The Thirteenth Dalai Lama and Trajectory of Sino-Tibetan Relations (1876-1933)
Research Poster Arts & Humanities 2025 Graduate ExhibitionPresentation by Tashi Namgyal
Exhibition Number 137
Abstract
In the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, no religious or temporal figure played such a sustained influence across Asia as the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (1876–1933) did. My research critically examines the crucial role of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in shaping Tibet’s relation with Qing in the final decades of the empire and the transformation of the Dalai Lama’s attitude and diplomacy towards Republican China after his creation of the modern Tibetan nation. This dissertation argues that the Thirteenth Dalai Lama navigated through a complicated era of drastic changes in Sino-Tibetan relations and global changes to establish his position as a resilient theocratic ruler who gave the Buddhist state its first modern national identity through his vision of modernity. The fundamental questions guiding my research are: How did the Thirteenth Dalai Lama formulate his strategy towards late Qing while managing the complex geopolitical concerns of both the British and Russian interests? In what manner did his transregional exiles shape and alter his political worldview, and the nature of his legacy in creating a modern Tibetan state that adopted modern diplomacy towards China and other countries?
Importance
The broad dimensions of my research aim to contribute to a broader intellectual discourse and public dialogue on the subject of how traditional leaders navigate through complex hurdles of international politics to effectively reestablish their national identity through their versions of modernity in the postcolonial era. While adopting a multidisciplinary research narrative centered on the life of an important historical figure like the Dalai Lama, such an inquiry would also initiate cross-disciplinary collaboration and dialogue with other social science disciplines such as religious studies, political science, and cultural studies.
DEI Statement
To effectively address such multifaceted research questions, my dissertation brings to bear a wide variety of multilingual primary sources in Tibetan, Chinese, English, Japanese, and Mongolian. My personal background as a Tibetan scholar who grew up in a multilingual environment equips me to undertake such a complicated yet interesting research venture. My dissertation foreground the factors involved in shaping the Dalai Lama’s position on the trajectory of Sino-Tibetan relations, and captures the nature of the geopolitical environment and its effect on the policies of international powers such as Britain and Russia vying for influence in Tibet and across Central Asia.