Tashi delek
{{Short description|Tibetan-language expression}}
{{italic title}}
{{translit|bo|Tashi delek}} ({{bo|t=བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས|w=bkra shis bde legs}}, {{IPA|bo|tʂáɕi tèle}}) is a Tibetan expression used to greet, congratulate or wish someone good luck. It is also used in Bhutan and Northeast India in the same way. {{translit|bo|Tashi delek}} is associated with Losar, the Tibetan festival celebrating the lunisolar new year.{{cite book | last=McCue | first=G. | title=Trekking in Tibet: A Traveler's Guide | publisher=Mountaineers | series=Mountaineers Bks | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-89886-662-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJXEk4tGQ-gC&pg=PA47 | language=nl | access-date=2024-05-13 | page=47}}
Origin and meaning
{{translit|bo|Tashi}} ({{bo|t=བཀྲ་ཤིས|w=bkra shis}}, {{IPA|bo|tʂáɕi|}}) means 'auspicious' and {{translit|bo|delek}} ({{bo|t=བདེ་ལེགས|w=bde legs}}, {{IPA|bo|tèle|}}, also rendered as {{translit|bo|deleg}} or {{translit|bo|deleh}}) means 'fine' or 'well'.{{citation|url=http://www.khandro.net/LangnLit_toc.htm|title=Language & Literature|publisher=Khandro.net|accessdate=2009-05-12}} It is difficult and perhaps impossible to translate properly into English.{{sfn|Oha|2008|pp=91–92}} Different authors render it as 'Blessings and good luck' or 'May all auspicious signs come to this environment'.{{sfn|Dresser|1999|p=43}}{{sfn|Jackson|2004|p=292}}
Usage by Tibetans
{{translit|bo|Tashi delek}} is traditionally used as part of a larger invocation on Losar.{{Cite book|title=Tibet, Tibet|first=Patrick|last=French|publisher=Random House Digital|year=2009|page=28}}{{Cite book|title=Tibetans in Nepal: The Dynamics of International Assistance Among a Community in Exile| first1=Ann| last1=Frechette| first2=Walter| last2=Schatzberg| publisher=Berghahn Books| year=2002| pages=108–109}} With the Dalai Lama's exile and creation of the Tibetan diaspora, exile authorities promoted the use of {{translit|bo|tashi delek}} as an all-purpose greeting which could be easily picked up by foreign sponsors. Students of the exile school system are taught that this usage of {{translit|bo|Tashi delek}} has roots in premodern Tibet, and that Chinese Tibetans' exclusive usage of {{translit|bo|Tashi delek}} for New Year's is corrupt. Tour operators have promoted the phrase, along with khata scarves and prayer flags, as essentialized and commodifiable aspects of Tibetan culture, a fact that has caused resentment among some religious Tibetans.{{cite book | last=Kerr | first=B. | last2=Harrer | first2=H. | title=Sky Burial: An Eyewitness Account of China's Brutal Crackdown in Tibet | publisher=Shambhala | year=1997 | isbn=978-1-55939-724-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4BIONdvpncC&pg=PT147 | access-date=2024-05-13 | page=147}}
Other uses
The phrase {{translit|bo|tashi delek}} is also used in Chinese with the Chinese transcription {{translit|zh|Zhaxi dele}} ({{lang|zh|扎西德勒}}).{{citation|url=http://xz.xinhuanet.com/gdbb/2009-02/25/content_15796257.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718130231/http://xz.xinhuanet.com/gdbb/2009-02/25/content_15796257.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 18, 2011|periodical=Xinhua News|title=西藏百姓互道"扎西德勒"欢度藏历新年|date=2009-02-25|accessdate=2009-05-12}} There is a song called {{translit|zh|Zhaxi Dele}} with lyrics by {{interlanguage link|Rongzhong Erjia|zh|容中尔甲}}, a Tibetan, and music by {{interlanguage link|Chang Yingzhong|zh|昌英中}}, a Han Chinese.{{cite web |url=http://mp3.baidu.com/singerlist/%C8%DD%D6%D0%B6%FB%BC%D7.html |title=容中尔甲_百度Mp3 |accessdate=2008-12-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120721184204/http://mp3.baidu.com/singerlist/%C8%DD%D6%D0%B6%FB%BC%D7.html |archivedate=2012-07-21 }}
The phrase is also used in Bhutan, Sikkim, and Nepal. "{{translit|bo|Tashi Delek|italics=no}}" is the name of a website that provides information on the nation of Bhutan and promotes tourism.{{Cite book|title=Faiths on Display: Religion, Tourism, and the Chinese State|first1=Tim|last1=Oakes|first2=Donald|last2=Sutton|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2010|page=106}} There is a company in Bhutan called TashiDelek.com[http://www.tashidelek.com/ Tashi Delek Net] and a Hotel Tashi Delek in Gangtok, Sikkim. The inflight magazine of the Bhutanese airline Druk Air is called Tashi Delek.https://www.drukair.com.bt/COMMON.aspx?Type=Tashi%20Delek.htm
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist}}
=Sources=
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation|title=Multicultural celebrations: today's rules of etiquette for life's special occasions|first=Norine|last=Dresser|publisher=Three Rivers Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-609-80259-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/multiculturalcel00nori}}
- {{citation|title=A saint in Seattle: the life of the Tibetan mystic Dezhung Rinpoche|first=David Paul|last=Jackson|publisher=Wisdom Publications|year=2004|isbn=978-0-86171-396-7}}
- {{citation|chapter=Language, Exile, and the Burden of Undecidable Citizenship: Tenzin Tsundue and the Tibetan Experience|last=Oha|first=Obododimma|title=Exile Cultures, Misplaced Identities|editor-first=Paul|editor-last=Allatson|editor2-first=Jo|editor2-last=McCormack|isbn=978-90-420-2406-9|year=2008}}
{{refend}}
External links
- [http://www.tashidelek.com/ Bhutanese Tashi Delek Net]