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Tradition and Modernity Tradition and Modernity Cultural Continuum and Transition among Tibetans in Amdo Wu Qi Academic dissertation to be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki, for public examination in auditorium XII, University Main Building, on the 20th of April 2013, at 10 am. Publications of the Institute for Asian and African Studies 14 ISBN 978-952-10-8768-4 (paperback) ISBN 978-952-10-8769-1 (PDF) ISSN 1458-5359 http://ethesis.helsinki.fi Unigrafia Helsinki 2013 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would not have had the chance to pursue a Ph.D. without Professor Juha Janhunen’s encouragement and immeasurable support. The Trace Foundation deserves special thanks for funding my doctoral studies at the University of Helsinki for three years. I am grateful to Tracy Grenier for her editing expertise. I also want to thank Professor Karen Armstrong, who read many chapters of my dissertation and provided many meaningful suggestions. I also would like to thank all of my research participants for their information and kindness. My sincere thanks goes to my colleagues of the Amdo-Qinghai group for offering useful comments during our freestyle group meetings. Professor Heather Stoddard and Professor Ilmari Vesterinen deserve many thanks for their meaningful and useful suggestions as external examiners of my dissertation. Most importantly, I must thank my father, ‘Jam-dbyangs-thub-bstan, and mother, Sgrol- dkar-skyid, who gave me this precious human life and who provided me with this educational opportunity during difficult times. In China, especially in Amdo, it is unimaginable that a humble couple, an illiterate nomadic woman and a poorly educated local official, managed to feed and clothe 10 children, one of whom died young, and provide the opportunity of a higher education for their surviving children. iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this ethnographic study is to describe and analyze how various aspects of Tibetan culture in the region of Amdo (northeastern Tibet) have changed since the 1950s. The study is unique because of my perspective as a native Amdoba who has received a western education. Experience from Amdo confirms that political events locally or elsewhere can profoundly change a population’s culture. Whenever a significant change in culture occurs, the affected population must reexamine who they are, who they would like to become, and where they would like to go. I have chosen to use a qualitative approach in order to produce a rich description of the social and cultural phenomena of Amdo. I use this qualitative approach as a way of gaining insight into Tibetan culture through the discovery of the cultural significance behind such seemingly mundane things such as kinship and marriage, food, clothing, and shelter. The research also presents an extensive discourse on the New Thinkers, a group of intellectuals who advocate discarding traditional Tibetan culture and adopting a more modern one. An ideological battle is currently brewing among Tibetans in Amdo. This battle is being waged not only for the physical place called Tibet but also for the hearts and minds of ethnic Tibetans. All Tibetans must answer for themselves the question of who they are as Tibetans. Tibetans in Amdo have interacted with other ethnic groups for many centuries, and this has strengthened their ability to survive even under external threat to their culture. Since the 1980s, Tibetans living in Amdo have adopted modern clothing, diet, and housing. At the same time, many features of Tibet’s traditional culture, such as their kinship terms and marriage customs continue to survive. This thesis presents the first general outline of the cultural and ethnic changes that are taking place among the Tibetans of Amdo. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Frontmatter.................................................................................................................i Introduction................................................................................................................1 Research Questions....................................................................................................4 Conceptual Framework.............................................................................................5 Theories............................................................................................................7 Literature Review.............................................................................................9 Methods.....................................................................................................................15 Site and Population Selection.........................................................................15 Data Gathering Procedures.............................................................................16 Interviews.......................................................................................................16 Observations...................................................................................................18 Data Analysis and Interpretation....................................................................18 Notes on Non-English Terms...................................................................................20 Arrangement of Chapters........................................................................................21 Part I: Amdo and Material Culture in Amdo........................................................23 Chapter 1: The Tibetan Term Amdo: Simple Yet Complicated.........................25 1.0 The Origin of the Term Amdo.............................................................................27 2.0 Mdokhams or Do-kham.......................................................................................31 3.0 Present-day Amdo................................................................................................34 4.0 Summary..............................................................................................................39 Chapter 2: Food, Clothing, and Shelter Among Tibetans in Amdo…................43 1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................43 2.0 Two Basic Lifestyles of Amdobas.......................................................................49 2.1 The ‘Brog pa........................................................................................................49 2.2 Destruction of Nomadic Life................................................................................53 2.3 The Rong Ba.........................................................................................................54 2.4 From Red Eaters to White Eaters.........................................................................57 3.0 Clothing: Bod lwa vs. Rgya lwa ………………………………………………..58 4.0 Shelters.................................................................................................................63 4.1 Black Tents and Wood Houses vs. Brick and Cement Houses............................63 4.2 The New Trend of Shelters in Amdo...................................................................64 5.0 Impact of New Technology and Development....................................................66 6.0 Summary..............................................................................................................70 Part II: Kinship and Alliance..................................................................................73 Chapter 3: Kinship Terms in Amdo.......................................................................75 1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................75 2.0 Amdo Kinship System.........................................................................................77 3.0 Amdo Tibetan Kinship Terms..............................................................................84 3.1 Consanguinity.......................................................................................................84 vii 3.1.1 Grandparents.....................................................................................................84 3.1.2 Parents and Their Siblings.................................................................................86 3.1.3 Siblings and Their Affiance..............................................................................91 3.1.4 Parallel Cousins and Cross-Cousins..................................................................93 3.1.5 Sons and Daughters...........................................................................................94 3.1.6 Grandchildren....................................................................................................94 3.2 Affinity.................................................................................................................95 3.2.1 Parents-in-Law..................................................................................................95 3.2.2 Brothers and Sisters-in-Law..............................................................................95 3.2.3 Husband and Wife.............................................................................................96 3.3 Respectful Terms..................................................................................................97 3.4 Adoption of Parents and Children........................................................................98 4.0 Discussion............................................................................................................98
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