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Most beautiful night of Nan’e village

2022-03-08 10:52:00China Tibet Online

The Chasi family is located in Nan’e village, Bomtoi Township, Dagze District, Lhasa City. According to local customs, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month in the Tibetan calendar is “Gutu Night”, which is similar to the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve. “Gu” means nine in Tibetan (here means twenty-nine), and “Tu” means pasta.

After noon, the Chasi family begun to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner and items needed for “ghost exorcising” ceremony. Radish, beef and various seasonings are all ready and the side dishes are basically completed. Then they make dough into strips and cut into small balls.

After the water is boiled, Chasi and his wife Dawa Dorlma put radish, cabbage, highland barley, coriander and seasonings into water, and then the dough balls and beef. When all in the pot are cooked, the family sit down in the order of elder and younger, and Dawa Dorlma claims that the “Gutu Night” begins.

After the dinner, the “ghost exorcising” ceremony begins. The family members each touched the tsampa from head to toe, squeezed their handprints, and then threw the tsampa with the leftover Gutu into the ghost-exorcising tray, meaning to throw away all the pain and bad luck. Then Chasi lit the torch, shouted “all the demons out”, and ran to all the houses with the torch. Then, with the torch and the tray, he run out to a crossroads without looking back to burn it.

When Chasi finished the ceremony and returned home, villagers began to set off fireworks, lighting up the night sky. The family moved out the table and chairs to gather at the door of the house, and sat around to toast and bless each other with neighbors who came with highland barley wine. Witnessed by the fireworks, the two families prayed for blessings, threw into air and said goodbye to the past year.

 

 

 

 

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