A Land of Height
The Tibetan plateau is often called the highest and largest plateau in the world, an elevated region in the heart of Asia, ringed by great mountain ranges, including the Himalayas to the south. Much of it lies well above the altitude of most human settlement elsewhere. The air is thin, the sun strong, the weather changeable, and winters cold. Despite this, people have lived on the plateau for a very long time and developed ways of life well suited to it.
The plateau is also the source of several of Asia’s major rivers. The Yangtze and the Yellow River both begin in its highlands, along with rivers that flow into South and Southeast Asia. This makes the region important far beyond its own borders, and it connects the story of the plateau to other articles about China’s rivers.
The Tibetan People and Their Language
The Tibetan people are the main inhabitants of the plateau, with a language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman family and a written script that has been used for religious and literary works for centuries. Spoken forms vary by region. Other peoples also live in the area, including Han, Hui and Mongolian communities. The cultural sphere associated with Tibetan traditions extends beyond the administrative boundaries of the Tibet Autonomous Region into neighboring provinces, where many Tibetan communities live, and into parts of the Himalayan region outside China.
This article offers an introduction in broad terms. Tibetans, like any people, differ in region, occupation and opinion, and no single description fits everyone.
Herding and Farming
Livelihoods are shaped by altitude. On the high pastures, herders traditionally keep yaks, sheep and goats. The yak is an animal of special importance: it provides milk, meat, wool, hides and transport, and its dung is a common fuel in treeless areas. Herders often move seasonally between pastures, and many use tents of woven yak hair or, increasingly, permanent homes and modern equipment.
In lower river valleys, farmers grow barley, the most characteristic grain of the region, along with wheat, peas and vegetables in places. Roasted barley flour, known as tsampa, is a traditional staple, often mixed with butter tea. Butter tea, made from brick tea, butter and salt, is a well-known drink that gives warmth and energy in the cold. The region’s connection to tea culture is long, since brick tea from other parts of China was traded to the plateau for centuries in exchange for horses and other goods.
Buddhism and Religious Life
Buddhism is central to Tibetan culture. Buddhism came to the plateau from India and also from China in the early medieval period, and developed into distinct schools and a rich body of philosophy, ritual and art. Monasteries have been important centers of learning, ceremony and community life. Prayer flags strung over passes and rooftops, prayer wheels turned by hand, stacked stone cairns and pilgrimage circuits around holy mountains and lakes are all familiar features of the landscape.
Tibetan Buddhism has its own relationship to Chinese Buddhism, and the two traditions have long interacted, including through shared devotion to figures such as Guanyin, who is known in Tibetan tradition as Chenrezig. Before Buddhism, a local tradition often called Bon was also present, and elements of older belief continue to shape local practice and views of sacred mountains.
Art, Architecture and Festivals
Religious art is a major part of Tibetan heritage. Painted scrolls called thangka, carved wood and stone, metalwork, butter sculptures and sand mandalas are among the traditional arts. Monasteries and fortress-like palaces, with whitewashed walls and tapering forms, are distinctive features of the highland landscape. The Potala Palace in Lhasa is among the best-known examples of this architecture.
Festivals follow a calendar of their own, which has its own relation to the lunisolar calendar used in much of China. The Tibetan new year, called Losar, is a major celebration, and other festivals include masked dances at monasteries, and summer gatherings with horse racing and picnics in some pastoral areas. Music, with long horns, drums and songs, plays a part in both worship and everyday life.
Historical Connections
Contact between the plateau and the lowlands of China goes back many centuries. The Tang dynasty had diplomatic, marriage and military ties with the Tibetan empire of that time. Later, the Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty each had their own relationships with Tibetan religious and political leaders. Historians and others interpret these relationships in different ways, and the political status of Tibet in earlier periods and today is a subject of disagreement. This article does not take a position, and readers who want more should consult a range of reliable sources.
Change and Respectful Learning
Modern roads, railways, schools and new media have changed the plateau, and many Tibetans live in towns or outside the region. Questions of language, religion, development and environment are discussed in many ways by different people. A respectful approach is to listen to Tibetan voices, avoid treating the region as an exotic or timeless place, and remember that it is a living society.
What stands out in any account is how closely landscape and belief are linked: mountains and lakes are often regarded as sacred, and herding, farming and ritual all follow the rhythm of a high and demanding land.