Introduction
For this whole blog, I’ll be presenting my research on Tibet as well as analyzing the relationship between tourism, culture and society in there.
Tibet, the roof of the world, has no doubt becomes one of the world’s most remarkable places due to their distinctive culture and religion. Because of the ruling by China, political unrest and ethnic turmoil had been disturbing Tibet for the past 60 years. Hence this results in having two Tibets. One is the land under the control of China and the other a widely scattered diaspora of Tibetans who have rejected Chinese rule with their feet and are hoping to get their freedom back.
Picture credit: http://www.chinahighlights.com/community/wallpaper/chinese-cultural-lanscapes/tibetan-kid-wallpaper.htm
The Cultures and Traditions of Tibet
I’ve combined the cultures and traditions of Tibet and present it as a whole as I feel that it’s sometimes quite difficult to differentiate the both. A culture can be part of tradition while a tradition can be part of culture.
Population
In fact, many people, including myself only know a part of Tibet, which is the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) that is also known as U-Tsang in Tibetan. Actually, about 54% of Tibet’s total population is living outside of TAR. They are also widely spread over in the 29 provinces of China as well as other countries such as Bhutan, India and even United States…etc. However, about 99% of the Tibetans are gathered in TAR and Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces. According to the 1982 census, the Tibetan Autonomous Region reports only two persons per square kilometer. (Qinghai has five, Xinjiang has eight, and Inner Mongolia has sixteen.) By contrast, the southeastern part of China where the Han majority lives has a population density much higher than the ethnic minorities’ areas of western China. For example, Shandong province reports 485 persons per square kilometer, while Jiangsu has 590, Zhejiang 382, and Guangdong 280. In fact, this result surprises me as it shows how big is TAR and small in population compared to other parts of China! Just in the TAR, ethnic Tibetans, the largest ethnic group, constituted over 96 percent of the total population, while the Han had only 3.1 percent and others such as the Hui, Menpa, and Lopa ethnic minorities made up only 0.8 percent of the total population.
Marriage
A traditional marriage ceremony
Tibetans eventually practiced polyandry marriage when a woman will marry a man as well as his brothers. I thought that this is quite ridiculous; however after knowing the tradition and rationale for this, I can understand it. A lama or shaman will be consulted on the marriages that are traditionally arranged by the families who are involved. Normally, families will own lands that are non-transferable and only the males in the families can inherit the land. In this way, family property or land can be passed from generation to generation without breaking up among the males in the family. Also, a woman has total control over her husbands in her household and she is seen as an important role to bond all brothers.
Death
When a person dies, as many lamas as possible are invited to the house to recite prayers and bring the dead person through the religious rite of the phowa or “passing ceremony.” This ceremony would help the soul on its journey through the state between dead and rebirth. The lama would also decide on the time period that the body should remain in the house and what was the best way to bury it. There are many kinds of burial in Tibet, including river-burial, cremation, earth-burial, and stupa-burial. However, the most common burial is sky burial where the hair of the dead person’s hair would be cut, body chopped up and bones pound together for vultures or wild dogs to eat. In fact, death is seen as a powerful agent of transformation and spiritual progress to the Tibetans. So they are encouraged to witness the burial so that they can confront death without fear. In fact, I thought that it’s a way to save lands compared to having a graveyard. However, the superstitious Chinese will not be ready to accept this kind of burial as they believe that a dead body should remain as a whole for the dead to rest in peace.
Food and Drink
Tsampa which is a kind of dough made with roasted-barley flour and yak butter mixed with water, tea or beer, is the staple food for Tibetans. The mixture is rolled into small balls with hand before eating it. Alternatively, sugar and milk powder can be added to become porridge. Tsampa is like a necessity to the Tibetans as they almost eat it for every meal a day. But this also shows how easily they are satisfied. Afterall, I think that they are not those who pursue status and prestige. In fact, they would eat it with salted butter tea which is brewed from boiled tea stirring with salt and yak butter. Yak butter is a very significant food to Tibetans and it is separated from yak milk by hard churning.
A plate of Tsampa
Momos and Thugpa are favored by the Tibetans as well. Momos , most commonly steamed, are small dumplings with meat and vegetables fillings. More common is thugpa, a noodle soup with meat, vegetables or both. They actually eat different kinds of thugpa such as hipthuk which consists of noodles in squares and yak meat in a soup and shemdre that has potatoes and yak meat with rice and many more.
Dried yak (yaksha) or lamb meat is also popular food to them. They will usually cut the meat into long strips and hang on tent lines to air dry. The dried meat will then be chewy and they will make dried yak cheese and eat it as a sweet. Or else, Tibetans will cook pieces of beef and mutton with spices, salt and ginger. They treat their guests to breasts and spareribs. But if you are served with a tail of white sheep, it means that you are seemed as their guest of honor. This also proves that they are hospitable hosts!
Not forgetting the Chinese food in Tibet as a result of ruling by the Chinese, Sichuan dishes (the hottest of China’s regional cuisines) are well-known there. Sichuan dishes are usually stir-fried quickly over a high flame and so tend to be very hygienic. Also, Chinese snacks are quite popular as well, such as the ravioli-style dumplings called shuijiao, and steamed dumplings called baozi, which are similar to momos and both are dipped in soy sauce, vinegar or chilli.
Other than salted butter tea, cha ngamo which is a sweet, milky tea is another well-liked alternative. It is made by adding fresh milk and sugar when hot boiling black tea filtered is decanted into a churn. A fermented barley beer, called Chang is popular among all Tibetans as well. This alcoholic beverage is mild, slightly sweet and sour and has a rich, fruity taste.
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Tibet’s indigenous groups
The Tibetans are categorised as belongings to the Mongoloid family of people, similar to the Han Chinese. They probably descended from nomadic tribes who migrated from the north and settled to sedentary cultivation of Tibet’s river valleys. About a quarter of Tibetans are still nomadic.
The most apparent group is the Khampas of eastern Tibet, who are infallibly identified by their trademark red tassels. They are usually larger in size than other Tibetans and most Khampa men have long hair braided with red yarns, tied up around their heads and decorate with ornaments. They love riding horses, and almost always carry silver-sheathed daggers dangling from their waists.
A horseman from Khampas
Next, the Amdo people are mostly found to be herders of yaks as Amdo has large expanses of grasslands. They usually live in traditional style tents during the summer and usually move to small mud-brick houses during the winter time. Women from Amdo are especially conspicuous because of their elaborate braided hairstyles and jewellery.
There are pockets of other minority groups, such as the Lhopa (Lhoba) and Monpa, in the southeast of Tibet, who make up less than 1% of the total population. A more visible ethnic group is the Hui muslims. Tibet’s original Muslim inhabitants were largely traders or butchers, although the majority of recent migrants are traders and restaurant owners from southern Gansu province. The tibetans’ closest ethnic cousins are the Qiang, who now live mostly in northern Sichuan province. Tibetans are closely related to the Sherpas of Nepal and the Ladakhis of India.
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Tibet’s languages
The two principal languages in Tibet now are Tibetan and Chinese, though there are various dialects spoken in rural areas. In fact, to pursue higher education for the Tibetans, it requires them to know how to read and write Chinese language first. The government and in most commercial activities actively use Mandarin Chinese. Eventually, Chinese is widely used in urban area. Hence there is no doubt that Chinese is becoming significant in Tibet. Linguistically, Tibetan and Chinese are languages that are very different from each other in terms of sentence structure and tonal element. So now with the control of the Chinese and fast development of China, it gives rise to the question of whether Tibetan language is disappearing from the Tibetans’ lives.
Tibet’s mode of education
As known to many, Tibet’s education is widely influenced by Buddhism and children in take on studies on Tibetan Buddhism in monasteries and nunneries. However, ever since the occupation by the Chinese, education of Tibetan children became a tool of inculcating loyalty to the Chinese Communist Government in Beijing. In fact, Party Secretary of the “TAR”, Chen Kuiyuan, revealed the true intent behind education in Tibet at the "TAR" Conference on Education:
"The success of our education does not lie in the number of diplomas issued to graduates from universities, colleges...and secondary schools. It lies, in the final analysis, in whether our graduating students are opposed to or turn their hearts to the Dalai Clique and in whether they are loyal to or do not care about our great Motherland and the great socialist cause."
In fact, what the Chinese government tried to do is re-educating Tibetan monks and nuns in Chinese communist ideology and China’s version of Tibetan history. They also tried to extinguish the use of Tibetan language by only allowing Chinese language as teaching medium in the best equipped and staffed schools. I think the Tibetans are kind of helpless also, regarding to this. Not only have that, the Chinese government fork out funds to build Tibetan middle schools in Mainland. Based on their results, Tibetan students will get chosen to study in those schools which are far away from Tibet and they will have to stay for at least three consecutive years. It is apparent that they want to blur the distinctiveness of Tibet culture, history and beliefs, leaving as few supporters of Lamaism as possible. This is like equivalent to telling the Tibetans, if they want higher education and better lives; they have to stay loyal to the Chinese.
Types of Leisure Programmes
Music
Music is one aspect of Tibetan cultural life in which there is a strong secular heritage. In urban areas, songs were important vent for social criticism, news and official lampooning. In Tibetan social life, both work and play are seen as occasions for singing. When there are groups of men and women, the singing alternates between the two groups in the form of rhythmic refrains.
Sports
Tibetans have always had a passion for football or soccer. This fondness for the game has continued in exile. An ordinary football match can attract a big group of fans. Whenever weekends or holidays come, the playgrounds at school campus are fully occupied by young people. Sometimes people have to queue up. I was surprised by this fact as well, as I always thought that soccer is more of a sport for westerners.
Tibetan kids are kicking the ball on the grassland in Rutok County of Ngari Prefecture(over 4300 meters high).
In fact, Tibetans start playing football all the way back in the 20th century and had formed many football teams. Over the years, they have also accomplished reasonable achievements. This proves that Asians can play soccer well also! Based on the data provided by sports institutes, 70 percent of Tibetans boys in middle schools are fond of football, which therefore becomes the reserves for football's development in Tibet. It is believed that, in a long run, football has prosperous future in Tibet.
Festivals
Tibetan New Year is the most significant festival to the Tibetans. People begin preparing for this festival upon entering the 12th Tibetan month, with sacrifices being presented on the altar of their deities and special foods delicately made to welcome the coming year. They will have this Ghost Exorcising Festival before the day of Tibetan New Year as monasteries perform magnificent sorcerer's dances. Tibetans will clean their houses and decorate them beautifully, with the belief that the evil spirits and bad luck will be driven away which is similar to Chinese’ belief. In the evening, after everybody has eaten Guthuk (a kind of food for the New Year), they will lit torches and fireworks to scare them off, and family members will walk along a road until they reach a crossroad where they believed they can abandon the evil spirits who are not able to find their way back from where they came from. On the morning of the first day of New Year, they will make butter lamps and sacrificed to their gods along with their grains. On the second day, they pay a New Year visit to relatives. Usually, this festive event will last until the end of the Great Prayer Festival. Their New Year reminds me of our Lunar New Year except that we don’t exorcise ghosts on New Year’s Eve!
The Great Prayer Festival is celebrated from the 8th to the 15th day of the Tibetan New Year in Lhasa. With a history of over 500 years, it is seen as the highest religious seminar of Tibetan Buddhism. During the festival, they debate fiercely the Buddhist scriptures and hold religious examinations for learners of the Buddhist scriptures. Disciples from all over will come to worship the Buddha.
Saka Dava Festival is observed on April 15th of the Tibetan calendar. This day is said to be the birthday of Sakyamuni, the Great Buddha, and the day he died and became a Buddha as well as the day of the arrival of Princess Wencheng (the queen to Songtsen Gampo, a great Tibetan king of the 7th century AD) in Lhasa. Many religious activities are held this day. People walk out of their houses and circumambulate around the Jokhang Temple and the Potala Palace.
Saka Dava festival
Shoton Festival, which means yogurt banquet in Tibetan, is the liveliest festival of summer. In the past, lamas locked themselves away in their monasteries during this season to devote themselves entirely to Buddhism for a month. When their devotions were over, lamas left the monastery to receive donations from the locals. Normally, people gave them yogurt, had yogurt banquets with them and made performances to welcome them. Nowadays, in the early morning of this day, people crowd into the Drepung Monastery to watch the unfolding of the Buddha. To Buddhists, this holy ceremony is a purification of the sprit and the soul. Later, this festive occasion is celebrated by performing Tibetan Opera in Norbulingka , so it has gained another name, the 'Tibetan Opera Festival'.
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What is the country known for?
The Tibetan people practice a religion known as Lamaism. It is actually one branch of the school of Mahayana Buddhism, commonly called Lamaism, and we call it Tibetan Buddhism. It was introduced into Tibet from India, China, and eastern Turkestan during the seventh century.
Lamaism takes its name from the role played by a person’s lama, who serves as that individual’s spiritual teacher. Indeed, the Tibetan term “lama” means a person’s spiritual master or teacher, who plays an important role among Tibetan Buddhists. As the Tibetan proverb says, “there is no approach to god, unless a lama leads the way.” Lamas also have very high position in Tibetan society. Some researchers even claim that if you don’t understand Lamaism, you will find it hard to understand Tibetan culture and society. It might be true that traditional Tibetan society was strongly governed by Buddhism, as the people’s ideology, values, and actions were controlled by lamaism. Actually, traditional Tibetan government integrated political and religious power, and for a long time it has been headed by the incarnated Dalai Lama. It is the traditional custom for Tibetan people with important problems to ask the lama’s advice in making final decisions, including when to marry, when to leave home on long-distance travel, or what to do when they are robbed, or get sick, or when a family member dies, or when they have disputes with people or groups that they cannot resolve themselves. Even the names of most Tibetan people are taken from Buddhist scriptures. The function of a lama in Tibetan society can be summarized as follows:
First, he must teach Buddhist Sanskrit scriptures and literacy. If a Tibetan male wanted to become an intellectual, he had to seek admission to a monastery. It was customary for a boy to be received into the monastery at the age of seven or eight. Then they were taught reading and writing under strict monastic rule, but mostly they would memorize the scriptures. After two or three years of elementary training, young boys took the vow we called getsul, which marks the first stage of the monastic life. When they reached eighteen or twenty, the young men might take the second stage vow, or gelong, meaning that they had completed their higher studies and become a formal lama. They will continue to study to get the higher degree called geshe which gives them a higher position both in the monastery and in society. Different lamas take different times to get the geshe degree, and some even devote all their lives to such studies.
A second important social function of these lamas was through the divination they provided answers to important matters, foretold the future, and foresaw good and evil fortune in order to instruct people on how to embrace or avoid such futures. The Tibetan lama used many forms of divination. Here are just a few of them: (a) divination by casting dice; (b) divination by simple counting of beads in a rosary; (c) divination by looking at images in a bronze mirror, called pra-phag.
A third major social role of the lama was to combat natural disasters and ask for rain during dry weather. Hail has always been one of the worst natural disasters in the areas populated by the Tibetans. Consequently, there was a hail-prevention-lama called “A-nye” who had the responsibility for organizing all members of villages to perform hail-fighting magic when a hailstorm disaster was coming. However, they have now developed cloud-seeding techniques for fighting hailstorms, so the A-nye lama has become jobless.
A fourth, general, function of the lamas was to pray every day to gain happiness and avoid misfortune for a village or district, or even for all the people in the world. They worked as intermediaries between gods and men. They would enact special religious rites to pray for the safety of their tribes or villages. Tibetan people believe that all disease is the work of demons and malignant spirits or maybe ghosts. Religious ceremonies enter a great deal into the treatment of sickness in Tibet.
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“Disney” in Tibet
When some countries are still racking their brains to think of attracting more tourists and Disney Theme Park continues to open (Shanghai is going to have one soon!), Tibet is still trying to recover from its political and religious unrest. As the whole world is moving fast, Tibet seems to be lagging behind. Apparently, unlike many other developed countries, Tibet is encouraging tourists to visit monasteries and temples instead of themed parks, zoos…etc. If you want me to spot signs of Disneyization in Tibet, I would think that they are still far from it.
Talking about theming when the service provided is enhanced with entertainment, it’s difficult to identity theming in Tibet. The most, maybe you can find attractions like Summer and Winter Palace, however they are at most culturally themed instead of themed related to Disneyization.
Hybrid Consumption refers to the blending of services and products in an effort to provide more and retain customers longer like Disney is not just about riding rides, it is also about dining, shopping and entertainment. In Tibet, this can be found in some tourists’ attractions like the Thamel district of Kathmandu where they can eat, shop for souvenirs and even repair a sleeping bag. However, the extent of this is not as great and obvious yet.
Even merchandising which is the marketing of what would typically be rather indistinguishable items with the logo or creative property of a particular cultural construct, is not easily spotted in Tibet. I think that it is difficult to even find a McDonald’s restaurant in there (though Tibet really has McDonald’s). So the strength of branding is not very big yet as well.
Same goes to performative labour which is the embellishment of an employee’s role as a service provider to that of a performer. There is no much evidence to prove that Tibet is incorporating this.
However, I think that as now being developed by the Chinese Communists, Tibet will most probably find it difficult to escape from Disneyization in the future.
Changes due to growth of tourism
I guess Tibetan culture and society suffered the most because of tourism which is a significant contributor to China’s colonization that secures employment and business opportunities for its colonizers. Moreover, it is a powerful tool of manipulation and disinformation that serves China’s objectives to let Tibet be an inalienable part of China. Beyond the satisfied myopia of the tourist, however the erosion and exploitation of Tibet’s traditions, including its language continues apace.
The suffocating excesses of Chinese occupation seemed to force Tibetans into extreme choices. As with the plight of those peoples, Tibetans face educational, health, economic and cultural unfairness. Having tourists becoming more curious in their own land, some are forced into an industry that exploits their very own culture. Their movements restricted, religion under assault and denied civil and political freedoms, the people of Tibet are witness to a cold-hearted profiteering of their lifestyle as tourism spreads, bringing with it a range of additional social problems and ever more Chinese settlers.
For example, since the construction of the railway from Qinghai to Lhasa, many Chinese tourists and migrants can enter Tibet easily. The figure shows a number of 4.38 million up to 2010, according to official Chinese sources. However, foreign tourists boarding the train will not realize that the railway serves too as an economic and security artery maintaining China’s despotic military grip over the region
If tourism has been a culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions?
Yes, I feel that tourism is the culprit in commodifying Tibetan cultures and traditions. Although when doors to Tibet finally flung open to tourism in the mid-1980s, it was still in ruins. However, as time passes by, more tourists are visiting this mysterious land with a rich culture. Hence, spotting this trend, the Communist China extended efforts to ruthlessly exploit Tibet’s culture for the purpose of propaganda and profit, not content with marketing Tibet‘s beautiful landscape as some form of Shangri-la playground. Tradition performances especially during festivals are staged for those
The Chinese authorities are marketing Tibetan culture as a key commercial enterprise. Having invaded and violently suppressed Tibet and its people, in true colonialist fashion it is now engaged in profiting from supposedly authentic cultural enterprises by manipulating and exploiting foreign (and Chinese) tourists. It is a reminder of the humiliating tragedy that befell the native cultures of North America, their traditions and lifestyle assaulted by a vicious and intolerant colonizer, a fate which is being enacted upon Tibet’s nomads who are being forced to live in what are effectively concentration settlements.
Tibetan performers entertain tourists dressed in Ersatz tibetan costumes featuring the eed and yellow of China's flag
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References
Lonely planet book - Tibet
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