The working class in old Tibet / 212 photos

refer to:
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/index.php
a site of Oxford University with 6,000 old photographs of Tibet!
*
Play List
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DCD04906E7B4F597
*
The True Face Of The Dalai Lama
by Kalovski at 4-2-8
http://www.rense.com/general81/faeeof.htm
[Part.5]
The Monasteries: Strongholds of Feudalism




Defenders of old Tibet portray Lamaist Buddhism as the essence of the culture of the people of
Tibet. But it was really nothing more or less than the ideology of a specific oppressive social
system. The lamaist religion itself is exactly as old as feudal class society. The first Tibetan
king, Songsten-gampo, established a unified feudal system in Tibet, around 650 A.D. He married
princesses from China and Nepal in order to learn from them the practices used outside Tibet to
carry out feudalism. These princesses brought Tantric Buddhism to Tibet, where it was merged
with earlier animist beliefs to create a new religion, Lamaism.
This new religion had to be imposed on the people over the next century and a half by the ruling
class, using violence. King Trosong Detsen decreed: "He who shows a finger to a monk shall have
his finger cut off; he who speaks ill of the monks and the king's Buddhist policy shall have his
lips cut off; he who looks askance at them shall have his eyes put out"
Between the 1400s and the 1600s, a bloody consolidation of power took place, the abbots of the
largest monasteries seized overall power. Because these abbots practiced anti-woman celibacy,
their new political system could not operate by hereditary father-to-son succession. So the
lamas created a new doctrine for their religion: They announced that they could detect newborn
children who were reincarnations of dead ruling lamas. Hundreds of top lamas were declared
"Living Buddhas" (Bodhisattvas) who had supposedly ruled others for centuries, switching to new
bodies occasionally as old host bodies wore out.
The central symbol of this system, the various men called Dalai Lama, was said to be the early
Tibetan nature-god Chenrezig who had simply reappeared in 14 different bodies over the
centuries. In fact, only three of the 14 Dalai Lamas actually ruled. Between 1751 and 1950,
there was no adult Dalai Lama on the throne in Tibet 77 percent of the time. The most powerful
abbots ruled as "regent" advisors who trained, manipulated and even assassinated the child-king
Dalai Lamas.
Tibetan monasteries were not holy, compassionate Shangrilas, like in some New Age fantasy. These
monasteries were dark fortresses of feudal exploitation­they were armed villages of monks
complete with military warehouses and private armies. Pilgrims came to some shrines to pray for
a better life. But the main activity of monasteries was robbing the surrounding peasants. The
huge idle religious clergy grew little food­feeding them was a big burden on the people.
The largest monasteries housed thousands of monks. Each "parent" monastery created dozens (even
hundreds) of small strongholds scattered through the mountain valleys. For example, the huge
Drepung monastery housed 7,000 monks and owned 40,000 people on 185 different estates with 300
pastures.
Monasteries also made up countless religious taxes to rob the people­including taxes on
haircuts, on windows, on doorsteps, taxes on newborn children or calves, taxes on babies born
with double eyelidsand so on. A quarter of Drepung's income came from interest on money lent to
the serf-peasantry. The monasteries also demanded that serfs hand over many young boys to serve
as child-monks.
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Originally from http://www.bestcyrano.org/cyrano/?p=507

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[chinesehearts10]

On behalf of all decent and honest Chinese people, I want to offer the Tibetan people our sincere apologies. Tibet has never been a part of China. I hope one day Tibetans will receive the freedom that they need and deserve. I am ashamed of what the communist government and the CCP has done in Tibet. I hope that one day Tibet will again be free and regain its independence and sovereignty.

[gbmkhm01]

chinesehearts10 is a net spy.

[Rigpa7]

What? Do I have to do something in Tibet to speak against CCP thugs and their propagandas? Me being in the west has nothing to do with this argument, stop red-herring. And as for the "han masters" introducing material gains for Tibetans, did we ever ask you invaders to favor us with these things at such cost? Don't buy into the whole crap about Mao introducing electricity in Tibet; Tibetans already had a running electricity though limited by us and not you. Tibet will survive...mark my words!

[mytime103]

@powerofthroughts That would be like if america took over canada and said its part of america.

[popinjay3000]

good reasoning, BTW i dont agree with communism or socialism...can i annex china???? if i wasnt using a han laptop and eating my food on a han plate and sleeping on a han bed..i would be seriously inclined to do something...

[jayloganyt]

Where are the pictures of people hungry and dying from the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution of God Mao? Where are the pictures of Chinese police and soldiers occupying Tibet and murdering and torturing its people? There was no 'peaceful liberation', only violent invasion and occupation.

[MrPleasethink]

@fdoca

did you know that the "Qing dynasty" rulers were Manchurians?

Manchuria was a seperate Nation.

did you also know that "Yuan dynasty" rulers were actually Mongols, and that yuan was the chinese name for the time period when mongols ruled china?

now did you know that the Manchurians ruled china, tibet, mongolia and other asian countries until 1911?

and that the chinese pushed out the manchu rulers thus gainaing independence?

this is also when the other countries declared independence.

[ostellopro]

@gbmkhm01

tibet has never been a "part" of china, but sometimes in the past tibet and china lived toghether like neighbours and help each other, respect each other, or even had trouble with each other.

since the chinese invasion, tibetan culture has been destroyed cold heartet.

[fdoca]

@chinesehearts10 Who the fxxx are U? nobody ! Stupid comment.

China has 52 ethanic group of people combined as nation

Geolocation, cross marriage, politicle, influse started 3,000 years ago, U dummy !

[MsKushh]

@fdoca ..this guy can't spell Tibet well and and seems to be mesmerized by the pictures taken some 80 years ago...and foolish enough to believe that Changes are only due to CCP's some billion dollars...That won't buy you Tibetans hearts!!!

By the way these pictures looks prosperous given the time they were taken..

[fdoca]

Don't U just see this movie made by westerner? in 1959 when Mao took power from Kou Ming Ton(Jaing Guy-Shik gorverment)

, liberated from Dalai Lama,(he escape to India)

Mao Leberate all province Tebitan serfs, slaves and given grain to them

See UN living standard index about today's Tebit, China spent 4 years US$1 billion built 1'000's km rail road to Tebit, $250 million per year to developing Tebit, Nation wide promo tourism, highway, power station...all u name it

Not Fair !!

[Ganeschar]

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs, as measured by skill, education and lower incomes. Working classes are mainly found in industrialized economies and in urban areas of non-industrialized economies. Hehe