Tibet "Power and Compassion" IEAS Berkeley
Research Fellow Jacob Dalton presented a very illuminating study in progress about the relationship of church and state in Tibet. (The Chinese propaganda machine, as I learned, living in China, maintains that the church was a feudal state enslaving other Tibetans, and that the Chinese freed them from this oppression. And, so on...)
"Power and Compassion: Negotiating Religion and State in 10th century Tibet. The government of the Dalai Lama followed the Tibetan ideal of "the union of religion and state" In the early precursors in the legal writing of the late 10th century Tibetan King, Yeshe O, whose recently discovered biography shows nuanced pictures of his careful negotiation between Buddhism and the Secular. A complex and highly ambivalent relationship is more clearly discerned in parallels between the church and state in Medieval Europe.
What began as a harmonious relationship between church and state and the people became divisive when the sons inherited the rule, with Central and Western Tibet at odds. Considerations of the Christians and the Pagan government lends some insights. There were very strict rules for monks, and ordained ranks were chosen from all groups within the society. Mutual and reciprocal fealty were absolutely required.
"Power and Compassion: Negotiating Religion and State in 10th century Tibet. The government of the Dalai Lama followed the Tibetan ideal of "the union of religion and state" In the early precursors in the legal writing of the late 10th century Tibetan King, Yeshe O, whose recently discovered biography shows nuanced pictures of his careful negotiation between Buddhism and the Secular. A complex and highly ambivalent relationship is more clearly discerned in parallels between the church and state in Medieval Europe.
What began as a harmonious relationship between church and state and the people became divisive when the sons inherited the rule, with Central and Western Tibet at odds. Considerations of the Christians and the Pagan government lends some insights. There were very strict rules for monks, and ordained ranks were chosen from all groups within the society. Mutual and reciprocal fealty were absolutely required.
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| Jacob Dalton in 180 Doe Library UCBerkeley |
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