The determination of the Tibetan calendar year is closely related to the use of the Tibetan calendar, which officially began more than nine hundred and fifty years ago, in the year of the Din Mao in the Lunar Calendar (A.D. 1027). Since then, the usage of the Tibetan calendar has been inherited.
The Tibetan New Year is a traditional Tibetan festival. It begins on the first day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar every year and lasts from three to five days. At the beginning of December on the Tibetan calendar, people begin to prepare for the New Year's Eve, and every household soaks barley seeds in a water basin to cultivate seedlings. In mid-December, every household successively use ghee and white flour fried oil馃zi (Kasai), oil馃zi of many kinds, there are ear-shaped "Gou over", there is a long "Naxia", there is a round, "Bru! "There are many different kinds of oleomargarine. Close to the end of the year, each family should be prepared to draw a colorful rectangular bamboo Suqima grains bucket, bucket filled with ghee mixed with tsampa, fried wheat, ginseng fruit and other food, above the description of the barley cob, cocklebur and ghee colorful flower plate. And prepare a colorful ghee molded sheep's head. All of this has to celebrate the harvest, wishing for the coming year, the wind and rain, people and animals flourish meaning. New Year's Eve two days before the house inside and outside for cleaning, set up a new card mat, paste new year's paintings. Twenty-nine before dinner in the center of the stove room wall, with dry flour sprinkled with "eight auspicious micro". On the main door with lime powder painted with symbols of eternal good luck "" symbols, indicating longevity, food abundance, years of peace. On the evening of New Year's Eve, each family sets up various kinds of food in front of the Buddha statue, and in order to have sufficient and abundant food during the festival, the whole family is busy until late at night on this evening. For dinner on this day, each family eats dough tuba (kutu). In the dough tuba, several different kinds of dough with stone, chili pepper, charcoal, wool and other sandwiches are made, and each kind of sandwich has a saying: stone indicates a hard heart, charcoal indicates a black heart, chili peppers indicate that the mouth is like a knife, and wool indicates a soft heart. Eat these sandwiches of people, are spit out to cause laughter, to help the New Year's Eve. This is a kind of food and entertainment activities, no matter who ate what, must be spit out, which often cause laughter, adding to the festive atmosphere of joy.
To the first day, the green seedlings, oil 馃zi, sheep's head, grains bucket, etc. in the Buddha's niche on the coffee table, wishing a new year of life and food abundance. On the first day of the new year before dawn, the housewife from the river back to the "auspicious water", and then wake up the whole family, according to the generation of seated, the elders came to the grains of bucket each person to grab a few grains, thrown to the sky, said the sacrifice to the gods, and then grabbed a little bit of the order to send into the mouth. Thereafter, the elders in order to wish "Zaxi Dele" (good luck), the younger generation back to congratulate "Zaxi Dele Peng Songtso" (good luck, merit and success). After the ceremony, they eat cereal tuba and ghee boiled ginseng fruit, followed by mutual barley wine. The first day of the general ban on sweeping, not allowed to say unlucky words, each other do not visit guests.
The second day of the family and friends to congratulate each other on the New Year's Eve, and give each other Hada. Men, women and children are dressed in festive attire, meet each other "Zahidler", "happy holidays", this activity lasts three or five days. During the Tibetan New Year, in the square or on the open grass, everyone in a circle to dance potshuang dance, string dance, in the six-stringed zither, cymbals, gongs and other musical instruments, hand in hand, person by person, step on the ground for the festival, singing and children are burning firecrackers, the whole region immersed in joy, festive and peaceful atmosphere of the festival. In the towns and villages, Tibetan opera is sung, and potshoos and string dances are performed. In pastoral areas, herdsmen light bonfires and sing and dance all night long. Folk also carry out jousting, throwing, tug-of-war, horse racing, archery and other activities. During the period of Tubo Dynasty, the knowledge of Chinese zodiac, five elements projection method was introduced from the Han Dynasty, and based on the ancient natural lunar calendar, natural solar calendar and the seven obsidian calendars, it was developed into a unique yin and yang combined calendar. In the White Liuli, it is said that during this period, although the Tibetan calendar was relatively simple, it had formed a unique way of keeping track of days, months and years. Such as the Chinese zodiac, five elements. Yin and Yang combination of chronology, in 842 years of the "Tangfan alliance monument" on the record. Later, with the extinction of Buddhism in Hong India, many of the Church of the Great Calculator was persecuted, Yongzhong Church classics were destroyed in large quantities, preserved in the culture of the Church of the ancient astronomical calendar knowledge of the Tufan and thus lost, modern people have been very difficult to understand the calendar at that time.
However, people can still be handed down from the folk knowledge of astronomy and calendar, as well as the remnants of the very precious documents (such as the Library of Paris collection of the Dunhuang Tibetan scrolls P.T. 76, 1, 82, 83, 85, and P. T. 55 80, China) to trace, in order to peep at a spot of the Tuyere calendar. Tibetan astronomers and folk with this knowledge are sure of such numbers: one is 7 minutes and the other is 4 fixed points. This should have been finalized in the Tubo calendar. Because of the 4 7 when the month, leading to the later Tibetan calendar in the unique leap day and difference day; with 4 points method of computing the sun when the four points that is the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox, winter solstice, according to the plateau climate change is divided into four seasons. According to the traditional saying of this religion, there was already a method of calculating the 60th anniversary of the Jomtan period in the Tubo era. All these show that the tufan era Tibetan calendar has been relatively complete.
Since the 11th century, the "Wheel of Time Sutra[1]" calendar has been imported from India. Although there are still a variety of Tibetan chronology, the first of the year set and leap month setting method in circulation, but the Tibetan astronomical calendar calculation is basically based on the time wheel calendar. Because the Tibetan calendar has the basis of the ancient Tibetan calendar, and from the Han Chinese region constantly absorbing useful content to be adjusted and improved, so it is not completely equivalent to the Indian calendar. In 624 A.D., the snowy region and the Tibetan language known as "beauty, Ka, Gatso" (meaning fire, air, sea) of the calendar epoch. This calendar to monkeys, chickens and other twelve animals Zodiac year, arranged in the same order as the twelve earthly branches, every 12 years for a cycle, each year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. To the early 9th century, by the Tibetan astronomers sangje yixi, jianzan betsang and others, to the mainland of the summer calendar and India's time wheel calendar and the ancient "kamo parma" calendar as the basis, created the traditional calendar of the Tibetan people. It uses the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth and the twelve animal signs of the zodiac to calculate the year, month and day. This projection method, which is the same as the ten heavenly stems, creates a week every 60 years. In 1027 A.D., the Wheel of Time Sutra of India was translated into Tibetan and introduced into Tibet. This year in the sky is exactly the year of the rabbit, the Tibetan history of this year as the first year of the first 60-year cycle of the first year, that is to say, the Tibetan New Year that is the beginning of this year, the Tibetan language of the 1027 year elegantly known as the first round of the very, meaning that the year of the victory.
The so-called "Shengsheng" refers to the last year of the Dharma transmission of His Holiness Shambhala's Nanshen Dharma as stated in the Wheel of Time Sutra - the year 1026, and therefore the following year is designated as the "Year of Shengsheng".
The Tibetan calendar year has a history of more than 970 years, it and the Spring Festival are basically in the same month, just a few days difference. So the monks and sangha of the Thar Monastery celebrate the Tibetan New Year and the Spring Festival at the same time. From the Tibetan calendar in mid-December to clean the hall and their own monastery, prepare ritual offerings, do their own food fried fruit, Jia Louma (also known as mat braid), rolls and so on. Twenty-fourth night sacrifice Zaoshen. Tibetan calendar with the same Chinese calendar is also the first month of January as the Bengchun, the first day of January as the beginning of the New Year.