Tibetan blogosphere is vibrant and empowering
Whilst the potential for contact and dialogue in the Tibetan cyberspace is great, control of the internet and the politicisation of the blog content poses difficulties and risks. Monitoring Tibetan blogs reveals that throughout the year, at times deemed “sensitive” by the Chinese government, Tibetan blog-hosting sites will suddenly with no explanation or prior warning either be taken offline or be offline “for maintenance”
By Dechen Pemba on Monday, August 30th, 2010 - 1,237 words.
Screenshot of a Tibetan blog
As a place to meet, share and exchange, the Tibetan blogosphere has created opportunities for Tibetan netizens that would be unimaginable in the offline world. Keeping in mind the state of internet censorship in the People’s Republic of China today, these new spaces can be seen as new outlets but also as new areas involving personal risk. Tibetan cyberspace has opened up a new opportunity for expression, which has also brought new risks to this community.
There are several blog-hosting sites, both Tibetan and Chinese, that are favoured by Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) today. One of the of the most popular Chinese language sites is called Tibetan Culture Net or simply TibetCul. TibetCul was started by two brothers, Wangchuk Tseten and Tsewang Norbu, and their head office is in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. According to Alexa, the web Information Company, TibetCul receives over 400,000 hits every month. TibetCul is primarily a news and blog-hosting site but there are many different sections on the site related to Tibetan music, literature, films and travel. There is a BBS forum (bulletin board) and there is even a section dedicated to “overseas Tibetans”.
For all Tibet related news, blogs and cultural activities, TibetCul is an invaluable resource and source of information. Many posts translated into English by High Peaks Pure Earth come from TibetCul, such as the translation of the popular Tibetan hip-hop song “New Generation” by Green Dragon that was first featured on the group’s TibetCul blog in February 2010 in which a gang of Amdo rappers boldly proclaimed:
“The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom”
In a similar surge of pride in Tibetan identity that featured on Tibetan blogs post-2008, TibetCul blogs featured many poems and prose articles with the title “I Am Tibetan” and new posts are being written even today.
Heated discussions and debate take place on TibetCul every day about all matters of concern to Tibetans. One major example would be the online vilification of well-known Tibetan singer Lobsang Dondrup following photos posted on blogs of him and his wife both wearing fur at their wedding ceremony in early 2009. The photos were quickly re-posted across many blogs, incurring the wrath of angry Tibetan netizens and comments criticising the couple flooded the internet forums both in Tibetan and Chinese. This must all be seen in context, in 2006, after the Dalai Lama’s injunction against the wearing of animal fur, a wave of fur burning protests took place in Amdo and Kham. Hence the netizens anger and loathing for the couple. Shortly after, Lobsang Dondrup posted an apology online through his friend’s TibetCul blog.
The above observations on TibetCul demonstrate the nature of cyberspace in the ability to bring people together in discussion and debate and also the ability for the online content to transcend national borders, “New Generation” has gone on to become a popular song amongst Tibetans all over the world and the “I Am Tibetan” poetry and spirit has sparked Tibetan exile groups to hold events to amplify voices from Tibet.
In a paper from 2004, Tibetan scholar Tashi Rabgey referred to the Lhasa tradition of the Sweet Tea House: “Throughout the 1980s, sweet tea houses had served as important gathering places for Tibetans to exchange news, air opinions and discuss ideas.” However, “with the tightening of political controls in the early 1990s [...] this unusual space of lively, open debate was brought to an end through constant surveillance.” The new virtual Sweet Tea House contains Tibetans who are literate in many languages but mainly in Tibetan, Chinese and English and Tibetans from Central Tibet, Kham, Amdo, India, USA and beyond, all in contact and dialogue.
Whilst the potential for contact and dialogue in the Tibetan cyberspace is great, control of the internet and the politicisation of the blog content poses difficulties and risks. Monitoring Tibetan blogs reveals that throughout the year, at times deemed “sensitive” by the Chinese government, Tibetan blog-hosting sites will suddenly with no explanation or prior warning either be taken offline or be offline “for maintenance”. This happens typically for Tibetan blogs around the time of March 10, the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. See this link for an example of TibetCul suddenly disappearing offline and this link for Tibetan-language blogs being taken offline.
Similarly, individual bloggers are in danger of being targeted by the state for blog content deemed to be dubious. The most famous example is the Tibetan poet, writer and blogger, Woeser, who was writing two blogs, one on TibetCul and another on a Chinese blog hosting site but both of which were suddenly shut down on 28 July 2006. Woeser then had no choice but to start a new blog on a server hosted outside the PRC but has since faced a new set of problems such as server cyber-attacks by Chinese nationalists, both to her blogs and her Skype accounts.
Tibetan language blog-hosting sites have been even more vulnerable than TibetCul and two previously very popular sites have been inaccessible since 2009, http://tibettl.com/ and http://www.tibetabc.cn The latter was particularly a great loss as prominent singer and blogger Jamyang Kyi’s blog had previously been hosted by Tibetabc but she seems to have stopped blogging altogether since the site was closed down.
Two recent examples of individuals using blogs and the internet for purposes of social justice have been Dolkar Tso and Shogdung. Dolkar Tso, the wife of environmentalist Karma Samdrup, was blogging almost daily in June and July 2010, documenting the events of her husband’s trial and expressing her personal feelings about the injustice of his sentencing to 15 years in prison. Amazingly, Dolkar Tso persistently kept blogging on Chinese blog-hosting site Sohu and, at the last count, is on her fifth blog as the others kept being shut down rapidly.
Tagyal, a writer and intellectual who used the pen name Shogdung meaning “Morning Conch”, openly spoke out in April 2010 following the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu. He, along with several other intellectuals, published an open letter on Tibetan language blog-hosting site http://www.sangdhor.com in which they expressed condolences and at the same time were critical of the Chinese government in their handling of the earthquake relief efforts. Following this open letter, Shogdung was arrested and is still facing trial. Following Shogdung’s arrest, the site Sangdhor was taken offline for several months and has only recently come back online.
The last two examples of Dolkar Tso and Shogdung illustrate the importance of Tibetan blogs as sources of information and as ways to highlight injustice but evidently this comes at a great price for the individuals involved. The virtual Sweet Tea House is ultimately as vulnerable as the Lhasa tea houses of the 1990s were and is likely to remain so as long as Tibetan blogs remain behind the Great Firewall.
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Dechen Pemba
Dechen Pemba is a UK Tibetan based in London. Dechen is the editor of High Peaks Pure Earth, a site that translates blogposts, poems and songs from Tibet into English.
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An Eye from History and Reality: Woeser and the Story of Tibet
Dechen Pemba, Editor of High Peaks Pure Earth, interviews Tibet's foremost poet Woeser. Woeser is currently under house arrest in Beijing. …
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Tibetan blogosphere is vibrant and empowering
Whilst the potential for contact and dialogue in the Tibetan cyberspace is great, control of the internet and the politicisation of the blog content poses difficulties and risks. Monitoring Tibetan …
Read more
Thanks for this interesting piece. I'm now better informed on the subject, and, as ever, remain optimistic about the possibilities of the internet.
Thanks for sharing informative post. I am going to subscribe your rss feeds to check coming update.
hi dechen la thank you so much for this article. i came to know lots of things which i don't know about..please keep writing. i want to share this information on my facebook..
Nice one…. But I believe these chinese people have invaded us and limited our thinking. They destroyed our culture. We r struggling and fighting each year against the chinese but all r in vain. Many of my relatives r still refugee in india.
India is lot better in treating tibetan people then chinese. PLA is eating our flesh in terms of ruling. This should stop.
NEED INDEPENDENCE FROM CHINESE RULE.
Finally, I located the information I was searching for. I have been doing research on this subject, and for four days I keep finding websites that are supposed to have what I’m looking for, only to be discouraged with the lack of what I needed. I wish I could have found your website quicker! I had about 40% of what I was looking for and your web-site has that, and the rest of what I need to finish my research. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Dear Tania, Glad you are finding the article and website useful! What are you doing your research on? If you have any questions my contact details are at the top of the page. All the best! Dechen
Hey – nice blog, just looking around some blogs, seems a pretty nice platform you are using. I’m currently using WordPress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?
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Nice one, Dechen-laa! We crave more of your cyber-knowledge.
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Hi Dechen Pemba – could you please send us an up-date – how is the situation for the blogger in tibet after the announcement of the nobelprize for liu xiaobo – as you know HH mentioned – the prize to Liu could bring a change in china.. but as we all know – change does not come as a miracle..
tashi delek – rangzen
werner – h:ki
The Tibetans are developing a respectable history and traditions in the IT field some people even say that the same qualities of mind that make Tibetan monks excel in Buddhist studies.Thanks for sharing informative post.
Regards.
A tibetan monetize in her own right, dechen pemba, publisher of High Peaks Pure Earth provides insight into the importance and the vulnerabilities of the tibetan biosphere. Tibetan blogs reveals that throughout the year, at times deemed sensitive by the Chinese government, Tibetan blog-hosting sites will suddenly with no explanation taken be offline for maintenance. Thanks for sharing.
The term empowerment covers a vast landscape of meanings, interpretations, definitions and disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy to the highly commercialized self-help industry and motivational science. It is then the process of obtaining these basic opportunities for marginalized people. Thanks for sharing.
Tibetan cyberspace has opened up a new opportunity for expression, which has also brought new risks to this community. Tibet Culture is primarily a news and blog-hosting site but there are many different sections on the site related to Tibetan music, literature, films and travel. Thanks for sharing.
I'm currently using WordPress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it.
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A Tibetan netizen in her own right, Dechen Pemba, publisher of High Peaks Pure Earth(the remarkable blog that translates the writings of Tibetans living in Tibet and China) provides insight into the importance and the vulnerabilities of the Tibetan blogosphere. Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
Jack
Tibetan Cyberspace has opened a new avenue of expression, new risks to the community. Tibetan culture is primarily a news and blog hosting site, but there are many different sections of the site related to Tibetan music, literature, cinema and travel. Thanks for sharing.
The term empowerment covers a vast landscape of meanings, interpretations, definitions and disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy of the highly commercialized self-help industry and the science of motivation. Then the process for obtaining these basic opportunities for marginalized people. Thanks for sharing.
All this must be considered in context, in 2006, after the Dalai Lama's ban on the wearing of animal fur, took a wave of protests held in fur burns Amdo and Kham. Thus users of anger and disgust for the couple.
the new generation has a resource called the Youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has a playful aspect called
The new generation is tempted called freedom "
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I enjoyed going to Tibet. It is absolutely beautiful over there.
TibetCul is a pretty good website. I've gone there many times just to learn more about Tibetan culture. I love traveling as well and Tibet was one of my favorite places.
For all Tibet related news, blogs and cultural activities, TibetCul is an invaluable resource and source of information. Many posts translated into English by High Peaks Pure Earth come from TibetCul. One such translation of the popular Tibetan hip-hop song “New Generation” by Green Dragon was first featured on the group’s TibetCul blog in February 2010 in which a gang of Amdo rappers boldly proclaimed:
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Why is there so much noise about "Chinese occupation of Tibet". We Chinese do not occupy Tibet, we are the rightful owner of Tibet. No one can ever make us leave Tibet. We are powerful. We are rich. We have more than 3 trillion dollars in our coffer. You westerners criticize us for being in our own land, Tibet. You never criticize India for occupying Southern Tibet which actually belongs to China. You never criticize Russia for their occupation of Siberia which is rightfully belongs to Chinese. One day we will take back both territories either peacefully or forcefully. Who can stop us?
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et Culture is primarily a news and blog-hosting site but there are many different sections on the site related to Tibetan music, literature, films and travel. Thanks MBA essay writing
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