Editing Tibet (section)

== Culture ==
{{Main|Tibetan culture}}
[[File:Tibetischer Kulturraum Karte.png|thumb|right|Tibetan cultural zone]]

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Tibet}}

==== Buddhism ====
{{Main|Tibetan Buddhism}}
[[File:Monkhood in Tibet, Xigatse area, August 2005.jpg|thumb|Monkhood in Tibet, Xigatse area, August 2005]]
[[File:Phugtal col.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Phugtal Monastery]] in south-east [[Zanskar]]]]
[[File:Young monks of Drepung.jpg|right|thumb|Buddhist monks practicing debate in [[Drepung]] Monastery]]

Religion is extremely important to the Tibetans and has a strong influence over all aspects of their lives. [[Bön]] is the indigenous religion of Tibet, but has been almost eclipsed by Tibetan Buddhism, a distinctive form of [[Mahayana]] and [[Vajrayana]], which was introduced into Tibet from the Sanskrit Buddhist tradition of northern India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Conze |first=Edward |author-link= Edward Conze |title=A Short History of Buddhism |year=1993 |publisher=Oneworld |isbn=978-1-85168-066-5}}</ref> Tibetan Buddhism is practiced not only in Tibet but also in [[Mongolia]], parts of northern India, the [[Buryat Republic]], the [[Tuva Republic]], and in the [[Republic of Kalmykia]] and some other parts of China. During China's [[Cultural Revolution]], nearly all Tibet's [[List of Tibetan monasteries|monasteries]] were ransacked and destroyed by the [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]].<ref name="Tibetan monks: A controlled life">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7307495.stm Tibetan monks: A controlled life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218083955/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7307495.stm |date=February 18, 2009 }}. BBC News. March 20, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://voyage.typepad.com/china/2007/04/tibet_during_th.html Tibet During the Cultural Revolution] Pictures from a Tibetan People's Liberation Army's officer [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100505143725/http%3A//voyage%2Etypepad%2Ecom/china/2007/04/tibet_during_th%2Ehtml Archived copy] at the [[Library of Congress]] (May 5, 2010).</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20090724113809/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/26/opinion/oe-buruma26 The last of the Tibetans] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. March 26, 2008.</ref> A few monasteries have begun to rebuild since the 1980s (with limited support from the Chinese government) and greater religious freedom has been granted&nbsp;– although it is still limited. Monks returned to monasteries across Tibet and monastic education resumed even though the number of monks imposed is strictly limited.<ref name="Tibetan monks: A controlled life"/><ref>{{cite web |url-status=live |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DB123BF937A25755C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=Tibet's Buddhist Monks Endure to Rebuild a Part of the Past |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414142825/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/14/weekinreview/tibet-s-buddhist-monks-endure-to-rebuild-a-part-of-the-past.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |archive-date=April 14, 2023 |website=The New York Times |date=June 14, 1987 |last=Gargan |first=Edward A.}}</ref><ref>Laird 2006, pp. 351, 352</ref> Before the 1950s, between 10 and 20% of males in Tibet were monks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |title=A History of Modern Tibet: Volume 2 The Calm before the Storm, 1951–1955 |year=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA}}</ref>

Tibetan Buddhism has five main traditions (the suffix ''pa'' is comparable to "er" in English):

* '''[[Gelug|Gelug(pa)]]''', ''Way of Virtue'', also known casually as ''Yellow Hat'', whose spiritual head is the [[Ganden Tripa]] and whose temporal head is the [[Dalai Lama]]. Successive Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries. This order was founded in the 14th to 15th centuries by [[Je Tsongkhapa]], based on the foundations of the [[Kadampa]] tradition. Tsongkhapa was renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue. The Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelugpa school, and is regarded as the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.<ref>[[Avalokitesvara]], [[Chenrezig]]</ref>
* '''[[Kagyu|Kagyu(pa)]]''', ''Oral Lineage''. This contains one major subsect and one minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools that trace back to [[Gampopa]]. In turn, the Dagpo Kagyu consists of four major sub-sects: the [[Karma Kagyu]], headed by a [[Karmapa]], the Tsalpa Kagyu, the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu. The once-obscure [[Shangpa Kagyu]], which was famously represented by the 20th-century teacher [[Kalu Rinpoche]], traces its history back to the Indian master Niguma, sister of Kagyu lineage holder [[Naropa]]. This is an oral tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an 11th-century mystic.
* '''[[Nyingma|Nyingma(pa)]]''', ''The Ancient Ones''. This is the oldest, the original order founded by [[Padmasambhava]].
* '''[[Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist school)|Sakya(pa)]]''', ''Grey Earth'', headed by the [[Sakya Trizin]], founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa. [[Sakya Pandita]] 1182–1251 CE was the great-grandson of Khon Konchog Gyalpo. This school emphasizes scholarship.
* '''[[Jonang|Jonang(pa)]]''' Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master [[Yumo Mikyo Dorje]], but became much wider known with the help of [[Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen]], a monk originally trained in the [[Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist school)|Sakya]] school. The Jonang school was widely thought to have become extinct in the late 17th century at the hands of the [[5th Dalai Lama]], who forcibly annexed the Jonang monasteries to his [[Gelug]] school, declaring them heretical. Thus, [[Tibetology|Tibetologists]] were astonished when fieldwork turned up several active Jonangpa monasteries, including the main monastery, Tsangwa, located in Zamtang County, Sichuan. Almost 40 monasteries, comprising about 5000 monks, have subsequently been found, including some in the [[Amdo Tibetan]] and [[Qiang people|rGyalgrong]] areas of [[Qinghai]], Sichuan and Tibet. One of the primary supporters of the Jonang lineage in exile has been the [[14th Dalai Lama]] of the Gelugpa lineage. The Jonang tradition has recently officially registered with the [[Central Tibetan Administration|Tibetan Government]] in exile to be recognized as the fifth living Buddhist tradition of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]. The 14th Dalai Lama assigned [[Jebtsundamba Khutuktu]] of Mongolia (who is considered to be an incarnation of Taranatha) as the leader of the Jonang tradition.

The Chinese government continued to pursue a strategy of forced assimilation and suppression of Tibetan Buddhism, as demonstrated by the laws designed to control the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and those of other Tibetan eminent lamas. Monks and nuns who refused to denounce the Dalai Lama have been expelled from their monasteries, imprisoned, and tortured.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 2020 |title=USCIRF 2020 Annual Report on International Religious Freedoms |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%202020%20Annual%20Report_Final_42920.pdf |access-date=August 28, 2021 |publisher=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803033034/https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%202020%20Annual%20Report_Final_42920.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

It was reported in June 2021 that amidst the [[2020–2022 China–India skirmishes]], the [[People's Liberation Army]] had been forming a new unit for Tibetans who would be taken to Buddhist monks for religious blessings after completing their training.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rezaul H Laskar |date=June 22, 2021 |title=China raises new militias of Tibetan youth, deploys 1st batch in Chumbi Valley |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/china-raises-new-militias-of-tibetan-youth-deploys-1st-batch-in-chumbi-valley-101624371160233.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623100826/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/china-raises-new-militias-of-tibetan-youth-deploys-1st-batch-in-chumbi-valley-101624371160233.html |archive-date=June 23, 2022 |website=[[Hindustan Times]] |language=en |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref>

==== Christianity ====
{{See also|Catholic Church in Tibet}}
The first Christians documented to have reached Tibet were the [[Nestorian Christians|Nestorians]], of whom various remains and inscriptions have been found in Tibet. They were also present at the imperial camp of [[Möngke Khan]] at Shira Ordo, where they debated in 1256 with [[Karma Pakshi]] (1204/6-83), head of the [[Karma Kagyu]] order.<ref>Kapstein 2006, pp. 31, 71, 113.</ref><ref>Stein 1972, pp. 36, 77–78.</ref> Desideri, who reached Lhasa in 1716, encountered Armenian and Russian merchants.<ref>Françoise Pommaret, Françoise Pommaret-Imaeda (2003). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WhzF0N_X5KwC&pg=PA159 Lhasa in the Seventeenth Century: The Capital of the Dalai Lamas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328235314/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhzF0N_X5KwC&pg=PA159&dq&hl=en |date=March 28, 2017 }}''. BRILL. p.&nbsp;159. {{ISBN|90-04-12866-2}}</ref>

Roman Catholic [[Jesuits]] and [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchins]] arrived from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Portuguese missionaries Jesuit Father [[António de Andrade]] and Brother Manuel Marques first reached the kingdom of [[Gelu, Nepal|Gelu]] in western Tibet in 1624 and was welcomed by the royal family who allowed them to build a church later on.<ref>Graham Sanderg, The Exploration of Tibet: History and Particulars (Delhi: Cosmo Publications, 1973), pp. 23–26; Thomas Holdich, Tibet, The Mysterious (London: [[Alston Rivers]], 1906), p. 70.</ref><ref>Sir Edward Maclagan, The Jesuits and The Great Mogul (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1932), pp. 344–345.</ref> By 1627, there were about a hundred local converts in the Guge kingdom.<ref>Lettera del P. Alano Dos Anjos al Provinciale di Goa, 10 Novembre 1627, quoted from Wu Kunming, Zaoqi Chuanjiaoshi jin Zang Huodongshi (Beijing: Zhongguo Zangxue chubanshe, 1992), p. 163.</ref> Later on, Christianity was introduced to [[Rudok]], [[Ladakh]] and Tsang and was welcomed by the ruler of the [[Ü-Tsang|Tsang kingdom]], where Andrade and his fellows established a Jesuit outpost at Shigatse in 1626.<ref>Extensively using Italian and Portuguese archival materials, Wu's work gives a detailed account of Cacella's activities in Tsang. See Zaoqi Chuanjiaoshi jin Zang Huodongshi, esp. chapter 5.</ref>

In 1661 another Jesuit, [[Johann Grueber]], crossed Tibet from [[Sining]] to Lhasa (where he spent a month), before heading on to Nepal.<ref>''Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet, and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa'', pp. 295–302. Clements R. Markham. (1876). Reprint Cosmo Publications, New Delhi. 1989.</ref> He was followed by others who actually built a church in Lhasa. These included the Jesuit Father [[Ippolito Desideri]], 1716–1721, who gained a deep knowledge of Tibetan culture, language and Buddhism, and various Capuchins in 1707–1711, 1716–1733 and 1741–1745,<ref name="Stein 1972, p. 85">Stein 1972, p. 85.</ref> Christianity was used by some Tibetan monarchs and their courts and the [[Karmapa]] sect lamas to counterbalance the influence of the [[Gelugpa]] sect in the 17th century until in 1745 when all the missionaries were expelled at the lama's insistence.<ref name="pacificrim.usfca.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/research/pacrimreport/pacrimreport36.html |title=When Christianity and Lamaism Met: The Changing Fortunes of Early Western Missionaries in Tibet |author=Hsiao-ting Lin|author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting |publisher=Pacificrim.usfca.edu |access-date=March 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626095547/http://www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/research/pacrimreport/pacrimreport36.html |archive-date=June 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/6299565.stm |title=BBC News Country Profiles Timeline: Tibet|access-date=March 11, 2009 |date=November 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311184520/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/6299565.stm|archive-date=March 11, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Lettera del P. Antonio de Andrade. Giovanni de Oliveira. Alano Dos Anjos al Provinciale di Goa, 29 Agosto, 1627, quoted from Wu, Zaoqi Chuanjiaoshi jin Zang Huodongshi, p. 196; Maclagan, The Jesuits and The Great Mogul, pp. 347–348.</ref><ref>Cornelius Wessels, Early Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia, 1603–1721 (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1924), pp. 80–85.</ref><ref>Maclagan, The Jesuits and The Great Mogul, pp. 349–352; [[Filippo De Filippi (explorer)|Filippo De Filippi]] ed., An Account of Tibet, pp. 13–17.</ref><ref>Relação da Missão do Reino de Uçangue Cabeça dos do Potente, Escrita pello P. João Cabral da Comp. de Jesu. fol. 1, quoted from Wu, Zaoqi Chuanjiaoshi jin Zang Huodongshi, pp. 294–297; Wang Yonghong, "Luelun Tianzhujiao zai Xizang di Zaoqi Huodong", Xizang Yanjiu, 1989, No. 3, pp. 62–63.</ref>

In 1877, the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[James Cameron (China Inland Mission)|James Cameron]] from the [[China Inland Mission]] walked from [[Chongqing]] to [[Batang County|Batang]] in [[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]], Sichuan province, and "brought the Gospel to the Tibetan people." Beginning in the 20th century, in [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] in Yunnan, a large number of Lisu people and some Yi and Nu people converted to Christianity. Famous earlier missionaries include [[James O. Fraser]], [[Alfred James Broomhall]] and [[Isobel Kuhn]] of the China Inland Mission, among others who were active in this area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yunnan Province of China Government Web |url=http://www.eng.yn.gov.cn/yunnanEnglish/145529160029175808/20050623/378813.html | access-date=February 15, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312021316/http://www.eng.yn.gov.cn/yunnanEnglish/145529160029175808/20050623/378813.html | archive-date=March 12, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>Kapstein 2006, pp. 31, 206</ref>

[[Proselytising]] has been illegal in China since 1949. But {{As of|2013|lc=y}}, many Christian missionaries were reported to be active in Tibet with the tacit approval of Chinese authorities, who view the missionaries as a counterforce to Tibetan Buddhism or as a boon to the local economy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/21/going-undercover-christian-evangelists-tibet |title=Going undercover, the evangelists taking Jesus to Tibet |newspaper=The Guardian |date=February 21, 2013 | access-date=February 21, 2013 |author=Kaiman, Jonathan | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826064439/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/21/going-undercover-christian-evangelists-tibet | archive-date=August 26, 2013 | url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==== Islam ====
{{Main|Islam in Tibet}}
[[File:A new Muslim Mosque in Lhasa.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The [[Lhasa Great Mosque]]]]
Muslims have been living in Tibet since as early as the 8th or 9th century. In Tibetan cities, there are small communities of [[Tibetan Muslim|Muslims]], known as Kachee (Kache), who trace their origin to immigrants from three main regions: [[Kashmir]] (Kachee Yul in ancient Tibetan), Ladakh and the Central Asian Turkic countries. Islamic influence in Tibet also came from Persia. A Muslim Sufi [[Ali Hamadani|Syed Ali Hamdani]] preached to the people of [[Baltistan]], then known as little Tibet. After 1959, a group of Tibetan Muslims made a case for Indian nationality based on their historic roots to Kashmir and the Indian government declared all Tibetan Muslims Indian citizens later on that year.<ref>Masood Butt, [http://www.tibet.com/Muslim/tibetan-muslim.html 'Muslims of Tibet'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910081317/http://www.tibet.com/Muslim/tibetan-muslim.html|date=September 10, 2006}}, [[Government of Tibet in exile]], January/February 1994</ref> Other Muslim ethnic groups who have long inhabited Tibet include [[Hui people|Hui]], [[Salar people|Salar]], [[Dongxiang people|Dongxiang]] and [[Bonans|Bonan]]. There is also a well established Chinese Muslim community (gya kachee), which traces its ancestry back to the [[Hui people|Hui]] ethnic group of China.

=== Tibetan art ===
{{Main|Tibetan art}}
Tibetan representations of art are intrinsically bound with [[Tibetan Buddhism]] and commonly depict [[deities]] or variations of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] in various forms from bronze Buddhist statues and shrines, to highly colorful [[thangka]] paintings and [[mandala]]s.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} Thangkas are Tibet's traditional cloth paintings. Rendered on cotton cloth with a thin rod at the top, they portray Buddhist deities or themes in color and detail.<ref name=":0" /><gallery widths="200" heights="150">
File:Thanka.jpg|A [[thangka]] painting in [[Sikkim]]
File:Tibetan - A Ritual Box - Walters 572299 - Reverse.jpg|A [[ritual box]]
File:Old Ceremonial Tibetan Apron used by Head Priests - Courtesy the Wovensouls Collection.jpg|A ceremonial priest's yak bone apron
</gallery>

=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Tibetan culture#Architecture}}
Tibetan architecture contains Chinese and Indian influences, and reflects a deeply [[Buddhist]] approach. The [[Dharmacakra|Buddhist wheel]], along with two dragons, can be seen on nearly every [[Gompa]] in Tibet. The design of the Tibetan [[Chörten]]s can vary, from roundish walls in [[Kham]] to squarish, four-sided walls in [[Ladakh]].

The most distinctive feature of Tibetan architecture is that many of the houses and monasteries are built on elevated, sunny sites facing the south, and are often made out of a mixture of rocks, wood, cement and earth. Little fuel is available for heat or lighting, so flat roofs are built to conserve heat, and multiple windows are constructed to let in sunlight. Walls are usually sloped inwards at 10 degrees as a precaution against the frequent earthquakes in this mountainous area.

Standing at {{convert|117|m|ft|abbr=off}} in height and {{convert|360|m|ft|abbr=off}} in width, the [[Potala Palace]] is the most important example of Tibetan architecture. Formerly the residence of the [[Dalai Lama]], it contains over one thousand rooms within thirteen stories, and houses portraits of the past Dalai Lamas and statues of the Buddha. It is divided between the outer White Palace, which serves as the administrative quarters, and the inner Red Quarters, which houses the assembly hall of the Lamas, chapels, 10,000 shrines, and a vast library of Buddhist scriptures. The Potala Palace is a [[World Heritage Site]], as is [[Norbulingka]], the former summer residence of the Dalai Lama.

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Tibet}}
The music of Tibet reflects the cultural heritage of the trans-Himalayan region, centered in Tibet but also known wherever ethnic [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] groups are found in India, [[Bhutan]], Nepal and further abroad. First and foremost Tibetan music is [[religious music]], reflecting the profound influence of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] on the culture.

Tibetan music often involves [[chanting]] in [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] or [[Sanskrit]], as an integral part of the religion. These chants are complex, often recitations of [[sacred text]]s or in celebration of various festivals. [[Yin and yang|Yang]] chanting, performed without metrical timing, is accompanied by resonant drums and low, sustained syllables. Other styles include those unique to the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the classical music of the popular [[Gelugpa]] school, and the romantic music of the [[Nyingmapa]], [[Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist school)|Sakyapa]] and [[Kagyupa]] schools.<ref>Crossley-Holland, Peter. (1976). "The Ritual Music of Tibet." ''The Tibet Journal''. Vol. 1, Nos. 3 & 4, Autumn 1976, pp. 47–53.</ref>

[[Nangma]] dance music is especially popular in the [[karaoke]] bars of the urban center of Tibet, [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]]. Another form of popular music is the classical [[gar (music)|gar]] style, which is performed at rituals and ceremonies. Lu are a type of songs that feature glottal vibrations and high pitches. There are also epic bards who sing of [[Gesar]], who is a hero to ethnic Tibetans.

=== Festivals ===
{{Main|Tibetan festivals}}
[[File:IMG 1016 Lhasa Barkhor.jpg|thumb|The [[Monlam Prayer Festival]]]]
Tibet has various festivals, many for worshipping the Buddha,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Chiley Chudza |title=A Brief Introduction of Tibet Seasonal Festival Folklore - CNKI |script-title=zh:西藏岁时节日民俗概述 |language=zh|trans-title=A Brief Introduction of Tibet Seasonal Festival Folklore |journal=Journal of Tibet University (Chinese Version) |date=2007 |issue=2 |pages=26–32 |doi=10.16249/j.cnki.1005-5738.2007.02.006}}</ref> that take place throughout the year. [[Losar]] is the Tibetan New Year Festival. Preparations for the festive event are manifested by special offerings to family shrine deities, painted doors with religious symbols, and other painstaking jobs done to prepare for the event. Tibetans eat ''[[Guthuk]]'' (barley noodle soup with filling) on New Year's Eve with their families. The [[Monlam Prayer Festival]] follows it in the first month of the [[Tibetan calendar]], falling between the fourth and the eleventh days of the first Tibetan month. It involves dancing and participating in sports events, as well as sharing picnics. The event was established in 1049 by Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama's order.

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Tibetan cuisine}}
{{see also|List of Tibetan dishes}}[[File:Thupka with Momo - Tibetan Sytle.JPG|thumb|[[Thukpa]] with Momo – Tibetan Style]]The most important crop in Tibet is [[barley]], and dough made from barley flour—called [[tsampa]]—is the [[staple food]] of Tibet. This is either rolled into noodles or made into steamed dumplings called [[momo (food)|momos]]. Meat dishes are likely to be [[yak]], goat, or [[Lamb (food)|mutton]], often dried, or cooked into a spicy [[stew]] with potatoes. [[Mustard seed]] is cultivated in Tibet, and therefore features heavily in its cuisine. Yak [[yogurt]], butter and cheese are frequently eaten, and well-prepared yogurt is considered something of a prestige item. [[Butter tea]] is a very popular drink.

=== Sports ===
{{See also|Traditional games of Tibet}}{{Empty section|date=January 2024}}