Table Of Content"This detailed and visually compelling ethnography explores the changing
T
nature of wedding practices in a village in Qinghai Province. Researched
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and compiled by a promising young scholar, the narrative situates the
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village of Bon skor in the complex socio-political context of contemporary
Amdo, and introduces the reader to all aspects of the matrimonial process.
L
As much about continuity as it is change, negotiation as it is difference, the
A
Last Dragon Banquet? embodies all the strengths of autoethnography:
S
lliinngguuiissttiiccaallllyy sophisticated, culturally rich, and politically informed. It is a very
THE LAST DRAGON BANQUET?
welcome addition to the Asian Highlands Perspectives series." T
– Mark Turin, PhD, Chair, First Nations Languages Program;
D
Director, Digital Himalaya Project and World Oral Literature Project,
Changing Wedding Traditions in an Amdo Tibetan Community
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. R
A
"The Last Dragon Banquet is a fine example of the kind of straight-forward
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auto-ethnographic study for which the Asian Highlands Perspectives series
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is noted. Nyangchakja provides the basics of place and community to frame
the detailed descriptions of the wedding process in a family from a N
community in Amdo, Qinghai. Avoiding generalizations, the descriptions are
careful to note the melding of traditions with new practices emerging from B
influences of technology and social currents flowing throughout the Plateau. A
MMuullttii--ddiimmeennssiioonnaall and process-oriented, the text provides a wealth of
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information that will benefit present and future scholars."
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– Mark Bender, Department of East Asian Languages and
Literatures, The Ohio State University U
E
This book introduces Bon skor Village's history, population, education,
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economy, religion, language, housing, death, divination, conflict, and
clothing. This is followed by a detailed ethnographic study of village ?
weddings focusing on marriage norms, the spouse selection process, and
the spouse trial period. Details are provided on pre-wedding activities,
N
preparation of clothes for the bride, negotiations, abducting the bride,
discussion of the bridewealth and dowry, speeches, orations, songs, rituals, y
a
tthhee bride's mother's instructions to the bride, and the actual wedding rituals.
n
Summaries of speeches and English translation of songs are also provided.
g
c
Nyangchakja, author of the autobiographical A Mang rzdong Tibetan Life, h
earned degrees while studying in China and Malaysia before attending a
Brandeis University in USA with a Rotary Club Global Grant Scholarship. He k བོན་(cid:487)ོར་(cid:498)ིང་(cid:494)གས་(cid:546)ལ།
j
also founded, Friendship Charity Association, a grassroots NGO, and a
Nyangchakja
Ganglha, a social enterprise sustaining communities and cultures on the
Tibetan Plateau.
AHP 41
Asian
Highlands
Perspectives 41
ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES
མ(cid:568)ག་མཐའི་ད(cid:523)སེ ་(cid:501)ོན།
THE LAST DRAGON BANQUET?
Changing Wedding Traditions in an Amdo
Tibetan Community
by
Nyangchakja(cid:3)
བོན་(cid:487)ོར་(cid:498)ིང་(cid:494)གས་(cid:546)ལ།
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE
CK Stuart
Gerald Roche
Gabriela Samcewicz
Rin chen rdo rje
Timothy Thurston
ASIAN HIGHLANDS PERSPECTIVES (AHP) is a trans-disciplinary journal
focused 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.
HARD COPY: www.lulu.com/asianhp; ONLINE: www.plateauculture.org/
asian-highlands-perspectives; E-MAIL: [email protected]
ISSN (print): 1835-7741; (electronic): 1925-6329; LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CONTROL NUMBER: 2008944256; CALL NUMBER: DS1.A4739; SUBJECTS:
Uplands-Asia-Periodicals; Tibet, Plateau of-Periodicals
EDITORIAL BOARD: Andrew Smith, Arizona State University; Barbara Brower,
Portland State University; Bianca Horlemann, Humboldt University; 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 University; Jermay Jamsu ('Gyur med rgya
དཔལ་(cid:503)ན་བ(cid:519)་ཤིས
mtsho ), Independent Scholar; Juha Janhunen, University of
འ(cid:640)ར་མེད་(cid:546)་མཚ(cid:467)
Helsinki; Katherine Morton, Australian National University; Keith Dede,
Lewis and Clark College; Keith Slater, SIL International, East Asia Group
and University of North Dakota; Mark Bender, The Ohio State University;
Mark Turin, University of British Columbia; Paul K Nietupski, John Carroll
University; Sarah E Fraser, Northwestern University; Sienna Craig,
Dartmouth College; Toni Huber, Humbolt University; and Veronika
Zikmundova, Charles University.
OPEN ACCESS, COPYRIGHT, AND PUBLISHING FEES: AHP is a green, open access
journal. We charge no publishing fees. All works published in AHP are
subject to a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/deed.en_US. Con-
tributing authors may self-archive and disseminate their work.
SUMMARY: Bon skor is an A mdo, agro-pastoral Tibetan village. This book
introduces the village's history, population, education, economy, religion,
language, housing, death, divination, conflict, and clothing. This is followed
by a detailed ethnographic study of village weddings focusing on marriage
norms, the spouse selection process, and the spouse trial period. Details are
provided on pre-wedding activities, preparation of clothes for the bride,
negotiations, abducting the bride, discussion of the bridewealth and dowry,
speeches, orations, songs, rituals, the bride's mother's instructions to the
bride, and the actual wedding rituals. Summaries of speeches and English
translation of songs are also provided.
COVERS: Sang rgyas don 'grub.
CITATION: Nyangchakja (Snying lcags rgyal/ Niangjijia(cid:3)(cid:4174)(cid:2623)(cid:2262)). 2016. The
Last Dragon Banquet? Changing Wedding Traditions in an Amdo Tibetan
Community. Asian Highlands Perspectives 41.
DEDICATION
To my beloved sister, Dorjee Paljor (Rdo rje dpal 'byor), and to the
bright memory of a departed, much loved childhood companion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank Dr. CK Stuart, Dr. Gerald Roche, Ms. Gabriela Samcewicz,
and Gaye Sargent for their invaluable help; my grandparents,
parents, and fellow community members for providing information
and support; and Bya mdo'i rab rgyas and Rin chen rdo rje for
proofreading the Tibetan texts.
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE 2
DEDICATION 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5
CONTENTS 6
INTRODUCTION
CONSULTANTS 21
BACKGROUND 45
(cid:131) INTRODUCTION 45
(cid:131) TERMS 48
LITERATURE REVIEW 50
PART ONE: THE CONTEXT
VILLAGE LOCATION 53
POPULATION 56
HISTORY 63
RELIGION 88
DEATH 109
EDUCATION 118
ECONOMY 130
LANGUAGE 138
HOUSING 139
CLOTHING 159
DIVINATION 160
CONFLICT 164
NEW TECHNOLOGY 166
PART TWO: THE WEDDING
VOICES 168
(cid:131) INTRODUCTION 168
(cid:131) VOICE ONE: LHA SGRON 168
(cid:131) VOICE TWO: DON GRUB 173
(cid:131) VOICE THREE: PAD MA SKYID 176
(cid:131) VOICE FOUR: 'BRUG THAR RGYAL 177
(cid:131) VOICE FIVE: BOD PU DE 184
MARRIAGE 185
(cid:131) MARRIAGE NORMS 185
(cid:131) WEDDING SCHEDULE 185
(cid:131) SPOUSE SELECTION 187
(cid:131) TRIAL PERIOD 191
(cid:131) DIVINATION 192
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(cid:131) PREPARING THE BRIDE'S CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS 193
(cid:131) THE MATCHMAKER 204
(cid:131) THE FIRST NEGOTIATION 204
o AN EXAMPLE OF A FIRST NEGOTIATION 205
(cid:131) BRIDE ABDUCTION 221
(cid:131) THE SECOND NEGOTIATION 222
o AN EXAMPLE OF A SECOND NEGOTIATION 223
(cid:131) MATCHMAKERS ESCORT THE BRIDE HOME 237
(cid:131) DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE BRIDE'S RELATIVES 239
(cid:131) THE THIRD NEGOTIATION 243
o AN EXAMPLE OF A THIRD NEGOTIATION 243
(cid:131) AN AGREEMENT RITUAL 256
o CLEANSING OFFERING 257
(cid:131) BRIDEWEALTH 266
(cid:131) THE BRIDE'S FAMILY'S CLOTHING REQUIREMENT 266
(cid:131) SETTING THE WEDDING DAY 266
(cid:131) RUMORS 266
(cid:131) THE MOTHER'S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE BRIDE 267
(cid:131) THE BRIDE EATS VERY LITTLE 267
(cid:131) THE BRIDE'S DEPARTURE 268
o A HAIR SPEECH 270
o THE G.YANG 'BOD 276
o SGO 'GYOGS SONG 285
WEDDING CEREMONY PREPARATION 286
(cid:131) THE GROOM'S FAMILY'S PREPARATION 286
WEDDING CEREMONY 291
(cid:131) THE A ZHANG ASSEMBLY 291
(cid:131) A TEA SPEECH 293
(cid:131) A LIQUOR SPEECH 302
(cid:131) SONGS TO ENLIVEN THE BANQUET 317
(cid:131) CEREMONY PARTICIPANTS AND CONGRATULATORY GIFTS 324
(cid:131) A MA SRU SPEECH ABOUT RECEIVING BU RAS 324
(cid:131) A SASH-TYING SPEECH 331
(cid:131) A WEDDING ORATION 339
(cid:131) A ZHANG AND MA SRU SING ANTIPHONAL SONGS 354
o PRAISE SONGS 354
o RTEN 'BREL (FORTUNE) 361
o ASPIRATIONAL SONGS 382
o SHAGS (ANTIPHONAL SONGS) 387
o CONCLUDING SONGS 403
(cid:131) A FAREWELL MEAL 405
(cid:131) THE A ZHANG'S DEPARTURE 409
(cid:131) COMFORTING THE BRIDE 409
(cid:131) FAREWELL LIQUOR 409
(cid:131) SEEING OFF THE A ZHANG 410
(cid:131) ACTIVITIES AFTER THE A ZHANG'S DEPARTURE 410
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(cid:131) LOVE SONGS SUNG COMPETITIVELY AT NIGHT 410
o BEGINNING 411
o ESTABLISHING A RELATIONSHIP 413
o CLOSE RELATIONSHIP 414
o PROMISING 418
o IN LOVE 421
AFTER THE WEDDING CEREMONY 423
(cid:131) DISPENSATION OF LEFTOVERS 423
(cid:131) GNYEN TSHANG FEMALES APPROACH THE BRIDE 423
(cid:131) ESCORTING THE BRIDE TO HER NATAL HOME 423
(cid:131) RDZONG 'DOWRY' 424
OTHER ISSUES 425
(cid:131) DIVORCE 425
(cid:131) CHILDBEARING 425
(cid:131) MARRIED PEOPLE AND THEIR LOVERS 426
(cid:131) WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS 426
(cid:131) UNMARRIED ADULTS 427
CONCLUSION 428
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR 433
PHOTOGRAPHS 434
GLOSSARY 467
REFERENCES 504
INDEX 515
SKETCHES AND DIAGRAMS
Sketch 1 Inside a tent. 143
Sketch 2 An adobe stove inside a tent. 144
Sketch 3 A gur. 154
Sketch 4 A gur. 155
Sketch 5 A common ras gur. 156
Sketch 6 A decorated ras gur. 156
Diagram 1 New housing design. 157
Diagram 2 New housing design. 158
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TABLES
Table 1 Production Team Leaders. 81
Table 2 Bon skor Village Party Secretaries (1958-1970s). 81
Table 3 Bon skor Village Party secretaries (~1960-2016). 82
Table 4 Bon skor Village heads (~1960-2016). 83
Table 5 Students and Staff. 121
Table 6 School headmasters (1987-2011). 121
Table 7 School managers (1990-2016). 122
Table 8 Sheep and Sheepskin. 130
Table 9 Salt, Tea, and Sugar. 131
PHOTOGRAPHS1
1 A kha (b. 1934) is a local elder, a dedicated Buddhist, 21
and a former monk. He described funeral processes.
2 A tho (b. 1939), my paternal relative, was an active 22
herdsman in 2016. He provided information on local
history, death, tribes, and rituals.
3 Btsan mgon (b. 1952), my paternal grandmother's 23
brother, often talked to me about the Dpon tshang
Tribe and its contribution to the local area.
4 'Brug lha rgyal (b. 1978) is from Ske ba Village and 24
was the headmaster of Bon skor Village Primary
School from 2002-2009.
5 Bun khreng (b. 1950-2011), a local villager, described 25
camels, including names of camel-related items and
camel use.
6 Bya bho (b. 1944) had many traditional ornaments 26
that local women borrowed to wear at weddings and
other gatherings.
7 Chos dbangs (b. 1965), a local villager, chanted and 27
conducted rituals at homes. He described various
rituals that he conducts.
8 Dpa' bzang (b. 1939-2015) is a maternal relative who 28
became a monk when he was about forty-five. He
described various local religious rituals.
9 Dpa' kho (b. 1942) is one of the earliest village leaders 29
appointed by the Communist Party. He described the
village economy, farming, herding, government
policies, and history.
10 Gnam byams 'bum (b. 1967) was the village leader in 30
2014, a position he had occupied since 2003. He
provided general information on the local economy,
education, history, and policies.
1 Nyangchakja took the photographs featured in this book. Non-English
terms in the captions are explained in the relevant sections.
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