Hah~ Feels good ~ only one more final exam and this semester is OVER!

I’ve just finished reading a chapter about the Tibetan Antelope, pronounced Zangling Yang in Chinese, in Chinese. I learned about the history of their numbers, why cashmere is bad, and about how the black market in their pelts works. Please don’t buy cashmere. Thanks.

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Before that, I read about how Ozone was being depleted by Freon and how in a modern world we try not to do that anymore (though this was published before the recent scandal about it being produced…hmm. Imperfect world.)

Did you know that the kingdom of Tibet was actually a place from the 7th to 9th centuries, and then the name just sort of stuck in English, even though it’s had like ten names since then? Kind of like Korea, from Goryeo (7th to 10th cen. CE), and China from the Qin (3rd cen BCE)… South Korea (Hanguk) calls themselves (in translation) The Nation of the Han People, North Korea goes by Chosun as a continuation of the ancient kingdom by that name when not using their famed acronym~ Both Korean names date back to circa 1400 CE ~ and China (Zhongguo) is yes, The Middle Kingdom. (Interestingly, the word order of South Korea and China parallel ~ Hanguk, and Zhongguo, with ‘guk’ and ‘guo’ ultimately meaning the same thing – kingdom/nation, but the first word ~ Han/Zhong have different functions. One relating to a population, and the other, specifying how all else is outside. Han, the people, Zhong = Middle/Center). Tibet is known in Tibetan as Bo, and in Chinese as Xi Zang ~ hence the antelope’s name: Zangling Yang. (Xi is the word for Western, eg. Xian, the city; and xi-hong-shi… the tomato ~the western red persimmon; and Yang is for sheep, as is ‘ling’.)

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Did you know that only since the 16th century has the Dalai Lama existed… and the first/third was created through an agreement with the roaming Mongols (Altan Khan – The Golden Khan) long after they had been kicked out of Beijing while they circled the Ming empire trying to regain power. /Dalai Lama/ is actually the Mongolian title of “Oceanic Teacher.” It was created for a priest named Sonam Gyatso, because the name Gyatso in Mongolian was Dalai, meaning Ocean in English. They made him the third, because he didn’t want to be the first, out of respect for his teachers. So they stated that the first and second were retroactively there, and the first was the third. Yup. Basically, the Mongols wanted religious power-backing, so they propped up a priest in order to do it. He was trying to fight the Ming, but decided to take a payoff in 1571, and that was the end of that, but the Dalai Lamas lived on. Having the legitimacy of a great priest saying that this Khan was the incarnation of Kublai Khan was soundly empowering. This forged a working relationship. (citation: Timothy Brook’s “Great State”)

This wove the Tibetans and the Mongolians into a partnership that stood for hundreds of years (see the dark green below). Then in 1616, the Ming lost Beijing to the invading northerners (the Manchu, in the pink) who took advantage of the black plague and battles on all sides and settled in until they lost it all in 1912.

In 1649, the 5th Dalai Lama (forcibly installed at Lhasa by the Mongols in 1641) began traveling to Beijing to teach the emperor. The Yellow Temple in Beijing was built for him. The Jurchin/Manchu/Qing Dynasty became generally friendly with the Yellow Hat Buddhists at that juncture. The emperor respected the priest, the priest respected the emperor. It was a kind meeting when it happened finally, in 1653. (The image further above is of that meeting.) He went back to Lhasa, eventually died, but that fact was hidden. There was an inter-Mongol war over the area and the Dzungar team won. Then in 1720, Beijing came back and took full control. This was solidified in 1740 with an even more terrible war. The Manchu emperors were no longer kind, but they were in control.

This extended to what we now call Xinjiang. That was where the invading Mongol tribe of the Dzungar came from. The Qing extracted a genocide of 500-800,000 lives of the Dzungar people, ending the era of the nomadic tribes and solidifying the area. That land became China. Today, only about 15,000 people claim heritage from that group. That was 1755-1758… If Americans think they can tell China to “give it back,” I’d challenge them to consider giving back the land that was taken by Andrew Jackson in the 1830’s and all the rest. A bit more recent, that. Go ahead. Think that through. This animation will help.

https://currentpub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cdb65-mapofindianreservations.gif

To me, it’s obvious why the Red Army marched into Lhasa. It was the spiritual center of the old dynasty and needed to be controlled in order to be safe from a future invasion from either Manchu or Mongol armies from that flank. War is never a pretty or kind thing. When the United States gives the Black Hills to the Sioux, I’ll listen to the “Free Tibet” conversation. Otherwise, I can’t have it. 1868, we made a treaty. Then we broke it to steal gold. So no, I don’t struggle for Tibet, because I recognize the hypocrisy that that would represent.

To act like we know what it means to be at the intersection of cultures we don’t belong to is patriarchal, colonialist and abjectly invasive. We need to be empathetic. Think what it would be like for Chinese activists coming to the US to tell folks how to act regarding laws, population control, health management, whatever. How would that look and seem to you? Weird, right? Bingo. So, why does it seem reasonable? Breathe America. It’s time to introspect.

Introspection is what is needed. I hope for healthy realizations. I see a lot of pain and without our own house in order, we can’t possibly be helpful to others. Without our own house in order, we generally have troubles that need our attention. Let’s focus on our own troubles. Let’s stop the Corona Virus from spreading by social distancing, hand washing, and wearing masks, hoping that the end of its terror is near. Let’s get our social order in a healthy way by making a point to hire more black and brown folks who are clearly qualified for elite positions in American businesses and government positions. Let’s talk about our own indigenous population that lives inside our own borders, and somehow create a fairness that can then be considered a respectable example. Only then, can we share with others “good ideas” with the kind of honor and believability that we need. Respecting folks starts at home.

Me, I’m gonna keep studying, and teaching what is asked for. Teaching language and critical thinking, studying culture, language and people. Through these things, I hope to both be a learner and an active, positive pusher of noise and thought. For example, I learned a bit while writing this, and I hope this short article is useful as well to others than myself. I know it was good for me. How are you? What are your thoughts? Please, leave them in the comment section. I appreciate your feedback.

Cheers~