pretty much anything they could find was on the destruction menu.Īs Luo Siling of the New York Times tells us, the situation soon devolved into a sort of Maoist civil war, where two factions, the Revolutionary Rebels Headquarters and the Great Alliance of Proletarian Revolutionaries Command, fought each other. Prayer flags, images of esteemed Lamas, holy texts. Since China had already done a pretty good job smashing up Tibet's old temples, their spin on the Red Guard set about looting what was left and breaking into people's homes in search of religious items to destroy. The Tibet leg of the Cultural Revolution was started by young Tibetans who had been studying in China, and been indoctrinated by Maoists in the process.
All in all, tens of thousands of people died. China then went on to take severe measures against Tibetan resistance, execute the Dalai Lama's bodyguards, and wreck the capital's biggest monasteries. On March 21, the Chinese forces opened artillery fire on the poor folks gathered at the palace. By March 19, there was open combat between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese troops, with the former hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered. By March 17, the Tibetans had spirited the Dalai Lama away to India, and China aimed some serious firepower at the gathered Tibetans. The show of force quickly turned into a bloodbath. Evidently, Tibetan loyalists smelled a rat, and the masses gathered to prevent His Holiness from taking up the offer. The young Dalai Lama had been invited to visit the local People's Liberation Army headquarters for an evening of tea and theater, with the caveat that he must come alone. The motivation behind this gigantic scene was the country's fear that the Chinese occupation forces were plotting to kidnap the Dalai Lama and take him to Beijing. People needed religious beliefs as their spiritual sustenance in old times, but now we don’t,” said Tsering Yudron, 25, an accountant.According to the History article on the subject, March 10, 1959, was when 300,000 Tibetans surrounded the Dalai Lama's summer palace, Norbulinka, in an act of open rebellion against the Chinese. “Time has changed, so people’s demands have changed. In the model village of Baji east of Lhasa, the capital, residents dressed in traditional garments told foreign journalists how poverty alleviation campaigns had changed their lives. Security has been tightened significantly since widespread anti-government protests in 2008, shortly before the Beijing Summer Olympics, accompanied by redoubled efforts at economic development and the declining influence of Buddhism. Beijing says Tibet has long been a part of China and that the communists liberated hundreds of thousands of illiterate serfs when they overthrew the ruling theocracy in 1951. Tibetans in exile say they were effectively independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to wipe out Tibet’s Buddhist culture and language while exploiting its natural resources and encouraging Chinese to move there from other parts of the country. The party is pressing a program to Sinicize Tibetan life through programs to separate Tibetans from their language, culture, and especially, their devotion to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s traditional spiritual leader who has lived in exile since 1959. Lately, that has increasingly encompassed religion, both in central China and on its fringes, such as Tibet. “Xi Jinping’s new socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics is the guide for the whole party and all nationalities to fight for the great rejuvenation of China,” the sign proclaims in Tibetan and Chinese script, referring to China’s leader, who has sought to put his imprint on virtually every aspect of life across the vast county. Across the street, a red banner spells out a new belief system, one being enforced with increasing fervor, of China’s ruling Communist Party. LHASA, China (AP) - A brisk wind ruffles yellow prayer flags as dozens of Tibetans, some on crutches, circle a shrine in a time-honored Buddhist ritual.
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