History of Tibet and relationship with China

[WisdomBeing]

I found this article (http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/tibet/pro-history.htm) online which is a nice summary of the history of Tibet (though it doesn't seem to have an ending). I found it interesting because it states that Tibet was under Chinese rule since the 18th century. Political rule is a perfect example of impermanence - so many countries go through geographical and political change throughout history. Even in China, they had different political powers in charge during different times, from the Mongols to the Manchus.

This article made me look for more information regarding Tibetan history and there's supportive info in the wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tibet, which mentions how Tibet was invaded by the Dzungars in 1717, who deposed and killed a 'fake' Dalai Lama. The Chinese Emperor who saves Tibet is the very same Emperor who is said to be an incarnation of Dorje Shugden! (this is not mentioned in the wikipedia article but is mentioned by Beggar on http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1006.0)

"An expedition sent by Qing Emperor Kangxi expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720 and the troops were hailed as liberators. They brought Kelzang Gyatso with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and he was installed as the seventh Dalai Lama in 1721." - from wikipedia

http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/tibet/pro-history.htm

The History/Background of Tibet

Shamanism was the predominant religion before the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century.  Buddhist missionaries from India came to Tibet and started an alphabet system for the Tibetan language and started translations of Buddhist texts.  During this time Tibet was a strong kingdom but by the 10th century, things began to fall apart with Tibet separating into several principalities.  In 1206, Genghis Khan included Tibet in his empire and in the mid-1600's, the Mongols allowed the Dalai Lama (monk filled with wisdom) to have political power within Tibet.  This was done after he was named the head of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism in the 15th century.

China came to control Tibet in the 18th century, but they didn't maintain their authority for many years.  In 1911, Tibetan's rebelled and started asserting their authority and independence by trying to get rid of China's officials and military stationed in Tibet.  This was completed by 1913, but a meeting was held with Britain, China and Tibet to come to an agreement regarding Tibet's borders and their status as an independent region.  China never came to an agreement and the situation became tense finally culminating in an battle in eastern Tibet in 1918.  The British attempted to settle the dispute with a truce, but they were largely unsuccessful. 

Qamdo (Chamdo) was invaded by Communist Troops not more than a year after their control of mainland China.  This occurred in October 1950, and by May 1951 the Tibetan government conceded to the Chinese and gave up their independence.  They signed a treaty that gave the Dalai Lama (who was 15 at the time) domestic power, but any affairs related to foreign matters or the military was to be deferred to the Chinese government.  Improvements were made to communications in Tibet, as well as improving transportation - military highways and airfields were built in a number of areas in the region.

Thing began heating up around 1956, when a committee was established to plan for Tibet's constitution as an autonomous region of China.  This caused some rebellions in Sichuan province against the Chinese by ethnic Tibetans.  The Dalai Lama was in India at the time and threatened to stay away from Tibet.  When the Chinese government halted the process of transferring Tibet into a socialist region, the Dalai Lama returned, even though the eastern rebellion hadn't been stopped.  Things didn't improve, especially with the US's CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) involvement.  By 1959, with the CIA's help, the rebellion escalated into a revolt in Lhasa that lasted until 1971.  Although it lasted over 10 years, after 1959 it wasn't really considered to be a threat by the Chinese, just an annoyance.  During this time the Dalai Lama went back to India, and the acting head of the region became the Panchen Lama.  Tibetans fled the region in the tens of thousands, with most going to India and others going to Nepal and Bhutan.  Tibet formally became an autonomous region of China in 1965 and was reorganized to become a socialist region.

The Panchen Lama was released from jail in 1978, after serving 14 years for criticizing China's rule over Tibet, and was put back in his former position.  Surprisingly, the Chinese government agreed that Tibet hadn't been managed well and stated they would be making reforms.  Tibetans weren't satisfied with the reforms and showed their distaste by giving violent protests in 1987.  Negotiations failed in 1988 to resolve the conflict when the Dalai Lama wouldn't renounce the independence of Tibet and China wouldn't budge on giving Tibet more autonomy.

1993 brought about more demonstrations with the addition of terrorism and in 1995 things escalated with the selection of a new Panchen Lama.  The Tibetans sent their selections to the Dalai Lama in India, who selected a boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year old.  Not pleased with their authority being overlooked, the Chinese came up with their own candidate another six-year old by the name of Gyaincain Norbu.  Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was held in detention with his family and in 1996 they came down on Tibetan monasteries, which caused the injury and death of some monks.  The drama ended in late 1996 with the government putting the Panchen Lama leader in prison.

[DharmaDefender]

Well from my previous involvement in the Free Tibet movement, our stance was always that Tibetans never identified themselves as being one with the Han Chinese, and they had a postal system, their own currency, government, engaged in international discussions and signing treaties, etc - all the hallmarks of a free and functioning society. But then I quit because your nationality only lasts this lifetime; the passport you carry is the luck of the draw, only due to your own karma. I screamed and shouted for what? No spiritual attainments, no happiness...I just contributed to people's attachment to the concept of a Free Tibet. Where's the spirituality in that???

Fake Dalai Lama, fake Panchen Lama...politics is born out of attachment and creates attachment. It just leads to more suffering, more wars, more pain. Only one thing remains unshakeable and unchanging...yeah you guessed it.

[Vajraprotector]

Agree with DharmaDefencer. Sino-Tibetan history is a very messy one and many of the conflicts/ issues stemmed from greed or wanting to rise to power.

However, there is a simple summary (instead of reading long texts with many footnotes) in Lonely Planet’s Tibet, which I have quoted below.

In 1695, the secret [of the 5th Dalai Lama’s death] was leaked and the regent was forced to hastily enthrone the sixth Dalai Lama, a boy of his own choosing. The choice was an unfortunate one [we know that the 6th Dalai Lama has long hair and wrote erotic verse, and refused to take his final vows as a monk etc].

In China, the Ming dynasty had fallen in 1644 and the Manchus from the north had swriftly moved into fill the power vacuum, establishing the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1912). The ecents that followed were complicated. Basically, Tibet’s ineffectual head of state, the Qing perception of the threat of Tibetan relations with the Mongols, disunity within the ranks of Tibet’s Mongol allies and Qing ambitions to extend its power into Tibet led to a Qing intervention that was to have lasting consequences for Tibet. Tibet’s dealings with the new Qing government went awry from the start.

Kangxi, the second Qing emperor, took offence when the death of the fifth Dalai Lama was concealed from him. At the same time, an ambitious Mongol prince named Lhabzang Khan came to the conclusion that earlier Mongol leaders had taken too much of a back-seat position in their relations with the Tibetans and appealed to Emperor Kangxi for support. It was granted, and in 1705, Mongol forces descended on Lhasa, killing the Tibetan regent and deposing the sixth Dalai Lama.

Depending on your source, he [the 6th ] was either captured, with the intention of delivering him to Kangxi in Beijing, dying en route at Litang , or he lived to a ripe old age in Amdo. Whatever the sixth Dalai Lama’s fate, Lhabzang Khan installed a new Dalai Lama in Lhasa.

Lhabzang Khan’s machinations backfired. The Mongol removal, possible murder and replacement of the sixth Dalai Lama, aroused intense hostility in Tibet. Worse still, it created enemies among other Mongol tribes, who saw the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader.

In 1717, the Dzungar Mongols from Central Asia attacked Lhasa, killing Lhabzang Khan and deposing the new Dalai Lama.

[The Tibetans weren't too happy with the Dzungars either because they failed to bring the new seventh Dalai Lama from Amdo to Tibet, as they had promised. Also, they also engaged in looting and executing some Red Hat lamas.]

The resulting confusion in Tibet was the opportunity for which Emperor Kangxi had been waiting. He responded by sending a military expedition to Lhasa in 1720. The Chinese troops drove out the Dzungar Mongols and were received by the Tibetans as liberators. They were unlikely to have been received any other way: with them, they brought the seventh Dalai Lama, who had been languishing in Kumbum Monastery under Chinese ‘protection’.

Emperor Kangxi wasted no time in declaring Tibet a protectorate of China. Two Chinese representatives, known as Ambans, were installed at Lhasa, along with a garrison of Chinese troops. It was just a beginning, leading to two centuries of Manchu overlordship and serving as a convenient historical precedent for the communist takeover nearly 250 years later.