HIST10 World Civ
Lect. # 15

In Search of Shangri-la

I. Introduction
         A. How the present colors the past
                • Cold War in Ancient Greece
                • Second Vietnam
                • People's Republic of China's claims on Tibet

         B. Imagined Histories
            1. Lost Horizon - James Hilton (1933)
                • Frank Capra (1937)
            2. Need to keep "imagined" and "historical" separated

II. What is Tibet?
            1. Physical Tibet
                  a. Natural Boundaries
                        - SOUTH:  Himalayas
                        - WEST:  Karakorums
                        - NORTH: Kunlun, Astin Tagh and Nan Shan Mountains
                                ● Qaidam (Tsaidam) Basin
                        - EAST:  Salween, Irrawady and Yangtse River headwaters

                  b. Numbers
                        - Area of Tibetan Plateau:  roughly 1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers)
                        - Elevation:  average elevation 16,000 (4,900 meters)
                        - Climate
                        - Population:  c. 2.7 million (within Tibetan Autonomous Region)

            2. Political Tibet
                        - SOUTH:  India/Nepal
                        - WEST:  Afghanistan/Pakistan/Tajikistan ("Pamir Knot")
                        - NORTH: Xinjiang (Turkestan)
                        - WEST: China

                  d. "Boundaries"?
                        - Topographical, political, ethnic?

            2.  Ethnographic Tibet [map]
                  a. Regions of Tibet
                        - Amdo (NE)
                        - Kham (E)
                        - U (Central)
                        - Tsang (W)
                  b. Ethnic (or Cultural) Tibet vs. Political (or TAR) Tibet
                        - Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR
                                ● 4.6 million ethnic Tibetans in PRC
                                ● 46% within TAR
                                ● 54% outside (Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan)

III. Tibet:  Early Rise

            1. PHASE ONE: Tibet Emerges (7th - 10th Centuries)
                  a. Songtsen Gampo (r. 617-650)
                        - Princess Wengchin (China)
                        - Princess Bhirkuti (Nepal)
                  b. Rival Empires (map)
                        - Nanzhao, Mongols, Uyghurs, China
                 c. Trisonog Detsen (r. - 797[804])

            2. PHASE TWO: Tibet in Transition (9th - 16th Centuries)
                  a. Genghis Khan (in Central Tibet by 1206)
                  b. Mongol Rule = Chinese Rule?
                  c. Rise of Geluk (or Geluk-pa) - Yellow Hats