Multicultural Elements of Rgyalrong Tibetanas Seen from Their Proverbs

Ye+Nan++Si+Qi

Abstract：The Rgyalrong language is a unique language which preserves features of ancient Tibetan， for example， it includes rich consonant clusters； and the consonant clusters can be placed before or after vowels. It is not a written language. Rgyalrong proverbs， which contain specific cultural elements， reflect the cultural identity of this group， and have been transmitted orally from generation to generation. Due to economic globalization and the urbanization in rural areas of China， Rgyalrong proverbs are gradually losing ground for their survival. Taking Miyaluo as a case study， most of the local young people cannot speak Rgyalrong language， which indicates that Rgyalrong language is in danger of disappearing. Hence， it would be very significant and meaningful to record the Rgyalrong proverbs using the international phonetic alphabet， and conduct research on the cultural elements of the Rgyalrong proverbs.

The term “Rgyalrong” not only reflects a concept of a region but also of an ethnic group. As a regional concept， “Rgyalrong” is an abbreviation of “Jiamocawarong”. “Jiamo” is the name for a mountain， i.e. “Mt. Moerduo”； “chawa” means “warm and hot”； and “rong” means “agricultural area” in Tibetan language. As an ethnic concept， “Rgyalrong” refers to the Tibetans who live in the Rgyalrong area.

Rgyalrong refers to the language used by some of the Tibetans who live in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Aba TibetanQiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province. The language belongs to the TibetoBurman group of the SinoTibetan language family. Historically， the Rgyalrong area was located in a multiethnic area consisting of Tibetans， Qiang， Han， and others. The Rgyalrong language area borders with the Amdo dialect and Kham dialect on its north and west， with the Qiang language on its east， and the Chinese language on its south. The Rgyalrong Tibetan culture is like a “melting pot”. For instance， their headdresses， embroidered shoes and waistbands are similar with those of the Qiang； they take farming as their main mode of production； and， their customs and behavior are somewhat similar to those of the Han. Seen from the perspective of culture， the Rgyalrong language is influenced by both the Tibetan culture of Tibet and the Chinese culture of Chengdu， and it has a multicultural characteristics.

The Rgyalrong language is divided into three different dialects： the east dialect is represented by Situ language of Maerkang， which is spoken by the majority of the Rgyalrong Tibetans； the northwestern dialect is represented by Caodeng language or Ribu language； and the western dialect is represented by the Ergangli language. The phonetic differences between these dialects are very large. The Rgyalrong language has no written system， and few people can write the Tibetan script， which was popular in the Rgyalrong area in the past. So， the Rgyalrong language is transmitted orally. Taking Miyaluo as a case study， most local young people cannot speak the Rgyalrong language， and the middleaged people can only have simple daily conversations in this language. When speaking it involves the expanded meaning of the proverbs， only a few old people can understand and provide explanations. This indicates that the Rgyalrong language is on the wane due to the fact that the younger generation has abandoned it. Linguistic anthropologists regard language as a kind of structured and organized form of information. For those languages without scripts， all relevant information can only be kept in ones memory. Therefore， when we lose the language， we also lose the cultural information carried within the language.

Proverbs are a kind of artistic statement which are popular among the people. Depending on specific cultural elements， proverbs reflect the language communitys knowledge about social phenomena， life experiences， and principles of production； they are important carriers of folk culture. Cultural elements are the minimum unit which can be defined in constituting of a culture， and every culture is made up of a number of cultural elements. What kind of cultural elements are used to express a proverb totally depends on the cultural circle in which the language community lives. For instance， Japanese people have a proverb saying “A warrior is a hero and the cherry blossom is the king of flowers”. “Cherry blossoms” and “warriors” are the cultural elements of the Yamato people. A proverb of Rgyalrong goes like this： meaning， a Lama can fly to the heaven， he cannot live without Tsampa. Here “Lama” and “Tsampa” are cultural elements of Rgyalrong Tibetans. Therefore， proverbs reflect ethnic cultural identity with specific cultural elements， and they have been passed down orally from generation to generation. However due to the globalization and urbanization， Rgyalrong proverbs are gradually disappearing from the daily lives of the Rgyalrong people， especially from the lives of the younger generation.

There are many angles from which to study Rgyalrong culture. Some research is conducted from the perspective of folk story， myth and legend； some from the perspective of relics of folklore song and dance， etc.； and some from the perspective of historical literature， religious systems， and local chronicles， etc. However， as yet， no research has been conducted on the cultural elements of Rgyalrong from the perspective of Rgyalrong proverbs. Hence， recording of Rgyalrong proverbs and researching the cultural information within them would be very significant and meaningful.

The Situ dialect refers to the Rgyalrong language which is popular in Suomo， Songgang， Zuokeji， and Dangba， i.e. this is the Situ language area. Many places of where the“Situ”language is spoken are areas where Tibetans， Qiang and Han live together. Longterm ethnic fusion and cultural exchanges has created diversity within Rgyalrong Tibetan culture. The Situ area has fertile soil， unique weather conditions， and an advanced farming culture. It also had a very complete Tusi （native officials） system which was regarded as the last example of the Rgyalrong Tusi. The stone towers found in this area have been maintained until the present time； and the Situ dialect is still used by a large proportion of the population. Therefore， taking Situ proverbs as the research objective for Rgyalrong proverbs is representative.

As noted above， the Rgyalrong language is a unique language which preserves feature of ancient Tibetan； and it contains rich consonant clusters. In one syllable， there could be two or three consonants before a vowel which becomes a consonant cluster. For instances， “ktei”（small），“mhi”（cut firewood）. Two or three consonants also could follow a vowel to construct a terminal consonant cluster， for instance，“tm”（house），“kthanm”（scoop up）. This phenomenon does not exist in other dialects of modern Tibetan. The initial consonant cluster or consonant cluster suffix has been simplified or eliminated in present Kham ， Amdo and Lhasa dialects， but the Rgyalrong language has kept the pronunciation of ancient Tibetan. The Rgyalrong language is a language in which consonants are in a dominant position； the consonant value is short； tone quality is weak， especially “”（tongue root， voiceless fricative）could be combined with many consonants to construct a consonant cluster， and placed at the beginning of a syllable. This practice makes it more difficult to distinguish while listening. We have conducted a fieldwork in Miyaluo to collect proverbs and record them phonetically. We interviewed Rgyalrong Tibetans who speak the Situ dialect， and whose age， sex， profession， and educational levels are different. We listened to their pronunciation of the proverbs， and then recorded them using the international phonetic alphabet， thereby preserving the oral arts of Rgyalrong Tibetan in written form.

A total of 31 Rgyalrong proverbs have been collected during this fieldwork， and we found that the cultural elements contained in these proverbs vividly reflect the information of cultural integration among Tibetans， Qiang and Han. In this article， we discuss the characteristics of Rgyalrong proverbs from two aspects， namely linguistic arts and cultural elements.

Rgyalrong proverbs reflect two linguistic features： 1） their sentence structure is concise and compact. A proverb is mostly composed of one or two short sentences； each sentence includes three to ten syllables. Instead of using conjunctions between the two short sentences， the logical relationship between the two sentences is presented based upon the order of the sentences. 2） Rgyalrong proverbs pay great attention to rhythm. The flexible rhythm is one of the important characteristics of Rgyalrong proverbs， and this rhythmic feature makes the proverbs easily memorized and disseminated. The cohabitation of Tibetans， Qiang and Han in the Rgyalrong valley creates multicultural elements in Rgyalrong proverbs. Some proverbs include only Tibetan cultural elements， while some include a mixture of TibetanQiang cultural elements or TibetanHan cultural elements. The multicultural elements found in Rgyalrong proverbs mirrors the multiethnic cultural integration of the Rgyalrong area.

Key Words：Rgyalrong proverbs； Tibetan；Rgyalrong language； multiculture

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