Film: Kundun: Part Two

Theme: Conflict

Instructional objective: Students will be able to explain how the occupation by the army of the People's Republic of China led to conflict within Tibet.

Motivation: Imagine that a step father or stepmother comes into your house and starts to tell you that they way that your family does things is wrong and that your family has to change to make that person happy. How would you react to this situation ?

Central Question: How did the occupation of Tibet by China lead to social, poitical and economic conflict

Plot Summary: The second part of the film deals with the occupation by the army of the People's republic in 1950 and shows from a Tibetan perspective how Tibetans increasinlgly felt threatened by the menacing Chinese presence. It portrays the Dalai Lama's visit to Beijng to meet with Mao and follows events in Tibet until his flight into Indian exile in 1959.

Problems: The film is hardly objective. It portrays the events through the eyes of the Tibetan exile community. The film creates the erroneous one sided impresssion that the Chinese were responsible for all the violence that occured.

Activity:Students will watch the film and answer the following questions

1) What was the attitude of Tibetans towards the idea of being incorporated into the People's Republic?

2) How did the presence of the large Chinese army create a food crisis?

3) Why were Tibetan forces unable to resist the Chinese military?

4) What did the Dalai Lama tell Mao about the compatbility of Buddhism and Communism?

6) How did Mao describe religion in his tak with the Dalai Lama?

7) Why would Mao's beliefs about religion lead to conflict with traditional Tibetans?

8) What did the Dalai Lama's advisors fear would happen to him?

9) What nightmare did the Dalai Lama have?

10) What news brought the Dalai Lama to tears?

11) What were Tibetan people willing to do to help the Dalai Lama escape?

Assignment: Students will write a Regents essay using information from Kundun: How did the occupation by Communist Chinese forces lead to conflict between Tibet and China?