As early as four thousand years ago, the Tibetans already had developed an initial aesthetic ideology, a case in point being the adornments unearthed from the Karub ruins in Qamdo. During that time, adornments were mainly made of pottery, stone and seashell and the types of adornments were also colorful and abundant, including plate adornments, necklaces, bracelets, jade, etc. The color was original and natural and the production method was simple and unsophisticated. In regard to stone adornments, colorful stones had already been selected and used besides common stones. In addition to some natural finished products, people had already exerted their imagination to carve the adornments into various shapes. Among those unearthed adornments there was a bone hairpin. On top of it there were carved three cuneiform shapes of different sizes. It has a very good adornment effect, and not only epitomizes the bone carving crafts of the early Tibetan ancestors but also indicates that they had the custom of wearing coiled hair. It is interesting to find some necklaces made of seashells among those unearthed objects. Each bead is so tiny that it is hard to imagine what tools they used to perforate the beads.


In the early Metal Age, with the popularization of metal smelting technology and the wide application of metal products, people¡¯s adornments were mainly metal and meteorite products, or "Togyia". Most of these Togyia were made of melting meteorite. The shapes included a tortoise and a tower. Especially in modern times people in pasturing areas often pick up these metal objects abandoned long ago. They think these natural meteorite products have functions of excluding illness and warding off evil, so "Togyia" have become the indicative adornments of the herders.

The adornments in pre-historical times vary in shape, size and materials, and are simple and unsophisticated in their production technique. They provide later generations with a great deal of material for research into their spiritual life and their customs and morals in addition to enriching the image of the life of pre-historical people.

From the mural pictures of the Guge Kingdom ruins we can see some modes and wearing customs of aristocratic adornments in western Tibet during this period. At that time, among aristocrats, both men and women had the custom of wearing earrings, primarily gold. The shapes of earrings were mainly rounded and there were many protruding dots on the ring as decoration. And the hair adornments of women were similar to those of women in northern Tibet today: a 20cm-wide woolen textile hanging down from forehead to the hair tail, and embellished with turquoise, coral and gold. Their necklaces were bead strings made of coral and turquoise and they wore four to six strings. In regard to pure gold necklaces, the pendants were mostly in the shape of a trefoil and were similar with the neck adornments of Buddha figures influenced by Nepalese art style of that period. During that time, the "Garwu" worn by women were round gold products. They were many rounds of concentric circle with coral or turquoise embedded in middle. The mode was simple but it had strong ornamental character.


Nearing modern times, aristocrats in Lhasa paid more attention to the craft level of their adornments. "Balzhub" worn by aristocratic women dominated the hair adornments. It is in shape of triangle and mostly made of pearls or coral. But the origin of the shape and structure has not been proved. At the same time as wearing "Balzhub", they would wear "Aigo" that was worn under Balzhub and beside the ears as part of the hair adornment. Generally, a large piece of turquoise is planed to make petals then stuck into a gold model groove to make "Aigo"; it is much larger than earrings and is almost the most exaggerated among the adornments worn by Lhasa's aristocratic women. "Garwu" is classified into two kinds: one is the adornment worn by women on the chest. It is the major form of neck adornment and is usually appended at the center of a necklace made of a string of coral, pearls or other beads. Its outer covering is mostly made of gold, silver, copper and other metals and it is usually octagonal shape or in the shape of a lune or circle embedded with various gems. Each gem is made into various shapes according to the decorative idea it is to express. The ones in the shape of petals or leaves are polished exquisitely; the other one is an amulet Buddha box "Garwu" worn by men and carried swaying on the chest like a bag. These "Garwu" are mostly in shape of a Buddha niche and are also made of gold and other metals. But most of the line decorations on them are the eight lucky treasures, deer, lotus and other designs with a religious meaning. In addition to being used as a decoration, it is used to place Buddha figures and holy things to get rid of evils and ward off disaster.


Among all the bead strings of necklace, the most valuable one is a heavenly pearl. According to legend, it evolved from an insect falling down from heaven. The heavenly pearl can be classified into "nine-hole heavenly pearl", "two-hole heavenly pearl", "single-hole heavenly pearl", etc. according to the number of holes on it. Among them, the "nine-hole heavenly pearl" is the most rare and most valuable.

In regard to aristocratic men, ear adornments are the major form. Lhasa aristocrats often wore them on the left ear. Most ear adornments were made of turquoise and were commonly in shape of 10cm-long strip strung on a gold string.


Aristocrats paid particular attention to hygiene. Usually they would wear a knife-and-chopsticks sheath and perfume bag at the waist when going out. In the knife-and-chopsticks sheath there is a pair of chopsticks made of ivory and a long and thin steel knife. The scabbard is often made of first-class rosewood and the knife handle is embedded with various gems. It is not only practical but also decorative. The small bag they wore at the waist is used to place a bowl. It is often made of yellow embroidery or silks and satins, and the line decorations on it are mostly a circular dragon. When they went to dine as a guest at someone's home, they would use their own bowl and implements.


There are also some decorations on their caps. Besides red tassels, there is a top made of gold like an imperial crown in foreign cartoon films. But only aristocrats with credit and fame could wear it.

Today, young people chase after fashion and the traditional costume is fading out of their lives. But various traditional adornments do not disappear. On festivals, people will dress up traditional costume and wear adornments, which become the most ceremonious and splendid festival attire.

China's Tibet Magazine
DAWA