Tibetan constructions of time - Climate Histories

PhD thesis. “When theMilkbird comes”: Amdo-Tibetan constructions of timeNomads, Anye Machen area, May 28, 2008Abstract: “When the Milkbird comes, Amdo-Tibetannomads in Qinghai province, PRC say their yak beginto give milk. These nomads frequently mention theMilkbird when they are asked about time and itsappearance is linked to the agricultural calendar.But this is only one time-reckoning system andthere are diverse Amdo-Tibetan constructions oftime to be found across today’s Amdo region. Whatis the nature of these constructions and how shouldwe interpret the Milkbird in relation to them? Thisthesis reveals in their use of time-reckoning devices,not just Amdowa inter-dependence with nature buttheir reactions to the hegemony of TibetanBuddhism and to the political authority of bothimperial and modern China, including theirresponse to urgent economic pressures andenvironmental change. Tibetan time-reckoningsystems emerge as linked to the political – but onlyto the extent that they are anchored in localknowledge. This thesis suggests a new role for socialanthropology in light of a critical evaluation of thestatus of local knowledge of environmental change;partially challenges Gell's (1992) work on thepolitics of time; and introduces a new reading of theTibetan calendar, based on the anthropology ofBuddhism.”Amdo-Tibetan monks, nomads, farmers,urbanites, academics & studentsJan 2007 - May 2009Qinghai (& Gansu) province, PRC