The Survival of Tibetan Culture in the Context of Rapid Modernization
 

Colin Mackerras

Australia
 

Recipient of Chinese Government Friendship Award and Order of Australia

 

The main argument of my paper is as follows:
 

1. Tibet has undergone rapid modernization in technology. It has eliminated absolute poverty, its economic development has been very rapid, its infrastructure and living standards have both improved dramatically, its levels in such matters as education and electrification have increased greatly. It has done very well in the United Nations Development Goals, an excellent example being a major fall in infant mortality rates (21 per 1000 in 2009, but only 7.6 per 1000 in 2021).
 

2. Tibet has also preserved and developed traditional culture to a remarkable extent, such as language, religion, architecture, clothing and diet.
 

3. But modernization affects attitudes, people tend to be more secular, like more modern art, including from outside. Also, modern phenomena like cinema and television tend to be more available.