The Distorted Image of Tibet (Part II)

以下为大纪元对我的采访（英文部分）之二

Special interview with Chinese writer Ms. Zhu Rui
By Lin Caifeng


A Tibetan herdsman walks his yak along Kambala Pass, at 4794 meters above sea level, on the old road from Lhasa to Gyantse overlooking Yamdrok-Tso Lake. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
Below is the second part of an Epoch Times interview with Chinese writer Ms. Zhu Rui about her views on Tibet, the Tibetan people and their culture. Please also read The Distorted Image of Tibet (Part I)

My Work in Tibet: An Interview With a Master of Farm Slaves

After my first visit to Tibet, I started to create literary works featuring Tibet. Invited by the Society of Literary and Art Workers of Tibet Autonomous Region, I came to Tibet again and worked for the editorial department of the "Tibet Literature" . During this period, I took the opportunity to interview a master of farm slaves, a former Tibetan aristocrat who was referred to in the Chinese Communist regime’s propaganda materials.

Only then did I realize that Tibetan aristocrats are kindhearted, and every aristocratic family has a Buddha-worshipping hall. Worshipping Buddha and doing something good are major parts of their daily routines. In the past, many aristocratic families also offered food to beggars and wandering monks at their front doors every day. They would even generously meet the demands made by ruffians and those who goofed around if they came to their homes to beg for food during the Tibetan New Year.

In Tibet, beggars and poor people have never been discriminated against since Buddha Shakyamuni had been in that situation in the past.

The author of Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer, who was an Austrian mountaineer, escaped to Tibet after he was arrested by the Indian authorities in the wake of Germany’s being defeated inWorld War II. When he first arrived at Lhasa, he looked extremely awful, but an aristocrat invited him to his household. Besides helping him have a bath and haircut, the family also offered him new clothes. He was also invited to all the aristocratic families one after another, including the Dalai Lama’s mother. That’s why he maintained a good friendship with the Dalai Lama all his life.

After I associated with Tibetan aristocrats, I strongly felt their innate quality of compassion. I thus started to reflect on some of my own conventional notions. Their behaviors were absolutely different from that of the Chinese regime's propaganda. Of course, there might be some rotten apples in every group in the world, and some individual Tibetan aristocrats might not be so good, but I have not met them so far. Nonetheless, when an atypical case was portrayed by the regime as a common phenomenon, it was spread widely, and became a scheme to deceive and fool the Chinese people purposely. To the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, Tibet is a remote territory, and the only channel for them to know Tibet’s situation is the Chinese authorities’ propaganda.

There were various reasons for me to become interested in Tibet first and then to have passion for it afterward. Among others, I was very much moved by the Tibetans’ frankness, truthfulness and the mentality of allegiance. These traits are different from the Chinese people nowadays who always take into consideration their personal interests before doing anything. Tibetans are very intelligent, and are not as sly as the Chinese today.

Han People in Tibet
There are four categories of Han people living in Tibet. The first category is the cadres sent to work in Tibet. The second category is construction contractors and workers who were recruited from Sichuan and other provinces to construct Han-style buildings in the wake of the demolishing of many ancient Tibetan buildings. The third category is small business operators and vendors who moved to Tibet from the adjacent regions in Sichuan Province as they couldn’t make a living there due to the high unemployment rate. The fourth category is a small group of people who went to Tibet because of an interest in Tibetan culture, which is mainly composed of painters, artists and writers.

These artists would rather give up their comfortable lives in the hinterland of China and went to Tibet because they really love the culture there. In addition to their respect for Tibetan culture, they clearly know what is going on there. But they would never mention it, as they want to survive the atrocious rule by the Chinese Communist regime.

The vast majority of those who moved to Tibet did not understand Tibet, and their entering Tibet has resulted in damage to Tibet in various aspects. Take those small business operators and vendors for instance. They brought substandard commodities to Tibet from the hinterland of China. The goods many nomadic people came all the way from remote areas to buy from the market often turned out to be substandard. For instance, the thermos they bought cannot keep water warm and the footwear they bought was worn out in a few days.

Those Chinese construction contractors, workers, business operators, and vendors are mixed with Tibetans, but the Han people don’t appreciate or respect Tibetan culture at all. With the Chinese regime’s vicious propaganda against Tibet over the past years, they regard Tibetans’ unsophisticated traits as something underdeveloped, and the steadfastness of their belief as superstition.

The household where I stayed was on Barkhor Street in the old town of Lhasa, where many Chinese small business operators and vendors live nowadays. These merchants just dry their underpants and vests in the sun in front of Tibetan families’ Buddha-worshipping halls, irrespective of the fact that it would hurt Tibetans.

When I had a meal at small Chinese restaurant run by Han people from Sichuang Province during my first visit to Tibet, I asked the operator of the restaurant for the direction to Barkhor Street. It turned out that he warned me: “You’d better not go to Barkhor Street, as there is nothing meaningful you can see there. You should stay away from Tibetans, since they are not well-educated, If you approach them, you will be in danger.”

With this mentality, Han Chinese people find it difficult to associate with Tibetans. This is why the Dalai Lama didn’t want too many Han people migrating to Tibet. For one thing, it might deepen the conflicts between the two races, and for the other, Tibetan culture would be damaged tremendously.

Original Chinese Article: http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/8/9/7/n2254544.htm
Last Updated
Sep 27, 2008