Nation and Nationality:Cultures, traditions and Languages

Nation and Nationality: Cultures, Traditions and Language

What is human without cultures, traditions and language? It would be hard to imagine a human society without it. Somehow, human behavior and characters are shaped by the society that they grow up in and learn. It is the instinct or human nature to belong in a group to thrive in this world, because humans are social animal. Cultures, traditions and languages give a person a group or community to belong to and feel comfortably. At the same time, to be able to be in a society with similar mental status of way they think. It is the society that is going to teach him about life and survival. Because cultures, traditions and languages are important in human society, we hung onto it tight. One good example to explain the importance of  culture, traditions and languages would be the situation between Tibet and China. As Tibetan, I grew up in a refugee society India but I was born in Tibet. My mother ran away from Tibet crossing the mountains to preserve Tibetan cultures, traditions and languages since Chinese government is trying destroy them to eliminate an entire race that is defined by their Cultures, traditions and languages.

Tibet is known as “the roof of the world”.  Tibet is now under the rule of modern China. In 1949, after the end of long civil war in China, Mao Zedong, Chairman and founding father of the People’s Republic of China, won hearts of millions of Chinese people that lead to the victory of communist’s revolution. Mao’s ambitious goal is to unite China and transform it into modern world. Fighting against the old rule, he wanted to develop China. Communist Chinese government ordered it’s so called the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to march into Tibet. The PLA is faced by the Tibetans in eastern region, Khampas and amdowas. As stated in the book, Tibet: A History, by the author Sam Van Schaik:

If any army could accomplish this feat, it was the well-disciplined, highly ideological People’s Liberation Army. As early as September 1949, a Pekeng Radio broadcast had stated that Tibet was an indivisible part of China, and anyone who failed to recognise this would ‘crack his skull against the mailed fist of the PLA. In January 1950, Mao, Sitting with Joseph Stalin in Moscow, casually mentioned his plan to conquer Tibet. Staline agreed, saying, “It’s good that you are preparing to attack. The Tibetans need to be subdued” He assured Mao that he would consider giving military assistance to the project.

In simple, In order to invade Tibet he is going to use disciplined and trained People’s Liberation Army.  In early September 1949, a Peking radio broadcast that anyone who denies Tibet as part of China will be killed. In January 1950, Mao was with Joseph Stalin in Moscow, Mao talked about his plan to conquer Tibet and Stalin agreed to Mao’s plan and also offered his assistance in the project to conquer Tibet. Even though people of Kham and Amdo fought against the Chinese army to protect their mother land, due to lack of proper organization and strategy, they lost the battle against the huge number of trained Chinese soldiers. The Chinese soldiers have already taken over the eastern region and now marching towards Lhasa. Many Tibetan commanders have surrendered to resist against the Chinese soldier. As written in the novel Seven years in Tibet by the author Heinrich Harrer:

In the meantime, the Chinese troops had penetrated hundreds of miles into Tibet. A few Tibetan commanders had already surrendered, and others had ceased to resist, seeing no future in a fight against overwhelming force. The governor of the principal town in East Tibet has sent a wireless message to Lhasa asking for permission to surrender as resistance was useless.

In different words, after the enthronement of young Dalai Lama, the Chinese troops had travelled hundreds of miles into Tibet. Few Tibetan commanders have to surrender the resistance against the Chinese army. The governor of the East Tibet sends a wireless message to Lhasa to give him permission to surrender the resistance against China.  In 1950 China negotiated the Seventeen Point agreement with the newly enthroned 14the Dalai lama, Tenzin Gyatso’s government officials to give up their land to the People’s Republic of China. Even Though, Tibetan officials have signed the seventeen point agreement, PRC still face high resistance from the Tibetan People in the heart of the country Lhasa. As written in Indo-Tibet-China Conflict written by author Dinesh Lal:

By 1957 a large number of volunteer defenders from various parts of the eastern region of Tibet had gathered around Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Khampas felt the need to form a united organization to confront the Communist Chinese aggression. But by that time, the Chinese had started to exert pressure and our government’s position was rather helpless. Meanwhile the Khampa volunteer leaders were having secret meetings, busy in laying out future plans and strategies. As a result of their common efforts it was finally and unanimously decided to form a united resistance organization against the common enemy, the communist Chinese aggression. The leaders then signed a statement pledging their commitment to risk everything to resist the Communist Chinese. (Dinesh Lal, 144)

In other words, by 1958, a large group of volunteer army from the eastern region of Tibet has grouped around Lhasa to defend against the Chinese army marching. Tibetan people from the east, known as Khampas felt the need to unite in order to fight against their common enemy (PLA). During that time India was helpless to help the Tibetan because the Chinese had already started their invasion and had concurred eastern region. Khampa volunteer leaders have secret meetings to plan out the future and strategy. Their effort brought more Tibetans to join the resistance against the Chinese aggression. The leaders are committed to give up anything to resist against the Chinese. In addition, In 1959, due to constant pressures and threat from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), over 300,000 Tibetan’s surrounded Dalai Lama’s palace to protect him from being removed or taken. In order to preserve Tibetan culture and nation he ran away with few hundred Tibetans to exile in India. It seems that humans are defined and characterized by their traditions, cultures and languages. Similarly, humans are strongly attached to it.  The citizens of Tibetans formed their own volunteer army to protect their traditions and cultures as their job at the same time.

Human society is not just the changes in the dynamic of society but it is also changes in cultures and traditions. From centuries and centuries of evolution of cultures and tradition build strong bond between human and their culture and traditions. As humans learn and explore, more and more changes occur in cultures.  After the Chinese occupation of Tibet, there have been many changes. Thousands of Tibetan ran away to India and Thousands are still inside Tibet. Many Tibetans migrate to India from 1959 till the present. Many Tibetan parents send their kids to India to get education and also to be able to preserve their cultures. Mao’s ideas run through the society to bring to forward towards the modern world. He convinced the people to destroy the four old: Old customs, old cultures, old habits and old ideology. As written in the book The making of Modern Tibet by author, A. Tom Grunfeld:

By August 1966, only days after the Red Guards had rallied in Beijing, “the Great Proletarian Cultural revolution had spread to Lhasa, uprooting in its tide the poisonous weeds of the old society and touched the roof of the world,” A campaign was immediately launched to eliminate the “four olds” (Ideology, customs, culture, and habits) and replace them with the “four new” (also ideology, customs, culture and habits). Street names were changed to reflect revolutionary themes, tens of thousands of copies of the volume of Mao’s quotations were distributed, Mao’s portrait began appearing all over Lhasa, compulsory study groups were organized to read and discuss Mao’s writing, and illiterate peasants were encouraged and praised for memorizing Mao’s exact words. More ominously, the Jokhang Cathedral was attacked by the most militant Red Guards and many religious objects were destroyed. (183)

In other words, by 1966, The Red Guards had spread in the capital Lhasa, whose goal is to destroy old traditions and culture and adapt to modern society. The campaign is to destroy the four olds (ideology, customs and culture and habits) and replace it by new fours. Streets are named after revolutionary themes and Mao’s quotations are distributed in the Tibetan society, encouraging them to study and discuss, especially encouraging and praising uneducated ones to memorize Mao’s quote. Moreover, the Jokhang temple was attacked by the Red Guards and many religious objects were destroyed. In addition, in the same book it stated that:

The damage caused by the wanton destruction and the fighting was awesome. Contrary to the propaganda claims that the Tibetans were “jubilantly” welcoming the Cultural Revolution, the reality was far more cruel. even if we discount stories of thousands of Tibetans killed ( government officials claim fewer than one hundred people died during the GPCR) and of monks and nuns being forced to copulate with each other in public, to smash icons and kill flies, verifiable activities of the Red Guards are terrifying enough. There were killings and people hounded into suicide. People were physically attacked in the streets for wearing Tibetan dress or having non-Han hair styles. An attempt was made to destroy every single religious item. All but a handful of monasteries and temples (the figures range from 2000 to 6500) were destroyed, many taken down brick by brick until no a trace was left. (185)

In simple, the propaganda claims that the Tibetans have welcomed the Cultural Revolution; in fact the reality is crueler. Government claimed that the deaths of Tibetan are fewer than one hundred but the fact is that thousands of Tibetan people died. Red Guards actions were cruel, forcing monks and nun to engage in sexual intercourse in public and smash icons and kill flies because in doing so will destroy their vows of taking the oath to follow the path of Buddha. Many people suicide because they are terrified with the treatment of Red Guards. Any sign of traditional activities are punished and destroyed. Tibetans wearing Tibetan cloths were beaten and people with no Han hairstyles were also beaten.  The Red guards attempted to destroy every religious object, they have destroyed from 2000 to 6500 and now there are only few surviving monasteries that survived the destruction. Furthermore, Since Dalai Lama escaped, CCP put the second highest Lama Panchen Lama as the acting chairman of TAR. He is an educated person who is an expert in both Marxism and Buddhism ideology. He later on wrote 70,000-Character Petition to express his concerns about the results of suppression of the revolt. The title of the petition is “A report on the sufferings of the Masses in Tibet and Other Tibetan Regions and Suggestions for Future Work to the Central Authorities through the Respected Premier Zhou”. Panchen Lama wrote the petition in a most respectful language and his only wish is to convey some mistakes by lower-level cadres that left bad results for Tibet and Tibetans and that the mistakes can be fixed. He also mentioned that Tibetan Buddhism and national Identity were threatened and it might cause the loyalty of Tibetan towards CCP. The report is divided into eight sections of problems with his critique and suggestions: Suppression of the Tibetan Rebellion (death of 10,000 Tibetans, Harsh treatment of those who surrendered), Democratic reform in Tibet (innocent Tibetan accused of rebel activities are punished), Decline of agricultural production in Tibet (many Tibetan’s are starving to death), The United Front (to help the people in despair), Democratic centralism, Dictatorship in Tibet (dictatorship can be used as tool, conveys all the abuse by the CCP on innocent Tibetans) , Religion in Tibet (violation of religious freedom and the destruction of monasteries), and Tibetan nationality (preservation of Tibetan language, costumes, and customs). In addition, there are many Han moving into Tibet and government encourages Chinese to migrate to Tibet. Tibet has developed greatly in economy since the occupation of China, but not merely because Tibetans are having better economy, but numbers of Chinese business man and women are increasing. Many schools and colleges are built in Tibet, due to that reason; number of literate people has increased a lot. On the other hand, Tibetans are losing their language and culture since there are many Han Chinese coming in Tibet. As written in the book Language Policy in the People’s Republic of China: Theory and Practice by Minglang Zhou and Hongkai Sun:

Tibetans have more contacts with the Han or more Han migrants. For instance, in some areas in Tibetan communities in Gansu, Qinghai, and Sichuan where the majority of the population is the Han, tens of thousands of Tibetans have now shifted to Chinese. Language use by the Tibetans in Tianzhu, Gansu province, best illustrates this language shift situation. In Tianzhu, since 1949, the number of the Han people has increased rapidly to about 70% of the local population. The dominance of the Han population has changed the status of language use: Tibetans in urban and agricultural areas where they are a minority in number have given up or have begun to give up their native language. I have observed in my own community in Ganna that nowadays fewer and fewer Tibetan teenagers speak Tibetan. (225)

In simple, there are more Tibetans who have contacts with more Han migrants in Tibet. Some areas of Tibet, there are more Han than the native Tibetans living there. Due to that reason, many Tibetans have shifted into Chinese. Since 1949, the number of Chinese in Tianzhu has increased to 70% of the local population. The language use in the society has changed, especially in urban and agricultural areas. Change of population dynamic force Tibetan to give up their native language. More and more Tibetan teenagers don’t speak Tibetan because of the dynamic of the society. The change in society force native countries to lose their culture and it is possible that it will go instinct if it continues to grow in that manner. Due to that reason, many Tibetans in Tibet send their kids to India to study Tibetan and preserve their culture. Changes forced by the society after the Chinese invasion brought many Tibetan to their sense of preserving their traditions, cultures and language. Need to change ones cultures and traditions to destroy the trace of one race are possible, if they completely destroys ones cultures, traditions and languages. Due to that reason humans hold tight onto it.

Need of preserving cultures and traditions of the nation have never occurred more often than modern days. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Dalai Lama fled to India to preserve Tibetan culture as well as running away from the cruel Chinese rule. Many Tibetans either run away or send their kid to India to preserve Tibetan traditions and culture because China is trying to eliminate Tibetan cultures and traditions in any possible way. Now, Tibetans have started their new refugee community in India and has rebuilt their lives. As written in the book Exile as Challenge: The Tibetan Diaspora by Dagmar Bernstorff and Hubertuson Welck:

Today, after more than four decades in exile, the Tibetan refugee community has managed to rebuild their lives in a completely alien environment with about 130,000 refugees worldwide achieving almost total economic self-reliance. The majority of the refugees in South Asia are settled in 46 settlements, comprising of 24 agricultural, 16 agro-industrial and 10 handicraft units. Almost all the settlements are provided with primary and secondary schools, primary health care centers and cooperative societies. In addition, most settlements have clinics to provide traditional Tibetan holistic health care services. There are also monasteries, nunneries and temples to fulfill the spiritual needs of the people. (125)

In different words, Tibetan refugees were able to strive in alien land. There are about 130,000 refugees living worldwide. In South Asia there are settled in 46 settlements, with 24 agricultural and 16 agro-industrial and 10 handicraft units. Most of the settlements are provided with secondary and primary schools, primary health centers and traditional healers. There are also temples, monasteries and nunneries for spiritual practice and needs of the peoples. In school, they teach Tibetan as the main language, English as second language, Math, science and Social Studies. Math, science and social studies are taught in Tibetan until fifth grade, after fifth grade everything is taught in British English except for Tibetan to prepare them for Indian universities and college since Tibetans don’t have their own college and university. Majority of the students live in the boarding school because they don't have their parents with them or their parents are in financial crisis. Students speak new kind of Tibetan where all different dialogs of Tibetan languages are mixed. Traditions and cultural celebrations are celebrated and cultural shows to preserve Tibetan cultures. Moreover, the book Exile as Challenge: The Tibetan Diaspora by Dagmar Bernstorff and Hubertuson Welck has written:

For the organization of the refugee community, and more importantly to guide the Tibetan struggle for national self-rule, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have set up their headquarters in  Dharamsala, 500 kilometres north-west of New Delhi in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The government and CTA have over the years served as a rallying point around which the suffering but determined refugees can rebuild their lives and future. The Tibetans, both inside and outside Tibet, recognise the CTA as their sole and legitimate government. It is also increasingly recognised as the legitimate government and true representative of the Tibetan people by parliaments around the worlds. (126)

In other words, Tibetan Government in Exile with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) is settled in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. CTA helps to organize refugee community and guide Tibetans in struggle. Tibetans, from both inside and outside Tibet, look up to CTA as their legitimate government. CTA is also recognized by many other parliaments in other countries as legitimate government representing Tibetan people. The success of Tibetan refugee community is from their hard work. Their spirit of independence one day, kept them going. With the help and guidance of Dalai Lama’s guidance in Tibetan government and Tibetan society, Tibetans were able to thrive in an alien land. With the acceptance by Indian people and the government has helped Tibetans to prosper. From the beginning of the Exile society, Dalai Lama has guided Tibetan refugees and builds CTA to preserve Tibetan cultures, at the same time modernize and democratize Tibetan society. After Dalai Lama was confident enough to let Tibetans to run their own government, he retired from politics and made Tibetans to vote for their new prime minister. Now, Tibetan government in Exile is run by Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, who graduated from Harvard University. Many analysts said that Dalai Lama aims to make sure that even though Chinese try to elect the next Dalai Lama, in non-traditional way or religious way, or even try to elect fake Dalai Lama like they did with second highest monk in Tibet Panchen Lama, Tibetan can depend on their own and be able to elect their own government officials which is out of Chinese control. The fear of losing identity in the modern world is a disaster and it takes really hard work and preservative community to save their cultures, traditions and languages that represent their nation and their nationality.

Nationality is a fiction that exists in society to create boundaries and limit to something that cannot be owned. It is the pressure of the changes in process of the modern world that brought the idea of nation. Due to changes from the modern world, people are thinking in a way that they group with similar traditions, cultures and languages. Then the fear of losing their identity in the modern world is a disaster and it takes really hard work and preservative community to save their cultures, traditions and languages that represent their nation and their nationality. To be able to be herd in the world.  As stated by John Powers:

The strongest cause for the feeling of nationality . . . is identity of

political antecedents; the possession of a national history, and consequent community of recollections; collective pride and humiliation,

pleasure and regret, connected with the same incidents in the past. (Powers 73)

In other word, nationality is identity of people to have power over their country, their identity, political events and community to share their similar history and pride (Similar culture, traditions and languages) Idea of nation and nationality had forced humans to hold on tighter to their traditions, cultures and languages. In modern days, you judge someone from where they from and many have pride from where they came from. That feeling of belonging to a society or a group is what humans are attached to. Humans are social animal and in order to survive, we go in a group. It seems impossible to see humans separated from cultures, traditions and languages.