In some cases, the monasteries and nunneries are closed down altogether. In the same year, the authorities closed down Shigatse's Jonang Kumbum Monastery, persecuted its head, the Venerable Kunga Yeshi, and sold the monastery's religious objects in the antique market of Lhasa. Shongchen Nunnery in Shigatse, Drag Yerpa hermitage in Taktse County on the outskirts of Lhasa City, and the 12th century Rakhor Nunnery in Toelung Dechen County were all pulled down in 1997. The authorities claim that most of these dismantled monasteries, nunneries and hermitages had been constructed without proper permission. Such a practice is unknown in the history of Tibetan Buddhist tradition and has serious implications for the survival of Buddhist knowledge.
Senior monks are crucial to the transmission of religious teachings.
The authorities set out to impose increasing restriction on the activities of renowned scholars and religious teachers, perceiving them as a threat to the leadership of the Party. Serthar has more than 8,800 students, of whom over 700 are Chinese from various regions of the Mainland. In June 1999 the administration accused the institute of following the wrong direction and of having too many students. On the other hand, the authorities now make frequent attempts to utilize religious figures, institutions, and traditions to further their political ambitions. It is a measure of China's increasing restrictions on religious freedom and harassment of Tibetan religious figures that the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorji, recognized by both His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the PRC government in Beijing, and Agya Rinpoche, a major Tibetan religious figure who held several important political posts under the Chinese administration, had to recently flee Tibet.