Tsering Woeser (; , Han name Chéng Wénsà 程文萨; born July 21, 1966) is a Tibetan writer, activist, blogger, poet and essayist.

Biography

Woeser, a quarter Han Chinese and three quarters Tibetan, was born in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

. Her grandfather, Chinese, was an officer in the Nationalist Army of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

and her father was a high rank Army officer in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

. When she was very young, her family relocated to the

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

area of western

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province. In 1988, she graduated from

Southwest University for Nationalities Southwest Minzu University (), formerly Southwest University for Nationalities (SWUN), is a multi-disciplinary higher education institute under the control of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China. The university was founded in July 1950 ...

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

with a degree in

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

. She worked as a reporter in Garzê and later in Lhasa and has lived in Beijing since 2003 as a result of political problems. Woeser is married to

Wang Lixiong Wang Lixiong (, born 2 May 1953) is a Chinese writer and scholar, best known for his political prophecy fiction, ''Yellow Peril'', and for his writings on Tibet and provocative analysis of China's western region of Xinjiang. Wang is regarded as ...

, a renowned author who frequently writes about Tibet. According to

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

, "Woeser is one of the few Tibetan authors and poets to write in Chinese." When the government refused to give her a passport, she sued the authorities.''Tibetan writer, a rare outspoken voice against Beijing's policies, sues Chinese government''
Herald Tribune July 23, 2008 p. 1 (iht.com)

Career

Woeser is the author of the book, ''Notes on Tibet'' (). The Tibet Information Network quotes unnamed sources that the book was banned by the government around September 2003. According to

UNPO The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalized Nation, nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 at the P ...

, shortly after the alleged ban, Woeser was also fired from her job and lost her status with her

work unit A work unit or ''danwei'' () is the name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China. The term ''danwei'' remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. Prior to Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, a ...

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

reported that she continued to post a variety of poems and articles to her two blogs: Maroon Map (, ''oser.tibetcul.net''), which, according to the author, was visited primarily by Tibetans and the Woeser blog ''(blog.daqi.com/weise)'', which was visited primarily by those of Han ethnicity. According to RFA, on July 28, 2006, both blogs were closed by order of the government, apparently in response to postings in which she expressed birthday greetings to the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

and touched on other sensitive topics. Woeser stated that she would continue writing and speaking. Tsering Woeser

During the Tibetan unrest of 2008, Woeser and her husband were put under house arrest after speaking to reporters. In December 2008, Woeser and her husband were among the first of the original 303 signatories to

Charter 08 Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting its name and style fro ...

, since joined by thousands more.

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...

, the author of Charter 08, was sentenced for eleven years of prison and awarded the

2010 Nobel Peace Prize The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist (1955–2017) "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known i ...

. In July 2009, Woeser and her husband were one of more than 100 signatories to a petition asking Chinese authorities to release detained ethnic-

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

professor of economics

Ilham Tohti Ilham Tohti (Uyghur language, Uyghur: ئىلھام توختى; Chinese language, Chinese: 伊力哈木·土赫提; pinyin: ''Yīlìhāmù Tǔhètí''; born October 25, 1969) is a Uyghurs, Uyghur economist currently serving a life sentence in C ...

. When she was awarded the

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996 and named after Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It is annually subsidized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 1997, the Fund has annually presented the international Prince Claus Awa ...

in 2011, she was forbidden to receive the prize in the Dutch embassy. Tsering Woeser defended Tibetan actions in the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion, saying that

Zhao Erfeng Zhao Erfeng (1845–1911), courtesy name Jihe, was a late Qing Dynasty official and Han Chinese bannerman who belonged to the Plain Blue Banner. He was an assistant amban in Tibet at Chamdo in Kham (eastern Tibet). He was appointed in Marc ...

invaded the region to "brutally stop Tibetan protests", listing atrocities committed by Zhao. Her "Garpon La's Offerings," translated by Dechen Pemba and

Fiona Sze-Lorrain Fiona Sze-Lorrain (born 1980) is a writer, poet, literary translator, editor, and musician. She writes in English and translates from Chinese and French. Her fiction, poetry, and translations have received recognition, shortlisted and longliste ...

, appeared in ''The Penguin Book of Modern Tibetan Essays.''

Awards

*In 2007, Tsering Woeser was awarded the Norwegian Authors Union awards Freedom of Expression Prize. *In 2007, she was also awarded the freedom of speech medal by the Association of Tibetan Journalists. *In 2010,

International Women's Media Foundation The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), located in Washington, D.C., is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created programs to help women in the media develop practical so ...

granted her with the ''Courage in Journalism Awards''. *In 2011,

Prince Claus Awards The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996 and named after Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It is annually subsidized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 1997, the Fund has annually presented the international Prince Claus Awar ...

, theme ''Breaking taboos'' *In 2013, Tsering Woeser was awarded the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

Works

* ; Woeser's First poetry Edition * . Also published in Taiwan as . * * ; also published by in 2004, . * * * ''Tibet's True Heart. Selected Poems.'' Dobbs Ferry, NY, 2008
Ragged Banner Press Excerpts
, . Poems by Woeser (Weise), translated by A. E. Clark
Review 10−10−2008
(highpeakspureearth.com
Review 10−10−2008
(savetibet.org) * '' Tibet on Fire: Self-Immolations Against Chinese Rule'' Verso, London (2016) *
Forbidden Memory Tibet during the Cultural Revolution
' English edition, published 2020 by University of Nebraska Press, By Tsering Woeser, Photographs by Tsering Dorje, Edited by Robert Barnett, Translated by Susan T. Chen, Foreword by Wang Lixiong.

References

External links

*
"They Have Guns, and I, a Pen": Highly Valuable New Source on the Tibetan RebellionWoeser's blogHigh Peaks Pure Earth, English translations of writings by Woeser
*, from the website ''Tibet Writes''
An Eye from History and Reality — Woeser and the Story of TibetAn Analysis of the Woeser Incident
by

Article from Woeser
about the film

Dreaming Lhasa ''Dreaming Lhasa'' is a Tibetan-language film by veteran documentary filmmakers, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, who have been making films about various aspects of Tibet under the banner of White Crane Films since 1990. Written by Tenzing, a firs ...

Lone Tibetan Voice, Intent on Speaking Out
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woeser 1966 births Living people Tibetan poets Tibetan journalists Chinese women poets Charter 08 signatories Chinese bloggers Chinese women bloggers 21st-century Chinese women writers Tibetan human rights activists Tibetan writers People from Lhasa Tibetan women poets Tibetan women journalists Southwest University for Nationalities alumni Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award Buddhism and women Tibetan Buddhists Historians of the Cultural Revolution