Presenting Hada－an Etiquette to Show Hospitality

2009-2-10 15:59:00

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Presenting hada

Hada is a long piece of silk fabric used by the Tibetans and some Mongols as gift when greeting people, worshipping celestial beings, and in daily person-to-person contacts.

According to literal record, hada was invented by the Han people before it found its way to Tibet. During the Yuan Dynasty, when the Tibetan Sakya King, Phags-pa, returned to Tibetan after meeting Hublai, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, he brought a piece of hada that was inscribed with parrerns of the Great Wall on both ends and the four Chinese characters that mean "good luck".

Hada is of different lengths, but generally it is 2 metres long and 30cm wide. Most Hada is white which means purity. Red, yellow and light blue hada are made of fine silk fabrics and embroidered with Buddhist statues, Sanskrit messages, lotus flower and auspicious clouds, used on occasion of the highest grade.

When worshiping Buddhist statues, greeting or bidding farewell to friends, or holding weddings or funerals, the Tiberans show their respects and affection to their friends or beloved ones with hada.

The Tibetans are very etiquette conscious when presenting hada. When the recipient is an elderly, they would bend their body and hold hada above their head before presenting it to the recipient's seat or feet. When a hada is presented to the younger's neck, and the youngster is supposed to bend his body to show gratitude.