I am Tibetan, and our family has raised yaks for as many generations as anyone can remember. Nothing has really changed for us; things have always been the same. I am 71, and I have four names, which is traditional for Tibetan people. Also, in Tibet, we do not have family names, so each of our names is completely unique. During the unrest between the Red Army and the Kuomintang (Nationalists), whenever the Kuomintang was in the area, we had to all run and hide away in the mountains. We had absolutely nothing to defend ourselves with, and they would come through and take at will whatever yaks and crops they wanted. However, when the Red Army came through the area, they paid us for any crops that they needed. I have two sons and a daughter, as well as four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. One of my sons was a real student and managed to earn a PhD. in the Tibetan language - something completely unheard of for our people. Consequently, he was chosen to be our spiritual leader. He resides at the local Buddhist temple and is highly respected and influential in the peoples lives. For example, it is his responsibility to choose the names of every newborn in our community. The beads I have in my hands are prayer beads. We use them as a reminder to recite prayers at any time of the day. Its not particularly important to the rest of China, but for us, our most important day of the year is double five, that is, May 5. It is the Dragon Bull Festival, and it is quite an event for us, which includes horse riding and many other festivities. Flowers which are special to our area are blooming at that time of the year, and for us it is regarded as the beginning of a new year. Additionally, on July 15, everyone in our community hikes up Snow Mountain, which you can see in the distance, to worship and pray to the mountain. At the base of the mountain there is also a lake which is sacred to us. If you were to touch its waters, you would go blind. LC: Do you think I could ride your motorcycle for a minute or two? JNDJ: No, you cant. You may be a Japanese and might steal it. LC: (Hmm...He must not have met many foreigners if he suspects me of being Japanese...) Jun Nong Du Ji
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 03:39:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015