Sticking out your tongue is traditionally a sign of respect or agreement and has also been used as a greeting in Tibetan culture, according to the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Perhaps the most famous Western cultural reference to this tradition comes in the film Seven Years in Tibet starring Brad Pitt, where Pitt’s character encounters a group of children who stick out their tongues at him. The film offers no further explanation of their actions.
According to Tibetan folklore, people in the Buddhist culture began sticking out their tongue to disassociate themselves from the 9th century Tibetan king Lang Darma, who was infamous for his cruelty and was said to have had a black tongue.
As Buddhists believe in reincarnation after death, the tradition is said to have emerged as a way for people to show they were not the king reincarnated and therefore not to be associated with his evil deeds.
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What is the Tibetan culture of tongue greetings?
Sticking out your tongue is traditionally a sign of respect or agreement and has also been used as a greeting in Tibetan culture, according to the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Perhaps the most famous Western cultural reference to this tradition comes in the film Seven Years in Tibet starring Brad Pitt, where Pitt’s character encounters a group of children who stick out their tongues at him. The film offers no further explanation of their actions.
According to Tibetan folklore, people in the Buddhist culture began sticking out their tongue to disassociate themselves from the 9th century Tibetan king Lang Darma, who was infamous for his cruelty and was said to have had a black tongue.
As Buddhists believe in reincarnation after death, the tradition is said to have emerged as a way for people to show they were not the king reincarnated and therefore not to be associated with his evil deeds.