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  • Why: Persecution Where: China

    Leather shoes soaked in water

    We thought of nothing else. Some prisoners would eat the bones of dead rats or insects they found in the fields. I soaked my leather boots in water and began to chew on them. Soon there was nothing left.*

    -Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan monk, was tortured and imprisoned for 33 years due to his activism for Tibetan independence and opposition to Chinese occupation. He was accused of being a “reactionary counter-revolutionary” and resisting the “re-education” campaigns aimed at forcing Tibetans to abandon their Buddhist faith and cultural identity. As a result, he endured torture and was detained in various Chinese prisons and labor camps for over three decades, starting from 1960.

    Ingredients:

    • Leather boots (preferably well-worn)
    • Water (enough to soak)

    Preparation:

    1. Soaking the boots:
      Place the leather boots in a container filled with water and leave them for several hours to allow the leather to absorb the moisture. During times of famine in prison, this method was used to soften the tough and hard-to-chew leather pieces.
    2. Chewing the leather pieces:
      After soaking, remove the leather from the water and cut it into smaller pieces. Chew slowly, trying to retain the moisture as long as possible. This was the only way to have something to chew on and to slightly ease the feeling of hunger.

    The recipe based on Palden Gyatso’s account is closely tied to the tragic political events in Tibet after the Chinese invasion in 1950. Tibet’s incorporation into the People’s Republic of China and the social and economic reforms implemented by the Chinese Communist Party led to widespread repression, especially against Tibetans who opposed Chinese rule. In 1959, following the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa, the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India, and China tightened its control over the region.

    Religious and Political Persecution: After the 1959 uprising, mass arrests began, particularly targeting monks and spiritual leaders like Palden Gyatso. The Chinese government aimed to “re-educate” Tibetans, attempting to erase their cultural and religious identity and replace it with communist ideology. This meant closing monasteries, torturing monks, and destroying symbols of Tibetan Buddhism.

    The Famine of 1959-1962: Another crucial aspect of the political context was the famine that struck China, including Tibet. This disaster resulted from Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward policy, which caused significant disruptions in agriculture and widespread food shortages. In Tibet, where harsh climate conditions already made agriculture challenging, the famine was even more devastating, affecting both those at liberty and those in labor camps and prisons.

    Prison as a Tool of Repression: For political prisoners like Palden Gyatso, conditions in Chinese prisons were particularly harsh. One of the methods of repression was extreme food deprivation. Prisoners were forced to perform exhausting labor while being deprived of adequate food. Their daily rations were often minimal: watery soups and gruel lacking nutritional value. As a result, prisoners resorted to unimaginable measures to survive, such as chewing leather boots or eating insects—measures that were also seen among ordinary citizens suffering from the famine.

    China’s Policy Toward Tibet: The Chinese Communist Party’s policy toward Tibet aimed to eradicate Tibetan national identity and integrate the region into the Chinese state. This included suppressing any forms of resistance and using brutal methods such as forced labor and torture. The persecution of Palden Gyatso and his struggle to maintain his Buddhist identity symbolize the broader resistance of the Tibetan people against Chinese oppression.

    Thus, the described “recipe” serves not only as a testament to the physical struggle for survival but also as a symbol of resistance against the Chinese government’s attempt to erase the spiritual and national identity of Tibetans.

     

    *https://savetibet.org/palden-gyatso-tibetan-monk-who-was-tortured-and-jailed-for-33-years-passes-away/

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