March 21, 2008 (the date of publication in Russian)
Yaroslav Butakov
THE ACHILLES HEEL OF CHINA
Will Beijing endure the attack from the "peaceful" Lamas?
THE MYTH OF BUDDHIST PACIFISM
The current unrest in Tibet, unexpected for the superficial thinking of liberal commentators, traditionally incapable for insight in anything related to the distant and "inconceivable" culture of the East, was interpreted in various, frequently exotic ways. Some experts even invented definitions like "politically active Buddhism" and "Buddhist extremism". The outburst of violence in the Autonomous Region of Tibet has brought liberal political experts to a conclusion of emergence of some new quality of Buddhism, a culture that used to be – allegedly – exceptionally peaceful. Their opponents interpret the unrest in Tibet, as well as earlier in Myanmar, with the operations of the CIA. This universal explanation is similarly superficial.
In fact, there is nothing new in the "politically active" Buddhism. Dalai Lama XIV, the global leader of Lamaist Buddhism, has been politically hyperactive since his flight to India. The fact that he exploits the ideology of non-violence does not mean a bit that his parish is going to restrict itself with peaceful forms of fight against Chinese authorities. Transformation of peaceful theories into a militant ideology has happened many times in history.
The assumption that Buddhism rejects political violence is a widespread European interpretation, emerging from lack of knowledge and historical experience. Meanwhile, Russians have experienced the "peacefulness" of Buddhism in 1989 during the massacre of Russian population in Kyzyl, the center of the Buddhist-dominated then-Autonomous Republic of Tuva in 1989 – the episode far forgotten by the West.
In earlier times, the military skills of Buddhists were efficiently used in the military forces of the Russian Empire. The Kalmykian cavalry was once a very efficient element of the Don Cossack Army that served to protect the Empire's southern borders. The engraved portrait of Ataman Mikhail Platov, made by Salomon Cardelli, depicts a Cossack officer and a Kalmykian soldier on the background.
Wasn't it the Buddhist population of Indochina that heroically resisted to French colonialists for decades? Wasn't Buddhism the ideology of the Japanese Shogunate that developed the military skills of the Samurais?
Thus, the description of a Buddhist as an autistic personality talking to trees and murmuring "Ommm" is at least incomplete. This view of a Buddhist is rather a product of European interpretation, politically used for drawing a picture of an innocently oppressed minority.
Still, the theory of foreign deployment is faulty as well. Russian XIX century conservative (non-Marxist!) author Mikhail Pogodin indicated that "revolutions are not borrowed by one nation from another but emerge from underlying reasons under particular national circumstances". A century and a half ago, the Russian historian doubted simplistic explanations of popular unrest with foreign involvement alone.
Vsevolod Ovchinnikov, a most professional Russian specialist in Eastern Asia, could tell more about real Buddhism from his extensive journalist experience. During his first trip to Tibet in 1955, he was most impressed with the local practice of violence, embedded in the ancient tradition. "I was shocked to see three fugitive serfs enchained by their necks with a single yoke carved from a trunk of a tree, and dragged like cattle". Though at that time Tibet was already a part of China, it was managed by the local Lamaist administration that used ancient methods for punishing outlaws.
"During my second trip to the area (in 1995), I was similarly impressed with a talk with Guru Tashidawa. The former Chelah (an infant Lama, brought to a monastery) told me about an ominous tradition, seemingly incompatible with the Buddhist commandments of mercy to any living creature. During construction of a temple, an infant Lama with revealed capabilities for telepathy was supposed to be buried under every of the temple's cornerstones.
In the age of 12, Tashidawa occasionally found out that he was selected for a religious feat. He was supposed to induce himself into a state of Samaddha, ceasing his pulse and breathe, and to lie down into a niche to be covered with a stone plaque. In a stormy night, he escaped from the monastery and thus survived. Quite recently, during the reconstruction of the temple, child skeletons were discovered under its basement", Ovchinnikov says.
It is noteworthy that the ritual human sacrifice was performed by means of gradual mortification, so that the hand of the executor, according with the theological rules, did not touch the body of the victim. In Lhasa, the recent riot started with arsons – also an "indirect" form of human extermination, conveniently corresponding with the commandment of non-violence.
Regardless from particular religion, violence is a universal phenomenon, more typical for primitive cultures, and more ominous in their practice. Meanwhile, the tendency to solve political problems by means of direct action is as typical for a Buddhist culture as for any other.
THE END OF TIBETAN INDEPENDENCE
The Tibetan state emerged on the historical scene in the VII century. That was the time of development of Lamaism, the version of Buddhism focused on religious exercises. The first Tibetan emperor was Songtsan Gampo who married a Chinese princess named Weng Cheng. In the XIII century, Tibet fell under dependence of the Mongolian dynasty of Yuan then dominating China. Between 1649 and 1911, Tibet was formally under the reign of the Manchurian dynasty of Qing. However, the real power in the area belonged to the Lama who independently launched wars and signed international agreements. The ruling dynasty actually could not influence the political development in this area. In 1903-04, Tibet was invaded by the British army, the Lamas signing a number of concessions that were later approved by Beijing.
Since the 1911 Wuhan uprising, Tibet recognized the reign of Beijing just nominally. On November 4, 1949, Tibet declared independence, using the opportunity of revolutionary battles in China. On January 23, 1950, the Communist government of China officially denounced Tibetan separatism, and in the end of the same year, the Chinese Popular Liberation Army intervened in the region. An armed conflict was avoided by the concession of the Lamaist authorities (Dalai Lama was then in the age of 15) to acquire a status of autonomy. The May 23, 1951 agreement on Tibet's peaceful liberation suggested that Tibet convey its authority in defense and foreign policy to China, with complete independence in domestic affairs. The agreement's Article 11 emphasized that China is not supposed to coerce Tibet for any kind of reforms.
In fact, the sparsely populated mountainous region remained a terra incognita for the Chinese themselves. They were reluctant from resolute intervention in the life and customs of the region.
In his book "Ascent to the Shambala", Vsevolod Ovchinnikov describes Tibet of that time as a "medieval culture". Forty years later, he was similarly categorical in his interpretation: "A feudal-theocratic rule rested not only upon religious fanaticism but also upon fear, upon essentially medieval methods of coercion". The reserve of medieval culture was far from idyllic – regarding the methods of human sacrifice that was still used by the Lamas.
The unrest of 1959 was officially explained by Beijing with CIA operations in the area. It was true that at that time, US intelligence was exceptionally active across the whole of South-Eastern Asia. However, Mao's ideology of "The Great Leap", introduced in 1959, could serve as a sufficient pretext for a crackdown upon Tibet.
THE STUBBORN SHAMBALA
What changes have taken place in the area since 1959? Many authors speak of Sinification of Tibet. A lecturer from Moscow University told this author that Mao order his soldiers to marry Tibetan women, in order to completely assimilate the ethnic group.
However, modern author Leonid Ragozin writes in Russian Newsweek: "In the family of the mayor of Tagong, a small town in Sichuan dominated by Tibetan population, use of Chinese words is severely punished. The mayor's son pays €400 per year for studying in a Tibetan school – too much even for a local official. He could freely attend a Chinese school. But the Tibetans of Tagong are ready to sell their clothes to prevent transformation of their children into Chinese".
After fifty years of assimilation, with related casualties estimated in quantities from 200,000 to 1.2 million, Tibetans don't provide an impression of an outlawed culture. They are not a tiny minority: the present population of ethnic Tibetans, residing in Tibet Autonomous Region and in adjacent provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, is estimated in 5 million.
"The number of Tibetan monasteries reduced from 2000 in the early XX century to 300 in 1966. The Hongweibings (Red Guards), in their later crackdown on religion, left only around a dozen of them. The Sera Monastery, the Jokhang Temple, and the Potala Palace survived, however, due to personal intervention from Prime Minister Zhou Enlai.
The feudals, involved in the 1959 revolt, were punished by confiscation of property, while the rest of the landowners were forced to sell their estates. In this way, China introduced socialist rule in the area. The reform involved also liberation of serfs from gilds and homages. Local agriculture and cattle-breeding were provided tax relief. The economic effect was impressive: today, Tibet annually produces 650,000 tons of grain (300 kg per person), and even exports wool and leather.
"For the same period, local life expectancy elevated from 35 to 65 years. While the Tibetan population doubled, the number of local Chinese inhabitants does not exceed 80,000, and is mostly concentrated in Lhasa. Most of the Chinese are construction workers, teachers and physicians", reports Vsevolod Ovchinnikov.
Tibet's economy also benefits from the mew transport infrastructure, developed by China. These benefits are supposed to convince the population that separatist policy not expedient for the regions. However, separatists have never been grateful for the assistance from mother countries, as it is obvious from the example of the former republics of the USSR. Dependence from qualified specialists only irritates the secessionist circles.
The recent liberalization of China's political system much favored the Lamaist clergy. By today, over one thousand – a half of the original quantity – of Buddhist monasteries are revived.
WHAT CAN BE DISCUSSED WITH DALAI LAMA
Believing that the current unrest is instigated by Dalai Lama XIV, the Beijing authorities urged him for a political dialogue, still driving a precondition for the talks: before discussing the parameters of autonomy, Dalai Lama is supposed to officially recognize the suzerainty of China over Tibet.
In his turn, Dalai Lama had already formulated five preconditions of his own:
- to declare Tibet a zone of peace;
- to cease Sinification of the region;
- to respect democracy and human rights;
- to conserve Tibet's unique environment;
- to evacuate nuclear weapons and materials from local storages.
As already mentioned above, Dalai Lama's assertions on "Sinification" are groundless. The other four points are supposed to attract compassion of the public opinion towards the innocent peaceful Tibetans. Still, the real purposes far exceed these preconditions.
"We still respect his political status", said a top official of the China's Ethnic Policy Ministry to Vsevolod Ovchinnikov. "We are ready to offer him a high position – for instance, of a deputy head of the Assembly of People's Representatives (the Parliament). We would greet his return to his native land – but only in case he ceases striving for an independent Tibet".
Formally, Dalai Lama agrees to admit Beijing's superiority in the affairs of foreign policy and defense. At the same time, he stands for complete independence of legislative, executive and judicial bodies of the region. In his words, Tibet should become "a self-governed democratic autonomous entity, associated with the Chinese People's Republic". The term "associated" is correctly regarded by Beijing as a claim to a higher status than regional autonomy.
In fact, only the commitment of Chinese authorities for guaranteeing integrity of China prevents Tibet from secession. A strong China will never admit separation of Tibet. With the difference of potential of 1:500, no foreign agency is able to promote this separation: all the decisions, concerning Tibet's future, presently belong to Beijing.
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