People & Culture of Tibet

The Tibetan tribal people occupy a vast high attitude and cold land. In general the land is not suitable for agriculture. The Tibetan tribal people make a living by raising animals and farming many small plots in the valleys. The land is sparsely populated. For the last 800 years, the Tibetan tribal people outside the Tibet Autonomous Region have been ruled loosely by the central governments of China . In Qing dynasty, the northern Tibet tribes was put under the direct rule of the Qing Governor of Tibet (Tzu Zang Da Chen or Amban). The land, which is 2/3 of the land of Tibet Autonomous Region , was conquered by the Tibet Government in 1914-1916 after the collapse of Qing dynasty in 1911.

The Tibetan Buddhism and Bonism are both influential in the western Tibet , the northern Tibet , the eastern Tibet , Qinghai and Sichuan Tibetan areas. There are Bonism monasteries, Bonism Tulkus/Living Buddhas in these areas. For instance, the Hor Kings were believers and protectors of Bonism. Labrang in Gansu and Ku-bum (Taer in Mongolian) in Qinghai are two important Ge-lug pa monasteries. Labrang Monastery owns five tribes, Ku-bum Monastery owns six tribes.

In the modern Tibet , some people wear the Western dresses as Han people do. Some Tibetan cadets wear the standard Chinese cadet's dresses. In the Tibet Autonomous Region, 95 percent of the populations are Tibetans, the rests are Hans, Moslems, Menbas, Lobas, Drungs, Xiaerbas and others. In this short article we will describe the traditional Tibetan dresses. A typical Tibetan clothes is made of sheepskin or wool. It is usually home-made by man. In the agriculture area the wool will be made `pulu' first. Then the `pulu' or sheepskin will be made into a gown with cloth or silk exterior cover called `qugba". In the grassland, sheepskin is common. A sheepskin will be sun baked and then cleaned. It will be soaked for a few days in the liquid of milk after butter is extracted. Then it is ready for men to tailor.