Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun
by Ani Pachen and Adelaide
Donnelley is the story of a nun who became a resistance leader and was imprisoned by
the Chinese for 21 years before escaping to India.
The Dust Settles
By the time of Mao's death in 1976 even the Chinese had begun to realise that their rule in
Tibet had taken a wrong turn. Mao's chosen successor, Hua Guofeng, decided to soften the
government's line on Tibet and called for a revival of Tibetan customs. In mid-1977 China
announced that it would welcome the return of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan refugees,
and shortly afterwards the Panchen Lama was released from 14 years of imprisonment.
The Tibetan government-in-exile received cautiously the invitation to return to Tibet,
and the Dalai Lama suggested that he be allowed to send a fact-finding mission to Tibet
first. To the surprise of all involved, the Chinese agreed. As the Dalai Lama remarked in
his autobiography,
Freedom in Exile,
it seemed that the Chinese were of the opinion that
the mission members would find such happiness in their homeland that 'they would see no
point in remaining in exile'. In fact, the results of the mission were so damning that the
Dalai Lama decided not to publish them. Nevertheless, two more missions followed. They
claimed up to 1.2 million deaths (one in six Tibetans, according to the disputed report), the
destruction of 6254 monasteries and nunneries (also disputed), the absorption of two-thirds
of Tibet into China, 100,000 Tibetans in labour camps and extensive deforestation.
In China, Hua Guofeng's short-lived political ascendancy had been eclipsed by Deng
Xiaoping's rise to power. In 1980 Deng sent Hu Yaobang on a Chinese fact-finding mis-
sion that coincided with the visits of those sent by the Tibetan government-in-exile. Hu's
conclusions, while not as damning as those of the Tibetans, painted a grim picture of life
on the roof of the world. A six-point plan to improve the living conditions and freedoms of
the Tibetans was drawn up, taxes were dropped for two years and limited private enter-
prise was allowed. The Jokhang was reopened for two days a month in 1978; the Potala
opened in 1980. As in the rest of China, the government embarked on a program of exten-
ded personal and economic freedoms in concert with authoritarian one-party rule.
