Grasping for the Shadow of Identity :: essays research papers fc

Grasping for the Shadow of Identity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There once lived a peaceful, ancient culture, isolated from civilization, living in peace and harmony with its surroundings, grounded in deep faith springing from its religious leader, blooming like a rose in the majestic hills. In what seemed like only minutes, this nation I speak of suddenly became a communist, occupied country, with no identity of its own, with an outlawed flag and an exiled leader. This nation is Tibet. After more than 2,000 years of freedom, one day in 1959 changed this country’s identity. In 1959, Tibet was occupied by the Chinese, who claimed that Tibet had always rightfully belonged to them. Tibet’s national flag is now outlawed, and its political and religious leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, is in exile in Dharamsala, India. Tibet is in disarray, and their culture and government now reflect that of the Chinese, though they are and have been making strong efforts to regain their freedom. Tibet has had a very ancient and illustrious history prior to the Chinese takeover. The nation began in 1063 B.C. Five hundred years before Buddha came into this world, a man named Lord Shenrab Miwo founded the Tibetan Bon religion. With this event, an empire named Shangshung ruled all of Tibet. This empire had eighteen kings before its decline. After the Shangsung Empire declined, a new kingdom called Bod came into existence. Bod is the current name of Tibet (Tibetan Studies). The Tibetan calendar places its origin in the year 127 B.C., when the kingdom was united under one ruler (King Nyatri Tsempo). This lineage of kings continues for over 1,000 years, until King Lang Darma was assassinated in 842 A.D. This period of kings had three kings that really did good things for Tibet, and they were called the Three Great Kings (Tibetan Studies 21). The three kings were Gampo, Detson, and Ralpachen. Under Gampo (629-649), Tibet became a serious military power, and Gampo was a great supporter of Buddism, so this religion gained prominence in Tibet. King Detson was in power during the peak of the Tibet power (755-797). During his reign, Tibet seized the Chinese capital, and adopted the Indian form of Buddism, built the first monastery in Tibet, and declared Buddism the state religion in Tibet. During the reign of Ralplachen (815-836), Tibet continued as a military power and won many key victories, and reached a peace treaty with China (Tibet: An Occupied Country).