China's Tibet Facts & Figures 2005

Population

Religious Belief

National Regional Autonomy

Tibetan Economy

Transportation, Posts & Telecommunications

Environmental Protection

Tourism

Education, Science & Technology

Culture, Public Health & Sports

People's Livelihood & Social Security

Appendices

Web Links

40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Through My Camera's Lens

Late Autumn in Tibet

50 Years in Tibet

China Tibet Information Center

Religious Belief

· Freedom of Religious Belief

· Renovation of Religious Sites

· Publishing of Religious Classics

· Institutes of Buddhism

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates that all citizens enjoy freedom in religious belief. No State organ, social organization or individual is allowed to force any citizen to believe or not to believe in any religion; nor discriminate against any citizen with or with no religious belief; the State protects normal religious activities. People in Tibet likewise enjoy freedom to religious belief.

Freedom of Religious Belief

The Central People's Government and the local government of Tibet signed the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (called the 17-Article Agreement for short) on May 23, 1951. With respect to protection of Tibet's religion and culture, the agreement explicitly stipulated: "The policy of freedom of religious belief shall be carried out in Tibet. The religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan people shall be protected, and lamaseries shall be protected." The Central Government has since followed the policy of respecting the religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan people, and protecting lamaseries and cultural relics.

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Renovation of Religious Sites

During the chaotic "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), religious belief was prohibited in Tibet, and religious activity venues and facilities suffered damage. This was also the case in other parts of China. In the 1980s, the Central Government allocated over 200 million yuan to Tibet for the repair and maintenance of monasteries, holy stupas, shrines and other sites for religious activities. Among those were the Jokhang Monastery initially built in the seventh century, the Samye Monastery built by a Tubo king in the eighth century, and the four major monasteries of the Gelug Sect, namely Zhaibung, Sera, Gandain and Tashilhungpo.

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Publishing of Religious Classics

China Tripitaka appears in many editions in the Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchurian languages. In June 1986, the China National Center for Tibetan Studies submitted a report for the collation and publication of the Tibetan part of the China Tripitaka to the Central Government. As a result, the project was listed in the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1986-1990) as a major State project. According to experts, efforts would be made to work on Dangyur first and then Gangyur, with the Dege edition of 1730 as the base and the existing Beijing, Natang and Zholny editions as references for the collation work.

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Institutes of Buddhism

In 1983, the Buddhist Association of the Tibet Autonomous Region founded the Tibet Buddhism College and started to offer sutra-study classes in some monasteries. Now more than 3,000 monks study in such classes. Besides, each sect recommends and sends a certain number of Living Buddha, Geshe (Geshe is a scholar with equivalent to doctoral degree in Tibetan Buddhism) and monastery administrators to receive further training in the Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China in Beijing.

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