In truth, China seems determined to strangle the life out of the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, which is now down to about 5,000 clergy from its peak of 40,000 a quarter-century ago.
The Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy was founded in 1980, with about 30 disciples of founder Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok in residence, and soon became one of the most important centers of Tibetan Buddhist learning.
By physical size today, and by population at its height, the academy ranks among the largest Buddhist institutions in the world. Larung is the name of the valley where the school is located, and its distinctive red buildings flow up the mountain walls of the valley like flower petals. Most of those little houses were hand-made by new arrivals to the academy as it grew.
Several Buddhist elders are said to have reached advanced levels of spiritual enlightenment at Larung Gar, adding to its legendary status among Tibetan Buddhists – and making the Chinese Communist Party even more determined to eliminate a nexus of Tibetan cultural and religious identity.
Chinese officials demolished large portions of Larung Gar in 2001 and 2016, then began pressuring the monks and nuns to depart “voluntarily.” In December 2024, a sizable contingent of Chinese military and police officers surrounded the academy and began restricting membership by making stringent demands for documentation from new students and tourists. The Chinese also developed a habit of flying helicopters over the previously tranquil valley.
At the beginning of February, Chinese officials reportedly began pressuring hundreds of Larung Gar clergy to leave or face legal consequences, because they allegedly did not have “proper residency documents.” Over a thousand clergy have been forced out this way during the past few weeks.
A source in the academy told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that the home of each departing monk and nun is quickly marked for demolition, and more demolitions are planned in April to accommodate a new road running through the monastery.
Some of the students at Larung Gar are Chinese, but their government plans to force them out by implementing mandatory registration for all students. Tourists have been banned from bringing cameras and smartphones into the academy, eliminating a major reason why it was such a popular tourist attraction.
“Even discussions about Larung Gar on live streaming platforms and social media such as Kuaishou and Tiktok have been banned,” a source told Tibet Watch.
China may also impose a 15-year residency limit for clergy, which will thin the population further because many of the monks and nuns choose to live there for much longer. The most advanced courses of Buddhist education at the academy require 13 years to complete.
“Larung Gar has long been a symbol of resistance to Chinese control over Tibetan Buddhism – but it has suffered for that,” RFA wrote, recalling Chinese officials during the great demolition of 2016 declaring that they owned “both the land and the sky” of the Larung valley.
Breitbart News
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