The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

In The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier , Benno Weiner provides the first in-depth study of an ethnic minority region during the first decade of the People's Republic of China: the Amdo region in the Sino-Tibetan borderland. Employing previously inaccessible local archives as well as other rare primary sources, he demonstrates that the Communist Party's goal in 1950s Amdo was not just state- building, but also nation-building. Such an objective required the construction of narratives and policies capable of convincing Tibetans of their membership in a wider political community. As Weiner shows, however, early efforts to gradually and organically transform a vast multiethnic empire into a singular nation-state lost out to a revolutionary impatience, demanding more immediate paths to national integration and socialist transformation. This led in 1958 to communization, then to large-scale rebellion and its brutal pacification. Rather than joining volunatarily, Amdo was integrated through the widespread, often indiscriminate use of violence, a violence that lingers in the living memory of Amdo Tibetans and others. "In The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier, Benno Weiner provides the first in-depth study of an ethnic minority region during the first decade of the People's Republic of China: the Amdo region in the Sino-Tibetan borderland. Employing previously inaccessible local archives as well as other rare primary sources, he demonstrates that the Communist Party's goal in 1950s Amdo was not just state-building, but also nation-building. Such an objective required the construction of narratives and policies capable of convincing Tibetans of their membership in a wider political community.As Weiner shows, however, early efforts to gradually and organically transform a vast multiethnic empire into a singular nation-state lost out to a revolutionary impatience, demanding more immediate paths to national integration and socialist transformation. This led in 1958 to communization, then to large-scale rebellion and its brutal pacification. Rather than joining voluntarily, Amdo was integrated through the widespread, often indiscriminate use of violence, a violence that lingers in the living memory of Amdo Tibetans and others."-- Résumé de l'éditeur The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier 1 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 12 List of Abbreviations 14 A Note on Sources, Transliteration, and Nomenclature 16 Introduction: Amdo, Empire, and the United Front 24 1. Amdo at the Edge of Empire 47 2. If You Kill the County Head, How Will I Explain It to the Communist Party? 66 3. Becoming Masters of Their Own Home (under the Leadership of the Party) 89 4. Establishing a Foundation among the Masses 120 5. High Tide on the High Plateau 144 6. Tibetans Do the Housework, but Han Are the Masters 169 7. Reaching the Sky in a Single Step—The Amdo Rebellion 184 8. Empty Stomachs and Unforgivable Crimes 204 Conclusion: Amdo and the End of Empire? 226 Appendix A: Zeku’s Chiefdoms (ca. 1953) 236 Appendix B: THL/Pinyin-Chinese-Wylie Conversion Table 238 List of Abbreviations Used in the Notes 244 Notes 244 Bibliography 280 Index 300 "A detailed history of an ethnic minority region during the early years of the People's Republic of China, this book examines the unsuccessful efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to 'gradually' and 'voluntarily' incorporate the region known to Tibetans as Amdo into the new People's Republic of China"-- Provided by publisher