Qinghai Tibetan black cow hair tent making technique
The black cow hair tent of the Tibetans in Qinghai has a long history. It has accompanied the lives of herders from generation to generation and has become an indispensable place of residence. The black cow hair tent consists of a tent roof, four walls, horizontal poles, support poles, ropes, wooden pegs, etc. The tent is slightly rectangular, with the center of the tent ridge nearly 2 meters high, and the four sides are inclined to the ground, tied to the wooden pegs with ropes. Because the tent is generally made of black cow hair, it looks like a pot cover from a distance. The process of making a tent is relatively complicated. First of all, you need to choose the best black cow hair, preferably longer cow hair, twist it into thick thread, and weave it into a brown sheet about 30 cm wide. Several brown sheets are spliced and sewn into pieces to make a tent. A general tent requires 20 to 30 pieces of brown sheets to be spliced, and a large tent requires 40 to 50 pieces of brown sheets. The tent needs a horizontal beam and two vertical poles, which become the ridge of the tent when propped up; the four corners and four sides of the tent are tied to wooden pegs with eight ropes, and then propped up with eight poles, and the tent is set up. With the development of the times and the progress of society, many settlements have been built in pastoral areas, but the herders are still reluctant to give up their beloved tents. Every time they gather on the grassland or celebrate holidays, they will set up tents with tops, forming a large-scale tent city. On May 24, 2021, the traditional tent weaving skills (Qinghai Tibetan black cow hair tent making skills) declared by Tianjun County, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province were approved by the State Council to be included in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)