Microbraids in Tibet

  

As usual, I was watching a movie and noticed something about the hair of the people in the movie.  This was not documentary but was based on a true story.  The title of the movie is "Seven Years in Tibet" with Brad Pitt.  The movie is ho-hum but I was transfixed on the hair style of the Tibetan women and how it reminds of African-American microbraids.

Also, as usual, I had to find out why they braid their hair in such tiny braids.  African-American women wear micro (tiny) braids for easy hair care, to protect their own hair and for a different look.  Tibetan women braid their hair in tiny braids - 108 to be exact - because Tibetan Buddhism holds that 108 sacred qualities constitute an enlightened mind.  The number "108" is significant in Buddhism for many things and Tibetan women represent this with their hair style.


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In old Tibet women never cut their hair from the the time they were born.

However, microbraids are fading in Tibet as women begin to embrace modern society and perferring shorter hair. An increasing number of young men and women often dye their hair and follow the fashions of pop film stars and singers.  Those women with the traditional long braids look wistfully on the young Tibetan women.  "I deeply admire and envy today's girls wearing bobbed hair, which looks neat and tidy and is very easy to look after," said Zhaxi Zholma, a 65-year-old Tibetan lady.

Source: Chinese Embassy: