SHEEP SHEARING 2023 IN RGYAB LUNG (JIALONG) COMMUNITY, RTA NAG MA (HEIMAHE) TOWNSHIP TOWN, GSER CHEN (GONGHE) COUNTY, MTSHO LHO (HAINAN) TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE, MTSHO SNGON (QINGHAI) PROVINCE, PR CHINA by Sgrol ma yag སྒྲོལ་མ་ཡག

SHEEP SHEARING 2023 IN RGYAB LUNG (JIALONG) COMMUNITY, RTA NAG MA (HEIMAHE) TOWNSHIP TOWN, GSER CHEN (GONGHE) COUNTY, MTSHO LHO (HAINAN) TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE, MTSHO SNGON (QINGHAI) PROVINCE, PR CHINA Sgrol ma yag སྒྲོལ་མ་ཡག May-June is sheep-shearing time in my home area of Rgyab lung (Jialong) Community, Rta nag ma (Heimahe) Township Town, Gser chen (Gonghe) County,[1] Mtsho lho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China. My family stopped shearing sheep in about 2007. I filmed the first time I participated in sheep shearing since then, helping five local families shear sheep. There have been many changes in sheep-shearing including what families do with the sheared wool and tools used to shear. Most families have around ten people to help. Father (b. 1970) said that if we don't shear at this time, the sheep will be uncomfortable and scratch against walls, rocks, and ditches, and might roll over, be unable to stand, and die. At around 5PM, my cousin's family arrived with their sheep, brought from the summer pasture to the spring pasture. After the family drove the sheep into the sheep enclosure, the son slaughtered a sheep, and his parents went to the township town by motorcycle and bought various beverages, fruit, biscuits, and other items. Father helped the son take care of the meat. Early the next morning, the family got up at four and began shearing after a simple breakfast. Later, helpers came one after another. Before they start shearing, men sharpen the bal he 'shearing scissors,' and two or three women of the family cook, prepare milk tea, and cook meat and noodles. Each man has ten bkyig tigs 'strings', indicating each is to catch ten sheep and shear them. This is bkyigs thabs gcig 'one round.' If it is a shearer's first time to shear, other men help him. When I was a child, each man had his own strings, and most were made of wool. They colored their strings to differentiate them from others. Father's strings were wool and colored red on top. Every time he finished shearing, I was responsible for collecting the strings. At that time men twisted their strings around their waists and pulled one when they caught a sheep and tied its legs with it. Most men who participated in the sheep shearing this year had few wool strings. Instead, they bought cloth from the market and tore the cloth into strips. During shearing, two or three women were responsible for marking the sheared sheep with lcags rtsi '