Chapters from Life of Tibetans

Chapters from Life of Tibetans Petr Jandáček Martin Hanker Aleš Rýznar Zbyněk Mucha Chapters from Life of Tibetans „The work was supported by the grant SVV – 2017 – 260421 realized at the Charles University, Faculty of Arts.“ „This output was created within the project »Places of Clashing: Strategic Regions between Europe, North Africa and Asia«, subproject »Chapters from Life of Tibetans« realized at the Charles University, Faculty of Arts with financial support of the Specific university research in 2017.“ Chapters from Life of Tibetans Petr Jandáček Martin Hanker Aleš Rýznar Zbyněk Mucha Prague 2019 Layout and typeset by Jana Jandáčková First edition Text © 2019: Martin Hanker (chapters 7, 9), Petr Jandáček (chapters 1–5), Zbyněk Mucha (chapters 6, 11), Aleš Rýznar (chapters 8, 10) Illustrations © Jana Jandáčková, 2019 Photos © 2019: Jana Jandáčková, Lukáš Kubík, Olga Rýznar, YCT ISBN 978-80-246-4468-4 (online : pdf) Tibetan transliteration system used in this work is the commonly utilized “Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme” (E.W.T.S.) proposed by The Tibetan & Himalayan Library (T.H.L.), which is based on previous original transliteration scheme designed by Turrell Wylie. All the transliterations are written in italics directly in the text or in (round brackets). Proper names are transcribed accordingly with the capital letters where necessary. Some commonly known words (e.g. lama, yidam etc.) are used throughout the text without any special formatting mentioned above, including some of the Sanskrit terms (e.g. bodhisattva, siddhi etc.). In the case of transcribing the words of Sanskrit origin, but written down in Tibetan script, we willingly deviate from the E.W.T.S. by using the “International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration” (I.A.S.T.). This applies especially to the anusvāra, visarga, long vowels etc. All citations are based on the “Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition”. Book and journal titles within the text are written in italics. For Tibetan texts, their corresponding ID number from Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC, formerly TBRC) is also included, if possible. Throughout the whole e-book we have used the curly quotation marks (“ ”) and apostrophes (’). When any precise formulations were taken from their sources, they are clearly distinguished. Content 1. Introduction 2 Bibliography 13 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 17 Bibliography 28 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore 31 Bibliography 39 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 42 Bibliography 58 5. Family Life 62 Bibliography 77 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 81 Agricultural communities 82 Pastoral communities 86 Urban professions 88 Tibetan society and professions today 89 Summary 91 Bibliography 92 7. Tibetans & their amusements 94 Ache lhamo 96 Cham 2. 102 The sound of Tibet 108 An example of traditional song called bKra la shis pa of the nang ma genre: 110 back to content Games and gamble 115 Sports 119 Festivals and celebrations 121 New forms of arts 123 Bibliography 126 8. Annual rituals: Losar (lo gsar) or Tibetan New Year 130 Introduction: 130 Losar: Tibetan New Year 131 Tibetan cuisine: Losar meals and sweets 134 Lama dance: Tibetan sacred dance 139 Lungta: Tibetan prayer flags 146 Conclusion 150 Bibliography 152 9. Tibetan orality 154 Examples of various proverbs, sayings, and riddles 157 Swindlers and other tricksters (khram pa) 159 White sh*t from the sky 160 Tongue twisters 163 Epic stories – Gesar 164 Bibliography 167 10. Religious life: Saving of Life (tshe thar); a ritual of animal release 169 Introduction 169 What is tshe thar? 170 Saving of life in early Buddhist texts 173 Mahāyāna ideas behind the tshe thar ritual 175 How are the animals released? 177 Ritual: The Amrita of love by Ju Mipham 179 back to content Commercial enterprise and modification of the ecosystem 180 Conclusion 182 Bibliography 183 11. Death and afterlife 186 Pre-historical period 186 Pre-Buddhist period 187 An assimilation of beliefs in Buddhist period 191 Hells and afterlife 192 An account on Bar do thos grol and intermediate state in both Indian and Tibetan sources 195 Summary 197 Bibliography 199 1. Introduction back to content 1. Introduction 2 back to content 1. Introduction mi rig(s) ’dra yod na dgod kha slong/ zog rig(s) ’dra yod na gyod kha gtugs/ If race is the same, happiness will rise up, if goods are the same, quarrel will appear.1 lung ba re la chu re/ sa cha re la skad re/ Every valley has its river, every place has its dialect.2 When taking courses on Tibetan studies at the Department of South and Central Asia at the Charles University we were mostly occupied by language, literature, history and religious traditions obviously so important for the Tibetan culture. We read Tibetan texts (predominantly religious) as well as modern Tibetan studies literature. Having done so, we could imagine how life of the Lhasa nobility in early 20th century looked like, and how the religious authorities like tulkus and abbots of big monasteries or prominent scholars lived and worked at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. We also heard about interesting individuals who had an extraordinary or remarkable fate like Gendün Chöphel or Bapa Phüntso 1 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from an undated book of proverbs published under BDRC Resource ID W2PD19118 (full book see here) on p. 24. 2 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from an undated book of proverbs published under BDRC Resource ID W2PD19118 (full book see here) on p. 118. 1. Introduction 9 back to content Tibetan government because of its intervention in the region in 1860s. Other Tibetan states or territories, like Ladakh, Bhutan, Mustang or Sikkim, were often in unfriendly relations with the Lhasa government which tried to overpower them (e.g. Rose 1997, 26).21 Nowadays, the territory is inhabited by Tibetans divided among five states (China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan), albeit none of them except Bhutan22 is ruled by the Tibetans. The most complex situation is probably in China where apart from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (Bod rang skyong ljongs) are many Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures, Counties or Units of Government in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.23 Therefore, it is not easy to claim that the Tibetans have something like a common territory. One can suggest that the uniting point for the Tibetans is their culture. But as we saw above, even in religion, which is probably the most standardized part of the Tibetan culture, there are many differences, problems, questions, tensions etc. When focusing on culture as a way of life (Hansen 1995, 17), we find many differences among Tibetan communities. For example, traditional female hairstyle from Ladakh or Mustang containing turquoises on a band tied to the head differs from airy frames worn in Tsang and from horny heavy structures from Lhasa or long braids extended with yak hair from the pastoral areas of Kham.24 There exists also an 21 This probably continues in tension between Dalai lama and Bhutan until recent days. 22 But the citizens of Bhutan claim being Bhutanese (’Brug mi) and speaking Dzongkha (Rdzong kha). For further details see Constitution of Bhutan. 23 Interesting maps were published by THL but some of them seem to be inaccessible now. 24 For comparison, see Shelton (1912, 112), The Tibet Album here and here or Bates and Harman (2014, 107–109). 1. Introduction 10 back to content incredible variety of hats, caps or turbans worn by the Tibetans. Other examples may be houses from Sikkim or Bhutan resisting the heavy monsoon rains; these houses differ from those located in high altitude desserts of Ladakh, Dolpo or Mustang which are very dissimilar to wooden log cabins25 from some parts of Kham. On the other hand, many common habits or aspects of economy can be found among the Tibetans. An interesting reflexion of this fact can be found in Roemer (2008, 10) who speaks about Tibetan societies instead of one Tibetan society. In the above-mentioned paragraphs, we inadvertently almost disapproved the recognition of the Tibetans as one of nationalities (mínzú) in the contemporary People’s Republic of China (compare with Hladíková 2013, 173–174). The confusion described above led to many attempts defining and describing what Tibet is and who the Tibetans are, indeed, and to creating new terms. For example, Sir Charles Bell, the British representative in Lhasa, distinguished the political Tibet from the ethnographic Tibet (Bell 1924, 5 or Richardson 1984, 1). As the political Tibet he labelled the areas under the Tibetan rule26 and as the ethnographic Tibet he understood those areas with a majority of the Tibetan race. This division should probably reflect the British view of southern slopes of the Himalaya as a part of sphere of the British influence and the Central Tibet as a buffer state between 25 See here. 26 What exactly is the Tibetan rule is not defined because the influence of the Lhasa government was somewhat formal in many areas. For example, Bell (1924, 6) mentions that Sde dge was “under complete Tibetan rule” and Nyag rong was “in dispute” but the authority of the Lhasa government in these petty kingdoms was established only in 1870s and a representative of the Lhasa government in the region was settled in Nyag rong, not in Sde dge. Therefore we may speculate whether it is possible to talk about “complete rule” in these complicated and politically unstable. 1. Introduction 11 back to content the British Raj and other powerful empires. In Richardson (1984, 2), we can see a map based on these assumptions and it is obvious that this map represents this British view of Tibet. Of course, some Tibetans had their own view which led the famous Tibetan scholar Gendün Chöphel to start using the term Greater Tibet (Bod chen po; Samuel 2012, 187). This concept should include all culturally Tibetan territories including parts of Amdo or Kham formerly controlled by local rulers and subsequently by some Chinese warlords. Modern Western scholars sometimes tend to use the term Cultural Tibet (like Schaeffer, Kapstein and Tuttle 2013, 347). McKay (2003, 3) uses the terms Ethnic and Cultural Tibet. The above mentioned issues may be the reason why some well-known authors of books focused on Tibetan culture and history seem to avoid defining Tibet when writing about it (e.g. Stein 1972, 19; Kapstein 2006, 1–2; van Schaik 2011, xv–xvi). In other publications comparing and examining a chosen Tibetan cultural or religious phenomenon like deities is the definition of Tibet quite an extensive one (e.g. Blondeau 1998, 7). Another interesting term which is sometimes used is Tibet proper.27 It is probably based on the term China proper (Winterbotham 1795, 36). But both terms may be vague28 and they seem to assume that there is something like Tibet or China improper which would not be in agreement with opinions of many Tibetans or Chinese, either. For the purpose of this publication we simply define the Tibetans as inhabitants of the Tibetosphere which is “the sphere of influence of the Tibetan language, 27 This term is used e.g. in online Encyclopaedia Britannica (for details see here). 28 For example see Shelton (1921, 295) who talks about border between China proper and Tibet. 1. Introduction 12 back to content culture and religion” (Tournadre 2013, 4) putting together as much information on this topic as we managed to gather. We are well aware of the fact that our short e-book may contain mistakes, misleading generalisations and issues which could be easily opposed by many arguments, nevertheless we still believe that our publication could be of help for those interested in it. We are convinced that it could motivate other students of Tibetology to think over and discuss these topics and to try to compare and correct our mistakes and to get at least some basic ideas for conversations with Tibetans about their culture when testing or particularizing facts from our publication. We will certainly appreciate if readers give us their feedback29 so that we may – if it turns out to be useful – make corrections and extensions of this e-book. 29 For example, via our Facebook. 1. Introduction 13 back to content Bibliography Aziz, Barbara Nimri. 1978. Tibetan Frontier Families: Reflections of Three Generations from D'ingri. Durham: Carolina Academic Press. Backstorm, Peter C. 1992. “Balti.” In Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan Volume 2: Languages of Northern Areas, edited by Backstorm, Peter C. Carla F. Radloff, 3–27. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies. Bates, Roger and Nicky Harman. 2014. “The Lost World of Ladakh – Early Photographic Journeys in the Indian Himalaya 1931–1934.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 31: 1–140. Bell, Charles. 1924. Tibet Past and Present. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bell, Charles. 1928. The People of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bell, Charles. 1931. The Religion of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bkra shis bzang po. 2012. “May All Good Things Gather Here: Life, Religion and Marriage in a Mi nyag Tibetan Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 14: 1–369. Blondeau, Anne-Marie. 1998. “Foreword.” In Tibetan Mountain Deities, Their Cults and Representations: Papers Presented at a Panel of the 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz, 1995 edited by Anne-Marie Blondeau. Wien: Verlag Der Osterreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. Bray, John. 2005. Ladakhi Histories: Local and Regional Perspectives. Leiden: Brill. Childs, Geoff H. 2004. Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press. Choekhortshang, Nyima Woser. 2017. Genealogy of Ya-ngal Family of Dolpo (Critical Edition of the Text, Translation into Englich, Analyses of Abbreviations and Introduction to He Dolpo Dialect). PhD diss., Charles University. Duncan, Marion Herbert. 1964. Customs and Superstitions of Tibetans. London: Mitre Press. Dunham, Mikel. 2004. Buddha’s Warriors. New Delhi: Penguin Books. Ekvall, Robert B. 1964. Religious Observances in Tibet. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr. Frer-Haimendorf, Christoph Von. 1975. Himalayan Traders: Life in Highland Nepal. New York: Dt Martin’s Press. Goldstein, Melvyn C., Dawei Sherap, and William R. Siebenschuh. 2004. A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and times of Bapa Phüntso Wangye. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Hansen, Klaus P.1995. Kultur Und Kulturwissenschaft: Eine Einführung. Tbingen: Francke. Hill, Nathan W. 2010. “An Overview of Old Tibetan Synchronic Phonology.” Transactions of the Philological Society 108, no. 2: 110–25. 1. Introduction 14 back to content Hladková, Kamila. 2013. The Exotic Other and Negotiation of Tibetan Self: Representation of Tibet in Chinese and Tibetan Fiction of the 1980s. Olomouc: Palacký University. Kapstein, Matthew T. 2006. The Tibetans. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Karma Dondrub. 2013. “Tibetan Nomad Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 26: 1–105. Karmay, Samten Gyaltsen. 1998. The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. McKay, Alex. 2003. The History of Tibet. New York: RoutledgeCurzon. Mills, Martin A. 2009. “Charting the Shugden Interdiction in the Western Himalaya.” In Mountains, Monasteries and Mosques Recent Research on Ladakh and the Western Himalaya: Proceedings of the 13th Colloquium of the International Association for Ladakh Studies edited by Bray, John and Elena De Rossi Filibeck, 251–269. Pisa: F. Serra. Norbu, Namkai. 1997. Journey among Tibetan Nomads. Dharamsala:LTWA. O'Connor, William Frederick Travers. 1931. On the Frontier and Beyond. A Record of Thirty Years Service. London: John Murray. Peissel, Michel. 1967. Mustang, the Forbidden Kingdom: Exploring a Lost Himalayan Land. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. Preinhaelterová, Hana. 1997. Hinduista Od Zrozen Do Zrozen. Praha: Vyehrad. Ramble, Charles. 2008. The Navel of the Demoness: Tibetan Buddhism and Civil Religion in Highland Nepal. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richardson, Hugh. 1984. Tibet and Its History. Boulder & London: Shambala. Rijnhart, Susie Carson. 1904. With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple: Narrative of Four Years Residence on the Tibetan Borders and of a Journey into the Far Interior. London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. Roche, Gerald. 2015a. “The Tibetanization of Henan’s Mongols: ethnicity and assimilation on the Sino–Tibetan frontier.” Asian Ethnicity 17 no. 1: 1–22. Roche, Gerald. 2015b. “Ethnicity and Cultural Diversity on the Northeast Tibetan Platteau: Sanchuan’s Weather Management Rituals in Comparative Context.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 37: 168–206. Roche, Gerald. 2017. “Introduction: the transformation of Tibet’s language ecology in the twentyfirst century.“ International Journal of the Sociology of Language 247: 1–35. Rockhill, W. Woodville. 1894. Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891 and 1892. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution. Roemer, Stephanie. 2008. The Tibetan Government-in-exile: Politics at Large. New York: Routledge. Rose, Leo E. 1977. The Politics of Bhutan. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. Samuel, Geoffrey. 2012. Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Routledge. 1. Introduction 15 back to content Schaeffer, Kurtis R., Matthew Kapstein, and Gray Tuttle. 2013. Sources of Tibetan Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press. Schuler, Sidney. 2015. The Other Side of Polyandry: Property, Stratification and Nonmarriage in the Nepal Himalayas. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. Shelton, Albert. L. 1921. Pioneering in Tibet: A Personal Record of Life and Experience in Mission Fields. New York, Chicago, London and Edinburgh: Fleming and Revell Company. Shelton, Flora Beal. 1912. Sunshine and Shadow on the Tibetan Border. Cincinnati: Foreign Christian Missionary Society. Snellgrove, David Llewellyn. 1961. Himalayan Pilgrimage. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer. Stein, Rolf Alfred. 1972. Tibetan Civilization. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Prress. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2003. “The Dynamics of Tibetan-Chinese Bilingualism: The Current Situation and Future Prospects.” China Perspectives 45 (january–february) 1–9. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2005. “L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes.” Lalies, Presses de l'ENS, Editions rue d'Ulm 1 (25): 7–56. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2013. “The Tibetic Languages and Their Classification.” Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptive linguistics of the Himalayan area, Mouton de Gruyter. Tucci, Giuseppe. 1935. Secrets of Tibet: Being the Chronicle of the Tucci Scientific Expedition to Western Tibet. London and Glasgow: Blackie & son limited. van Schaik, Sam. 2011. Tibet: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press. Vokurková, Zuzana. 2008. “Epistemic Modalities in Spoken Standard Tibetan.” PhD diss., Université Paris 8 and Charles University in Prague. Waddell, Laurence Austine. 1895. The Buddhism of Tibet: Or, Lamaism, with Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in Its Relation to Indian Buddhism. London: Allen & Co. Waddell, Laurence Austine. 1905. Lhasa and Its Mysteries. With a Record of the Expedition of 1903–1904. London: John Murray. White, J. Claude. 1909. Sikhim and Bhutan: Twenty-one Years on the North-east Frontier, 1887– 1908. London: Edward Arnold. Williamson, Margaret D. 1987. Memoirs of a Political Officers Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan. London: Wisdom. Winterbotham, William. 1795. An Historical, Geographical, and Philosophical View of the Chinese Empire: Comprehending a Description of the Fifteen Provinces of China… London: J. Ridgway and W. Button. 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth back to content 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 17 back to content 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth bu skyes nas ming dang / las bsgrubs nas gtam// Child is named after birth, work is apraised when finished.30 According to Indian traditions accepted by the Tibetan Buddhism, a child arises when its consciousness (rnam shes) enters joined blood (mngal khrag) of a mother and semen (khu ba) of a father (e.g. Childs 2004, 38). The child grows in the mother’s womb31 and in the 35th week all parts of the body are finished. In the 36th week, the desire to go out appears in child’s mind. Thus and therefore, in the 37th week the child turns itself and in the 38th week he/she is born.32 It may be of interest to note that Tibetans traditionally count their age not from the birth but from the conception which means that a new born child is considered to be one year old. In some Tibetan communities, even people who are currently in their 30 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from Pemba (1996, 125). 31 For more detailed description see Norbu (1983, 15–29). 32 For traditional ideas about Tibetan embryology see Craig (2009, 152–153) 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 18 back to content thirties do not know their own birthdate exactly (e.g. Karma dondrub 2013, 13).33 If a married couple cannot have a baby in two years, rituals to their personal or local deity are performed. The deity of the womb (mngal lha) is important in this context. The goal of the ritual is to “open the path” (for a child) and it is based on butter offerings with ice.34 Pregnancy is not showed off (e.g. Craig 2009, 148 or Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 35). Klu mo tshe ring speaks even about taboo (Klu mo tshe ring 2011, 50). Tshe bcu lha mo mentions the difficulties when a daughter discusses her pregnancy with her father (Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 34).35 The sex of the yet unborn child is guessed from mother’s dreams, the shape of her belly (Klu mo tshe ring 2011, 50–51, Norbu 1983, 27) or the discharge of blood (gdung khrag) before delivery36 (Chophel 1983, 4). The pregnant woman often works as she did before (Duncan 1964, 83 or Klu mo tshe ring 2011, 55), only if a birth of a tulku (sprul sku) is expected, the woman should not work and a cleansing ritual (khrus gsol) should be introduced.37 The pregnant woman is considered extremely sensitive to pollution (grib). E.g. Chophel 33 On the other hand, astrology is very popular and for a horoscope is the birthdate i.e. skyes skar (at least year and zodiac sign) important (for example of horoscope see Childs 2004, 46). It is also a matter of folk beliefs (like those from Nyag rong) that it considered to be inauspicious when a mother gives birth to her daughter with the same zodiac sign as her own (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 108). Childs (2004, 46) describes how the horoscopes in Nubri are made shortly after birth and kept till death. 34 Offerings in the shape of fish are used to make the labour easier (Craig 2009, 154). 35 In some Tibetan communities, even singing of love songs in the presence of female relatives is considered to be shameless (Tsering Bum 2013, 91). 36 If a discharge of blood appears, the child will be a boy. 37 For signs that child will be an important lama in Nyag rong, see Bkra shis bzang po (2012, 106). 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 25 back to content some sources, theurang is “cat like” (Tsering Bum 2013, 9 or Rka phug Rdo rje don ’grub 2014, 57–59). Infants are usually not taken outside at night (Graig 2009, 149 or Chophel 1983, 5) and it is also considered to be very dangerous to frighten small children. Small and mischievous children wandering freely around the village can easily insult local spirits. For example, underground and water spirits called klu can be seriously offended by a child peeing on an inappropriate place and in revenge such a child can be punished with eczema. Many authors (e.g. Childs 2004, 38 or Duncan 1964, 93 or Aziz 1978, 40 or Shelton 1921, 112) mention high mortality among infants but most of these statements are more of an estimation than hard data. This topic is on one hand a political issue and on the other hand it may be difficult to investigate some data because Tibetans consider talking about death as inauspicious (e.g. see Ma Rong 2011, 89) and in some areas even the name of a deceased person is not mentioned again after the burial (Tshes bcu lha mo 2013, 24). Nowadays it seems – thanks to the improvement of the healthcare – ever more women give birth to their children in hospitals (e.g. Craig 2009, 149). An interesting cultural phenomenon seems to be the fact that mothers breastfeed their children for quite a long time. For example, Bell (1928, 196) mentions two or three years, Craig (2011, 156) writes about 26 months. Levine (1987, 291) mentions that there is no prescribed time for weaning and children are breastfed for quite a long time even repeatedly when they are older and their younger sibling dies. But in addition to breastfeeding, children are fed with tsampa and butter (Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 38). When someone is born, he or she becomes part of the kinship system so here may be the right place to describe it in brief. The Tibetan kinship terms are shown in Table 1. Here only two further remarks will be made to the kinship terms for the 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 26 back to content maternal uncle and siblings. The term for maternal uncle (MB) is a zhang. In times of the Tibetan empire (i.e. from 7th to 9th century) the word zhang was probably used for clans of maternal relatives61 (to be more precise givers of the heir-bearing wife) of Tibetan emperors (Dotson 2004, 75). The same word zhang served as an honorific part in compound words zhang lon/zhang blon for dignitaries of the Tibetan empire (Dotson 2004, 94). On the other hand, in Proto-Tibeto-Burman the term *ku meaning the maternal uncle (Nagano 1994, 106) caused problems in Tibetan where khu/a khu means the paternal uncle (as all historical sources prove the case) and zhang/a zhang means the maternal uncle. Some solutions of this problem were offered by Benedict, Lévi-Strauss and Nagano (Nagano 1994, 110–112). Even nowadays the maternal uncle is an important person in the process of asking for the bride and wedding. The term for a sibling with the same parents (i.e. B/S) is pha gcig ma gcig i.e. “(having) same father and mother”. A more general term in Standard Tibetan is spun skya (Tournadre 2003, 117) which does not distinguish brother and sister from cousin (i.e. MBD/MBS/FBD/FBS). Some Tibetans, when speaking English, tend to use the “cousin brother”. This confusion may be caused by the possibility of fraternal polyandry which erases differences between father and paternal uncle or between brother and cousin. For kinship terminology in classical Tibetan see Bayer (1992, 157–159). For Tibetan terms from Amdo see Chenakhtsang (2015). An interesting description and notes to the Tibetan and Chinese kinship were made by Benedict (1942). 61 According to Richardson (1998, 16) there were four of them. 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth back to content Abbreviation Description English Coll. Tibetan Hon. Tibetan High Hon. Tibetan EGO me me nga – – Sson son bu sras – Ddaughter daughter bu mo sras mo – Mmother mother a ma a ma lags yum Ffather father a pha pa pha pA lags yab OS older sister older sister a lcag a lcag lags– OB older brother older brother co cog co co co cog lags – YS/YB younger sister/ brother younger sister/ brother ’og ma o lags – Ccousin cousin (or sibling / relative) spun skya sku mched – MB mother’s brothermaternal uncle a zhang – – MSH mother’s sister’s husband maternal uncle MBW mother’s brother’s wife maternal aunt sru mo – – MS mother’s sister maternal aunt FB father’s brother paternal uncle a khu – – FSH father’s sister’s husband paternal uncle FBW father’'s brother’s wife paternal aunt a ne – – FS father’s sister paternal aunt MF mother’s father maternal grandfather62 spo bo spo lags – FF father’s father paternal grandfather MM mother’s mother maternal grandmother rmo mo rmo lags – FM father’s mother paternal grandmother SS / DS son’s son / daughter’s son grandson tsha bo sku tsha – SD / DD son’s daughter / daughter’s daughter granddaughter tsha mo DH daughter’s husband son in law63 mag pa sku bag – SW son’s wife daughter in las mna’ ma bag ma – – 62 For grandfather are more terms like mes po or a mes or a mye. Some of them are dialectical but the word a mye appears in many names of sacred mountains like A mye rma chen or A mye dkar ldang. 63 In many regions this is term for husband married into family and can have pejorative connotations. Table 1: Basic Kinship Terms in Standard Tibetan 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 28 back to content Bibliography Aziz, Barbara Nimri. 1978. Tibetan Frontier Families: Reflections of Three Generations from D'ing-ri. Durham: Carolina Academic Press. Bayer, Stephan W. 1992. The Classical Tibetan Language. Albany: State University of New York Press. Bell, Charles. 1928. The People of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Benedict, Paul K. 1942. “Tibetan and Chinese Kinship Terms.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 6, no. 3/4: 313–337. Berounský, Daniel. 2014. Tibetské představy o zásvět. Brno: Masarykova Universita. Bkra shis bzang po. 2012. “May All Good Things Gather Here: Life, Religion and Marriage in a Mi nyag Tibetan Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 14: 1–369. Chenakhtsang, W. 2015. “A Short Introduction to Tibetan Kinship Terms in A-mdo.” Studia Orientalia Electronica 113: 209–216. Childs, Geoff H. 2004. Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chophel, Norbu. 1983. Folk Culture of Tibet. Dharamsala: LTWA. Craig, Sienna R. 2009. “Pregnancy and Childbirth in Tibet: Knowledge, Perspectives, and Practices.” In Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science Childbirth Across Cultures, edited by Helain Selin, 145–60. Dordrecht and New York: Springer Verlag. Craig, Sienna R. 2011. “Not Found in Tibetan Society”: Culture, Childbirth, and a Politics of Life on the Roof of the World. ” Himalaya 30, no. 1 (article 18): 101–114. Diki, Tshering. 2000. Dalai Lama, My Son: A Mother’s Story. New York: Penguin. Dotson, Brandon. 2004. “A Note on śań: Maternal Relatives of the Tibetan Royal Line and Marriage into Royal Family.” Journal Asiatique 192, no. 1–2: 75–99. Dotson, Brandon. 2015. “Naming the King: Accession, Death, and Afterlife through the Re-, Un-, and Nick-Naming of Tibet’s Kings.” Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 24: 1–27. Duncan, Marion H. 1964. Customs and Superstitions of Tibetans. London: The Mitre Press. Huber, Toni. 1999. The Cult of Pure Crystal Mountain: Popular Pilgrimage and Visionary Landscape in Southeast Tibet. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. Karma Dondrub. 2013. “Tibetan Nomad Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 26: 1–105. Klu mo tshe ring. 2011. “Childbirth and Childcare in Rdo dbis Tibetan Township.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 10: 41–72. 2. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth 29 back to content Kolmaš, Josef. 1961. “Jak se Tibeťané jmenují.” Nový Orient 16: 110–111. Levine, Nancy E. 1987. “Differential Child Care in Three Tibetan Communities: Beyond Son Preference.” Population and Development Review 13, no. 2: 281–304. Ma Rong. 2011. Population and Society in Contemporary Tibet. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Nagano, Sadako. 1994. “A note on the Tibetan kinship terms khu and zhang.” Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 17 (2): 103–115. Norbu, Namkai. 1983. On Birth and Life: A Treatise on Tibetan Medicine. Venezia: Tipografia commerciale. Peissel, Michel. 1967. Mustang, the Forbidden Kingdom: Exploring a Lost Himalayan Land. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. Pemba, Lhamo. 1996. Tibetan Proverbs. Dharamsala: LTWA. Ramble, C. 1982. “Status and Death: Mortuary Rites and Attitudes to the Body in a Tibetan Village.” Kailash 9: 333–359. Rdo rje bkra shis. 2016. “A mdo Naming Practices and Name Popularity.” Asian Highland Perspectives 40: 177–231. Rdo rje tshe brtan. 2013. “A Tewo Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 23: 1–150. Richardson, Hugh and Aris, Michael. 1998. High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture. London: Serindia. Rka phug Rdo rje don ’grub. 2014. “Farmers, Fugitives, Ghosts, and Exploding Grasshoppers: Everyday Life in Horse Race Village, a Tibetan Community on the Yellow River.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 33: 1–270. Shelton, Albert. L. 1921. Pioneering in Tibet: A Personal Record of Life and Experience in Mission Fields. New York, Chicago, London and Edinburgh: Fleming and Revell Company. Shelton, Flora Beal. 1912. Sunshine and Shadow on the Tibetan Border. Cincinnati: Foreign Christian Missionary Society. Snellgrove, David Llewellyn. 1967. Four Lamas of Dolpo. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2003. “The Dynamics of Tibetan-Chinese Bilingualism: The Current Situation and Future Prospects.” China Perspectives 45 (january–february) 1–9. Tsering Bum. 2013. “A Nordeastern Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 27: 1–117. Tshes bcu lha mo. 2013. “Mushroom Ghosts, Belligerent Yaks, and Cranberry Cocktails: A Brag 'go Tibetan Woman’s Early Life.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 29: 1–198. 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore back to content 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore 31 back to content 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore thams cad dga’ na dge ba yin/ pha ma dga’ na drin lan yin/ Loving everyone is one’s merit, loving own parents is one’s duty.64 There is not much literature on Tibetan children and their childhood in general.65 Older visitors of Tibet were not interested in this topic and newer anthropology and childhood studies are focussed on case studies of specific regions or groups.66 Moreover, there is an influence of globalisation, modern educational systems and the fact that many Tibetans live in states and societies (mostly China, India and Nepal) where they are not a language majority. It is necessary to be multilingual for most of them and this brings also other cultural influences, choices, problems and opportu64 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from an undated book of proverbs published under BDRC Resource ID W2PD19118 (full book see here) on 100. 65 Short chapters about Tibetan children can be found in Bell (1928, 196–207) and Duncan (1964, 120–127). Many memories of people born in 1980s and 1990s are to be found in Asian Highlands Perspectives but they are often so personal and local that they cannot give an answer to the question how the Tibetan childhood looks like in general. 66 Like Biswas (2016, 133–146) who tried to study life of young monks in Ladakh. 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore 32 back to content nities.67 For example, some Tibetans may leave the PRC for education in India (Ancheta Arrabal 2015, 459). Earlier, there was no official educational system except monasteries and schools with private teachers which were established by aristocrats (Bell 1928, 104)68 for their own children, and a few experimental schools led by foreigners.69 In farming or herding families in rural areas, children were led to help with farm and housework and the opportunities brought by education were in some regions underestimated even in 1990s.70 Especially girls who can hardly get a government job were often discouraged from studies. Apart from that, in many regions compulsory education is not enforced consistently and mostly females stay at home helping their families to run farming and herding works (e.g. Tshes bcu lha mo 2013, 76–77). E.g. during harvest, it may be difficult for parents to get by without help of their children (Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 76). For higher education, it may be necessary to pay tuition fees which can be a burden for poorer families (e.g. Rin chen rdo rje 2011, 125–127 or Karma Dondrub 2013, 101 or Rdo rje tshe brtan 2013, 90 or Tshe ring ’bum 2013, 56 or Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 153–155). 67 In many regions like Qinghai and Himalayas, there was the multilingual and multicultural society. Nowadays Chinese is preferred in education. For example, Kondro Tsering (2012, 46) recalls that he started Tibetan in the fourth grade. 68 E.g. Pa lha house at Drong tse had its own classroom (Bell 1928, 75). 69 E.g. there was a plan to establish an English school in Lhasa or Gyantse (Bell 1924, 159) and the school at Gyantse with an English headmaster was opened in 1921 (Bell 1928, 87). Beszterda (2014, 134–158) described education in Ladakh since 1860s with focus on schools led by the Moravian mission. In Batang there was a school led by the Foreign Christian Missionary Society (Shelton 1912, 82–96). 70 Even now, Tibetan children can be disadvantaged by low availability of preschool education in rural areas in the PRC (Ancheta Arrabal 2015, 458). 3. Childhood, upbringing & children folklore 33 back to content On the other hand, the importance of education grows and new schools are being founded. Due to a sparse population in some areas, theree is no other opportunity for many children to study but to stay in a boarding school 1. 2. 3. (sometimes quite distant from their homes). This of course means that the traditional role of these children in their families somewhat disappears. Children may help their families during vacations (e.g. Rdo rje tshe brtan 2013, 100) or may stay in families of their relatives or friends residing closer to school (e.g. Karma Dondrub 2013, 81). Sometimes families move to be closer to school (e.g. Sonam Doomtso 2012, 6 and 72). From some accounts, it seems that physical punishment like beating is not uncommon in Tibetan schools in the PRC (Rin chen rdo rje 2011, 119 or Rdo rje tshe brten 2013, 51) and there are even some proverbs connected with physical punishment during upbringing (Karma Dondrub 2013, 38). Children have a traditional role in the work around the house or tent. 4. Mostly (both among farmers and nomads) they are ordered to herd animals or to help older herders (e.g. Karma Dondrub 2013, 22–24 or Tshe ring ’bum 2013, 12–15). The main goal in nomad areas is to keep an eye on animals not to get lost and in farming areas to prevent a destruction of fields which leads to quarrels and is often fined. In nomad areas, children could watch over calves, which must be separated from their mothers before milking and are herded on another place. In farming communities (probably those closer to Chinese influence), children are herding pigs71 (Kondro Tsering 2012, 74–78). Other work typical for children is collecting fuel which can be dry wood in some areas but mainly it consists of animal drop71 As to my knowledge, not many Tibetans in Himalayas keep pigs and sometimes they consider pork as low-grade meat or they even proclaim that they do not like it at all. back to content 1. Schoolchildren on the yard of boarding school’s dormitory in Lubrak village, Lower Mustang. 2. Boarding school’s schoolyard with clasrooms in Lubrak village, Lower Mustang. 4. Two boys taking care of a horse in Purang village, Lower Mustang. 3. Inside a clasroom in Lubrak‘s school, Lower Mustang. (right) 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding back to content 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding back to content 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding rkyang pho hreng la chu mi rag mi pho hreng mi tshe mi ’khyol// A single ass doesn't get water a single man doesn't complete his life.79 Youths usually have to help their families with field or housework and care for animals. Nowadays many young people attend high schools or universities – in many cases to get a government job – but some of them have to quit to support their families (e.g. Tsering Bum 2013, 55–56). Many of these schools are boarding schools so these young people do not stay at home for quite a long period. Modern entertainments like visiting clubs or playing pool are not uncommon (for details see chapter about amusements). On the other hand, traditional entertainments like archery (Tsering Bum 2013, 86–93) or horse racing (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 102) remain quite popular. Singing and dancing is popular too and is also supported in the PRC where a cliché of singing and dancing member of the national minority in ethnic clothes is quite widespread. 79 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from Pemba (1996, 7). 42 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding back to content 43 One example describing circle dances (skor bro) 80 from Nyag rong is described by Bkra shis bzang po (2012, 178–179). Interesting moments are rites of passage between childhood and maturity but not much had been written about them and they can be quite variable according to the region. In some descriptions (Tshe dpal rdo rje and Rin chen rdo rje 2009, 15), the age of thirteen is quite important for both boys and girls. In rural Amdo, a ritual called skra ston81 is made when girls are coming-of-age. It can be performed at the age between thirteen and seventeen and it is also possible to perform it during the wedding day. The purpose of the ritual is to announce the girl’s sexual maturity and her preparedness for marriage (Tshe dpal rdo rje and Rin chen rdo rje 2009, 25). The principle of the ritual is braiding the girl’s hair to the same hairstyle as it is worn by adult women82 and to hold a feast with special songs, speeches83 and gifts like ornaments (Tshe dpal rdo rje and Rin chen rdo rje 2009, 27). For detailed descriptions and links to videos from skra ston, see ’Brug mo skyid (2010, 151–217) or Tshes dpal rdo rje and Rin chen rdo rje (2009). On the other hand, Childs (2004, 100–101) describes the wedding itself as a transition ritual from adolescence to womanhood. In central Tibet the female’s marital status is connected to wearing a apron (pang gdan). For details see Harris (2012, 880). 80 The term skor bro may be misspelt. Correct spelling seems to be sgor bro. 81 The meaning of the term skra ston is “hair ritual”. The word skra means hair and the word ston means feast or banquet similarly to bag ston i.e. wedding party. 82 Hairstyle may show a marital status, too. For example, red threads are braided in the hair of a bride, a widow should have green ones (Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 72). 83 In general speeches are very important part of Tibetan festivals (Thurston 2012, 51–54). For translation of a wedding speech, see Thurston and Caixiangduojie (2016). 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 44 back to content Generally, Tibetan marriage is very variable. The three points about Tibetan marriage given by Ma Rong (2001, 85–86)84 are so universal that they can be related marriage in every culture. Maybe the most interesting moment is that nearly all forms of marriage are or were present and practiced in the Cultural Tibet. Most marriages were probably monogamous, however, polyandry85 was quite important in some regions. Polygyny seems to be prevailing only locally and in small communities (Ma Rong 2001, 83).86 Basically, it is possible to distinguish two ways of establishing the traditional marriage which are arranged marriages (e.g. Kapstein 2006, 195 or Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 180) and marriages by abduction or elope (e.g. Rockhill 1895, 725 or Stein 1972, 107).87 In fact, arranged marriages are not an affair of the couple in love but a matter of two families which are creating a new bond of their social network. Many marriages could be arranged when the bride and groom are still infants (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 180). Arranged marriages are common both among nomads (e.g. Norbu 1997, 62) and farmers (e.g. Childs 2004, 67). A marriage by abduction 84 In brief, Ma Rong says that Tibetans apply in-class marriage and both monogamy and polygamy are practiced (Ma Rong literary calls it monogamy, polyandry and polygamy because he addresses polygyny as polygamy) and there are regional variations. He also mentions Chinese works focused on Tibetan marriage (Ma Rong 2001, 80). 85 Nowadays, polyandry is illegal both in India (based on Hindu Marriage Act) and China (see here). In Bhutan, polyandrous marriage cannot be legally recognized (for details see here) 86 Polygyny of Tibetan emperors in ca 600–850 was nothing unusual. For the position of women in the Imperial Period see Uebach (2005, 29–48). 87 In some areas (e.g. parts of Mustang), a bride can really be kidnapped but sometimes the couple escapes when their families do not agree with them to wed. It is also possible that the girl agrees to be kidnapped by a particular boy. For a case of a woman who had been kidnapped several times in Mustang, see Schuler (2015, 15). In the Eastern Tibet this tradition is not so widespread and an abduction may have fatal consequences (e.g. Rdo rje tshe brtan 2013, 91). 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 45 back to content can be a way and/or an opportunity how to change mind of those who disagree with a couple to marry or who arrange a different marriage for them.88 Of course, regardless to the arrangements of parents, young men are trying to impress girls89 and attempts to visit girls at night are not unusual (see e.g. Kondro Tsering 2012, 108). In fact, weddings are more mundane than religious matters (e.g. Kapstein 2006, 195 or Skorupski and Cech 1984, 14 or Duncan 1964, 86 or White 1894, 55). Karmay states that Buddhism has “no fundamental doctrine” for the marriage (Karmay 1998, 147). Therefore, home religion and, in the highest strata, also politics is more important for the families in question. It logically means that in various regions and different social strata habits related to wedding vary a lot. In general, before taking steps for gaining a bride (bag ma or mna’ ma), it is necessary to determine an exogamous group, i.e. a group of people who are not considered as relatives and thus they may become possible partners. The traditional idea of consubstantiality in Tibet is that from the semen of father the brain, spinal cord and bones come to being, from the blood of mother flesh and organs (Buffetrille 2004, 11). The Tibetan terms used in this context are bone (rus) and flesh (sha). In a certain number of generations, people with the same rus or sha are considered to be an exogamous group of relatives. There is a widespread opinion that the marriage is prohibited when the number of generations with a proven kinship status is seven on the father’s side, however, such a number varies on the mother’s side from region to region. Das (1904, 326) states the degree of consanguinity in 88 For an example how an arranged marriage or social status can be an obstacle for a non-arranged marriage see Bkra shis bzang po (2012, 180). 89 For example, singing love songs is still very popular (Tsering Bum 2013, 100). 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 46 back to content Tibet was originally seven but at the time when he was staying in the Central Tibet it was reduced down to three or four. Childs (2004, 98) speaks about three generations on the maternal side. Buffetrille (2004, 11) who quotes Guigo (1986) states it is between five and seven generations on the maternal side. Among Mi nyag, relatives separated by at least three generations are suitable to marry (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 113). In this context the patrilinear kinship seems to be more important than the matrilineal one. On the other hand, Aziz (1978, 118) denies that the patrilinear descent is of a great value in the Tibetan society, however, with the exception of some highest or lowest groups and within some exogamous groups when seeking a mate. Interestingly, these rules do not prohibit the kin to share the same husband or wife in a polygamous marriage. It means is not impossible for a father and his son to share a wife (e.g. Aziz 1978, 182) etc. The wedding among exogamous groups of patrilinear and matrilineal relatives i.e. the incest (nal)90 is considered to be a serious and a dangerous offence of deities which can bring troubles to the whole community (Buffetrille 2004, 13). It is probably impossible to find some general marriage preferences among the Tibetans. Regionally, the cross-cousin marriage may be possible or preferred (Childs and Quintman 2012, 43). For instance, in Nubri, the cross-cousin marriage is called a zhang a ni marriage (Childs 2004, 98) which means that 90 This word could be problematic. Firstly, its spelling reads variates and, secondly, it seems to be a literary or a religious term used in specific contexts like, e.g. cleansing rituals. For details see Buffetrille (2004, 10–11). Tenzin (2008, 24) in his master’s thesis dealing with marriage in the Central Tibet states the word dme can be used not only for defilement caused by murder in the family but also for incest. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 47 back to content an ideal spouse for ego is MBD and an ideal groom FSS. It is also practised in Gyasumdo, Nepal (Mumford 1989, 39), but in some areas od Kham it was considered to be shameful (Duncan 1964, 90).91 As stated above, all marriage types occurred in Tibet i.e. both monogamy and polygamy (Ekvall 1968, 26). Polygamous Tibetan marriages could be polygynous, polyandrous or could have a form of polygynandry (Kapstein 2006, 194 or Levine and Silk 1997, 376 or Ma Rong 2001, 84). Tibetan polyandry is widely described (Rockhill 1891, 211 and Duncan 1964, 87 and Kapstein 2006, 197 or Crook and Osmaston 1994, 779 or Levine and Silk 1997, 385 and Goldstein 1978, 334). But the only observation which may be considered to be common for the Tibetan polygamy is a tendency to fraternality92 (Ma Rong 2001, 81) which means that in polygamous marriages are prevalently involved brothers who share a wife or sisters who share a husband. In some localities like Brag ’go, two men who are not brothers are allowed to share a wife (Tshes bcu lha mo 2013, 31). Ma Rong (2001, 82) insists unrelated males sharing a wife are rare. For examples focussing on two brothers sharing one wife and two sisters sharing one husband in Bang smad (township in Dkar mdze TAP), see Bkra shis bzang po (2012, 180). However, the Tibetan polygamy is somewhat limited as for a number of participators. E.g. no more than two brothers are allowed to share one wife in Nubri (Childs 2004, 63). 91 On the other hand, there is a proverb from Kham saying that the daughter of boy’s maternal uncle will become servant of her aunt (a zhang bu mo ne ne lag g. yog/). 92 This tendency is so strong that in some cases it is not clear whether the bride did not marry also husband’s brother. For example, see Tshe bcu lha mo (2013, 73). Even the author of this chapter heard a story about a monk who, when visiting his home, was considered to be a co-husband of his brother’s wife. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 48 back to content Levirate was probably possible, too, which can be seen even in the Milarepa’s story (Quintman 2012, 14). The matter of locality, i.e. whether a married couple will live with the family of the groom, bride or whether they establish a new household is variable too and all possibilities are open – based on the situation of both families and local customs (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 23 and 209).93 Childs (2011, 5) insists that the Tibetan society is prevalently patrilocal. Nevertheless, it is possible to find communities with prevailing matrilocality as in Bang smad (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 183). In other areas, the locality may be a matter of an agreement (or in some cases disagreement, for that matter) where the newly married couple will stay or whether they will set a new household (Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 64). In some regions, like Nubri, the locality is definitively set after the birth of the first Child (Childs 2004, 103). Although many environments populated by the Tibetans have very limited resources, establishing of new households (i.e. neolocality) is not uncommon. New households or rather households which split from their original ones may be identified on the basis of their names. In some areas it is considered degrading to be a matrilocally residing son-in-law (mag pa). For further information about mag pa see Aziz (1978, 126–127). When it is clear who is not available to be married in order to avoid incest, the social status and family interests become important for accumulating the family’s 93 According to some authors, the oldest, the youngest or the only child is expected to stay at home to care for parents and the farmstead (compare Tshe bcu lha mo 2013, 33 and Tsering Bum 2013, 19), that is why the issue of locality may differ. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 49 back to content wealth and power (Stein 1972, 96).94 In the other words, the family tries to win a good match which could be e.g. families of traditional leaders (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 183) or local religious authorities – if they are allowed to marry. It is possible to find social groups which are traditionally prevalently endogamous (Kapstein 2006, 198). For example, in Bang smad landowners and the landless did not intermarry even after their status was changed as a result of the Communist takeover (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 27) or, in Nubri, there are established exogamous clans (rgyud pa) which may work as caste-like groups (Childs 2004, 100).95 On the other hand, there was a possibility of a certain social mobility (Goldstein 1989, 66). Marriage could also be an act of friendship and mutual respect when e.g. two old friends arranged for a marriage of their grandchildren (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 182). On the other hand, marriage could be used as a dispute settling mechanism where – after resolving the dispute – friendship restored among two families is sealed by an arranged marriage (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 182).96 94 Traditionally, marriage was an important instrument of politics and many of the first historical references to Tibet are connected to alliance marriages of the king Songtsen Gampo (e.g. Beckwith 1987, 17). How marriage was used to stabilize the Tibetan Empire was described by Dotson (2004, 95) or Walter (2009, 27). 95 Among Tibetans living in the Indian spheres of influence are groups resembling Indian jāti. Some authors (like Grunfeld 1996, 16) mention castes among Tibetans. But Frer-Haimendorf differentiates orthodox caste system from caste-like features or caste-like groups (Frer-Haimendorf 1966, 1–2). 96 A good example of a wedding as a dispute settling mechanism can be found in the Tibetan modern literature in the novel Jahzong (Dzorge Guru 2013, 97–105). 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 50 back to content Generally, the family of the boy97 is more active in the seeking which is a logical consequence of the prevailing patrilocality where parents who want to pass their household onto the younger generation and retire must secure a match for a son who is fated to inherit the said household and take care of his old parents. The decision who could be a good match having been made, it is necessary to check whether horoscopes for the boy and the girl are compatible (e.g. Norbu 1997, 62 or Childs 2004, 101). This must be carried out by a professional astrologer (rtsis pa) and it is called bag rtsis98 but rules for the preliminary check are generally known (Bell 1928, 179). Thus, the first step may be a tactful examination of the potential bride’s or groom’s birthdate or at least their birth sign. The detailed astrological calculations can also follow the negotiations among both families. A horoscope incompatibility of the couple is a problem but it may be overrun by arranging some proper rituals. When a family has no fixed idea about a potential match, it is possible to seek a matchmaker’s (smyan byed pa) help. In Bang smad a matchmaker is a man in most cases but a woman is acceptable too. For his or her work see Bkra shis bzang po (2012, 182). If a family found the desired match and they suppose there is no obstacle in the horoscope of their offspring and in that of the intended match, it is possible to 97 More precisely, the family who want to obtain a new member who will leave her or his original home. In rural communities, it is also considered to an acquisition of a new labourer for the household (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, pp. 180–181). In Tibetan, there is a proverb saying mna’ ma g.yog mag pa glang / (Phenba–Leo 2007, 101) which means that the bride who came into her husband’s household is a servant and the groom who resides with the family of his wife is an ox. i.e. both are used (or maybe misused) as a source of labour. 98 For more details on bag rtsis see (Schuh 2012, 1480). Rockhill (1895, 725) speaks about mthun rtsis. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 57 back to content should either resist it or take the risk of a conflict with his affinal relatives. E.g. in Mustang divorce or separation may be problematic (Schuler 2015, 17) but one of the reasons for separation may be infertility (Childs 2004, 107). Formerly, divorce was administered through middlemen (Duncan 1964, 87) and wealthier families concluded contracts when a wedding took place in their society. These contracts or the relevant law can include fines to be paid for divorce (Das 1904, 325). Penalties for divorce occurred regionally (e.g. for Sikkim see Bell 1928, 195). On the other hand, some researchers insist that divorce was relatively easy (Stein 1972, 108). Barrenness was considered inauspicious and could be a reason for divorce (Duncan 1964, 90). Apart from that childless women were not allowed to help the bride during the wedding. Widows are bringing bad luck too (Rdo rje tshe brten 2013, 104). 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 58 back to content Bibliography Aziz, Barbara Nimri. 1978. Tibetan Frontier Families: Reflections of Three Generations from D'ingri. Durham: Carolina Academic Press. Bell, Charles. 1928. The People of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bkra shis bzang po. 2012. “May All Good Things Gather Here: Life, Religion and Marriage in a Mi nyag Tibetan Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 14: 1–369. ʼBrug mo skyid. 2010. “Stag rig Tibetan Village: Hair Changing and Marriage.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 6: 151–217. 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Duncan, Marion Herbert. 1964. Customs and Superstitions of Tibetans. London: Mitre Press. Dzorge Guru. 2013. “Jahzong: Tibetan Tribal Leader.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 25: 1–341. Ekvall, Robert B. 1968. Fields on the Hoof: Nexus of Tibetan Nomadic Pastoralism. USA: Holt, Reinehart and Winston. Frer-Haimendorf, Christoph von. 1966. Caste and kin in Nepal, India and Ceylon; anthropological studies in Hindu-Buddhist contact zones. Bombay: Asia Pub. House. Guigo, Denis. 1986. “Le système de parenté tibétain.” Ethnographie 98–99: 71–117. G.yu ’brug (Yongzhong) and Charles K. Stuart. 2012. “Rgyal rong Tibetan Life, Language, and Folklore in Rgyas bzang Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 15: 1–241. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 59 back to content Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1978. “Pahari and Tibetan Polyandry Revisited.” Ethnology 17, no. 3: 325–337. Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1984. English-Tibetan Dictionary of Modern Tibetan. Dharamsala: LTWA. Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1989. A history of modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. Berkeley: University of California Press. Grunfeld, A. Tom. 1996. The making of modern Tibet. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. Harris, C. H. 2012. "From loom to machine: Tibetab approns and the configuration of place." Environment and Planning D – Society & Space, 30 (5): 877–895. Kapstein, Matthew T. 2006. The Tibetans. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Karmay, Samten Gyaltsen. 1998. The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. Kondro Tsering. 2012. “A Zorgay Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 17: 1–238. Levine, Nancy E., and Joan B. Silk. 1997. “Why Polyandry Fails: Sources of Instability in Polyandrous Marriages.” Current Anthropology 38, no. 3: 375–398. Ma Rong. 2001. “Marriage and Spouse Selection in Tibet.” Development and Society 30, no. 1: 79–117. Mumford, Stan. 1989. Himalayan dialogue: Tibetan lamas and Gurung shamans in Nepal. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Norbu, Namkai. 1997. Journey among Tibetan Nomads. Dharamsala: LTWA. Pemba, Lhamo. 1996. Tibetan Proverbs. Dharamsala: LTWA. Quintman, Andrew. 2012. “Between History and Biography: Notes on Zhi byed ri pa’s Illuminating Lamp of Sun and Moon Beams, a Fourteenth-Century Biographical State of the Field.” Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines 23 (Avril): 5–41. Rdo rje tshe brtan. 2013. “A Tewo Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 23: 1–150. Rockhill, William Woodville. 1891. The Land of the Lamas. New York: The Century Co. Rockhill, William Woodville. 1895. Notes on the ethnology of Tibet: based on the collections in the United States National Museum. Washington: Government Printing Office. Rta lo thar. 2011. Mang ra’i yul gyi gnyen srol. Kan su’i mi rigs dpe skrun khang. Schuh, Dieter. 2012. Kleine Enzyklopädie zur Tibetischen Mathematik, Kalenderrechnung und Astronomie (skar-rtsis) sowie zu den Sinotibetischen Divinationskalkulationen (nag-rtsis). Andiast: International Institute of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. Shuler, Ruth. 2015. The Other Side of Polyandry Property, Stratification and Nonmarriage in the Nepal Himalayas. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. Skorupski, Tadeusz, and Krystyna Cech. 1984. “Major Tibetan Life Cycle Events – Birth and Marriage Ceremonies.” Kailash 11, no. 1–2: 5–32. 4. Maturing, choice of the partner and wedding 60 back to content Stein, Rolf A. 1972. Tibetan civilization. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Tenzin. 2008. Marriage customs in Central Tibet. Master’s thesis, University of Oslo. Thurston, Timothy. 2012. “An Introduction to Tibetan Sa bstod Speeches in A mdo.” Asian Ethnology 71, no. 1: 49–73. Thurston, Timothy and Caixiangduojie. 2016. “An Tibetan Wedding Speech from Ne’u na Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 40: 299–351. Tsering Bum. 2013. “A Nordeastern Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 27: 1–117. Tshes bcu lha mo. 2013. “Mushroom Ghosts, Belligerent Yaks, and Cranberry Cocktails: A Brag 'go Tibetan Woman’s Early Life.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 29: 1–198. Tshe dpal rdo rje and Rin chen rdo rje. 2009. “A Tibetan Girl’s Hair Changing Ritual.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 5: 1–150. Uebach, Helga. 2005. “Ladies of the Tibetan Empire (7th–9th Centuries CE)” In Women in Tibet edited by Janet Gyatso and Hanna Havnevik, 32–34. New York: Columbia University Press. White, John C. “Marriage Customs.” In Gazetteer of Sikkim edited by H. H. Rinsley, 55–57. Delhi: Oriental Publishers. 5. Family Life back to content 5. Family Life 62 back to content 5. Family Life khang bzang rgyag pa las/ zhing bzang ’debs pa dga’// One would rather plant a good field than set a good house.117 Traditionally there are three basic modes of life of Tibetan families i.e. settled people who were originally peasants (zhing pa or rong pa),118 nomads119 (’brog pa) and semi-nomads (sa ma ’brog). There were also inhabitants of cities like businessmen (tshong pa) or craftsmen (bzo pa). But these people were a minority and often foreigners like the Nepalese trading community in Lhasa or e.g. butchers (bshan pa). The question whether Tibetans were originally nomads or settled people cannot be answered satisfactorily but it seems to be proven that in the oldest written history of Tibet there were local chieftains settled in fortresses (mkhar) and they defeated some kind of nomadic people.120 On the other hand, the court of the Tibetan emperor (btsan po) changed its place in the 7th and 8th centuries regularly – according to the season of the year (Dotson 2009, 9). Another specific 117 Tibetan proverb (gtam dpe) from Pemba (1996, 22). 118 In some areas, the world rong pa means not only peasant but also non-Tibetan (Childs 2004, 34). 119 On the Tibetan nomads in detail see Jones and Nicolaisen (1996). 120 For further details compare with Beckwith (1987, 16) or Whitfield (2015, 39) who are interpreting a metaphor from the so-called Old Tibetan Chronicle. For further details and link see note 41 in chapter 2. 5. Family Life 63 back to content issue that mattered were large aristocratic estates and families of wealthy businessmen where the economy and other processes were far more complicated.121 Apart from that many regions with special geographical setting had also their special ways of life and strategies for living. These were described e.g. for Mustang and its surroundings (Fürer-Haimendorf 1975, 132–222) where people make their living within a special combination of agriculture, transit trade (basically grain for salt and animals) and animal husbandry. For similar examples from Kinaur see Beszterda (2015, 241–261), for description of the agro-pastoral system in Dolpo see Bauer (2004, 19–42). Sure enough, at present many Tibetans live a life of urban people or workers. For an example of a young Tibetan lady getting her job as a translator in a travel agency see Tshes bcu lha mo (2013, 158–162). Leaving villages for seasonal work like road construction is not unusual, either (e.g. G.yu ’brug and Stuart 2012, 57). Road construction was the kind of work which many Tibetan refugees to India were involved in during 1960s (e.g. Roemer 2008, 68). In some parts of Tibet, occasional earnings based on collecting products of nature are very frequent. The best known and probably the most rentable is collecting of the caterpillar fungus (dbyar rtsa dgun ’bu).122 Tourism like tracking and mountaineering in the Himalayas became an important source of living e.g. for Sherpas (Fürer-Haimendorf 1975, 84–92). Subsequently the nature conservation developed and provided some labour 121 Interesting remarks about Tibetan (mostly Lhasa) nobles could be found in Bell (1928, 64–108) or Carrasco (1959, 100–104 and 109–116). 122 For description of the caterpillar fungus business in Yushu see e.g. Gruschke (2011). Czech reader may appreciate the relevant article written by Ptáčková (2014). 5. Family Life 64 back to content opportunities for local people. Hunting and fishing were traditionally considered to be socially degrading sources of livelihood.123 It may be worth to emphasize at this point that the division of the society into farmers and herders (or nomads) does not mean that these groups live separately or they are not in contact with each other. The opposite is often true and in many regions traditional trade and source exchange patterns were established among nomads and farmers. For example, farmers might collect animal droppings as fuel on herding places or nomads took care of animals belonging to farmers for a particular period of the year. Moreover, nomads do not wander accidentally but they often have at least a winter camp (dgun sa) and a summer camp (dbyar sa). They often visit a limited number of proven places where they expect to find a sufficient amount of pasture and water for their herds according to their actual need (Karma Dondrub 2013, 26). The borders between pastures are marked (often by structures called lab rtse)124 and were often a source of quarrel or even battles among families or tribes (see e.g. Shelton 1912, 111). For description of nomad camps see e.g. Rin chen rdo rje (2011, 71). Some people who feel to be nomads, might have houses to spend winter in (Sonam Doomtso 2011, 44) or there may be temporarily inhabited huts (pu lu) on certain pastures during the pastoral season. In recent years sed123 For description of Hunting in Changtang see Huber (2012, 195–215). 124 For description and photos of lab rtse and its construction in Qinghai see Tshe mdo (2009, 349–366). 5. Family Life 65 back to content entarization of nomads (e.g. Ptáčková 2016) is practiced in many areas as well as planting trees instead of fields for compensation to the owners of the land (Kondro Tsering 2012, 90). Dwelling of the Tibetan family may vary substantially – according to the way of life and region. Houses of settled people in the Himal ayan or Karakoram high altitude areas like Dolpo, Mustang, Ladakh or Zanskar are often placed in locations quite unsuitable for agriculture (e.g. on the slope). 1. If there was more place, country houses usually had a walled courtyard to protect the house itself and the cattle from being stolen. In some regions, houses are higher to serve as defendable fortresses in case of need. Famous are e.g. fortified star-shaped towers from Gyalrong. The supporting structure of Tibetan houses consists of circumfencing walls (rtsig pa), pillars (ka ba)125, column head (gzhu), beam (gdung) and rafters (lcam shing). The walls were usually made of stone126 or rammed earth and their dimensions are quite variable – this being subject to natural resources. In general, the key limiting factor is probably wood suitable for beams and pillars supporting floors and the roof but in some areas with richer sources of wood log houses could be found, too. 125 For description of pillars and doors see Tucci (1966, illustration II and III). 126 For description of a house bricked of stones without mortar in Kutang see Childs (2004, 22). 5. Family Life 66 back to content The house (khang pa)127 could have one to several stories.128 One-storey houses are more often used as stables or storages 2. than places to live in. But e.g. in the Lubrak (Klu brag) village Mustang there is a one-storey house of a well-known local tantric (i.e. a man of importance whose skull is held in the village temple till nowadays) who had dwelled there. But in most cases, Tibetan houses have two or three storeys (thog brtsegs). The lowest storey serves as a stable and a place for keeping agricultural tools; also a toilet should be placed here. Nowadays it is not uncommon that a motorcycle is parked here. The middle storey serves as a dwelling space for the family, there is usually a kitchen129 (thab tshang or thab sa) and a storeroom (mdzod khang) with provisions of food. In bigger Ladakhi houses, there might be special storerooms for barley (bang khang), dried meat (sha khang) or home-made beer (chang khang). For details see Kaplanian (1976, 12). In the highest place of the house, there should be a chapel 3. (lha khang or mchod khang) which does not serve for religious purposes only. For example, elder members of the family or a respectable guest may be lodged there. The outfit of the chapel can be very variable – from a small altar to a fully equipped temple in old houses of wealthy aristocrats or dwelling places of local householder lamas (for examples see Bell 1928, 52 and 71). There are small windows or no windows at all 127 The Tibetan word khang pa means both house and room in standard Tibetan (compare Tournadre and Dorje 2005, 98 and 227). 128 Sometimes the number of storeys could be limited to prevent a competition with local temples or monasteries (e.g. Duncan 1964, 35). Even nowadays, there are some architectural elements in Bhutan permitted to be used only for multi-storeyed buildings, royal buildings, fortresses (rdzong) or monasteries. For details see Traditional Architecture Guidelines (1993, 37–40). 129 The hearth (thab) is the most important part of a kitchen. Instead of iron plates, the Tibetan hearth has openings into which vessels are inserted. 5. Family Life back to content 73 There are many chores to be done around the house and most of them are carried out by females.137 Firstly, the housekeeping is obviously a job for a female. It is necessary to fetch water which is a job for a female, too (e.g. Kondro Tsering 2012, 106).138 Cooking139 is a female job as well as liquor brewing 7. (Schuler 2015, 32). In some regions (e.g. Mustang), liquor brewing and running inns became a source of profit for those females who have to support themselves without help of a husband or family. The care for domestic animals when they stay in the household, i.e. feeding and providing fodder or cutting up and drying hay was a job for a female (Schuler 2015, 32 and 36) as well as milking (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 182).140 That applies also to churning milk (Sonam Doomtso 2011, 45), making butter and cheese, spinning and making ropes (Karma Dondrub 2013, 36). Domestic animals are mostly yaks, cattle, sheep and goats. Female crossbreeds of yak and cow (mdzo mo) are kept for milk in farming communities. Apart from that, regionally poultry (for example from Amdo see Kondro Tsering 2012, 74) and pigs141are bred. But in some regions pigs, fish and poultry are neither bred, nor eaten as their meat is 137 The work distribution between males and females may be regionally variable. For examples from Mustang see Schuler (Schuler 2015, 41). 138 As an example of fetching water for old parents as a daughter’s duty in folklore see Karma Dondrub (2013, 14). 139 An interesting example can be found in the novel called Jahzong (Lcags gzong) by Dzorge Guru (2013, 44 and 81) where the main hero who is a young tribal leader from Amdo does not even warm up his cooled noodles and he has to ask his mother to do it for him. 140 For a description of milking and churning see Rdo rje tshe brten (2013, 100–101). 141 Pork may be even a traditional food for the Tibetan New Year (lo gsar) celebration. For details see Rdo rje tshe brten (2013, 117). For a description of exchanging pig bristles for red pepper in Ambo see Rdo rje tshe brten (2013, 118). back to content 6. Outdoor Tibetan hearth from Lower Mustang. Typical are holes for pots instead of a cooktop. 7. Vessels and spindles in Lower Mustangi household. Wooden bottles on the right side are used for liquor storing. 74 5. Family Life 75 back to content considered to be unclean. 142 Weeding, cutting grass and irrigating are female jobs in Brag ’go (Tshes bcu lha mo 2013, 25). But in many regions with irrigation systems, irrigating depends on collective decisions and agreements, which means that irritating and keeping everything along the guidelines as they had been agreed upon (e.g. no one is stealing water belonging to someone else’s field) is a job for a male. Males guard the fields143 and make decisions regarding ploughing (for example from Tewo see Rdo rje tshe brten 2013, 97). Ploughing144 is considered to be a male job (Bkra shis bzang po 2012, 182) similarly to other jobs (like transport or business) which require usage of riding or draught animals (Schuler 2015, 36). For a description of ploughing and sewing in Tewo, see (Rdo rje tshe brten 2013, 98). Harvesting and threshing is usually carried out by both sexes (probably due to a high need of labour during harvest) but winnowing is carried out by females (e.g. Schuler 2015, 33).145 For pictures of the house and field jobs and utensils see Bell (1924, 10 and 1928, 40, 42–43), Crook and Osmaston (1994 103, 132), Sís and Vaniš (1956, 77–80). For the labour exchange system in Mustang see Schuler (2015, 35). 142 Not a long time ago, eating of poultry was believed to be disgusting in some Tibetan communities. 143 This job requires an authority because families whose livestock entered fields are fined (for example see Rdo rje tshe brten (2013, 97). 144 For ploughing as a job for males which is both a sinful and a dangerous task, see Childs (2004, 31). 145 For pictures of threshing and winnowing see Bel (1928, 42–43), for ploughing see Bell (1924, 11) or Duncan (1964, plate 14). 5. Family Life 76 back to content In Tibetan religion, killing is considered as a sinful act, however, on the other hand subsistence without meat consumption was barely possible in areas inhabited by Tibetans. That is why butchering animals became a problem. Also hunting, making weapons (which means in fact blacksmithing) and fishing was considered to be sinful i.e. degrading jobs. The best option was a situation when some people willing to do this “dirty” job were available. In nomad camps, there can be a camp butcher who is often a man from the poorest family (e.g. Karma Dondrub 2013, 57). When a “professional butcher” is not available, people have to butcher animals themselves (Tshes bcu lha mo 2013, 118). Doing this, they try to minimize any bad consequences. For example, they recite mantras or use the way of killing traditionally considered to be merciful. This sometimes means hanging or strangling animals. Kondro Tsering (2012, 78) describes how pigs are butchered that way. In Dolpo, when yaks are butchered, their snouts are tied by rope which causes them to suffocate. In Tewo, pigs are stabbed to death (Rdo rje tshe brten 2013, 118). For a description of slaughtering a pig by a family member who is not a butcher and lighting the lamp for pig at the family altar see Tsering Bum (2013, 69). Euphemisms about butchering of animals are in use. For example, Childs (2004, 27) describes how someone offered him to buy a part of a yak which “will fall of the cliff tomorrow.” 5. Family Life 77 back to content Bibliography Bauer, Kenneth M. 2004. High Frontier Dolpo: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists. New York: Columbia University Press. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Bell, Charles. 1924. Tibet Past and Present. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bell, Charles. 1928. The People of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Beszterda, Rafal. 2015. “The Shipki la and its Place in Crossborder Trade between India and Tibet.” Tibet Journal XL, no.2 (Autumn/Winter): 239–259. Bkra shis bzang po. 2012. “May All Good Things Gather Here: Life, Religion and Marriage in a Mi nyag Tibetan Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 14: 1–369. Carrasco, Pedro. 1959. Land and Polity in Tibet. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Childs, Geoff H. 2004. Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chos bstan rgyal. 2014. “Following the Herds. Rythms of Tibetan Pastoral Life in Amdo.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 32: 1–212. Chophel, Norbu. 1983. Folk Culture of Tibet. Dharamsala: LTWA. Crook, John, and Osmaston, Henry. 1994. Himalayan Buddhist villages: environment, resources, society and religious life in Zangskar, Ladakh. Bristol: University of Bristol. Dotson, Brandon. 2009. The Old Tibetan Annals. Wien: ӦAW Verlag. Duncan, Marion Herbert. 1964. Customs and Superstitions of Tibetans. London: Mitre Press. Dzorge Guru. 2013. “Jahzong: Tibetan Tribal Leader.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 25: 1–341. Frer-Haimendorf, Christoph Von. 1975. Himalayan Traders: Life in Highland Nepal. New York: Dt Martin’s Press. G.yu ’brug and Charles Kevin Stuart. 2012. “Rgyal rong Tibetan Life, Language, and Folklore in Rgyas bzang Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 15: 1–241. Gruschke, Andreas. 2011. “Nomads and their Market Relations in Eastern Tibet’s Yushu Region: The Impact of Caterpillar Fungus.” In Economic Spaces of Pastoral Production and Commodity Systems: Markets and Livelihood edited by Jörg Gertel and Richard Le Heron, 211–229. Farnham: Ashgate. 5. Family Life 78 back to content Huber, Toni. 2012. “The Changing Role of Hunting and Wildlife in Pastoral Communities of Northern Tibet.” In Pastoral Practices in High Asia edited by Hermann Kreutzmann, 195–215. Dordrecht and New York: Springer. Jones, Schuyler, and IdaNicolaisen. 1996. Tibetan Nomads: Environment, Pastoral Economy and Material Culture. London: Thames & Hudson. Kaplanian, Patrick. 1976. “The Ladakhi House.” Reports in Ladakh 1977–1979, 1976. https://hal. archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01246859. Karma Dondrub. 2013. “Tibetan Nomad Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 26: 1–105. Kondro Tsering. 2012. “A Zorgay Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 17: 1–238. Nadwi, Abu Bakr Amir-uddin. 2004. Tibet and Tibetan Muslims. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Norbu, Namkai. 1997. Journey among Tibetan Nomads. Dharamsala: LTWA. Pemba, Lhamo. 1996. Tibetan Proverbs. Dharamsala: LTWA. Ptáčková, Jarmila. 2016. “Making Space for Development: A Study on Resettlement from the Longyangxia Water Reservoir Area of Qinghai Province.” Inner Asia 18: 152–166. Ptáčková, Jarmila. 2014. “Housenice čínská – zlato Tibetu.” Nový Orient 69, no. 4: 13–21. Rdo rje tshe brtan. 2013. “A Tewo Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 23: 1–150. Rin chen rdo rje. 2011. “A Ngawa Tibetan Nomad Childhood.” Asian Highland Perspectives 9: 1–155. Roemer, Stephanie. 2008. The Tibetan Government-in-Exile: Politics at large. London and New York: Routledge. Schäfer, Ernst. 1943. Geheimnis Tibet. Mnchen: Verlag F. Bruckmann. Shelton, Flora Beal. 1912. Sunshine and Shadow on the Tibetan Border. Cincinnati: Foreign Christian Missionary Society. Shuler, Ruth. 2015. The Other Side of Polyandry Property, Stratification and Nonmarriage in the Nepal Himalayas. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. Ss, Vladimr and Josef Vaniš. 1956. Der Weg nach Lhasa: Bilder aus Tibet. Praha: Artia. Sonam Doomtso. 2011. “A Nomad Girl’s Changing Worlds.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 19: 1–163. Sørensen, Per K. 1990. Divinity Secularized: An Inquiry into the Nature and Form of the Songs Ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama. Wien: Arbeitskreis fr Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien. Tournadre, Nicolas and Sangda Dorje. 2005. Manual of Standard Tibetan: Language and Cinilization. New York: Snow Lion Publications. Traditional Architecture Guidelines. 1993. Thimphu: Dept. of Urban Development and Housing. 5. Family Life 79 back to content Tshe mdo. 2009. “Lazi (Lab rtse) Construction in Karmatang (Skar ma thang) Village.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 1: 349–366. Tsering Bum. 2013. “A Nordeastern Tibetan Childhood.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 27: 1–117. Tshes bcu lha mo. 2013. “Mushroom Ghosts, Belligerent Yaks, and Cranberry Cocktails: A Brag 'go Tibetan Woman’s Early Life.” Asian Highlands Perspectives 29: 1–198. Tucci, Giuseppe. 1966. Tibetan Folk Songs from Gyantse and Western Tibet. Ascona: Artibus Asiae. Whitfield, Susan. 2015. Life along the Silk Road. Oakland: University of California Press. 6. Professions in Tibetan societies back to content 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 81 back to content 6. Professions in Tibetan societies Traditionally Tibetans practised in pre-1960 Tibet a thorough variety of professions, the most prominent have involved farming and nomadic merchants, which together make up the majority of Tibet’s economy. It is notable that almost the entire Tibetan population consisted of farmers, pastoralist or samadrog (sa ma ’brog), a group that combined both agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood. Besides these occupations, the next most significant sector were monks (Bell 1928, Stein 1972, Kapstein 2006). Finally, urban communities, despite being low in number, still make up a very significant part of the society. With little urban development pre-1960, there were only a small portion of those who belonged to urban occupations or communities such as clergy, landlords, merchants, craftsmen, physicians, pharmacists, soldiers, blacksmiths and then marginalized beggars. Alongside these lived a small number of civil servants, estate administrators, and nobles (Samuel 1993, Kapstein 2006). As I will try to show in the last chapter, these patterns have changed significantly since the Chinese occupation of Tibet (Kapstein 2006, Ptáčková and Zens 2017, MacDonald 2013). Geoffrey Samuel, among other authors, has written beautifully about the colourful diversity of Tibetan societies. Samuel, in his book, the Civilised Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies (Samuel 1993), argues that the actual picture of Tibet is misinterpreted by foreigners, who tend to think of Tibet as a firm centralized state with a strong hierarchical social structure. But the fact is premodern Tibet included a rich variety of social and political structures and it would be a mistake to make 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 82 back to content generalizations to the contrary. I am convinced that Tibet’s essential characteristic, which of course influences its professional make up, should be addressed in terms of its diversity rather than seen as some homogeneous society. Especially, in order to describe Tibetan professions, it may be useful to see first what type of communities have been evolving for centuries in Tibet. Therefore, I will more or less follow Geoffrey Saumel’s description of Tibetan societies, as having four general kind of communities: the centralized agricultural, remote agricultural, herding communities and urban communities. Agricultural communities Even though in some areas the population was almost entirely rural, like in Changthang (lit. Northern Plain) and in the south and west of Amdo, according to Saumel “pastoralists proper” were in most parts of Tibet as a substantial minority. Other authors feel that Tibetan nomads are sometimes mistakenly perceived as archetypal Tibetans (Kapstein 2006) and that we in the West wrongly imagine Tibet as an inhospitable and freezing country (Stein 1972), where only the strongest survive. As Stein (1972) compares Tibet’s latitude to that of Algeria and we can find meadows, hillside grasslands and forest all over the country. In Tibet exists not only a rich variety of natural conditions, but also a great diversity in terms of the communities that live in them. Despite the fact that Tibetans live in different communities and practiced a complex variety of professions, poor farmers have always played a key role at the base of Tibetan culture. For instance, the prime importance of agricultural is also indicated in the history of the early stages of development of Tibetan civilization. According to historical and legendary traditions, it was the fertile and rich forest-land of Southern Tibet where Tibetan civilization sprouted, not from the 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 89 back to content Tibetan society and professions today The stratification of society in Tibet before 1959 is considered to be preindustrial. After the Chinese occupation and Dalai Lama’s flight to India, Tibet went through a dramatic change from a modern to a post-modern phase (Kapstein 2006). Tibetan farmers and nomads used to be able to produce the majority of their necessities by themselves and the surplus of their production was exchanged or shared with other communities living in their vicinity. A family had to buy only those things which were not included in the barter economy. Today the traditional lifestyle is impossible, especially in exile due to the different climate and the new land not suitable for traditional Tibetan agriculture. After the exodus from Tibet, there was considerable effort by Dalai Lama to negotiate with the Indian government to settle all Tibetans in one place, which would help preserve the Tibetan culture. Nevertheless, Tibetans were given many smaller territories in different Indian states, mainly in Southern India, where the new settlements in most cases were founded on green subtropical plains. There is a considerable difference among Tibetans living in Indian settlements and of the Tibetan diasporas in the West today. While Tibetans living in closed communities are more likely to keep up traditions, Tibetans living abroad are more likely to be strongly influenced by their new surroundings and lose touch with their traditional lifestyle. Considering the way in which settlements were founded, we might thus think mutual isolation as the cause of family disintegration and the loss of traditional Tibetan culture. It is obvious that the most apparent consequences of living in exile, are those regarding traditional family structure under the influence of globalization. Living in exile is accompanied by decomposition of traditional cohesiveness of the family. Young people do 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 90 back to content not live with their parents and grandparents and are more likely to live independently. Subsequently, the younger generations of Tibetans often choose to move to cities abroad. Nowadays, Tibetans in tourist areas like Northern India or Nepal own restaurants, shops, hotels, massage salons or provide astrological services. Also, some of original agricultural settlements have expand their activities to include the production of handicrafts (often carpets or sweaters) that are eventually sold all over India via seasonal vendors, who come from various parts of the Indian subcontinent and sell these products to tourists or export them abroad. In this way the shift from agriculture to the service industry goes hand in hand with the loss of the traditional way of life in agriculturalist or pastoralist families. Yet, compared to the problems Tibetans are facing as refugees in India, this loss is probably not the main hardship. McLeod Ganj written by Pauline MacDonald (Mac Donald 2013), who witnessed everyday life of Tibetans in exile paints a difficult picture of true suffering for these refugees. Nevertheless, the majority of Tibetan live in today’s China, which is quickly transforming local culture, social life and local economies. The state development and social-engineering projects have wide-ranging influence on daily life. In the case of Amdo, the Chinese government runs projects such as the establishment of environmental protection zones which in turn results in the permanent settlement of the nomadic population. In the most extreme cases, as Ptáčková and Zens (Ptáčková and Zens 2017) state, this situation leads to economic impoverishment, as being deprived of their pastoralist way of life leads to cultural trauma and lost of community coherence. Cultural and religious life are also influenced nega- 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 91 back to content tively. The settlement programs are accompanied by moving from the grasslands to the cities, where there are few job opportunities and huge social problems resulting occasionally in protests (Huatse and Gyal 2015) or in the worse cases selfimmoltation (Buffetrille and Robin 2012). Summary The professions I mainly focused on in this text were those of agriculturalists and pastoralists/herdsmen; saying it is better to think about all people of Tibet and their professions as an eco-system that stretches across all of Tibetan society. As we have seen in this chapter, not only in terms of social systems in different regions but also in terms of occupations there were various examples of diversity among them and as Samuel (1996) says: “No single region was typical of Tibet as a whole”. The aim of this chapter was to describe general patterns that could bring the reader a better understanding of the Tibetan people’s occupations pre-1959. I tried also to account for the impact living in exile has had on the traditional Tibetan lifestyle and on the massive changes contemporary Tibetans are undergoing in terms of culture and economy in today’s China. 6. Professions in Tibetan societies 92 back to content Bibliography Bauer, Kenneth M. 2004. High Frontier Dolpo: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists. New York: Columbia University Press. Bauer, Kenneth M., and Huatse Gyal (eds.). 2015. “Resettlement among Tibetan Nomads in China.” Special issue, Nomadic Peoples 19, no. 2. Bell, Charles. 1928. The People of Tibet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Buffetrille, Katia, and Francoise Robin (eds.). “Tibet is Burning. Self-immoltation: Ritual or Poitical Protest?” Special issue, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. Carrasco, Pedro. 1959. Land and Polity in Tibet. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Ekvall, Robert B. 1968. Fields on the Hoof: Nexus of Tibetan Nomadic Pastoralism. Frer-Haimendorf, Christoph Von. 1975. Himalayan Traders: Life in Highland Nepal. New York: Dt Martin’s Press. Jones, Schuyler, and Ida Nicolaisen. 1996.Tibetan Nomads: Environment, Pastoral Economy and Material Culture. London: Thames & Hudson. Kapstein, Mathew T. 2006. The Tibetans. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Ptáčková, Jarmila and Zenz Adrian (eds.). 2017. Mapping Amdo: Dynamics of Change. Archiv Orientální. Supplementa X. Prague: Oriental Institute CAS. Thargyal, Rinzin. 2007. Nomads of Eastern Tibet: Social Organization and Economy of a Pastoral Estate in the Kingdom of Derge. Leiden: Brill. Samuel, Geoffrey. 1993. Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. Shakya, Tsering. 2015. “Ga rgya 'gram nag: A bandit or a proto-rebel? The question of banditry as social protest in Nag chu”. In Roberto Vitali (ed.). Trails of the Tibetan Tradition, Papers for Elliot Sperling, 359–376. Dharamsala, Amnye Machen Institute. Stein, Rolf Alfred. 1972. Tibetan Civilization. London: Faber and Faber. 7. Tibetans & their amusements back to content 7. Tibetans & their amusements 94 back to content 7. Tibetans & their amusements Eight kinds of laugh148 The threatening laugh: ha ha. The joyous laugh: hi hi. The flirtatious laugh: he he. Six kinds of “Comic Sentiments”149 Slight smile – smita Smile – hasita Gentle laughter – vihasita Laughter of ridicule – upahasita Vulgar laughter – apahasita Excessive laughter – atihasita 148 Tib. gad mo brgyad. Recently, Dan Martin posted on his blog brief post about “Six Degrees of Laughter” (Martin 2018) where he compiled short list of articles concerning the topic of humor in Buddhism. I decided to start this chapter by citing these four lines from his post mentioning the “eight laughs of heroes”. Furthermore, Tibetans themselves often use a number of terms in this matter: gad mo for an ordinary laugh, dgod pa or bzhad mo for wilder laughter and khrel gad for scorning kind of laugh. 149 Martin translates this as a “comedic mood” (Sans. hāsya; Tib. gzhad gad). According to the Nāṭyaśāstra by Bharat Muni (1951, vol. 1, p. 110), these six kinds are connected with three types of persons (superior, middling and inferior persons are laughing accordingly from the top of the list). Amusingly though, Martin does not find them in Chos rnam kun btus, the longest “numerical enumeration” of Buddhist terminology. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 95 back to content Games, i.e. rules-based social interactions with a risky plot and competitive twist, are perfect example of a popular form of amusements present in virtually all societies around the globe.150 They bond the communities with enjoyment and provide an opportunity to see beyond the grey clouds of everydayness. A single game motive could be represented in many different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, it develops over time, so the final form may be, at the first glance, unrecognizable from its original appearance. Besides, one cannot forget the educational value of the games,151 as was proposed by J. A. Komenský in his treatise Orbis Pictus (1658) and later developed by J. Huizinga in Homo Ludens (1938).152 In fact, it does not matter whether we talk about folk amusements or some other form of art – all these cultural expressions expose the nature and mind-set of (in this case) Tibetans in certain way, therefore reflect the culturo-historical development in the context of space and time. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to highlight and briefly introduce some of the most popular “amusements” of the Tibetans.153 Naturally, these could vary for the individual persons or be adjusted for different social environments. However, a sense of humour or certain cultural references (aka 150 For general anthropological introduction into the topic of children plays see Schwartzman (1976), where one can find many valuable sources. Nonetheless, Tibetan games have not yet been systematically described. 151 As D. Drokar says about Tibetan children playing sho (dice): “blo sgo ’byed thub pa”, lit. “The gates of (their) intellect could be opened (by playing it).” (Drokar 2003). 152 Similar or related concepts are mentioned by numerous other authors such as H. Marcuse or F. Schiller. Playing games as a problem-solving practice is widely used for establishing a moral baseline within the cultural and social space of given area. Suggested further reading: Religions in Play: Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds (Bornet and Burger 2012). And for the topic of humour in the context of Tibetan diaspora in McLeod Ganj see Fassihi (2007). 153 For related posts about Tibetan entertainments see e.g. the website dancingyaks.com. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 96 back to content “the inside jokes”) are shared by majority of the Tibetans as well as perception of colours, understanding the symbols etc. And so, getting know the Tibetans by following their interests (and consequently spending some quality time amongst them) is really one of the key ways to understand them. For me, as a student of Tibetology, it wasn’t before my second field research in Tibetan diaspora when I finally realized that although the Tibetan culture is very distant and different from my own, their issues, interests, and amusements are (surprisingly) much alike those I am already familiar with. “Going to the theatre means meeting all the other members of the community and spending a whole day from dawn to dusk with them. During this time many things other than the performance take place: picnics, dances performed by the spectators when the actors have finished, and all the possible meetings (…).”154 Ache lhamo Generally speaking, the so-called “performing arts” (zlos gar rig gnas) are usually classified amongst the five minor sciences155 – poetry, astrology, dramatic arts (including music and dance), style (composition) and lexicology (metaphoric vocabulary). Although ache lhamo (a lce lha mo/ a ce lha mo), sometimes referred to only as “lhamo”, is usually being de154 By A. Attisani (Donati and Matta 2009, 13). 155 Hence following the Indian example. The major sciences are then logic, language, medicine, craft and philosophy. See Henrion-Dourcy (2017) for bibliographical introduction to the performing arts in general (where one can find a detailed schema of the five major sciences on p. 193) and Sangye (2017) for an interesting insight to a research conducted by the Tibetans themselves in PRC. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 97 back to content fined as “the Tibet’s traditional secular theatre”,156 some may call it “Tibetan folk opera” too. As a combination of vocal and dance performances based upon epic stories of religious origin, it blends the line between secular vs. religious or drama vs. opera. The tradition of lhamo dances is being ascribed to the Thangtong Gyalpo (Thang stong rGyal po), Tibetan scholar and bridge builder from the 14th/15th centuries.157 It is, unsurprisingly, also connected to a legend of its origin, which has several available variants already described in secondary literature. A brief, but useful introduction of lhamo is to be found in Colin Mackerras’ article.158 Further helpful readings could be e.g. the critical compilation of available sources by Antonio Attisani, Snyder’s Preliminary Study of the Lha mo (1979) or some of the remarkable works by Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy. Pearlman’s Tibetan Sacred Dance (2002) is especially valuable for its countless presented images.159 Lhamos are mostly based on the genre of religious hagiographical stories of liberation called namthar (rnam thar).160 Therefore, the high-pitched vocalization used by the lhamo singers is called the same. The corpus of scripts traditionally used is not vast, however the repertoire is constantly expanding and nowadays 156 According to the tradition, the first performances used to be announced as follows: “And now the goddesses will appear and dance in front of you,” which would suggest that it is not as secular as some may say (see Donati and Matta 2009, 9). 157 Also known as brTson ’grus bZang po aka “Builder of Iron Bridges”. See Gerner (2007). 158 See Mackerras (1999). 159 The first chapter of the Pearlman’s book was also an important source for the following part of this text, which is dedicated to cham dances. 160 For more detailed information about this genre see Cabezón and Jackson (1996). 7. Tibetans & their amusements 98 back to content includes even some more folk-inspired stories.161 Here is a list of those original namthars used as models for lhamos: • rGya bza’ Bal bza’ • mKha’ ’gro sNang sa ’Od ’bum • mKha’ ’gro ma ’Gro ba bZang mo • Chos kyi rgyal po Dri med Kun ldan • Chos rgyal Nor bzang • gZugs kyi Nyi ma • gCung po don yod dang don grub sku mched gnyes • Grub dbang pad ’byung gi rnam sprul khye’u pad ’od pad ma ’od ’bar • Dad pa brten pa Thanks to the numerous lhamo troupes,162 this tradition is still alive and the performances are on the programmes of many cultural events.163 There are about nine main troupes in Tibet itself, every single one of them following different lineage. In addition to that, about nine more troupes are in exile. However, since the lineage of Kyormo Lungpa (sKyor mo Lung pa) was prevalent amongst the first performers of the “Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts” 161 These newly emerging plays as well as the Chinese themes tend to be considered boring by the Tibetan audience. 162 For the list of all currently active troupes and lineages see Fitzgerald (2014), 277. 163 Probably the best event for witnessing lhamo performances is Shoton (zho ston), the curd festival held in spring. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 105 back to content As for the costumes and masks, one can usually find the following characters in almost all of the chams: • black hat dancers (zhwa nag) in white robes (reminder of dPal gyi rDo rje) • skeleton dancers with skull masks (ging, or king ka ra, pho nya, keng rus) 4. • sword dancers • dharma protectors (chos skyong) • three-eyed higher deities – mostly wrathful (khro bo), with a skull diadem178 • lower-rank divinities wearing animal masks (of pigs, yaks, stags, birds, monkeys etc.) • famous teachers, semi gods, warriors (skyes pa), “butchers” (bshan pa) or “cutters” (gcod pa) • a comic buffoon (representing Hashang Mahāyāna),179 an old bald or bearded man (so called Mitshering (Mi tshe ring), representing long life), and other accompanying characters played (usually) by some laymen or children 5. A few of the older masks are said to have certain magical qualities too – e.g. the one kept in Samye monastery called bse ’bag smug chung or that of the goddess Paldan Lhamo which is made of stone and kept in Jokhang.180 When not in use, masks are usually being kept in trunks or hang from the beams wrapped in cloth. 6. Due to a significant complexity of the dance moves, a potential risk of displeasing 178 Some of the most frequent deities are gShin rje, gShin rje gshed, rTa mgrin etc. 179 For more information on this famous figure see e.g. here. 180 Typically, the masks used actively by the dancers are made of paper pulp with starch to save some weight. Wooden masks are carved for display purposes only. back to content 3+4. Some of the costumes are not necessarily finely decorated, as is usually depicted or desrcibed in the books. On the upper picture, the dancer was simply chosen at the last moment, thus his costume is improvised. Second photo depicts the skeleton dancers in home made costumes (both photos are from Lubra village, Nepal). back to content 5.Children collecting money during the break in between of the chams. Lubra village, Lower Mustang, Nepal. 6.Cham masks used by the dancers of Lubra village, Nepal. When not in use, they are suspended from the beams in the local temple. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 107 back to content the demons exists. That is why the dancers have to be first initiated and trained according to the dancing manuals (’chams yig), oral instructions, and direct observation. And, of course, the cham itself is traditionally supervised by a ’chams dpon (for technical accuracy) and rdo rje slob dpon (for mystical legitimacy). Depending on the individual cham and monastery, the number of dancers varies greatly from three up to a hundred or so.181 Sometimes, the dances take place inside but more widespread are performances on some open-air spots, usually within the monasteries themselves. Consequently, most of the shows take place during the daytime. One should also not overlook all the preparations nor other interesting signs indicating a cham in progress. Such indicators could be for example the so-called “banners of victory” (rgyal mtshan) with a trident on top, pointing towards the sky and various magic drawings or “dance circles” (’chams skor) on the surrounding ground. Even a presence of a fireplace where the boiling oil is being mixed with liquid usually poured from a skull cup (thod pa) and thus making an explosion with a lot of smoke could be a good clue. From great distance could be heard also the (gun-)shots or shrills. Furthermore, the temples are sometimes transformed into a “dressing rooms” for the dancers, separated by a curtain at the main door from the “stage” itself. In the end, the rituals accompanying the chams mostly culminate with “casting the sacrificial dough cakes” (gtor rgyag) outside the village. 181 During our field research in Lubra village (Nepal, 2016), three main dancers were switching masks and costumes throughout a week-long Bon ritual which included several chams. They were accompanied by many masked children entertaining the crowd during the breaks and a ritual specialist who had to interrupt his recitation, so he could put on another mask for a brief moment. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 108 back to content The sound of Tibet Tibetan song genres could be divided in two main categories: religious and secular. Because this whole chapter should describe only the “fun part” of the Tibetan culture so to say, let’s focus on the latter. Although some authors enumerate five sub-genres of secular music (folk songs, dance songs, narrative songs, ache lhamo, and instrumental music), I personally think that such division is a little bit artificial in the context of Tibet. Instead, I would like to present just a simple list of (mostly) folk music sub-genres I have came across in various sources:182 • glu/ gzhas/ glu gzhas = secular songs (generally) – varying in number of stanzas, each of four verses (six or seven syllables) featuring metaphorical expressions183 • dmangs glu/ dmangs gzhas = folk songs sung on streets reflecting spe cific topics • las gzhas/ ngal rtsol gyi glu = work songs184 • ar gzhas = work songs sung during building new house aka the “brick layer’s songs” • bro gzhas = dance songs of many sub-genres such as nang ma etc.185 • ’brog glu = nomadic songs • rgyal po’i glu = old royal songs of two kinds – mgur and mchid 182 Ben Wu (1998) mentions numerous other genres (in Chinese language) alongside his overview of available sources on Tibetan music, notation styles and other topics concerning the performing arts. 183 For examples of folk songs go here, here or here. 184 Examples of work songs are here, here or here. 185 Majority of the Tibetan folk songs are accompanied by dancing. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 109 back to content • ’bangs kyi glu = early popular songs influencing authors such as Milarepa, Drugpa Kunleg or the sixth Dalai Lama186 • chang gzhas = pub songs • skor bzhas/ skor bro = songs sung in a circle • ral pa = gymnastic dances with drumming females • byis glu = songs for children • gnyid ’gug pa’i glu = lullabies • glu shags = humorous dialogues sung as a form of competitions • la gzhas/ dga’ gzhas = love songs • khrung glu/ khrung sa'i glu = marriage songs187 Moreover, Ngawang Tenzin divide the “secular” music in two sub-categories: nang ma (indigenous “classical” music for aristocracy) and stod gzhas (popular songs mainly from Central Tibet developed around urban areas) in his short article entitled On Tibetan Traditional Music published in Tibetan Arts in Transition: A Journey Through Theatre, Cinema, and Painting (Donati and Matta 2009). Lama Jabb introduces in his article another popular genre called sgra snyan rdung len, which is characteristic for the use of Tibetan guitar (sgra snyan), strummed by the singer (rdung len) (hence the name).188 Concerning some additional reading on this topic, Ngawang Choephel is one of the great ethnomusicologists (dealing primarily with folk music), who has to be mentioned here. Then, amongst the Western scholars, 186 For more information about the songs of the sixth Dalai Lama see Sørensen (1990). 187 See e.g. Tucci (1966) or here. 188 Jabb (2011). 7. Tibetans & their amusements 110 back to content Peter Crossley-Holland and Ter Ellingson are well-known researchers of the musicological traditions of Tibet. An example of traditional song called bKra la shis pa of the nang ma genre: bkra shis ldum ra’i nang la/ g.yang chags me tog ’khrungs bzhag// snga dro’i zil pa ma yal/ nyin dgung sbrang char babs byung// In the garden of auspiciousness, The flower of prosperity is born. The morning dew has not yet vanished, When the afternoon drizzle alights. Since the sixties, new genres have gradually developed in Tibet, both original or imported.189 These new song styles frequently served the Chinese propaganda up to the eighties when the first well-known Tibetan pop stars started to emerge. Speaking about them, Lobzang Palden Tawo is usually considered to be the pioneer of Tibetan pop music.190 His friend, Nelung Tsering Tobden aka “Tomla” represents more traditional folk-styled singers.191 Tomla and an189 Great source of Tibetan music, lyrics and videos is this YouTube channel. 190 See one of his songs here. Because he spent almost the whole life in Germany, one can clearly hear the influences of European eighties’ music in his production. For an interview with him see here or here. 191 Interviews with him are here and here. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 111 back to content other famous singer, Jhola Techung,192 were both trained by TIPA in Dharamsala. Similarly, Tsering Gyurmey or Phurbu T. Namgyal became very famous after training in TIPA first.193 Amongst the female artists of Tibet, Dadon appears to be the most legendary one.194 To name some examples of an early well-made Western-style Tibetan music, I simply have to mention my favourite Tibetan band ever – Rangzhen Shonu.195 Furthermore, names like Yungchen Lhamo, Techung or Nawang Khechong196 are probably the most famous Tibetan artists in the West. And last but not least has to be mentioned Loten Namling, who is especially vibrant figure of Tibetan resistance in exile and great musician at the same time.197 Nowadays, young generation is heavily influenced by Western rap and hip-hop music.198 After rather clumsy beginnings of Tibetan production, several artists are truly worth listening. As some of these talents live in the West, they were 192 For interview with him click here. 193 For more details and names see Morcom (2018) and Yamamoto (2017). 194 Her Wikipedia page. 195 Their famous cassette is available on YouTube. Later on, Paljor Phurbatsang started another band called Yak band based in Paris, which also gained huge popularity. 196 Interview with him is here. 197 Interview with him is here. For a sample of some of his many performances see this, this, this, this, this or this documentary about him. As you can see, he is not afraid of any kind of genre fusion. 198 Interesting post about Tibetan hip-hop subculture in to be found here (Deepak 2015). For more details about related hip-hop scene in Chengdu see Schmitz (2018) or Coonan (2018). 7. Tibetans & their amusements 112 back to content able to successfully merge both their cultural influences into an appealing and well-balanced fusion. Regarding lyrics of the songs, they mostly cover the topics of: • beauties of the nature in Tibet and mountains • honouring the famous religious figures • prostest songs, freedom and oppression of Tibetans • inspiring and cheering up songs • love songs • language and culture (didactic function) This genre gained popularity especially after the release of a song called Made in Tibet in 2011, written by Swiss-based Tibetan rapper Karma Norbu aka Karma Emchi, better known as Shapaley.199 This song actually turned into an encouragement for the Tibetans all around the world to stand up and make their own rap songs in Tibetan language.200 As a follow-up, whole “Made in Tibet” concept has turned into a merchandise of urban clothes. It is obvious that quantity of musical production is not a problem here and thanks to the artists like ANU, the quality is gradually rising too. ANU’s breakthrough moment was a release of the track ’Phur, followed by another hit – rTse mo yin. Previously, he has introduced himself with the self-named song A nu ring lugs. His 2018’s dance release called dGa’ dga’ hasn’t gained much popularity (yet) 199 Interview with him is here. Fragments of his work (some of which is also non-musical) are also presented here. 200 The participants in this let’s say “movement” are easily findable on YouTube under the keywords “made in Tibet”. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 113 back to content but his collaboration on the Rap of Tibet (1376) featuring TMJ, Dekyi Master, Eric Phuntsok, Uncle Buddhist and Young 13D Baby was a real sensation. Tenzin Seldon alias TibChick is another example of a skilful songwriter with great production. As the first Tibetan female rapper, her tracks Fearless or Don’t Test Me gained instant popularity. To name some other popular rappers, we could not forget Tenzin Seungyi, Kunseng, Tsering Gyurmey or Pemsi. As Tenzin Dharpo mentions in his post: “Social network and YouTube have given a whole new platform for Tibetan artists to showcase their talents and become Tibetan celebrities. From Yeshi Khando to Sonam Topden, from Kunsel to Tenzin Dolma, there is already a mini showbiz industry thriving right under our nose.“.201 From what I have witnessed, Tibetans themselves use YouTube keywords “Tibetan rap” to search for new releases to share on WeChat or event to play right in the clubs and bars. 7. Besides hip-hop, one can find other popular genres of Western origin too. In McLeod Ganj, regular blues and rock sessions are held in one of the Cafés on Bhanagsu Rd. Among not so plentiful Tibetan bands, maybe the most well-known are JJI Exile Brothers,202 Melong and Tamding Tseten with his band.203 Recently, even pop music started to be finely produced and so the artists like Sonam Tob201 Dharpo (2018). 202 Interview with one member of this band is available here. 203 Interview with Tamding is here. As he progressed in his art studies, he also started a social movement called “Tattooed for free Tibet”. back to content 7. One of the music clubs in Dharamsala (India) where regular hip- -hop sessions are held by the Tibetan youths and (mostly) for the Tibetan youths. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 121 back to content Festivals and celebrations Naming all the main cultural festivals is, according to me, somehow useless here. For a list of Tibetan traditional festivals see this corresponding Wiki-entry. Please bear in mind that this list is just a general one and definitely not a comprehensive compendium of all the local festivals, holidays or other annual festivities or rituals held throughout the Tibetan-speaking region. For more information on the local traditions, one can find many useful information especially in various travelogues and diaries of the Westerners (published mostly during the twentieth century) or in recent anthropological studies, like those written by Charles Ramble. And so, in this chapter I would like to present just a few of the main Tibetan celebrations and include some common useful Tibetan terms. Typical festival goes as follows: Tibetans put on their best clothes (nam bza’ yag shos gon), go to the temples to make the offerings (lha khang la mchod mjal la ’gro or mchod ’bul la ’gro depending on the kind of the offering) and circumbulate around the sacred places (skor ra rgyag). Prostrations (phyag ’tshal) are done during the circumbulations or at the designated places. Prayer flags (dar lcog) are usually being hanged on the sacred or otherwise important places (in the exteriors only) and every other year are usually renewed, if damaged. This process is called dar lcog btsugs. Burning juniper (bsang gtong) accompanies lots of Tibetan rituals and the distinctive scent and smoke are clear signs that “something is going on here”. Various kinds of butter offerings and sculptures are displayed (mar kyi mchod pa dang sku ’dra sgrig gshom byed) on the altars. If necessary, sacrificial dough offerings (gtor ma) are prepared. As stated earlier in the text, dancing chams (’cham rgyag) is another popular activity and sometimes also a necessary part of numerous celebrations. During the Yoghurt Festival (zho ston), lhamo is 7. Tibetans & their amusements 122 back to content always being performed (lha mo ’khrab). Drinking alcohol (especially chang and arag (chang dang a rag ’thung)) is also an indivisible part of majority of the events, together with immense banquets. For further reading (in Tibetan) see Khedup and Tsering (2002). Inspiration by the Western (pop-)cultural themes is common even among the Tibetans, who adopted several kinds of festivals and other events. It is a fascinating combination of Tibetan tradition and cultural loans. Rock concerts, film festivals, Miss Tibet,223 Mr Tibet, or simple high school parades – Tibetans have them all. Almost every settlement or exile community has its own shows. In case of Dharamsala, most of them are happening on the main square of TIPA. The hosts, celebrities or winners are being offered khatags (kha btags) after their performances (in accordance with the custom). New Tibetan music hits and popular Western “summer songs” are played when young boys and girls dance traditional or modern choreographies. Lay people of all ages (and monks too!) enjoy all of these of events. Nevertheless, I have to point out, that I have never seen any nun attending such happenings. 223 Here is an example from 2017 showing Miss Tibet in traditional costumes. Some aspects of the newly emerged types of events convey certain controversions due to the cultural differences between the West and the East. For example, Bhagsunag waterfall near McLeod Ganj is a well-known tourist spot with a sacred place nearby. Consequently, filming a swimsuit showcase there caused disturbance throughout the Tibetan community (see here). 7. Tibetans & their amusements 123 back to content New forms of arts As you may already know, Tibetans never fully developed a tradition of belleslettres, as the Western nations did.224 Almost all artistic production was originally dedicated to practical objectives of religion, politics, administration or historical documentation.225 Shift towards more creative and independent art production started in Tibet later than in Europe or America – in the second half of the twentieth century, when Tibet was exposed first to the Chinese and then the global cultural influences. Consequently, new artists and authors have emerged and gradually introduced new art forms and genres to the Tibetan audience. Nowadays, after overcoming the shy beginnings, Tibetan art is vital and very potent field for deeper research. I have already introduced new genres of popular music, so I will not discuss them here again. For your first contact with Tibetan painters I suggest a great introductory book from the Imago Mundi series called Tibet: Made by Tibetans (Benetton, Vanzo, and Miller 2015).226 Interesting source is definitely the PhD thesis The Iconography of Contemporary Tibetan Art: Deconstruction, Reconstruction and Iconoclasm (Ryan 2016). For further insight follow the work of (for example) Leigh Miller. Journals such as the Asian Art News and Art Asia Pacific are also worth reading. Various forms of contemporary Tibetan art are briefly introduced in Tibetan Arts in Transition (Donati 224 And the same could be said also about the art of painting and sculpturing. 225 An exception to this are e.g. the famous love songs of the sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso or several genres of poems and folk songs. 226 You can also find the paintings from Luciano Benneton’s collection on the web. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 124 back to content and Matta 2009) including a cinema (Françoise Robin is one the most wellknown scholars focused on this particular topic).227 Because many Tibetan films have some form of religious agenda, one might find a thesis called Forging a Buddhist Cinema: Exploring Buddhism in Cinematic Representations of Tibetan Culture (Harnden-Simpson 2011) helpful too. Furthermore, Chinese directors have cooperated with Tibetans on numerous movies, usually some love stories of huge length (up to four hours!) which I find quite boring to be honest. This cannot be said about to work of Pema Tseden, probably the best-known Tibetan director.228 Because writing a novel is much less expensive than producing a film, contemporary Tibetan writers create relatively large number of fresh stories and books (mainly in English and Chinese though). Tenzin Tsundue or Tsering Woeser are good examples of such. To name some of the most famous authors, Dhondup Gyal and Amdo Gendun Chophel have to be mentioned. Thanks to growing literacy, even writing in Tibetan is becoming more and more popular. There are also several journals and websites covering new Tibetan writings, one of which is Bod kyi rtsom rig dra ba. Due to the current situation in TAO, the writings mostly cover topics like social or political commentaries, Tibetan identity, and human rights, often with rather sentimental tone. Autobiographies and religious topics are also very popular. 227 Czech readers might find useful the website of “Flim festival of Tibetan films”, which even includes a small database of Tibetan films which have been screened. 228 For further reading about Tibetan film see the bibliography of this chapter. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 125 back to content This limited diversity of topics is not entirely fault of the authors but partially of the audience too. Artists are fettered by “Tibetan authenticity” which is something the audience expect and want from them. To ensure the success, they fulfil those wishes and deliver the desired content. Similar scheme could be applied to basically all forms of contemporary Tibetan art. Identity crisis, being in exile and having a homesickness are certainly the “current hot issues”. Many books and papers about these issues have already been published, so let me suggest a few scholars such as Vincanne Adams or Tracy Ann Stevens for your further reading. And finally, I have to mention extremely popular and plentiful soap operas (those from Tibet resemble their Chinese examples and those from India naturally resembles the Bollywood production) and Chinese-styled Losar TV shows (see YouTube various examples). These TV galas are usually full of singing and dancing performances, story-telling, comical scenes, and stand-up comedies which are also to be found as shows on their own. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 126 back to content Bibliography Attisani, Antonio. 2005. “Aspects of the Tibetan Theatre Question.” The Tibet Journal XXX (1). Library of Tibetan Works and Archives: 3–60. Benetton, Luciano, Paola Vanzo, and Leigh Miller. 2015. Tibet: Made by Tibetans: Contemporary Artists from Tibet. Imago Mundi. Fabrica. Bornet, P., and M. Burger. 2012. Religions in Play: Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds. Kulturel (Series). Zrich: Theologischer Verlag Zrich. Cabezón, José Ignacio, and Roger R. Jackson. 1996. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Studies in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Snow Lion. Chenaktsang, Dorje Tsering. 2008. “Reflections on Tibetan Film.” Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Social and Cultural Change. Edited by Ronald Schwartz and Robert Barnett, 267–281. Leiden: Brill Publications. Coonan, Cliford. 2018. Chinese Hip-Hop Is Banned as It Emerges from the Underground. Available here. Deepak, Sharanya. 2015. The Underground Heroes of Tibet. Available here. Dharpo, Tenzin. 2018. The First Tibetan Female Rap-Artist Tenzin Seldon on Rapping Her Way through a Minefield of Self-Induced Complex to Never Celebrate Mediocrity. Available here. Donati, Valeria, and Mara Matta, eds. 2009. “Tibetan Arts in Transition: A Journey Through Theatre, Cinema, and Painting.” Tibetan Arts in Transition: A Journey Through Theatre, Cinema, and Painting. Rome: ASIA Onlus. Drokar, Dechen, ed. 2003. Sho bshad/. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang/. Fassihi, Manny. 2007. “‘Why Such a Big Deal?’: The Didactic Function of Humor in Tibetan Buddhism.” SURJ: 64–70. Fitzgerald, Kati. 2014. “Tibetan Opera in and Outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.” Asian Theatre Journal 31 (1): 270–278. Frangville, Vanessa. 2013. “‘Minority Film’ and Tibet in the PCR: From ‘Hell on Earth’ to the ‘Garden of Eden.’” Latse Journal 7: 8–27. Gerner, Manfred. 2007. Thangtong Gyalpo: Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder. Translated by Gregor Verhufen. Thimpu: The Centre for Bhutan Studies. Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1964. “A Study of the Ldab Ldob.” Central Asiatic Journal 1 (2): 123–141. Harnden-Simpson, Mona. 2011. Forging a Buddhist Cinema: Exploring Buddhism in Cinematic Representations of Tibetan Culture. Carleton University. Henrion-Dourcy, Isabelle. 2017a. “Studying the Tibetan Performing Arts: A Bibliographic Introduction (1986–2017).” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 40: 5–54. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 127 back to content Henrion-Dourcy, Isabelle. 2017b. “The Art of the Tibetan Actor: A lce lha mo in the gaze of Western Performance Theories.” Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines 40: 179–215. Hummel, Siegbert, and Paul G. Brewster. 1963. Games of the Tibetans. FF Communications LXXVII (187). Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. Jabb, Lama. 2011. “Singing the Nation: Modern Tibetan Music and National Identity.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 21: 1–29. Khedup, Kalsang, and Chung Tsering. 2002. Bod kyi dus chen/ Dus chen ngo sprod/. Dharamsala: Department of Education (CTA), Gangchen Kyishong. Loseries-Leick, Andrea. 2008. Tibetan Mahayoga Tantra: An Ethno-Historical Study of Skulls, Bones and Relics. B. R. Publishing Corporation. Mackerras, Colin. 1999. “Tradition and Modernity in the Performing Arts of the Tibetans.” International Journal of Social Economics 26 (1,2,3): 58–78. Martin, Dan. 2008. The Tibetan Olympics of 1695. The Nine Men’s Sporting Events. Available here. ———. 2018. The Six Degrees of Laughter. Available here. Murakami, Daisuke. 2014. “Aspects of the Traditional Gambling Game Known as Sho in Modern Lhasa – Religious and Gendered Worldviews Infusing the Tibetan Dice Game.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 29: 245–270. Pearlman, Ellen. 2002. Tibetan Sacred Dance: A Journey into the Religious and Folk Traditions. Rochester: Inner Traditions. Ramble, Charles. 20 09. “Playing Dice with the Devil: Two Bonpo Soul-Retrieval Texts and Their Interpretation in Mustang, Nepal.” Edited by Samten G. Karmay and Donatella Rossi. East and West 59 (1–4): 205–232. Institutio Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente. Róna Tas, A. 1956. “Tally-Stick and Divination-Dice in the Iconography of Lhamo.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae VI (1/3): 163–179. Ryan, Angela Mary. 2016. The Iconography of Contemporary Tibetan Art: Deconstruction, Reconstruction and Iconoclasm. University of Tasmania. Samuel, Geoffrey. 2005. Tantric Revisionings: New Understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Indian Religion. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Sangye, Dondhup. 2017. “Looking Back at Tibetan Performing Arts Research Done by Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China: Advocating for An Anthropological Approach.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 40: 103–125. Schmitz, Rob. 2018. Chengdu Emerges as a New Home for Chinese Hip-Hop. Available here. Schrempf, Mona. 1999. “Taming the Earth, Controlling the Cosmos: Transformation of Space in Tibetan Buddhist and Bon-po Ritual Dance.” Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places in Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays, edited by Toni Huber: 198–224. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archive. 7. Tibetans & their amusements 128 back to content Schwartzman, Helen B. 1976. “The Anthropological Study of Children’s Play.” Annual Review of Anthropology 5: 289–328. Snyder, Jeanette. 1979. “Preliminary Study of the Lha mo.” Asian Music 10 (2): 23–62. Sørensen, Per K. 1990. Divinity Secularized: An Inquiry into the Nature and Form of the Songs Ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama. WSTB 25. Wien: Arbeitskreis fr Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien. Tournadre, Nicholas, and Sangda Dorje. 2003. Manual of Standard Tibetan. Translated by Charles Ramble. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications. Trávnček, Kryštof. 2005. “Čham – Několik Pohledů na Religiózní Tantrické Tance Tibetského Buddhismu.” Sacra aneb Rukověť Religionisty 3 (2): 32–57. ———. 2008. “Trojrozměrná Periodicky Kinetická Ikonografie Tibetského Buddhismu: Čhamové Rituály Vně Tibetu.” Sacra aneb Rukověť Religionisty 6 (2): 5–31. Tucci, Giuseppe. 1966. “Tibetan Folk Songs from Gyantse and Western Tibet.” Artibus Asiae. Supplementum 22: 7–XVIII. Wang, Yao. 1997. “On the Origin of Sho (Dice) and Sbag (Domino): Explorationing the Amusement Culture of the Tibetan People.” Proceedings of the 7th Seminar of the International Assotiation for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995, Vol. II. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Wojahn, Daniel. 2016. “Preservation and Continuity: The Ache Lhamo Tradition Inside and Outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 37: 534–550. Wu, Ben. 1998. “Music Scholarship, West and East: Tibetan Music as a Case Study.” Asian Music 29 (2): 31–56. Available here. Yamamoto, Tatsuya. 2017. “Lyrics Matter: Reconsidering Agency in the Discourses and Practices of Tibetan Pop Music among Tibetan Refugees.” Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines 40: 126–152. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year back to content 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 130 back to content 8. Annual rituals: Losar (lo gsar) or Tibetan New Year Introduction This chapter is dedicated to Losar (lo gsar) or Tibetan New Year, one of many festivals celebrated by Tibetans. In general, Tibetan festivals (dus chen, a great day or a holy day) are closely related to astrology and religion – namely, to Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. This connection may be observed, for example, on festivals´ dates which were traditionally selected from auspicious days of the Tibetan calendar. Many festivals are distinguished according to their religious holy days, astrological constellations, seasons and other lucky days for occasions like traveling, house renovations, and so forth. There are, for instance, four festivals of the Buddha´s life that are celebrated throughout the year, harvest festivals that are held on first week of the eighth month (khrums), pilgrim festivals held on seventh day of the seventh month (gro bzhin), etc. Dates of the festivals are then calculated from positions of the eight planets, functions of the five elements or influences of twelve zodiac signs. Furthermore, they are planed due to religious analogies to celestial realms (lha yul), deities of the eight classes of spirits and their powers. All these connections help to Tibetans to identify auspicious phenomena or potential disasters, which would have influenced their festivals and important events in their lives. Therefore, in brief, majority of Tibetan festivals are celebrated on astrologically and religiously auspicious days. back to content 6. Momos. 7. Donkey ears. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 138 back to content to all Buddhas and deities on the altars, big and small braids of pastry covered with sugar called mugdong (smug gdong), crispy circles or tiny kabsey made only for eating with a cup of salty butter tea. Kapsey recipes are very simple and easy to make. There are many recipes of kabsey and here is one of them for an illustration: You will need 4 cups of flour, ½ cup of sunflower oil, 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. All ingredients should be properly mixed for making a dough. The dough is rolled to 3 mm thin layer from which are cut strips of pastry. The strips are cut, open and twisted in the center in the way they would create a traditional kabsey shape (see picture). Then the strips are deep fried in hot oil until they have become of golden brown color. Once fried, they need to get cold and afterwards, may be server for the Losar party.229 After the Losar breakfast, Tibetans go to make some personal religious practice at the kora (circumambulation) of the stupa or go participate, actively or passively, in group rituals held at the monasteries. One of such group rituals held at the monasteries is the sacred lama dance. This ritual is a close for active participation, but many Tibetans come to watch it as a social event and public entertainment. Yet, the lama dance is, in its core, a sacred Vajrayāna practice, which may also include some a/historical events to remember, for instance, deeds of Buddhist or Bonpo saints. 229 For the food preparation watch this youtube video by Lobsang Wangdu. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 139 back to content Lama dance: Tibetan sacred dance The sacred dance or lama dance (´cham) is performed on the first day of Losar. During such dance, lamas (bla ma) and monks wear sacred masks (´bag) 8. of various deities which represent cosmological forces of Vajrayāna Buddhism. The monks are transformed into various deities by wearing special costumes, jewel ornaments and attributes as well as visualizing themselves as particular deities. The monks may play roles of dharmapālas or the Buddhist Dharma protectors (chos skyong), opposing forces of Bon and Chinese Chan, Buddhist saints, Tibetan animals, such as snow lion 9. , yak 10. and so forth (Helffer 1980: 106). The dance, therefore, may celebrate many a/historical events such as the birth and deeds of Indian sage Padmasambhava, who propagated Buddhism in Tibet and subdued local forces of Bon, the supremacy of Indian Buddhism over Chinese Chan, which was propagated by Ha-shang Moheyan, who was defended by Indian philosopher Kamalashila (740–795), and so forth.230 All actors then dance inside magical circle or mandala (dkyil ´khor) which may symbolizes sacred lands such as divine palaces, but also worldly realms, such as Tibet, or undergrounds in which live demons and evil spirits. The opposing forces are subdued by the Dharma protectors to serve to Buddha´s teaching and propagators of ingenuine Dharma are cast out by Buddhist masters. However, aside of such social celebrations, the dance is also a Vajrayāna practice, namely the deity yoga (lha´i rnal ´byor) involving self-transformation into 230 The role of Ha-shang Moheyan appears also in the Tibetan New Year dance of Bon which is performed at the Triten Norbutse Bon monastery in Kathmandu. However, the Bon dance does not contain a role of Kamalashila. back to content 10. Tibetan monks with the yak costume in the bonpo monastery of Triten Norbutse. 8. The sacret dance held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. 9. Tibetan monks with the snow lion costume in the bonpo monastery of Triten Norbutse. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 141 back to content a particular deity through visualization, dance, chanting and at the end, realizing the state of emptiness (stong nyid). I will describe below one part of the sacred dance that involves such a Vajrayāna practice during the Losar celebration held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. First of all, the magical circle or mandala is drew before the main shrine of monastery. Then starts play metal horns (dung chen), cymbals (sbug tshal) and drums (rnga) announcing that the lama dance shall begin (Helffer 1980: 106). The door of the shrine opens and a group 11. of monks in yellow heads and traditional robes appear caring incense burners and musical instruments while purifying place and playing music. After them come dancers who wear 12. black hats (zhwa nag) with a skull ornament and flames on the top. The black hat lamas are dressed in ceremonial robe decorated with dragons, skulls, thunderbolts (rdo rje) and face of a wrathful deity – the Great Black One, Mahākāla. They hold a ritual dagger (phru ba) in the right hand and a small cup from human skull (thod pa) in the left hand. As they dance, all negative forces and obstacles are subdued and purified (Helffer 1980: 106). Afterwards, the field protectors (zhing skyong) come on the scene to dance. 13. These protectors are non-human forces who own a particular place or land. They are more powerful than local deities of a place (sa dag), but weaker than dharmapālas. They a kind of worldly protectors such as the Bon deity Dorje Legpa (rdor rje legs pa), guardian kings of the directions (phyogs skyong), spirits of planets (gza´) and so forth. The dancers wear masks of animals – various birds, canines, monkey, deer, bull and heads of demons. 14. They hold daggers and ritual cake offering (gtor ma) in the right hand and skull cup in the left hand. a particular deity through visualization, dance, chanting and at the end, realizing the state of emptiness (stong nyid). I will describe below one part of the sacred dance that involves such a Vajrayāna practice during the Losar celebration held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. First of all, the magical circle or mandala is drew before the main shrine of monastery. Then starts play metal horns (dung chen), cymbals (sbug tshal) and drums (rnga) announcing that the lama dance shall begin (Helffer 1980: 106). The door of the shrine opens and a group 11. of monks in yellow heads and traditional robes appear caring incense burners and musical instruments while purifying place and playing music. After them come dancers who wear 12. black hats (zhwa nag) with a skull ornament and flames on the top. The black hat lamas are dressed in ceremonial robe decorated with dragons, skulls, thunderbolts (rdo rje) and face of a wrathful deity – the Great Black One, Mahākāla. They hold a ritual dagger (phru ba) in the right hand and a small cup from human skull (thod pa) in the left hand. As they dance, all negative forces and obstacles are subdued and purified (Helffer 1980: 106). Afterwards, the field protectors (zhing skyong) come on the scene to dance. 13. These protectors are non-human forces who own a particular place or land. They are more powerful than local deities of a place (sa dag), but weaker than dharmapālas. They a kind of worldly protectors such as the Bon deity Dorje Legpa (rdor rje legs pa), guardian kings of the directions (phyogs skyong), spirits of planets (gza´) and so forth. The dancers wear masks of animals – various birds, canines, monkey, deer, bull and heads of demons. 14. They hold daggers and ritual cake offering (gtor ma) in the right hand and skull cup in the left hand. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 142 back to content The next part of dance starts with bringing the effigy of a human 15. (liṅga; nya bo) made of dough and used in the killing ritual of final part of a feast called in the secret mantra terminology liberation offering (bsgral mchod). It is the final offering of feast gathering or gaṇachakra (tshogs ´khor) that refers to secret gatherings of tantrikas who carry out a particular ritual of Vajrayāna. It is a very demanding ritual, in which one musts visualize him/herself as a deity that emanates from one´s own heart to execute the effigy. The effigy symbolizes human ego, which will be transformed and offered to Buddhas. Therefore, the chief master, who is wearing the black head, mirror armor (me long) and costume with ornaments of the wrathful Mahākāla 16. , comes to symbolically kill the effigy while four skeletons dance around him. 17. The black headed lama´s secret ritual killer Ging (sgrol ging) belongs to the methods of the Vajrayāna path, in particular, to Mahāyoga or the Great yoga (rnal ´byor chen po). This ritual is a deity meditation during which one transforms into a deity appropriate to the situation. The meditation consists of two stages – stage of development (skyed rim) and competition (rdzog rim). The tantrika who desires to perform such ritual and thus engage in the competition stage must build on foundation of the development stage. To explain, the development stage is transformation of impure appearances – such as our world with beings, into pure ones – such as divine realms with enlightened beings, and meditation on the mandala of deities. Then the completion stage is conceptual meditation on channels, subtle winds and vital essence, and nonconceptual meditation on the samadhi of suchness. The tantrika, ideally, aims to dissolve ego and therefore, he must realize wisdom of emptiness. back to content 11. A group of monks caring incense burners and musical instruments while purifying place and playing music. 13. The field protectors. 12. Black hat lamas. 14. A group of monks caring incense burners and musical instruments while purifying place and playing music. 15. The demon of ego represented by a human effigy made of dough which has been colored red. back to content 17. The dance of skeletons. 16. The chief vajra master Chokling Rinpoche. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 145 back to content In order to realize such wisdom, the tantrika has to understand all external objects as not being truly existent in the way how they appear. All objects should appear to him as empty or devoid of any inherent existence. After understanding that, tantrika´s spontaneous presence should arises as appearance and emptiness. Only then, the meditation of development stage takes form of the deity that spontaneously arose from conceptual construct and fabrication of tantrika´s own mind stream and became equivalent to the wisdom of emptiness. The result of ritual then comes in dependence on capacity of every practitioner. The tantra Embodiment of Realization states231: “Practitioner with high capacity recognizes uncontrived self-originated primordial clarity, spontaneous presence and complete purity free of elaborations as the essence of the deity. Practitioner with medium capacity recognizes the selforiginating energy of compassion that is uncompounded and devoid of defining characteristics as luminous deity with pure channels and elements. Practitioner with low capacity recognizes all apparent forms as male and female deities visualized from the non-conceptual state like a fish is leaping from the water. Having 231 dgongs 'dus las dbang po rab kyis ma bcos rang byung ye gsal lhun grub spros bral rnam par dag pa lha'ingo bor shes/ 'bring gis 'dus byas mtshan ma can ma yin par thugs rje rang byung gi rtsal rtsa khams dag pa gsal 'tsher gyi lhar shes/ tha mas gzugs snang thams cad lha dang lha mi mi rtog pa'i ngang chu las nya 'phar ba'i tshul can dang / dad dam dag pas mngon byang lnga dang ting 'dzin gsum gyi sgo nas gsal bar bskyed ces dang / pad sdong brtsegs pa'i rgyud las kyang / dbang po rab 'bring tha ma so so la gsum re dbye ba la dgu phrug sogs kyi sgo nas rgyas par gsungs pa rnams kyang gzhung de dag las rtogs par bya'o/ See Notes for the Development Stage by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol ( b. 1608; rTse le sNa tshogs Rang grol), ff. 19. 8. Annual Rituals: Losar (Io gsar) or Tibetan New Year 146 back to content pure faith and samaya, the visualization arises clearly by means of the five of manifestation and the three samadhis.” After the ritual is performed, the human effigy is placed in the middle of the mandala. Then two stags and two bulls with swords 18. appear and perform their dance. At end of the dance, they cut the effigy to small pieces as a symbolic was of the destruction of ego and enemies of the Dharma. Then, according the tradition and monasteries, are performed concluding rituals or other parts of the dance, such as the birth and deeds of Padmasambhava or Kamalashila´s winning over Ha-shang Moheyan. At the end, monks take a huge dough offering 19. , which they prepared earlier, off the main shrine and through it out of the monastery´s yard into (or in front of) dry fire wood. The chief black headed lama conducts a concluding ritual 20. see here and shoots with an arrow at the torma offering, which was shaped into the face of a demon. Afterwards, the torma is burned in the fire place see here and sacred dance of Losar ends. Lungta: Tibetan prayer flags Hanging prayer flags is another Tibetan custom related to the celebration of Losar. Lungta 21. (rlung rta) literally means wild horse or that which rides the wind is five colored prayer flag that is hanged in a set by Tibetans on the first day of New Year (Norbu 1995: 68–70). According to Tibetans´ beliefs, lungtas have power to purify the four elements air, earth, fire and water. The four elements are symbolized by sacred animals such as a tiger, a lion, an eagle or garuda and a dragon, which are drew at the four corners of the flag. To explain, the tiger who is living inside jungle symbolizes the wood or air element; the snow lion that lives in the mountains sym-