 |
Dalai's "Virtual Tibet" Just a Fad: US Scholar
Dr. Tom Grunfeld, a distinguished Tibetologist and professor from the State University of New York, said Friday in Beijing that Dalai Lama's creation of a "virtual Tibet" is totally different from the real one.
The Dalai Lama's description of the Tibet under his serfdom rule as "Shangri-La" has led to an infatuation with Tibet, which is a fad that will soon fade and become inconsequential in American history, he said.
Grunfeld made the remarks Friday at the 2001 Beijing Forum on Tibetology, and his view was supported by many Chinese and foreign Tibetologists.
The author of "The Making of Modern Tibet," Grunfeld pointed out that the Dalai Lama has succeeded "in nurturing and increasing interest and fascination with himself, his cause and Tibetan Buddhism in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, especially, the United States."
This fascination has led to an infatuation with Tibet, a Tibet which was a gentle and peaceful land where non-violence predominated and where monks were all-knowing; yet the fascination is not with the real Tibet but a fantasy version, he said.
Fascination with the virtual Tibet has "propelled Hollywood movies, rock concerts, and celebrities practicing Buddhism, which have all combined to make the Dalai Lama a household word," Grunfield said.
He also noted that those people do not know that the old Tibet they are fascinated with is actually a virtual Tibet, not a real one. "A dose of the real Tibet would leave them deeply disillusioned."
The America's most prominent China-bashers supported the Dalai Lama "only because he is useful in the campaign against China," Grunfeld said.
Grunfeld has been to China 16 times and has been to Tibet for field research.
In an interview with Xinhua, he stressed he is a historian on Chinese history. His research of Tibetan history has been carried out from the point of view of the whole of Chinese history.
Though some Americans support the Dalai Lama and the independence of Tibet, they are only noises that won't change the policy of the U.S. government, which is that Tibet is part of China, he maintained. A unified, stable and developing China is in line with the ultimate interests of the American people, he added.
Professor Xirao Nima from the Central University for Nationalities said that a clear distinction should be drawn between popular culture and the academic study of Tibetology researchers.
Hu Yan, an expert on minority group religions, and some other scholars called on the academic circle to expose the illusions purported by the Dalai Lama and make the truth clear.
In This Section
|