Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 PLATEAU NARRATIVES 2017 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 E-MAIL: [email protected] HARD COPY: www.lulu.com/asianhp ONLINE: https://goo.gl/JycnYT ISSN (print): 1835-7741 ISSN (electronic): 1925-6329 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008944256 CALL NUMBER: DS1.A4739 SUBJECTS: Uplands-Asia-Periodicals, Tibet, Plateau of-Periodicals All artwork contained herein is subject to a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. You are free to quote, copy, and distribute these works for non-commercial purposes so long as appropriate attribution is given. See https://goo.gl/nq06vg for more information. CITATION: Plateau Narratives 2017. 2017. Asian Highlands Perspectives 47. COVERS: Taken at a monastery in Rnga ba bod rigs dang chang rigs rang skyong khul (Aba zangzu qiangzu བབོདརིགསདངཆངརིགསརངོངལ zizhizhou 阿坝藏族羌族自治州 'Rnga ba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture'), Sichuan 四川 Province, China (2017, 'Jam dbyangs skyabs ). འཇམདངསབས 2 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES Asian Highlands Perspectives (AHP ) is a trans-disciplinary journal focusing on the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions, including the Southeast Asian Massif, Himalayan Massif, the Extended Eastern Himalayas, the Mongolian Plateau, and other contiguous areas. The editors believe that cross-regional commonalities in history, culture, language, and socio-political context invite investigations of an interdisciplinary nature not served by current academic forums. AHP contributes to the regional research agendas of Sinologists, Tibetologists, Mongolists, and South and Southeast Asianists, while also forwarding theoretical discourse on grounded theory, interdisciplinary studies, and collaborative scholarship. AHP publishes occasional monographs and essay collections both in hardcopy (ISSN 1835-7741) and online (ISSN 1925-6329). The online version is an open access source, freely available at https://goo.gl/JOeYnq. The print edition is available to libraries and individuals at-cost through print on demand publisher Lulu.com at https://goo.gl/rIT9lI. The journal currently has a core editorial team of four members and a consultative editorial board of twenty-five experts from a variety of disciplines. All submissions to the journal are peer-reviewed by the editorial board and independent, anonymous assessors. AHP welcomes submissions from a wide range of scholars with an interest in the area. Given the dearth of current knowledge on this culturally complex area, we encourage submissions that contain descriptive accounts of local realities - especially by authors from communities in the Asian Highlands - as well as theory-oriented articles. We publish items of irregular format - long articles, short monographs, photo essays, fiction, auto-ethnography, and so on. Authors receive a PDF version of their published work. Potential contributors are encouraged to consult previous issues. 3 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 EDITORS CK Stuart, Tshe dbang rdo rje (Caixiangduo jie 才项多杰 ), ཚđདབངོེ Rin chen rdo rje , and Susan Dan Su རིནཆེནོེ COPY EDITORS Gabriela Samcewicz, Gaye Carlson, Skal bzang tshe brtan , Lcags so lhun 'grub , and Phun tshogs dbangལབཟངཚđ rgyal བན གསསོནའབ ནཚགསདབང"ལ EDITORIAL BOARD Barbara Brower Portland State University Bianca Horlemann Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Bill Bleisch China Exploration & Research Society Charlene Makley Reed College Daniel Berounský Charles University Daniel Miller US AID Emily Yeh University of Colorado Fernanda Pirie University of Oxford Geoffrey Samuel Cardiff University Gray Tuttle Columbia University Hildegard Diemberger University of Cambridge Huadan Zhaxi (Dpal ldan bkra shis ) Humboldt- དཔལ$ནབ%ཤིས Universität zu Berlin Jermay Jamsu ('Gyur med rgya mtsho ) Independent འ'རམེད"མཚ! Scholar Juha Janhunen University of Helsinki Katherine Morton The University of Sheffield Keith Dede Lewis and Clark College Keith Slater SIL International and University of North Dakota Mark Bender Ohio State University Mark Turin University of British Columbia Paul K Nietupski John Carroll University Sarah E Fraser Universität Heidelberg Sienna Craig Dartmouth College Toni Huber Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Veronika Zikmundova Charles University 4 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 CONTENTS MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES 13-42 Courage to Hope Pad+ma dbang chen 43-45 A Night Date Phun tshogs dbang rgyal 46-53 Herding, Romance, and a Letter Lcags so lhun 'grub 54-59 Stolen Horses Lcags so lhun 'grub 60-63 Nearly Gored to Death Lcags so lhun 'grub 64-75 Life Bla ma skyabs BELOVED ANIMALS 77-78 Kho lu Sangs rgyas bkra shis 79-81 Yellow-Head Horse Sangs rgyas bkra shis 82-83 Rag drug: A Faithful Horse Lcags so lhun 'grub 84-85 Gyang rta: A Gentle White Horse Rin chen don 'grub 5 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 86-87 Bkra 'dzi the Race Horse 'Jam dbyangs skyabs 88-90 The Black Mare Tshes bcu lha mo 91-95 A Faithful Dog Dbang 'dus sgrol ma 96-99 Mdzo mo G.yang skyabs rdo rje 100-102 A Heroic Dog's Loyalty G.yang skyabs rdo rje 103-104 Brtson 'grus Klu thar rgyal FOLKTALES 106-108 Why Pikas Have No Tail Gu ru 'phrin las 109-112 A Clever Boy Phun tshogs dbang rgyal 113-114 A Clever Man Tshe lha 115-119 The Greedy King and Tricky Man Lcags so lhun 'grub (translator) and Rgya mo skyid (teller) 6 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 RNAM RGYAL 'S COLLECTION 121-124 Introduction Rnam rgyal 125-126 A Hen for a Horse Rnam rgyal 127-129 A Hunter's Destiny Rnam rgyal 130-135 A Lucky Man Rnam rgyal 136-138 An Argument About Karma Rnam rgyal 139-141 A Royal Gamble Rnam rgyal 142-147 The Merchant Rnam rgyal 148-150 The Provocative Rabbit Rnam rgyal 151-152 A Wise Father and His Foolish Son Rnam rgyal A RIG RGAD PO 154-155 A rig rgad po Threatens the Buddha With His Walking Stick Sangs rgyas bkra shis 7 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 156-157 A rig rgad po Visits Lha sa Pad ma skyid 158 Stuck in a Window Pad ma skyid 159 Keeping Watch Pad ma skyid UNCLE STON PA 161 Uncle Ston pa and the Thief Sgron dkar 162-164 The Buddha Image Eats Rtsam ba Pad+ma skyabs 165-169 Sewing Up the Queen's Vagina Rin chen rdo rje 170-172 Chanting, Herding, and Carrying Sangs rgyas bkra shis 173-175 Uncle Ston pa Visits Xi'an Sangs rgyas bkra shis 176-177 Grain in the Navels Pad+ma dbang chen 178-180 Foreign Adventures Pad+ma dbang chen 181-183 Nuns and Navels Wen Xiangcheng 8 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 184-187 A Wheat Seed and a Millet Seed Wen Xiangcheng 188-190 Can You See My Yak? Libu Lakhi 191-192 An Old Yak Finds Youthful Energy Mo lha dgu 'khor 193-194 A Clever Bus Driver Khro bo rkyal stong 195-196 Uncle Ston pa Takes a Bath Mi chag don 'grub 197-198 Not Remaining Quiet Dpa' rgod khyi nag 199-200 The Lottery Rgod po ltag khra TSHE DBANG RDO RJE 'S COLLECTION 202-216 Introduction Tshe dbang rdo rje 217-218 The Landlord Cuts Down a Tree Tshe dbang rdo rje 219 The Landlord Kills a Pig Tshe dbang rdo rje 220-221 The Landlord Cooks the Pork Tshe dbang rdo 9 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 222-223 Tricking the Landlord's Wife Tshe dbang rdo rje 224-225 Tricking the Landlord's Daughter Tshe dbang rdo rje 226-227 Tricking the Landlord's Daughter Again Tshe dbang rdo rje 228-230 Tricking the Landlord's Friend Tshe dbang rdo rje 231-232 Tricking the Landlord's Friend Again Tshe dbang rdo rje 233-235 Tricking Nuns Tshe dbang rdo rje 236-238 Tricking the Abbess Tshe dbang rdo rje 239-240 Helping a Poor Man Tshe dbang rdo rje 241-243 Helping an Old Woman Tshe dbang rdo rje 244-246 Tricking the Abbess Again Tshe dbang rdo rje 247-248 Helping the Farmer Again Tshe dbang rdo rje 10 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 249-250 Tricking the Wife Tshe dbang rdo rje 251-252 Tricking the King Tshe dbang rdo rje 253-255 Tricking a Village Leader Tshe dbang rdo rje 256-258 Tricking a Soldier Tshe dbang rdo rje 259-260 Tricking the King Again Tshe dbang rdo rje SHORT STORIES 262-267 Waiting for the Return Rdo rje skyabs 268-276 Faith, Faith, Faith Pad+ma skyabs 11 Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES Vol 47 2017 ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES 2017 Vol 47 COURAGE TO HOPE 1 Pad+ma dbang chen པ)ྨདབངཆེན My name is Pad+ma dbang chen and I was born in 1990 in Reb sa Village, Hor nag (Huangnaihe) Township, Reb gong (Tongren) County, Rma lho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province. Children my age often asked old men to tell them stories and an old man who knew many folktales told me the one I give below. My village is located atop a mountain and, years ago, transportation was inconvenient. Only motorcycles could navigate the zigzagging, narrow track that twisted up the mountain. My village was an agro-pastoral area and Grandmother and Mother were occupied with farming. Some small creeks are near my village. People did not drink this water because it is too salty. Instead, women went down the mountain to fetch water from a spring. They tied two white plastic containers to a donkey and spent half a day to fetch water. We also offered visitors this water. Family members usually drank rainwater that was collected in summer in a big concrete, underground box in the center of our courtyard.