THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

The Dalai Lama should stick to religion 

The Dalai Lama should stick to religion 

Re: “Ask Tibetans what they want: ‘being conquered’ would not be the answer”, Have Your Say, yesterday.

China is officially composed of 56 ethnic groups, including Tibetans living inside Tibet. The Han are not the only Chinese group, as S Tsow presumably thinks; the different ethnic groups are like fingers and toes on the same body. They are all Chinese.
Tibet has been ruled continuously – not “on and off” – by the central Chinese government since the Yuan-Mongol dynasty (1279-1368). The late Li Ao, a well-known Chinese-Taiwanese writer, scholar and historian, offered interesting research and opinions on how Tibet was aligned to China. He quoted an essay handwritten by the sixth Qing emperor, Qianlong (1711-1799), on the selection of Dalai Lama: “The Buddha has no attachment to life, how could there be reincarnation? Since there are several hundred thousand Tibetan monks attached to this tradition, let them continue.” In the same essay, Qianlong also grants a golden flask for Tibetans to perform divination with sticks to choose their final Dalai Lama. Li Ao also produced a letter written by Qinghai province’s Mongo-Tibet administration chief to Kong Xiangxi, premier of the Chiang Kai-shek government, reporting the discovery of several boys in Qinghai designated as incarnations of the 14th Dalai Lama. 
I have read some good books on Buddhism written by the 14th Dalai Lama. His Excellency should preach more of that to his fellow Tibetans, instead of pursuing an anachronistic issue that will only create unneccessary confusion and chaos for the region.
Yingwai Suchaovanich

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