Dharamshala — China's largest online and offline bookstore, Kongfuzi Jiushu Wang, has removed books on Tibet from sale, particularly those dealing with Tibetan history, documentaries on the Chinese army's occupation of Tibet and the destruction and loss of life it caused, as well as the situation in Tibet before the Chinese Communist Party's illegal invasion. This is the latest attempt to erase Tibet's history and its status as an independent state.
At a time when the Chinese government is attempting to erase the Tibetan name (Tibet changed to Xizang), identity, history, language, culture and religion in Tibet. The Chinese government has also asked China's largest online and offline bookstore, Kongfuzi Jiushu Wang (孔夫子旧书网), to remove all books related to Tibet, particularly those dealing with Tibetan history, the Chinese occupation of Tibet and its history, as well as documentaries demonstrating that Tibet was an independent country before the illegal invasion by the Chinese army.
Kongfuzi Jiushu Wang (Kongfuzi Ancient Books Network) has the world's largest second-hand book sales platform and holds over 90% of the Chinese online second-hand book market share. Tibet-related books removed from the Kongfuzi Jiushu Wang are "A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State", "Documentary Account of the Suppression of the Tibetan Rebellion", and "Account of a Journey to Tibet" from January 13, 2025. "A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State", written by Melvyn C. Goldstein, an American writer and published in 1989, later translated into Chinese language. This book analyses Tibet's transition from a de facto independent Buddhist theocratic state (the “Lamaist State”) to an occupied country, focusing on Tibetan domestic politics, diplomacy and traditional power structures, rather than on international relations or Chinese narratives.
"Documentary Account of the Suppression of the Tibetan Rebellion" 《西藏平叛纪实》written a Chinese writer Ji Xu Quan (吉袖权), based on official Chinese documents and accounts of the suppression of the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It focuses on how "the People's Liberation Army" suppressed the Tibetan freedom fighters, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's escape, and it emphasises the extensive destruction and casualties inflicted on Lhasa, etc.
The book 《入藏纪行》 (Account of a Journey to Tibet), written by the Japanese monk Tada Tōkan (多田等観), who lived in Lhasa from 1913 to 1923. Tada Tōkan travelled to Lhasa as a monk in 1913 and studied at Sera Monastery for ten years before returning to Japan in 1923. Before leaving Lhasa, he spent a night at Norbulingka, reluctantly bidding farewell to the 13th Dalai Lama, who had conferred full ordination upon him. His Holiness gave him the Dharma name "Thupten Gyaltsen". He became the first Japanese national to attain the highest degree in Tibetan Buddhism, the title of Geshe. The book was translated into Chinese and published in 1987.
