Is Tibet in China?

Gavin Y. Simon

Spent 3 years in Beijing and 1 year in Sichuan Updated 5y

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Is Tibet in China?

Let’s put it very clear and end this type of question:

Is Tibet in China?

• Before 1251: No. From 629 to 842, Tibet was ruled by the Tibetan Empire, which at some point was extremely powerful and could rival the Tang and Arabian empires. Before the Tibetan Empire, the Tibetan plateau was ruled by several smaller regimes and a lot of tribes. They include Zhang Zhung, Sum Pa, Tuyuhun, Qiang and Nyukuo, etc. After 842 and before 1251, Tibet was also in fragmentation. Local regimes and religious regimes ruled the plateau, until the Mongols invaded them and made them a part of the Mongol Empire in 1251.

• 1251–1271: No, unless you really believe the Mongol Empire could represent China (which makes no sense to me). China at that time was represented by the Song dynasty, which never controlled Tibet.

• 1271–1368: Yes, unless you don’t regard the Yuan dynasty as a Chinese dynasty. A majority of historians regard the Yuan dynasty as a part of Chinese history, but if you don’t think so, that’s your call. The Mongol Empire dissolved into several pieces, and the piece that ruled China and adapted to the Chinese way of ruling was called the Yuan dynasty, which was established in 1271 and completely defeated the Song dynasty in 1279. The Yuan dynasty established the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs to administrate Tibet.

• 1368–1372: No. The Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty in 1368. The remnants of the Yuan dynasty still held northern China. The Ming were trying to wipe them out completely. At this period, neither the Yuan nor the Ming had time to deal with Tibet.
• 1372-1642: Maybe, maybe not. The Ming dynasty established the U-Tsang Regional Military Commission and Do-Kham Regional Military Commission to administrate the Tibetan Plateau. However, the influence of the Ming dynasty on the plateau was very weak, even with those two official administrative divisions. Tibet was under de-facto reigns of local dynasties, such as Phagmodrupa, Rinpungpa and Tsangpa.

• 1642 - 1717: No. A branch of Oirad Mongols invaded Tibet in 1642 and established the Khoshut Khanate. The Ming dynasty was threatened by the Manchus (Qing) and peasant uprisings. They couldn’t do anything about it. Tibet completely broke away from the Ming dynasty. Two years later, the Ming dynasty collapsed.

• 1717–1719: No. The Dzungar Khanate invaded Tibet from the modern-day Xinjiang region and defeated the Khoshut Khanate.
• 1719–1911: Yes, unless you don’t think the Qing dynasty was a part of Chinese history. Compared to the Yuan dynasty, the Qing dynasty was way more sinicized, so almost all people consider the Qing as China. The Qing drove out the Dzungars in 1719 and controlled Tibet since then. Early generations of Dalai Lama and Panchan Lama were appointed by Qing emperors, and Manchus officials were titled as imperial residents to Tibet since 1729 to rule Tibet. The British army invaded Tibet from India in the late 1800s and tried to separate Tibet from Qing, but they failed to achieve that.

• 1911–1951: Sort of. The Qing dynasty was overthrown by revolutionaries in 1911, and the Republic of China (the current government of Taiwan) was established in 1912. The Republic of China always had a territory claim over Tibet and established the Mongolian and Tibetan Commission to administrate those two regions. However, due to civil wars among warlords and the contention between nationalists and communists, it had no power to solidate the control on Tibet (or Mongolia). Local religious leaders thus gained de-facto independence as Kashag Government. At that time, Mongolia was seeking independence from China, too. As a result, Tibetans and Mongols formed an alliance and signed some treaties that recognized each other as independent states. However, unlike the Mongols who were very determined regarding the independence, Tibetans were somehow hesitating and ambiguous. Sometimes they claimed to be independent; sometimes they claimed to be a part of China; sometimes they even claimed to be a British territory.

• After 1951 (NOW): Yes. The Republic of China was defeated in the Civil War and relocated to Taiwan. The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. After a brief conflict against the Kashag forces in Qamdo (in today’s Sichuan province) in 1950, the People’s Liberation Army marched into Tibet and occupied Lhasa peacefully in 1951. Initially, the 14th Dalai Lama agreed to cooperate with the new Chinese government and was still the de-facto leader of Kashag and Tibet, but in 1959, his supporters launched a riot in Lhasa trying to drive out Chinese people. The riot was suppressed quickly, and the Dalai Lama fled to India. Kashag thus no longer exists. After that, major reforms had been launched in Tibet, and slavery was abolished. The current Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965.