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Between China and India: is Tibet the wedge or the link? : Comments
By George Yeo, published 17/9/2009In Tibet, reconciling faith with the forces of globalisation remains the challenge.
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Posted by Country girl, Thursday, 17 September 2009 11:25:16 AM
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During the Cultural Revolution, Tibetan youths, following Chinese youths in other parts of the country, engaged in an orgy of destruction. Since then, as in the rest of China, monasteries and temples have been restored or rebuilt, often to a state better than what they were before, although some precious artefacts were lost forever. Without land and serfs, these places can only be sustained with the patronage of the Chinese state.
I have visited China a number of times in recent years. I have seen the rebuilding of Buddhist monasteries and other religious temples. The Chinese state has allowed these properties to become entrepreneurial businesses, catering especially to Chinese tourists and to a lesser extent Western tourists. The entry fee and other sales has allowed many of these ventures to become prosperous. This income is paying for some remarkable restorations. Never have I seen religion so commercialized as in China.