Introduction

According to the sixth national census in 2010, the total population of Tibetans was 6,282,187,000. Tibetans in Yunnan are mainly found in the Tibetan settlements of Zhongdian, Deqin and Weixi in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Tibetans in Yunnan call themselves “Bo” and “Boba”, and after the founding ofNew China, they are known as “Tibetan”. They have their own language and character, and the Tibetan language belongs to the Tibetan-Burmese branch ofthe Sino-Tibetan language family.

Most of the Tibetan settlements in Yunnan have a temperate and cold-temperate monsoon climate, while the river valley areas have a subtropical monsoon climate. The complex ecosystems and climates make the Tibetan areas of Yunnan one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Tibetan clothing in Yunnan is looser. Women’s clothing is varied, while men’s clothing is much the same as Sichuan-Tibetan men’s clothing.

The Tibetan people ofYunnan worshiped the “Bon religion”^[15] before the introduction of Buddhism. Buddhism began to spread in the Tibetan areas ofYunnan in the 7th centuryAD,when the Tufan forces entered the north-western Yunnan. After the 8th century, the Tufan rulers promoted Buddhism and suppressed Bon religion, which gradually declined. During the long struggle between the two religions, they interacted with each other. On the one hand, Tibetan Buddhism was formed, and on the other hand, the Bon religion also absorbed parts of Buddhism, gradually forming a sect similar to Tibetan Buddhism. The Yuan and Ming dynasties were the heyday ofTibetan Buddhism in the Tibetan areas ofYunnan.

There are three sects of Tibetan Buddhism in Yunnan: Gelugpa^[16], Nyingma^[17] and Kagyu^[18]. In the course of its long history, Tibetan Buddhism has fused Indian Buddhism,Chinese Buddhism and Bon religion. It has a profound influence in Tibetan areas as it does not advocate complicated doctrinal studies, but absolute faith and preference for rituals and disciplines.

The main traditional Tibetan festivals in Yunnan include the Losar^[19], Horse Racing Festival and religious assembly where monks dance for subdue demons.