January is a traditional festival of the Tibetan people, but the calculation method of January is different from the Chinese New Year. In 2010, January New Year was on February 14, the same day as the Chinese New Year. In 2009, January New Year was on February 25, and the Chinese New Year was on January 26, so it was one month later than the Chinese New Year. In 2008 and 2015, January New Year and the Chinese New Year were on the same day. According to relevant historical documents and research results at home and abroad, the Tibetans had a calendar before the establishment of the Tubo Dynasty. From the ancient Tibetan phenological calendar, the calendars that were mainly popular in various places before Tubo unified the plateau had both lunar and solar components. "The Monthly Calculation of the Old Weaving Woman in Shannan Yala Xiangbo" is basically a solar calendar that uses the sun, moon and astronomical phenomena to time. The "Jutian" (7 days a week) time period mentioned therein is very important for Tibetan astronomical calendar calculations, and is also the most important data in the Tibetan calendar. In addition to the lunar calendar, there was also a solar calendar calculation method at the time. The "Old Population Calculation Method of Xiangxiong" is a relatively typical solar calendar, with a total of 365 days in a year. Of course, it is still in the natural calendar stage. Old-style New Year Celebration Before the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetans celebrated the New Year when the wheat was ripe, which was the same as the New Year celebration in the Han areas in ancient times. The oracle bone script of the Chinese character "year" is the image of a person carrying mature wheat, indicating that the crops are ripe, that is, "year's harvest. Therefore, the original New Year celebration was to celebrate the harvest. The so-called "year's harvest" in ancient times referred to this. Therefore, ancient dictionaries put the character "year" in the wheat section. Until now, the Shui nationality still retains the ancient custom of celebrating the New Year, "the New Year begins after the harvest. Since grains generally harvest once a year, "year" and "year" have the same cycle in terms of the number of dates. In ancient times, the Central Plains and Tibetans celebrated the New Year in the original sense (the Sino-Tibetan language family has some cultural genes in common), but later it became "year" (the term is still "New Year"). The origin of the new New Year Before the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetans celebrated the harvest of wheat as the New Year. Later, due to the entry of Princess Wencheng, a member of the Tang royal family, into Tibet, the Tang and Tibetans began to have closer exchanges. With the exchange of Central Plains culture and plateau culture, many Central Plains cultures gradually spread to Tibet, including calendar calculation. Later, the Tibetan area changed from the custom of celebrating the harvest of wheat as the New Year to celebrating the year like the Han people (year is a solar term in the cycle of the relationship between the sun and the earth, not "year harvest"), until today. Festival Customs The determination of 1 year is closely related to the use of 1. The official use of 1 year began more than 950 years ago, in the year Dingmao of the lunar calendar (1027 AD). Since then, the use of 1 has been passed down. New Year is a traditional festival of the Tibetan people. Starting from the first day of the first lunar month every year, people start to prepare for the New Year in early December, and every household soaks highland barley seeds in a basin of water to cultivate young seedlings. In mid-December, every household successively fries oil balls (Kasai) with ghee and white flour. There are many kinds of oil balls, including ear-shaped "Guguo", long-shaped "Naxia", round-shaped "Bulu", etc. Near the end of the year, every family has to prepare a rectangular bamboo Suqima grain bucket with colorful pictures, which is filled with tsampa mixed with ghee, fried wheat grains, ginseng fruit and other foods, and painted with green ears, cockscombs and colorful flower boards made of ghee. And prepare a sheep's head made of colorful ghee. All of this has the meaning of celebrating a good harvest and wishing for good weather and prosperity for people and livestock in the coming year. Two days before New Year's Eve, the house is cleaned inside and outside, new card mats are placed, and new New Year pictures are posted. Before dinner on the 29th, "Eight Auspicious Wei" is sprinkled with dry flour on the central wall of the kitchen. The symbol " ", which symbolizes eternal auspiciousness, is painted on the door with lime powder, indicating longevity, abundant food, and peace every year. On New Year's Eve, each family puts various foods in front of the Buddha statue. In order to have sufficient and rich food during the festival, the whole family is busy until late at night. For dinner on this day, each family has to eat dough Tuba (Gutu). Several doughs with different fillings such as stones, peppers, charcoal, and wool are specially made in the dough Tuba. Each filling has a saying. Stones indicate a hard heart, charcoal indicates a black heart, peppers indicate a sharp mouth, and wool indicates a soft heart. Those who eat these fillings will spit them out on the spot, causing laughter in the room, to help the fun of New Year's Eve. This is a kind of food entertainment activity. No matter who eats what, they must spit it out on the spot, which often causes laughter and adds to the festive and joyful atmosphere of the festival. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, young seedlings, oil seeds, sheep heads, grain buckets, etc. are placed on the tea table of the Buddha shrine to wish for longevity and good food in the new year. Before dawn on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the housewife will carry back "auspicious water" from the river, and then wake up the whole family, and sit down according to the seniority. The elders will bring the grain buckets and each person will grab a few grains and throw them to the sky to offer sacrifice to the gods, and then grab a little bit and put it into their mouths. After that, the elders will wish "Zaxi Deler" (good luck and good fortune) in order, and the younger generations will return the congratulations "Zaxi Deler Peng Songcuo" (good luck and good fortune, merits and virtues are fulfilled). After the ceremony, they will eat oatmeal Tuba and ginseng fruit cooked with butter, and then offer each other highland barley wine. It is generally forbidden to sweep the floor on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and it is forbidden to say unlucky words and visit each other. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends will visit each other to wish each other a happy new year and give each other Hada. Men, women, old and young all wear festive costumes and say "Zaxi Deler" and "Happy Festival" to each other when they meet. This activity lasts for three to five days. During the New Year, people danced Guozhuang and Xianzi dances in a circle in the square or on the open grassland. Accompanied by instruments such as six-stringed harp, cymbals, and gongs, they held hands and stepped on the ground to celebrate and sing. Children set off firecrackers, and the whole area was immersed in a happy, festive, and peaceful festive atmosphere. Tibetan operas were performed in cities and towns, and Guozhuang dances were performed. In pastoral areas, herders lit bonfires and sang and danced all night long. People also engaged in wrestling, throwing, tug-of-war, horse racing, archery and other activities. Preparations for the "Chema" New Year generally began in early December of the previous year. In addition to purchasing New Year's goods for food, drink, and fun, every household had to make a five-grain bucket called "Chema", that is, roasted wheat grains and tsampa mixed with butter were placed on the left and right of a wooden box with colorful patterns, and green ears and colorful flowers made of butter were inserted on it. A bowl of highland barley seeds should be soaked in water so that they can grow one or two inches long seedlings in the New Year. "Chema" and wheat seedlings are offered in the center of the altar to pray for a good harvest in the coming year. Making "Kasai" As the festival approaches, men are busy cleaning the courtyard, while women carefully make "Kasai", a kind of fried flour food, which is divided into various shapes such as ear shape, butterfly shape, strip, square shape, round shape, etc., painted with paint and wrapped with sugar. It is not only a work of art to decorate the altar, but also a delicacy to entertain guests. The varieties and colors of "Kasai" often become a symbol of the hostess's diligence, wisdom and enthusiasm, and are particularly eye-catching during festivals. 1 Origin: During the Tubo Dynasty, knowledge such as the zodiac and the five elements calculation method were introduced from the Han area. On the basis of the ancient natural lunar calendar, natural solar calendar and seven-star calendar, a unique yin-yang calendar was developed. "Bai Liuli" said; during this period, although the Tibetan calendar was relatively simple, it had formed a unique method of recording days, months and years. For example, the zodiac and the five elements. The yin-yang combination of years was recorded on the "Tang-Tibetan Alliance Monument" in 842. Later, with the spread of Indian Buddhism, many Bon masters were destroyed, and a large number of Bon scriptures were destroyed. The ancient Tibetan astronomical and calendar knowledge preserved in the Bon culture was lost, and it is difficult for modern people to understand the calendar at that time. However, people can still trace the origin of the Tibetan calendar from the astronomical and calendar knowledge circulated among the people, as well as the extremely precious documents that remain (such as the Dunhuang Tibetan scrolls PT76, 1, 82, 83, 85 and PT55 80, China in the Paris Library), to get a glimpse of the Tibetan calendar. Tibetan astronomical calendarists and those who have this knowledge among the people all confirm the following numbers: one is 7 points, and the other is 4 fixed points. This should have been finalized in the Tibetan calendar. Because of the four sevens in the lunar calendar, the unique leap day and difference day in the Tibetan calendar were introduced. The four points of solar time, namely the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox and winter solstice, were divided into four seasons according to the climate change in the plateau. According to the traditional Bon religion, the calculation method of the 60th anniversary of the Qiongdan era was already in existence in the Tubo era. All these indicate that the Tibetan calendar was relatively complete in the Tubo era. Since the introduction of the Kalachakra calendar from India in the 11th century, although there are still various methods of recording years, setting the beginning of the year and setting leap months in Tibet, the calculation of the Tibetan astronomical calendar is basically based on the Kalachakra calendar. Since the Tibetan Kalachakra calendar has the foundation of the ancient Tibetan calendar and continuously absorbs useful content from the Han area for adjustment and improvement, it is not completely the same as the Indian Kalachakra calendar. According to the calculation method of the Karmapa calendar, the Tibetan calendar began around 100 BC. A man named Karmapa in Yalong, front Tibet, initially calculated the day, month and year based on the waxing and waning of the moon. Later, people called it "Kamo Pama Calendar". Later, agriculture in Yalong area gradually developed. Every time the crops matured and were harvested, farmers would hold a party to celebrate the harvest. Year after year, this activity gradually formed a regular celebration, and was later defined as the phenological calendar of "taking wheat ripening as the beginning of the year". Until now, people in Linzhi area of Tibet celebrate festivals after the wheat harvest in autumn, and the continuation and influence of this phenological calendar can still be seen. Origin of the calendar In 624 AD, the snowy land had a calendar era called "Mei, Ka, Jiacuo" (meaning fire, sky, and sea) in Tibetan. This calendar uses the twelve animal zodiac signs such as monkeys and chickens to record the years. The order of arrangement is the same as the twelve earthly branches. Every 12 years is a cycle, and each year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the early 9th century, Tibetan astronomers Sangjie Yixi, Jianzan Beisang and others created the traditional Tibetan calendar based on the inland Xia calendar, the Indian Kalachakra calendar and the ancient "Kamo Pama" calendar. It uses the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth and the twelve animal zodiac signs to calculate the year, month and day. This calculation method, which is the same as the ten heavenly stems, has formed a cycle of 60 years. In 1027 AD, the Indian Kalachakra Sutra was translated into Tibetan and introduced to Tibet. This year happened to be the year of the Yin Fire Rabbit in the sky, so the Tibetan history set this year as the first year of the first 60-year cycle era, that is, the so-called New Year 1 started from this year. In Tibetan, 1027 is elegantly called the first rabjong, which means the year of victory. The so-called "victorious life" refers to the last year of the Dharma King Nansheng of Shangbala in 1026 mentioned in the Kalachakra Sutra. Therefore, the next year is set as the "year of victory". The year 1 has a history of more than 970 years. It is basically in the same month as the Spring Festival, with only a few days difference. Therefore, the monks of Ta'er Temple celebrate the Spring Festival while celebrating the year 1. From mid-December, they clean the temple and their own monks' quarters, prepare offerings for the Buddha, and make fried fruits, jialouma (also known as mat braids), flower rolls, etc. for their own consumption. On the evening of the 24th, they offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. 1 Like the Han calendar, the first month is also designated as the first month of spring, and the first day of the first month is designated as the beginning of the new year. Unique ethnic customs and cleaning The Tibetan people's New Year festival is very different from the Spring Festival in the Han area. As soon as the twelfth month of the lunar calendar begins, every household begins to prepare for the New Year. In the days before the New Year, regardless of whether it is in the agricultural or pastoral areas, all men, young and old, must shave their heads, and women must wash and comb their braids. If men keep their hair long for the New Year, and women do not wash and comb their braids for the New Year, it means that the family or the heart is filled with grief and has no intention of dressing up. Washing and combing and dressing up means good luck in the coming year. From December 28th, they clean the upper and lower floors of the house, the inside and outside of the house, the village walkways, the corners of the fields, and even the drawers in the house. When cleaning the ceiling and chimney, they need to choose an auspicious day, such as the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, etc. Related preparations Before the New Year, men from all villages ride horses to the "holy mountain" or a mountain that is considered clean, cut cypress branches and carry them back home, which are the main ingredients for "burning mulberry" to the gods every day during the New Year. Women brew barley wine or miscellaneous wine at home, fry various oil fruits, make butter and milk cakes, etc. Before noon on December 30, each household must transport the cleared garbage and weeds to their respective fields to be lit on the morning of the first day of the New Year. At home, women must prepare kindling for the morning of the "first day of the New Year", which will light up immediately when used, in order to have everything go well at the beginning of the New Year. Similarities In many areas of the state, due to the proximity to the agricultural areas of the Han nationality, influenced by them, New Year pictures and couplets are posted on the doors of houses, but the content of the New Year pictures is mainly the auspicious objects regarded by Tibetans, such as lions, dragons, tigers, etc., and the couplets are generally written with auspicious words in Tibetan. The custom of "Gutu" is to enter the New Year's Eve on December 29th. On this day, new curtains should be put on the windows and doors, new prayer flags should be put on the roof, and auspicious patterns such as crosses should be painted with white powder in front of the door, beams and kitchen to create a festive atmosphere. At night, the whole family sits together to eat a routine "Gutu", which is similar to the reunion dinner of the Han Chinese New Year. "Gutu" is a porridge made of noodles, mutton and ginseng fruit. Before cooking, the housewife secretly puts stones, wool, chili peppers, charcoal, coins and other items in some noodles. Whoever eats these things must spit them out in public, which is a sign of the person's fate and heart. Stones represent cruelty, wool represents softness, charcoal represents blackness, chili peppers represent a harsh mouth, and coins indicate good fortune. So everyone talked to each other, laughed, and set off a wave of joy. Exorcising the devil Then, the whole family used tsampa to make a witch and two bowls, and poured the leftover "Gutu" and bones and other residues into the bowls made by Kaiba. A woman holds the witch and the leftovers and runs outside, while a man follows closely with a bunch of hay on fire, chanting, "Devil, come out! Devil, come out!" Let the hay, the witch and the leftovers burn to ashes. At the same time, children set off firecrackers to drive away the devil and usher in the auspicious New Year. Customs Among the many festivals in Tibet, the New Year is widely valued by the masses. Understanding the traditional customs of welcoming the New Year in Tibet shows the special feelings and importance people have for the New Year. For example, farmers keep the first cut of barley during the harvest as an offering to the gods during the New Year; herders keep the butter made from the first milk of the cows that give birth to calves as an offering to the Bodhisattva in the New Year. After the men finished playing, they began to prepare for the New Year, painting every house white and beautiful. At this time, relatives, friends and neighbors always came with good wine to bless; women chose a sunny day to take the felt they spun by themselves to the river to wash, and relatives, friends and neighbors also offered tea and wine to bless the owner of the house to wear new clothes in the New Year. There are many folk activities of all sizes held to welcome the New Year, which cannot be described here one by one. The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month every year is the last and most lively event to welcome the New Year. Ghost-exorcising ceremony is a traditional folk custom in Tibet. A "ghost-exorcising" ceremony is held on December 29th every year. (The Shigatse area is November 29th, and the Nyingchi area is September 30th.) All religious temples, including various sects, must hold it on the same day. According to the ancient tradition, the folk generally holds this ceremony after dinner. People call it "Guduo", which means exorcising ghosts on the 29th. It originated from the folk religion of primitive totem worship. It has a deep-rooted influence on the vast majority of Tibetan people. In the era of high technology, this traditional custom has been diluted or simplified in many aspects, but its main content still exists among the people. The rituals held by various religious sects all borrowed from the folk "Guduo" in form, but their content was mostly integrated with the religious ideas of their respective sects. They used various Vajra performance dances and held a ceremony to exorcise demons and send Chongshizi, which is called "Guduoer" in Tibetan, meaning Gan Jiuduoma. The activities were held during the day. For the annual folk "Guduo" ghost-exorcism ceremony, people have to prepare a very interesting and very special dinner. In the past, due to the natural environment and economic conditions in Tibet, most people liked to use highland barley, tsampa, etc. to make porridge or soup noodles for dinner, which is collectively called "Tuba" in Tibetan. The dinner on the day of sending ghosts is called "Gutu" because it contains nine kinds of food, such as oatmeal, peas, noodles, ginseng fruit, radish, etc. In order to make this special dinner have a strong festive atmosphere, items with different symbolic meanings are specially selected, such as some items symbolize auspiciousness, some symbolize people's personality and character traits, etc. These foods with predictive characteristics are wrapped in dough, put into a pottery pot with dough balls and cooked into delicious noodles. Before eating "Gutu", each person takes a ball of wet dough in his hand, squeezes it tightly, and rubs it on various parts of his body, and recites in his mouth: "Ah! In the twelve months and three hundred and sixty days of the new year, please take all the suffering in my heart, the pain in my body, and all the evil spirits and bad luck to the other side of the sea." Then put the dough covered with diseases and bad luck into a broken pottery pot with the image of a "ghost". After all this is done, the hostess of the family personally takes the spoon and serves food to everyone. When someone eats food in the shape of the sun, the moon, a book or a Buddha statue, people put down their bowls, raise their glasses and sing drinking songs to toast them to express their blessings for the coming year. When someone eats food with wool, stone, fire or dairy products, everyone comments on it, praising their character as soft as wool, their will as hard as rock, their enthusiasm for others as raging fire, and their hearts as pure as zero. When someone eats food with salt, pepper, porcelain chips, crooked-necked people and charcoal, everyone comments on it, praising their character as soft as wool, their will as hard as rock, their enthusiasm for others as raging fire, and their hearts as pure as zero. When eating food, people advise them not to be as heavy as salt when working, not to be as sharp-tongued as pepper, not to be as lazy as porcelain, not to be crooked when working, and not to be too black-hearted. They also ask the above people to take precautions by singing. If a young girl eats food in the shape of a wild child, everyone will laugh and remind them to keep themselves pure. There is a kind of food called "Sima Reguo" which is covered with thorns. Whoever eats it means that he hurts others everywhere and cannot live in harmony. For this, he will be punished with wine and asked to learn to bray like a donkey or a dog. Finally, everyone pours the remaining "Gutu" in the bowl into a broken pottery jar used to send ghosts, and says: "Today, after I let you eat and drink enough, I will let you take away all the evil spirits in the house. You must go to that distant place without looking back." The family ends this special dinner in a happy and festive atmosphere. After the meal, a ghost-exorcism ceremony is held. One person holds a broken pottery jar containing a "ghost" and walks in front. The people behind hold torches and shout "Get out, get out!" The ghost is driven to the crossroads. Then people return to the closed door and sing a song praising the door together: the door is the golden door, the white "fragrant cloth" is the cloud in the sky; the threshold of the pine stone is so beautiful, and the door of the wish-fulfilling tree is very bright. The auspicious door faces east, and the light of the sun and the moon shines all over the house; it attracts wealth and blessings, and the blessings rise higher and higher. We drive away the ghosts in the house, and all evil spirits and bad luck are destroyed; we come back clean, please open the door for us. The door is opened, and a pile of fire has been lit inside the threshold. People who come in from outside have to cross the fire one by one. At this time, a year person pours water on them to show that all the evil spirits have been washed away. The traditional ghost-exorcism ceremony on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month ends with this extremely unique entertainment activity. On the night of the 30th day of the lunar year, housewives have to prepare a reunion dinner, which is similar to the New Year dinner of the Han nationality. Before dinner, if there is a monk in the house, he will recite the blessing sutra or prayer sutra in the scripture hall. The sutra is placed on the shrine in the scripture hall, and a wooden board filled with barley and butter is placed flat. The wooden board with the eight treasures symbolizing auspiciousness is also inserted. Butter lamps and Tibetan incense are also lit. At this time, the whole family gathers together and eats together. The family gods must not be missing during dinner. After dinner, they usually drink butter tea, barley wine, etc. and chat. On the first day of the New Year, the housewife gets up the earliest. At about five o'clock, a pot of "Qiangku", which is barley wine with dregs, brown sugar and milk residue, is cooked, and a bowl is served to each person. The family members have not yet gotten up, but they finish drinking "Qiangku" in the quilt and continue to sleep with their heads covered. The housewife sits in front of the window waiting for the sunrise. When the morning light first appears in the east, she hurriedly carries a bucket to the river or well to draw the first bucket of water of the new year. It is said that the water at this time is the most holy and sweet. Whoever draws the auspicious water first will be able to avoid many disasters in the new year. At dawn, the whole family puts on new clothes, washes up, and the younger generation begins to congratulate the elders on the New Year, saying "Zaxi Delek" (good luck and good fortune) to each other; then breakfast begins, and they offer each other highland barley wine. In pastoral areas, the housewife cooks sheep heads according to the number of family members, and brings them to the oldest man on a food tray, who distributes a sheep head and a knife to each person in order of age. Everyone peels the sheep head meat and eats it by the stove, while wishing each other a harmonious family, an increase in people and livestock in the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people usually close their doors to visitors. The streets are deserted, and people only hold celebrations and Buddhist activities at home. Starting from the second day of the first lunar month, relatives and friends begin to visit each other to wish each other a happy New Year. When a guest comes to the door, he must say "Losa Zaxi Deler (Happy New Year). The host will hold up "Chema" to welcome the guest at the door. The guest first picks up a handful of sticky rice and a few grains of barley with his thumb, index finger and middle finger and throws them into the sky to show respect to the gods; then picks up a handful of tsampa and barley and puts them into his mouth to thank the host for his hospitality. Then he sits down to drink and chat. From this day on, folk artists also go out to perform Tibetan opera and "Zhega". Rich families make arrangements with folk artists in advance to come to their homes on time to perform and share with guests. Artists who are not invited can also take the initiative to visit and perform. Zhega artists wear white masks and hold wooden sticks. They use improvised lyrics to please the host, such as how beautiful the hostess is, how wise the host is, and that he will have good luck in the New Year, etc. Generally, they can They are rewarded with good wine and meat. In the streets and villages, people also hold mass singing and dancing and Tibetan opera performances. This kind of mutual visits and self-entertainment art activities will last for three to five days, and then gradually turn to Buddhist activities mainly for entertaining gods. In the Lhasa area, the main activity is to participate in the Chuan Zhao Dharma Assembly. In the eastern Qamdo and the northern Qiangtang grassland, people begin to circumambulate the mountains and worship Buddha, donate incense to the temples, and pray for good weather, peace and prosperity in the new year. On the first day of the first lunar month, housewives get up and wash themselves when they hear the first cockcrow, and carry the "new water" of the new year. When they arrive at the spring, they first insert the Tibetan incense in their hands above the edge of the spring, and offer it to the river god (or spring god) with butter, milk residue, tsampa and wool. After carrying the new water back, the housewife will light a fire, boil tea, and go to the fields to put the first prepared Weeds and garbage are set on fire. After the tea is brewed, go to the balcony in front of the house to burn incense. When preparing the first bowl of tea on the first day of the new year, the housewife must prepare a bowl for each family member, including deceased parents or married brothers and sisters, and put butter, milk residue, sugar, biscuits and other food in the tea bowl. When the housewife is brewing tea, a man must get up and prepare a saddle for the horse. After drinking tea, ride horses with all the men in the village to the sacred mountain to pray and burn incense. This is a huge team of burning incense. Those who go to the sacred mountain must prepare beautiful saddles for the horses and wear gorgeous festive costumes themselves. When returning from the sacred mountain, the riders have to go to the wide grassland for horseback riding competitions. On the racecourse, the riders who get the first and second place will be given Hada and ribbons by the respected elders in the village. Then, the young people in the village, express their After the lion dance, lantern dance, spring ox dance and Guozhuang dance, people will listen to famous old artists telling folk stories. But on this day, people do not visit each other except for watching collective play activities. People start to visit each other, wish each other a happy new year and treat each other to meals from the second day of the first lunar month. In the new year, the first words people say when they meet are "Luosang Errang" (Happy New Year) and "Zaxi Deler" (Good luck and good fortune). The lion dance, spring ox dance and lantern dance performance teams in the village also start from the second day of the first lunar month, visiting villages and tribes to perform in turn. From the second day of the first lunar month, relatives and friends visit each other to wish each other a happy new year, which lasts for three to five days. The person holding the auspicious bucket first shouts out blessings outside the door. When the people inside hear it, they quickly come out holding "Chema" and greet each other: "Zaxi Deler Pengsongcuo!" (May you be blessed with good luck and happiness!) "Ama Bazhugong Kangsang!" (May the hostess be healthy and long-lived!) "Dingduo Dewa Tubaxiu!" (May you be safe and auspicious every year!) "Langyang Zong Jiuyong Baxiu! ” (May we gather together like this every year!) When paying New Year’s greetings, the male host holds “Chema” in both hands to bless the guests. The guests pinch a little tsampa and highland barley in the “Chema” and throw it into the sky, then taste a little in their mouths and congratulate: “Tashi Delek” (good luck). Then, the hostess holds a copper pot with a Hada and toasts the guests frequently. During the festival, blessings are everywhere, toasts are everywhere, and there are singing and dancing everywhere. No matter whether you know each other or not, you are not allowed to pass without drinking three bowls. 1 The third day of the first lunar month is to worship the “roof god”. On this day, people climb onto the roofs of their houses, insert brand new prayer flags on the roofs, then burn cypress branches and throw tsampa into the air. The fluttering prayer flags and the curling “mulberry smoke” carry people’s wishes to the air. In the New Year, you should wear the most beautiful clothes and the most precious jewelry. Even people with poor economic conditions should wear