| THE RIVERSIDE MUSEUM COLLECTION OF TIBETAN ART -- 3 One oral tradition tells that the Tibetans are descended from a demoness and Hanuman (the monkey god). All that is known is that they came from the southeast in ancient times to make the "country of the red faces" their home. Theirs is a feudal society with a settled population in the valleys and nomadic tent dweller elsewhere. This "icy land" was called Bhot by the Tibetans. The Mongolians called it "To-Bhot" (high Bhot), which turned into Tibet. Tibet has always been in great isolation. Armies or pilgrims, everyone went around it. Before the seventh century A.D. there were no written records. There were notched sticks and knotted cords in use as aids to memory. Possibly a picture writing existed, used by the medicine men for magical purposes. But the reign of Srong tsan gam-po opened a new era. As a conqueror he held sway over vast territories from parts of China into India. In 622 A.D. he sent his minister Thomi Sambhota (regarded now as an incarnation of Manjusri) to collect sacred books in India. The Tibetan language was then reduced to writing in a form of Sanskrit characters. The thick letters with heads are now used in printed books. The half-cursive "cornered letters" became the more current "headless" form. Though the first Buddhist objects reached Tibet from Nepal in 461, Srong tsan gam-po introduced Buddhism. In this he had the help of his two wives, the princess Bribsun, daughter of King Jyoti-varma of Nepal, and the princess Wen Ching from imperial China. They are now worshipped as semi-divine personages (Taras). He was the founder, in 639, of Lha-ldan (God's ground), afterwards Lhasa. The succeeding kings favored Buddhism and during the eighth century invited Indian scholars to Tibet. Kamalasila came and the monastery of Samye was built for him. In 747 Padma Sambhava arrived. During his short stay he exerted tremendous influence and translated volumes of the Kanjur, primarily Tantric texts. However, under Lang-Dharma in 899 there were widespread persecutions of Buddhists. Afterwards, in a period of confusion, the influence of various monasteries was felt. The first of several chief priests whose authority became paramount in the country was Atisha who had come from India in 1050 and settled at the great monastery of Thoding. First the Sa-sKya Pa lamas were dominant, then another group. Changes came. The first was due to Tsong Khapa, a great reformer, who in 1407 organized a stricter form of Lamaism known as dGe lugs-pa (the yellow sect) as opposed to the zva-dmar (red caps). Another was the coming of the first Dalai Lama. This was Lama Sonam rGyatso who, in turn for helping Buddhism reach the Mongols, received the abbotship of Ganden near Lhasa. The Mongols gave him the title Vajra Dalai Lama (Lightning wide-ocean superior one) in 1576. During the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama, the Mongols interfered in the affairs of the country. Tibet called for help from China and the Gushri Khan in anger invaded Tibet and subjugated everyone. He made the fifth Dalai Lama the absolute monarch of all Tibet in 1645. With Tibetan Buddhism there existed a succession by reincarnation. These reincarnations were of many sorts, but primarily of two types of personages. First, there were persons who had reached supreme spiritual enlightenment. They are called Buddhas. Next, there were persons of pure compassion on the verge of becoming Buddhas, but closer to humanity and its suffering. These were called Bodhisattvas. The Dalai Lama was considered to be the incarnation on earth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and was called rGyalpo Rimpoche (the precious king.) When he died it was believed that he was reincarnated into the body of a boy born after his death. After a great search and various tests, the Chutuktus, abbots of the monasteries, chose a child as the new incarnation. He was raised and educated in Lhasa, while a regent ruled until his coming of age. This pattern was followed also for the Tashi or Panchen Lama, Panchen Rimpoche (the precious teacher), who represented an incarnation of the Buddha Amitabha. Despite the fact that one was the incarnation of a Bodhisattva and the other of a Buddha, it was the Bodhisattva that held more secular power in the country. The Tashi Lama at Tashilunpo, representing the Buddha Amitabha, was only a "spiritual advisor" to the former and had less secular power. The reign of the known to the Tibetans as Kyam-gon Buk (the inmost protector), made a giant theocracy of Tibet and covered the areas of Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse, the Western, Eastern and border provinces, and Northern pastures. This was administered both by lamas and laymen. After the ministers of state there was the Tsong-du (national assembly) that was called on matters of supreme importance. A lesser assembly was always in session. The administrative subdivisions divided into prefectures under the rule of two men, one layman, one lama, who collected taxes which were paid in kind -- sheep, meal, wool, etc. -- and who were responsible for judicial functions, couriers, etc. The sub-prefectures' rulers had under them the village headmen and elders who were appointed. There were various degrees of European penetration. The first European, the Jesuit Antonio Andrada, came in 1661. Six years later there was an Austrian, followed by the Belgian D'orville who traveled to Lhasa. In 1774, East India Company agents reached the Tashi Lama at Shigatse. In the Nineteenth Century Europeans were prevented from entering the country and expelled if found in it. They entered anyway. The Indian Sarat Chandra Das obtained Tibetan texts and the American W. W. Rockhill collected geographical information. In the late Nineteenth Century, Indian officials tried to open trade with Tibet. Not only were they refused by the Tibetans but fighting broke out in Sikkim. The Tibetans were repulsed by the British. The Chinese tried speaking for the Tibetans and a treaty was signed. The Tibetans would not recognize it. A Mongolian Russian, Dorjieff, interested the Russians in Tibet and the Dalai Lama wanted to play Russia off against England. A Russian treaty was a possibility and Russian arms were arriving in Lhasa. Due to further problems on the Sikkim-Tibetan border, Col. F. E. Younghusband attempted negotiations. After useless discussions, he entered Tibet in December 1903 with armed British troops. He reached Lhasa in August. A treaty resulted with trade market concessions. Tibetan history is one severe struggle after another with the Chinese who constantly found reasons to interfere in Tibetan affairs, but were never able to overcome Tibet for long. Early in this century, the Russians and the British agreed with each other to stay out of Tibet. The Chinese, however, were not included and soon fighting resulted with Chinese troops taking Lhasa. The Dalai Lama fled to India. In the intervening years Tibet was able to exert its independence again when the Chinese collapsed under their own inadequacies. A dozen years ago [1951] the Communists were able to force a treaty which defenseless Tibet could not avoid. The Chinese broke the treaty, moving in great numbers of troops and Chinese settlers. Interference was followed by fighting. Then came the "impossible" escape of the present Dalai Lama.* That ancient Tibetan queen, the Chinese princess Wen Ching, had once discovered through astrology that Tibet was a demoness lying on its back. The princess had monasteries built at the sites of this female spirit's arms, legs, and feet. Now, criss-crossing to bind her, are Chinese roads built with slave labor. Fleeing refugees bring dark news of atrocities on the body of that country.** *See the famous 1959 photograph from LIFE magazine. (See also the film "Kundan.") **Since 1963, total holocaust befell Tibet at the hands of the Peoples Republic of China. For information on the current political status of Tibet, please see Rangzen. |
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 Aum Mani Padme Hum
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