Tibetans Shearing Long Hair in Break From Tradition

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Tibetans Shearing Long Hair in Break From Tradition

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Mi Qung, a Tibetan graduate now working in Lhasa, capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region, broke with the old tradition of wearing a long pigtail and cut her hair short when she enrolled as a college student five years ago.

"I think it is convenient to have bobbed hair when busy with school work. After graduation, I changed my hair style and short hair suits my features." Mi said.

Juega, a 25-year-old male farmer, has just cut off the hair he wore for more than 20 years. As he left the hair-dressing shop, hesaid joyously and at ease, "My hair has been freed."

These days, it is common to meet in the street pretty Tibetan girls wearing bobbed or blonde hair or lively boys sporting long hair. They regard hair style as a vivid sign of a person's character.

However, this would have been permitted decades ago in Tibet and regarded an act of offense to Tibetan Buddhism, as local residents often believe that the longer one's hair, the more prospects he or she have.

In old Tibet, both women and men wore long hair braided into a big pigtail and wrapped on top of one's head. They didn't cut their hair from the time they were born. To try to ensure good hair, some even gave their children a special name of "Zhasang" which simply means "good hair".

As the vast majority of Tibetans used to wash their hair at most two or three times a year on account of busy work in the fields or on pastures, the autonomous region designated a special festival for hair-washing, which falls on the eve of the Tibetan New Year.

But with much easier access to modern society, shorter hair hascome into vogue in Tibet. A increasing number of young men and women often dye their hair in diversified colors and follow the fashions of pop film stars and singers.

"I deeply admire and envy today's girls wearing bobbed hair, which looks neat and tidy and is very easy for combing," said Zhaxi Zhoima, a 65-year-old lady.

Benba, a noted research fellow at the Tibet Regional Academy ofSocial Sciences, referred the change of locals' hair style to an alteration in the concept of Tibetans, saying that "it is a symbolthat Tibet is embarking on the road to a civilized modern society."

At present, more than 500 beauty parlors line the streets of Lhasa. A young Tibetan lady said she was particular about her hair fashion and had spent approximately 1,000 yuan (some 120 US dollars) on her hair annually in recent years.

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