Cai Bei (2018-2019)

Institutional Affiliation

College for Ethnology and Sociology at Qinghai Minzu University

Tibetan Buddhism and Himalayan Research Center at Qinghai Minzu University

Education

M.A., Art for Film and Television, Northwest Minzu University, 2007

Ph.D., History of Tibetan Culture, Minzu University of China, 2010

Research Interests

I have paid attention to the Tibetan Landscape and Holy Land for a long time. My doctoral dissertation is on a very old Mountain Spirit or Local Protection god A-Myes-Rma-Chen, especially its role and symbolic significance in Tibetan society and culture in the pre-Buddhist period.
In recent year my research focus basically on the small mountain god of Tiebtan village, the Festival of daily life. In this respect, my field including Guoluo in Qinghai of China, such as Gyung-drung-Lcags-rtse as an important local mountain spirit. I have mainly studied Its historical origin and the characteristics of the ancient sngas -mchod. 
In addition, I’ve studies relations between “yul-lha” “gzhi-bdag” and “vkhrungs-lha” “skyes-lha” of the villages in the southern area of Tibet, in particular, the Joint Performance of local festivals and the metaphor of the Divine Kingship。
Other cases, derived from some cross-region holy mountain, such as Kha-ba-dkar-po, in Yunnan of china, Kailash in Tibet, these big holy mountain is different from the small one  in  village, they have been recorded and being constructed for  different degree in the important literature in Buddhist and Bon, and is closely related to the development of    schools, particularly, Kailash, there is a direct correlation with the landscape of Himalayan and the Hindu.
My latest interest lies in under the consideration of the current social reality, especially on the basis of the state, study sacred geography of Tibet, as an ecological sense,the relationship between nature and nation，environment and development, especially on the specific problems of Tibetan Plateau.

Faculty Sponsor

Emily Yeh, Geography

Term at CU

Cai Bei is currently a visiting scholar from Janurary 2018 to January 2019.