THE DRAGON’S EYE
Official
Publication of US-China Peoples Friendship Association, Chicago Chapter, www.uscpfa.org/chicago
Roger Noback, Chapter President and Editor,
630/762-8225, rogernoback@msn.com JUNE
22, 2008 (4th Sun)
Scheduled venue, time, topic, and activity for the USCPFA June
22, 2008 meeting
TIBET: The Dharmaratna (PEARL) the Dragon
Chases—Towards
A Pan-Himalayan Suvarnabhumi (GOLDEN-LAND)
By
Prof. TAN CHUNG 谭中,
Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi
Prof. Tan approaches the subject of Tibet
from a somewhat different perspective than our May 25 speaker: he sees Tibet as
China’s invaluable jewel, rather than a Thorn in China’s side, as
depicted in the title of last month’s talk on Tibet. As indicated in the title of his talk,
Prof. Tan uses the familiar image of a dragon chasing the pearl which,
according to him, is a mistaken Chinese convention of the original idea of the dragon
protecting the “Dharmaratna” (“ratna” meaning
“jewel,” “dharma” meaning “religion” or
“truth,” and the combination is the tribute for Buddhism). Prof. Tan also likens the bright future
of Tibet and the surrounding “Pan-Himalayan region” to the ancient
Indian legend, Suvarnabhum (the “Golden Land”). This is the Second Talk in a Series of Activities regarding Tibet which
started in May, 2008.
As one aspect of this perspective, according
to Prof. Tan, the primacy of the office of Dalai Lama in Tibet and Tibetan
Buddhism depended early and principally on the support and sanction of the Qing
Emperors (1644-1911). This is
consistent with Princeton University’s Professor Emeritus, F.W. Mote,
author of Imperial China (Harvard U. Press, 1999, pp. 876-7), who wrote
that the primacy of the office, Dalai (“Oceanwide”) Lama
(“Elder”), its corresponding secular power, and the correlative
supremacy in Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet of his Yellow Hat sect, depended early,
principally and continually on the support and patronage of the Qing emperors,
and Qing patronage caused the Dalai Lama’s Yellow Hat sect to supplant
the leadership of the Red Hat sect, which had been favored, supported and
patronized initially by the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan (1260-1294), and
adopted by him as his personal religion.
Mote’s perspective seems consistent with the relevant Volumes and
Chapters of The Cambridge History of China treating the Qing Dynasty
(Vol. 9 & 10) authored and edited by such as John K. Fairbank and Joseph
Fletcher (Harvard), Jonathan Spence (Yale), and Willard Peterson (Princeton).
Prof. Tan previously spoke to an overflow
crowd of over 50 at our Jan. 28, 2007 Chapter talk, Let the Dragon and
Elephant Tango: China and India, or Chindia. His background is unique, and his presentation then was a masterful combination of insight, facts and
a fresh and original approach to his subject matter.
Speaker’s BIO. Born 1929 in Malaysia, grew
up in China, spent 45 years (1955-1999) in India mainly teaching Chinese
language and history (Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University), Tan
Chung is now Emeritus Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, and
Academic Associate of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago.
He has authored 9 books in English with another (Let the Dragon and
Elephant Tango) in the offing, and 6 in Chinese. He is also a regular contributor of
articles to the Chinese language press in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore
and Malaysia. His new book (co-authored with Peking University Professor Geng
Yinzeng) India and China: Twenty Centuries of Civilizational Interaction and
Vibration, is Volume III, Part 6 of the encyclopedic series of History
of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Prof. Tan
Chung is the son of a renowned Chindian
scholar, Prof. Tan Yun-shan (1898-1983), old associate of Nobel Laureate poet
Rabindranath Tagore and Prime Minister Nehru. For eight decades the two Tan
generations have dedicated themselves to elucidating the interaction of China
and India.
FUTURE
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES (Mark Your Calendars): There is no activity in July.
Sat. eve., August 16
is our annual China Harvest
Moon/Park/Poetry Celebration, under a full moon at the
Chinese landscape and Pavilion at Ping Tom Park in Chinatown, where we combine
the following: (1) “Sing-Along” Harvest Moon songs of the U.S. and
China, (2) activity seen today in China’s parks (e.g., spontaneous
ballroom dancing and tai-chi), (3) spontaneous reading of Chinese poetry in
Chinese and English translation (as Tang and Song Dynasty Chinese did under the
moon), (4) preceded by a dinner and talk on a topic of Chinese literature
at the House of Fortune Restaurant.
Sun., Sept. 21:
Planned visit to the Field Museum’s permanent Tibet Exhibit on a
“Free Day” at the Museum, as a further activity in the
Chapter’s continuing Tibet Series.
The regular monthly Chapter meeting typically includes a delicious traditional Chinese multi-course meal, which begins at 2 pm; the hour long luncheon talk (with Q&A) begins at 3 pm; and all this is only $20. CfaDE62208UsMailDRAFT