A MONGGHUL WOMAN'S (B. 1968) TRADITIONAL ADORNMENTS AND FAMILY

Limusishiden (Li Dechun). 2023. A Mongghul Woman's (b. 1968) Traditional Adornments and Family. Asian Highlands Perspectives63:178-200.

Mongghul[1] (Monguor, Tu) women's traditional personal adornments are the subject of this paper. Tayinsuu (b. 1968), a Tu (Mongghul, Monguor) mother from Jughuari (Zhuoke) Mongghul Village, Wushi Town, Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province, PR China, was born with a cleft lip, attended a primary school in her natal Jughuari Village for five years, and herded cattle, donkeys, and horses on the mountains in her youth. Tayinsuu's mother (Zhinyahua, b. 1950) gave her traditional adornments to Tayinsuu as a dowry. Tayinsuu's narratives about these personal adornments and their cultural place in the Mongghul world are detailed. Zhinyahua, who became a nun in ~1999, is also described. 

This paper is based on interviewing Tayinsuu in Jughuari Village on 29 February 2020 and photographs by my wife, Jugui. I took notes in Mongghul and wrote this text in English as I later listened to the recorded interview. 

The paper provides photographs of Tayinsuu and Zhinyahua, followed by selected non-English terms for adornments and clothing, an overview of Tayinsuu's and Zhinyahua's lives, Tayinsuu's search for her mother in Hualong Hui Autonomous County (Haidong City, Qinghai Province), Zhinyahua's life in her home area, Tayinsuu's description of her necklace, and Tayinsuu's experiences with a cleft lip.

[1] Mongghul spellings follow Li (1988), Tibetan terms are given in Wylie and Tibetan script, and Chinese is provided in Pinyin and Chinese characters.