Inheritance and Vicissitude of the Tibetan Diet——A Case of A Tibetan Rural Community

The dietary structure and customs of the Tibetans1 include both simple and complex elements.The transition from a diet composed mainly of tsampa and butter tea to the integration of alien and industrialized foodstuffs into the Tibetan dietary culture reflects,in a way,the processes of adaptation,integration and vicissitude of the Tibetan rural community during modernization.This article attempts to discuss the relationship between the traditional culture and modernization in Tibetan rural communities during the process of cultural interaction and modernization by studying the dietary structure and customs of Tibetan farmers in Nyang-re Township located in the north outskirts of Lhasa,Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).     

Faunal Materials and Interpretive Archaeology—Epistemology Reconsidered

The objective of this paper is twofold. It intends to reformulate the assumptions of interpretive archaeology and within this context to elaborate the framework within which one can study social and symbolic relationships between humans and animals in the prehistoric farming communities of Central Europe. Postprocessual archaeology has failed to provide a satisfactory account of how to judge the credibility of competing issues about the past. In the interpretive approach to animal bone assemblages, it is argued that the results of actualistic studies justify this credibility. The objective of actualistic studies is to establish how, when, and by whom the archaeological record has been produced. Credibility is also provided by the biological characteristics of animals maintained and consumed. The first level of credibility is a prerequisite to a further interpretation of the social dimensions of human action with respect to animals. The second level of interpretation is based on the horizontal distribution of archaeological pasts within and between sites.     

The Archaeology of Jerusalem — Between Post-Modernism and Delegitimization

Abstract

The study of the motivations, influences, and agendas of Israeli archaeology has always been the centre of heated debate, the profession today finding itself under the full, and usually highly critical, glare of modern archaeological theory and/or political polemics. This paper addresses the motivations of some these critics and from under the mesh of often over-stated argumentation, tries to provide a more level appreciation of current archaeological work in Jerusalem. Quite contrary to the impression given by some of the recent scholarship, it is argued that the great majority of the published and excavated archaeology of Jerusalem of the past decades presents the finds of the multiplicity of periods of the city’s history, quite divorced from overt and even covert influence of the surrounding volatile political situation.     

Archaeology advances?

Michael B. Schiffer, ed. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, New York: Academic Press, 1981, 1982, 1983. Vol. IV, xii + 443 pp., $38.00; Vol. V, xiii + 478 pp., $42.00; Vol. VI, xiii + 359 pp., $37.50; Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory: Selections for Students from Volumes 1 through 4, New York: Academic Press, 1982, xiv + 690 pp., $19.95     

A Good Book for Studying Tibetan Fine Arts—Comments on ‘Outline of Traditional Tibetan Fine Arts' in Tibetan

WhentheOutlineofTraditionalTibetanFineArts,masterpieceoffamedDainzi,waspublished,itwonfirstprizeattheSecondNationalTibetanBooksFairin1995inBejing.Withgreatinterest,Ibrowsedthroughthebookandwassoonattractedbyitsrichcontent.GenqugDainziwasbornintoafarmingfa…     

Tibetan History (in Tibetan)

AuthoredbyTubdainPuncog,thisbooktellsofthehistoricaldevelopmentofThebookrecordstheexperienceofthescientificsurveyteamsentbytheChineseAcademyofSciencestotheQinghai-TibetPlateau.Theteamwascomposedofthreegroupsofpeo-Wewe(k-)uthoredbyTubdainPUncog,thesbookLte…     

Rural Management——The Way Out for Tibetan Rural Areas

Tibetan towns and villages are the remotest areas in China regional society. The remoteness is evident in two aspects： （i） the natural environment; located in the southwestern frontier of China, as the core of the ＂the Third Extreme＂, Tibet claims to be the farthest area in terms of space, altitude and distance -- and com- pared with towns, this is really true of the villages, （z） the social environment; with the rapid development of Tibet＇s tourist industry in recent years, people tend to focus more on Tibet, but mainly on such cities as Lhasa, Shigatse and Tsetang. Beyond people＇s attention, towns and villages stay far away not only from those socio-economically and culturally developed areas but also from the focus of intensive social development.     

Is Archaeology Developmental?

Archéologie et développement semblent deux notions fort éloignées l'une de l'autre. La première évoque une recherche fondamentale, pure alors que la deuxième parle de santé, économie, éducation, agriculture, pêche, équipement, transports, communications, etc. . . Et pourtant elles se rejoignent dans le bien-être aussi bien matériel que culturel qu'elles sont supposées apporter aux peuples auxquels elles s'adressent. En effet, si elles introduisent, importent des connaissances, des savoirs des techniques et des machines permettant de mieux maîtriser le monde, nourrir et élever les peuples, ces connaissances interfèrent avec la façon dont ceux-ci vivent et ceci depuis longtemps, la façon dont ceux-ci pensent leurs vies et le monde: philosophies, religions, histoires et coutumes dont on pense se débarrasser en les considérant fausses ou irrationnelles. Ainsi apprend-on que laTerre est ronde et tourne autour du soleil, que nous sommes faits de particules, et qu'il faut s'incliner devant les lois de l'évolution. La Science nous a appris et nous apprend toujours la Vérité sur le monde qui nous entoure bien qu'elle ait donné les moyens intellectuels et matériels aux plus grands massacres que l'Histoire ait connus et bien qu'il ne se passe pas de mois sans catastrophes climatiques, industrielles, politiques ou culturelles ou sans sinistres prévisions, comme le nivellement du mondialisme! Ainsi un des problèmes centraux du développement, illustré ici par une réflexion historico-archéologique, réside dans le dialogue (ou son absence) entre ces deux domaines de connaissance: le scientifique, le moderne et l'autochtone, l'ethnique, le non-moderne. Si l'on veut que ce développement concerne la majorité de chaque peuple impliqué, il est de la plus haute importance de s'interroger sur les modalités des échanges et choix de savoirs, leur équilibre et les raisons profondes des désaccords planétaires à ce sujet. Sous cette condition, le Développement deviendra vraiment démocratique.Archaeology and development seem widely separated notions. The former evokes fundamental pure research whereas the latter talks about health, economics, education, agriculture, fishery, equipment, transports, communications, and so on. Nevertheless both focus on the well-being as well material as cultural which they are supposed to bring to people. In fact if they input and import knowledge, technologies and machineries allowing a better mastering of the world, together with feeding and educating people, both development and archaeology interfere with the ways in which people live and many of the things they believe: philosophies, religions, histories, and customs that become defined as false or irrational. Thus we are taught that the Earth is round and revolves around the sun, that we are made of particles, and that we have to bow in front of the laws of evolution. Science taught us Truth and still does, a truth that provided the intellectual and material means for the worst massacres of history. Thus one of the central problems of development, herein illustrated by a historico-archaeological reflection, lies in dialogue (or its absence) between these two knowledge domains: the scientific, modern and the autochtonous, ethnic, nonmodern. If development projects are to benefit all, it is of the utmost importance to wonder about the exchanges and choices of knowledge, their balance, and the deep meanings of globalization. Under such conditions, development will become really democratic.     

Standing In-Between Traditional and Modern Tibetan Cultur——Founding of the China Association for Protection and Development of Tibetan Culture

March 10, 2004 was an unusual day. A King Gesar singing party was being held in a packed hall. Inside, the balladeers were singing and King Gesar experts were making explanations, while, outside, many oth-ers, including foreign embassy officials,were waiting for a chance to enter.     

Community Archaeology: A Threat or an Opportunity for Greek Archaeology?

The development of archaeology in Greece has been determined by the central role classical antiquity played in the European and Greek imagination. Classical archaeology, with its aesthetic view of the material culture, has dominated the discipline and its popular perception ever since. The state has been entrusted with the exclusive authority on archaeological heritage because of its national importance. This paper argues that the combination of the classical and state monopoly has led to the isolation of Greek archaeology from the world and from the Greek people. The aim is to critically assess Greek archaeology and introduce community archaeology as a means to make archaeology relevant to the Greek people.     

Staying With Living Buddhas——Young Tibetan Living Buddhas Visit Hinterland

EDITOR'S NOTE:The author wasblessed with a rarechance to be with31 Living Buddhas,kampo abbots andsutra teaches-hail-ing from Tibet andthe areas inhabitedby the Tibetans inSichuan,Qinghai,Gansu and YunnanProvinces,andrecorded the follow-ing stories．     

Colorful Tibetan Tents

ＣｏｌｏｒｆｕｌＴｉｂｅｔａｎＴｅｎｔｓＧＹＡＹＯＮＧＱＯＩＰＥＴｈｅｉｍａｇｉｎａｔｉｖｅＹｕｓｈｕｐｅｏｐｌｅｍａｋｅａｄａｚｚｌｉｎｇｖａｒｉｅｔｙｏｆｔｅｎｔｓ．ＴｈｅｙｉｎｃｌｕｄｅＯｌｄＧｏｍｃｈｅｎｗｈｉｃｈｉｓｃｏｎｓｔｒｕｃｔｅｄｉ...     

Tibetan Folk Epic

ＴｉｂｅｔａｎＦｏｌｋＥｐｉｃ￥／／ＴｈｅＢｉｏｇｒａｐｈｙｏｆＫｉｎｇＧｅｓａｒ,ａｆａｍｏｕｓＴｉｂｅｔａｎｆｏｌｋｅｐｉｃｂａｓｅｄｏｎｐｏｐｕｌａｒｍｙｔｈｏｌｏｇｙ,ｆｏｌｋｔａｌｅｓ,ｆｏｌｋｓｏｎｇｓａｎｄｓａｙｉｎｇｓ,ｉｓｃｏｎｓｉ...     

Ancient Tibetan Culture

Ａｎｃｉｅｎｔ　Ｔｉｂｅｔａｎ　ＣｕｌｔｕｒｅＡｎｃｉｅｎｔＴｉｂｅｔａｎＣｕｌｔｕｒｅ￥ｂｙＬｏｂｓａｎｇＤａｉｎｚｉｎＴｉｂｅｔｈａｓａｗｒｉｔｔｅｎｈｉｓｔｏｒｙｏｆｓｏｍｅ１，３００ｙｅａｒｓ，ａｎｄｉｔｓｎｕｍｅｒｏｕｓＢｕｄｄｈｉｓｔｓｃ...     

Face to Face Talk——Chinese and American Scholars Discuss Tibetan Issues

In early 2002,Zhu Xiaoming(Vice-President of the China World Ethnic Society),Huo Zhongquanand Hong Tao(both research fellows with the China Ethics Research Center)met with Americanexperts on China with the Research Office ot the US Congress and the US Think Tank,includingKerry B.Dumbaugh,Alfred D.Wilhelm Jr,David G.Brown and Thomas G.Lum.They held talkson issues of common concern.Following are excerps of their talk on the Tibetan issue.     

Beautiful Aspect of The Tibetan Race——Preface to Tibet Folk Art

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Chongqing Publishing House has published a set of eight books under the general title of Series Books on Folk Art in Tibet, covering clay molding art, mask art, garments, tangka painting, weaving, building and decoration, Mani stone carving, and sculpturing. They contain some 20,000 illustrations to enhance reader interest.     

Eight Tibetan Treasures

ＥｉｇｈｔＴｉｂｅｔａｎＴｒｅａｓｕｒｅｓＸＥＩＲＡＢＧＹＡＣＯ，ＷＥＮＱＵＮＴＡＩＥｉｇｈｔＴｉｂｅｔａｎＴｒｅａｓｕｒｅｓ，ａｌｓｏｋｎｏｗｎａｓｔｈｅＥｉｇｈｔＴｉｂｅｔａｎＦａｉｒｉｅｓａｎｄＥｉｇｈｔＡｕｓｐｉｃｉｏｕｓＩｎｓｉｇｎｉａｓ，...     

TIBETAN GARMENTS:A Dazzling Variety——Comments on Tibetan Garments in China

To cope with the world-wide need for more knowledge about Tibet, the Beijing Publishing House and the Tibet People's Publishing House have jointly published China Tibetan Garments. It treats Tibetan garments in terms of different locations and different types.The picture album is packaged in a box produced in a traditional Tibetan way and has woven fabrics as its cover. An introductory article written by Lhaba Puncog, chief of the China Tibetology     

Beijing Tibetan Medicine Hospital

ＢｅｉｊｉｎｇＴｉｂｅｔａｎＭｅｄｉｃｉｎｅＨｏｓｐｉｔａｌｂｙＷａｎｇＨｏｎｇＢｅｉｊｉｎｇ，ｔｈｅｃａｐｉｔａｌｏｆｔｈｅＰｅｏｐｌｅ′ｓＲｅｐｕｂｌｉｃｏｆＣｈｉｎａ，ｈａｓｓｉｎｃｅ１９９２ｓｅｅｎｔｈｅｆｌｏｕｒｉｓｈｉｎｇｏｆｔｈｅＢｅｉ...