Jamyang Norbu - Independent Tibet – The Facts

Nadwi, Dr. Abu Bakr Amir-uddin. Tibet and Tibetan Muslims, Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 2004.

[5] Tibet abolished capital punishment in 1913 (noted by many foreign travelers [3] ) and was one of the first nations in the world to do so. There is no record of it persecuting minorities (e.g. Muslims [4] ) or massacring sections of its population from time to time as China (remember Tiananmen) still does. Although Tibet ’s frontiers with India, Nepal and Bhutan were completely unguarded and Tibetans were “great travelers” [5] , very few Tibetans fled their country as economic or political refugees. There was not a single Tibetan immigrant in the USA or Europe before the Communist invasion. Tibetan soldiers with national flags The plant hunter Kingdon-Ward writing of Khampas mentions that “the men are great travellers and leave their wives behind for months at a time, and these good folk solace themselves as best they can with other travellers.” Kingdon Ward sees this contributing to the Tibetan custom of polyandry. He sees supporting evidence for his conjecture in the Lutzu who though in contact with Tibetans “…as far as I am aware, are monogamous, which adds weight of negative evidence in favour of the above theory, since the tribes are notorious stay-at-homes.”

Kingdon-Ward, Frank. (ed. Tom Christopher) In the Land of The Blue Poppies. New York: Modern Library, 2003. P175

[6]Goldstein, Melvyn. A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye. University of California Press, 2004, pg 137.

[7]Chang, Jung & Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story . London: Jonathan Cape, 2005.

[8]Ford, Robert. Captured in Tibet . London: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd, 1957. pg 158.

[9]Bull, Geoffrey T. When Iron Gates Yield. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955. pg 130.

[10]Goldstein, Melvyn. A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye. University of California Press, 2004, pg 139.

[11]O’Ballance, Edgar. The Red Army Of China. London: Faber & Faber, 1962. pg 189-190.

[12]Kong Fei-tsi (?), tse srog gi bhul skyes (Gift of Life) translated by Wanglag, Tibetan Peoples Publishing House, Lhasa, 2001.

[13]Norbu, Jamyang. “The Forgotten Anniversary – Remembering the Great Khampa Uprising of1956″. Thursday, December 07, 2006, Phayul.com.

[14]Tsarong, Dundul Namgyal. In the Service of His Country: The Biography of Dasang Damdul Tsarong Commander General of Tibet. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000. pg 51.

[15]Grosvenor, Gilbert and William J. Showalter, “Flags of the World”. The National Geographic Magazine: September, 1934 – Vol. LXVI – No. 3. Washington, D.C. ” National Geographic Society, 1934.

[16]Tibet Nationalflagge, Bulgaria Zigarettenfabrik, Dresden,1933. (From a series non-European countries, pictures 201-400) From the collection of Prof. Dr. Jan Andersson of Germany, and reproduced with his kind permission.

[17]Grosvenor, Gilbert H. “The Heroic Flags of the Middle Ages.” The National Geographic Magazine: October, 1917 – Vol. Xxxii – No. 4. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1917.

[18]Lux-Wurm, Pierre C. “The Story of the Flag of Tibet.” Flag Bulletin : Vol. XII – No. 1. Spring 1973.

[19]On 23 March 1947 the Inter-Asian Relations Conference was convened in India to assess the status of Asia in the period following WWII. At this gathering, Tibet was represented as an independent nation, as evidenced by the country’s delineation on a conference map and the first appearance of the Tibetans’ national flag. The Chinese (Guomindang) were furious and protested formally to the organizers of the conference. The Tibetan flag was hoisted and also a flag emblem was displayed before the delegates on the dias. Mahatma Gandhi addressed this conference. The representatives of the Tibetan foreign bureau, Theiji Sampo Tenzin Thondup, Khenchung Lobsang Wangyal and Kyibug Wangdue Norbu (translator) also took part in the Afro-Asian Conference held in Delhi in 1948. Interestingly many of the participating states were yet to be decolonized making Tibet one of the few established independent nations at this pan-Asian gathering.

(Photograph of conference)

[20]OLD TIBETAN NATIONAL HYMN

Ghang ri rawe kor we shingkham di

Phen thang dewa ma loe jungwae ne

Chenrezig wa Kalsang Gyatso yin

Shelpal se thae bhardu

Ten gyur chik

Circled by ramparts of snow-mountains – this sacred realm,

This wellspring of all benefits and happiness.

Kalsang Gyatso, bodhisattva of compassion

May he reign till the end of all existence

(translated by Jamyang Norbu)

[21]The eminent Tibetan scholar, Tashi Tsering citing the historical work Bka’ blon rtogs brjod, says that this verse was composed by the Tibetan ruler, Phola lha nas, (in 1745/46) in praise of the 7th Dalai Lama. “Reflections on Thang stong rgyal po as the founder of the a lce lha mo tradition of Tibetan performing arts,” The Singing Mask: Echoes of Tibetan Opera, Lungta, Winter 2001 No 15, eds. Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy and Tashi Tsering)

Woodblock reproduction of Pholanas courtesy of Tashi Tsering.

[22]Audio clip of namthar (opera aria) of National Hymn sung by Techung accompanied by Nima Gyalpo, courtesy of Chaksampa Opera Company, San Francisco.

[23]Lyrics composed in 1959 by Kyapje Trichang Rinpoche, tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Mussoorie, U.P.

The Collected Works of the Glorious Master of the Dharma, Yongzin Trichang Vajradhara (yongjog tempae ngadak kyapche yongzin trichang dorjee chang chempoe sungbum) , published by Mongolian Lama Guru Deva, New Delhi, Vol Gha, pg 299.

[24](Image) A map of Asia drawn by the Dutch cartographer, Pietar van der Aa around 1680 shows Tibet in two parts but distinct from China.

[25](Image) A map of Asia drawn by the French cartographer, Guillaume de L’isle, around 1700, where Tibet is referred to as the “ Kingdom of Grand Tibet.”

[26](Image) “Map of Hindoostan, Farther India, China and Tibet ”. Constructed & engraved by W.Williams, Phila. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877 by S Augustus Mitchell in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

[27](Image) An 1827 map of Asia drawn by Anthony Finley of Philadelphia, clearly showing “Great Tibet” as distinct from the Chinese Empire.

[28]Ravenstein, Ernest George. (1834-1913) Martin Behaim: His Life and his Globe, (With a facsimile of the globe printed in colours, eleven maps and seventeen illustrations ), G. Philip & Son, Ltd., London. 1908.

This globe was kindly brought to the compiler’s attention by Robert Palais of San Francisco, who provided in (JN’s blog) various sources where information on the Behaim globe could be obtained:

University of Utah

Wikipedia

Henry Davis Consulting (image)

Henry Davis Consulting (description)

[29]The Mapparium, is a thirty-foot stained-glass globe room in the lobby of the Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, which gives one a unique “inside view” of the world. The political boundries are frozen circa 1935. It was based on Rand McNally’s 1934 map of the world. At this size, the scale amounts to approximately 22 miles to the inch. In the photograph Tibet (pink) can be seen directly at the back above British India (red) and to the side of China (yellow). Check these websites for history and directions.

roadsideamerica.com

designorati.com

[30]Norbu, Dawa. China’s Tibet Policy . Richmond Curzon, 2001

Information Office. Mongols and Tibet. (Image)