The Monba people mainly live in Medog, Linzhi, Cona and other counties of ***. "Menba" means people who live in Menyu. The Monba people have their own language and no written language. Most of them are proficient in Tibetan and generally use Tibetan. They believe in Lamaism and in some areas primitive witchcraft. The folk songs of the Monba people have beautiful tunes and have been passed down for a long time. Among them, the "Sama" drinking song and the "Garu" love song are the most unrestrained and touching. The famous collection of poems "The Love Songs of Tsangyang Gyatso" was written by the sixth-century Christian Lama Tsangyang Gyatso.
Menyu is the birthplace of the Monba people. Menyu means the plain area on the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, also known as "Baiyu Jim State", which means a beautiful virgin land hidden. Menyu is world-famous, and it is inseparable from the fact that a famous leader of the Gelug Sect (Yellow Sect) of Tibetan Buddhism - *** Sixth Generation - was reincarnated here. The sixth *** Lama Lobsang Rinchen Tsangyang Gyatso was of the Monba ethnic group. The immortal collection of poems he left behind, "Tsangyang Gyatso Love Songs", is famous at home and abroad. Tibetan manuscripts have spread like wildfire for a long time. In the 1930s, three parallel versions in Tibetan, Chinese and English were handed down. To this day, there are still many magical legends about Cangyang Jiacuo circulating in the Monba area.
As one of the highest "living Buddhas" of the Gelug sect, Cangyang Gyatso dared to break through the canon of restricting the seven emotions and six desires, and boldly expressed loneliness and depression, passion and longing in love songs. His love songs are derived from Monba folk songs and maintain the characteristics of Monba love songs in both rhythm and style. In the Monba area, young men and women can interact freely. Natural love songs have become the link connecting the hearts of young people. Whether in Medog or Menyu, the Monba people have endless love songs that they can sing from generation to generation. They call this kind of love song "Garu".
The Monba people love to sing love songs and drinking songs. This kind of drinking song, called "Sama", is popular in Menyu, with lively and interesting lyrics and cheerful and high-pitched tunes. Most of Sama wine songs consist of 7 or 9 characters forming a sentence, with no fixed number of stanzas. Metaphors, renderings and exaggerations are often used to express the strong pursuit of lofty ideals and good wishes.
Legend has it that the Sama wine song was first composed by a singer named Labule. He sang songs all his life, leaving happiness in the world. He sat down and transformed into a Buddha. He was revered as the God of Songs by the Monba people. There is a Sama wine song that praises Menba’s hometown so affectionately: “The valley in my hometown is quiet and comfortable, and the sun’s rays happily gather together.
I wish to be together and never be separated; if we are separated, I am willing to reunite again. Hometown The village is quiet and comfortable, and our relatives and friends gather together happily. I hope we will be together and never be separated. If we are separated, we hope to meet again. "Every year during the festival or festive occasion, the Garu love songs and Sama wine songs are heard in the mountain villages of the Monba people. The fountain is gushing and the love is deep.