The first day of the Lunar New Year is the first day to honor the dog (Baima Tibetans)
Pingwu Baima Tibetans have this custom: On the first day of the Lunar New Year every year, before the feast, the people always have to put the steamed steamed buns, burned buns, large pieces of wild game or pigs, sheep, and beef in front of the dog, so it can have a full meal. Why the first day of the New Year to honor the dog first? There is a story.
Legend has it that a long time ago, wheat, green bare are long as tree branches, from the root up, layers of branches, each branch is long a big and long spike. People were lazy to do a season of crops, the harvest of grain is not enough to eat. So, people use the flour to make the door, make pillows, kneaded into a cushion to cushion the buttocks ......
Heavenly Luo La Jiewu (Baima Tibetan legend of the sky god, the sky old man) know after, very angry, he said, "These two-legged people are too bad things, they should be punished. So he made a law, and in a moment there was a great thunder and lightning, and hailstones as big as goose eggs hit the crop fields all over the place.
The people realized that Lola Jiewu was angry, but there was nothing they could do about it, so they hid in their houses and sighed and wept. But the people were so angry that they were not able to show any remorse, so they became even more furious. The crops were about to be destroyed, when all the dogs in the village suddenly rushed out, running, barking and wailing against the hailstones at the edge of the field, and barking angrily at the sky.
Luolai Jiewu was very surprised to see this, "It is these four-legged dogs that care about the food, so I have to leave them a little bit. So he collected the hailstones and left the one spike on top.
After that, people knew how to cherish grain. And, every year, on the first day of the first month, before the first meal of the new year, it was always necessary to honor the dogs and thank them for their merits to mankind.
Narrator: Yue Zhongbo Collection: Zhou Xianzhong Region of transmission: Sichuan Ping style
Bathing Festival (Tibetan)
Whenever the night of the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall, the sky over the southeast of Lhasa, the emergence of a new very bright star. This is when the Tibetan people begin their annual Bathing Festival.
Legend has it that the star only appears seven nights, the bathing festival also carries on seven nights. There is a very touching story about why the seven nights when the star appeared in the sky were designated as the bathing festival.
At a very ancient time, there was a very famous doctor on the grassland, his name was Yuto? His name was Yutuo Yundan Gonpo. He was a very skillful doctor, and he could cure all kinds of difficult diseases. Therefore, the Tibetan king Chisong Dezan asked him to do the imperial physician, specializing in the Tibetan king and concubines to cure. However, after Yu To entered the palace, the heart still can't forget the poor people on the grassland. He often take the opportunity to go out to collect medicine, to the sick poor people. One year, the terrible plague spread to the grassland, many herdsmen were bedridden, some were killed. At this time, Yutuo ran across the vast grassland, treating one herdsman after another who was suffering from the plague. He brought all kinds of medicines from the snowy mountains and old forests, and whoever ate them would be cured immediately. I don't know how many patients who were on the verge of death were restored to health. Dr. Yutuo's name was heard everywhere on the steppe, and people called him the King of Medicine.
Unfortunately, Dr. Yutuo died. After his death, the grasslands were struck by another terrible plague, which was even worse than the previous one, and many of his family's animals died out. The herdsmen whose lives were in danger had to kneel down and pray to the heavens for heaven's blessing.
In a strange coincidence, one day, a woman who was tortured by the disease, suddenly had a dream that Dr. Yutuo told her, "Tomorrow night, when a bright star appears in the southeast sky, you can go down to the Jiqu River to bathe, and after bathing, you will be cured." Sure enough, after bathing in the Jiqu River, the woman felt cool and refreshed, and her illness was immediately eliminated; a sickly, yellow and thin woman was instantly transformed into a radiant, healthy person.
The story spread, and all the sick people went to the Jiqu River to bathe, dragging their sick bodies with them. All the sick people who took the baths got rid of their diseases and recovered their health.
People said that this strange star was changed by Dr. Yutuo. Dr. Yutuo was in heaven and saw that the people in the grassland were suffering from the plague again. He could not come back to earth to cure them, so he turned himself into a star and turned the water of the river into medicine by the light of the star, so that the people could bathe in this medicine to get rid of the disease. Because the Heavenly Emperor only gave Dr. Yutuo seven days, this star only appeared for seven days.
Since then, the Tibetans have designated these seven days as the Bathing Festival, and Tibetans from all over the world go to the nearby rivers to bathe at this time of the year. It is said that after bathing, they will be healthy and happy throughout the year and will not have any disease.
Collection: Liao Zhifan Region: Lhasa, Tibet
Bai Ram Festival (Tibetan)
In the world-famous Lhasa Da Zhao Temple (Tibet's oldest temple, located in the center of the old streets of Lhasa, the temple for the Princess of Wencheng from the Chang'an statue of Sakyamuni Buddha), there is a beautiful and dignified Goddess Bai Ram (the main goddess of the Da Zhao Temple, also known as the Auspicious Heavenly Lady). Lhasa people say that she has a gentle character like silk, crystal like a holy heart; her eyes of wisdom, can see through the stone walls and cattle hair tents, women suffered all kinds of misfortunes. Therefore, she often brought laughter to the weeping people, hope to the pessimistic people, beauty to the ugly people, and brought lovers together.
The women of Lhasa, whether they are gray-haired old amahs or bud-like girls, all respect Bairam and believe in her as their protector. They also believe that the reason why the Lhasa women are so smart, clever, jingna multi-colored, all because of the white Ram secretly protect work.
While the white Ram to protect the women of Lhasa, and their own love life is very unfortunate. She was once and the great zhaosha temple treasure protection god chi zongzhan y in love, and privately booked for life. Unexpectedly, this matter, by the white Ram's mother Banden Ram (the main goddess of the Showa Temple, for the Tibetan Buddhism of the Dharma God, the Department of white Ram's wrath, folklore for the white Ram's mother) know. Banden Ram is a most violent God, temper, like a hideous appearance. She rode on a yellow mule, wielding a sword, the red Zongzan rushed to the south bank of the Lhasa River Penpozhishan (Lhasa River south bank of a male-shaped stone mountain, also translated as the bottle of the law on the mountain), and forced them to make a heavy oath: never to meet again. Bendeng Ram also stipulates: every year at noon on the 20th day of the 10th Tibetan calendar, allowing them across the wide Lhasa river valley, look at each other, look at the time is very short, less than a cup of ghee tea after drinking the work. This kind of visit, is not their care, but their punishment, so that they continue to deepen like a boulder on the head of the endless pain of longing.
What can be done? Bhenden Lam was the protector of all Tibet, her power was uncontestable, and her words were like rocks rolling down a high mountain that must never roll back up again. Red Zongzan was running hither and thither on the desolate mountain of Phenpozhi, storming and beating his chest, raining all kinds of calamities on the people and animals below the mountain, and letting hailstones as big as horses' hooves destroy the crops in the fields full of them, but it could not change in the least the determination of Panden Lham to punish them.
Bai Ram's love tragedy, aroused the concern and sympathy of Lhasa women. Every year on October 25th of the Tibetan calendar, it has become the most solemn festival in Lhasa - Bai Ram Festival (called "Bai La Ri Qu" in Tibetan).
Early in the morning on this day, Lhasa people in their own roofs and various intersections burning smoke, door sprinkled with auspicious designs. Husbands give gifts to their wives, fathers reward their daughters with money, and men give alms to women as a sign of respect for women. Women dressed in festive costumes, wearing the best jewelry, groups of people flocked to the Da Zhao Temple Bailam shrine, to her salute and worship, pray for happiness, in the shrine on the roof of the inserted streamers, praying for good luck. Then, Lhasa Mulu Temple (Lhasa, an ancient temple in the north of the city) of the lamas come in, the white Ram statue lifted on a unique wooden wheeled car in Lhasa at the time, in the women's cluster, pushed slowly walked through the Bajie Street (around the streets of the Da Zhao Temple, Lhasa, the old city's business district and transmigration), the wheels issued a "crunch," "crunch," as if it is a walk while sighing. The street was full of people who stopped at once and put their palms together to pay homage to the idol of Bairam.
The wooden wheelbarrow from the Songqu La Square, turned into a small alley, stopped in front of a nobleman's house called Xazha, which happens to be on the mountain and Penpozhi Chi Zongzhan temple across the river, the two hot God can only stare at each other for a moment, lamas will rush to push the wooden wheelbarrow, the white Ram goddess sent back to the Showa Monastery. At the time of their meeting, people also put a fried green naked iron pot under the feet of the white Ram, indicating that her mood at this time, with bare feet stepping on the red-hot iron pot as painful and sad.
[Note] This legend is a household name in Lhasa, known to all ages. This article is written according to the narration of the eighty years old man Pingtso and the old actor Tsering Dorjee of the Tibet Drama Troupe in Zijulin Township, Chengguan District, Lhasa City. There is a point to be made clear is that the Bailam Festival carried on the wooden wheelbarrow, not the beautiful and dignified Bailam idol, but the legend is Bailam sister of the Baidongzhe statue, Baidongzhe frog-faced teething, ugly face, usually with a black cloth covered with it. Why let her meet with the red Zongzan, the author is still not very clear. But the latter point can be sure, according to the religious argument, white Ram and white Ba Dongzhe is actually a god, just show different phases.
Collection and organization: Liao Zhifan Circulation area: Lhasa, Tibet
Why wear dragon tail clothing (Baima Tibet)
Baima Tibetans in Nanping County, Sichuan Province, grass ditch, young and old people love to wear a short front, the back a little longer, shaped like a dragon's tail clothes. Legend has it that this dragon tail clothing is left behind by the ancestors of the Baima Tibetans.
Said to be the Pangu open heaven and earth that array, in the distant Tibet there are three brothers, because of listening to the "to get (i.e., 'the devil')" provocation, on each other to fight and kill. As a result, the eldest brother, with the help of the devil, drove the second brother away. When Lao-san saw that his elder brother and "Yajia" had driven away Lao-san, he knew that they were going to attack him again, so he led his wife and children to flee to the Tazang Lama Temple in Nanping, where he became a lama. Because of his high moral character, he later became a big lama.
The lama also had three sons, the eldest lived in Pingwu, the second lived in Jiuzhai, and the third lived in Baimazhai.
One day, the old lama recalled his three sons and said, "Son, the mosquito dragon should be due to the sea, the tiger should return to the mountains. The 15th of July this year is the day of my ascension to heaven, on that day, you three brothers and sisters must come back no matter what. When I die, do not bury me in the earth, nor do you want a coffin, but only stick the companion tip of the plow into the earth, wrap me in white cloth, and when the dragon returns to the cave, stroke the dragon's head with both hands, all the way to the dragon's tail, and you shall have the treasure I have left you."
When Baizeli returned home, he was so busy with things that he forgot the day of his father's ascension. One night, he had just come back from hunting in the deep mountains when he suddenly got heartburn, and when he counted, he realized that today was the 15th day of the 7th month, so he was shocked and hurt. He hurriedly jumped on his horse and ran to the Tazang Lama Temple, only to see hundreds of lamas all bowed their heads, looking very sad. Bai Zeli forced tears, ran to the temple to see, his father wrapped in white cloth, on a plow handle. His two older brothers were already waiting there with tears streaming down their faces. The first time I saw this, I was on my knees in the middle of my father's body, bawling my eyes out.
The lamas did seven days' worth of prayers for the old lama. On the seventh day, they followed the old lama's instructions and carried the body to a sea. The water of the sea, blue, unfathomable. Next to it was a large tree with a straight trunk, the top of which was like a large round umbrella. The three sons and the lamas surrounded the body and started a fire, reciting sutras. Not long after, the sea of water in the heavens, the waves rose up a red dragon, covered with strange light and color. That dragon around the body around a few times, they carry the old lama toward the sea in a big hole drilled. The people are stunned, one like a vertical stake, not move. White Zeri suddenly remembered his father's words, he jumped to the sea, reaching out to touch the back of the dragon, but it was already too late, the dragon's head and body drilled into the hole, and only touched the dragon's tail. After the dragon went into the cave, Bai Zeri found a thick pile of birch bark in his hand, on which was written a record of their production, life and customs. Bai Zeli was so impressed that he went back and taught his children and grandchildren to learn to read and write according to the words in the book, and engaged in hunting and production. From then on, they gradually prospered. However, Baizeli forgot to touch the dragon's head and back, so he did not get the text of the family's origin, where their ancestors lived, and the history of the war, etc. So now they only remember that they are the Dragon's head and back. So now they only remember that they are Tibetans, but they can't get any evidence, so they are called "White Horse Tibetans" for the time being.
The descendants, in order to honor the old lama and remember the lesson of not getting the precious book, sewed clothes shaped like a dragon's tail, and now the White Horse Tibetans are wearing this kind of dragon's tail clothes.
Narrative: Chen Zike Collection: Lai Qirong Circulation area: Nanping, Sichuan
The origin of the flute (Tibetan)
The Tibetans love to play the flute: shepherds love to play the flute, wandering people love to play the flute, and monastic lamas also love to play the flute. Why does everyone love to play the flute? There is a story.
A long, long time ago, the Tibetan king, Rang Dharma (an ancient (9th century) Tibetan king) ruled Tibet. At this time, the heroic era of Songtsen Gampo (a wise Tibetan king of the seventh century) was far, far away.
Rang Dharma was not a man of integrity. His heart was as cold as ice, his temperament as cunning as a fox, his methods as ferocious as a wolf, and his greed like an ocean that could never be filled. After he became king, the people were overwhelmed by hard labor like stones. Plagues, torrents, and storms came upon the people one after another.
On one occasion, Rangdharma came out to hunt, and the dust was so heavy that it covered half the sky; the people shouted and the horses screamed, startling the whole forest. The hunter's tent, in which the little black dog had never seen so many people before, hid behind a beautiful woman, who held the dog tightly and did not dare to raise her head.
Lang Damar roared, "Where is the head of the family? Why do you ignore this woman when she sees me coming? Men, take her back to the palace!"
The crowd blew away like the wind, leaving only the little black dog in the tent, "Woof! Woof! "The little black dog was left in the tent, barking, and the small streamers on the roof of the tent clattered in the wind.
The hunter returned. The hunter came back. He shouted happily from a long distance on the hillside, "Drolma! I'm not sure what I'm talking about, but I'm not sure what I'm talking about! You see what I brought you back!" Shouted a few times, did not see people to answer, he thought she was joking. Crossing into the tent, he was stunned. What is this scene ah! Tea bucket broken into eight pieces, green nude spilled all over the ground, sewed half of a boot lying in the doorway ... Zhuo Ma? She was gone. He ran up and down the hill looking for her. "Drolma! Drolma!" He took the little black dog and went out to look for his wife, but no one answered except for the echoes of the valleys.
Crossing a mountain, another mountain, crossing a river, another river. It was as difficult as finding a fleece in the grassland, and there wasn't even any information. How could he have known that Drolma was suffering in the palace of Rangdharma?
In Rangda Ma's palace there are endless wool, the sun wash, the top of the stars wash, wash every day, night wash; there are weaving endless knocking, a side (Tibetan measurement of the carpet carpet unit) and a side, a horse and a horse, shuttle like a fish as through the movement, but never finish weaving. All this is not the most terrible, the most terrible to be considered to wait for the Langdarma combing hair. Who went to comb his hair in the morning, but in the afternoon, she did not see her back, the female companions a day less one, where to go? Where did they go? No one knew. Therefore, every day when it is the turn of whoever goes to comb his hair, he must say goodbye to his female companions one by one.
On this day, Drolma was called upon to attend to Rangdama's hair.
She said goodbye to her companions and came to the king, opening the jute-like hair on his head with an uneasy feeling. Yikes! Everything became clear: there was a sharp, hard horn growing from the top of his head. No wonder the combers couldn't go back, and he didn't kill her when he found out that he was a horned man! He would also let her go out and leak the information! Zhuo Ma while braiding his hair, while thinking of their own miserable fate, do not realize that the tears like a broken string of pearls rolled down the cheeks, dripping into the neck of Langdama. Langdama looked up and saw that it was the woman he had brought back from that hunting trip, so he asked, "Hey, why are you crying? Why are you crying?"
"I think it must be killing me!"
"How can I not kill you? You'll go around saying, 'There are horns on Rangdama's head! Rangdharma has horns on his head!' What's wrong with that, won't the people kill me?"
Drolma pleaded, "Your Majesty, you are afraid that I will talk nonsense, aren't you? I will never tell anyone else, I will always comb your hair, so no one else will ever know your secret!"
"No, I don't believe you!"
"I can swear that I will keep my word and never tell it to a second person."
Randamar couldn't bear to kill the beautiful woman any longer, and after a moment's meditation he said, "All right! Then take an oath!" Drolma took the oath.
Rang Dharma did not kill her. She was the first woman to comb her hair and go back to being among her female companions.
Though Drolma swore, she could not hold it in her heart; she was furious with this enemy, this great demon lord. How good it was that people should know about this affair of his! But he himself swore an oath, swore an oath can not break the oath.
One day, when she went out again to wash the wool, there was no one around. The sharp, hard horns on Rangdharma's head dangled before her eyes. She really wanted to tell the ugly story. At that moment, she crouched down and said to the rat hole, "Hey! Did you know that Rangdharma had horns on his head? Rangdharma has horns on his head!" After she had said this, she felt very comfortable and happy, and was satisfied that she had not broken her vow.
Strangely enough, after that day, a bamboo tree grew on the mouse's hole, and it grew day by day, and grew thin and slender, and was beautiful to look at.
Then the hunter, with his little black dog, was looking for his wife, and wandering about, drifted to this place. He found this bamboo tree, and thought, "I'll cut it down and make a flute to play to relieve my boredom. So he cut down the bamboo and made a flute. This strange flute did not play a happy tune, nor a sad tune, but from it came a voice he was familiar with, "Hey, you know what? Did you know? Rangdharma's head has horns!" He then realized that Droma had been snatched away by Rangdama.
He took his strange flute and ran around, blowing it everywhere, in all the towns, in all the villages, in all the pastures. The people, realizing that the Rangdharma on their heads was a goblin with horns, rose up in revolt. Finally, a hero wearing white clothes and riding a white horse killed Rangdharma with an arrow and freed the people from their suffering.
Since then, the hunter has been traveling with his wife, playing his flute. The flute played a joyful tune all the time. He made a tune of his story, and played and sang it everywhere. People loved the hunter and the strange flute.
Narrated by Kelsang Lam Translated by Wang Yao