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Blazing Pelts and Burning Passions: Nationalism, Cultural Politics, and Spectacular Decommodification in Tibet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2013

Emily T. Yeh
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Abstract

A few months after the fourteenth Dalai Lama stated at the Kalachakra Initiation Ceremony in India in January 2006 that Tibetans should cease wearing clothing lined with endangered animal skins, Tibetans across the Tibetan Plateau destroyed millions of yuan worth of otter, leopard, tiger, and other pelts. Outsiders' interpretations of these events have flattened out the complexity of participants' motivations, which included not only religious and national loyalty, but also concerns about inequality wrought by capitalist development, framed through a lens of modern Chinese history. This paper traces heated debates among Tibetans about the burnings, including their implications for Tibetans' global reputation, the survival of Tibetan culture, and the possibility of a moral economy in an era of deepening commodification. It also explores the embodied, visual, and performative elements of the burnings through participants' videos. The role of local filmmaking efforts in spreading the burnings makes the accompanying videos especially relevant.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 319 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2013 

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Yeh supplementary movie 1

Burning in Tangkor, as participants shout “Tashi Delek!”

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Video 10.5 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 10

Participants in Tangkor shouting “Offering!”

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Video 10.7 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 2

Participants of the fourth Khampa Arts festival, Kardzé Prefecture, in 2004, heavily adorned with jewelry and pelts. Clip from Meili Ganzi (Enchanting Ganzi), Sichuan Publishing Group.

Download Yeh supplementary movie 2(Video)
Video 6.5 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 3

Beginning of the 18-minute video produced by organizers in Ngawa

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Video 6.4 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 4

The crowd watching and participating in burning in Ngawa

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Video 11.7 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 5

Piling on pelts about to be burned in Tsö

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Video 7.9 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 6

Men lining up to burn leopard pelts in Tsö

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Video 3.5 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 7

Women in Tangkor tearing off pelt trims

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Video 5.6 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 8

Men displaying pelts on their bodies before burning

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Video 15.7 MB

Yeh supplementary movie 9

Men burning pelts and receiving scarves in Litang

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Video 15.7 MB