Brief History and Geography of Tibet

The Tibetan Plateau is a huge region of southwestern China consistently above 4000 meters. This region that was a thriving independent kingdom that began in the eighth century and developed into an independent country in the twentieth century is now under the firm control of China. Persecution of the Tibetan people and their practice of Buddhism is widely reported. History Tibet closed its borders to foreigners in 1792, keeping the British of India (Tibets southwestern neighbor) at bay until the British desire for a trade route with China caused them to take Tibet by force in 1903. In 1906 the British and Chinese signed a peace treaty that gave Tibet to the Chinese. Five years later, the Tibetans expelled the Chinese and declared their independence, which lasted until 1950. In 1950, shortly after Mao Zedongs communist revolution, China invaded Tibet. Tibet pleaded for assistance from the United Nations, the British, and the newly independent Indians for assistance to no avail. In 1959 a Tibetan uprising was squelched by the Chinese and the leader of the theocratic Tibetan government, the Dalai Lama, fled to Dharamsala, India and created a government-in-exile. China administered Tibet with a firm hand, prosecuting Tibetan Buddhists and destroying their places of worship, especially during the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). After Maos death in 1976, the Tibetans gained limited autonomy although many of the Tibetan government officials installed were of Chinese nationality. The Chinese government has administered Tibet as the Autonomous Region of Tibet (Xizang) since 1965. Many Chinese have been financially encouraged to move to Tibet, diluting the effect of the ethnic Tibetans. Its likely that the Tibetans will become a minority in their land within a few years. The total population of Xizang is approximately 2.6 million. Additional uprisings occurred throughout the next few decades and martial law was imposed upon Tibet in 1988. The Dalai Lamas efforts to work with China toward solving problems to bring peace to Tibet earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Through the work of the Dalai Lama, the United Nations has called upon China to consider giving the Tibetan people a right to self-determination. In recent years, China has been spending billions to improve the economical outlook for Tibet by encouraging tourism and trade to the region. The Potala, the former seat of the Tibetan government and the home of the Dalai Lama is a major attraction in Lhasa. Culture The Tibetan culture is an ancient one that includes the Tibetan language and a specific Tibetan style of Buddhism. Regional dialects vary across Tibet so the Lhasa dialect has become the Tibetan lingua franca. Industry Industry was non-existent in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion and today small industries are located in the capital of Lhasa (2000 population of 140,000) and other towns. Outside of cities, the indigenous Tibetan culture is comprised primarily of nomads, farmers (barley and root vegetables are primary crops), and forest dwellers. Due to the cold dry air of Tibet, grain can be stored for up to 50 to 60 years and butter (yak butter is the perennial favorite) can be stored for a year. Disease and epidemics are rare on the dry high plateau, which is surrounded by the worlds tallest mountains, including Mount Everest in the south. Geography Though the plateau is rather dry and receives an average of 18 inches (46 cm) of precipitation each year, the plateau is the source for major rivers of Asia, including the Indus River. Alluvial soils comprise the terrain of Tibet. Due to the high altitude of the region, the seasonal variation in temperature is rather limited and the diurnal (daily) variation is more important—the temperature in Lhasa can range as much as -2 F to 85 F (-19 C to 30 C). Sandstorms and hailstorms (with hail of tennis-ball size) are problems in Tibet. (A special classification of spiritual magicians was once paid to ward off the hail.) Thus, the status of Tibet remains in question. Will the culture be diluted by the influx of Chinese or will Tibet once again become Free and independent?

The Constitution And Declaration Of Independence - 1793 Words

The US government was founded, as described in documents such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, upon the principles of equality and the power of the people. The documents explicitly express and imply people’s rights, which include Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness among many others (Declaration of Independence). American citizens are constantly reminded of the rights they do have – speech, religion, protection against cruel or unusual punishment, to name a few – but are not reminded of responsibilities nearly as much. Among citizens’ responsibilities is the duty to participate in the democratic process, which involves staying informed of local and national events and issues. Citizens who do not want to take†¦show more content†¦In and of itself, the assembly of special interest groups is political participation, as citizens involved are actively attempting to interact with government. However, the population has since grown exponentially and the need for vast numbers of people to participate directly in protest movements has diminished since actions geared toward equality have been taken. Additionally, many people are not inclined to become government representatives or leaders in protest movements. Since political participation is a responsibility of the people, many of them handle this duty by voting to elect officials based on their beliefs and lending support to organizations that ally with their causes and values. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is one of the largest and most revered lobbyist groups in America. Founded in 1909, the NAACP’s mission was to bring attention to inequality and problems with civil rights. At the time of its founding, the NAACP was responding to horrific violence against blacks, which continued throughout the Civil Rights Movement as blacks across the country moved against injustice and a distinct absence of fair treatment (History.com Staff). During its time as a leading organization for people’s

Split Cherry Tree Free Essays

Split Cherry Tree by Jesse Stuart is a story that takes place in a time when people thought more about farming and less about education. This story addresses conflicts concerning â€Å"rich vs. Poor† as well as â€Å"educated vs. We will write a custom essay sample on Split Cherry Tree or any similar topic only for you Order Now uneducated†. Dave Sexton along with five of his classmates climbs a neighbor’s cherry tree to capture a lizard while on a field trip with his high school biology class. The cherry tree is broken and the owner wants the six boys to each pay a dollar for the cost of the tree. Dave does not have the dollar need, so Professor Hubert pays for him in exchange for doing chores around the school. This causes Dave to be late for his farm work, which his father Luster is expecting his help with. Professor Hubert, not being from the hills doesn’t fully understand how hard farm life was for some families in the area. Luster was very upset because the professor made Dave stay after school to work off the debt while letting the other boys go just because they had the money to pay. He states he will get it straightened out with the help of his gun, which has settled disputes before. . Luster tells Dave that he will be going to the school with him in the morning to get the matter settled. Luster fails to realize that education is different than what he remembers and gets very upset over the boys and girls being able to go on field trips together, and the subjects in which they are learning. Luster confronts the professor over the idea of letting the kids go on the field trip as well as letting the other boys go and the professor states â€Å"I was right with these students† and that this is the new way of learning. He then asks Luster to stay and see what Dave is learning about and why they were on the field trip. After learning about how a black snake has the same germs as a person’s teeth and seeing them under a microscope, Luster sees the importance of this new way of book learning. He wants better for Dave than he had and sees that his time of learning has passed but it’s not too late for Dave. After spending the day with Luster, Professor Hubert also has a better understanding of life in the â€Å"hills† for farm families, and the importance of having pride in one’s self. Professor Hubert offers to let Dave have the fifty cent still needed to pay the debt to him. Luster being an honorable man offers instead to help Dave work off the last fifty cent in an hours’ time, so that they can both go and finish the farm chores. How to cite Split Cherry Tree, Essay examples Split Cherry Tree Free Essays The short story, Spilt Cherry Tree, was written by Jesse Stuart. In the beginning of the story, Dave and his classmates went with Professor Herbert on a field trip for biology class. They were all searching for lizards, bugs, snakes, frogs, flowers, and plants. We will write a custom essay sample on Split Cherry Tree or any similar topic only for you Order Now Dave and five of his classmates had spotted a lizard in the old cherry tree up the hill, so all six of them ran up the tree after it, and the tree broke down. Eif Crabtree, the owner of the tree was plowing when it happened and he ran up and go tall the boys’ names. Dave’s five classmates who broke the tree with him were all able to get the dollar that they owed Mr. Crabtree, but Dave knew he wouldn’t be able to get his. Professor Herbert kept Dave after school and told him that he paid Dave’s dollar, but he would have to work four hours at the school to earn the full dollar, which means he would be getting paid twenty-five cents and hour to help the janitor. Dave really didn’t mind staying after school, but he knew that he would get a whipping from his father if he was two hours late getting home. Dave told Professor Herbert that he would rather have the professor whip him with a switch so he could go on home and help his dad with chores because he knew his dad would whip him if he was two hours late. Dave was also afraid that his father would make him quit school because he was a little old fashioned and didn’t understand the school system of that time. How to cite Split Cherry Tree, Papers

Fiction and the Worlds Judgements free essay sample

This 20-page paper takes the reader on an extensive exploratory journey through the theory of the novel. The reader is shown the difference between the schools of thought regarding romances vs novels. This paper shows the reader the difference between the schools of thought regarding romances versus novels. The author explains the foundation for those with proletarian beliefs who disdain certain texts as romance while embracing others as novels. The writer uses several novels as examples to illustrate the various points and critically analyzes the schools of thought, the novels themselves and the political involvement that decides where the text fits in. From the paper: Since the beginning of time we have had storytellers in our midst. Many years ago the storytellers produced the stories by inventing them in their minds and performing them for an audience. The only way a story was passed around is when someone in the audience devoted the time to memorize the story and then perform it in other places. We will write a custom essay sample on Fiction and the Worlds Judgements or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This caused many stories to be changed as each person added or forgot parts, as they believed it to be. Naturally because the stories were being memorized and carried to other locations they were short in length.