An A mdo Smyung gnas: Yo lag Tibetan Community, Thun rin (Reb gong, Tongren) City, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China

Personal experiences, observations, preparations, daily activities, including recreational events, and interviews with locals, inform this study of a community A mdo Tibetan Smyung gnas held on the fourteenth to sixteenth days of the fourth (Chinese lunisolar calendar) in Yo lag (Zhiyue) Village, Mdo ba (Duowa) Town, Thun rin (Reb gong, Tongren) City, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China during the mid-twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries. Cultural preservation is served by this study, which is also a model of how local rituals might be presented at a time of rapid cultural transformation. Why are many locals intimately and regularly involved in religious practice? As a local community member, I share my own experiences and interactions over the years with my maternal grandmother (Sgro b+ha, 1923-2010), sister (Bzung 'dus mtsho, b. 1985), sister-in-law (G.yang mo, b. 1985), and neighbor women. They are quietly confident that religious practice on sacred dates leads to an accumulation of merit. Not knowing abstract explanations for the dates' special sacredness does not minimize their belief in their importance. The women I mentioned seldom interact and exchange views with monks and other literate males who have religious ideas based on what they have read and learned in monastery-based teachings. Nevertheless, these women have sincere faith and place great value on sacred times when all positive deeds are doubled in karmic value, which they have heard repeatedly since childhood. During this time, self-restraint and austerity are believed to help attain a more positive attitude toward life and significantly contribute to a better afterlife.The Sa ga zla ba smyung gnas gathering described in this paper strengthens a sense of community among locals as they collectively eat, work, worship, and engage in recreational activities over three days. In 1997, children played 'ba' in groups of girls and boys. I knew all those children, though some were not my neighbors. This is an example illustrating how a strong sense of community membership was inculcated. In 2019, many children attended school and had never experienced Smyung gnas. Furthermore, some children may not be acquainted unless they are from the same local community. Caterpillar fungus collecting is another reason some locals do not participate in Smyung gnas. It would be very positive if local primary school students were allowed to join in Smyung gnas in recognition of the value of traditional cultural activities that are rapidly changing. Finally, I encourage locals throughout the Tibetosphere to consider giving careful, detailed attention to such rituals/gatherings as they are held locally, including reflections from local elders about how these activities have changed since their youth and what they think about these changes