Tibetan Culture

Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring countries and cultures, including Nepal, India, and China, the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct local influences, and stimulated the development of its distinct culture.

Buddhism has exerted a particularly strong influence on Tibetan culture since its introduction in the 7th century. Buddhist missionaries who came mainly from India, Nepal and China introduced arts and customs from India and China. Art, literature, and music all contain elements of the prevailing Buddhist beliefs, and Buddhism itself has adopted a unique form in Tibet, influenced by the Bön tradition and other local beliefs.

Several works on astronomy, astrology and medicine were translated from Sanskrit and Chinese. The general appliances of civilization have come from China, [citation?] among many things and skill imported were the making of butter, cheese, [tibetan cheese, 'chorro' is dried yak milk, not found in Han China.] barley-beer, pottery, water mills and the national beverage-tea [there are many sculptures adorning the highway from Chengdu to Kangding commemorating the export of Tibetan tea to China. The Tibetan tea as consumed by Tibetans (a coarse black tea leaf steeped and then churned with yak butter and salt) is unlike the commonly consumed unadorned tea, or the sweetened milk tea commonly drunk by Chinese.]

Tibet's specific geographic and climatic conditions have encouraged reliance on pastoralism, as well as the development of a different cuisine from surrounding regions, which fits the needs of the human body in these high altitudes.

The Tibetan language is spoken in a variety of dialects in all parts of the Tibetan-inhabited area which covers 2.5 Million square kilometers. Some of these dialects are tonal like the Chinese language, while others remain non-tonal. Historically Tibet was divided into three cultural provinces called U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo. Each one of these three provinces has developed its own distinct dialect of Tibetan. Most widely spoken is the Lhasa dialect, also called Standard Tibetan, which is spoken in Central Tibet and also in Exile by most Tibetans. In Kham the Khams Tibetan dialect is spoken and in Amdo the Amdo Tibetan dialect. The Tibetan dialects are subject to the Tibetic languages which are part of the Tibeto-Burman languages. Modern Tibetan derives from Classical Tibetan, which is the written norm, and from Old Tibetan. The official language of Bhutan, Dzongkha, is also closely related to Tibetan.

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