught me sideways - but I was not surprised.Oppression is in the eyes of the beholder. Even today, Chinese bloggers are asking how the Tibetans could rise up against the Chinese, who gave them so much, who made Lasa the “developed” place that it is today. (See Chinese Blogs, Translated: 1) But the Tibetans, long occupied by their alleged “liberators” from Japanese rule, no doubt see things differently.
Those familiar with Tibetan history need not be reminded of ways China has clamped down on this vast region. The Qinghai-Tibet railway is promoted throughout mainland china as the premier connecting link; the Freedom Highway marks the next stage of Chinese investment in the region; and the placement of the Olympic Torch at the peak of Everest is a new straw on the back of a weary camel. But the human rights record far exceeds the political oppression. The flagrant violations of the CCP against the Tibetan people rang vibrantly throughout the world when a YouTube video from climbers showed CCP snipers executing pilgrims in the Himalayas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLN4KWxqZ-0).
The Tibetan monks who rose up today may or may not be acting as agents of the Living Buddha. The CCP will be quick to assert that religious fervor is indeed a barrior to a harmonious society.
Buddhism is the farthest thing from violent. A story in the Buddhist scriptures tells of a conflict between two clans over water rights, where one (the Sakyans, the clan of the Buddha) stood in battle facing the Kolyans, a rival tribe. Just as the two were about to lift up arms, the Buddha arrived to settle the conflict and remind them that human life was more valuable than water rights. (Majjhima Nikaya, Sallekha Sutta No. 8).
But these Monks may not be acting as Buddhists would or should. They are acting as educated Tibetans, who value nationalism and cultural identity, and who have seen their sacred city chipped away by the Chinese and global capitalism. They are acting as representatives of an oppressed people, who have moved far into the countryside to escape the rule of China. And although some in China will recall the old saying, "the emporer is indeed very powerful, but he is also very far away," the Tibetans have no such luxury.
We are dealing with a twofold dynamic. The first is the clear human rights abuse by the Chinese government, to which the Monks are no doubt reacting. The inner peace which these monks so fervently seek is consistently and categorically dislocated by a tyrannical external force in the Chinese government.
But the secondary, latent dynamic is one of express globalization and international presence. In a land so isolated from the world, so primitive in its practice and so comfortable with its way of life, the influx of banks and cell phone companies (let alone Chinese noodle shops) will leave people wondering where all the yak sellers went. In this globalized dynamic, the Chinese are merely the agents of change, the messengers of globalization who bring the life-altering news of change to the Tibetan countryside. Human rights violations aside, the Tibetan people will soon realize that they must accept this new pace of change, accelerated by the presence of their Han neighbors.
Nevertheless, we turn back to a more fundamental issue: a humane approach to development, a healthy respect for individual humanity over collective control, and an ability to live without fear of imprisonment or execution. Until the Tibetan people are able to practice a healthy dose if freedom and individuality over their collectivist occupiers, they will be hard pressed to overcome the newfound capitalism which has so rapidly invaded their capital city.
My Pictures of Jokhang Temple Square (November 2006)
Sera Monestary (Allegedly Burned)
