China Focus: Children's Literature in Tibetan Language Turns New Page
- Home
- News
- People
- In-depth
- ACWF
China Focus: Children's Literature in Tibetan Language Turns New Page
April 25, 2022LHASA, April 23 (Xinhua) — Tashi Wangden, 8, quietly looked through a Chinese-Tibetan comic strip at a bookstore behind the iconic Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
With vivid images and bilingual words below in the "Journey to the West," a classic Chinese fiction, Tashi Wangden was fascinated by the clever and plucky Monkey King in the comic.
The comic is among several children's bilingual comic strips co-published by the Tibet People's Publishing House and a Shanghai-based publisher, with the support of a special national fund for ethnic language publications since 2016.
"The comic books are popular among local children and grassroots farmers and herdsmen in Tibet, and most of the books have been reprinted in a short time," said Tsering Dorje from the publishing house.
Saturday marks the World Book Day. As China has been promoting ethnic language publications, Tibetan children on the plateau have a wide choice of books in the Tibetan language.
In old Tibet, rare Buddhist classics and other printed materials were mainly limited to officials, nobles, and educated lamas in monasteries. Some seven decades ago, there was not a single proper school back then, and the illiteracy rate exceeded 95 percent.
Thanks to the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, children from different ethnic groups on the plateau began to go to school, and Tibetan children's literature has developed rapidly.
Chinese and foreign children's books, such as "One Hundred Thousand Whys," "Grimms' Fairy Tales," and "Andersen's Fairy Tales," have been translated into Tibetan and other ethnic minority languages and published since the 1960s.
Official figures released at the end of 2021 showed that more than 2,500 Tibetan-language books had been published in the region over the previous five years.
If you set foot in bookstores and libraries in Lhasa, you would not be surprised to find many world-famous picture books in Chinese, Tibetan, and English, which can open a door for local children to the outside world.
Tibet now has 5,462 rural libraries, 1,787 temple libraries and over 200 publishers, said the latest official data.
"We will cultivate more local writers and translators, and strengthen efforts to compile and create more books on excellent traditional Tibetan culture," said Tsering Dorje.
(Source: Xinhua)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Comments
Magazines
Projects
- 2023 Women Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer...
Photos
- People Enjoy Blooming Tulips in Jinan, East...
- Flowers Bloom Across China in Spring
Special Coverage
Related articles
Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ask almost any hardcore motorsports fan who the best driver in the world is righ2024-05-21Chevrolet Malibu heads for the junkyard as GM shifts focus to EVs
DETROIT (AP) — The Chevrolet Malibu, the last midsize car made by a Detroit automaker, is heading fo2024-05-21Lakers star Christian Wood's ex
Christian Wood has reportedly been accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend, with influencer Yasmine L2024-05-21Hopes are fading for 44 workers still missing days after South Africa building collapse; 9 are dead
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Hope was fading Friday for 44 construction workers buried for days in2024-05-21Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lionel Messi is in and Paulo Dybala is out of Argentina’s squad for f2024-05-21Club World Cup: Why FIFA is facing pushback over US
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — FIFA is facing renewed pushback over its expanded Club World Cup just ove2024-05-21
atest comment