factsheets: tibetan
introduction
The Tibetan ethnic group, with a population of approximately 5.4 million, are native to Tibet and mostly live in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The major areas of distribution of these Tibetan communities also include Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces within China, with some dwellings in India, Nepal and Bhutan.
history
- The Tibetans first settled along the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet. Members of the earliest clans in the Shannan area formed tribles called “Bos”.
- In the 6th century, the chief of the Yarlung tribe in the area declared himself the “Zambo” meaning king and this therefore marked the beginning of Tibetan slavery society and its contact with the other ethnic groups in northwest China.
- Tibet fell apart into several independent regimes moving towards serfdom from the 10th to 12th century. During this period, Buddhism grew as a religion and turned into Lamaism.
- Tibet’s Buddhist affairs, military, government and religious affairs were governed by the Xuanzhengyuan, an institution set up by the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century.
- The central government set up a special department to administer Mongolian and Tibetan affairs after the Republic of China was founded in 1911.
- In 1929, the Kuomintang government set up a commission for Mongolian and Tibetan affairs in Nanjing.
- Agrarian Revolution Program stating that feudal privileges of Tibetan princes and Lamas would be abolished. Chinese Worker and Peasant Red Army passed through Tibetan areas in Sichuan where they helped the Tibetans to carry out land reform and establish democratic political power.
- Areas inhabited by the Tibetans were liberated after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
- Tibet was liberated in 1951.
serf system
- The Tibetan areas were heavily dominated by the serf system run by feudal manorial lords lamas or laymen which integrated political and religious powers before the democratic reform was carried out.
- General social classes in Tibet: the serf owners and the serfs.
culture
language
- Sino-Tibetan language spoken by approximately 6 million people
- Three main dialects: Amdo, Kham and Weizang spoken in Sichuan, Qinghai, U-Tsang, Gansu and Yunnan provinces
- Tibetan script (alphabet system of writing) composed in the 7th century by Songstem Gampo (33rd king of a dynasty in southern Tibet)
- Used to write Tibetan translations of Buddhist texts
- Most literature centred on Buddhist themes
religion
- The Tibetan culture is heavily defined by the people’s Buddhist religion and the traditions which came with that.
living areas
- Lived in highly-populated communities among highlands and snow peaked mountains which have a high number of rivers and lakes
- Tibet sits on the world’s highest plateau in the Himalayas – 12,000 feet above sea level
- Abundance of mineral resources, terrestrial heat and hydropower to generate electricity
- Large reserves of sulphur, natural gas, copper, coal, mica and mirabilite
- Lakes are endowed with salt, natural soda, mirabilite and borax
- Oilfields discovered in the Qaidam basin in northern Tibet Plateau and Qinghai
household structures
- People live in stone houses in farming areas and they camped in tents in pastoral areas
- Tibetan house is simple in structure and colour with a flat roof and many windows, built on sunny elevated sites facing the south.
- Tibetan family is centred on the male where marriage follows a strict inner-class affair.
- No restrictions on intermarriages.
- Main form of marriage: monogamy
fauna and sources of food
- Tibetan’s main occupation among areas of abundant sources of food was animal husbandry.
- The yak is native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and can carry heavy loads withstanding harsh weather
conditions making it a major means of transport as well as a source of meat, known as the “Boat of the Plateau” - Qinke (highland barley) which ripens fast and can resist the cold and drought conditions is the main crop.
- Zamba (roasted qinke) and tea with butter and milk is the staple food of their peasants.
- Staple foods of the pastoral areas are beef, mutton and qinko wine is a common drink.
- Dense forests, home to many animals such as the giant panda and golden haired
monkey produced important medicines, made from snow lotus, caterpillar fungus, musk and bear’s gallbladder.
clothing
- Men usually wore their hair short, a queue coiled on top, long sleeved silk jackets and
trousers. - Women wore sleeveless gowns, skirts and their hair in two plaits or many little plaits which were decorated with ornaments.
- Both men and women wore felt fur hats and woollen or leather boots.
- Whilst working, for convenient, they left one or both arms uncovered, tying the
sleeves around the waist.
music
- The Tibetan opera is one of the famous opera forms in China, performed without curtain nor stage.
- Men were generally the only ones who performed in the past.
- Long-handled drums and trumpets are the main forms of musical instruments introduced from inner
China. - The Tibetan people can depict natural sounds, cries of animals and the singing of birds can be heard at a
great distance.
did you know...
- Most names taken from the Buddhist scripture so differentiation is made by adding “senior”, “junior” or the features of the person eg. Mentioning the birthplace or profession before the names.
- Jator (sky burial) meaning “feeding the birds” was the most common form of burial where bodies were taken to the Jator site and fed to vultures.
- Bodies of living Buddhas and higher lamas were usually cremated after been rubbed with butter. Cremation was forbidden in the harvest season.
- Doctors pay a lot of detail to practical skills as they diagnose illnesses by interrogation, pulse feeling, observation and smelling. They are skilled in acupuncture, surgery and they’re very experienced in preparing drugs and medicinal herbs.
- The Tibetans have a different calendar as they designated the years by using the five elements, yin and yang and the 12 animals.
- Buddhists are forbidden to kill and many wild animals including fish, Mongolian gazelle and vulture are protected.