Abstract: The Chamdo Prefecture is an important region, where the Tibetan ethnicity originated and its time-honored history and culture have come into being. It is also a corridor area for cultural exchanges between the Tibetans and other ethnic groups. The Tibetan culture and Kangba culture, which boast strong regional characteristics, are the results of multi-ethnic cultural integration. With the rapid growth of economy and society, the modern culture has gradually and deeply affected the local traditional culture. Subtle changes have taken place in the hearts of deeply traditional farmers and herdsmen, who are on one hand enjoying the convenience brought by new things while on the other overwhelmed by the fast tempo of the modern culture and the lack of a sense of belonging. Thus, we need to develop an advanced culture that can keep up with the pace of our times, with the position and attitude of dialectical materialism and through inheritance, refinement and transformation.

[Key Words] Chamdo, traditional culture, modern culture, cultural connotation and comparison

The Chamdo Prefecture, tucked away in the Hengduan Mountains and dissected by the Jinshajiang, Lancanjiang, and Nujiang Rivers, is an important region where the Tibetan ethnicity originated and its time-honored history and culture have come into being. The distinct ecological environment and artificial landscapes have formed Chamdo's profound history and the rich Kangba culture as well. With the Kangba Tibetan culture as the foundation, its cultural trait is tolerant and inclusive, covering various aspects including the economy, society, politics, religion, art, customs and social groups' psychology in eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, with humanistic features of variety, inclusiveness and complexity. The Gelsall culture and heroism spirit symbolizing justice, bravery and enhancement are the expression of it.

1. Current situation of Chamdo culture

The Chamdo Prefecture has been a corridor for cultural exchanges between the Tibetans and other ethnic groups. Ethnic groups including the Tibetans, the Hans, the Huis, the Miaos, the Mongolians, the Lhobas and the Monbas have lived here for generations. The Tibetan culture and the Kangba culture, which boast strong regional characteristics, are the results of multi-ethnic cultural integration. Chamdo is also the heartland of the legendary Ancient Tea Horse Road, which has given the region distinctive cultural characteristics and profound cultural connotations. Bonpo and Tibetan Buddhism are the main religions, which have leading influences on the local economy, politics, culture and social life and created a religious culture with distinctive features. A large variety of historical features, ranging from ancient human cultural relics, grand ancient buildings and unique ethnic customs to picturesque cultural artifacts and wonderful traditional handicrafts, have laid a solid foundation for the construction of the cultural industry in Chamdo.

By the end of 2015, there were a total of 167 cultural relics protection sites in Chamdo, including five at the national level, 53 at the autonomous region level and 109 at the county level. Seventy-three of these have been inscribed on intangible cultural heritage protection lists. There were a total of 122 artistic groups, including one professional art performance team, 14 folk art groups and 107 amateur troupes and Tibetan opera teams. There were a total of 1,807 public cultural facilities, among which 29 were county-level ones, including 11 comprehensive cultural activity centers, 11 Xinhua bookstores and seven folk art troupes. 138 were township-level comprehensive cultural stations, and 1,119 were village-level facilities and 516 religious reading rooms. Large-scale performance activities, including the Kangba Culture and Arts Festival in adjacent areas of Qinghai, Yunnan, Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Sanjiang Tea and Horse Culture and Arts Festival, the Mangkang Culture and Arts Festival, the Rerba Arts Festival in Dingqing County, the Zhongque Arts Festival in Leiwuqi County and ethnic folk culture month in Karuo District, were held.

2. Modern influences on Chamdo's traditional culture

While absorbing, integrating, innovating and developing outside cultural influences, the Chamdo culture has exhibited a growing trend of discarding the dross while retaining its finer parts. In the process of development, the modern culture definitely has impacted the traditional culture, which is a common problem globally in modern world history. Some folk songs, folk art forms and legends have started to become extinct, and some exquisite folk craftworks and buildings have begun to decline. Some efficient traditional medicines have lost their markets, and some traditional etiquettes and customs that are conducive to fostering personal virtues have been gradually abolished. The cultivation effect on the traditional culture caused by the development ideas of the modern culture has appeared gradually. The modernity and abundance of material life have quietly changed the traditional life in Chamdo. Traditional tillage methods, such as the slash-and-burn farming method, have been gradually replaced by mechanical ways. Horseback transportation has been upgraded to those by automobiles and airplanes. The expansion of power grids has led to the wide use of electrical appliances, which have gradually edged out various traditional handicrafts. Also televisions and telephones are no longer rare objects in agricultural and pastoral areas. The application of smart phones and 3G networks has further narrowed the distance between farmers, herdsmen and the modern society, as well as the distance between farmers and herdsmen themselves, who are used to living in scattered patterns. The implementation of a series of preferential policies, including housing projects for low-income residents, cooperative medical insurance in agricultural and pastoral areas, rural minimum living subsidy systems and the grassland ecological compensation rewards, has improved Chamdo residents' living conditions. Subtle changes have taken place in the hearts of traditional farmers and herdsmen, who on one hand enjoy the conveniences brought by the modern life while on the other are overwhelmed by the fast tempo of the modern culture and the lack of a sense of belonging. These psychological changes exactly reflect a series of outstanding and urgent problems ethnic groups are faced with, including the issue of how they adjust and optimize ethnic traditional cultures to make them adapt to the development of the modern society.

3. Suggestions and opinions on the Inheritance and Development of the Chamdo Culture

The book Kangba Fuxin not only mentions the Karuo Civilization in the New Stone Age, which has important research value for the origin of the Tibetan ethnicity, but also records the historical track of cultural fusion, in which multi-ethnicities' cultural elements from the Tibetans, the Hans, the Huis, the Mongolians, the Naxis and the Lhobas presenting the culture of the Tibetan Plateau, the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, Dongba and Bashu integrated together with foreign cultures from Nepal and India. With the Karuo civilization as a basis and incorporating the historical development of the Maoniu, Zuo, Qiong, Dongnv Kindoms and Tubo, Chamdo has been an important corridor for each ethnic group's survival, migration and integration since ancient times. Thus, Chamdo can be called a natural museum and treasure house of anthropology. Chamdo has its unique charms, as it has well preserved the indigenous culture of Kangba. In addition to Tibetan Buddhism, other religions including Islam, Catholicism, Taoism and Dongba Religion, have also thrived here. There are ancient salt wells and pans used for ancient methods to produce salt and the Chamdo Ritong Tibetan Medicine research center, which boasts a history of more than 1,200 years. More importantly, Chamdo is the place in Tibet Autonomous Region where the Chinese national flag was first raised. Thus, Chamdo has become the well-deserved highlight of the Red Culture in Tibet. All these cultural elements well support the theme of Kangba Fuxin--Unsurmountable Miracle. Obviously, and Chamdo is the best place to experience the Kangba culture, from the perspective of cultural inheritance and development. In the modern society with obvious cultural diversity, the development of the modern culture is both an opportunity and a challenge for the Chamdo culture. On one hand, the Chamdo culture can adapt to new historical conditions and transform into a new version of itself following the inheritance and development in the process of modernization. On the other hand, the Chamdo culture inevitably has exchanges and collisions with other cultures. Its transition is to meet the need for its own development in the process of modernization. But in the new era of development, how will Chamdo inherit and transform its culture?

Firstly, we should inherit and develop the Chamdo ethnic culture by highlighting its characteristics. We should pay attention to combining the skin layer of the Chamdo culture and the local social reality. We should place ethnic culture as an important part of local education of ethnic awareness and unity, which should make up a considerable proportion of primary and middle school education. For example, some primary and secondary schools in Chamdo have replaced regular physical exercises with the Tibetan folk Guozhuang Dance, which not only builds up students' physiques but also raises their awareness to cherish their homeland, ethnic origins and the excellent traditional cultures in their home region.

Secondly, we should improve our capacity for domestic and international communication, enhance communication channels with the outside world and raise the level of cultural openness, in a move to expand the Chamdo culture out of the Tibetan region and into the world. We should develop export-oriented cultural enterprises and support them to tap markets outside Tibet. We should encourage social groups and Chinese-funded institutions to participate in Tibetan studies, take full advantage of the Tibetan traditional culture, construct domestic and international cultural centers and set up cultural exchange programs. We should actively absorb and draw lessons from all excellent cultural achievements at home and abroad, introduce talented personnel, technology and management expertise, which are conducive to the growth of the Chamdo culture.

Last but not the least, we should protect and effectively develop excellent traditional cultural resources and brainpower, integrate cultural and tourism resources, tangible and intangible cultural heritage resources, in an effort to foster a good image of the Chamdo culture. We should also create landmark cultural products, build the Chamdo cultural brand, promote the transformation of cultural resources into innovation and economic growth and practically maintain ethnic cultural security as well. Focusing on eastern Tibet and based on the realities of the Kangba region, we should achieve unique results in terms of ethnicity, territoriality and culture. We should get the whole picture of the Chamdo culture, through multi-cultural communication in terms of history, landscapes, customs and tourism, so as to form an interactive and complementary development mode between the cultural industry and the tourism industry. While raising the added value of the cultural industry, we believe that it will give impetus to that of many other industries, which means we can really be unique and excellent.

(Zeren Junmei, deputy mayor of Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region)