Tibetan Minority Image Library

Author: Editorial Committee of "Yunnan Ethnic Minority Album"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book is one of the series "Yunnan Ethnic Minority Album." The series consists of twelve volumes, each being a square 48-page hardcover book with full-color printing, priced at 24 yuan per volume, and the set is priced at 144 yuan. It provides detailed introductions to the ethnic landscapes, historical sites, religions, festivals, clothing, arts, lifestyles, labor, customs, and more of over ten ethnic minorities, including the Lisu, (), Dai, Wa, Lahu, Miao, Naxi, Yao, Jingpo, and others. The beautiful images will satisfy your eyes!
The Tibetan ethnic group is a historically long-standing minority in western China, primarily distributed in the Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. In Yunnan Province, the Tibetan people are mainly concentrated in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with a few scattered in counties like Lijiang and Gongshan. There are 4.59 million Tibetans in China, and today, there are approximately 128,000 Tibetans in Yunnan. The Tibetan people uniformly refer to themselves as "Boba." In Tibetan, "Bo" means "Lipo," which is phonetically similar to "Tubo" recorded in Chinese historical documents; "Ba" means "people." The Tibetan people in Yunnan's northwest self-identify as "Boba," while the Han call them "Guzong," the Naxi call them "Guzi," the Bai call them "Guer," and the Yi call them "Ezou." All these exonyms carry the meaning of "owners of the land," leading some scholars to believe that the Tibetan people in Yunnan are among the earlier tribes of the ancient Qiang people to settle in southwestern China.
The Tibetan language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is divided into three dialects: Weizang, Amdo, and Kang. The Tibetan language spoken by the Tibetan people in Yunnan belongs to the Kang dialect. Due to differences in their residential areas, there are variations in pronunciation such as Zhongdian, Dongwang, Deqin, and Weixi, but all dialects are mutually intelligible. In the vast Tibetan classics, a large number of historical, geographical, astronomical, medical, and folk tales have been preserved.