When the reporter met Sonam Dorje, he was checking the sample book of the book to be published this year, word by word. This is a book about the Tibetan Niang Thangka in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, which condenses the research results and painstaking efforts of Sonam Dorje and his team for more than 10 years.
On April 8, Sonam Dorje checked his office for a sample of the book to be published this year. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Geng Huihuang
Sonam Dorje, 50, is vice chairman of the Chinese Folk Writers Association and chairman of the Qinghai Folk Writers Association. Born in Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on the shores of Qinghai Lake, after graduating with a master's degree in 1998, he worked as a translator, editor and researcher in the Qinghai Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission and the Qinghai Provincial Federation of Literature and Literature, and later joined the Qinghai Folk Writers Association.
Engaged in literary and artistic work for more than 20 years, Sonam Dorje has devoted himself to the excavation and collation of folk literature, and has long been engaged in the census of "Chinese Thangka Cultural Archives" and the compilation of "Qinghai Volume of Chinese Folk Literature", and has published more than 30 academic papers and more than 10 works in Tibetan and Chinese. He has organized and selected Regong art and folk songs and dances to participate in national literary and art exhibitions for many times, and his selected works have won more than 30 important awards, including 8 Chinese Folk Art Mountain Flower Awards.
In January 2015, Sonam Dorje (first from left) investigates the legend of Gesar in Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Courtesy of respondents
Qinghai Province is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and there are Tibetan, Hui, Turkic, Salar, Mongolian and other ethnic minorities living on the vast land, with diverse folk cultures, rich accumulation and rich forms of expression.
"The work of the CppcC mainly includes three parts: folk literature, folk art and folklore." When he first arrived at the Qinghai Provincial People's Association, in his daily exchanges with Thangka artists, Sonam Dorje became fascinated with thangka, a traditional Tibetan painting art.
In the summer of 2006, Sonam Dorje led a team to Zangniang Village in Yushu Prefecture to investigate the thangka making process. "At that time, the infrastructure in the village was poor, and for a whole month, the only time we communicated with the outside world was when we climbed to the mountain at an altitude of more than 4,600 meters and called home to report that we were safe." Sonnen Dorje recalled.
I heard that thangka researchers came from Xining City, and the local people not only competed to show their own thangka drawings, exchange thangka drawing experience, but also sent yogurt and beef. "In the evening, everyone will eat together and talk about home." Sonnan Dorje said.
In July 2013, Sonam Dorje (second from right) visits local Thangka artists in the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Courtesy of respondents
In 2015, during a visit to a traditional village in Qinghai Province in Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City, in addition to the staggered buildings built on the mountain, the local folklore also impressed Sonam Dorje.
"That was the first time I heard that there was a local folk custom of getting up at four o'clock in the morning to cook for the elderly at home." Every time he goes to the countryside to communicate with the villagers, Sonam Dorje can make new discoveries. According to reports, Hualong County' Jinyuan Tibetan Nationality Township Zhihaga Village has a tradition of respecting the elderly and loving the elderly, advocating that the elderly eat less and eat more meals, so young people will get up early every day at about four o'clock in the morning to prepare milk tea and steamed buns for the elderly, and then rest until dawn after the elderly have finished eating.
In March 2015, Sonam Dorje visited a traditional village in Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City. Courtesy of respondents
Wei Xueyin, 36, is a staff member of the Qinghai Provincial People's Association. "I have been working in the NDC for more than a year, and Chairman Sonam Dorje will share it with us every time he comes back from research, and record and archive what he has seen and heard in a timely manner." Wei Xueyin said.
At present, the Qinghai Folk Writers Association has more than 20 professional committees and more than 800 members, including thangkas, traditional villages, and intangible cultural heritage protection.
Tashi Jiancuo, head of the Youth Working Committee of the Qinghai Provincial Association of Chinese Citizens, started his own business as a Thangka artist after graduating from university in 2009. "I joined the Qinghai Provincial Association of Chinese People's Associations in 2014, and from my personal studio to the establishment of a cultural and creative company, the big family of the Association of Democracy has helped me a lot." Tashi Jiancuo said.
Under the planning of Sonam Dorje, the "Qinghai Folk Art Craftsman Spirit Live Broadcast Display and Promotion Activity" sponsored by the Qinghai Provincial People's Association was opened in July 2021 at the Cultural and Creative Company in Tashi Jiancuo, and a total of 4 live promotions with the themes of green embroidery, paper cutting, peasant painting and thangka were held, which attracted more than 10,000 people online and offline.
"Qinghai's traditional handicrafts and cultural and creative products market development potential is huge, I hope that the event can provide a platform for Qinghai folk artists to exchange and display, recommend folk handicrafts, publicize folk craft culture, display folk craftsman spirit, so that more people can understand Qinghai folk traditional culture." Sonnan Dorje said.
In March this year, Sonam Dorje (first from left) visits local Thangka artists in Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City. Courtesy of respondents
A few days ago, Sonam Dorje was awarded the title of "National Young and Middle-Aged Literary and Art Workers". "This honor inspires me to forge ahead, and I will continue to excavate, protect and inherit Qinghai's folk culture well in the plateau." Sonnan Dorje said.
Reporter: Geng Huihuang
Editors: Jia Zhen, Leng Yanyan