Tibet on Fire

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Tibet on Fire
Tibet on Fire.jpg
Author Tsering Woeser
TranslatorKevin Carrico
Cover artist Ai Weiwei (Chinese dissident artist)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SubjectComplex issues around the protests and self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet today, under Chinese occupation
Genrenon-fiction, history, political science, politics, Asian studies
Set inTibet
PublishedLondon
Publisher Verso Books
Publication date
12 January 2016
Media typePaperback, Digital
Pages128
ISBN 978-1-78478-153-8 (Paperback)
Website Publisher's website

Tibet on Fire: Self-Immolations Against Chinese Rule is a book written by Tsering Woeser, published by Verso Books in 2016. The book is a contemporary look at a major social and human rights problem caused by the forced integration of Tibetan and Chinese societies, and due to empirically repressive policies of the Chinese (PRC) government.

Contents

Synopsis

Tibet on Fire is an account of the discrimination and atrocities faced by Tibetans in 21st century Tibet, and their resistance to foreign/Chinese rule and occupation. It is written from the perspective of a Tibetan with personal experience in the Tibet-China conflict. Since the 2008 uprising, [1] [2] nearly 150 [4] Tibetans, most of them monks, have set fire to themselves to protest foreign occupation of their country. Most have died from their injuries. It is important to understand the book is not about self-immolation, but uses this horrific reality as a way to focus and then delve into the fervent emotions central to Tibetans and their long search for national and individual freedom. The book provides insight into the ideals and personal motivations driving those who resist: the self-immolators and also other Tibetans like the author.

Historical setting

Tibetans have been protesting occupational and unjust rules since the China militarily entered and used false treaties to occupy their sovereign nation of Tibet [5] [6] in 1950. [7] [8] China has since then gradually introduced more repression through subtle policies that weaken and disenfranchise the native Tibetan population. [9] Their aim seems to be to either wipe-out Tibetan people [10] [12] and their culture, or to dilute them with the dominant Chinese Han. [14] As a result many Tibetans have had to escape to other countries, but the 6 million Tibetans remaining in their occupied homeland [15] experience daily oppression through unreported atrocities. [17] [19] Especially targeted are Tibet's Buddhist monasteries and schools, whom the Communist and anti-religious Chinese government sees as the main stewards/teachers of Tibetan culture. These Buddhist monasteries and schools, the largest being Larung Gar Buddhist Academy with between 10,000 and 40,000 residents, are literally and systematically being demolished, [20] and the monks who lived in the destroyed monasteries, young men and women, are force-ably relocated en masse [21] to live in political concentration camps they call "patriotic camps". The displaced monks see no way out of the increasingly harsh indoctrination and punishments meted by authorities. [22] With their educational, spiritual, and physical/housing needs literally discarded, they see little hope or a personal future.

As a result, these young men and women are more often taking dire steps to bring attention to their plight. One method they use, self-immolation, [23] [24] [25] is the guiding theme the book uses to explain the complex interplay of issues, emotions, intentions, and hope. The book portrays the anguish felt by Tibetan leaders at each life lost, and their hope that public attention will bring realization that every life, especially every young Tibetan person's life, is vitally needed to fight the cancerous oppression.

Reception

One of the world's leading historians and experts in the China-Tibet conflict, Dr. Elliot Sperling, a Professor, MacArthur Fellow and author of The China-Tibet Conflict: History and Polemics gave his perspective on the book and its author: “Woeser is one of the most well-informed and trenchant commentators on Tibet today, and with this volume she presents readers with a unique and well-reasoned analysis and account of the phenomenon of self-immolation in Tibet, its precipitating causes and its significance. This is a most important book about a most urgent subject: the ongoing consequences of continued Chinese repression in Tibet.”

Dr. James Leibold, also an academic and author, praised Tibet on Fire by writing “Tibet on Fire is a deeply moving and humanising book by an intrepid women with one foot in both Tibetan and Chinese societies. Woeser takes us behind the headlines and helps us better understand why so many Tibetan people have chosen to end their lives in this horrific form of protest” [26]

Related Research Articles

The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself on fire and burning to death. It is typically used for political or religious reasons, often as a form of non-violent protest or in acts of martyrdom. It has a centuries-long recognition as the most extreme form of protest possible by humankind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama</span> 10th Panchen Lama of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism (1938–1989)

Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni, of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan Buddhism, Panchen Lamas are living emanations of the buddha Amitabha. He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen.

Free Tibet (FT) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1987 and based in London, England. According to their mission statement, Free Tibet advocates for "a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jigme Phuntsok</span> Tibetan lama (1933–2004)

Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok,, was a Nyingma lama and Terton from Sertha Region. His family were Tibetan nomads. At the age of five he was recognized "as a reincarnation of Lerab Lingpa. Known also as Nyala Sogyel and Terton Sogyel, Lerab Lingpa was an eclectic and highly influential tantric visionary from the eastern Tibetan area of Nyarong ." He studied Dzogchen at Nubzor Monastery, received novice ordination at 14, and full ordination at 22. In 1980, he founded Larung Gar, the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastic academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larung Gar</span> Town in Sertar county, Garzê, Sichuan, China

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larung Gar Buddhist Academy</span>

In 1980, Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok founded Larung Gar, which was officially named by the 10th Panchen Lama in 1987 as Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy, also known of in Tibetan: བླ་རུང་ལྔ་རིག་ནང་བསྟན་སློབ་གླིང་།, ZYPY: Serta Larung Ngarig Nangdän Lobling,, located in the Larung Valley (喇荣沟) near the township of Larung in Sêrtar County, Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan Province, known of as Kham. The Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy grew from Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's mountain retreat. The purpose of Larung Gar's Academy is to provide an ecumenical training in Tibetan Buddhism and to meet the need for renewal of meditation, ethics, and scholarship all over Tibet in the wake of China's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture</span> Autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, China

Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, also known as Aba, is an autonomous prefecture of northwestern Sichuan, bordering Gansu to the north and northeast and Qinghai to the northwest. Its seat is in Barkam, and it has an area of 83,201 km2 (32,124 sq mi). The population was 919,987 in late 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsering Woeser</span>

Tsering Woeser is a Tibetan writer, activist, blogger, poet and essayist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Tibetan unrest</span> Political violence in Tibet

The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also referred to as the 2008 Tibetan uprising in Tibetan media, was a series of protests and demonstrations over the Chinese government's treatment and persecution of Tibetans. Protests in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, by monks and nuns on 10 March have been viewed as the start of the demonstrations. Numerous peaceful protests and demonstrations were held to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising Day, when the 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet. The protests and demonstrations spread spontaneously to a number of monasteries and throughout the Tibetan plateau, including into counties located outside the designated Tibet Autonomous Region. The arrest of monks at Labrang Monastery increased the tension of the situation. Violence began when Chinese police and People's Liberation Army units used force on non-violent protests by monks and nuns, and spread when protesting Tibetans later clashed with security forces. Clashes also occurred between Tibetans and Chinese Han and Hui residents, resulting in Han and Hui stores and buildings being destroyed and numerous Chinese civilians being injured or killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinicization of Tibet</span> Forced cultural assimilation of Tibet by the Peoples Republic of China

The sinicization of Tibet includes the programs and laws of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to force cultural assimilation in Tibetan areas of China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding Tibetan-designated autonomous areas. The efforts are undertaken by China in order to remake Tibetan culture into mainstream Chinese culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngawa County</span> County in Sichuan, China

Ngawa County, or Aba or Ngaba, is a county in the northwest of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. It is located in the remote northwestern part of the prefecture, on the border with Qinghai and Gansu. The county seat is Ngawa Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sêrtar County</span> County in Sichuan, China

Sêrtar County or Serthar County is a county in the northwest of Sichuan Province, China, bordering Qinghai province to the north. It is one of the 18 counties under the administration of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, covering some 9,340 square kilometres. Sêrtar, which means "golden freedom" in Tibetan, lies in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau and in the historical region of Kham. The vast majority of the population is Tibetan, followed by Han Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarchen Gar</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Baiyü County, Sichuan, China

Yarchen Gar, officially known as "Yaqên Orgyän Temple", is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma school, with an educational institute and residential community in western Sichuan, China. The majority of its Tibetan and Chinese residents are nuns, leading to it being called the "City of Nuns". By the end of 2019, more than half of their residences had been demolished by Chinese authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phuntsog self-immolation incident</span> 2011 protest act

The Phuntsog self-immolation incident occurred when a Tibetan Buddhist monk by the name of Rigzin Phuntsog self-immolated on March 16, 2011 in Ngawa County, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. This was followed by another self-immolation incident on September 26, 2011. By March 2012, more than thirty other Tibetans had self-immolated as a protest against Chinese rule of Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirti Gompa</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ngawa, Sichuan, China

Kirti Gompa, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery founded in 1472 and located in Ngawa, Sichuan province, in China, but traditionally part of Amdo region. Numerous other associated Kirti monasteries and nunneries are located nearby. As of March 2011, the Kirti Gompa was said to house 2,500 monks. Between 2008 and 2011, mass arrests and patriotic re-education programs by Chinese authorities have targeted the monks, reducing the population substantially to 600 monks. The wave of Tibetan self-immolations began at Kirti Gompa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950</span>

Protests and uprisings in Tibet against the government of the People's Republic of China have occurred since 1950, and include the 1959 uprising, the 2008 uprising, and the subsequent self-immolation protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-immolation protests by Tibetans in China</span>

As of May 2022, 160 monks, nuns, and ordinary people have self-immolated in Tibet since 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a young monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in the marketplace in Ngawa City, Ngawa County, Sichuan. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), "Chinese police have beaten, shot, isolated, and disappeared self-immolators who survived."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chen Quanguo</span> Chinese politician

Chen Quanguo is a Chinese retired politician who was the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region from 2011 to 2016 and of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021, making him the only person to serve as the Party Secretary for both autonomous regions. Between 2017 and 2022, he was a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and was also Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps concurrently with his position as Xinjiang Party Secretary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party</span> State-sponsored campaigns against religion in the Peoples Republic of China

Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party are a series of policies and practices, including the promotion of state atheism, coupled with its persecution of people with spiritual or religious beliefs, in the People's Republic of China. Antireligious campaigns were launched in 1949, after the Chinese Communist Revolution, and they continue to be waged against Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and members of other religious communities in the 21st century. State campaigns against religion have escalated since Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party on November 15, 2012. For Christians, government decrees have mandated the widespread removal of crosses from churches, and in some cases, they have also mandated the destruction of houses of worship, such as the Catholic Three Rivers Church in the city of Wenzhou. In Tibet, similar decrees have mandated the destruction of Tibetan Buddhist monastic centers, the destruction of sacred Buddhist sites, the destruction of monastic residences, the denial of the Tibetan people's right to freely access their cultural heritage, the ongoing persecution of high Buddhist lamas, and the ongoing persecution of Buddhist nuns and monks. Reports which document the existence of forced re-education camps, arrests, beatings, rape, and the destruction of religious sites in Tibet are also being published with regard to the Uyghur people, who are being subjected to an ongoing genocide.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Warren W. Jr. (2009). Tibet's Last Stand?: The Tibetan Uprising of 2008 and China's Response (PDF). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN   978-0-7425-6685-9 . Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Uprising Archive: An archive dedicated to the 2008 uprising in Tibet
  3. 1 2 "Report: China 2016/2017". Amnesty International. 2016–2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Quote: [3] "At least three people set themselves on fire in Tibetan-populated areas during [2016-2017] in protest against repressive policies by the authorities. The number of known self-immolations since February 2009 rose to 146."
  5. ↑ Norbu, Dawa (2001). China's Tibet Policy. Durham East-Asia series. Psychology Press. ISBN   0-7007-0474-4.
  6. ↑ Kauffner, Peter; Dorje, Nima. "What was Tibet's status immediately prior to China's 1950–51 invasion?". stason.org. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Dunham, Mikel (2004). Buddha's Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Invasion and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet . Penguin Group. ISBN   1-58542-348-3.
  8. ↑ McGranahan, Carole (2010). Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War . Duke University Press Books. ISBN   978-0-8223-4771-2.
  9. ↑ Faison, Seth (18 November 1998). "Icy Wind From Beijing Chills the Monks of Tibet". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Congressman Lantos, Tom (25 April 2017). "Prisoner in China: Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima". U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  11. ↑ U.S. Government Report: China 2012 Human Rights Report – Executive Summary – Tibet (pp. 83-107) (PDF), U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2012, pp. 83–107, retrieved 26 July 2017
  12. ↑ Quote: [11] : pp.1–2  The "human rights problems during the year [2012] included: extrajudicial killings, including executions without due process; enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, including prolonged illegal detentions at unofficial holding facilities known as “black jails”; torture and coerced confessions of prisoners; detention and harassment of lawyers, journalists, writers, dissidents, petitioners, and others who sought to exercise peacefully their rights under the law; [...] a coercive birth-limitation policy that in some cases resulted in forced abortion (sometimes at advanced stages of pregnancy) or forced sterilization; trafficking in persons; ..."
  13. ↑ International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) (11 October 2013). "China's former leader Hu Jintao indicted for policies in Tibet by Spanish court". savetibet.org. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Quote: [13] [In October 2013 the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional) found] “international evidence of the repression carried out by Chinese leaders against the Tibetan nation and its population [...] the Chinese authorities decided to carry out a series of coordinated actions aimed at eliminating the specific characteristics and existence of the country of Tibet by imposing martial law, carrying out forced transfers and mass sterilisation campaigns, torturing dissidents and forcibly transferring contingents of Chinese in order to gradually dominate and eliminate the indigenous population in the country of Tibet.”
  15. ↑ Official Report: "Tibet: European Parliament Condemns Nepalese Election Ban". UNPO. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  16. ↑ Eckholm, Erik (22 June 2001). "Monitors Say China Pushes Tibet Monks From Study Site". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  17. ↑ Quote: [16] "The Chinese demolished about 2,000 huts in 2001, 'because of concerns about social stability' at the site, simultaneously limiting the population to 1,400 residents."
  18. ↑ "Larung Gar in Agony". tibetoffice.org. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Quote: [18] "The Chinese Communist [government's] reaction [...] has been to force Tibetans to [...] prove their loyalty to the Communist Party instead, and many Tibetan objectors have been beaten or jailed."
  20. ↑ Video 1 (issues explained in detail): "Larung Gar Buddhist Academy – Under Threat", youtube.com, 4 May 2017, retrieved 26 July 2017
    Video 2: "SBS World News on Larung Gar demolitions", youtube.com, 13 November 2016, retrieved 26 July 2017
    Video 3 (only 6 seconds): "Destruction at the Larung Gar Monastery", youtube.com, 21 July 2016, retrieved 26 July 2017
  21. ↑ Video 1: "Footage of Larung Gar evictions", youtube.com, 10 November 2016, retrieved 26 July 2017
    Video 2 (has English subtitles): "Video Shows Larung Gar Evictions – Radio Free Asia (RFA)", youtube.com, 31 October 2016, retrieved 26 July 2017
  22. ↑ Video - Tibetan Nuns are forced to relocate from the Larung Gar Monastery, and to humiliatingly perform in "pro-China cultural shows": "We stand in solidarity with Larung Gar", youtube.com, 4 December 2016, retrieved 26 July 2017
  23. ↑ Wong, Edward (3 March 2016). "Tibetan Monk, 18, Dies After Self-Immolation to Protest Chinese Rule". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  24. ↑ Quote: [3] "At least three people set themselves on fire in Tibetan-populated areas during [2016-2017] in protest against repressive policies by the authorities."
  25. ↑ Samphel, Thubten (5 March 2014). "Self-immolation – Tibet – China". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  26. ↑ Woeser, Tsering (12 January 2016). "Tibet on Fire". VersoBooks.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
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