| Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: ??; Wylie: Bod; | | | | The Potala Palace in Lhasa is Tibet's holiest centre |
| Lhasa dialect IPA: [p?o`?]; Simplified and Traditional | | | | Name |
| Chinese: ??, Hanyu Pinyin: Xizang; also referred to as | | | | In Tibetan |
| ?? (Simplified Chinese), ?? (Traditional Chinese), | | | | Tibetans call their homeland Bod ( ??), pronounced |
| Zangqu (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a | | | | pö in Lhasa dialect. It is first attested in the |
| plateau region in Central Asia and the indigeneous | | | | geography of Ptolemy as ß???? (batai) |
| home to the Tibetan people. With an average | | | | (Beckwith, C. U. of Indiana Diss. 1977). Tibetans refer |
| elevation of 4,900 m (16,000 ft), it is the highest | | | | to Tibet as a "fatherland" (Tibetan: ??????; Wylie: |
| region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the | | | | pha-yul), whereas "motherland" (Tibetan: ??????; |
| "Roof of the World". | | | | Wylie: ma-yul) is a neologism introduced in the 1960s |
| Existing as a seperate nation for centuries, Tibet is | | | | to refer to China. |
| today administered mostly under the People's | | | | In Chinese |
| Republic of China. Tibet is also officially claimed by the | | | | The modern Chinese name for Tibet, ?? (Xizang), is a |
| Republic of China (Taiwan). However in the Tibetan | | | | phonetic transliteration derived from the region called |
| sovereignty debate, the Chinese government and the | | | | Tsang (western Ü-Tsang). The name originated |
| Government of Tibet in Exile have disagreed over | | | | during the Qing Dynasty of China, ca. 1700. It can be |
| the legitimacy of Tibet becoming a part of China | | | | broken down into "xi" ? (literally "west"), and "zang" ? |
| since 1959, and whether this incorporation into the | | | | (literally "Buddhist scripture" or "storage"). The term |
| Chinese homelands was legitimate. | | | | can be interpreted as either "Buddhist scripture of |
| The Tibetan Empire came into existence in the | | | | the west" or "western storage." The pre-1700s |
| seventh century when Emperor Songtsän | | | | historic Chinese term for Tibet was ?? (Tufan, |
| Gampo united many areas and tribes of the region. | | | | Medieval Chinese pronuncation: /t'obw?n/), which |
| Since the early 1600s a lineage of allegedly reborn | | | | comes from the Turkish word for "heights" and is |
| (tulku) magistrates, known as the Dalai Lamas have | | | | also the origin of the English term "Tibet." |
| administrated Tibet, and the fourteen Dali Lama's are | | | | The government of the People's Republic of China |
| beleived to be the incarnations of | | | | equates Tibet with the Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Avalokiteśvara ("Chenrezig" [spyan ras gzigs] in | | | | (TAR). As such, the name "Xizang" is equated with |
| Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion. | | | | the TAR. In order to refer non-TAR Tibetan areas, |
| Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama | | | | or to all of cultural Tibet, the term ?? Zangqu (literally, |
| was the head of the Tibetan government, | | | | "ethnic Tibetan areas") is used. However, |
| administering religious and adminstrative authourity | | | | Chinese-language versions of pro-Tibetan |
| over a large portion of the country from the | | | | independence websites, such as the Free Tibet |
| traditional capital Lhasa, regarded as Tibet's holiest | | | | Campaign, the Voice of Tibet, and Tibet Net use ?? |
| city. | | | | ("Xizang"), not ?? ("Zangqu"), to mean historic Tibet. |
| When the Government of Tibet in Exile and the | | | | Some English-speakers reserve "Xizang", the Chinese |
| Tibetan refugee community worldwide refer to | | | | word transliterated into English, for the TAR, to keep |
| Tibet, they mean a large area that formed the | | | | the concept distinct from that of historic Tibet. Some |
| cultural entity of Tibet for many centuries, consisting | | | | pro-independence advocates duplicate the situation |
| of the traditional provinces of Amdo, Kham (Khams), | | | | into the Chinese language, and use ?? (Tufan) or ??? |
| and Ü-Tsang (Dbus-gtsang), but excluding areas | | | | (Tubote), which are both phonetic transcriptions of |
| outside the People's Republic of China's administration | | | | the word "Tibet", to refer to historic Tibet, this is still |
| like the disputed territory Arunachal Pradesh (or | | | | used for research area and is known and accepted |
| South Tibet), Sikkim, Bhutan, and Ladakh that have | | | | by most of the Chinese. |
| also formed part of the Tibetan cultural sphere. | | | | Tibetan monks from Ganden Monastery |
| When the People's Republic of China (PRC) refers to | | | | Tibetan monks from Ganden Monastery |
| Tibet, it means the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR): | | | | The character ? (zang) has been used in |
| a province-level entity which, according to the | | | | transcriptions referring to Tsang as early as the Yuan |
| territorial claims of the PRC, includes Arunachal | | | | Dynasty, if not earlier, though the modern term |
| Pradesh or South Tibet (presently under the | | | | "Xizang" was devised in the 18th century. The |
| administration of India). India considers Arunachal | | | | Chinese character ? (Zang) has also been generalized |
| Pradesh as its integral part. Sikkim, Bhutan, and | | | | to refer to all of Tibet, including other concepts |
| Ladakh may also be considered to be parts of | | | | related to Tibet such as the Tibetan language (??, |
| cultural Greater Tibet in addition to Amdo, Kham, and | | | | Zangwén) and the Tibetan people (??, |
| Ü-Tsang. The TAR covers the Dalai Lama's | | | | Zangzú). The two characters of Xizang can |
| former domain consisting of Ü-Tsang and | | | | literally mean "western treasure". (The second |
| western Kham, while Amdo and eastern Kham are | | | | character can also mean "storage", though it is |
| now found within the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, | | | | pronounced differently (cáng) when used for |
| Yunnan, and Sichuan. | | | | that meaning.) |
| The difference in definition is a major source of | | | | In English |
| dispute. The distribution of Amdo and eastern Kham | | | | The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in |
| into surrounding provinces was initiated by the | | | | most European languages, is derived from the Arabic |
| Yongzheng Emperor during the eighteenth century | | | | word Tubbat.[1] This word is derived via Persian from |
| and has been continuously maintained by successive | | | | the Turkic word Töbäd (plural of |
| Chinese governments. Tibetan exiles, in turn, consider | | | | Töbän), meaning "the heights". The word |
| the maintenance of this arrangement since the | | | | for Tibet in Medieval Chinese, ?? (Pinyin Tufan, often |
| eighteenth century as part of a divide-and-rule policy. | | | | given as Tubo), is derived from the same Turkic |
| Tibet has scenic mountainous terrain. | | | | word. Tufan was pronounced /t'o-bw?n/ in Medieval |
| Tibet has scenic mountainous terrain. | | | | times. PRC scholars favor the theory that "Tibet" is |
| The Potala Palace in Lhasa is Tibet's holiest centre | | | | derived from Tufan. |