Word: tibetans
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Offering over 70 ancient and modern languages, Harvard boasts one of the most comprehensive university language programs nationwide, but Witzel noted that his department’s language courses are currently limited to Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, Urdu-Hindi, Nepali, and Tibetan...
...quake, which struck the Tibetan plateau at 7:49 a.m., is one of the largest recorded in the immediate area, which is rife with seismic activity. The May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake, which killed 87,000, was centered about 375 miles (600 km) to the southeast of the Qinghai temblor. So far at least 11 schools have collapsed in Qinghai, and the number of dead students stands at 66, with dozens more trapped, provincial education secretary Wang Yubo said. Two years ago as many as 6,000 students died in collapsed classrooms in Sichuan. The anger of their parents, some...
...region is largely populated by Tibetans, many of whom distrust China's central government. In March 2008 hundreds of Tibetans rioted in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, and the violence, which was directed at non-Tibetans, spread to other cities in the region. The Chinese government accuses the Dalai Lama of fomenting that outburst, a charge the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader denies. Many Tibetans say the violence was the result of discrimination they face in Chinese society. For the central government, a vigorous disaster response could help temper that distrust...
There is another factor at work here. Yushu sits at what was the edge of the old Chinese empire, and to this day its predominant population is not Han, the ethnic group that rules the new China, but Tibetan. Indeed, the name Yushu, or "Jade Tree," is not what the locals use, beautiful as it is. Yushu is Mandarin, the language of the bureaucrats of Beijing. The town uses Jyekundo, which is Tibetan - the language of the exiled Dalai Lama, a bête noire of the Chinese government. Dominating a large square in Yushu was a spectacular statue...
...railway runs 124 miles (200 km) to the north, whisking tourists and traders - and their money - directly to Lhasa, the capital of what the Chinese have demarcated as the Tibet Autonomous Region. (The Dalai Lama claims a larger territory for Tibet, including Qinghai province, where Yushu lies, and the Tibetans have their own name for Qinghai and parts of Sichuan province: Kham.) Yushu's villagers, monks and herders tend to be wary of the central government in Beijing. Many worry that the influx of Han Chinese migrants threatens Tibetan culture, and some consider China an occupying force...