Ethnography Project - Tibet

The Environment and Human Adaptation

1. Environment

• The world's highest region, Tibet is located on the Tibetan plateau, which is north/north-east of the Himalayan mountains. It is west of the Central China plain, and within mainland China. The actual land mass was part of three that split the former continent Antarctic. The land moved north and raised the sediments of the sea of Thetys and hit 'Asia' to form India and the Tibetan highland. The crust buckled in several places to form mountains such as the Himalayas.
• Tibet's weather is moderate in the summer, but very cold in the winter. In the south, Lhasa, the second most inhabited city on the Tibetan plateau (after Xining in the Qinghai province northeast of Tibet), the temperature might go above 84 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, but can drop to 0 degrees or more in the winter; heavy snow from December to February makes travel difficult and creates a horrible situation for tourism in the winter. Solar radiation is very present in Tibet, the blaring sunlight in Lhasa gave it the name Sunlight City - and the thin air at such a high altitude can't radiate or absorb the heat, creating temperature extremes.
• To survive where the soil is frozen up to eight months a year, they cultivate irrigable lowlands or patches of land of loose, unconsolidated soil for barley, which takes only four months to produce. Tibetan life is rural, with people growing their own crops for a subsistence agriculture.
• Yaks, goats, and sheep make up a great majority of the animals in Tibet, used for meat leather, wool, milk, yogurt, cheese or butter. Barley also holds a large majority with other basic crops and vegetables.
• Severe weather and altitude have some impact on the way Tibetans breathe and live. 

2. Adaptations

• One physical adaptation is that due to a high altitude, Tibetans have developed a low hemoglobin level (red blood cells carrying oxygen to your body) so they are not suffering from hypoxia (oxygen deprived). This may also be helped by having elevated nitric acid levels that may facilitate better blood flow to them. Another is the melanin in their skin helps against sun radiation when outside for prolonged periods. Much like the Native Americans they adapted to their sunny and grand landscape.
• A cultural adaptation is that common homes are made of a mixture of rocks, wood, cement and earth due to limited resources. Several windows are made to have as much light as possible and flat roofs with white walls to conserve heat. Due to earthquakes, the walls are sometimes sloped as a precaution. Also Tibetan medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine in existence. It has applied thousands of plants and dozens of animals and minerals found around Tibet. Lastly, due to cold weather, common dress in Tibet are thick dresses, pants and skirts and 'poncho' like clothing that is decorated elaborately.

Language and Gender Roles

1. Language

• The languages of Tibet derive from the language family Sino-Tibetan, splitting into Tibeto-Burman, then Tibeto-Kanauri, then Bodish, then Tibetan. That is then split into four styles depending on location. First there is Ladakhi which is spoken mainly in Pakistan; then Khams Tibetan spoken in Qinghai, Chamdo, Sichuan and Yunnan; then Amdo Tibetan mixed into Qinghai and Sichuan, and Gansu; then central Tibetan which is the majority spoken language, that is also split in four styles - Western Innovative Tibetan (Ladakh and border), Dbus or Ü (standard Tibetan, Ngari, U-Tsang, Lhasa, Nepal), Northern Tibetan (Nagchu and border Qinghai), and Southern Tibetan (border U-Tsand, Sikkim and Bhutan).
• Some unique qualities to this language are that it is a syllabic language, like the alphabets of India and South East Aisa, each letter has an inherent vowel /a/ - other vowels are shown with diacritics above or below the main letter; and also, consonant clusters are written with special conjunct letters.
• The writing system used in Tibet for printing is known as u-chen, cursive is known as gyuk yig or 'flowing script.' It is a complete language with little flaws, which shows the Tibetans have first world intelligence.

Alphabet

Diacritics

Numbers

Gyuk Yig

U-Chen

2. Gender Roles

• Men and women are the only prevalent genders in Tibet.
• Men are generally the moral and spiritual leaders in a family, and are in charge of gathering supplies, medicine, food and clothing. Most earn a living as farmers, craftsmen or yak herders. Women take care of home chores and, although it is improving every day, are generally perceived as less than a man. This is partially due to the Chinese Government military occupation of Tibet and their strict and invalid standards.
• These roles have been cemented by the past, but there are groups trying to raise awareness of inequality and making tremendous progress (i.e. Central Tibetan Administration), and also the Dalai Lama ("commander in chief" Buddhist of Tibet; Tenzin Gyatso) trying to raise compromises.
• Women generally in a sexist environment are only allowed to listen and not speak, which leads to potentially obvious physical repercussions, sadly, if they go against it, and also damage to their self esteem and self image.
• During birth it is considered negative karma if the baby is a girl, so instantly when you are born you are already shunned upon. It is deep rooted inside these females that they are inferior, so the terror lives on for more women do be brutally beaten, detained, raped or even murdered since it is so prevalent.
• More than likely she would have been treated the same as a women and despised, and most likely be cast into peasantry or be an untouchable.

Economy

1. Subsistence

• Tibet has a huge subsistence agriculture. Due to loose land livestock is primary, and lately the economy has started to become a multiple structure with agriculture and tertiary industry developing side by side.
• Sheep, cattle, goats, camels, yaks, donkeys and horses are the main livestock. Major crops grown are barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye, potatoes, oats, mustard seeds, cotton, fruits and vegetables. During winter it is way to cold for any crop to survive, so agriculture usually occurs in the spring and summer.
• Mostly all men tend their own fields and crops for either their family or the market. Women never farm, as it is only seen as a man's duty. 
• There is a dynamic variety of foods in Tibetan culture so the nutritional value should not be a problem unless a person is deprived of food. The market and diet both heavily depend upon barley - dough made from barley flour—called tsampa—is the staple food of Tibet. This is either rolled into noodles or made into steamed dumplings called momos. Meat dishes are likely to be yak, goat, or sheep, dried or cooked into a spicy stew with potatoes.
  

2. Economic Systems

• Again, Tibetans usually only farm enough for their own family or local market, but barley is a good candidate for interstate trading due to its immense growth. 
• Any surplus goes to the Chinese Central People's Government, which recently has been used for highways, mining, and conferences intended to improve rural Tibetan income and have free education for rural Tibetan children. 
• Mining, construction materials, handicrafts and Tibetan medicine are big industries for specialization, and power generation, processing of agricultural products, livestock and food production as an alternative. 
• The Chinese government has been trying to redistribute yuan for education and transportation within Tibet. 
• The Tibetans use the same currency as China, the Renminbi (¥).
• Tibet has increasingly become the subject of tourism due to Buddhism. It brings in the most income from the sale of crafts such as hats, silver and gold jewelry, wooden crafts, clothing, quilts, fabrics, rugs and carpets.

Marriage and Kinship

1. Marriage

• Monogamous arranged marriages are the norm in Tibet, with ceremonies involving both the bride and groom's families.
• A man will seek a woman's age, date of birth and her zodiac attribute if he wants to marry her. With all the information on hand, he will consult an astrologist to check if her attributes are compatible with his. If so and if his parents are pleased with the girl in question, they will get a matchmaker to propose to her family.
• The matchmaker will bring along a khatag (ceremonial scarf), chang (alcoholic rice drink), yak butter tea and other gifts when visiting the girl's family. Her family will accept the gifts if they agree. Also, on the wedding day, the girl's family will choose an auspicious day to send dowry to the man. The man's family, on the other hand, has to send a set of costumes to the girl on the wedding eve.
• Tibetan people generally look down on incest, with endogamy usually focused on.
• Usually more then just two generations live in a house or village and make up a residence.
• Tibet does not have a culture in which open expression of same-sex affection is common, but this might not be homophobia, maybe any public display of sexuality is generally frowned upon, partly due to Buddhism's glorification of celibacy.

Marriage ceremony

2. Kinship

• The most important functioning kin group is the extended family constituted as a household. Family names, which are carried by the males of some families, reflect the patrilineal inheritance pattern and are also used to demarcate the noble families. Other descent lines are not as important as patriarchal.
• Generally if you are a Lama or spiritual leader you are the leader of that household, otherwise if you are simply the father, you are the leader of the family.
• Inheritance is determined by gender, fathers to sons and mothers to daughters.
• For relatives of his or her own level, including cousins, the average Tibetan simply uses the words brother and sister. There is local and regional variation in terminology throughout the plateau. Formal kinship terminology in the southern region, among the peasant population, distinguishes between patri- and matrilaterals at the second ascending generation, is bifurcate-collateral at the first ascending generation, and shows a typical Hawaiian generational pattern at Ego's generation level. In practice, this system results in a strong bias toward distinguishing between one's matrilateral and one's patrilateral kin for the purposes of inheritance.

Tibetan Family

Social and Political Organization

1. Social Organization

• Stratified, classes are generally split into peasant, middle-class and high-class.
• The high-class are made up of noble families or government officials. The middle-class is split between taxpayers, householders, and peasants; the lower class is between slaves or untouchables. There is hardly any class mobility, it is very difficult to do.

2. Political Structure

• The People's Republic of China currently holds control to Tibet and it's politics. Like China, it has a dual party government system with two chairman - one for TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) and one for the regional people's Congress. Chairmen gain their power from being nominated then elected democratically. Sometimes even the Dalai Lama can hold power.
• The Tibetan constitution and Buddhist morals created the laws in Tibet. Chinese control is generally corrupt and is an issue, dealing with the freedom of religion, belief and association. Instances such as torture have been known, and with freedom of the press still absent, it is difficult to determine the scope of corruption under Chinese leadership.

Dalai Lama and Mao Zedong

3. The Role of Violence

• The 2008 Tibetan riots were a series of riots, protests and demonstrations that according to the Dalai Lama were cause by wide discontent in Tibet. It began as an annual observance of Tibetan Uprising Day when Tenzin Gyatso was exiled. It resulted in burning, looting, killing, and rioting. The effects of these riots gave forth to more violence and unrest by self-immolations where several monks and regular civilians protested the occupation of China by setting themselves on fire and burning to death similar to Thich Quang Duc. It is truly depressing that these people go to such extremes just to get a government to listen to their pleads.

Thich Quang Duc - June 10, 1963

Religion & Art

1. Religion

• Tibetan Buddhism is the major religion practiced, it is a branch of Buddhism.
• They do not follow a certain 'god,' rather they have a spiritual leader called the Dalai Lama (the rebirth of the bodhisattva (enlightened one) Avalokitesvara, who embodies all compassion of all Buddhas.
• Buddhist scriptures arrived from India in Tibet in 173 AD. Over the next 500 years it slowly spread through the entire region. In 641, King Songtsen Gampo had two buddhist wives, convincing him to make Buddhism the state religion and create Buddhist temples. In 774 the great tantric mystic Padmasambhava arrived in Tibet with invitation from King Trisong Detsen, and merged tantric (incorporates the major aspects of both the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Hinayana and Mahayana are two schools of Buddhist practice that have basically similar goals and techniques but somewhat differing philosophies. It is basically an esoteric extension on these themes) with the local, indigenous Bon religion to form Tibetan Buddhism, and established the Nyingma school where it will be taught. It had a strong influence for hundreds of years, leading to Tibet being occupied by Britain then China, becoming independent in 1912, then liberated by China in 1951, to which the 14th Dalai Lama began his reign before retiring on March 14, 2011.
• The focus of Tibetan Buddhism is to have enlightenment of the Buddhahood, which will have all limitations on one's ability to help other living beings removed. There are some rituals that involve five yoga exercises that help move toward this state. They are forms of meditation that have physical and spiritual benefits. The exercise rituals are: spinning with your arms held out, laying on your stomach and lifting your legs, arching your back like a cat, stretching your legs while sitting, and arching your back like a bowl (reverse push up).
• Without Tibetan Buddhism I would imagine life in Tibet would be difficult with the Chinese reign they have over them. It has a strong influence towards every instance of their lives. It creates very positive characteristics within a population, with its teachings.

Avalokitesvara

2. Art

• Around 300 years old, it was said by a Tibetan Khenpo that this skull was carved long ago to take a curse off a family to guide the soul of a mislead human being on the right path. These types of relics are not common in modern times but provide interesting insight into what the culture was like in the past.

• Tibetan meditation is a crucial part of Buddhism, and with traditional music you can further move to that place of enlightenment and awakening. 

• Ceremony and chanting is a common practice to dispel demons - using masks to act as the old Bon gods and subdue the demons with Buddhism.

 

• Nomad teachers used thangka's as icons of personal devotion and to sanctify tents in which teachings of Buddhist doctrine are held, and also used as teaching aids. In most Tibetan homes the thangka, together with small bronze images, is a major part of the family altar.

• The elaborate colors and designs in Tibetan rugs are signs of complex artistry and rich culture, and are a traditional and ancient craft.

Conclusion: Cultural Change

• China, Nepal and India all had large influences on the way of life and culture of Tibetans. India created a positive relationship when introducing Buddhism in the 7th century. China and Nepal both brought goods as well as missionaries that taught Buddhism from China and India. However, lately China is corrupt in it's relationship with Tibet which spawns grudges.
• Protesting and awareness has given Tibet a fighting chance to finally gain it's sovereignty in the future where as decades ago there was basically null hope.
• In the modern world Tibet is a beacon for what independence is. Although the victim of constant corrupt leadership and censorship, they have shown that they are not surrendering and seeing that one day they will be split from China or have self-rule.

Bibliography

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