A satellite passes. It dips lower in its orbit to have a closer look at Central Asia. The sweep of its vision glosses the Celestial Mountains and the Mountains of Chaos. Its prying lenses probe the Taklamakhan, the Himalaya and the headwaters of Asia's greatest rivers. Mother Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Yellow River, the Salween, Yangtze and Mekong all lie exposed beneath its arc. It's focus is Tibet. At least a few satellites pass over Tibet these days. Their observations are crisp and hard, terse and digital. Statistics are collected while hardy people sleep softly on the land below. Most of the Tibetan people have never heard of satellites. They revere the sun, the moon and the stars, while respecting the harsh winds that can change the temper of a day in moments. Although some of the stars are seen to move very quickly now, the Tibetans' spiritual centre remains Lhasa, around which their lives gravitate no matter how far away from it their homes might be.

This volume presents a variety of data and reflection on the history of Tibetan women. Drawing on textual and archival study, ethnographic research, the history of religions, and feminist theory, the contributors explore the struggles and accomplishments of women from Tibet, including queens from the imperial period, yoginis and religious teachers of mediaeval times, Buddhist nuns, oracles, political workers, doctors and artists.

Using Kenneth Burke's concept of dramatism as a way of exploring multiple motivations in symbolic expression, Tibet on Fire examines the Tibetan self-immolation movement of 2011-2015. The volume asserts that the self-immolation act is an affirmation of Tibetan identity in the face of cultural genocide.

Within a mere decade, hospital pharmacies throughout the Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China have been converted into pharmaceutical companies. Confronted with the logic of capital and profit, these companies now produce commodities for a nationwide market. While these developments are depicted as a big success in China, they have also been met with harsh criticism in Tibet. At stake is a fundamental (re-)manufacturing of Tibetan medicine as a system of knowledge and practice. Being important both to the agenda of the Party State’s policies on Tibet and to Tibetan self-understanding, the Tibetan medicine industry has become an arena in which different visions of Tibet’s future clash.

Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change is the first systematic and detailed overview of modern Tibetan literature, which has burgeoned only in the last thirty years. This comprehensive collection brings together fourteen pioneering scholars in the nascent field of Tibetan literary studies, including authors who are active in the Tibetan literary world itself. These scholars examine the literary output of Tibetan authors writing in Tibetan, Chinese, and English, both in Tibet and in the Tibetan diaspora. The contributors explore the circumstances that led to the development of modern Tibetan literature, its continuities and breaks with classical Tibetan literary forms, and the ways that writers use forms such as magical realism, satire, and humor to negotiate literary freedom within the People’s Republic of China. They provide crucial information about Tibetan writers’ lives in China and abroad, the social and political contexts in which they write, and the literary merits of their oeuvre. Along with deep social, cultural, and political analysis, this wealth of information clarifies the complex circumstances that Tibetan writers face in the PRC and the diaspora. The contributors consider not only poetry, short stories, and novels but also other forms of cultural production—such as literary magazines, films, and Web sites—that provide a public forum in the Tibetan areas of the PRC, where censorship and restrictions on public gatherings remain the norm. Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change includes a previously unavailable list of modern Tibetan works translated into Western languages and a comprehensive English-language index of names, subjects, and terms. Contributors: Pema Bhum, Howard Y. F. Choy, Yangdon Dhondup, Lauran R. Hartley, Hortsang Jigme, Matthew T. Kapstein, Nancy G. Lin, Lara Maconi, Françoise Robin, Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani, Ronald D. Schwartz, Tsering Shakya, Sangye Gyatso (aka Gangzhün), Steven J. Venturino, Riika Virtanen

An account of Tibet and the Tibetan people that emphasises the political history of the 20th century. This book attempts to reach beyond the polemics by considering the various historical arguments, using archival material from several nations and drawing conclusions focused on available documents.

In the past century, the Western view of Tibet has evolved from an exotic Shangri-la filled with golden idols and the promise of immortality, to a peaceful land with an enlightened society now ravaged by outside aggression. How and why did our perception change? How accurate are our modern conceptions of Tibet? Imagining Tibet is a collection of essays that reveal these Western conceptions. Providing an historical background to the West's ever-changing relationship with Tibet, Donald Lopez, Jeffrey Hopkins, Jamyang Norbu, and other noted scholars explore a variety of topics - from Western perceptions of Tibetan approaches to violence, monastic life, and life as a nation in exile, to representations of Tibet in Western literature, art, environmentalism, and the New Age movement.

Nicknamed “the roof of the world,” Tibet is best known for its snow-capped mountains and as the home of the Dalai Lama. In this title, readers will discover the distinct Tibetan culture, its peoples, religion, history, geography, and customs. Recipes for traditional dishes and colorful maps and photographs are included to bring to life the unique makeup of this autonomous region.