Dorje Tashi, a Tailor of Tibetan Robes
开篇：润墨网以专业的文秘视角，为您筛选了一篇Dorje Tashi, a Tailor of Tibetan Robes范文，如需获取更多写作素材，在线客服老师一对一协助。欢迎您的阅读与分享！
Having been fascinated by traditional handicrafts， I was wandering about the Barkor Street to look for some beautiful hand-made works during my stays in Lhasa. Definitely， one can always discover something exquisite from craftsmen scattering around this old town area， varying from shiny tea kettles， well-painted cabinets， delicate Thangkas， fi ne woolen carpets， to ritual instruments. All you need to do is to take your time strolling from lanes to lanes， so that you won’t miss anything nice， among which I was captivated by those beautiful robes in different sizes and colors， very Tibetan style with distinctive patterns on satin cloth.
dorje tashi， a young tailor from Kangting， Garze tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province， opened his shop making Tibetan robes on a narrow lane about fi ve minutes walking distance from Makye Ame， one of the top restaurants in Lhasa. I passed by his shop several times in a day as I lived just around the corner. Rows of colorful robes in different lengths hung up against the wall were very eye-catching for passersby. There are actually two tailor’s shops doing the same business on that lane. I told Dorje Tashi that the reason why I walked into his shop was probably because he sets up his worktable near the door which seems to be inviting customers to have a look inside， while his neighbor works in the back of the shop， far away from his potential customers.
I ordered two robes from Dorje Tashi， one for myself and the other for my friend who also has craze on traditional hand-made works. The tailor has proficient skills in making robes after years of working， so it usually takes him 4 hours to make a robe， 3 robes for a day so to speak. Most of them are ordered in advance and tailor-made， whilst a few of the robes are ready-to-wear.
Dorje Tashi， now at the age of 28， has been living in Lhasa for 6 years. When he first arrived， he worked for others unrelated to clothes making， and then he thought he should have his own business to making a living. Dorje said people always need food and clothes as the basic necessities， so he decided to be a tailor who would never lose his job as long as he has skills and craftsmanship. Actually， he did not take any training courses for making robes； instead， he learned by himself from books and hundreds times of practice. Then he met Chogtso， a girl from Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture， who is now a mother of two kids. Dorje works on robe making， while Chogtso helps with the sewing work on buttons. In order to have more time and energy on business， the young couple leave their one-year old son back in the hometown to their parents and keep the three-year old daughter Tenzin with them. “We haven’t sent her to the kindergarten. Tibetans don’t send the kids to schools when they are at such young age. Every day， we have customers coming to our shop， and they talk to my girl， which makes her happy and brave enough to strangers.” Therefore， Tenzin grows up in her father’s tailor shop.
The business has been going well all these years. Usually， summer and winter seasons are the busiest time of the year. I asked Dorje if they would expand their business. He said they would rather keep the way as it is now， because the clothes are all handmade. If they can hire a tailor to work for them， the tailor is more likely to set up his own shop， so they will just do it slowly. The current business has already brought fortunes to them， and they feel content with what they have. “We don’t spend money to advertise our clothes， but customers get to know us by wordof-mouth from friends or colleagues.”Indeed， when I stepped out of the shop trying to take a photo of the shop’s name， there was nothing there， not even a word.
Every day， the shop opens around 8：00 AM and closes around 8：00 PM， a 12-hour working on average. I was invited to have a dinner at their home one day. Chogtso and I left the shop at 7：30PM while Dorje was working till 9：00 PM， and the dinner started at 9：30 PM. The hostess said they have got used to having supper at such late time， especially when they want to make more food. What she said reminded me of those Beijing drifters， and I think the young couple can also be called Lhasa drifters who leave home， rent an apartment， and work hard in another place. When asking why the young couple came to Lhasa for living， they claimed that Lhasa obviously has better economic environment， especially on consumption， and more people are living， working， and traveling there， so the chances of making money are much higher than that in their hometown. Indeed， there are many Tibetans from Sichuan Province start up their own business here in Lhasa. “Well， we could choose Chengdu too， but there are certainly less Tibetans. People in large cities would like to wear fashionable clothes， like those big brands， so the traditional Tibetan robes have very a small market share there.”
Dorje is very optimistic about the tailor-made clothes， regardless of what changes may take place in people’s dressing behaviors and attitudes here in Lhasa. We cannot say Tibetans are slow to new things， but they do value more on traditional handicrafts which are gradually dying out in our life. I hope more craftsmen like Dorje Tashi will continue walking on the road of traditional arts， so that the legacies of our culture can be preserved for future generations.