Tibetan Costume
01 · Historical Records
During the Tibetan Empire (Tubo) of the 7th century, the Zha Zha costume was esteemed in society as a mark of refined and elevated living. In research on cultural exchange between the Tubo dynasty and the Central Plains region, and on 7th-century Tibetan history, culture, art, and folk customs, the Zha Zha costume has important reference value. The Tibetan women's costume of Kejia Village in Burang County originated in the Later Dissemination period, and has a history of more than eight hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It chiefly comprises such types as the Zha Zha costume of Comai County, the Gongbu Tibetan costume of Nyingchi, the Kejia women's costume, the Amdo costume of northern Tibet, the Baza Tibetan costume, the traditional dress of Yushu, and the Huare costume. Among the costume items, the coloured boots known as 'Jiaqian' are said to have originally been a tribute paid by Zegu Dzong to the local government; they have thick soles and tough leather uppers, and are handsome and comfortable to wear. This costume went through a process of development from plain and practical to splendid and generous in style; its emergence was closely tied to the life customs of the Tibetan ancestors of the Gongbu region, who herded livestock, hunted, and felled trees. The Gongbu Tibetan costume of Nyingchi falls broadly into three types: festival finery, everyday clothing, and work clothes worn for particular kinds of labour. It includes such styles as collarless coats and sleeveless coats; the making is simple and the style splendid. With rising living standards, the Gongbu Tibetan costume of Nyingchi has been further developed and refined in craftsmanship, materials, and the pairing of ornaments, growing ever more luxurious and attractive while its original form remains unchanged. This costume consists of two main parts, clothing and jewellery. The clothing part is made up of a coffee-brown pulu women's Tibetan robe, rainbow shoes, a shoulder cape, a hat, lambskin, otter fur, satin, and the like; the jewellery part consists of 6,815 ornaments, including Gaqiong, Galei, Jiwu, Qiaqia, Bata, Nayu, square pieces of natural gold, a jadeite vase, coral, silver plates, silver grains, turquoise, a super-fine silver chain, and a super-fine turquoise chain. The Kejia women's costume has a distinctive shape and a noble, elegant style; exaggerated artistic means are used in its design, displaying rich imagination and inspiring wonder. Amdo herders have worn sheepskin Tibetan robes for generations to withstand the cold climate, and under these conditions the Amdo costume has come to differ considerably from the costume of other Tibetan regions — a difference that is especially evident in the making of hats. Amdo uses lambskin, silk, and the like as raw materials for hats; a small post rolled from cloth strips stands upright at the centre of the crown, some twenty to thirty centimetres high. The Amdo costume has more than 180 different styles. Herders' dress is divided into everyday wear and festival or ceremonial wear: everyday wear stresses lightness and durability, while festival and ceremonial wear emphasizes fineness and dignity. Amdo Tibetan robes are often worn with accessories; men's belts usually carry a waist knife, a fire striker, and a cartridge pouch, which reflects the character of nomadic culture while also connecting with modern life. The costume of the Baza area in Shenza County uses locally produced wool as its raw material, and its styles and forms are highly distinctive. This costume is made by hand by the herders themselves, and the craft has been passed down from generation to generation within families without interruption. The hand embroidery on the garments is simple and elegant with profound meaning, and the accessories matched with the clothing are exquisite, distinctive, and handsome. Yushu traditional dress is made up of two main parts, clothing and ornament. The clothing part chiefly includes the Tibetan robe, Tibetan hat, Tibetan jacket, Tibetan trousers, and Tibetan boots. The Tibetan robe takes the traditional long Tibetan gown as its basic cut and is divided into winter and summer types; the most common winter garments include Chari Sanggu, Lecha, and Chari, while summer garments include Gama Sanggu, Jinxin, and Gama. In addition, Yushu dress distinguishes everyday wear from ceremonial wear: everyday wear uses various cloths, pulu, sheepskin, and lambskin, while ceremonial wear uses various woollens, silks and satins, pulu, lambskin, and fox fur. The people of Yushu call Tibetan boots 'lang'; Yushu Tibetan boots come in many kinds, with different styles such as 'Nanglang', 'Gaolang', 'Zangba Gayi', and 'Guozilang'. The ornamental part of Yushu traditional dress consists mainly of head ornaments, earrings, necklaces, hand ornaments, and waist ornaments, displaying a strong local and ethnic character. Huare Tibetan costume differs between men and women. In men's dress white is regarded as auspicious, and dark blue, purple, and grass-yellow are commonly used; the Tibetan robe is loose and wide, its length falling past the body, and it uses no buttons. Huare Tibetan men usually wear a white jacket of coarse cloth, light-coloured cloth trousers, and either a lined fur coat with a collar of lambskin or leopard skin and edges trimmed with lambskin or pulu, or a white board-leather coat, with a red silk sash at the waist. Huare Tibetan women wear, in summer, a white felt hat with a pointed top, black inlay, and a red tassel on the crown, together with a cloth robe and Tibetan boots; in winter they wear the four-eared fur hat known as the 'Four Tiles', and a lined fur robe with a fox-fur collar and otter-fur trim. The most distinctive item of Huare Tibetan costume is the white tall-crowned felt hat; this felt hat is set with copper and silver mounts at the crown and topped with red tassels, giving it a splendid style and unique form. The Huare costume preserves the original forms of many Huare Tibetan folk arts and handicrafts, and plays an important role in the transmission of Tibetan folk culture.
Spinning and dyeing Baza local wool
Baza garments are made from local wool, spun and woven within each herding household into a coarse, cold-proof cloth.
Skill passed on inside the household
Baza craft is handed down inside the household, keeping the style stable and equally slow to change.
Growing from two sets to sixty
From two original sets the Baza wardrobe grew to over sixty, each addition kept together with its making notes.
Teaching in the transmission base
Teaching combines design, cutting and transmission in working bases where apprentices cut and sew real garments.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Traditional Tibetan costume is found mainly in Tibetan-inhabited areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. The Zha Zha costume of Comai County has a long history, and its origin is the subject of moving local legends. The Gongbu Tibetan costume of Nyingchi has been strongly shaped by the special living environment of the area, and so differs considerably from the costume of other Tibetan regions.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume · Tibetan Costume.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Amdo costume of northern Tibet has a long history: it matured under the influence of other ethnic cultures during the High Tang period and has been transmitted for more than thirteen hundred years. The Baza Tibetan costume is a vivid reflection of local folk customs, history, and the customs of production and daily life, and has a certain value for research in sociology, folklore, and history and culture. Tibetan costume is an indispensable and important component of Tibetan culture; it embodies the wisdom of the Tibetan people and has distinctive value for research in Tibetan studies, sociology, ethnology, folklore, the history of ethnic minority dress, and history and culture. Ciren Wangdui (from the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Tibetan, born in January 1947, from Shenza County, Tibet Autonomous Region. Between 1988 and 2008, as his skill grew steadily more accomplished, he gradually developed into the best-known representative inheritor of the Baza costume in the locality. In teaching he passes on to his apprentices, without reservation, the skills he has mastered, and he regularly runs lectures on garment-making knowledge and holds forums on innovation in garment production. Representative inheritor of Tibetan costume, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item (fifth national-level batch). Over more than forty years in the craft, under his master's guidance and through his own unceasing effort, he has expanded the Baza costume repertoire from the original two sets to more than sixty today; he has long worked on the design, cutting, and teaching of Baza garments at the intangible cultural heritage training base in Village No. 1 of Baza Township and the productive-protection demonstration base in Village No. 6 of Shenza Town.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Danzengduojie 04-1983
- Awangdanda 05-3047
- Nanbu 05-3048
- Cirenwangdui 05-3049
- Jiayangzhuoma 05-3050
- Jialanben
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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