Tibetan Crafts Lover
Teacher Zhou is my mother’s Buddhist mentor. They got to know each other when I was in first grade and formed a female nun group of more than a dozen people. The women have been studying Buddhism together for more than ten years. Approaching the short-haired, bright-eyed Zhou, one is naturally enveloped by her tranquil, almost otherworldly atmosphere: the calmness she radiates allows people to feel stability in this ever-changing world. Teacher Zhou herself is very knowledgeable in writing, calligraphy, and painting. I am very fortunate to follow her guidance when exploring Tibetan intangible cultural heritage crafts such as Thangka, pottery, incense, medicine, tea, Dui embroidery, tapestries, and so on.
“Teacher Zhou, I hear you mentioning crafts from Zamthang (in our culture, Rangtang) County quite often. Have you ever been there? Is it really as beautiful as you say?”
“It is a place that can cleanse the soul,” Teacher Zhou said yearningly, “Rangtang is in the west of the Aba Prefecture. In Tibetan, it means the place where the God of Wealth lives. To quote a beautiful poem, ‘The mountains and waters are green; connected, thousands of miles of clouds fly into the sky.’ Snow-capped mountains there are continuous and vast, and the pastoral scenery is so poetic... Rangtang is such a pure land. Here lies the world’s largest stone-carved Tripitaka, the ‘king of Tibetan houses’ Rismanba blockhouse, ancient Sanskrit music, and other intangible cultural heritages. The current best industry in Rangtang is, in fact, the intangible cultural heritage industry, which is in a stage of vigorous development.”
“That sounds beautiful. What are some crafts that you think are unique?”
“Let me start with the incense that I use every day. The history of making Tibetan incense can be traced back over 2,000 years. Rangtang County forms a unique school of it: Juenang Tibetan incense is made of more than 360 ecological raw materials, including many rare local herbs, such as saffron, a Tibetan variant of the Angelica plant, Tangut blue (Dracocephalum tanguticum), and hundreds more. The materials also include hard ores, which are hand-ground into powder. Every step of their incense making—collection, drying, grinding, blending, and finally making the solid incense—adheres strictly to the ancient rules. The masters believe that what has been passed down has been completely preserved and continued by doctors and Zen masters of all generations, and ancient wisdom positively affects our bodies and minds.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect the plain-looking Tibetan incense to entail so much in its making. I’ll treasure that information. Teacher Zhou, I also heard that Tibetan families usually prepare special carpets or tapestries to protect themselves from cold winters. Is this true?”
“Yes, thick Tibetan tapestries are a basic necessity for families in the local area and are used for purposes ranging from sleeping to saddling one’s horse. They’re made from highland sheep’s wool, and artisans use a special knotting method that sets them apart from the rest of the world. Tibetan carpets also have a specific cultural inheritance, expressing people’s love and yearning for life. That’s demonstrated in the rugs’ patterns—often holding specific motifs in Tibetan culture.”
“Rugs aren’t as common an element in Han Chinese culture, and it’s fascinating to see that it’s such a huge part of another lifestyle,” I said.
“Did you know there is a mysterious and particularly magical existence among these goodies: Tibetan medicine?” Teacher Zhou asked me, her eyes glinting mischievously.
“I like to smell most of them, but some are a bit intolerable.” I’ve smelled saffron and various Tibetan plants before, thanks to the bottles of Tibetan local hair wash and beauty products my mom brings home. Among them, Skunkvine is one that I still can’t stand. It bears a striking resemblance to foot odors.
“That’s a good thing. They’re especially helpful for moisturizing and even anti-inflammatory purposes,” Teacher Zhou said, “I believe that the magic of Tibetan medicine is due to Rangtang plants, which grow at an altitude of more than 3,300 meters. Local Tibetans have studied and used endemic plants for centuries for nutritional and medicinal purposes. Local doctors calculate the best days of collection each year based on the configuration of celestial bodies and use special formulas to make various magical Tibetan medicines. Have you ever heard of Tibetan medicinal baths?”
I have not heard of those.
“If you are tired from studying, you can try it. Our students at Rangtang Kalachakra Tibetan Medicine Institute (壤塘县时轮藏医药传习所专业合作社) handpick the medicine in all four seasons. Tibetan medicinal bath, also known as the five-flavored nectar bath, has a beautiful story about its origin. In the eighth century A.D., the great Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava traveled from India to the snow-covered Tibetan plateau to spread Buddhism. Seeing people suffering from diseases, he asked the twelve mountain gods to each find a hot spring and condense the natural medicinal stones into nectar so that all living beings could cure their diseases, prolong their lives, and feel happy and at ease. Tibetan medicine baths thus became one of the most popular therapies among locals. Its most significant purposes are speeding blood circulation, moisturizing, and opening pores. The drug is directly absorbed through the skin and enters the meridians, then distributed throughout the body to exert its pharmacological effects. Very effective for, for instance, the Rheumatic disorder.”
“That’s wonderful and very convincing. I feel the need to get some for my grandmother now, who suffers from a slight Rheumatic disorder,” I said.
As someone who doesn’t know much about medicine and other Tibetan crafts, I wonder if local forms of medical treatment can co-exist with Western medicine in a world dominated by the latter. Herbal bathing is an ethnomedicine I almost never see my American peers using. Still, it has clear effects in curing particular diseases and should not be ignored as a form of treatment. In light of scientific knowledge, perhaps evaluating ethnomedicine from a scientific lens can unearth unexpected solutions to present problems.
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