The Chinese authorities have begun demolishing Jokhang Temple in Lhasa

[icy]

 Ignoring both religious freedom and the outcry of the Tibetan people, the Chinese authorities have begun demolishing the ancient capital of Lhasa, including one of the most important Buddhist sites of the city, Tibet's holiest Jokhang Temple.
 
Chinese authorities are planning to destroy the ancient Buddhist capital of Lhasa, and replace it with a tourist city similar to Lijiang. "Shangri-La" in Yunnan Province. Several large-scale construction projects are underway for a number of shopping malls around the Buddhist holy temple as well as underground parking at Barkhor Street.
 
"Traditional Tibetan buildings in this ancient city are once again facing the destruction crisis under Chinese modernization", well-known Tibetan writer Woeser told the RFA Mandarin section. She is also appealing to the global institutions, including UNESCO and Tibetans around the world to 'save Lhasa.'
 
Woeser, who is currently living in Beijing, has published an article on her blog-page (Sunday, May 5) with pictures of the ongoing construction in the ancient city of Lhasa. She has called for a global intervention in the serious situation in the city, where thousand year-old traditional buildings are being destroying by the Chinese in the name of modernization and social stability.
 
'The construction project in the areas of Barkor streets of the Jokhang temple covers an area of 150,000 square meters to use as new shopping malls and 1,117 square meters for the underground parking spaces", said the sources.
 
Woeser said many recent visitors already raised strong concerns over the constructions as well as the fate of Lhasa. She expressed her concern over the Chinese authorities' activities and condemned them for demolishing the ancient symbols of Tibetan civilization.
 
She alludes to photos of the ongoing constructions that she has received, "The photos reflect the situation in the old town of Lhasa, it is a serious matter of concern."
 
Woeser claims that this is an unlawful act, aiming directly at multiple targets. There is an old Tibetan saying: 'One stone for two birds', which springs to mind.
 
She said its not only just for economic development, there are other targets. If we look carefully at the photos of the shopping mall project, there are several requirements for alterations of the Tibetan old city, including one called 'evacuation'. This means clearing vendors from the Barkhor streets, perhaps better named 'destruction.'
 
The Tibetan writer said China was criticized after converting the two ancient Chinese cities; Lijiang in Yunnan and Hunan city into modern tourist cities, with both projects now widely seen as poor decisions.
 
In fact, such reconstruction has already occurred in Tibet. China now wants the Tibetan Autonomous Region to become like the Zhongdian City (Tibetan: Gyalthang county of eastern Tibet). After the reconstruction, Lijiang was changed to "Shangri-La", mainly to attract tourists. She said this kind of destruction has caused great damage and should be considered 'tourist colonialism'.
 
Previous experiences from the so-called economic development of Gyalthang County, which caused the disappearance of many Tibetan cultural symbols, including the disappearance of the customs and cultural heritage of the Tibetan people is the "most worrying matter of concern."
 
The Chinese government is also set to expand various so-called 'interests', including governmental and economic measures, regardless of the consequences. The regime is seeking to further "maintenance in social stability", meaning the authorities have significantly increased surveillance and monitoring in the region, particularly in Lhasa city, prompting an escalation of security measures.
 
The Potala Palace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. In 2000 and 2001, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka were added to the list as extensions to the sites. Rapid modernization has been a concern for UNESCO, however, which expressed concern over the building of modern structures immediately around the palace, which threaten the palace's unique atmosphere.
 
The Chinese government responded by enacting a rule barring the building of any structure taller than 21 meters in the area. However, sources stated that there are new modern buildings higher than 21 meters to be found in the vicinity. Woeser further stated that Jokhang Temple in Lhasa City should be granted protected status under UNESCO's cultural heritage regulations.
 
UNESCO was also concerned over the materials used during the restoration of the palace, which commenced in 2002 at a cost in millions of dollars, although the Chinese authorities have promised that only traditional materials and craftsmanship were used.

[icy]

Will the world holiest temple - Jokhang in the Land of Snow disappear from Earth in the face of modernisation and stability?  Picture showing construction in Lhasa is underway.

[vajrastorm]

It will be a sad day, indeed, when the Jokhang temple is torn down to make way for modernization.
The Jokhang temple was built in the 7th century', specifically to house the statue of Jowo Rinpoche(Buddha Shakyamuni when he was a young prince). It was the Chinese Princess Wen Cheng, who had brought the statue. It is said that these two(the Nepali and the Chinese princess) had converted the King Songsten Gampo into Buddhism.

As the Potala Palace and by extension, the Jokhang Temple and the Norbukingka, are in the World Heritage list, they should be preserved by right. However,the fear is always there that, in their enthusiasm for modernization,these 'architects' of the new city of Lhasa would throw sensibility and caution  to the winds.

[fruven]

I doubt that it is for 'stability' reason. Under the hood it is materialism taking over. Modernization is a two-edge sword just like many thing else. What may look like modernization is de-modernization, a spiritual de-modernization. Materialism is king. Why do you need to remove the temples to attract tourists since it is already a tourist spot? Or the so called in name of development is just a facade of removing something which threatens the identity or the ego self.

[Matibhadra]

Before mourning the “demolition” of the Lhasa's Jokhang, it would be advisable to check the origin and the reliability of the “new”. I could not identify anything similar to a supposed the demolition of the Jokhang in the attached pictures.
Mainstream Western press anyway is adept in spreading false or misleasing propaganda about no-complying countries, from Syria to Myanmar, from Iran to North-Korea, from Sudan to China. Therefore, one should be wary not to be fooled and used in this dirty game, which may serve powerful geopolitical lobbies but hardly the interest of ordinary people.
The point is, even if tomorrow the “demolition” of the Jokhang is proved as non-existent, nothing is said about the falsity of the previous “news”, which are just conveniently forgotten -- but the bad image of the Chinese as a “destructive people”  remains in the mind of the fooled audience, in an ongoing process of demonization of other countries and their peoples for geopolitical purposes.
Let's not forget that the pulverization of the Chinese people with weapons of mass destruction is a confessed doctrine of the main mentor of Western politics, Henry Kissinger (http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/index.php?news=3089) -- whence the unwavering hatred propaganda aimed at demonizing them.

[cookie]

It is indeed sad to read about the demolition of Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Whatever is the intention behind this decision and action by the Chinese authorities, we will never know for sure. Politics as such, anywhere in the world is a complicated thing. Nevertheless, the faith will never be demolished even if the temple is physically not there. Just like the Tibetans still thrive well despite being a population living in exile.

In the case of Ganden Monastery, it was completely destroyed during the rebellion of 1959. In 1966 it was severely shelled by Red Guard artillery and monks then had to dismantle the remains. Most of Tsongkhapa's mummified body was burned but his skull and some ashes were saved from the fire by Bomi Rinpoche. Re-building has been continuing since the 1980s . It has also been reestablished in India, Munghod and continues to flourish in teaching the Dharma and spreading the Buddha's teaching to all parts of the world.
I am sure the like of the Jokhang Temple will also one day be rebuilt ; in Lhasa or elsewhere.

[Matibhadra]

Looks like there is a collective delusion going on.
According the Wikipedia, usually always updated, the Jokhang is alive and well (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokhang).
Also, the Jokhang is a UNESCO World Heritage site and there is no complaint from the side of UNESCO about any demolition. Rather the opposite, it says that “[t]he historic scale, architectural typology and the historic environment remain intact within the property area and within the buffer zone, carrying the complete historic information of the property.” (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/707)
Millions of devout Han Chinese visit the Jokhang every year in order to show respect to the Buddha and make offerings to the temple, not to mention the Tibetans and members of other nationalities.
Still, this scam that “the Jokhang was demolished” says a bit about the gullibility of some Westerners, always ready to believe in any delusional story they are maliciously told by any hatred propaganda outlet.
Funny that while there are many stories about “Chinese destroying Buddhist sites”, hardly one sees any reference to such historical facts as the razing by US bombers of historical Buddhist sites and national treasures in North Korea such as the Pohyonsa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohyonsa).
So, what about stop feeding Westerner anti-China political propaganda and start practicing Buddhism?
And since Buddhism is about removing delusion, why not starting with the everyday delusions we are fed by the very same mass media brainwashing propaganda?

[Matibhadra]

Here follows a recent picture, purportedly taken October 9, 2013 in front of the Jokhang, showing little signs of the “demolition” some anti-China hatred propaganda outlet wanted Western people to believe in (see original at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-10/17/c_132805534_8.htm).

By the way, contemplating other pictures of the same and lovely slideshow of Lhasa (what a wonderful place to live it became, I would say), I was almost brought to tears when I saw the picture of the little schoolgirl (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-10/17/c_132805534.htm), nicely dressed, with her full school accoutrement, near to her shining bike and, what is most important, writing some note in her notebook.

Indeed, if one thinks that just one or two generations ago she (like 95% of the people) would be just a destitute, illiterate, sick and malnourished slave, probably already raped together with her mother by the same aristochratic feudal lord exploiting her father like an animal, under the indifferent eyes of a purported Chenrezig living luxuriosly in his high Potala Palace!

Another question which comes to mind is how much the leading current Tibetan supporters of the Dalai Lama are nothing but the descendants of those very same feudal lords, blurping to the Western public about “human rights” but actually just nostalgic of the “gool old times”...

[Dondrup Shugden]

Time for update on this article.  Jokhang Temple in Lhasa is still around and is part of the Travel China Tour uploaded in April 2015.

I picked to revive this article as the thought of Jokhang Temple destruction is very saddening.  All is well, it had been preserved as a Unesco site.

Hope to visit soon.

[Matibhadra]

The original article, quoted in the original post, was just a hoax spread by a fictive character “Woeser” at the service of the Western anti-China relentless hate-propaganda.

Such kind of hoaxes, constantly repeated by Western corporate media, slowly poison Western people against everything Chinese, Russian, Myanmarese, Sri Lankan, North Korean, Iranian, Syrian, Palestinian, Cuban, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Zimbabwean, or, to sum up, everything and anything somehow out of the reach of the double-citizenship gangsters controlling US and its media.

Therefore, it is not enough to identify and reject the hoax; it is also necessary to realize that such hoax is just one instance of the systematic brainwashing imposed by the Western gangster-controlled corporate media on ordinary people, always with the help of disgruntled locals, in the Tibetan case from the obscure blogger “Woeser” to the high-profile posterboy and CIA puppet, the evil dalie lame.