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"This film illustrates the changes the Lepcha of the Dzongu reserve, North Sikkim, have been through in the last 60 years. From the 1940's, the Lepcha of Tingvong village gradually abandoned hunting, gathering and the slash and burn cultivation of dry rice, and became settled agriculturalists. Entire mountains sides were converted to cardamom and terraced for the cultivation of irrigated paddy. The irrigated rice and the cardamom cash crop not only brought the Lepcha within Sikkim's market economy but helped create a surplus which could among other things be invested in religion. In the 1940's, the Lepcha of Tingvong embraced Buddhism and all its complex rituals without however abandoning their strong shamanic traditions. Today, both forms of rituals amiably co-exist in the village. This film is part of a long-term visual anthropology training project for the tribal communities of Sikkim."--Original container

study of religion|indology|anthropology|history|tibetology

The Nako temple complex with its earliest structures dating back to the 11th century is an extraordinary testimony of early Tibetan Buddhism not anymore preserved in today's Tibet. Endangered by the rough environment,
improper treatment and frequent earthquakes, the outstanding monuments were re-discovered by scholars from Austrian universities in the 1980s.
The transdisciplinary research project carried out over more than 20 years led to in-depth studies, preservation and model-like conservation of the temples and their artworks. - Der Nako Tempelkomplex, dessen früheste Gebäude auf das 11. Jahrhundert zurückgehen, ist ein außergewöhnliches Zeugnis des frühen tibetischen Buddhismus, das im heutigen Tibet nicht mehr erhalten ist. Gefährdet durch das rauhe Klima, unsachgemäßen restauratorischen Umgang und v.a. häufige Erdbeben wurden die bedeutenden Denkmäler in den 1980er Jahren von österreichischen WissenschaftlerInnen wiederentdeckt. Ein transdisziplinäres Forschungsprojekt, über mehr als 20 Jahre durchgeführt, führte zu intensiven Untersuchungen und Studien sowie einer modellhaften Konservierung und Restaurierung der Tempelanlage und ihrer Ausstattung.

This pioneering ethnographic analysis provides a far-reaching account of the changing social, political and organizational topography of western China. The seismic changes wrought across this region in recent history are seen through the lens of Trinde, a remote 'autonomous' county on the Tibetan plateau. Drawing on over two years of detailed empirical research in a region never previously investigated by foreign researchers, Beth Meriam traces and interlinks the human, national and global dimensions of continuity and change. Her work provides important new insights into how the challenges and opportunities of China's reform era are producing innovative social and political responses from the people in this area. This sensitive, controversial work provides a rare and intimate account of a highly diverse range of people, and highlights their central role in shaping this dynamic, changing society. Set in a region that is never long out of the headlines, the ethnography vividly illustrates how policy fluctuations across this region involve difficult, and often painful, dilemmas for local people. Synthesizing anthropological insight with Tibetological rigour, the study shows how policies and social categories are anything but self-evident or monolithic: instead, local people are actively engaged in creating, reinterpreting and modifying official policies in practice. The book will be of interest to a wide audience, including students and scholars of Chinese nationality studies and Tibetology, as well as those with an interest in social and political anthropology or who are looking for a penetrating and integrated analysis of this hotly-debated and often misunderstood region.