My inspiration and therefore case for my History and Culture essay was the documentary I have seen 2 months ago. Documentary’s name is Tibet in Song. This documentary was released in 2009 by former Tibetan prisoner and musician Ngawang Choephel – he was in prison because of making that document.
Little introduction about movie:
The movie is basically the document about Tibetan culture and traditions. Movie is based on interviews with Tibetan artists, musicians, activists and director himself. His aim was to show, how China wants to erase the Tibetan culture, force their culture and how China treats people in Tibet, so as the whole country. Movie is full of beautiful traditional songs, pictures of Tibet, so as the surroundings and people in the country.
I find it interesting because as European, I do not know much about this area and problem that has been held between those two countries. Moreover, I think that the history subjects in central Europe are more specialized in European history, with the little “taste” of US history. Therefore, I find this essay also helpful for me to expand my general knowledge about “what is going on in the world”.
Even the movie is more about art/culture/traditions, we can find many scenes and facts from political point of view and as the China is trying to push their own values, we can also observe many signs of globalization with power relations, thus I have chosen question number 1 and I want to talk a bit about it, as this is very broad topic and it cannot be contained in such a small space of 3-5 pages.
I would like to talk about this case and documentary from both sides – cultural and historical, because if we want to understand the “whole” we must not leave out any of those sides. Moreov...
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...art of nation, and we have “voice” to say NO and keep our traditions and identity, unfortunately, in this era many people are inveiglement with the idea of “western” globalization, so it is unique that Tibet has still people that are proud of their traditions, music, lyrics… The bad thing is that Tibet does not have more power to resist army and government of China; therefore it is hard to defend the identity and defend the nation and culture against the globalization from their side. As the world is going on in this era of postmodernity, it will be even harder and harder to resist the influence of globalization (or at some point Americanization), it is never-ending process that is going back and forth. Situation with Tibet and China can be found with tiny variations in different places in the world, let’s see the conflict of Ukraine and Russia, Middle East states….
The Dalai Lama expresses the importance of publicity that has first been generated by the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Not only did it create awareness for the Chinese as the Dalai Lama suggested; it also created awareness around the world, especially in North America. Ask any North American teenager,"What they feel towards the idea of Tibetan oppression from the Chinese?", just ask him "Where Tibet is?" three years ago and he would probably look confused and answer by asking "Would you like fries with that?".<THIS MADE VERY LITTLE SENSE.> Ask that same teenager now, and he would likely give an educated response. The Tibetan Freedom Concert is just an example of how powerful modern media is if it can be used properly.
Any discussion on music should first begin by learning about the instruments that are used by the society and are used to convey the music, as the instruments themselves are a very important part of much, though not all, of Tibetan music. Tibetans do have instruments in all of the major instrument groups of string, woodwind, brass, and percussion, though some, particularly percussion and woodwind, are more prominent than the others.
For years Western scholars and novelists have been drawn to the story, yet until now there has been no documentary. Ric Burns's film is a first.
Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy can have a substantial amount of unfamiliar terminology and specific meanings for words we think we know the definition to. In order to ensure comprehension and clarity a few terms need to be defined. Buddhism as a spiritual movement is the following of the teachings of a fifth century B.C. E. Indian spiritual leader named known as Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or --in the case of this essay-- the Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism will be defined in a similar manner. Tibetan Buddhism is in the course of this essay will focus on one of the six schools of thought in the Tibetan Buddhist cannon. The “Oral Tradition” or the Kagyu School is the monastic linage that arrives in Kauai in the twentieth century.
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
Many Tibetans are arrested and put through such treatment with little to no evidence supporting them as criminals. In a sudden “clampdown” that started in February of 1992, groups of ten Chinese raided Tibetan homes in Lhasa arresting more than 200 people. Those arrested were said to be in possession of “subversive materials, such as photographs, and tapes or books containing speeches or teachings of the Dalai Lama” (Kumar, 77).
The Potala Palace has seen its fair share of controversy, as Tibet is a very controversial part of the world. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950 with over eighty thousand troops, massive protests were held at the palace. It has been estimated that about one million people have been killed since the Chinese occupation and the exile of Tibetan government officials. During this time, the treasures of Potala were stolen and priceless, irreplaceable historical documents and artifac...
Tibetan Buddhism is very distinct, both culturally and ideologically, from other forms of Buddhism and has adapted many of the pre-Buddhist Tibetan beliefs, such as, local deities and rituals into its religious, spiritual and cultural identity. The 13th century biography of Korepa (also known as Lorepa) and the 19/20th century biography of Shungseb Jetsun are both written by yogins (people who practice tantric yoga) . Despite the large chronological gap, both have lived very similar ascetic lives and have both used their lives and teaching to influence the understanding of Tibetan Buddhism to the general lay community but also the ideology and theology of Tibetan Buddhism. In this essay, I am going to evaluate what we can learn about the nature and beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism from the biographical accounts of the lives of yogins such as Korepa and Shungsep Jetsun and how this has influenced the knowledge of Tibetan Buddhists about the understanding of their religion.
At first glimpse, praises of heavenly musicians and monastic chanting experts seem to suggest that music plays an important role and has a wide range of applications in Buddhist traditions. But upon closer examination one would be aware that such a statement is over-generalized and requires careful redefining. Buddhist practices mostly involve singing, reciting, and chanting. Although reciting and chanting are allowed when complied with certain restrictions, singing is absolutely prohibited by Vinaya rules to be performed, taught, or watched by novices, monks, and nuns. Even Buddhist lay men and lay women are advised to guard themselves against musical entertainments. Respective discussions on Buddhist music or Vinaya rules are plentiful, yet few have observed the contradiction between them in which music, depending on its format, has been portrayed as a double-edged sword capable of facilitating or impeding religious practices. John Ross Carter (1983) came very close to this observation when he identified two strands within the Theravāda Buddhist tradition: “an old admonition about restraint of the senses and an appreciation for, a legitimization of, religious music.” But a textual analysis of the historical development of these “conflicting strands” has yet to be written. To fill this gap, this paper explores how music is viewed and positioned in early Buddhist literature, with a specific focus on its interpretation and practice in the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
Raichelle, Allen. "Tibet: Occupation and Uprising." N.d. ABC-CLIO World History-Modern. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. .
In my movie, “Seven Years in Tibet”, we follow the journey of an Austrian native named Heinrich Harrer. This movie was based on the true events of his life and is based off of the book he wrote, in which he detailed the experiences. The movie features the unlikely friendship between Heinrich and the Dalai Lama, after a series of enthralling and treacherous events lead Harrer to Lhasa, the Holy home of the Dalai Lama.
In Tibet, what they did for entertainment at their homes was that they played outside all day long when they were little. Yina said, “When I was young, I would sneak out of the house and play outside all day, so I wouldn’t have to do chores and more things”. In Tibet, they hated playing inside because it was too boring and there was nothing to do. They had few or no toys to play with too, so they played with sticks and things you would find outside to play with. Most of the parents and grandparents mostly work while the children play. Yina's parents and grandparents are “completely different people than the people in the US” (Yina). People in the US don’t live their grandparents while in Tibet four to five generations live in one household
I believe that the theme of this film is, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. The story gives the lead money and power. The lead finds out that he needs to pay for it with his soul. The director has a lot of ambition for the movie. He brings a lot of religion and ethics into the characters of the film by using subliminal symbolism. Even though the director tries to make a lesson out of the film, he makes the film with a lot of takes. This makes the film fast and very stimulating. Every detail of the screenplay is needed to make up the whole story.
The Chinese culture is a very interesting topic to learn about. They have many beliefs, customs and traditions that make them unique. Art was very important to the Chinese culture. It was a way to express or symbolize emotions. The Chinese display many different styles as well as techniques to express who they truly are and believe.
The paper reports on the globalization impacts of culture on the Chinese culture. It’s easy to tell that globalization has changed lots of things, not only from the