Nomads of Western Tibet: The Survival of a Way of Life

by Melvyn C. Goldstein (Photographer), Cynthia M. Beall (Photographer)

For sixteen months between June 1986 and June 1988, Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia Beall lived in Tibet studying a community of roughly three hundred Tibetan nomads at altitudes above 16,000 feet in yak-hair tents, weathering temperatures which reached thirty to forty degrees below zero, drinking butter-salt tea, and eating 'tsampa'...popped and ground barley ...and mutton.

This copiously illustrated book is a fascinating account of these remarkable people, of their traditional way of life and their continuing struggle for cultural survival. In a world where indigenous peoples and their environments are vanishing at alarming rates, the survival of this way of life represents an unexpected and heartening victory for humanity.

As the first Western scientists allowed to conduct in-depth research in Tibet in decades, Goldstein and Beall were given the opportunity to study first-hand and long-term the traditional lifestyles of the nomad's of Pala, a remote district on Tibet's western plateau known as the Changtang.

The authors accompanied the nomads on their daily trips between the homebase encampment and the grazing grounds, on seasonal migrations to distant pastures and satellite camps, on yearly hay-cutting and salt-collecting events, and on hunting excursions that included the use of matchlock rifles and 'blue-sheep; dogs. The authors also participated in the milking, shearing, and butchering of the pastoralists' sheep and goats.

The census and grazing-enclosure data the authors collected credit the nomads' traditional pastoral system with maintaining the sensitive ecological balance necessary to guarantee its perpetuation for countless centuries. Finally, the authors relate the radical changes wrought by the Cultural Revolution on the nomads' lives.

Genres: Anthropology

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 1990

About the author

Melvyn C. Goldstein is John Reynolds Harkness Professor of Anthropology and Codirector of the Center for Research on Tibet at Case Western Reserve University, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I read this for a class on the minority peoples of China, I think anyone with an interest in nomadic cultures, Tibet, ethnography, and/or travelogues would enjoy this book. As a bonus, it looks and reads like an issue of National Geographic.

[Zheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

本书是两位人类学家1986-1988年对西藏羌塘帕拉牧场进行田野调查的报告。向读者展示了羌塘地区牧民的传统畜牧业运作机制，以及这种机制下牧民的生活方式与价值观。也提到了文革时期该地区生活方式遭受的践踏以及其后的恢复和持续存在的冲突。最后也得出羌塘地区传统畜牧运作机制先进而可行的结论。考察深入，论据充足。
要得到民俗文化包括语言方面的充分调查，非进行深入田野调查不可。这一切丰满而入微的呈现都来自两位科学家深入细致的考察。他们克服手续上、自然条件上的种种艰难，成功地在政治敏感、自然条件极端恶劣的西藏高寒地区与当地牧民共同生活，深入考察。虽然书中着墨甚少，但克服恶劣自然条件，用藏族交流、与当地牧民打成一片，观察、交谈再总结整理的过程背后的艰难可想而知，皆非常人可承受。加上西藏地区在自然条件和政治上的特殊性，对该地区扎实深入的研究不可多得；且作者考虑到读者群体之广，写作语言亦浅显易懂。讲复杂的研究用简单生动的语言表达出来，又不损失内容，更是难能可贵。
本书译者的翻译，语言流畅，用词恰当，少有生硬翻译的痕迹，为读者阅读提供了巨大的方便。
难得的好书。