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The Cultural Politics of Yak Pageants and Slaughter Renunciation Among Tibetan Pastoralist Communities in China
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2026
Abstract
The renunciation of the slaughter of yaks has become a significant cultural movement among Tibetan pastoralist communities in China, influenced by prominent figures in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This movement promotes a compassionate approach to livestock management, encouraging pastoralists to abstain from slaughtering yaks or selling them to slaughterhouses. While existing scholarship acknowledges the widespread adoption of this ethical practice, it often overlooks the ways in which pastoralists actively resist and reinterpret these norms. In this article, I propose the concept of performative agency to examine how pastoralists in the Pema Rito area of Qinghai province use an annual yak pageant as a platform to articulate their own desires and aspirations. I contend that the yak pageant functions as a crucial site of contestation, where pastoralists assert their agency by negotiating externally imposed ethical norms to advance their own vision of pastoralist life on their own terms.
摘要
在中国藏族牧区, 受一些宁玛派宗教人士的影响, 放弃宰杀牦牛的行为已逐渐发展成为一项重要的文化运动。该运动倡导以慈悲之心对待牲畜, 鼓励牧民停止宰杀牦牛或将其出售至屠宰场。现有研究虽承认这一伦理实践的广泛传播, 却往往忽略了牧民如何挑战并重新诠释相关伦理规范。本文提出“表演性能动”这一概念, 以青海省一牧民社区的年度牦牛选美活动为例, 探讨牧民如何借助这一平台表达自身诉求。笔者认为, 该选美活动构成了一个重要的博弈场域, 牧民通过协调外部强加的伦理规范, 以自主方式推进其理想中的牧区生活图景, 从而实践其主体能动性。
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- Research Article
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- © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London.
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