Tibet in Agony: Lhasa 1959
Jianglin Li
(Author)
Susan Wilf
(Translator)
Description
The Chinese Communist government has twice invoked large-scale military might to crush popular uprisings in capital cities. The second incident--the notorious massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989--is well known. The first, thirty years earlier in Tibet, remains little understood today. Yet in wages of destruction, bloodshed, and trampling of human rights, the tragic toll of March 1959 surpassed Tiananmen.
Tibet in Agony provides the first clear historical account of the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa. Sifting facts from the distortions of propaganda and partisan politics, Jianglin Li reconstructs a chronology of events that lays to rest lingering questions about what happened in those fate-filled days and why. Her story begins with throngs of Tibetan demonstrators who--fearful that Chinese authorities were planning to abduct the Dalai Lama, their beloved leader--formed a protective ring around his palace. On the night of March 17, he fled in disguise, only to reemerge in India weeks later to set up a government in exile. But no peaceful resolution awaited Tibet. The Chinese army soon began shelling Lhasa, inflicting thousands of casualties and ravaging heritage sites in the bombardment and the infantry onslaught that followed. Unable to resist this show of force, the Tibetans capitulated, putting Mao Zedong in a position to fulfill his long-cherished dream of bringing Tibet under the Communist yoke. Li's extensive investigation, including eyewitness interviews and examination of classified government records, tells a gripping story of a crisis whose aftershocks continue to rattle the region today.Product Details
Price
$29.95
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Publish Date
October 10, 2016
Pages
464
Dimensions
6.3 X 9.3 X 1.3 inches | 0.02 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780674088894
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Jianglin Li is an independent scholar and writer who specializes in post-1950 Tibetan history and the Tibetan diaspora.
Susan Wilf teaches at George School in Pennsylvania and was awarded a PEN Translation Fund Grant for Confessions.
Reviews
Should be required reading.--Jonathan Mirsky"The Spectator" (10/01/2016)
A wonderful combination of really good storytelling and meticulous, painstaking research. We are left with a much more thorough understanding of what must have happened in the weeks before and after the Dalai Lama's escape as well as a new certainty that there is much we will never know--or understand--for sure.--Anne F. Thurston, coauthor of The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong
This remarkable book is told with the narrative force of a compelling novel. Exposing the violence of the 'peaceful liberation' and the myth of 'democratic reform, ' Li's excavation of Tibet's agony in the 1950s reveals that Mao hoped for the Tibetans to rise up in order to crush them and bring Tibet under Communist control. This pathbreaking book involved not only painstaking research into sources that have not been made public in English before, but also personal sacrifice by the author, who now lives in exile.--Kate Saunders, Director of Communications, International Campaign for Tibet
Through her meticulous research and engaging narrative, Li is the first to convincingly reconstruct the events that forced the Dalai Lama to escape from Tibet. This pathbreaking book helps us understand why the violence of 1959 still resonates to this day.--Frank Dikötter, author of Mao's Great Famine
Remarkable...for its meticulously researched and detailed exposé of Chinese duplicity and ruthlessness...What you hear turning every page of this book--the first book written with full access to official Chinese documents and accounts of the events--is the sound of scales falling from the eyes.--Mick Brown"Literary Review" (10/01/2016)
A wonderful combination of really good storytelling and meticulous, painstaking research. We are left with a much more thorough understanding of what must have happened in the weeks before and after the Dalai Lama's escape as well as a new certainty that there is much we will never know--or understand--for sure.--Anne F. Thurston, coauthor of The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong
This remarkable book is told with the narrative force of a compelling novel. Exposing the violence of the 'peaceful liberation' and the myth of 'democratic reform, ' Li's excavation of Tibet's agony in the 1950s reveals that Mao hoped for the Tibetans to rise up in order to crush them and bring Tibet under Communist control. This pathbreaking book involved not only painstaking research into sources that have not been made public in English before, but also personal sacrifice by the author, who now lives in exile.--Kate Saunders, Director of Communications, International Campaign for Tibet
Through her meticulous research and engaging narrative, Li is the first to convincingly reconstruct the events that forced the Dalai Lama to escape from Tibet. This pathbreaking book helps us understand why the violence of 1959 still resonates to this day.--Frank Dikötter, author of Mao's Great Famine
Remarkable...for its meticulously researched and detailed exposé of Chinese duplicity and ruthlessness...What you hear turning every page of this book--the first book written with full access to official Chinese documents and accounts of the events--is the sound of scales falling from the eyes.--Mick Brown"Literary Review" (10/01/2016)
