Lect. #3 - What is Tibet

I. What is Tibet? (Phur!)
            0. Introduction
                        - Video:The Lost World of Tibet (BBC)
            1. Physical Tibet
                  a. Natural Boundaries
                        - SOUTH:  Himalayas
                        - WEST:  Karakorums
                        - NORTH: Kunlun, Astin Tagh and Nan Shan Mountains
                                ● Tsaidam Basin (map)
                        - EAST:  Salween, Irrawady and Yangtse River headwaters

                  b. Numbers
                        - Area:  roughly 470 million square miles (1.2 million square kilometers)
                        - Elevation:  average elevation 16,000 (4,900 meters)
                        - Climate
                        - Population:  2.6 million
                  c. Neighbors:
                        - SOUTH:  India/Nepal
                        - WEST:  Afghanistan/Pakistan/Tajikistan ("Pamir Knot")
                        - NORTH: Xinjiang (Turkestan)
                        - WEST: China

                  d. "Boundaries"?
                        - Topographical, political, ethnic?
                        - Terminological difference: Tibet vs. Tibetan Autonomous Region

            2.  Ethnographic Tibet (topographical)
                  a. Regions of Tibet (map #1/ map #2)
                        - Amdo (NE)
                        - Kham (E)
                        - U (Central)
                        - Tsang (W)
                  b. Ethnic (or Cultural) Tibet vs. Political (or TAR) Tibet (map)
                        - Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR
                                ● 4.6 million ethnic Tibetans in PRC
                                ● 46% within TAR
                                ● 54% outside (Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan)

II. Who are Tibetans?
            1. Tibetan (bopa/bod pa)
                  a. Farmer
                  b. Nomad (drokpa/'brog pa)
                  c. Tibetan (PRC) - (bod rigs)
            2. Insider (nangpa/nang pa) or Outsider (chipa/phyi pa)
                        - Buddhist vs. non-Buddhist
                        - Bon, Tibetan Muslims (Khaché/kha che), etc.

III. Tibet:  Four Phases

            1. PHASE ONE: Tibet Emerges (7th - 10th Centuries)
                  a. Songtsen Gampo (r. 617-650)
                  b. Rival Empires (map)
                        - Nanzhao, Mongols, Uyghurs, China

                  c. Trisong 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

            3. PHASE THREE:  Qing China and Tibet (17th-19th Centuries)
                  a. Qing China (1644-1911) [map #1; map #2]
                        - Manchu rulers
                  b. Key reforms
                        - Ambans
                        - Golden Urn

            3. PHASE Four: 20th Century Tibet
                 a.  Britain and Russia ("Great Game")
                 b.   Younghusband Expedition and the Anglo-Tibet Convention of 1904

IV. The Tibet Question