Bibliograph

The struggle for modern Tibet, the autobiography of Tashi Tsering, Melvyn Golstein, William Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering

Type

Label

The struggle for modern Tibet, the autobiography of Tashi Tsering, Melvyn Golstein, William Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering

Language

eng

resource.biographical

autobiography

Illustrations

illustrationsmaps

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The struggle for modern Tibet

Responsibility statement

Melvyn Golstein, William Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering

Sub title

the autobiography of Tashi Tsering

Summary

This captivating autobiography by a Tibetan educator and former political prisoner is full of twists and turns. Born in 1929 in a Tibetan village, Tsering developed a strong dislike of his country's theocratic ruling elite. As a 13-year-old member of the Dalai Lama's personal dance troupe, he was frequently whipped or beaten by teachers for minor infractions. A heterosexual, he escaped by becoming a drombo, or homosexual passive partner and sex-toy, for a well-connected monk. After studying at the University of Washington, he returned to Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1964, convinced that Tibet could become a modernized society based on socialist, egalitarian principles only through cooperation with the Chinese. Denounced as a 'counterrevolutionary' during Mao's Cultural Revolution, he was arrested in 1967 and spent six years in prison or doing forced labor in China. Officially exonerated in 1978, Tsering became a professor of English at Tibet University in Lhasa. He now raises funds to build schools in Tibet's villages, emphasizing Tibetan language and culture

Classification