| Lhoba | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 10,300 | |
| Significant populations in: | Arunachal Pradesh, India: 8,000 Tibet, China: 2,300 | |
| Language: | Lhoba, Tibetan | |
| Religion: | Animist, Lamaist Buddhist (more in Tibet) | |
| Related ethnic groups: | Monpa, Mishmi, Tibetan | |
With a population of just 2,300, the Lhoba (珞巴) are one of the smallest officially recognized ethnic groups in China. They are divided between the Boga'er and Yidu (Idu), who were classified as one of the three sub-tribes of the Mishmi.
The Lhoba live in southeastern Tibet, notably in Mainling, Medog, Lhunze and Nangxian counties in southeastern Tibet. Additionally, a small number live in Luoyu, southern Tibet. Many more live in south of the Tibetan border in Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, where they engage in traditional agriculture and hunting. Until the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Lhoba had no written language. Even though a romanized Alphabet was developed for them, there are many elderly Lhoba who can neither read or even count. The occupation of Tibet also brought many changes to traditional Lhoba culture. Most significantly, it helped to integrate the Lhoba with the dominant Tibetan culture and began to put an end to the rigid class system, by which the Lhoba were divided into two distinct castes - aristocrat (maide) and peasant (nieba) - which were not allowed to intermix.
They engage in barter trade in the Tibetan, trading goods like animal hides, musk, bear paws, dye and captured game for farm tools, salt, wool, clothing, grain and tea from Tibetan traders. As a result of constant trading with the Tibetans, they have been increasingly influenced by the Tibetans in their dress. Many Lhobas have converted to Lamaism in the recent years as they traded in the Buddhist monasteries, thus frequently mixing with their indigenious Animist beliefs, which had traditionally deep roots in the tiger. Others remain Animistic, more commonly among those in Arunachal Pradesh, and their pilgrim centre of the community lies at Atho-Popu in Dibang valley. The stories about immigration mentioned is along the banks of twelve rivers in Dibang Valley, the clustered area known as Cheithu-Huluni.
Festivals such as Reh are celebrated to control the peace and prosperity of the people. This is meant to appease the deities, who were traditionally believed to control the peace and prosperity of the people, which is the thought behind the celebration of the Reh festival. The celebration with great fan-fare and the performance of priest dance marks the ending of the festival.
The young boys are trained to hunt at an early age. However, women had low status in society and had no inheritance rights from their husbands or fathers. The Lhoba also enjoy a subtropical/warm temperate climate.
Since the coming of liberation, followed by the Tibetan rebellion in 1959, the Chinese government have significantly improved their living condition. Since then, they were treated as equals by society. Now they are well represented in government at regional, county, district and township levels. Production was boosted and people's living standards and general health improved with loans and relief extended by the government. Previously were serfs, the Lhoba received land, farm implements and draught animals.
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