There are 56 nationalilities in China and they are very important in Chinese culture. The Monba nationality has a long history and glorious culture. They mainly live in Tibet Autonomous Region. The Monba minority areas have rich natural resources, and dense forests. There are also varieties of raw materials for medicine. They mainly engage in agriculture and concurrently in animal husbandry and hunting, and they are good at bamboo rattan ware weaving and wooden bowl making. Living along with Tibetans and intermarrying with them, the Monba people are closely related with Tibetans in various aspects of life.

1. Religion and belief
Monba religious belief is quite complex, for they believe in both the primitive religion and Tibetan Buddhism. With the official support, Buddhism enjoys dominant status. Yet the primitive religion, as traditional belief, coexists with the late-arriving Buddhism, for it has a long history and it is quite popular among the folks.
Monbas think Heaven has its deity, and so has the mountain and water, and the frog, the snake, the special trees and rocks are all gods. It is sinful to offend gods and ghosts, and all the diseases and disasters are their penalty. The scripture-chanting activities are held in every season of the year. At the time of spring sowing lamas chant scriptures for the whole village in the hope that the crops grow well. Before the harvest, lamas pray to wish for a bumper harvest, and then the villagers follow lamas to parade around the cropland, which is called “the ‘Queke’ Festival”, similar to Tibetan’s Fruit Awaiting Festival. After the harvest lamas chant for the entire village to celebrate the abundant harvest, wishing for the prosperity of people and livestock.

2. Clothing
Monba clothing is characterized by bright color, elegant lines and beautiful form, which demonstrates their vitality and appreciation of the natural beauty. With long hair and two-bead earrings, silver or bronze bracelets and rings, Monba men appear courageous and sturdy in boots with bow and arrows in hands, a “gawu”(guard box) in front of the chest and a long knife called “qiawo” on the waist. Monba women in their gorgeously-colored clothing, like to have two long pigtails coiled on the head or Monba baronet, with ornaments of red coral, and agate hanging on the neck. Their underwear, called “bubure” in Tibetan language, varies in color, white their coats, called “gonggu” in their own language, are divided into two kinds according to the length, which are made of red and black of felt. Some of them have a metal Buddha box hanging in front of the chest with an image of Buddha inside.

3. Festivals
Monba festivals fall into two types: religious holidays and seasonal holidays. The religious holidays mainly are “Quke” Festival, “Sagya Dawa” Festival and the seasonal festivals include Monba New Year. The “Quke” Festival is held in June when crops are ripe. After a grand worshipping ceremony, lamas lead people round the village and the cropland for the blessings of flourishing population and abundant harvest from gods and spirits. The “Sagya Dawa” Festival commemorates the day of Sakyamuni’s birth and death on April 15 according to the Tibetan calendar, when scriptures are chanted in all the temples together with various religious activities. Each family donates some roasted barley, butter and Highland barley liquor to the temple to be shared among the crowd by lamas. People feast together with alcoholic drinks. The “Zhuba” Prayer Festival is held between November and December in the year of bumper harvest, but not in the year of poor harvest. The festival lasts from three to eighteen days and the major activities include chanting scriptures, exorcisers’ dancing, and performing religion plays. The “Dawang” Buddhist Rally, which lasts three days, falls on November 29th on the Tibetan calendar. The New Year is the most important holiday for the Monbas, which usually lasts from 10 to 15 days. Each and every family cleans their house, butcher livestock and prepare bountiful dinners to entertain their guests. People in their splendid attire make mutual visits to say congratulations, dance with songs, and feast to their hearts’ content.