Tibetan Culture and Heritage - Now and for the Future

Rokpa's work to benefit Tibetans in China over the last 16 years has had the support of the Tibetan culture and language very much in mind throughout. Many graduates are now earning their living with the crafts they have learnt at Rokpa supported schools and over 300 graduates of traditional Tibetan medicine are now working as doctors in their communities. Graduates from monastic colleges have been able to return and run their remote monasteries and lead their communities.

However, historical facts and the meaning of places of spiritual importance are becoming lost or at least a hazy memory, and much of the crucially important inspirational facts could soon be forgotten. In order to address this Rokpa will be funding the building of a number of Buddhist shrines, represented by Chotens (or Stupas), with explanatory plaques in places of historical importance.

Tibetan language

Because the Tibetan cultural area is so large it can be very difficult for speakers of the different dialects of Tibetan to understand each other. This has encouraged the use of Chinese as a common language, a trend which has been accelerated by the influx of Chinese into areas which were before mainly populated by Tibetan speakers. As a result there are now some areas where Tibetans are unable to speak their own language.

In 1986 Central Government made it law that all minorities could practice their own culture and religion. However this was not always put into practice at local level, in either education or bureaucracy. For the last 16 years Rokpa has been one of the main agencies through which this situation is being progressively addressed and slowly changed. Rokpa supported schools use Tibetan as the teaching medium as much as possible and Rokpa has trained many Tibetan teachers. In some areas adults are also encouraged to learn Tibetan. In the past couple of years the prestige of the Tibetan language has begun to increase again to the extent that is now appearing as the main language for shops and on other signs.

Tibetan Art and crafts

With their traditional guidelines for the proportions and positioning of the figures portrayed in paintings, Tibetan art and crafts have taken their inspiration and guidance from Tibetan Buddhism for the last two thousand years. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution much of this cultural heritage was destroyed and many of the highly skilled artists died. This has made it extremely difficult to find artists with the requisite skills, as well as those skilled in traditional furniture making, carving and metalwork.

In 1995 Rokpa began introducing vocational training into the schools it supported. This includes skills such as building, machinery repair and sewing, but there are also opportunities to learn traditional crafts. Craft training begins with at least one year's foundation in art, after which students can study carving, woodwork and clay modeling. The training on offer is dependent upon whether good teachers can be found. As these skills are now rare those possessing them can command a high salary.

Despite the cost of employing such teachers, this has proved to be an extremely worthwhile investment, as many Rokpa students are now qualifying and able to earn their living within their communities. Besides having an economic benefit for these individuals and their communities, the training provided by Rokpa has also contributed to a revival in the general quality of work now being produced.

Tibetan Dress

In most areas the traditional dress for both men and women consists of the chuba, a long wrap-around cloth tied at the waist, with men tending to wear a shorter chuba with pantaloons. There are many distinctive variations in how the chuba is worn, each indicating the wearer's area or a particular symbolic significance.

Despite the encouragement of traditional Tibetan costume by Rokpa, including its use as school uniforms, western-style dress is now the most common. Even though it is often of very poor quality, and is unsuited to the winter climate, the popularity of western clothing means that the use of traditional Tibetan dress is now usually restricted to ceremonial occasions, the more remote areas, and amongst older people.

Dance and Song

With each area having their own distinctive styles, there is a huge variety of traditional songs and dances throughout Tibetan areas.

The most ancient songs are sung without any accompaniment and one can imagine them being sung high in the mountains as shepherds took care of the animals.

Dances performed by lay-people follow very different traditions to those performed at religious establishments. Depicting aspects of Buddhist philosophy, they can be amazingly spectacular, involving the use of masks, extremely colourful costumes, and the playing of horns, cymbals, and other traditional Tibetan instruments.

As a result of the huge social and cultural changes experienced by the Tibetan areas, many of these dances and songs are being forgotten. In response to this, Rokpa has encouraged the children it supports to take part in dancing and singing as an after-school activity, with some schools being provided with a dance teacher.

Architecture and Building

Each area of Tibet has its own distinctive styles of traditional building. In Kanze, which was once thickly forested, houses are built of wood, colourfully painted and with traditional motifs under the eaves. Further south, where it is more easily-available, they are built of stone, whilst in other areas houses are made of tamped earth. In all areas it was traditional for everyone in the family and neighbourhood to come together to help with the building. The pace of the building is set by lunar stages and often in accordance with the advice of the Lama from the local monastery.

With the influx of more western-style building methods into the Tibetan areas these traditions have been abandoned in favour of methods considered to be more efficient. As part of the vocational education it provides Rokpa gives training in these modern methods although wherever possible these contemporary materials are used to decorate the new schools in a traditional style.