Tibet history

1. Introduction

We will separate the history of Tibet into several periods; (A) pre-history (pre-7th century), (B) dynasty, 7th century to 9th century, (C) feudal era, 10th century to 17th century, (D) reunification and part of Ching Dynasty, 17th century to 1911, (E) part of ROC - Republic of China, autonomy, 1911-1951, (F) part of P.R. China, 1951 to present. Each era offers many fascinating stories.

A) Pre-history:
What is the origin of Tibetans? We shall examine two aspects of it; the Tibetan story, the known facts from Han history records.

(1) Tibetan story:

The Tibetan was the descendents of a male Monkey and a female Rock-demon. This was probably invented by outsiders when they witness the Tibetan custom of covering or painting their faces to protect themselves from harsh weather conditions. Later on, in the writing of the great 5th Dalai Lama, the story changed the Monkey to Avalokitesvara, a disciple of Buddha and known as GuanYin by Han people (Jiaga in Tibetan) as a goddess, the Venus of Han. Moreover, the Rock-demon became a goddess (Tara or Mother-savior, Jeo-Tuu Muu) in Buddhism). In fact, the great 5th Dalai Lama further claimed that the Tibetan King, Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo), was a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara, and his Han wife, princess Wen-Cheng, was the reincarnation of the goddess Tara or Mother-savior. This becomes an important story of Tibet. Even today, the palace of Dalai Lama in Lhasa is called `Potala Palace'. Note that `Potala' is the residence of Avalokitesvara which in Han Character is `Putou', and there is an island in the East China Sea with the name Putou San which is supposed to be the residence of GuanYin.

The Kings of Tibet were descendents from the heaven with ropes attaching them to the heaven. Upon their deaths, a heavenly creature would pull the ropes up with their bodies. Therefore, there were no remains of their bodies, and there were no tombs for the first seven Kings of Tibet. The eighth King accidentally cut off the rope during a fight against a rebel. From thereon, the bodies of Kings could not go up to the heaven, and were buried in the southern part of Tibet.

The Kings usually were crowned at the age of 13 years with the helps of the uncles on the mother side. It is hard to image that all old Kings passed away at precisely that moments.

The polygamy marriage system already existed, and I will further explain it later on.

The above was the story of Tubo Dynasty of the southern Tibet. There was another kingdom at the northern part of Tibet, Shangshung Kingdom. More than 2,000 years ago, what is now Ali was Upper Shangshung; the present day Changdu, Lower Shangshung; the present day Wombu, Middle Shangshung, the centre of the kingdom. It was conquered by Trisong Detsen, the 5th king of Tubo Dynasty.

An ancient written language, bone-oracle, already existed. It will be interesting to decipher the old written language. In the 7th century Indian alphabets were adopted into the written language. Some pre-7th century poems passed down in the modern Tibetan written language.

The religious is a kind of Shamanism, which was called `Bon', later on it became the Black branch of Buddhism, and was translated to Han Character as `Stupid' if you were Buddhist or `Root' if otherwise. The `Bon' priests could sit on drums to fly to the sky. In today's Tibetan dances, sometimes you see the figures ware deer musks, those are the priests. After the introducing of Buddhism to Tibet in 7th century, Bonism was retreated to Northern Tibet, the area of ancient Shangshung kingdom, and other tribal areas.

2. Records of early Han history

(1) The known facts from Han history records.

From the recent archeology findings, there were wide spread settlements all over China, including Tibet, over 6,000 years ago. One could use the phrase `10,000 stars' to discrib the situation. There were even some primitive written languages, one of them at `Ban-po' which I had personally observed. Note that the settlement in Tibet may or may not be by Tibetans.

(a) The relation between Shang people and Jian-Tibetan

At the time around 1,400 B.C., there was a semi-Tibetan people called `Jian' mixed with Shang people. From the oracles, one see phrases as `Today we captured 50 Jians' frequently. Certainly, some Shang people were captured by Jian, but not recorded. By the way, the Tibetan people was considered to be the descendent of Jian by some scholars in the past. Today, Jian and Tibetan are classified as one race, Jian-Tibetan people. Anyway, we are satisfied with the closeness of Tibetan and Jian.

One of the Kings of Shang Dynasty had a name Jian-Chia. For the convenience of the reader, I will use English alphabet A, B,.. to replace the Han ordering Chia, Yee,... So , let us call this King Jian-A. There were possible explanations of his name, maybe his mother was a Jian, maybe he was a Jian-conqueror, i.e., he killed a lot of Jian, and was famous for his acts. However, there was no record of big battle between Shang people and Jian people at that time. I would rather think that his mother was a Jian. In any case, there were some inter-marriage between Shang people and Jian people who lived near each other.

Let us consider the life style of the two people. The name Jian has a root in Yion (goat, the animal `sheep' was transplanted to Han people from Northwest during Han Dynasty, sheep was called Hu-Yion, and later Mion-Yion), which indicates that Jian was likely to be goat raising nomad. This observation checks with the later records of Jian people. On the other hand, Shang people was semi-nomad with settlements, as indicated by (1) large amount of animal bones discovered in the sites of Shang people, (2) the animal decorations of bronzes, (3) the associations of Yion (goat root) in Han Characters of beauty, taste good, etc, (5) the fame that Shang people ate a lot of meat, (4) the constant movements of Shang people, one Shang King moved his capital 8 times.

Next we will discuss one of the most important relations of a society, the marriage. In Tibet, there are multihusbands-multiwives marriage system from very ancient time. The husbands may or may not be related, similarly, the wives may or may not be related. According to the government officials, this is a thing of the past. I have evidences to the contrary. In this system, husbands and wives are ordered. If the number 1 husband passes away, then the number 2 husband will assume the position of number 1 husband, etc. The children will consider all present husbands of the mother as fathers. The property will be commonly owned by the marriage group.

The marriage system of Shang people is a hot subject. The records show that there were Shang Kings with more than one wife, the oracles contains statements `number 1 father, number 2 father, number 3 father' , and `one ox for father A, one ox for father G, one ox for father H', etc. Furthermore, it had been established that fathers A, G, and H in the previous statement are brothers. Many scholars mention the possibility of multi-husbands (likely brothers)-multi-wives(likely sisters) marriage system for early to middle Shang people. If this is the case, then the brother succession system of early Shang people means the promotion of number 2 husband to number 1 as in the Tibetan system and can be easily understood.

On the religions, both believed shamanisms and both use bone-oracles. In fact the ancient Tibetan written language I saw was carved on bones.

(b)Later records of Jian-Tibetan

One thing I noticed is the resemblance of the classical Tibetan poems with Chuu-Shi (southern Chinese poems of `Spring-Autumn' and `Warring States' periods). Both are with 4-7 syllables with the middle syllable or the end syllable denote a sigh, and of comparable lengths.

From there to the Early-Han Dynasty, we have little records of Jian. The ambassador, Chang Chien, of Emperor Wu tried to come back to the capital of Han through Qinghai (Jian Land or Jian Chung) and failed. Jian assumed a peaceful life during that time. Later on, in the Later-Han Dynasty, there were troubles in Jian Land. It was largely a war between farmers and nomads. General Chao Tson-Kuo spent many years to safe guard the fertile corner of Qinghai. In fact, the battle continued for many generations and was indecisive. After the down fall of Later-Han, Jian people started moving towards the central China. During the South-North Dynastys, from the fourth to the sixth century, Jian and a relative, Tze, built several Kingdoms in the central China. These people cross married with the Han people of the northern China, and thus assimilated.

From now on we should turn to the history time of Tibetans.

3. Dynasty (1)

(B) Dynasty, 7th century to 9th century.

(1) The initial contacts between Tibetan, Huen People and Tang (Han) people.

Just after the Jian people moved eastward to the central part of China and established their kingdoms, a nomad, Huen people, moved westward from the central-north of China to Jian Land (Qinghai or Amdo in Tibetan). It happened around the 4th century A.D.. Who was the Huen people? It was not clear in the Annals of Tang Dynasty, and was simply called the Huen people. Note that the kings of Huen people had surname `Mu-Yuon' which will classify them as a relative of Manchu nowaday.

Huen people firmly established the Kingdom of Tu-Yu (may be wrongly pronounced as Tu-Gu) Huen in the major part of Qinghai in 7th century, while the Tang people held the fertile corner of Qinghai.

As usual, there were disputes between the farmers in the fertile corner of Qinghai and the nomads around them. The Emperor, Tang Tai-Chung , sent the famous General Li Jin to lead an army with General Li Dau-Chung (we will read about him later on) to attack Tu-Yu Huen. Tu-Yu Huen was defeated and become a tributary of Tang (635 A.D.). the Emperor selected a girl from the extended royal family and she was given a title of `princess' to marry with the king of Tu-Yu Huen.

The system of marrying `princess' with kings of other tribe or countries should be studied further. In general, Tang will marry a `princess' away only if the king had some statues. Although Tang Tai-Chung had 22 daughters, the real princess, none of them was married away. Furthermore, when one of an influential member of the court of Empress Wu went to marry a Turk princess, the whole court was against the marriage. They believed that it was not right and against the rule.

Apparently, after Tu-Yu Huen was weakened by Tang army, Tibetan started attack it from the south (Tibet proper). Tibetan further sent a commission to the court of Tang to ask the hand of a Tang princess. However, Tu-Yu Huen was against and blocked the marriage.

Tibetan became angry at Tu-Yu Huen and sent a large army to attack and drive it from the valleys around the source of Yellow river. Tu-Yu Huen hid at the northern shore of Lake Qinghai. The conflicts between Tibetan and Tang people started. After several indecisive battles, Tibet resent the commission with the old proposal. The court of Tang apparently recognized Tibet as a local power and became receptive.

In the mean time, Tang conquered Turks to the north, and was interested in conquering Korea. A secured front in Qinghai was beneficial, and the marriage proposal was accepted.

(2) The marriage of Princess Wen-Cheng and King Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo)

It was according to the story of Tibet that there were 27 kings before King Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo). Most of them were just names. The history of Tibet in general began with him. We do not know very much about him either. For instance, we are not sure about his date of birth.

Who was Princess Wen-Cheng? We are not sure either. She was a member of the extended royal family of Tang Dynasty of 18 years old when sent off. General Li Dau-Chung (King of Jiang-Xia ) spent 2 years in traveling with her to Tibet. There were at least three versions of the marriage,

(a) Tang Annals told us that the marriage happened in 641 A.D.. The King of Tibet was very grateful and behaved properly as a son-in-law in receiving General Li Dau-Chung. He admired the Han clothes and ceremonies. He built a palace for Princess Wen-Cheng and sent royal members to Tang to be educated. The King passed away after 9 years in 650 A.D. and his grandson succeeded him. Princess Wen-Cheng stayed in Tibet for another 30 years.

(b) According to the 5th Dalai Lama, the King was 25 years old and sent four columns from all four doors of Lhasa to meet Princess Wen-Cheng. Princess Wen-Cheng used her power of goddess to present her train of court to all four columns of the receptionists. The King had a Nepal Princess Tsu-Tsuang (Bhrikuti, daughter of King Amsuvarman) as wife. Although the Nepal Princess out rank Princess Wen-Cheng as wives, Princes Wen-Cheng out rank Nepal Princess (reincarnation of goddess Frown-Mother ) as goddess. Everything balanced out, the three lived happily thereafter, with some minor problems which made the story interesting. Princess Wen-Cheng built the Potala palace and `Ramoqe (Xiao-Zhau) temple' (which faces the capital of Tang Dynasty). Nepal Princess built the much larger `Da-Zhua temple' (Jokhang) (which faces Nepal. Later on Princess Jin-Cheng from Tang moved all relics of Princess Wen-Cheng from Xiao-Chau to Da-Chau). Both Princess had no offsprings. The King had several Tibetan wives. Later on, a disease was transmitted from a maid to Nepal Princess and then to the King, and then to Princess Wen-Cheng. The three died at the same time, and lived happily in the heaven.

(c) Some Tibetan writers claimed that the King was 70 years old, and the Nepal Princess did not allow them to see each other. After about one year, they finally met and lived together for two years and the king passed away.

What can one make out from the above? My guess is that Princess Wen-Cheng was a daughter of General Li, and the King was a middle aged man (35 years old ?) as indicated by the words that the King `behaved properly as a son-in -law to General Li' who fought many battles later on, and hence unlikely to be an old man at that time. The marriage lasted 9 years until the King passed away. In that nine years, the Nepal Princess had more influence (by the sizes of the two temples which had been partially preserved to this date). The Potala palace was built at that time by Tang engeneers under the instructions of Princess Wen-Cheng. The Princess indeed lived for another 30 years as proved by her occasional receptions of Tang monks on their way to visit India.

4. Dynasty (2)

(3) The military and territorial relations between Tang and Tibet

(a) The period of stalemate between Tang and Tibet (641--755)

From Tang Tai-Chung to Tang Min-Huang, there was a stalemate in the military relations between those two kingdoms. There were very few conflicts during the time of Tang Tai-Chung and Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo). The next Emperor of Tang decided to move Tu-Yu Huen back to its original territory in the southern part of Qinghai (Amdo in Tibetan). The conqueror of Korea, General Hsueh Zen-Kuei, was given a title of `Governor of Lhasa' and led an army of 100,000 strong for this assignment. When his army reached the high plateau of Qinghai, a Tibetan army of 400,000 strong appeared and swept the Tang army away. Then the Tibetan army marched to the southern Xinkiang and captured the four Tang garrisons. Later, General Wang Xiao-Jia recaptures the four Tang garrisons and pushed on to attack the high plateau of Qinghai, and met his defeat there.

During this period, there were expansions for Tang and Tibet. Tang's imperial army conquered Turks, Korean, Xinkiang, Central Asia (part of the formal Soviet Union) reached all the way to Persia. In fact, once Tang had a garrison in the capital of Persia. Tibet conquered the kingdoms Shangshung, Greater Yang-Tuung, Lesser Yang-Tung, Su-pi of Tibet, and Tu-yu Huen and all small tribes in Qinghai.

At the end of this period, Tang had a population of 52 millions (increased from 15 millions, and the total population of Euro-Asia-Northern Africa was about 150 millions at that time) and an imperial army of 490,000 strong which was divided into garrisons of Mongolia, Northeast Tang, Northern Xinkiang, Southern Xinkiang (including Central Asia) and the Silk-road (Gansu) (including the fertile corner of Qinghai). Tibet had a population of 10 million with 3 million Tibetans (all estimates) and an army of comparable strength facing the two Tang army of Southern Xinkiang (24,000 soldiers) and Silk-road (75,000 soldiers).

The disputes involed trade contrals. Tibet wanted the four Tang garrisons at the Southern Xinkiang (which guarded the silk-road from Tang through Xinkiang and Central Asia), and Tang wanted the re-establishment of Tu-Yu Huen as the power in Qinghai (most Tu-Yu Huen moved back to the valleys at the source of Yellow river and were called `Atsai' in Tibetan). Otherwise the relations between them were close and cordial. For instance, when an ambassador of Tang to India, Mr. Wang, was in trouble, he went to Tibet and was given an army to ransack the capital of a kingdom of India. The ambassador brought back, besided others, an Indian expert of making `immortal medicine'. The great Tang Tai-Chung ate the immortal medicine and passed away. The Tang court thought the whole event was embarrassing and hid the truth.

(b) The weakening of Tang and the expansion of Tibet (755--841)

In 755, the commander of the Northeast garrison of Tang, An Lu-San (Mongol) rebelled. He led an army of 150,000 strong marched to the capital. The public opinion of the capital was condescending. Most people thought the rebellion were a joke.

A good general Fon Chang-Jin (possibly a native from a tribe of Southern Xinkiang, Conqueror of Da-Bo-Lu, i.e., Gilgit) agreed with the public opinion and was ordered by the Emperor to lead the totally untrained garrison of Loyang to face An Lu-San's army. A famous Korea general Guo Xieng-Ze (Victor of Central Asia and the loser of a war with Persia) led the palace guards and a portion of the Silk-road (Gansu) army as the second wave. General Fon, when met General Guo (a friend and formal superior of General Fon), told General Guo that An Lu-San's army was surprisingly strong, and the fact that after a blooded continuous battle of 50 km, Gen Fon was forced to withdraw, and the only way to protect the capital was to guard the castle area (Tong-Kuan). Through good military sense, General Guo did accordingly and took a defense posture at the castle area. An Lu-San's army was stopped. The Emperor Min-Huang was impatient and was moved by the public opinion. He sent someone to kill the two generals. In the meantime, the Silk-road army and the best troops from the garrisons of Northern and Southern Xinkiang were called back to protect the capital. The Emperor sent the famous Turk General Gow-Su Han to lead the army at hand. The old General saw the situation himself and decided to defend from the castles to wait for the gathering of all imperial garrisons from distances. Emperor Min-Huang did not want anything like that. He sent a strict order to attack An Lu-San's army. The old General wept openly and obeyed the order and was captured by An Lu-San's army.

The war lasted until 763 after Tang court adapted a strategy of dividing the whole Tang into `military zones' (similar to what Mao did in the CR, after the victory over An Lu-San, the `military zones' became semi-independent and brought down the Tang dynasty, Mao switched the policy just in time to avoid a repetition of history), and An Lu-San's army was squeezed and bled to death eventually.

After the withdrawing of the Silk-road army and the passaging of the best troops from the garrisons of Northern and Southern Xinkiang, Tibetan army swept through and captured the Silk-road which was the richest part of Tang at that time. Thus Tibet bordered Hue-He (Mongol) and cut off Silk-road completely. The residues of the Northern and Southern garrisons of Xinkiang organized successive defenses and lasted many decades. During the time, they were waiting for the imperial army to re-open the Silk-road. After some 10 years, they sent a messenger through Mongolia to report to the imperial court. Finally, Northern garrison of Xinkiang was eliminated (790) after all old soldiers faded away, and Southern garrison disappeared into the murky history. Later on, during the conquering of Mongolia Genghis Khan, some Han tribes in the central Asia were mentioned. They were likely to be the descendents of the Southern Xinkiang garrison (which covered the central Asia).

Years later, after the downfall of Tibetan Dynasty, Tang recovered Silk-road (848). This story will be discussed later in this article.

In the mean time, Tibet attacked Szechuan and fought many inconclusive battles with Tang army. The part Yunnan of Tang rebelled and established a local kingdom. First, Yunnan got the protection from Tibet by being a tributary of Tibet. Later on Tang recognized Yunnan, and Yunnan switched side and became a tributary of Tang.

Sometimes the Tibetan army became mercenaries of Tang to fight with several rebels. Other time, the Tibetan army simply attacked Tang. Once Tibetan army ransacked the capital of Tang and crowned a new Emperor who lasted for a few days (763).

Just before the downfall of Tibetan Dynasty, Tibetan governed Tibet, Qinghai, Silk-road, part of southern Xinkiang, part of central Asia. Tibet bordered with India, Tang, Persia, Mongolia. This was the largest area which was ever controlled by Tibetan. It had a population of 15 millions and an army of 400,000 strong (all estimates).

At that time, Tang had a population of 16 millions and an army of 150,000 strong.

5. Dynasty (3)

(4) The story of Tibet (641--877)

(a) The stories of Kings.

To help the reader, I will add an numeral artificially at the end of the names of Tibetan Kings.

As pointed in my previous sections, a grandson of Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)) succeeded him. The throne passed down successively to the fourth King, Khri-de-tsung-tsan (TseDeTsuZan(4)) (704). His grandmother was the regent and she sent a missionary to Tang court asking the hand of a Tang princess for the King (6 years old).

During this time, Tang was ruled by the gentleman Emperor Chung-Chung who showed his respect to his mother, Empress Wu, every 10 days after she was de-throned, and was very soft to his sister, wife, and daughters. After hesitation and self doubt, he decided to let go his adopted and beloved daughter, Princess Jin-Cheng of 16 years old.

According to the 5th Dalai Lama, the story was different. The beautiful Tang Princess heard about the handsome crowned prince, a son of Khri-de-tsung-tsan (TseDeTsuZan(4)), and decided to marry him. When Tang princess arrived, the crowned prince just passed away, and then she married the King.

According to Tang Annals, Princess passed away in 739 (possibly 45 years old). According to Tibetan history the King was murdered in 754 (possibly 56 years old). The next king, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)), was born in 742. This is very possible. At least, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) could not possibly be a son of Princess Jin-Cheng. However, the 5th Dalai Lama told us a different story: Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was a son of the Tang Princess Jin-Cheng. Just after birth, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was stolen by a Tibetan wife of the King. When he could walk, during a party of the court, he was requested by the King to bring a cup of wine to his uncle on the mother side. To every body's surprise, he went directly to the side of Princess Jin-Cheng, and showed every body who his mother really was, and was thus nicknamed.

Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was a important figure in promoting Buddhism. He will be discussed later on. He passed away in 797, and Tibet Dynasty was decaying. His son, Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)), succeeded him. Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)) was a true believer of Buddhism, and ruled three times that all properties should be equally distributed. On the other hand, he married a young wife of his father, possibly while his father was still alive. Note that this was not against the rule. Anyway, for one reason or other, his mother got him murdered, and the throne passed to another son of his mother and his father, Khri-de-srong-tsan (TseDeSonZan(7)). The King passed away in 815, and his son Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)) succeeded. For Buddhism, the three Kings, Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)), Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) and Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)), were important, and were named Guardian-Kings (Fa Wang).

Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)) ruled for some time, and was murdered by the prime minister. The throne was passed to his brother Dar-ma(9) who married Khri-tsug-de-tsan's (TseTsuDeZan(8)) wives. After a couple years of promoting Buddhism, Dar-ma(9) changed side and decided to destroy Buddhism and to revive the native religion `Bon'. The Buddhists believed that Dar-ma(9) was a re-incarnation of an ox, and called him Lang (ox) Dar-ma(9). A Buddhist (non-monk) dressed in a clothes which was black outside and white inside, and rode on a white horse which was colored by black charcoals, killed Dar-ma(9) with an arrow at Lhasa (842). Once the deed was done, the Buddhist ran away. He passed a river where he turned his clothes inside out which became white, and his horse was washed white in the river. Therefore, the chasers lost his tracks. According to Buddhism, this Buddhist was a re-incarnation of a god, who befriended the ox in the past reincarnation.

After Dar-ma(9) passed away, his second wife produced a son after a few months. His first wife produced a baby too. However, the baby was old enough to have teeth. Therefore, rumors spread, and the royal family was divided into two groups to fight a 20 years war. The hell broke loose in Tibet, every one fought the next person. It was described as `one bird flies high, the whole flock follows'. The royal families fought against each other, the warlords fought against each other, the slaves fought against the masters. The Dynasty was completely destroyed (877).

Since then, Tibet entered the feudal period and lost all conquered lands, Central Asia, Southern Xinkiang, Silk-road (Gansu) and Qinghai (Amdo in Tibetan). The Tibetan tribes and the descendents of Tibetan army occasionally set up local powers and kingdoms in Qinghai and Silk-road (Gansu) where there were pots of racial mixing. Otherwise Tibet almost became a geographic term, and there were very little news about Tibet for long time. We have to use Tibetan documents for this period. Those are the topics of my later reports.

6. Dynasty (4)

(4) The story of Tibet (641--877)

(b) The rising of Buddhism and the religious conflicts

The two wives, Nepal Princess Bhrikuti and Princess Wen-Cheng, of Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)) were both Buddhists. Each brought a group of Buddhist monks into Tibet. Those were the beginning of the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet which met a strong resistance from the native religion `Bon'. The King was very supportive. After him, Buddhism was in disfavor by the court. Princess Jin-Cheng was a Buddhist and revived Buddhism. She sent for monks from Tang and Xinkiang, and built some temples, organized the translations of Buddhism scriptures into Tibetan.

The fifth King, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)), who was possibly a son of Princess Jin-Cheng, was an important figure in promoting Buddhism. When he was 20 years old, he changed side from `Bon' to Buddhism. Under the King there was a debate between `Bon' priests and Buddhists. He declared that Buddhists won the debate, and `Bon' was prohibited (in fact Bon was not eliminated at all). There was a prosperity of Buddhism in Tibet. He invited a great India Tantric master, Padmasambhava, to spread Buddhism in Tibet.

Then there were internal disputes of Buddhism. As we know, Zen Buddhism (Ch'an) appeared in Tang Dynasty. The two branches of Zen were the newer `Dun Mon' (sudden enlightenment) and the traditional `Jien Mon' (gradual enlightenment), the first one believed in the sudden enlightenment, the second one believed in the gradual enlightenment. Who was right? That became a hot dispute. The King organized a second debate which lasted 3 years. Tang monks supported the newer Dun Mon, and India monks as led by Padmasambhava (Lien-hua sen, Lotus-Birth, ) supported the traditional Jien Mon. The King finally declared India monks the winners. The content of the debate was largely lost. According to the 5th Dalai Lama, some of the arguments were centered on the meaning of Tang monks phrases `Dun Mon' and `Jien Mon'; `Mon' in Tibetan sounded as `no' or `not', therefore, `Dun Mon' meant `un-law', and `Jian Mon' meant `un-kind' (Jien meant `kind' in Tibetan), hence Tang monks were trying to argue for an un-lawful and un-kind religion. I do not know the truth of the story.

The same King designated the first 7 Tibetan monks, and declared a law that every 7 families should support 1 Buddhist monk.

His son, Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)), succeeded him. Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)) and his mother were believers of Buddhism. His mother had him murdered, and the throne passed to his brother Khri-de-srong-tsan (TseDeSonZan(7)).

The King consolidated Buddhism in Tibet. He started using monks as prime ministers, and systematically translated Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan.

The King passed away in 815, and his son Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)) succeeded. He was a true believer of Buddhism. Sometimes, he would lay down his long hairs on the ground for monks to sit on them to preach. He declared that anyone who stared or pointed to a monk would be punished.

For Buddhism, the three Kings, Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)), TseSonDeZan(5) and Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)), were important, and were declared as Guardian-Kings (Fa-Wang) of Buddhism.

For all those years, Bon believers were trying to resist. Some Bon prime minister murdered the King, Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)). The throne was passed to his brother Dar-ma(9) who was convinced to destroy Buddhism and to revive the native religion `Bon'. The timing might be a strange coincidence, note that in Tang, the Emperor (Wu-Chung) prohibited Buddhism in favor of Taoism at the same time. Dar-ma(9) ordered that all Buddhist scriptures burned, all Buddhist sculptures tossed away, and all temples used as butcher's mills. The destructions were total. It was a victory of Bon. Thus the first period of Buddhism (Chien-Hon Chee ) was closed in Tibet.

(c) The developments of Tibet

In the beginning Tibetans were nomad. After the conquering of the neighboring tribes, Tibet adopted more and more the way of agricultures, and became a country with sizable farmers, as presented in a Tang poem `Tibetans never tilled the land in the old days, they learned to grow rice and millet now'. Tibetans also learned irrigations from the farmers. Gradually there were villages in the valleys. After the conquering of Tu-Yu Huen, their land was put to the good use for horses and Tibet was famous for producing excellent horses.

The two wives, Nepal Princess Bhrikuti and Princess Wen-Cheng, of Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)) brought with them engineers, doctors etc. Tang sent experts of wine-making, water-mill, paper-making, bronze-making etc, and silkworm eggs. I can not reserve my doubt about the use of silkworm eggs in the highland of Tibet. They initiated the handicraft industries of Tibet. Furthermore, Tibetans got the techniques of food-process and jewel-making from Persian. Very soon the products were appreciated by the Emperor of Tang when they were delivered as tributes.

Tibet adopted a spelling written language using Sanskrit (old Indian alphabet).

The science of medicine was studied in Tibet. Tibetan was probably the first people with a good idea of fetus-development; a fetus will pass through a period of fish, and then a period of reptiles etc. Tibetan medicine was most likely influenced by Tang medicine as Indian medicine used the theory of 4 elements (as in Greece and elsewhere) as the foundation, while Han medicine relied on the theory of 5 elements. Tibetan medicine followed the theory of 5 elements.

Tibetans used the 12 animal symbols for years as in Tang, furthermore they used Yin-Yan times the 5 elements, i.e., 10 symbols which corresponded to the Han 10 numeral symbols Chia, Yee,.....etc, plus 12 animal symbols to form a 60 valued system (sexagenary) as in Tang.

Tibetan architecture was famous. The styles of building were essentially original. The greatest contribution of Tibetan engeneering was probably the invention of the iron suspending bridge. The suspending bridge was an old idea developed in the Han Dynasties. First they suspended a rope over a valley to transmit human and material. Later on, it was modified to have three ropes with two higher ones for human beings to hold. Then it was modified to four ropes with the lower two covered by wood boards. In Tibet, it was perfected to the present form. The Tang monks marveled while traveling through Tibet to India.

7. Feudal period

(C) The feudal period (10th century -- 17th century)

(1) The first period (the downfall of Tibet Dynasty to the end of Song Dynasty 1240)

(a) The emerging of Tibetan Buddhism

During the era of Dar-ma(9), several Buddhists ran away with Buddhist scriptures. They first escaped westward to the western part of Tibet, and then to Xinkiang. After the downfall of Dynasty, they came back to Qinghai (Amdo) and set up a temple to propagate the religion. In the meantime, Tibetans went to India to study Buddhism and came back to preach. Moreover, some famous Indian monks, as Dipamkarashrijinana (Atisa), were invited to Tibet to give lectures. Buddhism gradually revived. The time after 978 would be named the second period of Buddhism (Hou-Hon Chee).

The Tibetan Buddhism thus propagated became an independent branch of Buddhism. First it absorbed `Bon' and was modified by `Bon'. `Bon' became a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, the Black branch. The major differences in appearance were (1) Buddhism used the ancient Aryan symbol, a reverse swastika (as in Nazi Germany), as its symbol, while Black branch used the swastika (this was a mistake of Mr Hitler, he thought that swastika were the ancient Aryan symbol, however, it turned out to be the symbol of `Bon'!), (2) in praying or turning the praying wheel, Buddhists would turn clockwise, while the Black branch would turn counter-clockwise.

The above phenomena were not unique. Note that Han people had a native religion, Taoism, and a native philosophy, Tao-Chia. After the introduction of Buddhism to Han people, Taoism started imitating Buddhism, although maintained its character of nature-research (it produced many important scientists), while Buddhism combined with Tao-Chia to form Zen Buddhism.

The second character of Tibetan Buddhism is its relying on the `Tantric method' (`Mi' method or Esoteric method), i.e., Tibetan Buddhism believed the secretive and magic power of `Tantric Deities', and of reciting certain words (Lieng-Zo) passed down from generations. They believed the results of continuously praying to a particular deity which would bestow the magic power of the deity to the payer. At the final stage of Tibetan Tantric method, female companions for meditation will be required, and sex will provide the way to enlightening. Note that in Buddhism there were two main factors: Sutrus (Xien i.e., open or Exoteric method) and Tantrus (Mi i.e, closed or secretive or Esoteric method). Only in the Tibetan Tantric method, sex will be used. There was nothing foundamentally wrong about Tibetan Buddhism from the point of view of Buddhism.

The third character of Tibetan Buddhism is the meat-eating habit. Although vegetarianism was preached by Buddha, the peculiar restriction of Tibet made the meat-eating habit necessary.

Later on, Moslem extended its influence to India, Xinkiang, Silk-road (Gansu) and the south part of Qinghai, and Brahmanism revived in India, Tibetan Buddhism being different from Han Buddhism became isolated. Tibetan Buddhism advanced along its own direction, and became unique. It was not possible for Tibetan Buddhism to go east, south and west, therefore it spread to north to Mongolia. Later on, Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia including Tuvu (part of Russian nowaday, i.e., Tannuwulianghai in Han words, Tibetan Buddhism is revived in Tuvu after the collapse of Soviet Union).

The first generation of Tibetan Buddhism was called the Red Hat branch (Nying-ma-pa). Since then, different branches of Tibetan Buddhism, Old-Yellow Hat branch (Ka-dams-pa), Flower Hat branch (Sa-skya-pa), White Hat branch (Ka-gyud-pa ) flourished in the different parts of Tibet. Red and Old Yellow Hat branches were not concerned with the civic world matters, and concentrated only on religion. Up to now we had the 5 branches, Red, (Old) Yellow, White, Flower, and Black, of Tibetan Buddhism. The only late comer was (New) Yellow Hat branch (Gelug-pa), that was the branch of Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. We will come to them later. I should mention that each branch was further differentiated into many subbranches, sometimes 10 or more. At the end of this era, Flower Hat branch (Sa-skya-pa) assumed a dominating position in Tibet, and gradually became corrupted, some Tibetan monks became indulging in sex.

There were two things worth reporting. In 1076, the year of `fire-dragon', there was a big convention of Tibetan Buddhists, the so-called fire-dragon year convention which pointed to a widely acceptance of Buddhism in Tibet. Secondly,a subbranch of White Hat (Ka-gyud-pa ) branch invented the system of `Tulku/Living Buddha', i.e., the reincarnation of the past sages. According to the `reincarnation story of Buddha', Buddha were animals as deer in his past reincarnations. Reincarnations were never intended from human to human, let alone from monk to monk, by Buddha. The system of Tulku/Living Buddha was unique, only in Tibetan Buddism. It is a common misunderstanding that there are only two Tulkus/Living Buddhas in Tibet. In fact, there are many. There is at least one Tulku/Living Buddha in a big temple as observed by me personally.

(b) The social structures

Corresponding to the diversification of Buddhism, the place was ruled by many lords. Usually, a family would be in control of the local lordship and the temple. Some temples became effective governing organizations, full equipped with soldier-monks. It was very similar to the medieval Europe and Japan before Meiji reformation.

(c) The areas surrounding Tibet

After the downfall of Tibetan Dynasty, a native, Gen Chang Yee-Chao , of Silk-road (Gansu), decided to chase the Tibetan army away. He organized many people of Sa-Chou (Sand-county, today's Dunhuan) to rebel. One day, many people gathered together, armed themselves and yelled at the Tibetan guards. The guards were scared away. Gen Chang organized a small army for fighting and farming simultaneously. Gradually, the army grew and conquered city after city along Silk-road while pushing eastward towards Tang. Finally they connected with Tang, and were recognized by Tang as part of Tang army. They advanced westward and reached Xinkiang (848--861). Apparently, this was an important local event since there were paintings and stories preserved to present day.

Song Dynasty was established in the land of Han in 960. Song Dynasty was a matured kingdom with advancements in the arts of governing, arts, sciences etc. This society was very humane. The punishments of scholars were very limited. Disfavored scholars were usually sent away to be governors in remote counties, almost no scholar was ever killed by Emperors. The inspirations of Tang people was to conquer far away lands, build empire etc, and thus lost the civil feelings of love and family. There were great results in mathematics and sciences, military and civil. Gun powders, printing, chemical warfares etc were invented in this era. The population reached 100 millions in a world of possible 250 millions.

A Tibetan subrace, Danxan, built a kingdom, Xixia, on Silk-road (Gansu) in 1002. The people of Xixia were Buddhists and used a written language different from the Tibetan alphabet. Another Tibetan tribe, Jiaoslo, occupied the fertile corner of Qinghai, and became a tributary of Song Dynasty. After Xixia blocking the trade along the silk road, the territory of Jiaoslo became the second silk road for the East-West trade of that time. Later on, Song sent an army to conquer Jiaoslo and Qinghai (1104).

The trade between Han people of Song Dynasty and the tribes around Tibet was mainly the exchange of tea-horse, Tibetan and tribes wanted tea and Han wanted horse.

(2) The second period (Yuan and Ming Dynasties 1240--1640)

(a) The conquering of Tibet by Mongol

In 1218, Genghis Khan swept through southern Xinkiang. In 1223, Genghis Khan led an army reaching Hindi river in India. In 1227, he conquered Xixia of Silk-road (Gansu). His son, the next Emperor, sent an army close to Lhasa, and suddenly withdrawed back to Qinghai and Silk-road (Gansu). Then the commanding general of Mongolia troop demanded a completely surrender. Tibetan lords and masters gathered together and decided to sent Saban and his nephew Phags-pa (Flower Hat (Sa-skya-pa) branch) as representatives to Mongolia army.

They decided the only way was to surrender, and negotiated a treaty which included items as the properties would be respected, Tibetan officials would not lose their positions etc.

According to the 5th Dalai Lama, it were Tang army who suddenly showed up, and Tibet had surrendered to Tang. It was an example of confusing non-Tibetan with Han people which is prevailing today.

(b) The rule of Yuan Dynasty

Since then Yuan Dynasty sent garrison troops to Tibet and set up post stations to open up transportation and communications between Dadu (Beijing) and Tibet. The Mongolia system of post stations, Zanze , was a modification of the ancient post system, E , of Han people. Eventually, Han people adopted Zan as the character for station.

Yuan Dynasty divided Qinghai into four parts; the fertile corner became part of Silk-road (Gansu), Mongol land at the north-west, land around Lake Qinghai (Tu-Yu Huen's land), and southern plateau became part of Tibet. Tibet was divided into three military zones (marshal area) , and Kang area (the part bordered Szechuan) was an individual state.

On the other hand, Tibetans were assigned with high positions in Yuan central governments, for instance, Sankou , a Tibetan, became a financial minister. Moreover, the Flower Hat (Sa-skya-pa) branch of Tibetan Buddhism became the state religion, Phags-pa assumed the title of the Emperor-teacher of Yuan Dynasty and became the `pope' of Buddhism all over Yuan territory. Tibetan were classified as `colored eye' people second only to Mongol and above Han. There were many horrible stories about Tibetan monks in Han history books. One of Tibetan monks dug up the skull of a past Song Emperor (Li-Chung) to make a cup for the Emperor-teacher. Some Tibetan monks demanded the rights of the first nights of brides. The term Flower-monk meant promiscuous monk in Han language since that time.

For political reasons, some one created an image of `teacher-patronage' between Tibetan monks and Mongolian Khans to replace the political reality of `ruled-ruler'. They would believe that a bunch of Mongolia rulers, from Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan on, sat in their tents with golden roofs, enjoyed Tibetan monks' `religious blessings and teachings in exchange for patronage and protection.' But this was very far from truth. Only a person who was ignorant about Mongolia history dares to tell this story. Mongols were Shamanists during that time! Even the title of Saban was `the high priest of Shamanism'! Mongolian Khans sent missions to visit Pope at Rome and King of England. There were persistent rumors in the West that Mongolian Khans were Christians. If you look at the first names of Mongols at that time, then you would realize that Christianity was more popular than Buddhism: you could find more Mongols used the names as Marcus, Cyriacus than all Buddhism first names. In fact, Mongols turned into true Buddhists in Ming Dynasty, after the creation of (New) Yellow Branch. The Mongolia Khans cared less about `religious blessing and teachings' than anything else. If you read Taoist book, `the western travel of Taoist Chang-Chuan zhen-ren', you would believe that Genghis Khan were a Taoist. It was clear that those Mongolia Khans used religions for their own political purposes.

How about Qing (Ching) Dynasty? Was there an imaginative `teacher-patronage' relation between Tibetan monks and Qing Emperors as some propagandists wanted us to believe nowaday? It was well known that Manchu believed in their own Shamanism to the very end! Read `A Dream of Red Chamber'. The Manchu Shamanism was described there. Did they need Dalai Lama to be their `the spiritual guide'? Of course not! All religious people exaggerated their own religions. I had no quarrel with them. But faking fictitious stories as historical facts made people laugh.

Towards the end of Yuan Dynasty, a famous Tibetan hero, Gyan-Ch'u Gye-Tsen who was a White Hat (Ka-gyud-pa ) branch Buddhist monk, unified the area around Lhasa, and was recognized by Yuan Dynasty as the local ruler, became the most powerful figure in Tibet. Under the influence of him, White Hat (Ka-gyud-pa ) branch Buddhism emphasized more on the `open' or Xien method. He passed away in 1364 when 63 years old. In 1368, an army of Ming Dynasty entered Dadu (Beijing) and ended Yuan Dynasty.

(c) Ming Dynasty (1348--1640)

In Ming era, Tibet became largely a tributary of Ming Dynasty, as Tibet was a part of Yuan Dynasty. Ming court re-confirmed the post station system, and kept the divisions of Tibet in Yuan Dynasty. Ming court sent several military expeditionary forces to pacify Tibet. Ming court further bestowed many titles to Tibetans, including 5 Kings and 3 Guardian-Kings (White Hat branch, Flower Hat branch, and New Yellow Hat branch, see below), which largely indicated the real situations of Tibet. The most important Kingship was Enlightening-King (San Hua Wang) which was given to the successors of Gyan-Ch'u Gye-Tshen who governed a large part of Tibet. In 1565, a new power, Tsanba Khan, who belonged to a different White Hat (Ka-gyud-pa ) branch, took away most land of Enlightening-King without the awareness of it by the Ming court.

I would take the opportunity to clarify the term of `Kingship' in Han records. There are two kinds of `Kingships': King or King of a Kingdom. When the King of Japan was referred to, the King was called King of Japan Kingdom, which indicated that Japan was an independent country. When King was mentioned without the term Kingdom, it means domestic title. At the beginning period of Song dynasty, the King of Wu-Yue wanted Song Dynasty to recognize him as King of Wu-Yue Kingdom, which was a very very serious matter. In the case of Tibet, all Kingships were domestic titles.

The development of Han people was interrupted by Yuan (Mongolia). The tradition of the humane face of Song Dynasty was lost to some extend. There were tremendous improvement on the technique front in Europe. The leading edges of science and technology of Han people were lost. However, there were some improvements in the absolute terms for Han people in this era, as the population of Ming increased to 200 millions.

After Tibet became a tributary of Ming, Tibetans realized that it was a very profitable business to pay tribute to the court, because the rewards were huge, and there were no tax for the trades carried by the tribute trains. After several years, Tibet wanted to pay tribute to the court every year with special Tibetan missionaries of several thousand strong. The court had to send royal decrees to restrict the frequences of the tributes.

To pacify the area and to please Tibetans, Ming court printed several Buddhism scriptures to be distributed in Tibet and manufactured some goods for Tibetan. In general there were prosperities in Tibet. Most temples were built in this era.

The most important event was the rising of Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch (as against Old-Yellow Hat branch (Ka-dams-pa)). A great Tibetan monk, Tsong-kha-pa, organized a great convention in 1409. Thus he started the (New) Yellow branch of Tibetan Buddhism (`good behavior' branch). His rules were (1) very strictive on the regulations, monks and nuns should be celibate, marriage and sex were prohibited. (2) monks and nuns should depend on donations. (3) monks and nuns should not seek worldly powers. (4) to maintained `the system of Tulku/Living Buddha'. (5) to construct more temples . (6) to have annual conventions (`great prayer's festival', smon-lam)(7) to have a degree system, `Geshi' as a Ph D of theology, of Buddhism.

Monks of other Tibetan Buddhism disliked his new branch. Gradually, Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch was squeezed out. The third re-incarnation of his youngest disciple (who was supposed to be a reincarnation of Buddha Chen-re-zi) went to Mongolia. There he achieved great success. The Mongolia Khan, Altan (Anda) Khan, was converted and bestowed him the title `Dalai'. He traced back, and called the first one 1st Dalai Lama, the second one the 2nd Dalai Lama, and called himself 3rd Dalai Lama. The title Panchen Lama(who was supposed to be a reincarnation of Buddha O-pa-me, or Buddha of Eternal Light) came much later, and would be reported at the proper time. He passed away in Mongolia in 1588, and designated a prince of Mongol as his re-incarnation, the 4th Dalai Lama.

When the 4th Dalai Lama grew up, Mongolia Khan sent Mongolia troop to help him back to Tibet. Note that the influence of Mongol was always very strong in Tibet. The 4th Dalai Lama restored to Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch the control of the three big temples of Lhasa. Some Mongolia troop stayed on as the guard of Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch.

The 5th Dalai Lama was an important figure. At that time, a Mongolia kinglet Chog-thu (Juetu) Khan who belonged to the White Hat (Ka-gyud-pa ) branch occupied the western part of Qinghai, sent an army of 10,000 strong with the intention of destroying the influence of Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch in collaboration with Tsanba Khan, and Beri-Tusi, the ruler of Kang area (near Szechuan) who believed in Bon, intended to conquer Tibet for Bon. In the mean time, another Mongolia kinglet, Gu-shri (Kusi) Khan after conquering the western part of Qinghai (Mongol area) answered the call of Dalai Lama, led his troop entering Tibet. First he crushed Beri-Tusi and eliminated both Tsangpa Khan and Chog-thu (Juetu) Khan (1642). Form then on, Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch became the most influential branch of Buddhism in Tibet.

8. Ching (Qing) Dynasty

(D) Ching Dynasty (17th century -- 1911)

(1) From tributary to part of Ching Empire

After the Mongolia kinglet, Gu-shri (Kusi) Khan conquered Qinghai, Kang area and Tibet, Yellow Hat (Gelug-pa) branch became dominating. However, the 5th Dalai Lama followed the traditional way, dominating but not eliminating. All branches of Buddhism were respected.

The 5th Dalai Lama was invited to have an audience with the third Emperor, Shunzhi, of Ching Dynasty. On his way to Beijing, the 5th Dalai Lama wrote several letters to the Emperor informing him that `Your subject has secret informations, and wishes a private audience'. The court decided that whatever the 5th Dalai Lama wanted to say, it would be terrible if the court did not listen to him, and it would be equally terrible if the court did listen to him. Therefore, the court threw many banquets for him, re-affirmed his title of Dalai Lama and gave him a lot gifts. In the end, Dalai Lama did not get a chance to talk.

What the court had in mind was `promoting Yellow Hat (gelug-pa) branch to pacify Mongol'. This policy was finally revealed by the great grand son (Qianlong) of that Emperor. The court had already made up its mind, there was really nothing to talk about.

The Mongolia Kings ruled Tibet through a local government led by the governor, Diba. In 1668, Mongolia King and Diba passed away. There were no successor of the King for three years. The next year, the 5th Dalai Lama assigned Sangs-gyas Gya-tsho (Sanjie-Jiatzuo) to be the next Diba (if you read the marshal-art story of Jinyun `The story of Deer Pot', you would see Sangs-gyas (Sanjie) there). Sangs-gyas (Sanjie) was a good scholar and published several books. The 5th Dalai Lama remodeled Potala palace to the present scale, and wrote many books. In 1682, the 5th Dalai Lama passed away. It was a bad news for Diba Sangs-gyas Gya-tsho (Sanjie-Jiatzuo), because the 5th Dalai Lama was on his side to balance the power of Mongolia King Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan. Therefore, Diba hid the news from everybody for 15 years, and behaved as if the 5th Dalai Lama were still alive. It was soon discovered by Ching Emperor Kangxi the Great. He said nothing for a while.

After Emperor Kangxi inquired the death of the 5th Dalai Lama, Diba Sangs-gyas (Sanjie). reported that the reincarnation of Dalai Lama, the 6th Dalai Lama, had been discovered. However, the 6th Dalai Lama turned out to be a poet who liked to write love poems to beautiful girls. This displeased many people.

In 1704, during a reviewing of military forces in Tibet, Diba Sangs-gyas (Sanjie) suddenly captured Mongolia King Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan. The monks came out to negotiate a truce, King Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan was released. Instead of going to Qinghai as agreed upon, King Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan came back with the full force of the Mongolia troop, and Diba Sangs-gyas (Sanjie) was killed.

Ha-zang(Lhatsan) Khan disbelieved the 6th Dalai Lama as the real one. Ching court ordered the (false) 6th Dalai Lama to be delivered to them, which was done accordingly. Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan claimed that he found the real 6th Dalai Lama who was entitled by Ching court as the real 6th Dalai Lama. What happened to the (false) 6th Dalai Lama was not clear; there were stories that on his way to Beijing he either was killed, or passed away peacefully, or ran away. Later on, another Dalai Lama was discovered, and was called the true Dalai Lama, and he was put under the protection of Ching court at once. It was generally agreed that the (false) 6th Dalai Lama was the real one, and the (real) 6th Dalai Lama was a false one and the true Dalai Lama was the 7th Dalai Lama.

In this chaotic situation, Ching court recognized the title `Panchen Lama' which was given by Gu-shri (Kusi) Khan to the reincarnations of the second disciple of Tsong-kha-pa to stablize the situation. In 1717, a Mongolia (Dzungar)kinglet who lived in northern Xinkiang sent troops to Lhasa, killed Ha-zang (Lhatsan) Khan and destroyed Buddhism in Tibet. In 1718, the imperial court sent Manchu army with the true Dalai Lama to Tibet. In 1720, Manchu army with the help of Tibetan army drove Mongolia army away, and after a few years Ching court conquered all Mongolia. A new chapter of Tibet just began.

(2) The ruling of Ching empire

The imperial court abolished the position of Diba as the governor. Instead, Ching court set up the Kaloon government consisted of 4 Kaloons, with the leader of Tibetan army, Kangjinai, as the chairman. In 1725, imperial court set up the garrisons of Kang area and the Governor of Qinghai (Tsu Xilin Dachen ). Later on, Ching court used the same model to set up Tibet Governorship, with the title `Tsu-Tsan Dachen'.

The three Kaloons made their move against the chairman in 1727. The chairman was murdered, and his troop, led by Pho-lha Sod-nams Tobs-gyas (Bolonai), advanced towards Lhasa. Both sides claimed the loyalty to the Ching court and appealed to the Ching court. The Ching court at once sent guards into Tibet to protect Dalai Lama. After the war, Pho-lha Sod-nams (Bolonai) was given the title of prince and later on was promoted to King. In 1828. the 7th Dalai Lama was moved to Litang, Szechuan by Ching court against his wishes. and possibly under the recommendation of Bolonai. The 7th Dalai Lama stayed in Szechuan until 1835. Furthermore, Ching court set up a garrison of 2,000 soldiers under Tsu Tsan Dachen (minister in Tibet, which later on became the Governor of Tibet), who in principle governed Tibet with Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. They further defined the territory of Tibet which might be called the `Tibet Proper' in some one's terminology today. Tsu Tsan Dachen shared power with Panchen Lama around Shigatze, ruled solely in Hor or Mongalian area in the North, and shared power with Dalai Lama at the rest of Tibet.

(3) The consolidation of the rule of Ching Dynasty

After the passing away of Pho-lha Sod-nams (Bolonai) in 1747, there were disputes between the eldest son of Pho-lha (Bolonai) and Dalai Lama. It developed into a very serious situation. The Tsu Tsan Dachen invited the eldest son of Bolonai to the government building and executed him on the spot. The troop revolted and Tsu Tsan Dachen was killed by them. The rebellion was crushed very quickly, the Kingship of Tibet was abolished and replaced by Gexia (Kazis) government which was essentially Kaloon government.

The Gexia government was subordinate to Dalai Lama and the Tsu Tsan Dachen (Amban). After the passage of Dalai Lama, a regent (sometimes, the regent was mentioned as the Tibetan King) would be appointed by the Ching Court. The first Regent was appointed in 1757 after the passage of the 7th Dalai Lama. One of the Regents was an Abbot of the Yon-Ho Monastery of Beijing. The Ching court sometimes fired the regents, in fact, one of them was arrested and sent to Hailungjian (in the Northeast area or Manchuria) in 1844.

Later on there were invasions by Nepal troop (Gurkha) in 1788 and 1792, the imperial army had to be dispatched to repulse Nepal army (Gurkha). In 1793, the important royal decree of 29 Article was officially published. This was the law until 1911. By the decree, Tsu Tsan Dachen would rule Tibet with Dalai Lama, however, every order had to be stamped with the seal of Tsu Tsan Dachen. Dalai Lama would not be allowed to write to the Emperor directly, instead, Dalai Lama should sent his letter through Tsu Tsan Dachen. The local government is subordinated to Tsu Tsan Dachen, all officials would be appointed by Tsu Tsan Dachen, etc. In other words, Tsu Tsan Dachen became the Governor of Tibet.

Ching court further invented the lottery system, Jinbonba (Golden Lottery Urn), for the selection of Dalai Lama from several possible candidates for the re-incarnation of the past Dalai Lama. The lottery was chaired by Tsu Tsan Dachen. This was a very clever system, which stopped the possible transmission of family powers, and consolidated the power of Tsu Tsan Da Chen. Since then, the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th Dalai Lamas were chosen this way. Unfortunately, they all passed away suddenly and suspiciously at the ages of 11, 22, 18, 20 respectively. The 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas were exempted from the lottery system by special decrees of Ching government and R.O.C. government respectively.

Ching conquered Xinkiang and Mongolia in the meantime, and established the third largest empire in Chinese history. The population reached 400 million in the first half of 18th century, as against 1,000 millions for the world population at the end of 18th century. At this time, there were 2 millions Tibetans (estimate).

Ching court printed many Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan for distribution. Many temples were remodeled and constructed in this era. The traditional trade of tea-horse between farmers and nomads increased. There were peace and prosperity in general.

(4) The advancement of Western powers, from 1840-1911

The year Western power reached China was 1840, it was through the infamous `Opium War', or `Trade War' depended on your opinions. What happened then was up to interpretations. Probably, only historian several hundred years from now could assess.

One point of view was the West was trying to spread the civilization and humanity to the rest barbarians. The contacts of West and the rest of the world were largely mutual beneficial (benefactor's view). Another point of view was the West was essentially evil and greed. The only things the West wanted were land and the richness of the land (revolutionary's view). The truth was probably somewhere in-between.

The Far East (from British point of view) was the remote land, and hence the last land reached by the West. The reactions of the establishments of China and Japan were very different and worth studying. Note that traditionally, both China and Japan were influenced by Han civilizations. For many years, Chinese establishment was blind to the advantages of the West, while the establishment of Japan voluntarily started an effective program of learning from the West. By their continuous defeats at the hand of the West, the establishment of China lost its prestiges. The fringe or marginal members of China establishment started a rebellion.

At this time, British conquered India through East India Company, and fought a war against Russian in Afghanistan which was close to Tibet. Any border could be improved by either pushing it further or neutralized the neighboring area. Therefore, British showed interests in Tibet. Several times British sent troops to Tibet. Once they massacred 1,000 defenseless Tibetan soldiers (1904) and reached Lhasa. The 13th Dalai Lama had to run away to Mongolia. Instead of the traditional protection provided by the imperial court under this situation, the 13th Dalai Lama received a punishment which made him angry. The imperial court negotiated a treaty with British to settle the dispute.

The imperial court decided to establish a province `Xikang' to govern the area of West Szechuan and East Tibet which was the Xikang province in R.O.C., and no long existed in P.R.C.. The reasons were manifold; the court wanted to safe-guard the road from Szechuan to Tibet, and recognized the differences between those two areas.

The imperial court sent 1,000 soldiers from New Army (modern army) into Tibet as the garrison of Lhasa.

This is almost at the end of this article. We shall talk about the modern chapter of Tibetan history.

9. Recent history

In this last part about the history of Tibet, I will talk about the most controversial parts of Tibetan history: (E) Part of ROC - Republic of China, autonomy, 1911-1951, (F) part of P.R. China, 1951 to present.

(E) The state of semi-independent 1911--1951

(1) The revolution of China, 1911

Under the pressures of Western Powers and Japan, and domestic rebellions, Ching court lost its `Mandate of Heaven' (Tian-Min). When there was a small disturbance at a city along Yangtse river, the disturbance spread to several areas. Ching court decided to abdicate instead of fighting. Gone with Ching court was the old establishment which had helped ruling China for several thousand years.

Only after many years, did people realize that they lost not only `pig-tails' but also the central government of civilian services. China plunged into chaos. Many provinces were independent or semi-independent for one time or other.

Let us come back to the problem of Tibet. In 1911, the New Army which was the garrison of Lhasa revolt following the event of Yangtse river. Tsu Tsan Dachen was captured. Then there was a fight between Tibetan army and New Army. None wanted to fight to death. Each guarded a corner of Lhasa, and shot from a distance. It lasted a few months, and people ran back and forth to cry to each camp. Finally, New Army had enough and was bribed to leave. Since then until 1950, Tibetan army was the only force in Tibet.

Traditionally, Tibetan just wanted a peaceful land to worship Buddha. Naturally, the 13th Dalai Lama was not interested in independence which for sure would cause a lot of trouble for Tibet. Therefore, after the establishment of Republic (R.O.C.) in 1911, the 13th Dalai Lama always sent Tibetan representatives to the central government (largely in name only) of China as congressmen and managing Tibetan business as Temples managements etc.. It was impossible for the central government to send troops to a neighboring province, let alone sending troop to Tibet. There was a peaceful time as long as Tibet was concerned.

British ruled India and was very interested in the legal status of Tibet. Years ago (1907), British signed Treaty of St Petersburg with Russian to define the relation between Ching and Tibet as `suzerainty' without the knowledge of Ching court. Since then, it was used again and again by British. Tibetan sometimes used this term after 1911 which was never acknowledged by any central government of China. In 1913-14, British arranged a conference of Briton, Tibetan and Chinese central government at Simla, India to defined Tibet. The conference broke up without any common agreement.

(2) The period of Kuo-Fu (ROC or Kuomintang)

In 1927, Kuomintang successively conquered and ruled the tributary of Yangtse river. Most provinces acknowledge Kuo-Fu as the central government with capital in Nanking. Although nothing had changed just because of it.

Kuo-Fu set up a high ranking `Commission of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs' in the government imitating Ching's `Li-Fan Yuan' (ministry of national minorities, and foreign countries). At that time, the 9th Panchen Lama (who ruled a third of Tibet) was in trouble with the 13th Dalai Lama. The 9th Panchen Lama acted in the traditional way by going to the central government. Kuo-Fu was more than happy to receive him. As usual, he was bestowed a honorable title (someone may think it is higher than a Nobel Prize), given a large sum of money and a high position in the government. The 13th Dalai Lama was not very happy, and sent missionaries to the central government to complain. It was agreed that the 13th Dalai Lama should enjoy more honors, and commissions of the central government and Tibetan government should be sent to each capital, and Tibetans were sent as congressmen of the central government.

Kuo-Fu set up the province of Xikang as planned by Ching court. The act took away the eastern part of Tibet. In 1930, Tibetan army fought in Xikang with some local warlords (some one wanted to call it a Sino-Tibetan war). The appointed governor never again tried to rule the part of Tibet, and nobody cared as long as there was no disturbance. Later on, PRC abolished Xikang, and the present Tibet was exactly the same as in Ching Dynasty. In 1931, Tibetan army fought with Qinghai troops (the so-called Ma-chia army, the army of Ma family, Moslem army). The central government did its best to arrange cease fires. In the chaotic situation of China, hardly anyone noticed the battles.

After the 13th Dalai Lama passed away (1933), Yellow Hat branch was looking for his reincarnation. In the meantime, the 9th Panchen Lama wanted to go back and was given an escort by Kuo-Fu to do so. However, Panchen Lama passed away in 1937 in Qinghai before reaching Tibet. In 1939, the chairman of `Commission of Mongolia and Tibetan Affairs', Wu Chung-Xin, went to Tibet to chair the ceremony of the 14th Dalai Lama(the present Dalai Lama) `sitting on his bed' (crowning) as the formal Tsu Tsan Dachen of Ching Dynasty would do. The regent of Tibet Radreng requested the government of R.O.C. to exempt the 14th Dalai Lama from the lottery system which was granted by a special decree . There were a lot of improvements of the relations. For instance, Tibetan congressmen wrote the Article about Tibet in the Constitution of R.O.C..

(F) Tibet is a part of P.R. China, 1951 to present.

In 1949, there was another big revolt in China, the Red army was triumphing over Kuo-Fu's army. The situation was clear to everybody, and Tibetan government decided to end the relation with Kuo-Fu by asking the commission of Kuo-Fu to leave. In the mean time, the Red army defeated Ma's Moslem army and conquered Qinghai and then conquered part of Xikang. From the fall of 1949 to the fall of 1950, there were a lot tensions between the government of PRC and Tibetan government. Naturally, Tibetan government wanted Red army to stop which was encouraged by Western Powers for the obvious reasons of disliking and distrusting the Red army.

In the fall of 1950, two sides fought a decisive battle in Chandu, located either in Eastern Tibet or Xikang province depending on your points of view. Tibetan army, some 5,000 strong, led by Kaloon Nga-Bou Nga-Wang Jig-Me was totally captured. The situation became impossible for Tibetan government. The 14th Dalai Lama took over and appointed Nga-Bou Nga-Wang Jig-Me as the leader of a delegation to Beijing to negotiate. The `Seventeen Article' Agreement signed was the same as what happened in history since the time of Yuan Dynasty. In the fall of 1951, the Red army following the tracks of Ching Emperor Qianlong advanced to Lhasa along the four fronts of Xinkiang, Qinghai, Szechuan and Yunnan.

The situation of Tibet resembled Qianlong's time (1720) of Ching Dynasty. The General of `Tibetan military zone' replaced Tsu Tsan Dachen, the government of `Autonomous Tibet' replaced Kaloon Government. However, there was a major difference. The mission of Tsu Tsan Dachen was to promote Yellow Hat branch, while the General of `Tibet military zone' was to carry out the anti-religion policy of the central government. The government of PRC gradually applying her policies in Han area to Tibet. For instance, Buddhism was largely distroyed in Han area, and was discouraged in Tibet. The landlord class (who supported Chinese civilization for several thousand years) was largely purged in Han area, and was restricted in Tibet. From the point of view of Maxists, the above policies were only the `trend of history' and the `liberation of people', and it was the Tibetan who overthrew the `three big landowner classes' (San Da Ling Tsu) and liberated herself.

However, even treated with the milder policies of Maxists, some Tibetans had a hard time. Maybe after so many years of domestic battles in the land of Han (China proper), enough stories of Red were told, Han people expected what they got. What Tibetans got was a total surprise to them.

On March 10, 1959, the tension between Dalai Lama and the General exploded. The 14th Dalai Lama ran to India.

In 1962, China defeated India along the borders.

Later on, PRC modified parts of her policies in Tibet.

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