Tibet´s Contribution to Cultural Diversity, Preservation and Sustainable Development of the  Tibetan Culture

　　Richard Trappl (Austria)

　　Summary: 

　　As a sinologist, who had studied in China 1974/75, who had then worked in a “People´s Commune” and in a steel factory in Beijing, who had visited Tibet in the early 1980ies, and who now has the privilege to be director of a Confucius Institute, I have witnessed China´s history over the last 40 years, have witnessed hopes and despairs of Chinese, dramatic developments and the changes in a world, in which China is an inseparable part and a driving force by now.

　　During the last decades the world has undergone fundamental changes: from the bi-polarity of the “Cold War” to a multi-polarity, going hand in hand with the so called “globalization”. However, the more economy gets inter-dependent on a world-wide scale, the more important cultural diversity becomes. Biology shows that monocultures are doomed to fail, are vulnerable against pests and finally vanish. The diversity of human cultures, their mutual influences and inspirations are bringing the evolution of humankind forward.

　　China has brought the axiom of “cultural diversity” into political practice. Looking back in history, the various influences e.g. during the Tang Dynasty, coming from Central Asia, enriched China´s society and civilization. China´s experience of cultural diversity is not only derived from its contacts with other countries or peoples, but is also based on the integrative dynamics of its own history, being a country with more than fifty ethnicities today. China´s wealth at present is seen by the outside world primarily in terms of economic parameters, and in fact the economic development during the last three decades is tremendous, but the problems regarding ecology and social coherence cannot be overseen. China´s wealth, however, has deeper roots: it is the continued accumulated knowledge and wisdom of thousands of years, the knowledge and wisdom documented in books and inherited from generation to generation. There seems to be a complementarity between the rationalist Confucian approach to manage an entity – a family or the country (guojia) -, and the metaphysical approach as in Daoism, with its anarchistic attitude towards any human undertaking versus nature. The introduction of Buddhism in the Chinese civilization again added a kind of “religious” component to the non-theistic concept of the “Daodejing”. The ups and downs of central governmental power during the last two millennia of China´s dynastic development can be correlated with the changing influence of a more “Confucianist” ideological structure (as e.g. during the Han Dynasty) and a more “Daoist” decentralization or even splitting up into parallel dynasties (e.g. during the 3rd to 5th century).

　　As for Tibet´s contacts – political, military, cultural etc – with ancient “China proper” beginning with the Tang period, much has been researched and is going on to be researched.

　　The focus of this contribution, written not by a tibetologist but by a sinologist, lies on the question, how Tibet´s unique culture can and should be appreciated and made use of in terms of the above addressed “diversity” as an evolutionary principle of nature. And hence we have to ask: what are the specific features of this culture, how could their emergence and existence be interpreted vis-a-vis other cultures, and what could or should be the consequences for its protection and at the same time development in a rapidly changing world?

　　Let us begin with the question: What exerts the never ending fascination of Tibet in the outside world? Is it seen by the “rational” world of science, technology and economy as a last remaining “myth”, a desire for spirituality in a secularized modernity?

　　Is it the uniqueness and beauty of its landscape, or rather the difficulty of its accessability? Does the “rational world” outside need such a “myth” of being “unaccessable”, and hence needs to prove that access is possible, and has to be ventured?

　　Is it the approach of the Tibetan people towards the deepest question of existence: how to cope with its finality, how to cope with the question of life and death, what does it mean to live, especially in such a challenging natural environment?

　　The “inter-cultural” processes between societies, based on and orientated towards rational development and growth, and a society whose rejection, or at least absence, from a concept of development due to spirituality as an interpretation of life´s destiny, must be difficult and needs maybe hundreds of years of mutual approach, of try and error, of overcoming misinterpretation and distrust.

　　Tibet´s cultural uniqueness could be seen as a source for instigating reflection within the “rational world” about foundations of “rationality”, similar as in “Daodejing” the dichotomies, in which humans would see in the world, are probed and a “third” entity is speculated on, an entity that transcends even existence and non-existence.

　　If the whole range of manifestations of Tibetan culture has to be embedded into the context of a “rational” world, it has to include all forms of material and immaterial manifestations, such as language, literature, music, dances, rituals, festivals, paintings, architecture, as well as such basic fundamentals as food,  beverage, clothing, living habits and so forth.

　　In our world with its categorization and enumeration, contribute has been paid already on the international level to some of the Tibetan cultural manifestations: among the “UNESCO World Heritage”, the Potala and Norbulingka have been enlisted as “Material World Heritage”, and the Tibetan Opera as “Immaterial World Heritage”, bringing the list of China´s contributions to the UNESCO World Heritage up to more than 30.

　　At this point I would like to take the freedom to suggest that a further item should be considered to be included into this list of China´s UNESCO “Immaterial World Heritages”: The “Tibetan Ritual Music and Dances”.

　　The theme of the “Fourth Forum on the Development of Tibet, China” is “Opportunities and Challenges for the Development of Tibet”. The above enlisted aspects - what should be preserved from the Tibetan culture - should be seen as opportunities for the outside world to open the view for other approaches towards existential questions, and hence their preservation would not only suffice the needs of the Tibetans. 

　　A key toward an inter-cultural approach to Tibet definitely lies in regarding the religious imaginations of its people with sensibility and empathy. That does not mean to be urged to accept such imaginations for oneself. But such an approach at the same time offers opportunities to communicate concepts of “modernization” as they occur in- and outside of China.　

　　China today is reconsidering the relation between quantitative and qualitative growth. Tibet might still be driven by the dynamics of endeavors by the Chinese central government that stress quantitative aspects. Yet it is a culture like the Tibetan one that might show how qualitative sustainability may contribute an “added value” to purely economic strategies. 

　　Education, which has had its eminent role in China´s society ever since Confucius´s time, is another “key element” in safeguarding Tibet´s opportunities for a sustainable development and a bridge to “inter-cultural” understanding and co-operation. 

　　Preservation without development means stagnation, whereas, development without preservation of the essence of a culture, means musealization. Both extremes are losing the authenticity of a living cultural body. Tibet´s opportunities lie in the sound complementarity of preservation and development. Such a development will have the chance to be sustainable one, and hence Tibet´s “challenges” might turn out as “opportunities”: both for Tibet and beyond.

　　（Richard Trappl，Austrian Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna）