I Hate Him- Views on the Dali Llama
Sias University
Henan Provence, China
April 23,2012
It is the first nice night of spring so I go to the tea shop after evening classes.I am sitting with my students, enjoying a cup of tea. The topic of the Dali Llama comes up and immediately, my students, who are so gentle, turn into bigoted, intolerant people.
"I hate him".
"I would spit on him if I ever saw him."
"He is a man filled with hate."
I was so baffled by this talk. But they were equally baffled by me.
"Do you realize the rest of the world sees him as a man of peace. He won a Nobel Peace Prize because of his humanity. " I tell them.
"So did your vice-president for making a movie about the environment. Did he deserve that prize?"
Well, it's hard to argue with that question. NO, I don't think Gore deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for this effort. But I do think the Dali Llama deserved it.
We couldn't come close to an agreement on this issue. So we agreed to disagree. But I did tell Gabby that I would allow her to write a position statement for me, which I would publish on my blog, without any edit. I only requested that she keep it factual rather than just emotional rants. Here is her statement:
My name is Gabriella and I'm a student from Sias university .Last night the other four members from World Academy and I have a heated debate on Dalailama with our facilitator Bridget .Interestingly ,Bridget call him Dali, but we call him Dalai. Dali sounds a little bit cute ,that make me a little bit unhappy .Cause in Chinese culture, Lai means somebody shamelessly .Most Chinese people will say Dalai instead of Dali.
I'm so surprised that most Americans speak highly of Dalai .Bridget think he is a man who represent peace, which sounds ridiculous to our ears .Of course ,both Americans and Chinese People regard Tibet as a holy, beautiful and mysterious place ,but this unique beauty is badly interfered by Dalai.
Actually, Tibet have a variety of religions, and Dalai is once a leader of Buddhism in Tibet. But when Dalai gets more and more support from some other countries who want China not to be united, he started armed rebellion at March 10th in 1959 as he was afraid of losing his power and democratic reformation carried on Tibet ,but it was failed soon and he left China at 1959 and fled to Indian .Despite his denials ,he wrote some letters to our PLA stationed in Tibet at that time ,he said ,the reactionary groups tried to drive a wedge between our relationships ,I felt so sorry ,and I'm trying to solve this problem .But years later ,he kept giving speeches and advocate his "peace theory" and he said we are not allow him to come back .He defined that riot as the peaceful revolt ,the reactionary groups he referred 50 years ago changed to they are forced to do so at that time. But the interesting thing is , our central authorities kept his occupation for five years after he fled.
Tibet belonged to China since the 13th century(Yuan Dynasty),but I don't deny there was a time Tibet lived dependent relatively cause there was a civil war in China between 1945 to 1949.(But we never lose the sovereign rights from Tibet, that's the reason why most of the countries all over the world don't admit Tibet is a depended country)As its high altitude and its unique location ,before the PLA came in to Tibet and liberated Tibet, Tibet had been in a serf system for a long time .95% of Tibet people were serfs and the people left were slave owners and monks .At that time ,every temple had a large areas of land and piles of serfs. When the slave owners had sacrificial ceremony, they will cut down the slaves' arms and peeled off their skin as offerings. When you come to the museums in Tibet now, you can find the order written by Dalai on peeling the slaves' skin. Our central government carried on land reform during the 1950s , the land owners had to hand over their lands and relief the slaves. Of course, it damaged the slave owners' benefits and they were not happy. Dalai is one of the people who suffered a lot at that time. So they started armed rebellion, then our government repressed, then Dalai fled. So now you know why Dalai is so dying to restore the serf system(Of course, he didn't call it serf system, and he described it as a glorious system) .Don't listen to his words on how happy people's lives are when Tibet was in serf system, I hope you can find somebody neutral on this issue but knew clearly about Chinese history and listen to what he will say about it. Or you can travel to Tibet, but remember do not go with the travel agency ,and do not only go to some temples, I suggest you going to common people's families personally and you will find on their walls are Chairman Mao's picture ,they still hang on chairman Mao's photo cause he gave them freedom and rights. They still kept their grandpas or great grandpas' photos that showed they had no arms. When you walk into the streets in Tibet, you will find those who advocate Tibet should be depended are lamas or the descendants of nobles .You can see lama's comfortable lives and listen to their complaints to our government.
In that time, the Tibet people are so backward in their culture, I will give you an example, when they have a disease, they will not go to the hospital, they will beg some monks who has high level for their excrement, they believe that kind of thing can cure a disease. They will not send the smartest child in their family to go to a college, instead they will send them to be monks. So the common people who lack of culture are easily stirred up by lamas .We respect their culture, but we hope them know modern culture. After PLA liberated Tibet, our central government constructed so many schools in Tibet and we have the policy that if the college graduates go to Tibet to offer education to local children, we can receive further education for free when we come back .So lamas are afraid of this, they are afraid that their common people will not listen to them, when they carried on riots, the target they will ruin are schools and hospitals. Despite of Dalai's words of human rights and freedom, it's actually a conflict between religious authority and modern civilization .
In my opinion, why the reason Dalai is so popular in American is that he always traveling around the western countries and waving the banner of religion and pretend to be peaceful, he said he is the representative of peace ,however on the other hand, just because he and his small group keeps speaking some unreal but negative things about politics and our Party such as Tibet people don't have human rights and they often organize some violent activities that makes Tibet not peaceful. What is the point of those violence? It's because he wants to spill our motherland and want to get back his personal rights when he can get as Tibet is in serf system. I have heard from some American friends that they think maybe the Tibet people probably want to keep the serf system, but the reality is, reactionary, backward schedule serf system, was tremendous tie of society. Just think about the black people live in American, do they want to come back to the slavery system again? Just as the religious court never forgave Copernicus and Galileo, it will be a long struggle accompanied with riots, negotiations and debate.
I also want to mention that before Beijing held the Olympics, Dalai declared he had the best wishes for Beijing Olympic Game, while when we passed the torch at Paris, his supporters want to rob the Olympic torch from a girl who is a disability and want to hurt her. During March 11th to March 13th,his supporters shouted slogans "Tibet is depended" and throw some stones and lime to the security staff, a few Buddhist monks tried to use knifes to hurt themselves and then took pictures by themselves. They want to fake that our staff have hurt them. The result is that tens of police were seriously hurt that day. What's more, your media only said that we controlled too much on Tibet and their supporters merely intend to hold small peaceful demonstrations. That is the first time that Chinese people changed the impression that western media is always objective and fair.
Now Dalai gets support from western counties and he always show that he is the representative of peace. But the violence happened in China these years are connected to him, Buddhism orders the monks' intrinsic quality is mercy to everyone, but he used this feature to do some destructive things to our country. I don't think my essay will change your opinion upon Dalai, all your opinions on him are that he is a good person. But in the end, I want to remind you that to know more about our history instead of listening to him saying his injustice all the time. Get back your sympathy for him first and your prejudice on China, welcome to our country, our Tibet then have a look.
I'm so surprised that most Americans speak highly of Dalai .Bridget think he is a man who represent peace, which sounds ridiculous to our ears .Of course ,both Americans and Chinese People regard Tibet as a holy, beautiful and mysterious place ,but this unique beauty is badly interfered by Dalai.
Actually, Tibet have a variety of religions, and Dalai is once a leader of Buddhism in Tibet. But when Dalai gets more and more support from some other countries who want China not to be united, he started armed rebellion at March 10th in 1959 as he was afraid of losing his power and democratic reformation carried on Tibet ,but it was failed soon and he left China at 1959 and fled to Indian .Despite his denials ,he wrote some letters to our PLA stationed in Tibet at that time ,he said ,the reactionary groups tried to drive a wedge between our relationships ,I felt so sorry ,and I'm trying to solve this problem .But years later ,he kept giving speeches and advocate his "peace theory" and he said we are not allow him to come back .He defined that riot as the peaceful revolt ,the reactionary groups he referred 50 years ago changed to they are forced to do so at that time. But the interesting thing is , our central authorities kept his occupation for five years after he fled.
Tibet belonged to China since the 13th century(Yuan Dynasty),but I don't deny there was a time Tibet lived dependent relatively cause there was a civil war in China between 1945 to 1949.(But we never lose the sovereign rights from Tibet, that's the reason why most of the countries all over the world don't admit Tibet is a depended country)As its high altitude and its unique location ,before the PLA came in to Tibet and liberated Tibet, Tibet had been in a serf system for a long time .95% of Tibet people were serfs and the people left were slave owners and monks .At that time ,every temple had a large areas of land and piles of serfs. When the slave owners had sacrificial ceremony, they will cut down the slaves' arms and peeled off their skin as offerings. When you come to the museums in Tibet now, you can find the order written by Dalai on peeling the slaves' skin. Our central government carried on land reform during the 1950s , the land owners had to hand over their lands and relief the slaves. Of course, it damaged the slave owners' benefits and they were not happy. Dalai is one of the people who suffered a lot at that time. So they started armed rebellion, then our government repressed, then Dalai fled. So now you know why Dalai is so dying to restore the serf system(Of course, he didn't call it serf system, and he described it as a glorious system) .Don't listen to his words on how happy people's lives are when Tibet was in serf system, I hope you can find somebody neutral on this issue but knew clearly about Chinese history and listen to what he will say about it. Or you can travel to Tibet, but remember do not go with the travel agency ,and do not only go to some temples, I suggest you going to common people's families personally and you will find on their walls are Chairman Mao's picture ,they still hang on chairman Mao's photo cause he gave them freedom and rights. They still kept their grandpas or great grandpas' photos that showed they had no arms. When you walk into the streets in Tibet, you will find those who advocate Tibet should be depended are lamas or the descendants of nobles .You can see lama's comfortable lives and listen to their complaints to our government.
In that time, the Tibet people are so backward in their culture, I will give you an example, when they have a disease, they will not go to the hospital, they will beg some monks who has high level for their excrement, they believe that kind of thing can cure a disease. They will not send the smartest child in their family to go to a college, instead they will send them to be monks. So the common people who lack of culture are easily stirred up by lamas .We respect their culture, but we hope them know modern culture. After PLA liberated Tibet, our central government constructed so many schools in Tibet and we have the policy that if the college graduates go to Tibet to offer education to local children, we can receive further education for free when we come back .So lamas are afraid of this, they are afraid that their common people will not listen to them, when they carried on riots, the target they will ruin are schools and hospitals. Despite of Dalai's words of human rights and freedom, it's actually a conflict between religious authority and modern civilization .
In my opinion, why the reason Dalai is so popular in American is that he always traveling around the western countries and waving the banner of religion and pretend to be peaceful, he said he is the representative of peace ,however on the other hand, just because he and his small group keeps speaking some unreal but negative things about politics and our Party such as Tibet people don't have human rights and they often organize some violent activities that makes Tibet not peaceful. What is the point of those violence? It's because he wants to spill our motherland and want to get back his personal rights when he can get as Tibet is in serf system. I have heard from some American friends that they think maybe the Tibet people probably want to keep the serf system, but the reality is, reactionary, backward schedule serf system, was tremendous tie of society. Just think about the black people live in American, do they want to come back to the slavery system again? Just as the religious court never forgave Copernicus and Galileo, it will be a long struggle accompanied with riots, negotiations and debate.
I also want to mention that before Beijing held the Olympics, Dalai declared he had the best wishes for Beijing Olympic Game, while when we passed the torch at Paris, his supporters want to rob the Olympic torch from a girl who is a disability and want to hurt her. During March 11th to March 13th,his supporters shouted slogans "Tibet is depended" and throw some stones and lime to the security staff, a few Buddhist monks tried to use knifes to hurt themselves and then took pictures by themselves. They want to fake that our staff have hurt them. The result is that tens of police were seriously hurt that day. What's more, your media only said that we controlled too much on Tibet and their supporters merely intend to hold small peaceful demonstrations. That is the first time that Chinese people changed the impression that western media is always objective and fair.
Now Dalai gets support from western counties and he always show that he is the representative of peace. But the violence happened in China these years are connected to him, Buddhism orders the monks' intrinsic quality is mercy to everyone, but he used this feature to do some destructive things to our country. I don't think my essay will change your opinion upon Dalai, all your opinions on him are that he is a good person. But in the end, I want to remind you that to know more about our history instead of listening to him saying his injustice all the time. Get back your sympathy for him first and your prejudice on China, welcome to our country, our Tibet then have a look.
