As time went on, a comprehensive science into the formation and development of the Tibetan nationality, as well as its politics, economy, culture and society - - Chinese Tibetology - - gradually matured. This enabled it to enter China's sphere of learning, where it soon became the focus of international academic circles.

Chinese Tibetology dates back to ancient times. There is a vast collection of ancient books in Tibetan, written by ancient Tibetan scholars, who recorded and studied the history and culture of the Tibetan area and nationality. Of ancient documents of all China ' s nationalities, those in Tibetan are second only to those in Chinese characters. Accounts of human activities on the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau can be found in documents in Chinese during the Qing and Han periods of about two thousand years ago. Later, especially since the Sui (581 - 618) and Tang (618 - 907) dynasties, more and more documents in Chinese reflected the Tibetan nationality and its historic culture. These were contained in official historical books, local chronicles, archives and all kinds of private works in successive dynasties, and their contents were also very rich, In addition, there is considerable historical literature in Mongolian and Manchu. All these documents and literature reflect the development of Tibetan culture, and the close relations between the Tibetan nationality and China's other nationalities. They have formed a gigantic treasure - house of traditional Tibetology, representing priceless research information.

After the Opium War in 1840, foreign powers deeply intruded, more and more, into China from all respects, Tibet, like other provinces and regions in China, was gradually reduced to the status of a semi - colony. At the turn of the 1900s, taking advantage of the decay and incompetence of the late Qing government, the British imperialists outrageously dispatched troops to invade Tibet twice. Later, they took advantage of the fact that China's Central Government had no time to pay attention to Tibetan affairs following the outbreak of the 1911 revolution (the Chinese bourgeois democratic revolution led by Dr, Sun Yatsen which overthrew the Qing Dynasty). They attempted to plot an ''Independence of Tibet'' scheme to split Tibet from China. During this period, Tsarist Russia also conspired a series of activities for the Same purpose. The imperialists invasion incurred the wrath and valiant resistance of the Chinese people throughout the country, including Tibetans. Imbued with patriotic tradition, the Chinese intellectuals of all nationalities, wishing to dedicate themselves to the service of their country and save the nation, looked toward Tibet. That area was then in a turbulent and hysterical position due to the imperialists' invasion. The intellectuals conscientiously studied Tibetan problems and planned strategy for administering Tibet and pacifying the border. They defied hardships and dangers to make inspections in Tibet, and were engrossed in studies to gather and sort out documents and information, resulting in a number of works on Tibetology. According to primary statistics, from 1911-1949 before the founding of the People ' s Republic of China, there were at least 400-500 books about Tibet published in the country. Involving a great variety of subjects they included Tibetan history, culture, religion, politics, economy, education, geography, and folk customs, Replete with rich information, these works expounded thoroughly and profoundly on Tibet. In semi-colonial, semi- feudal old China, however, the development of this undertaking was seriously restricted by various disadvantageous conditions.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Central People's Government paid great attention to Tibet's economic development, social progress and the protection of its national culture; as a result, research into Chinese Tibetology entered a new stage.

As soon as Tibet was peacefully liberated in 1951, the Central Cultural Committee and Chinese Academy of Sciences dispatched scientific work teams, whose members included social science research personnel, to conduct wide investigations into Tibetan politics economy, history, and culture. They gained much important firsthand information, providing a strong scientific basis for the Central People's Government to draw up principles and policies on Tibetan works.

In 1958, a 70-member Tibetan social and historical investigative group, organized by the Tibetan Working Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), closely cooperated with a similar group from the Institute of Nationality Studies under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They wished to conduct investigations and research on Tibet, and travelled widely into most areas, including Qamdo, Lhasa, Shannan, Xigaze and Nagqu. They acquired important information, reflecting history, sociology, ethnology, archaeology, linguistics and anthropology. At the same time, other experts and scholars on Tibetology in the country also gathered, sorted out and studied documents and materials of Tibetology left over from ancient history. These efforts not only demarcated the social nature of Tibet and provided a scientific theoretical basis for later democratic reforms, but also resulted in the accumulation of extremely vital information for New China's research on Tibetology.

In 1959, under the leadership of the Central People's Government, the Tibetan people quelled the armed rebellion launched by the upper-class reactionary clique of the original Tibetan Local Government. The people thoroughly abolished the feudal slave system of the “merging of religions and secular rule” in Tibet, which upper class monks and aristocrats of old Tibet jointly dictated, thus clearing away obstructions for Tibet's democratic reform, Since then, one million Tibetan serfs and slaves were emancipated, becoming the masters of New Tibet. This historic leap of Tibetan society triggered a broad prospect for the research of histology; at the same time, it introduced a new historical task for researchers: promoting Tibet's economic development and social progress, and struggling to build a united, rich, civilized, and socialist new Tibet.

After the revolt and reform, Tibet's social economy developed rapidly, a surge of cultural construction arrived immediately. At this time, backed up by relevant department, Tibetological workers vigorously studied national cultural heritages. The Tibetan Cultural Relics Management Committee, founded in 1959, took effective measures to appropriately protect all kinds of literature and classics, repair parts of historic sites, and gather and sort out tens of thousands of precious historical and cultural relics and a great number of documents and archives. In 1960, the Preparatory Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region formally announced the first group of 21 historical monuments and cultural relics under protection, nine of which belonged to key units under state protection later promulgated by the State Council. At the same time, at work of exploring and protecting the legacy of folk literature and art of the Tibetan nationality was developing. Great amounts of folk music and dance materials of the Tibetan nationality were gathered and a number of traditional Tibetan plays and operas were adapted. Widespread folk songs, folk rhymes, fables, fairy tales and folk stories were also compiled into books, and fundamental research was done on the legacy of folk literature and art. The Preparatory Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region also held five Buddhism research classes to sort out voluminous Tibetan Buddhist classics.

From 1951-1966 , besides conducting large-scale social investigations, exploring the national cultural legacy, and accumulating rich materials for scientific research, China's Tibetological circle also trained a number of specialized Tibetological experts who achieved many excellent research results. These laid a strong foundation for developing an all round research work.

Unfortunately, shortly after the research into Tibetology of New China started, a decade-long ''cultural revolution'' occurred. This turmoil brought about severe calamities to the Chinese people of all nationalities, and the research undertaking in Tibet also could not escape. Many cadres and members of relevant units, however, stood fast to their posts, appropriately protecting a great many cultural relics, historic sites and classic literature. A number of Tibetological research workers did not stop their work even under extremely difficult conditions. Many world-renowned historical and cultural treasure- houses, including the Potala Palace and Jokhang Monastery, were preserved due to the personal concern of Zhou Enlai, premier of the State Council.

In 1978 , the CPC held its Third Session of the 11th Central Committee, which was of great significance. It completely negated the ''cultural revolution,'' and implemented the policies of nationality, religion, and intellectuals. A number of experts and scholars of all nationalities, all of who suffered persecution by the reactionary cliques of Lin Biao and the ''Gang of Four'' , were liberated. They returned to their posts, and China' s Tibetological research undertaking heralded a new spring. Over the past decade, China' s undertaking of Tibetological studies has been developing quickly, results gained surpassing those of any historical period.