Famine in Tibet
I. CONTEXT
Tibet knew its first famine during 1960-62, as a result of the Chinese invasion of 1950. The food shortage occurred because Chinese colonizers settled massively, increasing the population, and because of the changes imposed on Tibetan traditional agriculture by Mao’s “Great Leap Forward.”
Death Roll
Accurate estimations and data about Tibetan victims of the Chinese genocide are hard to find, given that China provides biased information. However, associations like “Friends of Tibet” estimate that out of the 1.2 million deaths, 343,151 were caused by famine. Unfortunately, no further information is available on the gender, age or/and class of the victims.
II. ECOLOGICAL CHANGES
Tibet was ecologically stable before the communist Chinese invasion in 1950. The vegetation was sparse, but the land supported a diverse wildlife and famine was unknown. Because Tibetans followed the Buddhist principle that forbids them to disturb the earth, they exploited few resources. This fragile ecology was irreversibly destroyed as a result of the Chinese incursion, as they deforested parts of the plateau to build hydroelectric plants, for example.
Geography
Tibet is located on the highest plateau (about 472,000-sq mi.) in the world at a height of 12,000 feet, in the Himalayas. India borders the country, south and west, Nepal and Bhutan, south, and China, north and east.
Climate
The famine in Tibet was not linked to a particular natural disaster, since it was man-made. However, the climate is dry and cold with an average annual temperature of 34 F. Therefore the soil is frozen eight to ten months a year and resources are limited.
III. SOCIO ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Land Tenure
Bef...
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...rmation. Exact numbers such as the death roll or the year famine happened, are hard to find. Humanitarian organizations and the Tibetan Government in Exile do provide estimations, but the Chinese authority still denies them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Les Amis du Tibet.” Available from: http://www.amis-tibet.lu
Shakya, Tsering. The Dragon in the Land of Snows. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1999.
Stein, R.A. Tibetan Civilization. Translated by J.E. Stapleton Driver. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1972.
Thomas, Lowell Jr. The Silent War in Tibet. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1959.
“Tibet les Droits de l’Homme.” Available from http://www.mabbh.org
“Today’s Tibet.” Available from: http://www.friendsoftibet.org
Tucci, Giuseppe. TIBET Land of Snows. Translated by J.E. Stapleton Driver. New
York: Stein and Day, 1967.
It states that “Tibet declared itself an independent republic in 1912.Although its status did not receive widespread recognition, Tibet functioned as an independent government until China sent troops to Tibet in 1950” (BBC News). The Tibetans feel as though their freedom is being retained and they are being dictated by China, which they did not approve of. China claims that Tibet is better with them leading them and insists that Tibet is there’s. The tension between them still exists today and is clearly shown in both books, by Xinran and Ma Jian. The concept of Sky Burial is inspired by a true story.
Meng, Xin, and Nancy Qian. The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959-61. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010.
Famine can be highly detrimental to human health and cause a lot of sickness throughout humans. It is clear that there are many biological effects caused by famine but there are also many effects on society and human agency. Famine can cause a breakdown in society and create barriers to economic growth. This can lead to dramatic changes in religions, cultural practices and the structure of government.
The narrator in “Famine” by Xu XI was raised by her parents A-Ba and A-Ma in Hong Kong. Her Father made her quit school after her primary school was over which was the through the sixth grade. She was then forced to take care of her aging parents till they died in their mid-nineties. Her father was abusive and very controlling over everything in her life while her mom chose to do nothing about it. She was rarely aloud out with friends or to have much fun at all she never experienced much in life. She wanted to do something she really wanted to learn, but her father said no in order to continue her education to become an English teacher she went on several hunger strikes to rebel her father wants. Food seemed herd to come by in her house particularly, they were forced vegetarians by A-Ba’s decision, they ate very little and the food was also bland. A-Ba and A-ma were not very loving parents, they expected a lot out of their
A precise definition of genocide was instituted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It states that genocide occurs when, “one group kills members of another group, causes serious bodily or mental harm, inflicts conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, prevents births within the group, and forcibly transfers children of the group to another group” (Destexhe, 1). Using this definition as a guideline, it is clear that China has not only committed genocide against Tibet in the past, but is continually doing so in contemporary society.
Heller, A. (2007). Discoveries in western Tibet and the western Himalayas essays on history, literature, archaeology and art : PIATS 2003, Tibetan studies, proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oxford, 2003. Leiden: Brill.
What do you think of when you hear the word “famine”? Do you think of natural disasters, of unpredictable tragedy, of innocent lives lost? Tragedy and death are inherent to the concept of starvation on a large scale, but the nature of some famines may have as much to do with politics as it does with the environment. What I expected to uncover as I began my research on the 1994-98 famine in North Korea was food shortages on a massive scale as a result of terrible growing conditions, extreme climates, unpredictable and unpreventable circumstances, for the most part. Admittedly, my knowledge of famine was limited to what I knew of the countryside of pre-communist China, where the most sustenance provided by the land the bare minimum was, and any number of external changes negatively effecting growth of or access to crops could equal devastation for entire regions. With that as my frame of reference, I was surprised by the uniquely political circumstances behind the famine in North Korea. The famine that killed 2-3 million in the 1990's was more closely tied to its independence from the southern half of the Korean peninsula it had once shared, to the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, than to any singular natural disaster. The millions that died did so as a result of their government prioritizing its independence over their survival, its budget over their sustenance. North Korea's famine was born of 1950's conflict, fueled by 1990's politics, and sustained by human error and hubris from within.
In response to the recent failure of the international community to prevent the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa since July 2011, Suzanne Dvorak the chief executive of Save the Children wrote that, “We need to provide help now. But we cannot forget that these children are wasting away in a disaster that we could - and should - have prevented” she added, “The UN estimates that every $1 spent in prevention saves $7 in emergency spending.” (Dvorak, 2011).
The first major famines that occurred in China were the known as the "four famines" that occurred in the early 19th century1 . These four famines had a death toll estimated at 45 million dead. The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty of much chaos, the multiple opium wars and the Taping Rebellion. The insuring famine that occurred during the conflict caused over 60 million dead. The Great North China Famine led to the death of 13 million people due to an ongoing drought that the Chinese people were not prepared to handle2. The constant failure of the current government has led to the deaths of millions, which has led the lower class peasant class of China to always have this sense of distrust with the current government, as they are never able to react...
Gupta, A. "Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System." War Resisters League. N.p., Dec. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
If China had not reannexed Tibet, that peace park would never have existed. Its entire raison d'etre is predicated on Chinese oppression and western interest. Without oppression the Tibetan traditions lose their most alluring aspect. Tibetan Buddhism is no longer dangerous or sexy. Without western interest, their potential converts and donation pool shrinks to a trickle crippling their ability to sustain the tradition.
[11] Trimondi, Victor and Victoria, The Shadow of the Dalai Lama, part I, section 2.
Many countries have had first hand accounts with this deathly fellow, and some unlucky ones more than once, leaving a gruesome an undesirable tale amongst their history books. China, two famines, 68 million dead. Russia, one man-made famine, 10 million dead. India, two famines, 11 million dead. These numbers are just facts though, they tell nothing of what these populous countries and their people have been through. All forever scarred by this beast of a creature, and some not only by the beast, but by their own kin. By the leaders they look up to, by the people they trust, and just by the people they risk their lives for everyday to protect and serve. China felt this fury once, but twice. The first by just bad luck and Mother Nature, and unfortunately for the poor souls, the second by a leader who was trying to put his name in history. That he did though, just not in the way he ever wanted or imagined. (10 most...)
... then five more, one after another… they allowed themselves to eat those bodies… They said, ‘it was the great unbearable famine that did it.’” The struggle to find food was real. It was a heavy burden for people to bear. The need to stay a live became a daily struggle many civilian and soldiers.
Wedged between the high wall of the Himalaya and the steamy jungles of the Indian plains, a small land-locked country Nepal is a land of snow peaks and Sherpas, yaks and yetis, monasteries and mantras, situated between India and China. Eight of the world’s ten highest mountain peaks are in Nepal, including Mount Everest. Nepal is the birthplace of Lord Buddha. And, most importantly, Nepal was never ruled by any country, never ever.