51 pages • 1-hour read
Seven Years In Tibet
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Chapter 14-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “Tibet Prepares for Trouble”
The Dalai Lama provided Harrer with a film camera and requested that Harrer begin filming celebrations and festivals for him. Harrer gladly obliged. He was also asked to film the repainting of all the buildings in Lhasa. This was the beginning of Harrer’s direct relationship with the Dalai Lama. In filming the Potala Palace, Harrer had the rare opportunity to see places that most ordinary people were never privileged to see. Harrer was able to take photos of the Tsug Lag Khang temple, which contained within it a single bell left over from Catholic influence long ago.
Harrer was also tasked with building a cinema for the Dalai Lama to watch these films, and was responsible for figuring out how to provide power to the new feature (he used the engine of an old Jeep). Harrer also made suggestions to improve the Inner Garden at the Potala Palace, including cutting down some larger trees to give the fruit trees sunshine. When the cinema was complete, a procession was held to celebrate, and Harrer could not help but think of how lonely the Dalai Lama must be. He wondered whether he was the only one who saw him as a boy, rather than as a god.
Meanwhile, China declared its plans to “liberate” Tibet, and Tibet’s initial response was to strengthen its citizens’ resolve. They created a new national anthem about the Dalai Lama, increased expectations for daily offerings, put up new prayer flags, and more. At the same time, Tibet prepared its army. Harrer admired the resolve of the Tibetan people, but was certain that their religious faith alone would not be enough to stop China.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Tutor to the Dalai Lama”
Harrer was unexpectedly invited by the Dalai Lama to his cinema one day. The Dalai Lama greeted Harrer with enthusiasm, as though he had been waiting a long time to meet him. He took Harrer to the projection room and showed him how he was able to operate the projector. They watched several films and even laughed together, and the Dalai Lama even showed off a film of his own he had made.
Afterward, conversation flowed easily, and the Dalai Lama continually remarked on Harrer’s differences of appearance. He hoped that Harrer could help him to learn about the outside world. The Dalai Lama was full of endless questions, and when Harrer finally left, several hours had gone by.
Over the coming weeks, Harrer was constantly called back for lessons and thoroughly enjoyed telling the Dalai Lama about other countries, objects, and people, which always led to more questions. They also engaged in a great deal of religious discussion; the Dalai Lama was convinced he would be able to one day convert Harrer to Buddhism. The Dalai Lama’s favorite subject quickly became geography, and Harrer’s visits became daily occurrences. Harrer noticed the Dalai Lama picking up on small but important Western influences, like having pockets in his new clothing.
As their friendship grew, so too did the political tension with China. The Dalai Lama was still a minor, so decisions ultimately fell to the regent, though there was also a National Assembly that held meetings until a few years before. The State Oracle frequently foresaw threats from the north and east, as well as threats to the Buddhist religion in Tibet. The National Assembly felt that Tibet’s isolationist approach was becoming their downfall, as other countries knew and cared little for Tibet’s affairs, often accepting the Chinese narrative that Tibet was a Chinese province. The Dalai Lama hoped for a peaceful outcome.
When an earthquake struck Tibet in August, it caused massive devastation and destruction and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives. This was considered an omen regarding the impending war with China, and it came with other omens, like the top of a Potala Palace pillar found lying on the ground in pieces.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Tibet Is Invaded”
Tibetans began calling for the Dalai Lama to be given full power over affairs, despite his not being old enough yet. The regent was no longer trusted to handle the current issue with China. The Dalai Lama felt that he was not ready, and focused on his lessons instead.
Harrer was curious about how the Dalai Lama was discovered to be the next incarnation, and the Dalai Lama suggested he ask some of the people who were old enough to remember it. Harrer then heard a story of how after the previous Dalai Lama died, his body was kept for several days, and at one point his head turned to the east. Sometime later, a regent saw a vision in a lake of a gold monastery with a cottage next to it. A procession headed east and ended up in the Chinese province of Chinghai, where they eventually found the very same cottage. Inside was a two-year-old boy and his family, who seemed to instantly recognize one man as a Lama from Sera. When the men returned a few days later, they tested the boy and found he always chose objects which belonged to the previous incarnation. They had to pay a massive fortune to bring the boy over the border into Tibet, where he was announced to be the Dalai Lama.
China officially began its invasion, and in October of 1950, entered Tibet from six different places. An oracle cried for the Dalai Lama to be made king, and preparations were put in place for this to occur. China claimed it was “liberating” Tibet from imperialism, but Tibet was not an imperialist country. Despite this fact, they were refused foreign aid, and Tibet had no choice but to surrender as Chinese troops slowly swarmed the country. It was decided by an oracle that the Dalai Lama should leave Tibet for India, and Harrer decided to do the same. They hoped they would meet again there.
Chapter 17 Summary: “I Leave Tibet”
Harrer left Lhasa filled with a sense of mourning in November 1950, knowing it was possible he would never return. He took photos of the people as he left in a boat down the river, headed for Gyantse. On his way through, he stopped in Shigatse, where the Panchen Lama was backed by the Chinese and acted as a rival of the Dalai Lama. Though the attempt to overthrow the Dalai Lama in this way failed, the Panchen Lama did eventually move into Lhasa, and the Dalai Lama fled to India for the last time in 1959.
While in Gyantse, Harrer saw the Dalai Lama’s procession and got one last wave from the Dalai Lama, who eventually moved on to Chumbi and stayed there until the Chinese government called in negotiations. It was decided that the Chinese government would control foreign relations and military, while the Tibetans would be allowed to maintain their freedom of religion, and thus the Dalai Lama. The other nobles quickly lost their power and prestige.
Harrer eventually went on to India, looking back at Tibet with sorrow and knowing it would never be the same. Aufschnaiter stayed in Tibet in Kyirong as long as possible, before finally moving to Nepal. Being among Europeans and the chaos of Western civilization was jarring for Harrer at first, but what was worse was hearing of all the changes in Tibet. Famine took over the land, while the country became more and more swallowed by Chinese rule and culture. Harrer hopes that his book will provide some amount of understanding and sympathy for the Tibetans and their culture.
Epilogue Summary
Over 50 years later, Harrer reflects on the horrific destruction of Tibetan culture. Forced sterilization of Tibetan women was rampant, posters of Mao decorated the Potala Palace, and approximately “99% of the 6000 sacred buildings [in Tibet] were destroyed” (289). Harrer’s book brought awareness to the issue, but Western involvement remains scarce and indifferent.
Harrer knows now that he saw Tibet in a rare moment during history, when it was in the height of its independence and splendor. The Dalai Lama returned to Tibet for several years, but permanently fled to India in 1959, where he still lives today. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and has become a world-renowned figure of peace and wisdom. Tibetans maintain their reverence for the Dalai Lama, and continue to hope for their freedom.
Chapter 14-Epilogue Analysis
In the final section, Harrer’s relationship with the Dalai Lama reflects a more complicated aspect of The Value of Cultural Encounter and Adaptation and its limitations. He builds a cinema and creates films for the Dalai Lama, and he and the Dalai Lama have many friendly conversations about other countries and customs, which the Dalai Lama enjoys. However, both parties maintain a sense of distance and experience potential misunderstandings, as the Dalai Lama remains convinced that Harrer will eventually convert to Buddhism, while Harrer continues to project his own feelings about the Dalai Lama’s situation onto the Dalai Lama himself: “[F]or everyone else except myself, he was not a lonely boy but a god” (247). Thus, while Harrer presents his relationship with the Dalai Lama as a cross-cultural triumph, his account inadvertently reveals that they might not have understood one another quite as well as Harrer assumed.
Harrer also documents the political conflict between Tibet and China and the eventual Chinese invasion. Harrer presents Chinese rule as the antithesis of cultural adaptation and dialogue, as the Chinese regime seeks to dominate and destroy Tibetan culture under the guise of an ostensible limited autonomy. A deal grants Tibet autonomy in religion and administration under the Dalai Lama, but gives military control and foreign affairs to China. Traditional nobility collapses: “The curtain had rung down on feudalism and they knew it” (286). Post-invasion Tibet is defined by famine, Maoist propaganda, army convoys, and new roads through formerly untouched land. The wide-scale destruction of traditional holy sites reflects a systemic cultural erasure that destroys the vibrant cultural mosaic Tibet once enjoyed.
Harrer contrasts prayer flags with the communist symbol of the hammer and sickle, presenting the communist symbol as a harbinger of domination and erasure instead of peaceful cultural coexistence, with the communist flag “floating in the wind with its claim to world dominion” (287, emphasis added). His final departure is mournful as he knows that not only is he leaving, but the whole culture is about to shift: “I looked back mournfully at Tibet” (287).
The Epilogue explains how Chinese rule has reshaped cities, destroyed cultural landmarks, and imposed political control. Nevertheless, Tibetans continue to honor the Dalai Lama and fight for cultural resilience. Through his final scenes, Harrer illustrates Tibet’s ongoing struggle for survival and identity under foreign rule. Harrer hopes his memoir fosters global empathy for Tibetans’ peaceful quest for freedom.
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