A Brief Analysis of Tibetan Calendrical Designation of Years

The Tibetan astronomical calendrical calculationhas a long history.There are many documentaryrecords and Tibetan people have rich experiences ofit.Tibetan calendrical designation of years as a sum-mary of Tibetan people's experiences in their strugglewith the nature is an important part of Tibetan as-tronomy and calendrical calculation.It takes twelveyears as a small cycle and 6o years as a big cycle.A bigcycle is called“rabjung”[rab-byung] in Tibetan.Thefirst rabjung started in 1027 and the current rabjung is     

GYAMA CHOEPEL'S UNUSUAL PATH

正Gyama Choepel is a Tibetan man born in the Medrogungkar County of Lhasa. He grew up predominantly in Nyingchi. The man drives for a living and has a rich understanding of the local Tibetan culture and its customs. When talking with customers, especially photographers, he takes the opportunity to shower them with stories of his experiences and the knowledge he gained over the years, and he is well known     

History of Tibet (I): Ancient Sea, Monkey and King

The Tibetan Plateau, known as the Roof of the World, is the place where people of the Tibetan ethnic group live and multiply. Here Was a Stretch of Ancient Sea Originally The plateau used to be a part of the ancient sea, but became land when the waters receded during the late Eocene Epoch about 10 million years ago. The nse of the Himalayas, and behind the towering mountain ranges the Tibetan Plateau, was one of the greatest events in world geological history. Although this occurred some…     

New Books

正The Land of Khampa With 12 years of experience working in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the author,Shen Yang, has gained profound affection for the people who live upon the high plateau.After the author is transferred to work in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in 2016,he uses his abundant life and work experiences and broad knowledge to provide readers     

The Famous West Yellow Temple in Beijing

The West Yellow Temple is currently the location of the Senior Tibetan Buddhist College of China in Beijing, situated at the outer area of Andingmen and Deshengmen. This temple is an over 350 years old and covered with glazed tiles onthe roof, surrounded by a red wall and beautified by giant cypresses in the courtyard. Inside it looks solemn but spectacular. The splendid and exquisite architecture of the buildings is a perfect integration of the styles of Han, ethnic Tibetan and India and is referred to as a treasure of Tibetan Buddhist style architecture.     

A Grand Event for Cultural Circles──Publication Begins of the 40-volume King Gesar

King Gesar is a long epic created by the Tibetan people over aprolonged period of history. Given strenuous efforts to sing andperform it, the epic, unlike other ancient works of its type, is stillPerformed in the rural and pastoral areas in Tibet.The epic, unique to the Tibetan race, faithfully reflects the life of the ethnicgroup, social format, history, wisdom of the people, their aspirations and ideals,as well as the imagination and talents of the Tibetans.Obviously, King Gesar is a trea…     

THE RETURN OF THE TIBETAN RED DEER

The Tibetan Red Deer(Cervus canadensis wallichi) is also called the Sikkim red deer and is pronounced "xiawa" in the Tibetan language.It is a special member of the red deer family and a unique species to the Tibet Autonomous Region.The Tibetan red deer was first discovered by scientists about 150 years ago.Because of its status in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora as being endangered,the Tibetan red deer was listed before the white-lipped deer,which is under first-level key     

Yaowangshan and Tibetan Medicine

The author has just completed his new work entitled Potala Palace in the Sunshine. Based on history and facts as well as his own experiences, it presents tidbits about the Potala Palace and its history, showing the birth and enrichment of Tibetan culture. The following is a brief extract from the work.     

Centenary Memorial of Pighting Against British invaders by Tibetan People in 1904

One hundred years ago,Tibetan people,under theadministration of local Tibetan government led byTudan Gyatso (thub-bstan rgya-mtsho),the 13 DalaiLama,ignored the disapproval of the government ofQing Dynasty,and went through a war which shat-tered the earth and made the devil cry to fight againstthe British imperialist invasion.This war was a greatevent in the modern history.One hundred years after,massive progress accompanying the groundbreakingchanges around the world has been achieved in thecivilization of human communities.The world is     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TIBETAN AND HAN OPERAS

Tibetan opera is an ethnic and unique theatrical genre in the system of Chinese operas. All the ethnic operas in China are directly or indirectly akin to Han operas, so is Tibetan opera. As a member of the big family, Tibetan opera necessarily absorbs some artistic nutrition from other Chinese operas. As a result, it acquires the common style and some common formal characteristics of Chinese national operas as a whole. The generality just lies on the level of cultural genre and overall flavor, however. As for the entity of the theatrical art itself, Tibetan opera is basically and independently derived from Tibetan culture and art except for some indirect influences from Han operas. During Emperor Qiaulong＇s reign, some leaders of the Qing troops stationed in Tibet used to organize soldiers from Shaanxi and Gansu to perform Shaanxi opera in the army In the period of the Republic of China, the office of Commission on Mongolian and Tibetan affairs in Lhasa promoted opera performance to celebrate victory in the Anti-Japanese War, New Year＇s celebrations,     

King Gesar:The World''''s Longest Epic

King Gesar, a great epic created by the Tibetan race in ancient time, has been orally transmitted down the generations and widely known throughout Tibetan-inhabited areas. It tells of the exploits of the magical hero-king Gesar, and his prowess in battle as he strives to defend his people. The epic embodies the highest level of the ancient Tibetan culture, hence commanding high academic and aesthetic value. Internationally, it is known as "Homer epic in the east."King Gesar was born into th…     

Worship Mountain God

Labrang is located on the east-ern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is a multi-ethnic residence in whichpeople of the Tibetan ethnicgroup form the majority. Over thousandsof years, people there have worshippedthe temple mountain god atop the moun-tain on a regular basis. It is a religious rit-ual on the largest scale and longest influ-ence among various such natural worshiprites in Labrang. The major contents ofthe custom are arrow planting, burn aro-matic plants and flying "Lungda".Br…     

A Pioneer in Social Studies in Tibet

In May 1942, Li Youyi published his book on Han-Bo trade and the economic and educational organizations in Tibetan lamaseries. With 60 years devoted to Tibetan studies, Li is indeed a pioneer in the field. Now, aged 90, he is widely regarded as a sociologist who pioneered social studies in Tibet.Li entered Tibet in 1944 together with Shen Zonglian, Liu Shengqi and Li Maoyi. They belonged to the Office in Charge of Tibetan Affairs, stationed in Lhasa by the Nationalist government. The decision was made following the     

PEOPLE IN THE BARKOR STREET

<正>Editor's Note:According to local custom in Lhasa,people refer to the area around the Jokhang Temple as"Barkor Street"."Lhasa"is"the Buddha's land"in Tibetan.In the hearts of Tibetan people,the Jokhang Temple is one of the most holy places because a statue of the twelve-year-old Sakyamuni is enshrined and worshiped there.Every year,the temple attracts many Tibetan Buddhist monks and disciples come from far away and pay homage to the Buddha.As time passed,the area of Barkor Street around     

NEW BOOKS

<正>The Art of Tibetan Painting The author Yang Huiling is a member of the Tibetan Branch of the Chinese Association of Writers.He has 28 years experience in the military since 1969.This book broadly introduces the advancement,evolution,genre and styles of Tibetan painting in order to reveal the enduring charming of Tibetan fresco and Thangka's eternal vitality.     

THE FOLK TREASURES OF TIBET

tibetans are fond of carrying knives for different purposes such as domestic use, primary production, and self-protection as well as just for decoration. Tibetan knives have a history of over 1,000 years. It is quite difficult to produce a Tibetan knife and usually the blade is forged in steel while the knife handle is often made of either yak horn or hard wood. Tibetan knives are classified into three kinds,     

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.     

News in Brief

正Two Tibetans Awarded for Reform and Opening-up Contributions China awarded 100 people for their contributions for the country's 40 years of reform and opening-up at a gathering in the Great Hall of the People on Dec. 18th. Among the 100 people,there are two ethnic Tibetans. One is Nyima Dondrup from Ngari Prefecture in Tibet and the other is Sonam Dargye from the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province.     

New Books

One Hundred Cases of Tibetan Folk Culture
The author is Sakong Wangdu. The book records one hundred cases of basic Tibetan folk culture in its original forms. In particular, these cultural elements include many that have yet to be written down hence they are gradually being lost. The book promotes a positive approach to the rescue of the traditional folk culture of Tibet and is written in an easy-to-read style for the mass of people in pursuit of a better understanding Tibet and Tibetan culture. The China Tibetology Publishing House produced this book in February 2013 at the price of 36 Yuan （ISBN 9787802535619）.     

PEOPLE IN THE BARKOR STREET：PALBAR,AN OLD MANIN SHARSASUALLEY

According to local custom in Lhasa, people refer to the area around the Jokhang Temple as ＂Barkor Street＂. ＂Lhasa＂ is ＂the Buddha＇s land＂ in Tibetan. In the hearts of Tibetan people, the Jokhang Temple is one of the most holy places because a statue of the twelve-year-old Sakyamuni is enshrined and worshiped there. Every year, the temple attracts many Tibetan Buddhist monks and disciples come from far away and pay homage to the Buddha. As time passed, the area of Barkor Street around the Jokhang Temple has become the busiest district in Lhasa. Eight alleyways extend out from the Barkor Street. Here the old citizens of Lhasa reside, and this is where Lhasa＇s unique economy, national culture, traditional craftsmanship and local Tibetan customs and practices flourish.