Nomadic tents
Encyclopedia
Nomadic tents are a vital source of housing for nomad
s living in mountainous regions of Central Asia
. They are usually made from yak
wool
that has been hand spun into yarn and takes about a year to make a mid-sized tent.
Tibet
an tents on the contrary are very thin in comparison where the sky can be seen through the hand spun yarn inside the tent. Nomad tents are held up using hand spun yak wool rope and 8 to 12 wooden poles. The top of the tent has a large opening that is used to let smoke out and to let the warm sunshine in. Prayer flags is abundance will always be flying outside across the top.
The inside of nomad tents are very basic as the nomads, often very poor, own few belongings. Inside there will be some sleeping mats and blankets, a stove, a table or two, a few extra clothes and a little food. Nearly all tents will have a picture of a local lama
and often will have a picture of the 14th Dalai Lama. A thangka
painting will also be found hanging inside.
Traditionally yak
s are kept tied up outside of the tent using lines of rope with have 8 to 10 small loops around one of the yaks feet at night (or tied through the yak's nose) that are made secure by two wooden stakes driven into the ground. A few dogs will also be kept tied up outside the tent. Large piles of dried yak dung are stored close to the tent as an important source of fuel
. It is even common to see Tibetan buddhist sculptures made in the yak dung.
Hand woven yak wool tents are declining rapidly. Many nomads now only live in these tents in the summer months. They increasingly live in mud
-brick homes the rest of the year. Others are now moving into towns to live in traditional style Tibetan homes or are being relocated into cities (such as Xining
) where the government provides them with a modern style apartment.
Although there the number of yak wool tents each year in Tibet and Inner China reduces every year, there are still several areas that have them in abundance. The northern regions of the Nagchu
and Ngari prefectures in the Tibet Autonomous Region
, Yushu prefecture in southern Qinghai and northern Ganzi
prefecture in Sichuan
province all have nomads still living in yak wool tents to this day.
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
s living in mountainous regions of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. They are usually made from yak
Yak
The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...
wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
that has been hand spun into yarn and takes about a year to make a mid-sized tent.
Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an tents on the contrary are very thin in comparison where the sky can be seen through the hand spun yarn inside the tent. Nomad tents are held up using hand spun yak wool rope and 8 to 12 wooden poles. The top of the tent has a large opening that is used to let smoke out and to let the warm sunshine in. Prayer flags is abundance will always be flying outside across the top.
The inside of nomad tents are very basic as the nomads, often very poor, own few belongings. Inside there will be some sleeping mats and blankets, a stove, a table or two, a few extra clothes and a little food. Nearly all tents will have a picture of a local lama
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
and often will have a picture of the 14th Dalai Lama. A thangka
Thangka
A "Thangka," also known as "Tangka", "Thanka" or "Tanka" is a Tibetan silk painting with embroidery, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, famous scene, or mandala of some sort. The thankga is not a flat creation like an oil painting or acrylic painting...
painting will also be found hanging inside.
Yak
The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...
s are kept tied up outside of the tent using lines of rope with have 8 to 10 small loops around one of the yaks feet at night (or tied through the yak's nose) that are made secure by two wooden stakes driven into the ground. A few dogs will also be kept tied up outside the tent. Large piles of dried yak dung are stored close to the tent as an important source of fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
. It is even common to see Tibetan buddhist sculptures made in the yak dung.
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
-brick homes the rest of the year. Others are now moving into towns to live in traditional style Tibetan homes or are being relocated into cities (such as Xining
Xining
Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...
) where the government provides them with a modern style apartment.
Although there the number of yak wool tents each year in Tibet and Inner China reduces every year, there are still several areas that have them in abundance. The northern regions of the Nagchu
Nagchu
Nagchu may refer to:*Nagchu Prefecture, prefecture in Tibet*Nagchu County, county in Tibet*Nagchu Town, town in Nachu County...
and Ngari prefectures in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
, Yushu prefecture in southern Qinghai and northern Ganzi
Ganzi
Ganzi is a town in the Ogooué-Ivindo province of Gabon....
prefecture in Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
province all have nomads still living in yak wool tents to this day.