Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL  THL Title Text Bla brang
Monastery and Wutai Shan Paul K. Nietupski, John Carroll
University JIATS, no. 6 (December 2011), THL #T5718, pp. 327-348
Section 2 of 4 (pp. 330-331)  No Borders between Religion and
Politics  Distance from cultural centers can strengthen,
emphasize, and redefine cultural identity. Already some distance
from LhasaLha sa and apart from the ethnic border with AmdoA
mdo, the LabrangBla brang Tibetans at Wutai Shan appear to have
reinforced their sense of being a central Tibetan-derived
institution.9 Similar forces were likely at work for other
groups at Wutai, the Manchus, for example, and the Mongols. The
result was a united but ethnically distinct environment at Wutai
Shan, a cosmopolitan place where all could together recognize
the authority of Mañjuśrī, who was more powerful than any of the
individual groups, and yet endorsed by all.  Unity of purpose,
co-existence, and tolerance is often used to describe the Qing
dynasty, under the rule of emana