(East-West Question) Jiru Pasang Norbu: How can the Tibetan New Year and the Lunar New Year be beautiful together?

  China News Agency, Lhasa, March 3rd: Why do the Tibetan New Year and the Lunar New Year share the United States and the United States?

  ——Interview with Jiru Pasangluobu, Director of the Exhibition Department of Tibet Museum and Librarian of Cultural and Museology Research

  China News Agency reporter Ran Wenjuan

  The lunar New Year's flavor still exists, and the snow-covered plateau ushered in the Tibetan New Year of the Water Tiger in early March.

As the most solemn annual festival for the Tibetan people, the Tibetan New Year and the Lunar New Year have similarities in many aspects such as calendar and folk customs. The Han-Tibetan festival culture has been continuously inherited and integrated in the long history, and each has its own characteristics and commonalities.

On the occasion of the Tibetan New Year, China News Agency "Dongxiwen" has an exclusive interview with Jiru Pasangluobu, director of the exhibition department of the Tibet Museum and a research librarian for cultural and museology.

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Service reporter: Greeting and celebrating the New Year is a common cultural custom of the Chinese and Tibetan people. Due to the different algorithms between the Tibetan calendar and the lunar calendar, the New Year's time is not exactly the same.

Is there any mutual influence between the Tibetan calendar and the lunar calendar?

Jiru Pasangluobu: The

Tibetan astronomical calendar is one of the "Ten Ming Studies" of traditional Tibetan culture, and it plays a very important role in the production and life of the people.

The Tibetan astronomical calendar has absorbed the scientific knowledge and traditional culture of many ethnic groups in the long development and evolution, and it is the crystallization of multiculturalism.

Among them, the Five Elements Calculation, Shixian Calendar, Feng Shui, etc. introduced from the Central Plains and Han are the important components and sources of the Tibetan Astronomical Calendar.

  Tibetan farmers and herdsmen are still used to predicting the quality of the next year's harvest based on the "Spring Ox Chart" in the "Tibetan Astronomical and Meteorological Almanac".

The map was drawn by Tibetan astronomical almanac workers based on pre-observed astronomical phenomena. The map includes elements such as cows, cattle herds, flying dragons, farmland, and trees.

The attire of the cattle herder, the color and posture of the cattle, and the numbers on the flying dragon are all closely related to the climatic conditions and crop harvest of the coming year.

The "Spring Ox Picture" is a typical example of the Chinese lunar calendar being absorbed into the Tibetan astronomical calendar.

On March 16, 2015, on the 26th day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, villagers in Gurong Township, Duilongdeqing County, Lhasa City joined the villagers' spring ploughing ceremony.

According to the Tibetan astronomical calendar, that day is an auspicious day suitable for spring plowing and spring sowing.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Tang Chaoyang

China News Agency reporter: When did the Tibetan New Year become a festival?

What is the reason behind it?

Jiru Pasang Norbu:

Since the folklore itself is more of an oral culture, it is difficult to judge the exact time when the Tibetan New Year becomes a festival.

The beginning of the year in the traditional Tibetan calendar may be the beginning of the festival.

What may have started as a very small event has evolved over a long period of time into the scale and customs of the celebrations it is today.

At present, there are four major New Years in Tibet, namely, the Nyingchi New Year of Workers' Cloth, the New Year of Purang in Ngari, the New Year of Agriculture in Shigatse, and the New Year of Lhasa (Tibetan New Year).

On the evening of February 10, 2021, on the "Gutu" night of the Tibetan New Year's farewell to the old and the new, the Lhasa night sky was bright with fireworks.

That day is December 29 of the Tibetan calendar. Since then, a series of activities for the Tibetan New Year, the most solemn festival of the year for the Tibetan people, officially kicked off.

Photo by China News Agency reporter He Penglei

  There are two main factors in the formation of the Four New Years in Tibet.

The first lies in the development and evolution of the Tibetan calendar itself, which has gradually formed its own system.

Secondly, Tibetans live in different regions, with different geographical environments and climates, and festivals fully combine local production methods and living needs.

For example, the agricultural New Year in Shigatse is mainly concentrated in traditional agricultural planting areas.

China News Service reporter: How has the Tibetan New Year customs evolved?

What are the deep meanings behind customs and rituals?

Jiru Pasang Norbu:

The four Tibetan New Years in Tibet are festivals to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and to celebrate reunion, which is also a common philosophy of the Chinese nation.

Although the four New Years have different regions and times, there are many common customs and ceremonies, which all reflect the Tibetan ideology, spiritual outlook and value orientation.

  On December 29 of the Tibetan calendar, people will eat "gutu", which is a kind of gnocchi, which requires nine kinds of ingredients.

Wool, charcoal, chili pepper, salt, etc. are also included in the production of ancient tutu, and some are also made into shapes such as sun and moon, each with symbolic meaning.

For example, charcoal symbolizes black heart. If a child eats charcoal in Gutu, parents will remind the child to be friendly and not hurt others.

During Chinese New Year, people must present hada to their parents and elders to express gratitude and respect.

Therefore, these ceremonies are also the education and inheritance of family traditions, which are also the embodiment of the core values ​​of the Chinese nation.

On the occasion of the New Year, people will also put highland barley seedlings, chema boxes and agricultural and livestock products produced at home on the cabinets to show the harvest of a year of hard work and convey the comfort and joy of a bumper harvest.

On February 25, 2017, several Tibetan students were making "Gutu".

On the same day, Tibetan students from the Tibet class of No. 35 Middle School in Hefei City, Anhui Province welcomed the arrival of the Tibetan New Year of Turkey by making "Gu Tu" and performing literary and artistic programs.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yazi

  With the development of the times, the folk customs of the Tibetan New Year are also changing.

In the past, what children most looked forward to was wearing new clothes in the New Year. Now, with the improvement of living standards, people's expectations for new clothes are not what they used to be.

In the past, New Year goods such as Kasai and Gutu needed to be made by every household. Now all kinds of New Year goods can be bought in stores, which is more convenient.

On February 14, 2022, butter flower craftsmen made on-site in the ancient city of Barkhor in Lhasa.

The Tibetan New Year is approaching, and butter flowers are selling well in the New Year market.

Butter flower is called "Zizha" in Tibetan. It is a substitute invented by Tibetan Buddhist believers because there were no flowers for Buddha in winter. Now it is one of the must-have items in Tibetan families.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Gonggar Laisong

  In the past, on the first day of the first month of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, people had to get up early to the river and the spring.

Whoever carries the first bucket of water will have luck and fortune.

Such customs actually reflect the praise and wishes for hard work.

Now, every household in the city has running water, and the custom of backing the water is slowly changing.

  With the further opening-up and development of society and economy in Tibet and Shizang Prefectures and counties in the four provinces, the Tibetan people's horizons are broadened, their living conditions are getting better and better, and the ways to celebrate the New Year are becoming more and more diverse.

For example, singing and dancing competitions will be organized, and the whole family will watch the "Tibetan Evening".

However, no matter how the way of celebrating the festival changes, the Tibetan people's wish for family reunion on the New Year's Day, the gratitude and mutual love between people have never been weakened.

China News Agency reporter: How does the Tibetan New Year interact with the Lunar New Year folk customs?

Jiru Pasang Norbu:

With the further deepening of exchanges between Tibetan and Han nationalities, the festival folk customs of both sides are also subtly integrated and absorbed.

This is a two-way cultural identity, and it is also a manifestation of the consciousness of the Chinese nation's community.

In comparison, the folk customs and the underlying meanings of the Tibetan New Year and the Lunar New Year have many similarities.

  For example, before the arrival of the New Year, Tibetans and Han people have to remove indoor garbage and dust from the roof, presenting a festive atmosphere and a new atmosphere inside and out.

Eating "Gutu" on December 29th of the Tibetan calendar and the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar both express the wish of family reunion.

Customs such as offering hada to elders and kowtowing to elders in New Year's greetings all reflect the respect of the Tibetan and Han people to their elders.

  During the Lunar New Year, there are customs of pasting couplets, hanging lanterns, and giving out lucky money, all of which have been absorbed by the Tibetan New Year.

Nowadays, all kinds of exquisitely printed Tibetan Spring Festival couplets are sold in the New Year's market during the Tibetan New Year.

Children can also receive lucky money from their elders.

In February 2021, in Lhasa, Tibet, when the Tibetan New Year is approaching, people buy Tibetan Spring Festival couplets.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Gonggar Laisong

  In recent years, the Lunar New Year has gradually become a festival celebrated by Tibetans.

During the Lunar New Year, the streets of Lhasa are covered with red lanterns, and various celebrations are colorful and colorful. Everyone sends blessings to each other and enjoys the comfort of the festival.

And many people of other ethnic groups who work and live in Tibet will also wear Tibetan clothes, drink highland barley wine, and put Rosa Meadows in their homes to celebrate the arrival of the Tibetan New Year.

This is a very interesting cultural phenomenon.

On January 29, 2022, red lanterns hang high in Lukang Park in Zongjiao, Lhasa.

As the Spring Festival and the Tibetan New Year are approaching, the streets and alleys of the ancient city of Lhasa are decorated with lanterns, filled with a festive atmosphere.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Gonggar Laisong

China News Service reporter: How do Tibetan people view the interaction and integration of this festival and folk culture?

Jiru Pasang Norbu:

From a historical point of view, the Tibetan nation itself is an open and inclusive nation, and it is precisely because of this that a complete cultural system of the Tibetan nation can be formed, and it will continue to grow and develop.

And this spirit has been inherited in the development of the times.

  Not only the Tibetan and Chinese people learn from each other in the customs of celebrating the New Year, but also all kinds of festival culture, and even people's clothing, food, housing and transportation are subtly interacting and integrating.

For such cultural blending, the Tibetan people are not wary or ostracized, but readily accept it.

(over)

Interviewee Profile:

  Jiru Pasangluobu is currently the director of the exhibition department of the Tibet Museum, a research librarian for cultural and museums, a director of the China Museums Association, a deputy director of the Ethnic Museum Professional Committee of the China Museums Association, a director of the Tibetan Translators Association, and an expert of the Tibetan Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee.