Tibet
is a plateau region in Central Asia and the home to the indigenous
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."
Tibet
was once an independent kingdom but today is part of the
People's Republic of China (PRC) while a small part, according
to the government of the People's Republic of China, is
controlled by India. Currently, the PRC government and the
Government of Tibet in Exile still disagree over when Tibet
became a part of China, and whether the incorporation into
China of Tibet is legitimate according to international
law (see Tibetan sovereignty debate). Since what constitutes
Tibet is a matter of much debate (see map, right) neither
its size nor population are simple matters of fact, due
to various entities claiming differing parts of the area
as a Tibetan region.
The present Chinese name for Tibet, (Xizàng), is
a phonetic transliteration derived from the region called
Tsang (western Ü-Tsang). The Chinese name originated
during the Qing Dynasty of China, ca. 1700. It can be broken
down into “xi” (literally “west”),
and “zàng” ? (from Ü-Tsang, but
also literally “Buddhist scripture,” or “storage”
or possibly "treasure").
The
pre-1700s historic Chinese term for Tibet was. In modern
Standard Mandarin, the first character is pronounced "tu".
The second character is normally pronounced "fan";
in the context of references to Tibet, some sources now
say that it should be pronounced "bo", while some
authorities state that it should be pronounced as "fan".
A reconstructed Medieval Chinese pronunciation would be
/t'obw n/, which comes from the Turkic word for “heights”
which is also the origin of the English term “Tibet”.
"The
Chinese, well informed on the Tibetans as they were from
the seventh century onwards, rendered Bod as Fan (at that
time pronounced something like B'i wan). Was this because
the Tibetans sometimes said 'Bon' instead of 'Bod', or because
'fan' in Chinese was a common term for 'barbarians' We do
not know. But before long, on the testimony of a Tibetan
ambassador, the Chinese started using the form T'u-fan,
by assimilation with the name of the T'u-fa, a Turco-Mongol
race, who must originally have been called something like
Tuppat.
