New standards for Hada making, offering required in Tibet
Tibet will be looking to the public for suggestions on Hada making and offering standards this month, Tibet Business Daily reported.
Setting local standards for Hada making and offering is one of the projects formulated by Tibet Autonomous Region in 2015. Creation of these standards will have a substantial impact on Tibet’s cultural protection, market regulation and environmental protection.
Hada is a type of silk scarf that ethnic Tibetan and Mongolian people use ceremonially to express purity, sincerity, loyalty and respect to others. In Tibetan culture, offering Hada is a fine tradition, and a kind of universal and noble practice. It is customary to offer Hada whether at a wedding, funeral, folk festival; paying visit to elders, welcoming or seeing off guests; making a Buddha pilgrimage or exchanging messages, requesting a favor; completion of a new home, or even admitting fault.
"According to our preliminary calculations, the whole region consumes Hada worth of billions of yuan every year," said the head of Tibet Research Institute of Standardization.
He added that some poor quality Hada on the current market has caused heavy pollution to the environment. What’s more, some of the printed patterns and text on Hada are not standardized. "So there is an urgent need for relevant technical standards to be introduced". The draft plan of the standards covers fabrics, colors, patterns and text, index technology, testing methods, inspection rules as well as offering rituals.
He also stressed that "Hada must be made from eco-friendly fabrics that can be degraded naturally, such as cotton, linen and other fabrics". Moreover, there will be specifications on proper printing patterns and text as well as formalities in Hada offering."