Map of China and Tibet

Tibet is a Plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft), it is the highest region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the "Roof of the World."

Symbolism of the Tibetan Flag

In the centre stands a magnificent thickly snow clad mountain, which represents the great nation of Tibet, widely known as the Land Surrounded by Snow Mountains.

Across the dark blue sky six red bands spread representing the original ancestors of the Tibetan people: the six tribes called Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra which in turn gave the [twelve] descendants. The combination of six red bands (for the tribes) and six dark blue bands for the sky represents the incessant enactment of the virtuous deeds of protection of the spiritual teachings and secular life by the black and red guardian protector deities with which Tibet has had connection for a very long time.

At the tip of the snow mountain, the sun with its rays brilliantly shining in all directions represents the equal enjoyment of freedom, spiritual and material happiness and prosperity by all beings in the land of Tibet.

On the slopes of the mountain there proudly stand a pair of snow lions blazing with the manes of fearlessness, which represent the country's victorious accomplishment of a unified spiritual and secular life.

The three-sided yellow border represents the flourishing of the Buddha's teachings. The side without a border represents Tibet's openness to non-Buddhist thought.

The beautiful and radiant three coloured jewel held aloft represents the ever-present reverence respectfully held by the Tibetan people towards the Three Supreme Jewels (the Buddhist objects of refuge: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha).

The two coloured swirling jewel held between the two lions represents the peoples' guarding and cherishing the self discipline of correct ethical behaviour, principally represented by the practices of the ten exalted virtues and the 16 humane modes of conduct.

History of Tibet

Tibet is today part of the People's Republic of China (PRC) (with a small part, depending on definitions, controlled by India). As an exclusive mandate, Tibet is also officially claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan). In the Tibetan sovereignty debate, the government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Tibet in Exile disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether this incorporation into China is legitimate according to international law.

UNESCO and Encyclopædia Britannica consider Tibet to be part of Central Asia, while several academic organizations controversially consider it part of South Asia.

King Songtsän Gampo united many parts of the region in the seventh century. From the early 1600s the Dalai Lamas, commonly known as spiritual leaders of the region, have been heads of a centralized Tibetan administration (at least nominally), and are believed to be the emanations of Avalokitesvara ("Chenrezig" [spyan ras gzigs] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion.

Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama and his regents were the predominant political power administering religious and administrative authority over large parts of Tibet from the traditional capital Lhasa.

Tibetans call their homeland Bod , in Lhasa dialect. It is first attested in the geography of Ptolemy as ßata? (batai) (Beckwith, C. U. of Indiana Diss. 1977). Tibetans refer to Tibet as a "fatherland" ( Wylie: pha-yul), whereas "motherland" (Wylie: ma-yul) is a neologism introduced after the communist take over to refer to China. In Nepal, Tibet is known as "Bhot".

Chinese and the "proto-Tibeto-Burman" language may have split sometime before 4000 BC, when the Chinese began growing millet in the Yellow River valley while the Tibeto-Burmans remained nomads. Tibetan split from Burman around 500 AD.

Prehistoric Iron Age hill forts and burial complexes have recently been found on the Chang Tang plateau but the remoteness of the location is hampering archaeological research. The initial identification of this culture is as the Zhang Zhung culture which is described in ancient Tibetan texts and is known as the original culture of the Bön religion.

A series of kings ruled Tibet from the 7th to the 11th century. At times, Tibetan rule may have extended as far south as Bengal and as far north as Mongolia.

Tibet appeared in an ancient Chinese historical text where it is referred to as fa. The first incident from recorded Tibetan history which is confirmed externally occurred when King Namri Lontsen sent an ambassador to the Chinese court in the early 7th century.

However general, the history of Tibet begins with the rule of Songtsän Gampo (604–50 CE) who united parts of the Yarlung River Valley and ruled Tibet as a kingdom. In 640 he married Princess Wencheng, the niece of the powerful Chinese emperor Emperor Taizong of Tang China.

Tibetan forces conquered the Tuyuhun Kingdom of modern Qinghai and Gansu to the northeast between 663 and 672 AD. Tibet also dominated the Tarim Basin and adjoining regions (now called Xinjiang), including the city of Kashgar, from 670 to 692 AD, when they were defeated by Chinese forces, and then again from 766 to the 800s.

Ganden Monastery c. 14th century