བྱིས་

Abstract

In Amdo (north-eastern Tibet), the ceremony called “the removal of the impure hair” refers to the first cutting of a child’s hair. It is performed when a child enters his/her third year (according to the Tibetan count, i.e. roughly two years in the Western count) and it aims at removing all impurity (drip [grib]) originating from the mother’s womb, an impurity which is said to have impregnated the child's hair. It also marks the collective celebration of the child's joining the ranks of humans and it is conceived as heralding a bright future for the child. This ceremony, its unfolding, participants, and symbolic dimensions, are described in detail in this ethnographic article, based upon the author's own lived experience and interviews.