The Animated History of Tibet is a nine-part animated documentary series featuring original artwork, maps, culturally-faithful animation, and interviews with leading specialists in Tibetan history and culture from universities across Europe and North America. The series will be released in English with Tibetan and Mandarin-language versions following in 2025. The project is being produced in collaboration with Tibet House US (thus.org). The first four episodes were financed by a successful Indiegogo campaign in 2022, which raised $64,000 — and we are currently running a second crowdfunding campaign to finance episodes five through nine. Support our campaign by donating today and help us bring Tibetan history to life!

The Animated History of Tibet covers over 1300 years of history, starting with the rise and fall of the Tibetan Empire and the first spread of Buddhism to Tibet in the 7^th century CE. In later episodes, you learn about the origins of the Tibetan Buddhist sects, the court intrigue of the government of the Dalai Lamas, and the complex and shifting relationship that Tibet shared with the Chinese Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The final two episodes explore Tibet as an object of European orientalist fantasy and imperial ambition, as well as the invasion and annexation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China and the origins of the modern Tibetan diaspora.

Tibetan history is wildly rich and we think that it should be accessible to everyone regardless of their educational or financial background. Please consider sharing the project and spreading the word to help us bring that history to life.

For a detailed discussion of the content of the series, see our Episode List.