Tibet's Long History as Part of (and not Part of) China from an Ecumenical Buddhist P.O.V. – China Rants

While it does not always fall on the same date, this year Chinese New Year and Tibet's Losar fall on the same date. Losar is celebrated for 15 days, with the main celebrations on the first three days. Losar is also known as Bal Gyal Lo. Bal is Tibet, Gyal is King, Lo is year. The Losar is also celebrated across the Himalayas and in India as well.

In his first reaction to the recent protests by Tibetan in Tibet over change of medium of instruction into Chinese in Tibetan schools, the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said Saturday that the Tibetan language is vital for the survival of Tibetan Buddhist culture which has a strong following in China.

More than 380 legislators in Tibet unanimously endorsed a bill Monday to mark March 28 as "Serfs Emancipation Day", the date when about one million serfs and slaves in the region were freed in 1959 following an order of the State Council, or the Cabinet, to dismiss the local government of Tibet and replace it with a preparatory committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

One hundred years ago Friday, a crime was committed behind the imposing oxblood-red walls of Beijing's Forbidden City. It was the ultimate crime: the murder of an emperor. But it remained a rumor or had been covered up. Until now. He was just 38 years old at the time of his death. He had been the victim of a palace coup following political differences with his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi.