Etiquettes of Presenting Hada

Presenting Hada is the most common etiquettes in Tibetan. It is used to express self purity, sincere, loyalty and respect to others. In Tibetan, people will present Hada in wedding, funeral, welcome customers, farewell, visiting elders, worshipping Buddha and many situations. It is said that Tibetans will present Hada when they come into monastery; then, they can worship Buddha and visit other halls; when they leave, they will leave a Hada on the seat to express their mind is in here, although they have left.

Brief Introduction of Hada

Hada is a kind of silk fabric, which as lax as net. High class Hada is with lotus, precious vase, canopy, trumpet shell and other auspicious designs on it. The texture of Hada depends on each economic condition, but Tibetans don't pay much attention to its texture. It will be ok that it can express the good blessing of the host. Hada is different in length, the longer can reach 10 or 20 feet, the shorter is 3 to 5 feet. Tibetans think white means purity and auspicious, so Hada is white in general. Except white Hada, there are colorful Hada with blue, white, yellow, green and red. Blue represents sky; white represents cloud; green means water in lake or river; red is space protective deity; while yellow stands for earth. Buddhism doctrine explain colorful Hada as Buddha's clothes, it is used to present to Buddha and closely relatives. It is the most precious gift.

Different Meaning of Presenting Hada

Hada stands for different meaning in different situation. In festival, people present Hada to bless happiness; in wedding, people present Hada to wish the newlyweds love each forever; when welcome customers, people use Hada to express sincere and pray Buddha's bless; in funeral, people present Hada to express lamentation to the death and comfort the family members.

The Action of Presenting Hada

The action of presenting Hada is differs for people. In general, people will hold Hada in two hands, hold to the height of shoulder, then stretch forward and bend waist to give others; this time, the Hada is in the same height with head which express the most respect and blessing to others – everything goes well. The other should use two hands to receive Hada in deferential action. For elders, the hands should over the head, with body slightly forward, put Hada before seat or foot; for peers or understrapper, can fix Hada on their necks. You can easily see presenting Hada in Tibetan. People even put a small Hada in letter to express blessing and greeting. It is interesting that Tibetans will take some pieces of Hada with themselves when they go out, so they can use it when they come across relatives and friends.

Origin of Hada

About the origin of Hada, there is an idea think that its Zhang Qian sent silk to the tribe chief when he passed by Tibet in Han Dynasty. In ancient, Han nationality used silk as gifts to superiors which represent purity friendship. Tibetan tribes thought it's a way to show friendship and which was introduced from the prosperous central land, so it was inherited to now. There is another idea that the Ba Siba who is an ancient Tibetan princess of Dharma meet with Kublai Khan and brought back a Hada with the Great Wall design and the word "Jixiangruyi" (everything goes well) on it. Later, people explained it in religious way; think it is ribbon on fairies, and use white to symbolize purity and supreme.