Culture & Society |
 The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism. Religion has for centuries been the most defining aspect of Tibetan life and has fundamentally shaped Tibetan identity. Before, and especially during, the Cultural Revolution, all but eight of six thousand monasteries and nunneries were destroyed, religious artefacts and scripts burned, monks and religious leaders imprisoned and tortured. While tourists today see what they believe to be more open monasteries, the underlying religious oppression and control by the Chinese Government of how monasteries are run remains unseen by the uninformed traveller.
Read Tibet Watch's 'No Faith in the State' |  Half the Tibetans escaping over the Himalayas are minors who cite lack of educational opportunities in Tibet as the main reason for leaving their homeland. A major threat to Tibetan culture is that Chinese has replaced Tibetan as the official language in Tibet. Secondary education is predominantly taught in Chinese which results in a large number of Tibetans not able to speak or write Tibetan. Even those who study in Chinese are struggling to compete with the Chinese students at university exams and job openings resulting in widespread unemployment among Tibetans. Despite claims of development in Tibet, educational levels remain very low with over 54% illiteracy rate according to UN data (TAR). Read Free Tibet's 'Forked Tongue' |
 Due to the unique conditions to be found on the Tibetan Plateau, pastoral nomadism historically represented the primary form of agriculture in Tibet. Nomads have consequently been settled in urban areas, their pastures fenced off and excluded from areas designated for industrial extraction. |  Due to the aggressive policies of Han Chinese settlement, Tibetans are becoming a minority in their own land. This overwhelming Chinese presence in Tibet is viewed by Tibetans as the greatest threat to the survival of their culture and people. The Dalai Lama says this policy of ‘demographic aggression’ has led to ‘cultural genocide’ in Tibet. The population of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, has grown six fold since the Chinese occupation and currently two thirds of its citizens are Chinese. The new railway line facilities an ever growing number of tourists as well as Chinese settlers into Tibet. China encourages Han settlement by offering various favourable conditions for migrants such as tax incentives. As more and more Han Chinese migrate to Tibet the imbalance will continue to exist and be exacerbated. The Chinese authorities have imposed their one-child policy on all Tibetan government workers. For city-dwelling Tibetans who do not hold government jobs, there is a strict limit of two children. (Nomads are currently allowed to have three children.) |