Tashi delek

Tashi delek (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས, Wylie: bkra shis bde legs, Tibetan pronunciation: [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. "Tashi delek" is associated with Losar, the Tibetan festival celebrating the lunisolar new year.

Tashi delek!

Origin and meaning

Tashi (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས, Wylie: bkra shis, [tʂáɕi]) means "auspicious" and delek (Tibetan: བདེ་ལེགས, Wylie: bde legs, [tèle], or Deleg, Deleh) means "fine" or "well".[1] It is difficult and perhaps impossible to translate properly into English.[2] Different authors render it as "Blessings and good luck" or "May all auspicious signs come to this environment".[3][4]

Usage by Tibetans

"Tashi delek" is traditionally used as part of a larger invocation on Losar.[5][6] With the Dalai Lama's exile and creation of the Tibetan diaspora, exile authorities promoted the use of "tashi delek" as an all-purpose greeting which could be easily picked up by foreign sponsors.[5] Students of the exile school system are taught that this usage of "tashi delek" has roots in premodern Tibet, and that Chinese Tibetans' exclusive usage of "tashi delek" for New Year's is corrupt.[6] 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.

Other uses

The phrase "Tashi delek" is also used in Chinese with the Chinese transcription Zhaxi dele (扎西德勒).[7] There is a song called Zhaxi Dele with lyrics by Rongzhong Erjia, a Tibetan, and music by Chang Yingzhong, a Han Chinese.[8]

The phrase is also used in Bhutan, Sikkim, and Nepal. "Tashi Delek" is the name of a website that provides information on the nation of Bhutan and promotes Tourism.[9] There is a company in Bhutan called TashiDelek.com[10] and a Hotel Tashi Delek in Gangtok, Sikkim. The inflight magazine of the Bhutanese airline Druk Air is called Tashi Delek.[11]

References

Citations
  1. Language & Literature, Khandro.net, retrieved 2009-05-12
  2. Oha 2008, pp. 91–92
  3. Dresser 1999, p. 43
  4. Jackson 2004, p. 292
  5. French, Patrick (2009). Tibet, Tibet. Random House Digital. p. 28.
  6. Frechette, Ann; Schatzberg, Walter (2002). Tibetans in Nepal: The Dynamics of International Assistance Among a Community in Exile. Berghahn Books. pp. 108–109.
  7. "西藏百姓互道"扎西德勒"欢度藏历新年", Xinhua News, 2009-02-25, archived from the original on July 18, 2011, retrieved 2009-05-12
  8. "容中尔甲_百度Mp3". Archived from the original on 2012-07-21. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  9. Oakes, Tim; Sutton, Donald (2010). Faiths on Display: Religion, Tourism, and the Chinese State. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 106.
  10. Tashi Delek Net
  11. https://www.drukair.com.bt/COMMON.aspx?Type=Tashi%20Delek.htm

Sources
  • Dresser, Norine (1999), Multicultural celebrations: today's rules of etiquette for life's special occasions, Three Rivers Press, ISBN 978-0-609-80259-5
  • Jackson, David Paul (2004), A saint in Seattle: the life of the Tibetan mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 978-0-86171-396-7
  • Oha, Obododimma (2008), "Language, Exile, and the Burden of Undecidable Citizenship: Tenzin Tsundue and the Tibetan Experience", in Allatson, Paul; McCormack, Jo (eds.), Exile Cultures, Misplaced Identities, ISBN 978-90-420-2406-9
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