Ethnic makeup

Tibetans form the major ethnic group in the Tibet Autonomous Region. In China as a whole, apart from those scattered in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces, around half of all Tibetans dwell in Tibet. As one of the most ancient ethnic group in China, the Tibetan race was formed in the 7th century when the Tubo Kingdom unified many tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As these people have since been living there ever since, the bulk of the plateau is referred to as the Tibetan-inhabited area.

The Tibetan race played an important role in the formation and development of the Chinese nation. According to historical documents in Chinese, in the course of its development, the Tibetan race expanded to include the Han, Mongolian, Manchurian, Qiang and Naxi peoples. Such a situation contributed to the characteristics of the evolution of the Chinese nation and the development of Chinese history.

In addition to Tibetans, other ethnic groups, including Han, Hui, Moinba, Lhoba, Naxi, Nu, Derung, as well as Deng and Sherpa peoples, are found in Tibet. Other peoples come from other parts of China who are technical personnel, teachers, medical workers and others helping with economic and social development in Tibet. In addition, there is some transitory population engaged in labor service, commerce, transport business or catering trade.

Tibetan:
The principal inhabitants of Tibet, speaking the language that belongs to the Tibetan sub-group of the Tibeto-Burmese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. There are three main dialects: U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo. People in Qamdo Prefecture and the eastern part of northern Tibet speak the Kham dialect, while peoples in Lhasa, Xigaze and Shannan mostly speak U-Tsang dialect. Most Tibetans undertake farming and animal husbandry. Urban residents mostly engage in handicrafts and commerce. They believe in Tibetan Buddhism, but some worship the Bon religion, with a small number of them believing in Catholicism. Tibetan people wear robes with waistcloth. Women in U-Tsang area wear sleeveless robes complete with waist belts. Married women usually tie aprons with rainbow-like designs. Both men and women used to wear long hair and in plaits and like wearing ornaments. The style of dresses and ornaments varies more or less in different areas. The staple food is zanba (roasted qingke barley flour or pea meal). They like to drink tea with butter or milk and qingke wine. They also have a liking for beef and mutton, but do not eat dog meat and perissodactyls. Tibetans buried their dead in the ground, and also practice celestial burial (by which bodies were all exposed to birds of prey), cremation and water burial.

Moinba:
An old ethnic group living on the Tibetan Plateau mainly distributed in Moinyu in south Tibet, with some scattered in Medog, Nyingchi and Cona counties. The Moinbas speak the language that belongs to the Moinba sub-group of the Tibeto-Burmese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. With complex dialects, they have no their own script of written language. Most Mionba people can speak and write Tibetan. Their livelihood is based on agriculture, supplemented by animal husbandry, forestry, hunting and handicrafts. Moinba people wear red robes and brown hats with orange margin, or black terais. Women wear ornaments while men wear saber at the waist. Both men and women like drinking and smoking. Rice, corn, buckwheat and jizhaogu (glutinous highland millet) are staple foods. Most Moinba people believe in Tibetan Buddhism, but in certain areas, some people practice traditional shamanism. The dead are generally given water burial, while burial in the ground; celestial burial and cremation are also practiced.

Lhoba:
Mainly living in Lhoyu in the southeast of Tibet, with some scattered in Mainling, Medog, Zayu, Lhunze and Nang counties. The Lhoba language also falls into the Tibeto-Burmese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Having no scripts of their own, they normally use Tibetan for written communications. Mostly believing in Tibetan Buddhism, they mainly engaged in agriculture and are good at bamboo weaving. Men like wearing woolen sleeveless jackets and hats with brims made of animal leather or bamboo canes, while women wear short-sleeved shirts and sheathy skirts with leggings. Corn and Jizhaogu are staple foods. They also eat rice and buckwheat.

Hui:
Most of the Hui people living in the Tibet Autonomous Region today are descendants of the Hui who moved to Tibet from Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces during the Qing Dynasty. A small number of them came from Central Asia. Most live in cities and towns, notably Lhasa, Xigaze and Qamdo, doing business and handicrafts or working as butchers. They use both Tibetan and Chinese languages in daily life, and Urdu and Arabic in religious activities. They believe in Islam and mosques are found in Lhasa and some other places.

Deng:
Commonly known as "Dengba people" and mainly living in Zayu County. The Deng population in China is around 1,450. They speak a language also included in the Tibeto-Burmese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Their dresses are very unique. Women usually wear silver, drum-shaped earrings and a string of beads or silver ornaments on the neck, while men wear black scarf on the head and sword on the waist. Having no written language, they keep records by notching wood, tying knots or arranging sticks or branches even in the 1950s. After the Democratic Reform in Tibet, they started to move out from deep mountains and forests and settled in houses the government helped build for them.

Sharpa:
Mainly living in Lixin Township in the vicinity of the Zham entry/exit port and Chentang in Dinggye County at the China-Nepal border. There are now over 1,200 Sharpa people in China. In Tibetan language, "Sharpa" means "oriental people" as legend has it that their ancestors used to live in a area known as Shar in present-day Songpa of Sichuan Province. Having no scripts of their own, they use Tibetan in written communications. The Sharpa people in Lixin are divided into five surnames and those in Chentang into two. Marriage within the same surname is taboo. They believe in Buddhism. They mainly undertake agriculture and animal husbandry. Corn, potato, Jizhaogu, buckwheat and beans are staple foods. Men wear white, woolen, short-sleeved jacketing with black bands, sword on waist. Women wear black robe and colorful long-sleeved frock, gold earrings and long plaits with red string.

Population

In history, natural calamities, diseases and poor medical conditions, plus the fact that monks and nuns were not allowed to marry, meant that the Tibetan population registered negative growth for a prolonged period of time and there was even a sharp decrease. According to historical records, from the 7th to the 18th century, the Tibetan population overall decreased by eight million while in the 200 years from the 18th to the mid-20th century, the population further declined by 800,000.

Data shows that the period from 1951 to the present time is the one witnessing the fastest growth of the Tibetan population in the past 1,000 years or more. During the period, the birthrate and the natural growth rate have remained above the national average, with the Tibetan population increasing by 1.5 million. At the end of 2005, the population of the Tibet Autonomous Region reached 2.77 million, a net increase of 33,200 over 2004. The birthrate was 17.9 per thousand, mortality rate 7.2 per thousand, and the natural growth rate 10.7 per thousand.

The same period has also seen impressive improvement in the health of the Tibetans, with a lifespan averaging 67 years, as against 35.5 years before 1951.

Tabelle einfügen

About 19.9 percent of the Tibetan population lives in urban areas, and 81.1 percent in rural and livestock breeding areas. Tibet sees an uneven distribution of population, with the greatest concentration in the southern and eastern parts; only a small number of people live in the western and northwestern parts.

The Tibet Autonomous Region has the smallest population and is the most sparsely populated among China’s provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The average population density stood at 2.26 people per square km, equaling one-60th of the national average. The Lhasa Plain, the plains at the middle and lower reaches of the Nyangqu River and the Zetang Plain have about 50 residents per square km, and there are more than 100 people per square km in the vicinity of the Chengguan District in Lhasa. The upstream section on the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, upper reaches of the Lhasa River and the northeastern part of the Hengduanshan mountainous area in east Tibet have a population density of 3-10 people per square km on average. Of these areas, Lhaze, the Sagya Plain, the Nyang River Valley near Nyingchi and the Lancangjiang River Valley are more densely populated. The eastern Ngari and western Nagqu are the areas with the smalled population density in the world, being only 0.23 person per square km. Changtang in northwestern Nagqu is the "no-man"-area.

In the late 1970s, China began to widely implement a family planning and population control policy, advocating one child for one couple, with the aim of curbing the rapid population growth. But in Tibet, the Central Government encouraged the autonomous regional government to adopt special policies in accordance with its own conditions. In 1984, the region’s government decided to follow a special birth control policy in the regin, following the "one child for one couple"-policy among Han officials and workers working in Tibet and encouraging the Tibetan government workers and urban residents wanting a second child to delay doing so. Currently, those practicing family planning make up 12 percent of Tibet’s total population. The family planning work has been carried out on a voluntary basis. Forced abortion in any form is prohibited. Farmers and herders, who account for 88 percent of the region’s total population, are not subject to family planning policies. But they do receive education in scientific contraception methods, rational arrangements for birth and sound child rearing, so as to protect mothers and infants’ health and raise the quality of population. In addition, government health departments offer safe, reliable health service to farmers and herders who voluntarily request assistance in birth control.

Religion

Religions practiced in Tibet encompass Tibetan Buddhism, Bon and folk religion, plus Islam and Christianity. At present, there some 1,700 monasteries and nunneries of Tibetan Buddhism in the region, with 46,000 resident monks and nuns; 88 monasteries of the Bon religion, with some 3,000 resident monks, 93 Living Buddhas and over 130,000 religious followers; four mosques, with some 3,000 followers; and one Christian church, with over 700 worshippers.

The social influence of these religions varies with the regions. The influence of folk religion can be found only in the remote areas. As a result, it is very often ignored in Tibet as, unlike Tibetan Buddhism, the Bon religion, Islam and Christianity, it lacks theory, special venues for rituals and religious organizations. Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon religion are opposing faiths, although they have long exerted influence on each other. Thus parts of the Tibetan Buddhism can be found in the tenets of Bon, and vice versa. Both have absorbed the cream of the folk religion, such as worship of certain folk spirits. Islam and Christianity are small in the number of followers and influence in Tibet. They are practiced only in a limited area. However, they do exist and live harmoniously with Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon religion.

Tibetan Buddhism

In the early 7th century, Buddhism made its way into Tubo (the old name of Tibet) from Nepal and China’s Central Plains (the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River). Songtsan Gambo, the Tubo king, wed Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Nepalese Princess Bhributi. Each princess brought to Tubo a statue of Buddha, and their accompanying artisans built the Jokhang and Ramoche monasteries in Lhasa to house them. Their accompanying Buddhist monks then set about translating Buddhist scriptures.

Buddhism first became popular among the nobility and then gradually spread among the common people in the 7th century, but it collided with the Bon religion then holding sway. For hundreds of years, Buddhism absorbed many contents of the Bon religion and the folk religion. Gradually, strongly influenced by cultures of the surrounding areas, Buddhism in Tibet grew to possess voluminous classics, rich scriptural tenets, a sound monastic system, a strict sutra study system and meditation system; later, the Living Buddha reincarnation system emerged. Finally, it became a special branch different from the Han Buddhism and Pali-language Buddhism, Tibetan-language Buddhism also known as Lamaism.

Through long-time evolution, Tibetan Buddhism was split into many sects, mainly Nyingma (known as the Red Sect), Sagya (known as Colorful Sect), Gagyu (known as the White Sect) and Gelug (known as the Yellow Sect). Of all the sects, Gelug, founded by Zongkapa after his religious reform in the early 15th century, was the most powerful. The two major Living Buddha systems, Dalai and Panchen, were stemmed from the Gelug Sect.

Through a prolonged period of cultural exchanges, Tibetan Buddhism is practiced mainly in China’s Tibet as well as Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, plus areas concentrated with such ethnic groups in China as the Mongolian, Tu, Yugur, Lhoba, Moinba, Naxi, Pumi and Han. It has worshippers also in Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia and Russia.

During the heyday of Tibetan Buddhism, each Tibetan family was required to provide at least one member to become a monk or nun. This is why Tibetan monks and nuns made up 25 percent of the Tibetan population in the 16th century and thereafter. In 1951 when Tibet was peacefully liberated, there were 100,000 monks and nuns, or over 10 percent of the Tibetan population in Tibet. After the Democratic Reform in 1959, all monasteries went through reform according to suggestions by the 10th Panchen Erdeni. Tibetan people have since enjoyed freedom to be lamas or resume secular life.

Appendix: Living Buddha Reincarnation
Tibetan Buddhism has many sects, which have introduced their own system for disciples to take over the teaching from their masters so as to safeguard their established interests and defend their own rule. This constitutes one of the social factors contributing to the introduction of the Living Buddha incarnation system.

Garma Gagyu was the first among the various sects of Tibetan Buddhism to introduce the Living Buddha incarnation system. In 1283, when Garma Baxi, an eminent monk with the Garma Gagyu Sect who had been bestowed with the title of Imperial Tutor by the Mongol Khan Mongo, was granted a gold-rimmed black hat as the badge of office on his deathbed, he expressed a wish to find a boy as his reincarnation to inherit the black hat. This was the beginning of the black-hat Living Buddha reincarnation system. Other Tibetan Buddhist sects followed suit. The Dalai Lama reincarnation system was introduced in the 16th century, and that for the Panchen Erdeni in 1713. When the Gelug Sect took over power in the 17th century, the Living Buddha reincarnation system became a means employed by those in power in Tibet to seek prerogatives. To turn the tide, the Qing court promulgated the 29-Article Ordinance for More Effective Governing of Tibet in 1793. Article 1 of the Ordinance prescribed the introduction of the system of drawing a lot from the gold urn to determine the reincarnated soul boy of a deceased Living Buddha. For this purpose, the Qing court had two gold urns made: one for the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni, which is still kept in the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa; and one for Grand Living Buddha and Hutogtu Living Buddha in Mongolia and Tibet, which is still kept in the Yonghegong Lamasery in Beijing.

The state respects the faith in and practice of Living Buddha reincarnation, as well as the religious rituals and historical institution of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1992, the State Council Bureau of Religious Affairs approved the succession of the 17th Karmapa Living Buddha. In 1995, the Tibet Autonomous Region, at the approval of the State Council, accomplished the seeking and confirmation of the 10th Panchen’s reincarnated soul boy and the conferment and enthronement of the 11th Panchen, after going through the procedure of drawing a lot from the gold urn.

More than 30 Living Buddhas have been determined as new Living Buddhas with the approval of the State Council and TAR department concerned following the end of the Democratic Reform in 1959.

Bon Religion

In the 5th century BC, Prince Sinrao Mibo of the ancient state of Zhangzhong founded the Bon religion on the basis of an existing primitive religion unique to Zhangzhong. It conducted rituals mainly in the Montog area of Gar County primarily to pray for luck and for dispelling evil. It gradually spread to the area drained by the Yarlung Zangbo River, becoming a dominant religious force in the plateau.

When Buddhism spread to Tibet, priests of the Bon religion and Buddhists monks fought each other. For the sake of its own survival and development, Bon was forced to absorb, directly or indirectly, contents of Buddhism, such as putting on the kasaya, building monasteries, taking ritual walks, counting prayer beads [although in a way contrary to Buddhists], and reciting the Six Syllable Prayer [with words entirely different from that of Buddhism]. The Bon religion even has its own reincarnated Living Buddhas. Some say the Bon religion has become merely another form of Buddhism, but its followers reject this.

Tibet boasts 88 monasteries of the Bon religion. They include 55 in Qamdo, 23 in Nagqu, six in the Xigaze area, two in Nyingchi, one in Lhasa and one in Ngari.

Islam

Islam has been practiced in Tibet for some 1,100 years. Nowadays, there are more than 2,000 Hui residents in Lhasa, most of them Muslims. A small number of Muslims come from other ethnic groups or from foreign countries. All of them enjoy Islamic life to the full in Tibet.

Muslims in Lhasa have adopted the habits of Lhasa in terms of language and garments although they still maintain their own beliefs. While praying, they speak in Arabic first and then in Tibetan. There are four mosques in Lhasa, including the most famous one in Hebaling, located on Barkor Street South southeast of Jokhang Monastery. Built in 1716, it originally had a constructed area of some 200 square meters. It underwent reconstruction in 1793. In 1959, when the Dalai Lama and his men staged an armed rebellion, it was destroyed. However, it was rebuilt in the following year.

Christianity

The only Catholic Church is found in Yanjin Village of Mangkam County on the Sichuan-Yunnan border. After Catholicism spread to Yanjin in 1865, there were 17 people who served as priests or missionaries. This area is home mainly to Tibetans. Only a small number of the locals are of Naxi ethnic group. About 80 percent of the population (740) follows the Catholic faith. They recite prayers in Tibetan, and the local believers, like other Tibetans, celebrate the Tibetan New Year while taking Christmas as the most important holiday. While celebrating Christmas, however, there is no Christmas tree and no Santa Claus. A priest presides over the mass and gives a sermon. All the Catholic faithful gather in the courtyard of the church to dine and the party ends with Gozhuang and Xuanzi dances. When the nearby Gangda Monastery celebrates its Sorcerer’s Dance, the priest and laity are invited to watch.

Religious belief

Freedom to religious belief is a basic State policy of China. Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that all citizens enjoy freedom in religious belief; no State organ, social organization or individual is allowed to force any citizen to believe or not to believe in any religion; nor discriminate against any citizen with or with no religious belief; the State protects normal religious activities.

In old Tibet, all people had to have religious belief and Tibet followed the temporal and religious administration. They enjoyed no freedom to religious belief.

In 1959, Tibet underwent Democratic Reform. While abolishing the feudal privileges of the three major feudal lords and upper-class monks, annulling the exploitation system and separating religion from government, due respect was given to the Tibetan people’s freedom of religious belief and folk customs. After the Democratic Reform, there are still resident monks and nuns in monasteries and nunneries enjoying a good life, and religious personnel are allowed to conduct their activities freely. All this points up to the fact that the Tibetans enjoy real freedom to religious belief, enjoying the right to be lamas or resume secular life. Various monasteries have elected their own management committees or groups, which handle monastic life. Statistics show there are more than 46,000 monks and nuns in Tibet, or 2 percent of the region’s population. They are free to recite sutras, pray for good luck and dispelling evils, receive a blessing touch on the forehead from Living Buddhas and can conduct rituals to redeem the sins of the dead. In accordance with the need of the religious activities of the patriotic religious personages and followers, a number of major monasteries have been listed as cultural relics units subject to State or regional protection.

Today, religious followers in Tibet may set up family shrines to worship Buddha at home. They are also free to worship in monasteries. It is a common scene that Tibetan worshippers take ritual walks around holy mountains or holy lakes; devout people hang up sutra streamers, pile up Mani stone mounds, or prostrate themselves along the long way to Buddhist sites. Each year, there are up to a million people worshipping Buddha in the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa. In addition, religious habits and customs included in wedding or funeral ceremonies are fully respected. Various religious holidays, such as the Grand Summons Ceremony in Lhasa, traditional ritual walk around holy mountains in the Tibetan Year of the Horse, and traditional ritual walk around Nam Co Lake in the Tibetan Year of Sheep, are celebrated as usual.

The Living Buddha reincarnation system, unique to Tibetan Buddhism, still works in Tibet. In 1992, the Central People’s Government approved the 17th Living Buddha Garmaba of the Gagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1995, the soul boy of the late 10th Panchen Erdeni was determined through the method of drawing lots from the golden urn in accordance with the set religious rules and with the approval of the Central Government. Living Buddhas thus confirmed work actively in various religious sites.

Institutes of Buddhism

In 1983, with the aid from the TAR government, the Tibet branch of the Buddhist Association of China founded the Tibet Buddhism College and started to offer sutra-study classes in some monasteries. Now more than 3,000 monks have studied in such classes. In addition, large-scale lectures and debates on Buddhist doctrines are organized several times a year.

Besides, each sect recommends and sends a certain number of Living Buddha, Geshe (Geshe is a scholar with equivalent to doctoral degree in Tibetan Buddhism) and monastery administrators to receive further training in the Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China in Beijing.

In September 1987, with the approval of the State Council, the Beijing China Tibetan Language Higher Institute of Buddhism was set up according to the proposal of the late 10th Panchen Erdeni and Zhao Puchu, President of the Buddhist Association of China. The Instiute is located at Xihuangsi Monastery, Andingmen Wai of Beijing, which was where the 6th Dalai Lama paid audience to the Qing emperor. Students of the institute are reincarnated Living Buddhas (some being monk students) with monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet various other parts of China. The Institute teaches mainly Buddhist classics for two to three years in order to produce college-level graduates and even post graduate students. So far, the institute has recruited 10 classes of students, training more than 300 senior professionals in Tibetan Buddhism. The China Higher Institute of Tibetan Language Buddhism restored the degree system in 2004, and began to enroll students from the Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, as well as Tibet. A total of 27 monks attended examinations for 2005. The examination involves theories of Tibetan Buddhist classics, and Buddhist philosophy. Entrants are those who also succeeded in debate on Buddhist doctrines. In the end, four gained admission.

In recent years, the Tibet branch of the Buddhist Association of China organized religious figures to conduct friendly visits or academic exchanges in foreign countries. In the meantime, it has received more than 10,000 people form dozens of countries, who came individually or on groups for worship on Buddha, visit or inspection.