Glossary

ABBREVIATIONS

C: Chinese

T: Tibetan

S: Sanskrit

Aba: Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan

Ganzi: Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan

Ya’an: Ya’an Prefecture, Sichuan

Aba Zangzu Qiangzu Zizhizhou (C) / Rnga Ba Bod Rigs Dang Chang Rigs Rang Skyong Khul (T) Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

baimian shusheng (C) pallid-faced scholars

baoshou (C) conservative

Baoxing (C) county in Ya’an

bashe (T) a circle dance popular in the Kham region

Beishi (C) History of the Northern Dynasty (386–581), compiled in the seventh century

Berotsana (S) / Bai Ro Tsa Na (T) (8th century) one of the first ordained monks in Tibetan Buddhism

Bon / Bon po (T) an indigenous religion in Tibet

Chamdo (T) / Changdu (C) prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region

Chen Duxiu (C) (1879–1942) a leading figure in the New Culture Movement and cofounder of the Chinese Community Party

Chengdu (C) capital of Sichuan

chiku (C) “eat bitterness”; endure suffering

Cong Ling (C) ancient name of the Pamir Mountains in western China and southeastern Central Asia

cun tianli mie renyu (C) , maintaining the heavenly principle and eradicating the human desire

cunrong zhengjie (C) neat and clean village

Dadu (C) major river in Gyarong

Dajinchuan (C) historical kingdom in Gyarong; today’s Jinchuan County, Aba

Danba (C) county in Ganzi

Dazhai (C) one of the three segments of Suopo Township

diaolou (C) stone watchtowers widespread in Danba and Gyarong

diaomin (C) rogue civilians

difang minzu zhuyi (C) local ethno-nationalism

Dongfeng (C) village in Suopo Township

Dongnü Gudu (C) Ancient Capital of the Eastern Queendom

Dongnüguo (C) a historically recorded kingdom ruled by women in the Sui and Tang periods

“Dongnüguo guodu fuchu shuimian” (C) “The Capital of the Eastern Queendom Comes to Light,” a newspaper article

Dujiangyan (C) county-level city in Chengdu, Sichuan

duo minzu de tongyi guojia (C) a unified country of diverse ethnic groups

duoyuan yiti geju (C) “a single unity with multiple cells,” an expression coined by Fei Xiaotong, meaning that as indispensable members of multiethnic China, both Han and minorities contribute equally to its unity and diversity

Fei Xiaotong (C) (1910–2005) leading Chinese sociologist-anthropologist of the twentieth century

feiwuzhi wenhua yichan (C) intangible cultural heritage

Ganzi Zangzu Zizhizhou (C) / Dkar Mdzes Bod Rigs Rang Skyong Khul (T) Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Gelugpa (T) a major school of Tibetan Buddhism

geshe (T) a prestigious degree in the Gelupa School of Tibetan Buddhism

guanjingtai (C) viewpoint platform

guanli minzhu (C) democratic management

Gyarong / rGyalrong / Rgyal Rong / Shar Rgyal Mo Tsa Ba Rong (T) the temperate agricultural area ruled by the queen in the east, or the temperate agricultural area around Mount Murdu in the east

Gyarongwa (T) people from Gyarong

Hantuan (C) Han Gang

hefa quanyi (C) lawful rights and interests

Heishui (C) county in Aba

Hongyuan (C) / Khyung Mchu (T) / Rka Khog Rdzong (T) county in Aba

huinong zhengce (C) preferential policies for peasants

huodongfei (C) activity fees

Jiaju (C) village in Danba

Jialiangyi (C) tribe in northwestern Sichuan in the Sui dynasty, sixth to seventh century

Jiarong Fengqingjie (C) Gyarong Charm Festival

jiben guoce (C) basic national policy

jingji tounao (C) economic minds

jiti shangfang (C) group appeals to higher authority

Jiu tangshu (C) Old Tang History, the earliest extant systematic historical record of the Tang dynasty (618–907), completed in the tenth century

kaifang (C) open

Kangding (C) capital of Ganzi

kewei (C) science commission

Khyung (T) a legendary bird in Tibetan tradition

kordro (T) a circle dance popular among Tibetans and other ethnic groups

Lang tuteng (C) Wolf Totem, a novel by Jiang Rong

laonian xiehui (C) seniors association

li (C) proper rites

Lu Xun (C) (1881–1936) one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century in China

luan gao (C) casual sexual intercourse

Luhuo (C) / Brag Mgo Rdzong (T) county in Ganzi

Maerkang (C) / ‘Bar Khams (T) capital of Aba

Meirengu (C) Valley of Beauties

Mianning (C) county in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan

minjian shetuan (C) popular association

Minzhu Gaige (C) Democratic Reform; a political movement oriented toward ethnic minority regions, particularly Tibetan areas, in the late 1950s, that aimed to eradicate feudalism and theocracy, carry out land reforms, and establish the so-called people’s democratic regime

minzhu guanli (C) democratic administration

minzhu jiandu (C) democratic superintendence

minzhu juece (C) democratic decision making

minzhu xuanju (C) democratic elections

Moluo (C) village in Suopo Township, Danba

Moluo lüyou xiehui (C) Moluo Tourism Association

Mosuo (C) a people with a matrilineal culture residing at Lugu Lake on the Sichuan-Yunnan border

Murdu / Rgyal Mo Dmu Rdo (T) the most sacred mountain in Gyarong

muxi shizu (C) matrilineal clan

Naxizu (C) officially identified ethnic group residing in Yunnan

Ninglang (C) county in Lijiang prefecture, Yunnan

nongmin (C) peasants

Nüerguo (C) Women’s Country; queendom

Pujiaoding (C) one of the three segments of Suopo Township

Qiandiao Zhiguo (C) One-Thousand-Watchtower Kingdom

Qiangzu (C) officially identified ethnic group residing in northwestern Sichuan

Qianlong (C) (1711–1799) Qing dynasty emperor

qiruan paying (C) bully the weak and fear the strong

Rangtang (C) / ‘Dzam Thang Rdzong (T) county in Aba

Ranmang (C) tribe in northwestern Sichuan during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE)

rgyal mo (T) queen

Rgyal Rong Rgyal Khab Bco Brgyad (T) Eighteen Kingdoms of Gyarong

Rgyal Rong skad (T) / Jiarong guanhua (C) “official” language of Gyarong

Seda (C) / Gser Rta Rdzong (T) county in Ganzi

shar mo rje(?) rgyal po (T) queen of (or from) the East

Shehuizhuyi Xinnongcun Jianshe (C) New Socialist Countryside Construction

sheng fan (C) “strange barbarians”; “primitive” minority groups whose cultural practices place them at a great remove from the Han civilization

shengchan dadui (C) production brigade

shengchan fazhan (C) production development

shenghuo fuyu (C) prosperous life

Shimian (C) county in Ya’an

shu fan (C) “familiar barbarians”; minority groups whose cultural practices are more “civilized” compared to those of “strange barbarians” (sheng fan)

sixiang guannian (C) mentality; outlook

Suishu (C) Book of Sui, the official history of the Sui dynasty (581–618), compiled in the seventh century

Suopo (C) / Sog Po (T) township in Danba, Sichuan, as well as one of the three segments of Suopo Township

Suopowa (C/T) people from Suopo

suzhi (C) personal quality

suzhi taidi (C) having very low personal quality

Tianquan (C) county in Ya’an

Tianranlin Ziyuan Baohu Gongcheng (C) Natural Forest Resources Preservation Project

tianshang diao xianbing (C) lit., “pie dropping from the sky”; something obtained by a stroke of luck, usually without effort

tianxing (C) nature; natural instinct

tinghua (C) obedience

Trisong Detsen (T) eighth-century Tibetan king

tsampa (T) roasted barley flour; a Tibetan staple food

Tsanlha Ngawang (T) (b. 1930) scholar of classical Tibetan and Gyarong language and history

tusi (C) official title conferred on minority chiefs by the court

weiwen (C) stability maintenance

Wen Yiduo (C) (1899–1946) an influential and outspoken poet of the New Cultural Movement

Wenchuan (C) county in Aba

wenming (C) civility; manners

wenrou (C) gentle and soft

Wuhouci (C) district in Chengdu

xiangfeng wenmin (C) folk ethos and civility

xiangzhang (C) head of a township

xiao (C) filial piety

Xiaojinchuan (C) kingdom in Gyarong; today’s Xiaojin County, Aba

xiaonong yishi (C) petty peasant mentality

xiaoxifu (C) “small wife”

xiejiao (C) vicious cult

Xin Tangshu (C) New Tang History, revised and modified version of Old Tang History, compiled in the eleventh century

Xishan Zhuqiang (C) Qiang tribes in northwestern Sichuan in the seventh and eighth centuries

Xixia (C) kingdom in northwestern China, eleventh to thirteenth century

Ya’an (C) prefecture-level city in Sichuan

Yajiang (C) / Nyag Chu Kha Rdzong (T) county in Ganzi

yiyizhiyi (C) playing off the barbarians against each other

Yongning (C) town in Ninglang County, Yunnan

Yuanfang youge nüerguo (C) The Remote Country of Women by Bai Hua (b. 1929)

zang, luan, cha (C) filthy, disorderly, indecent

zangmao (C) Tibetan whore

Zangzu (C) officially identified Tibetan ethnic group

zhishi qingnian / zhiqing (C) “intellectual youth”; youth who were sent down to the countryside to receive an education from poor peasants during the Cultural Revolution