Ganzi Journey: Danba Jiarong Tibetan Girl Coming-of-age Ceremony

The Jiarong Tibetan people in Danba, Sichuan still maintain the long-standing custom of women's adult rites. A reporter from China News Service recently interviewed in Ganzi Prefecture and had the honor to witness the entire process of women's coming of age ceremony in Jiarong Tibetan areas.

In the early morning, the sun shines on the beautiful Jiarong Tibetan Village. In Zhonglu Township, Danba County, the girl Bai Malam gets up early and begins to dress up carefully with the help of her family.

The hair is divided into three pigtails on the left and right, and the rest of the hair is braided into 105 pretty pigtails. Later, the old lady who was combing her hair, Xi Wawamam gathered the pigtails of white Malam behind her head with her hand and took out a hairpin about 50 centimeters long and inserted it into the journey. This kind of bun is called "Dai Jiao Jiao" locally.

In recent years, many scholars at home and abroad have gone to Middle Road and Suopo Township in Danba County to find the capital cities of the "East Women Kingdom" during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Eastern Women's Kingdom "records the custom of women in the Eastern Women's Kingdom braiding their hair, with the hairstyle of a bun. At the adult ceremonies of Zhonglu and Suopo, the girl's headwear was in the shape of a bun around her head, which further confirmed that Danba girls 'hair and hairpin were passed down from the "Eastern Women's Kingdom".

In addition to the complex shape of the head, what a woman wears during the coming of age ceremony is also a top priority for the girl's family. The corals, agates, pearls, seashells and other ornaments worn by Bai Malam were purchased by his ancestors and passed down from generation to generation. The dress of a girl marks the wealth of a family. When buying fancy clothes and beautiful decorations for their daughters, parents are never stingy.

In Tibetan language, the rite of passage for women means "wearing new clothes." According to the traditional customs in the past, only after the ceremony can Jiarong Tibetan girls formally enter adult society, participate in social activities, and then talk about marriage.

Baimaram, who wore a bun, a headdress and a hada on his shoulders, slowly walked to the ceremony site in silence. At the scene of the girl's adult ceremony, gongs and drums burst, suona sound, smoke curling from simmering mulberry trees rises above the dam, and the air is filled with attractive fragrance. An elderly man came to her to deliver a congratulatory message, bringing the blessings of the mountain god and the blessings of everyone present.

After the praying, Baimalam and the villagers jumped into the pot village hand in hand. After the Guozhuang dance, Baimalam also thanked the villagers one by one, and the adult ceremony ended.

"I started to wash my hair three days before the ceremony. My family also helped me remove the hair on my forehead and short hair that couldn't be plaited into pigtails. When I went to bed last night, they also put on a clean pillow and wrapped my hair in satin." Bai Malam said that although the preparations for the ceremony were cumbersome, he was very happy that he grew up.

"I also participated in the 'bar mitzvah' when I was a girl. The preparation work at that time was much more complicated than this." The old Tibetan grandma Siraolam proudly said,"Some time before the ceremony, parents would ask the girl to stop working and cultivate at home so that her daughter can maintain her skin and be more likable."

Nowadays, with the development of Tibetan society in Sichuan, some traditional concepts are gradually changing. In order to protect and inherit this ancient custom in the Danba Jiarong Tibetan area, the woman's adult ceremony was officially included in the Sichuan Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008. Editor: Yang Xi)