Customer Reviews

Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows

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I bought this book prior to making a trip to Tibet in 1999, and found it to be invaluable in helping me to understand the history and culture of the amazing place I was to visit. Feigon takes the reader through Tibet's long history, from the time of conquering Tibetan kings to the present. But rather than delivering a dry historical narrative, the author weaves in much about Tibetan culture, such as the role of women in society and the importance of religion to people's lives. As I toured Tibet and listened to the "Chinese version" of Tibetan history, it was helpful to have read this book in order to better understand the complex reality of Tibet's historical experiences. Feignon strives for balance, and shows that while Tibet is clearly not "an inalienable part of China", neither is it the Shangri-la of Hollywood movie stars or teen rock idols. He criticizes the Western image of Tibetans as innocent victims, painting a bigger picture of Tibet's complex--and not always pleasant--history. But despite this effort to achieve balance, the author's animosity toward China comes through loud and clear. While many of his criticisms seem justified, his bias causes him to gloss over some aspects of Tibet's history. The Chinese, for example, make much of having "liberated" Tibetans from serfdom, and indeed, it would have been useful to know more about what really happened. Yet Feigon devotes only one paragraph to describing the feudal system which dominated most people's lives in Tibet prior to 1950. Nevertheless, reading this book helps one to understand that the future of Tibet cannot simply be a return to the theocratic system of the early 20th century. Mr. Feigon's book does much to de-bunk the simplistic myths that have grown up around Tibet, propagated (mainly) by China but also by those who claim Tibet's cause as their own.

Lee Feigon's 'Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows' is an excellent source book that provides interesting information about Tibetan history, geography, culture, and religion. This is a 'must-read' book for anyone interested in Tibet, or have plans to visit this fascinating country. The author adopts a very 'reader friendly' style, which does not over simplify or compromise his writing. This is probably one of the best general introduction books on Tibet that I have read.

The title of this book is apt, for it serves as a handy quick introduction to the vast sweep of Tibetan history, disclosing a land that is not simply the mystical shangri-la we often imagine it is. Like many western readers, I knew next to nothing of the history of Tibet and central asia before the Chinese takeover. The first few chapters here do a good job of outlining this subject, all the while leading up to the author's central thesis that Tibet has historically been separate from China, both politically and culturally. However, political history is seldom cut and dried, and as we move towards the twentieth century we see how British, Russian, and Chinese imperialist politics combined with divisions and corruptions inside Tibet to seal the fate of this isolated country. It was eye-opening to see Tibet as not merely a hapless victim of a cruel invasion, but also as an active, humanly flawed player in the region's mutable history. The author is a college professor but his writing is easily accessible to a general audience.

I thought this book would be really dry and hard to read. It was as gripping as a lot of novels. I liked it because it didn't talk down to the reader, but explained things clearly enough for those of us unfamiliar with Tibet. Since I have degrees in International relations and Political Science, I can say that it is a balanced account. Things weren't perfect before the Chinese arrived and they have made some improvements. The problem is what is being done to Tibetian culture by China. My Chinese friends tell me how they 'civilized' Tibet but that argument rang hollow to me. I liked how all aspects of Tibet are discussed, the climate, cuisine, culture, etc. along with the history and politics. It's inspired me to learn more about this facinating area of the world.

Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows
by Lee Feigon

There is no doubting Lee Feigon's mindset. He holds a chair in East Asian Studies and is Professor of History at Colby College. No surprise then the academic zeal with which he approaches the latest work to add to his erudite canon on Chinese history and politics. But, strange then the unstructured and rambling discourse he then chooses to follow, with it's over-eager use of references (for example, a section describing religious sites is oddly punctuated by a meander into the prevalence of undomesticated canines, and other animals, without even a linking mention of, say, the infamous savage packs of dogs that patrol Dreprung Monastery). Indeed, Feigon fails to deliver a well-formed argument. His style in this book is uncharacteristically piecemeal, clawing together his dissertation with confusing leaps between chronological elements. It is not impossible that this was the symptom of attempting to target a more casual reading audience, but actually producing something that does not adequately communicate to any mass audience.

The lack of structured argument within the book is unfortunate because, within the chaos, Feigon does have a very important academic message to impart. His main tenet is that Tibet should be considered a separate nation and that the inevitable comparisons with China, even across a moral divide between evil China and innocent (almost childlike) Tibet, do injustice to otherwise distinct nations. Notably, China also suffers through this association. Yet, Feigon does not fully develop these ideas, instead preferring to resort to the usual diatribe against Sino-expansionism, towards which he provides dense chronological evidence of Tibetan exploitation and Chinese atrocities. The overall effect is an essentially level-headed analytical argument, but with a bubbling emotive undercurrent yearning for emergence of an independent Tibetan state. I would rather Feigon would have persevered with his academic separatist arguments until their natural conclusion, even if necessarily hypothetical, and he could have abandoned the political activism to NGOs and escapee monks and nuns.

Speaking of insurgency, Feigon makes an interesting claim of CIA involvement in the Dalai Lama's 1959 escape, and further involvement in support of anticommunist guerrillas. If true, then it seems all the more ironic, given the current developments in relations between the USA, and other leading western powers, with China. Another welcome snippet comes from the cameo mention of Lowell Thomas, journalist adventurer and populariser of T.E. Lawrence.

The second half of the book presents most of the anti-Chinese evidence. The opening half of the book concentrates on history, extensively decorated with cultural reference, but amazingly little explanation of religion beyond the historical context. So, Feigon does go some way to revealing the country and culture behind the myth, but in any case, isn't this an outdated premise for the book? Isn't it some time since the West was mystified by Tibet? The modern trend seems to be more one of seduction and vogue, maintaining the romantic notions of a "Land That Time Forgot" that still persist. Simply put, punctuated outsider access to the country and the accumulation of an exhaustive literature, in parallel with the extensive eradication of Tibetan culture by Chinese occupation has corrupted and impoverished most of the ancient secrets of Shangri-La. Apt when James Hilton wrote on the subject, but Feigon's work is a contemporary view where he assumes an antique and static Tibetan culture were it not for China's liberation. This is by definition retrospective and sentimental for a Tibet that ceased to exist decades ago.

"Demystifying Tibet" could be used as a parsimonious introductory guide to Tibetan history and culture, but it does not sufficiently develop any novel analysis. For this there are superior alternatives from that burgeoning modern literature about Tibet: from academia, there is the excellent and balanced "Tibet: The Road Ahead" by Dawa Norbu (1999), from personal Tibetan accounts there is "Tibet: My Story, An Autobiography" by Jetsun Pema (1997) and "Fire Under The Snow" by Palden Gyatso (1998), and from personal non-Tibetan sources there is "Touching Tibet" by Niema Ash (2003). But, perhaps the starting point for anyone wanting to demystify Tibet should be Harrer's "Return To Tibet" (2000), probably the only informed, first-hand comparison from before and after the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

J.F.Derry
07/09/2004

While this book has pretty good pictures, I found the author's contention of Tibet not being part of China hollow. While the author contends that the communist Chinese government made up the history about Tibet's having been part of China since the 13th century, I learned the same history growing up in Taiwan, the most anti-communist island. The author presented two main arguments. Neither of which has a solid ground. His first point is: Tibet has a distinct culture from the Chinese. He fails to see that China has many minority ethnic groups with distinct cultures. Tibet's culture being "distinct" is no different than the American Indians' having a distinct culture. It is part of the whole Chinese culture. The author's 2nd argument is: Not every region conquered by Mongolian should belong to China. True, as he states, many European regions conquered by the Mongolians are not part of China. But Tibet has had court officials in the Chinese dynasties ever since the Mongolian era. The other regions did not. Compare this to American history: Not everywhere the Americans went became a state in America. But the state of Hawaii has state senators in the Congress, just as the Tibetans had high officials in China. And Tibet itself has been one of the 35 provinces of China, just as Hawaii is one of the states. If 800 years from now, Hawaii declares it's not part of United States, I suppose the author will agree. Books like this that try to convince the Americans of the independence of Tibet are shallow in their theory. At best, they advocate a division of China, unwelcomed by even a Chinese like me who is anti-communist. I love my cultur (including Tibet) as much as the Americans love your culture (including the Indians). At worst, these theories open channels for the American states such as Hawaii and California, along with ethnic minorities, to declare independence in the future. I put the book back on the shelf after glancing through its theory. The author would have done better if he tried to analyse the problem between China and Tibet, and urged for a solution to that problem.