Introduce the local natural environment and customs.

Xizang Autonomous Region, with an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters, is the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is known as the "roof of the world". The terrain here is complex, which can be roughly divided into three different natural regions: the northern Tibet Plateau is located between Kunlun Mountain and Tanggula Mountain, Gangdise Mountain and Nyainqentanglha Mountain, accounting for two-thirds of the total area of the autonomous region; The Yarlung Zangbo River and its tributaries flow between the Gangdise Mountain and the Himalayas, which is a valley in southern Tibet. East Tibet is an alpine valley area, a series of high mountains and deep valleys that gradually turn from east to west to north and south, and it is a part of the famous Hengduan Mountains. Geomorphology can be basically divided into six types: extremely high mountain, high mountain, Zhongshan, low mountain, hilly and plain, as well as periglacial landform, karst landform, aeolian landform and volcanic landform. The Himalayas, which meanders on the south side of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, consists of many parallel mountains that are similar to the east-west trend. Its main part is on the borders of China, India and Nepal, with a total length of 2,400 kilometers and a width of about 200-300 kilometers, with an average elevation of over 6,000 meters. Mount Qomolangma, the highest peak in the world, is 8844.43 meters above sea level and stands on the Sino-Nepalese border in the middle of the Himalayas. Within more than 5,000 square kilometers, there are 4 peaks over 8,000 meters and 38 peaks over 7,000 meters.

There are more than 20 rivers with a drainage area of 1 000 square kilometers and more than 2000 rivers with a drainage area of 1 000 square kilometers in Xizang Autonomous Region. The famous rivers are Jinsha River, Nujiang River, Lancang River and Yarlung Zangbo River. Tibet is also the China province with the largest distribution of international rivers, and the sources of famous Asian rivers such as Ganges, Indus, Yarlung Zangbo, Mekong, salween and Irrawaddy are all here. The water sources of rivers in Tibet are mainly composed of rainwater, snowmelt water and groundwater, with large flow, low sediment concentration and good water quality. The Yarlung Zangbo River, the largest river in Tibet, originates from the Gemayengzong Glacier in Zhongba County, at the northern foot of the Himalayas, and flows into India through Luo Yu, which is called Brahmaputra River. The Yarlung Zangbo River (in China) has a total length of 2,057 kilometers, a drainage area of more than 240,000 square kilometers and an average elevation of about 4,500 meters, making it the highest river in the world. The Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon is 5382 meters deep, which is the deepest canyon on earth. The valley bottom of the Grand Canyon is only 74 meters at its narrowest point and about 200 meters at its widest point, with a total length of 370 kilometers.

There are more than 1500 lakes on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, among which the area of Namco, Selin Co and Zhaxi Co exceeds 1000 square kilometers. There are 47 lakes with an area exceeding 100 square kilometer. Namco is also the highest lake in the world. The lake area is 24 183 square kilometers, accounting for about one third of the total lake area in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is not only the largest lake-intensive area in China; It is also the plateau lake area with the highest lake surface, the largest range and the largest number in the world. There are many lakes and saltwater lakes here, but few freshwater lakes. There are 7 lakes/kloc-0 above 5000 meters above sea level, all with an area of over 50 square kilometers.

Climatic characteristics

The air is thin, the air pressure is low and the oxygen content is low.

Strong solar radiation and long sunshine time.

The temperature is low and the daily temperature difference is large.

The whole year is divided into obvious dry season and rainy season.

The climate type is complex and the vertical variation is great.

The complex and diverse topography of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau forms a unique plateau climate. In addition to the general trend of cold and dry northwest and warm and humid southeast, there are various regional climates and obvious vertical climatic zones. Proverbs such as "ten miles are different from the sky" and "one day has four seasons" embody these characteristics. Compared with most parts of China, Tibet has thin air, abundant sunshine, low temperature and less precipitation. Every cubic meter of air in Tibet Plateau contains only about150-170g of oxygen, which is equivalent to 62% to 65.4% of that in plain areas. Tibet is the place with the largest solar radiation energy in China, which is two times or one third more than the plain area at the same latitude? Sunshine hours are also the high-value center in China, and the annual average sunshine hours in Lhasa reach 302 1 hour. The temperature is low, and the annual temperature difference is small, but the temperature difference between day and night is large. The annual average temperature and the highest monthly average temperature in Lhasa and Shigatse are lower than those in Chongqing, Wuhan and Shanghai at the same latitude 10- 15 degrees Celsius. The annual temperature difference between Lhasa, Qamdo and Shigatse 18-20 degrees Celsius? In places above 5000 meters above sea level in Ali, in August, the daytime temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius. The seasonal distribution of precipitation in Xizang Autonomous Region is uneven, the boundary between dry season and rainy season is very obvious, and it rains many nights. The annual precipitation gradually decreases from 5000 mm in the southeast lowlands to 50 mm in the northwest. From October of 65438/kloc-0 to April of the following year, the precipitation only accounts for 0% to 20% of the annual 10; The rainfall from May to September is very concentrated, generally accounting for about 90% of the annual precipitation.

Tibetan folk custom

Kowtowing is a pious worship ceremony for Tibetan Buddhists to realize their beliefs and pray for good fortune. On July 2, we saw dozens of Buddhist believers kowtowing in front of Jokhang Temple. Their piety, their selflessness, their ups and downs made me truly feel the mystery and power of religion.

There are two kinds of kowtow: middle kowtow and in-situ kowtow. Their basic posture is the same: first, stand at attention, read the six-character mantra, put your hands together, hold your head up and hold your chest high, and then take a step; Keep your hands crossed, move to the front and take another step; Put your hands together on your chest. In the third step, your hands leave your chest, parallel to the ground, palms down, knees down first, then your whole body down, and your forehead taps on the ground. Stand up again and start over. In this process, the sound of chanting with six-character mantra is continuous. When a girl grows up, she will "climb to the top"

In some areas of Tibet, girls are considered adults when they reach the age of 17. At this time, parents should hold a "summit" ceremony for their daughter. The ceremony is usually held on the second day of the Tibetan calendar. On the day of the ceremony, parents prepared beautiful clothes and various decorations for their daughter, and invited a lady with makeup expertise to comb her hair and dress her up. In pastoral areas, girls wear two pigtails when they are young, three pigtails when they are thirteen or fourteen, and five or six pigtails when they are fifteen or sixteen. By the time they 17 years old, they have to wear dozens of braids. This kind of dress symbolizes maturity and is a sign that young men can pursue. With this sign, girls can be pursued by young men. Therefore, when the "summit" ceremony was held, relatives and friends came to congratulate her and solemnly told the girl that after the "summit" day, she would become an adult, behave like an adult in daily life, and be steady in whatever she did.

bow

For elders or respected people, take off your hat, bend over 45 degrees, hold your hat low in your hand and close to the ground. For ordinary people or peers, bowing is just courtesy, with a hat on your chest and your head slightly lower. Sometimes crossing hands and bowing are also used together. Cross your hands, bend over and nod to a respected person, and return the same gift. Tibetan etiquette is varied, and etiquette and customs are also closely related to Buddhism, mainly including the following etiquette:

Offering Hada to offer Hada is the most common etiquette of Tibetans. Wedding, funeral and celebration, visiting elders, worshipping Buddha, audio communication, farewell trip, etc. , have the habit of offering Hada. Hada is a kind of raw silk fabric, which is loosely spun into a net; And good silk hada. Hada varies in length, from one or two feet for the old man to three or five feet for the short man. Offering Hada shows purity, sincerity and loyalty to people. Since ancient times, Tibetans believe that white symbolizes purity and auspiciousness, so Hada is generally white. Of course, there are colorful Hada, the colors are blue, white, yellow, green and red. Blue means blue sky, white is white clouds, green is rivers, red is the protector of space, and yellow symbolizes the earth. Multicolored Hada is the most grand gift made by making colorful arrows for bodhisattvas and their loved ones. Buddhist teachings explain that colorful hada is a bodhisattva's costume, so colorful hada is only used at a specific time. Hada was introduced into Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty. When His Holiness Sakya Basiba met with Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu and returned to Tibet, he brought back the first Hada. At that time, Hada was flanked by the design of the Great Wall of Wan Li, with the words "good luck" on it, so it can be said that Hada was introduced into Tibet from the mainland. Later, people attached a religious explanation to Hada, saying that it was a fairy ribbon.

Bend down to meet officers, leaders and respected people, take off your hat and bend 45 degrees. Take the hat in your hand and put it near the ground. For ordinary people or peers, bowing is only polite. The hat is worn on the chest and the head is slightly lower. It is also used to bow with both hands crossed. The same is true of returning gifts.

When greeting guests, Tibetan people should not only dip their hands in wine three times, but also grab some highland barley in the grain bucket and throw it into the air three times. At the banquet, the host took a sip of his glass and then gulped it down. After the host finishes the first glass of wine, everyone can enjoy it. When drinking tea, guests must wait for the host to bring the tea to them before reaching for it, otherwise it will be considered impolite. On holidays, when visiting Tibetan families, the host will propose a toast. Please drink highland barley wine. This is a custom in agricultural areas. Highland barley wine is a kind of unsterilized water wine similar to yellow rice wine, with a degree of fifteen to twenty degrees. Almost all men, women and children in Tibet can drink highland barley wine. When respecting guests. Guests must take three sips first, and then drink a full glass. This is the established rule, otherwise the host will be unhappy or think the guests are impolite. Or think that the guests look down on him. Drinking tea is a daily etiquette. When guests come into the room and sit down, housewives or children will come and pour butter tea, but guests don't have to serve it themselves. They can't take it until the master holds it in front of you. Only in this way can they be considered polite.

The above is the most common and common situation in Tibetan etiquette, and there are other etiquette in addressing. When respecting others, always add a word "la" after the name. There are honorifics and non-honorifics in Tibetan. Use honorifics to show respect for respected people or guests. Secondly. In terms of diet, there are also rules about not eating, biting, drinking or being picky about food. When you are on the road, don't get ahead of others. Be polite when you meet. When sitting, you can't grab a guest, stagger, and stretch your legs casually. This is some etiquette that ordinary elders must pay attention to when educating their children. As for the etiquette of handing a cigarette rod, smoking snuff and giving gifts, I won't list them here. Speaking of this, Wang Jie, a village cadre, explained to us that the Barrow people are still primitive * * * productism, hunting in the mountains, and after returning, they are evenly distributed, one for each person. The basic necessities of life, weddings and funerals of the Barrow people are all related to animism. Sacrificing ghosts and gods ... Barrow people are called "my courage". They believe that there are many kinds of brave people, so they worship mountain gods very much. Conceptually, mountains, cliffs, caves, streams, ancient trees and strange rocks, mud and stone mountains and rivers are all my brave seclusion; The plants that grow on the mountain and the animals that live in the forest are under the jurisdiction of Wu Yong. Therefore, people hunt, go out, exchange ... they must slaughter sacrifices to worship mountain gods. For example, every time I go hunting in the mountains, I have to perform seven sacrificial ceremonies from leaving home to returning, offering chicken, rice and wine to the mountain gods. People worship natural phenomena such as wind, rain, thunder, electricity and hail. Sacrifice to the earth and dense forests is the main content of natural worship of Barrow people. All logging, digging, sowing, weeding, harvesting and opening warehouses should be sacrificed on auspicious days. After cutting down trees or reclaiming land, unfortunate accidents such as illness and death occur. It is considered that the tree god is worshipping and needs to stop reclamation or ask wizards to kill animals. Barrow people think that tigers, lions, leopards, wolves, bison, poisonous snakes and poisonous insects are all under the jurisdiction of Wu Yong, so there are many sacrificial activities and taboos. Specifically, it is totem worship. Barrow people believe that they have a mysterious relationship with some animals and plants, inanimate objects, natural phenomena and production tools in nature. Their totems include tiger, leopard, bear, monkey, bison, otter, pig, cow, sheep, dog, eagle, crow, cuckoo, snake, knife, sun and moon ... up to 30 kinds. The totem worship of Barrow people is combined with totem myth. The courtship of mud baby sisters is a myth of Barrow people about the origin of tiger and knife totems. Barrow people have a series of worship ceremonies and taboos for totem objects, and they are not allowed to hunt tigers, and they regard tigers as their ancestors.

There are also various religious activities. Barrow people believe that the all-encompassing universe is dominated by ghosts and gods. In all aspects of production and life, wizards are often invited to explore gods and ask ghosts. There are two kinds of wizards: Liu Mi the soothsayer and Niubu the ghost worshiper. "Liu Mi" kills the chicken to get the liver, judging good or ill luck, wealth, separation, longevity, honor or disgrace, fullness, regret, what ghosts and gods have been offended and what kind of sacrifice is needed from the signs of the liver, such as color, fineness, light and dark, concave and convex, flat and flat, origin and destination. "Niu Bu" not only has the function of "Liu Mi", but also uses prayers, spells, simulated actions, sacrifices and divination to help people avoid bad luck and gain benefits. In addition to exorcising ghosts for patients and praying for the dead, wizards also host various witchcraft activities such as clan or village sacrifices and divine judgments. Barrow people believe that the soul is not firmly attached to the human body. Therefore, after practicing witchcraft, the wizard put a wool and three beads around the patient's neck to stabilize the soul and avoid being lured and hooked away by ghosts. Among the Barrow people, all family members who have been killed or killed others, or even accidentally killed totem animals such as tigers, leopards, snakes, bison and otters, should hold corresponding soul-sending ceremonies to show their repression. It is believed that only by driving away or simulating witchcraft can the family be safe.

Barrow people also have some taboos: women are forbidden to eat chicken, wine and meat, wine and grain, and others are forbidden to touch them, thinking that touching them will bring courage, make wine koji invalid and wine sour; After the wife gave birth to the child, her navel belt fell off, and her husband was forbidden to go out to work; After the wife is pregnant for two or three months, it is forbidden for her husband to join the ranks of binding corpses and pigs and cows, and it is also forbidden to slaughter animals ... The weddings and funerals of Barrow people are also very strange. In addition to buying and selling marriages and arranged marriages, Barrow people also have a trial marriage system. Barrow people think that paternal blood can't get married, and aunts can't get married. According to Gaqing, the trial marriage of Barrow people is relatively free. Young people are seventeen or eighteen, and they go to find their own lovers. There are very few people who don't have sex, and then the man's parents go to the woman's house to propose marriage. After obtaining the consent, the man will live in the woman's house for three years, and he can work and live together in the woman's house during the day. After three years, if both parties are willing to get married; If you don't want to, send something to each other. Generally speaking, men do not agree to get married.

Visiting relatives seems to be the same custom in every country. However, this seemingly simple exchange of visits between relatives is interpreted by people of different nationalities or regions according to their different situations. In the rural area where I grew up, it seems that every day I can see people carrying wicker baskets and wearing cleaner and neater clothes, rushing to visit relatives in winding villages. The family they are going to may hold a grand wedding, or they may ask the Lama in the temple to revive their dead relatives, or they may come to a son and daughter who work in a different place. In addition, they also want something from this family. In short, the purpose of visiting relatives is varied.

Although the village where I live is remote and still poor and backward, nearly 10 children from more than 30 families work in Lhasa or other big cities. Therefore, whenever one of them goes home to visit relatives or returns to the city after visiting relatives, many relatives come to visit. Behind this visit, there is no impure purpose of flattering or longing, but it has become a kind custom handed down from generation to generation in this village. It is an excellent way for relatives to contact feelings and take care of each other.

Every visiting relative carries a yellow wicker basket that is only brought on some important occasions, and covers what no one can see through but can guess a thing or two with a piece of clothing or other cloth, but they all carry an eight-pound thermos and a plastic bucket of moderate size in their hands. Needless to say, it is fragrant buttered tea and a good highland barley wine. These two things are indispensable when visiting relatives, just like some ethnic groups in mainland China always bring one or two bottles of old wine when visiting relatives.

Visit a distant guest and say "back?" as soon as you enter the door Kind greetings. The host complained and said, "I'm always bothering you. Why are you here?" At the same time, he hurried forward to take the wicker basket off the guest's back, put it aside and offered his seat to pour tea. As soon as the guests sit down, they chat with the cadres in different places of the host family about some relaxing topics, and constantly pour tea and toast to the young and old in the host family from their own thermos bottles and plastic buckets. In this way, after two or three hours of greetings, people who have something to go back will try their best to get rid of the invitation of the host to leave him for dinner and ask the host to clean up the things in the wicker basket he brought, but he still sits or gets up and empties the tea and wine left in the plastic bucket in his thermos, instead of helping the host to finish the things in the wicker basket, and seems to be ashamed of the cheap things he brought. This is very different from some other ethnic groups. In my hometown, even if I bring something good, I don't publicize it. I just said something like "please accept the contents of the wicker basket". At this time, the host repeatedly said, "Why are you so polite? You always bring so many things ",and at the same time, you bring wicker baskets brought by your relatives to his storeroom, and put away an air-dried fat leg of lamb, a lump of pale yellow fresh ghee, some home-cooked fried food and the like one by one. But it won't empty the wicker basket, for example, some food or eggs brought by relatives should always be put in it intact. This is a taboo that needs attention. Anyone who wants to empty all the things brought by relatives will soon have a bad reputation in the village. Even if there are no taboos, we should take out some from home and put them in the wicker basket as a reward according to the situation of the other party's home or what is missing. This gift may be cheap in the eyes of city people. It may be a few fresh Chinese cabbages or fruits that have just been brought from the city, a brick of tea, or clothes worn by children, but it is a rarity in the hometown that is still backward. When the host takes something out of his relatives' wicker baskets, he should keep it in mind, so that when he visits his relatives at their home next time, he will also bring something of considerable value to avoid rudeness. It is usually easy to visit relatives during festivals and stay late at the request of the host. Drinking, laughing and singing are indispensable contents. It was not until the moon was high and the stars were thin that people left their masters and returned to their homes with the help of the children who came to meet them.

Children play an extremely minor role in the custom of visiting relatives. In my hometown, when visiting relatives, the last thing I want to do is to take my children. Generally speaking, every family has three or four children, one is more naughty than the other. Few people want to bring their children to visit their families, and the host never asks why the children didn't come. Sometimes the child cried and asked to go with him, but if he couldn't cope, he was reprimanded all the way. His first sentence when he entered the host's house was probably "Don't let him come, he will come instead" to blame the timid child hiding behind him to dispel others' incomprehension and ridicule. Therefore, children always wander around their parents' doors, waiting for someone to find them and invite them in for dinner or give them some candy. Courageous children will walk directly into their master's house, pretend not to know, and ask the master, "Are my parents in your house?" In order to get more attention and food.

Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County is located in the east of Qilian Mountain, with Jingtai in the east, Yongdeng in the south, Qinghai in the west and Gulang in the north. It is the gateway of Hexi Corridor. It is one of the ancient roads of the "Ancient Silk Road". The county covers a total area of 765,438+049 square kilometers and consists of Tibetan, Han, Tu, Mongolian, Yugur and Hui nationalities 16. Tibetans are the earliest ethnic minorities living in Tianzhu. Tianzhu belongs to Amdo Tibetan area in history, commonly known as Huarui, which means a region or tribe suffering. Huarui in history refers to the north of Huangshui, the east and south of Hexi. It includes Tibetan areas such as Ledu Beishan, Huzhu, Menyuan, Danone East, Tianzhu, Gansu and Sunan Imperial Capital in Qinghai, among which Tianzhu is the main area of Huarui. According to the comprehensive analysis of historical records, folklore, customs, languages and other materials, Huarui Tibetans lived in Tianzhu after the Qiang and Stone nationalities who lived in Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan in 663 AD became subjects of the Tubo Dynasty. The customs and habits of this tribe are unique. In the history of Huarui Tibetans, they were purely engaged in animal husbandry, grazing by weeds, and the Tibetan people lived under the silvery snow mountain for generations. Looking around the world, there are white clouds floating in the blue sky and white cattle and sheep floating upstream. I ate white ghee, Baba, a brown shirt and a white fur jacket. Wearing a white felt hat, the gift is white Hada. In this environment, the Tibetan people have a special feeling for white. White is a symbol of auspiciousness, happiness, ideal and prosperity. Compared with other ethnic groups, Tibetans have their own unique custom of respecting white. Han people think white is unlucky. Only when people die do they wear white clothes, white hats and white shoes to express their sadness. This is the unique aesthetic taste of Tibetans, and it is also worth studying.

The formation of the custom of respecting white.

The formation and development of every folk custom is closely related to material and spirit. The formation of Huarui Tibetans in the snowy area is embodied in two aspects: material folklore and spiritual folklore. There are both religious reasons and legendary reasons in spiritual folklore. There are geographical, food, clothing, housing and transportation reasons in material folklore. Let's talk about it in detail:

(A) the spirit of folklore in the white custom

1. Religious influence

When the Gelug Sect was not yet formed and Bonism was dominant, the white yak was honored as a "sacred cow" and was a sacred object of worship in the ruling and opposition parties. At that time, killing a white yak was recited 300 times by Christians. Later, Christians tied the white yak's tail to the braid and made three red amber beads as symbols, which were attached to the hair tips, symbolizing the prosperity of Boni and strict religious rules. It can be seen how solemn and sacred the symbolic color of white is. Tibetan Buddhism also directly affects the development of Bai customs. Red, blue, white and yellow are the colors advocated by Tibetan Buddhism. There is a white conch in the musical instrument, and there are often metaphors such as snow-capped mountains, white clouds and lotus flowers in the eulogy of scripture. Gradually popular, there are many metaphors in literary works, such as a pure heart like a snowy mountain and a holy lotus, which is one of the basic reasons for the formation of the custom of advocating whiteness.

2. The influence of legend

In the legends of various ethnic groups, customs and legends account for a large proportion, which provides intuitive materials for the study of folklore. Legends are often vivid explanations of some folk phenomenon. The following legend has made a story-telling inheritance for Huarui Tibetans to advocate white. Legend has it that a long time ago, the Huarui tribe was surrounded by powerful foreign enemies and there was a war. The leader ordered the Huarui tribe to surrender before dawn. Otherwise all his tribal subjects were killed, and the situation was very critical at dawn. At the critical moment, a man riding a white horse, holding a silver knife, wearing white clothes and a white hat suddenly came out from behind, killing the enemy and fleeing everywhere, saving the lives of all the fallen people. Tribal leaders found that those who asked for help wore the same color as the snow-capped mountains in order not to let the enemy find them. In order to remember their achievements, Huarui leaders decided that only heroes can ride white horses, wear white clothes and white hats, which is also a legendary story of Huarui Hero Tribe.

(B) worship of white material folk customs

1. The influence of geography and living environment

As the saying goes, "different winds in a hundred miles, different customs in a thousand miles", different customs and habits are formed due to different geographical environments of mountains and rivers, which shows that folk customs have strong adaptability and selectivity to the natural environment. Tianzhu grassland is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The sheep on the grassland are white, the yak is white, and the milk, leather clothes and felt hats are all white. During the Chinese New Year, there are ice offerings, and white stones are placed on the roofs and corners of houses, almost all of which are related to white. White symbolizes auspiciousness and purity, and also symbolizes tranquility and cleanliness. For example, the monastery in the temple has white walls and black edges. White yak has been the mainstay of Huarui people's life for generations, so this is also a direct reason why Huarui people worship white. In addition, putting white stones on the wall is not only for auspiciousness, but also for sacredness. This is my house, my courtyard wall, and no one can get in.