The Religious Culture of the Rgyalrong Tibetan Community

Lang Weiwei　Zhou Yongjun

Abstract:In the upper reaches of the Dadu River in the Hengduan mountain range in Southwest China, the indigenous Tibetans call themselves the “k紃u”or“k紃a” which is transliterated as 嘉絨 (or Jiarong) in Han Chinese. Shen Village is a village in the Rgyalrong Tibetan area. It is located along the 玿iao jinhe(Little Golden River) , a tributary in the upper reaches of the Dadu River. It is an administrative village, as well as a natural village, and belongs to Badi Township of Danba County. There are 60 households and 273 people in this village, and all of them are Tibetan. This article takes the religious culture of the Rgyalrong Tibetans in Shen village as the research focus, and describes the general situation of religious culture in the Rgyalrong Tibetan village community. This might be useful for helping readers to understand both the uniqueness and diversity of Tibetan religious culture.

I.Two Religions in Shen Village and the Circumstances of the Beliefs of the Villagers

Tibetans have created unique high plateau civilization, of which their religious culture is one of the most representative aspects. Religious culture, which takes Tibetan Buddhism as its core, together with the popular religious cultures in the Tibetan area, constitutes an important part of the Tibetan culture, and, it has become one of the ethnic markers of Tibetans. In the area of Rgyalrong, Tibetans, like those in Shen Village, not only practice Tibetan Buddhism, which is the most representative aspect of their spiritual culture, but they also practice another kind of popular religion called “Gengbo” in the village community. This kind of religion or belief system is present in a much more folksy way in the villagers daily life, and is characterized by its universality. The choice of the villagers in Shen Village, with regard to their religious beliefs, is decided completely by themselves, and they organize various folk activities which have religious meaning in accordance with their wishes. The meaning of some activities is not limited to the ritual itself, but it reflects the villagers psychological needs and their cultural identity in relationship to traditional morality and ethics.

According to this investigation, religious beliefs in Shen village can be divided into two kinds: one is Tibetan Buddhism, commonly known as Lamaism. Tibetan Buddhism in Danba County where Shen village is located includes four schools of Buddhism, including Gelug, Nyingma, Bon, and Sakya. These are commonly known respectively as the Yellow, Red, Black and Multi-colored (hat) schools.

The other is a religion called “Gengbo” by the villagers of Shen village. Some people in the upper reaches of the Dadu River also call it “Gongba”. The difference in pronunciation is due to dialect differences. The word means practitioner. As a popular religion, Gengbo is very widespread in the Dadu River area. Its influence and role competes with Tibetan Buddhism. “Gengbo” has no fixed place for religious practice or worship; Gengbo practitioners do not separate themselves from the daily modes of production and they can marry; and their religious rules and activities are closer to those of people. It is very popular and widespread.Whenever there are weddings, funerals, house building festivities, and birthday celebrations, Gengbo practitioners will be invited to chant and do divinations. In the past, every large village had one or two “Gengbo” practitioners. Because local people believe that the rituals held by “Gengbo” practitioners are more efficient, it is very popular to invite “Gengbo” to hold rituals.Sometimes, the villagers will invite both lamas and “Gengbo” to conduct rituals in their homes. There are no conflicts between the two religions, and the villagers accept them both.

Religious belief is a self choice of the villagers, and also a spiritual cultural of Shen Village. There are villagers who think that the invitation of Lama or “Gengbo” to hold rituals is neither a matter of superstition, nor entirely a matter of belief in the sense of religion. The transmission of “Gengbo” depends on male, and if a village has no “Gengbo”, the villagers will invite one from other villages when they need. In the villagers mind, both religions are important, hence, the local government also treats the two religions equally based on the principle of freedom of religious belief.

II. An Interpretation of the Relationship between the Two Religions in Shen Village using the Theoretical Framework of the “Great and Little Tradition”

The villagers acceptance of Tibetan Buddhism and “Gengbo” illustrates that both religions are important, and they form a complete cognitive system for the village community. How do the two religions co-exist? We can use the tool of the “Great and Little Tradition” in anthropological theory to explain this phenomenon.

By putting Tibetan Buddhism and the popular belief of “Gengbo”of Shen village within the framework of the “Great and Little Tradition”, we can explain the co-existence and interactional relationship between the two religions. Tibetan Buddhism is a main cultural feature of all of Tibetan traditional society. However, the creation of this cultural system is an advanced and complicated spiritual activity. Hence, it can only be studied and created by a small number of monks in the temples. Obviously, it belongs to the so-called “Great Tradition”. The scriptures, ritual rules and doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism are ideologically complex.

This kind of worldview of religion will have a direct influence on the villagers view of life during the process of transmission.

It can be regarded as the standard or criterion of the individual餾 behavior required by traditional society within the spiritual sphere.

“Gengbo” belief is a kind of “Little Tradition”. It belongs to realm of folk beliefs or folk religious culture. In the opinion of Mr. Ma Changshou, this kind of religion belongs to a shamanistic religion, and it has a very close relationship with the reality of the villager餾 life. This religion plays a role in the following: 1. healing; 2.maintaining the peace of the household ; 3. guaranteeing safe journeys;4. conquering demons; 5. praying for a good harvest; and 6. praying for long life. Obviously, “Gengbo” beliefs are closely related to daily life. This is the concept of “this worldliness” which is found in the villagers secular life. It is the root of pragmatism in the common people餾 culture, and it is as important as the “Great Tradition”. The relationship between the Great and Little Tradition is one of complementarity. In the minds of the villagers, although the Lamas are important, they do not need to invite them (to their houses) every day—obviously, Tibetan Buddhism is not completely a culture of the common people. On the contrary, they cannot be separated from “Gengbo” culture, with strong local characteristics, for a moment—obviously, it is a “grass root” culture inherited naturally among the people. The reason why Tibetan Buddhism is able to take root in the various Tibetan areas is that it tolerates those little traditions, such as “Gengbo”. Meanwhile, it can emerge into the sphere of villagers social life through folk religious activities. It could be said that this is a kind of interaction which is complementary with “Gengbo” culture. Regarding the Little Tradition like “Gengbo”, although it plays a constant role in the lives of the villagers, it also expands its influence by drawing upon some aspects of the “Great tradition”. If we understand the beliefs of villagers in Shen Village through the theory of “Great and Little Tradition”, we see no suspicions of mutual exclusivity between the two religions. No matter whether it is the Great Tradition or the Little Tradition, they both represent the religious culture of Shen village. These two kinds of religions co-exist in the entire Rgyalrong Tibetan area, and form the ethnic characteristics accepted by the villagers.

III. Shen Village Religion as Expressed in the Dwellings and Settlement

Most people in the areas in the upper reaches of the Dadu River, including Shen Village, still construct their houses using ancient stone building techniques, and their houses form a unique culture of dwellings and settlement. The transition between winter and spring is the time when locals build houses. The first thing to do when building a house is to invite the “Gengbo”. Through chanting, divination and geomancy, he will help the host choose the location of the house, and determine the starting date for construction.No matter whether the person is laying the foundation, or completing the construction, the “Gengbo” will be invited. If an old house has disaster, the “Gengbo” will be invited to chant. This ritual of “anzhai”(praying for the peace of the house) has not changed till present time.

In Badi township, where Shen village is located,the people餾 religious beliefs are very strong; all the villagers keep a place in their house for worshipping deities. Just like the Han Chinese people have shrines in their houses, Tibetan households also have chapels in their houses. These tell us that the residents daily life is closely connected with spiritual worship. The residential dwellings describe a system to us—the first story and second story of the houses are for domestic animals and grains, these are the things which provide the material base of the family餾 life. The middle story of the house is for the people餾 daily life and social communication, which indicates that the people cannot be separated from the nature, and also cannot be separated from social needs. The top story of the house is the place for worship, which reflects the spiritual culture of the people. There are monasteries belonging to the Gelug school of Buddhism and Bon monasteries near the villages of Shen village. Moreover, there are many sacred mountains worshiped by the villagers in the surrounding areas. Hence, it is very convenient for the villagers who believe in different religious schools. In rural society, the function of dwellings is the best interpretation of rural culture—man cannot live without material things, and also cannot live without spiritual things, and, of course, man cannot separate himself from society. Therefore, in a relatively complete farming community, the local people will create a system of harmony and orderly living. From the dwellings of Shen village, we can observe how the villagers manage the relationship between the nature and society, between the man and deities.

In conclusion, we discovered from this fieldtrip that the religious culture of the Rgyalrong Tibetan village communities have some basic characteristics: 1. The village community has maintained two traditional religions. Speaking from the perspective of the social functions of the religions, they are distinct from each other and have obvious differences. However, the two co-exist without any mutual exclusion. Both of them are accepted by the villagers. The relationship between the two religions could be explained through the theory of Great and Little Tradition. 2.

In the village, religion and culture are mixed together—religion has its cultural function, and it is also attached to the cultural entity. Both material and spiritual culture have a religious color; religious culture could be regarded as the way of living for the villagers, or their attitude to life. Tibetan Buddhism mainly plays its role in the village people to influence their spiritual culture through tangible ways, such as temples, chapels, monks, rituals, and through its intangible culture, such as religious philosophy, morality, literature, arts and scriptures. “Gengbo” belief is reflected through religious rituals which are closer to the villagers daily life, ones which satisfy their psychological needs, so that the villagers can acquire inner peace and relief. Objectively speaking, the two religions have gradually infiltrated and transformed into psychological customs and ethnic feelings of the villagers through long-term accumulation, and they have become the spiritual elements that bind the village community together.

Key Words: Rgyalrong Tibetan; village community; religious culture

Reference:

Ma Changshou. 玝enjiao yuanliu(The Origion of the Bon Religion), 獻n 玬inzuxue yanjiu jikan(Series of Ethnology Studies),1943(3).