I Used to Be a Black Smith

Lhaba, male, was born into the family of a black smith, known as "black bone" in old Tibet, in 1959 in Benjor Lhunbo Village, Jangra Township, Gyangze County. He is a farmer and still lives in the village.

My father was a black smith known in old Tibet as "black bone" Father was a top notch black smith, who was especially good at making Tibetan locks loved by the noble families. However, as black smiths were regarded as mean people, and, according to the old legal code, bones and blood of the black smiths are black; and whoever talked to them and drank water they offered would suffer from bad luck. We lived in a dilapidated hut, and were often driven here and there like wild dogs.
I had an elder brother, who was taken away by the manorial lord to join real monkeys in games. The manorial lord called him human monkey. In a coldest day before the Tibetan New Year, he was pushed down into ditches, where he was supposed to wash his black bones. When he was fished out, he was about to die. He is now working in a farm in Nyingchi.
When I was born, the Democratic Reform was going on. When told the manorial lord had fled away and the poor were given land to till and house to sleep, my parents rushed back to the village and were given land and a house. From then on, we settled down in the village.
I married in 1977 when I was 18 years old, and lived with wife's family. But I failed to get along well with her. We parted and I married Cering in 1984. Her father was a bronze smith. So, we came from the same kind of families.
In 1987, we lived separately, and were given 0.3 hectare of land. Later, the village gave us more land and now we have one hectare of land to till. My wife has nimble hands, and weaves narrow waist belts at home. She is so good that she makes up to 16 pieces of such belts, each of which sells 4.4 yuan. While she does the weaving, I peddle her products village by village.
Beginning in 1995, wife turned to the second-hand goods business. She purchased jewels from farmers for sale in Xigaze and Lhasa. In 1998, she made more than 4,000 yuan from the business.
I serve as a black smith. Sickles and hoofs fall into my business scope. I make up to 600 yuan a year. However, for most of the time in a year, I work in the field.
In 1998, we pulled down our old house and built a new one. I spent 920 yuan buying a TV set. In the past, we were notoriously poor and often received aid from fellow villagers. When I rebuilt our house, our fellow villagers lent us helping hands again.
I wish my three children would be able to study in China's hinterland in the future.