The struggle for modern Tibet
Subtitle: the autobiography of Tashi Tsering
By: Melvyn Goldstein, William Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering.
Contributors: Siebenschuh, William R.; Tashi Tsering.
Publisher: M.E. Sharpe
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Armonk, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 207
Subjects: Tashi Tsering; Educators -- China -- Tibet -- Biography; Political prisoners -- China -- Biography
Description: This captivating autobiography by a Tibetan educator and former political prisoner is full of twists and turns. Born in 1929 in a Tibetan village, Tsering developed a strong dislike of his country's theocratic ruling elite. As a 13-year-old member of the Dalai Lama's personal dance troupe, he was frequently whipped or beaten by teachers for minor infractions. A heterosexual, he escaped by becoming a drombo, or homosexual passive partner and sex-toy, for a well-connected monk.

After studying at the University of Washington, he returned to Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1964, convinced that Tibet could become a modernized society based on socialist, egalitarian principles only through cooperation with the Chinese. Denounced as a 'counterrevolutionary' during Mao's Cultural Revolution, he was arrested in 1967 and spent six years in prison or doing forced labor in China. Officially exonerated in 1978, Tsering became a professor of English at Tibet University in Lhasa.

He now raises funds to build schools in Tibet's villages, emphasizing Tibetan language and culture.
Notes: Includes index.
"An East gate book."