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Q: Some self-exiled Tibetans claim, "We have our own national flag, army
and currency. Tibet is worthy of the name of an independent country." What
are the facts? |
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A: The "national flag" the separatists mention is the "Snow Mountain
Lion Flag" -the flag of the former local Tibetan army.
By the mid-9th
century, the Tubo Kingdom had collapsed. For a long time after that there were
no regular troops in Tibet, and there was certainly no formal army flag. In the
late 18th century the Qing Dynasty sent troops to repulse a foreign invasion in
Tibet and formulated the well-known 29=articleRegulations Concerning the Administration
of Tibet. The regulations called for establishing a local regular army. The 4th
article stipulated, "There was no regular army in Front Tibet and Rear Tibet.
When needed, an army was temporarily conscripted, thus lacking sustained fighting
power, and infringing on the normal life of local inhabitants, with negative consequences.
Now, with the permission of the emperor, the local regular army is to be 3,000
men strong. One thousand soldiers each will be stationed in Front Tibet and Rear
Tibet, and 500 each will be stationed in Gyangze and Tingri." This 3,000-man
army was the "Tibetan Army." Both regular training and command in battle
called for an army flag, so the Tibetan army flag was designed. This is the history
of the "Snow Mountain lion Flag" and the "army."
The currency
in Tibet was a component part of China's currency system. Since the Han and Tang
dynasties, the Tibetan currency has had close ties with that in the interior.
In the 13th century, when Tibet formally became an administrative region of China,
it used gold and silver as a means of payment, as was the practice in the interior.
Tibet was one of the earliest regions to mint silver coins. In 1792, the central
government of the Qing Dynasty decided to send skilled workers to Tibet and establish
its own mint there. Under the supervision of the commissioner to Tibet, the first
Tibetan "Zhangka" was produced in Gongbo. The following year, the Qing
government formulated the 29-article Regulations Concerning the Administration
in Tibet, which stipulated setting up a "coin-minting department" in
Tibet. Officials appointed by the commissioner to Tibet and the Dalai lama were
responsible for coin-minting affairs. All the facts show that the Tibetan currency
system was decided on by the central government and the Tibetan currency minted
with the approval of the Qing emperor. It was part and parcel of the national
currency system. | |
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