1.
Flag of Tibet
–
The Tibetan flag, also known as the snow lion flag, was the national flag of Tibet, adopted by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1916. Banned by the Chinese authorities since 1959, today the flag is used by the Tibetan Government in Exile, based in Dharamsala, India. In February 1913, shortly after the fall of the Qing dynasty, in 1916, the new national flag was adopted by the Dalai Lama and all army regiments were ordered to carry the flag in its present form. In addition to being carried by Tibet’s army, the flag was displayed on buildings of the Ganden Phodrang government. Outside of Tibet, the flag was featured in publications by foreign governments, academic journals and its first official international appearance was in a book published by the German Ministry of Defenses Naval Command, Flaggenbuch, in 1926. Later it was featured in an official British Crown publication in 1930 and it was also featured in National Geographic Magazine in their 1934 “Flags of the World” edition. The caption reads, Tibet. - With its towering mountain of snow, the flags first appearance at an international gathering was in March/April 1947 at the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi. Tom Grunfeld, asserts that flag was removed after representatives from the Republic of China protested to conference organizers, a Tibetan delegate who attended the conference claims that this did not occur and the only existing photos from the conference show the flag displayed along with other participating countries flags. The flag continued to be used in the 1950s under the newly established Peoples Republic of China, phuntso Wangye claims that Mao Zedong discussed the flag in 1955 conversation with the 14th Dalai Lama. According to the story, Mao told the Dalai Lama that Zhang Jingwu, Zhang Guohua, the Dalai Lama replied that Tibet had an army flag. Supposedly Mao replied that you may keep your national flag, there is no official recognition of this conversation in Chinese documents, though. As part of his project to inculcate pan-Tibetan nationalism, he standardized and adopted symbols as nationalist symbols, such as the Lhasa dialect of Tibetan, a Tibetan national anthem, and the flag. The flag is known as the Snow Lion Flag due to the presence of the two snow lions. The flag was adopted as a symbol of the Tibetan independence movement, through the diasporas and international protesters use of the flag, it became known and used in protest by the Tibetan public. The flag is banned in mainland China
Flag of Tibet
–
The
Tibetan army waves the Tibetan flag at a military parade in Lhasa, 1938.
Flag of Tibet
–
The Tibetan Flag
Flag of Tibet
–
Two Tibetan delegates (front right) during the
Asian Relations Conference in Delhi in 1947 as Mahatma Gandhi speaks (far left). A Tibetan flag is seen in front of them along with flags of other participating countries.
Flag of Tibet
–
Hsiao Bi-khim, a
Democratic Progressive Party politician, wears the flag in a
Free Tibet demonstration in 2008
2.
Lhasa
–
Lhasa is a city and administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. Lhasa is the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,490 metres, the city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Lhasa literally means place of the gods. Lhasa is first recorded as the name, referring to the temple of Jowo. By the mid 7th century, Songtsän Gampo became the leader of the Tibetan Empire that had risen to power in the Brahmaputra River Valley, Bhrikuti is said to have converted him to Buddhism, which was also the faith attributed to his second wife Wencheng. In 641 he constructed the Jokhang and Ramoche Temples in Lhasa in order to house two Buddha statues, the Akshobhya Vajra and the Jowo Sakyamuni, respectively brought to his court by the princesses. Lhasa suffered extensive damage under the reign of Langdarma in the 9th century, when the sites were destroyed and desecrated. A Tibetan tradition mentions that after Songtsän Gampos death in 649 C. E. Chinese troops captured Lhasa, Chinese and Tibetan scholars have noted that the event is mentioned neither in the Chinese annals nor in the Tibetan manuscripts of Dunhuang. Lǐ suggested that this tradition may derive from an interpolation, tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct. From the fall of the monarchy in the 9th century to the accession of the 5th Dalai Lama, however, the importance of Lhasa as a religious site became increasingly significant as the centuries progressed. It was known as the centre of Tibet where Padmasambhava magically pinned down the earth demoness, islam has been present since the 11th century in what is considered to have always been a monolithically Buddhist culture. Two Tibetan Muslim communities have lived in Lhasa with distinct homes, food and clothing, language, education, trade, by the 15th century, the city of Lhasa had risen to prominence following the founding of three large Gelugpa monasteries by Je Tsongkhapa and his disciples. The three monasteries are Ganden, Sera and Drepung which were built as part of the puritanical Buddhist revival in Tibet, the scholarly achievements and political know-how of this Gelugpa Lineage eventually pushed Lhasa once more to centre stage. The 5th Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso, unified Tibet and moved the centre of his administration to Lhasa in 1642 with the help of Güshi Khan of the Khoshut. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama, the core leadership of this government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang, and Lhasa thereafter became both the religious and political capital. In 1645, the reconstruction of the Potala Palace began on Red Hill, in 1648, the Potrang Karpo of the Potala was completed, and the Potala was used as a winter palace by the Dalai Lama from that time onwards. The Potrang Marpo was added between 1690 and 1694, the name Potala is derived from Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the Dalai Lamas divine prototype, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The Jokhang Temple was also expanded around this time
Lhasa
–
From upper left: roof of the
Jokhang Temple;
Norbulingka monastery main gate;
Potala Palace;
Wheel of Dharma and
prayer wheels (bottom), Jokhang; satellite picture of Lhasa
Lhasa
–
Songtsän Gampo
Lhasa
–
Lhasa in 1938
Lhasa
–
Lhasa sits in a flat river valley
3.
Tibetan languages
–
Classical Tibetan is a major regional literary language, particularly for its use in Buddhist literature. The Tibetic languages are spoken by some 8 million or more people, outside of Lhasa itself, Lhasa Tibetan is spoken by approximately 200,000 exile speakers who have moved from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries. Tibetan is also spoken by groups of ethnic minorities in Tibet who have lived in proximity to Tibetans for centuries. Although some of the Qiang peoples of Kham are classified by China as ethnic Tibetans, Qiangic languages are not Tibetic, classical Tibetan was not a tonal language, but some varieties such as Central and Khams Tibetan have developed tone registers. Amdo and Ladakhi-Balti are without tone, Tibetic morphology can generally be described as agglutinative. e. Groups which do not allow mutual intelligibility, the notion of ‘dialect group’ is equivalent to the notion of language but does not entail any standardization. Thus if we set aside the notion of standardization, I believe it would be appropriate to speak of 25 languages derived from Old Tibetan. This is not only an issue but it gives an entirely different perception of the range of variation. When we refer to 25 languages, we make clear that we are dealing with a comparable in size to the Romance family which has 19 groups of dialects. The more divergent dialects such as this are spoken in the north and east near the Qiangic and Rgyalrongic languages, the Tibetic languages used for broadcasting within China are Standard Tibetan, Khams and Amdo. Tournadre adds Tseku and Khamba to Khams, and groups Thewo-Chone, Zhongu, other Some classifications group Khams and Amdo together as Eastern Tibetan. Some, like Tournadre, break up Central Tibetan, most Tibetic languages are written in one of two Indic scripts. Standard Tibetan and most other Tibetic languages are written in the Tibetan script with a historically conservative orthography that helps unify the Tibetan-language area, Some other Tibetan languages are written in the related Devanagari script, which is also used to write Hindi, Nepali and many other languages. However, some Ladakhi and Balti speakers write with the Urdu script, the Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani Baltistan hundreds of years ago upon the regions adoption of Islam. Many shops in Baltistans capital Skardu in Pakistans Northern Areas region have begun supplementing signs written in the Arabic-Persian script with signs written in the Tibetan script, Old Tibetan phonology is rather accurately rendered by the script. The finals were pronounced devoiced although they are written as voiced, the graphic combinations hr and lh represent voiceless and not necessarily aspirate correspondences to r and l respectively. The letter was pronounced as a guttural fricative before vowels. Whether the gigu verso had phonetic meaning or not remains controversial, for instance, Srongbtsan Sgampo would have been pronounced and babs would have been pronounced
Tibetan languages
–
Provinces of historical Tibet
4.
Tibetan Buddhism
–
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the regions surrounding the Himalayas and much of Central Asia. It derives from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism and preserves the Tantric status quo of eighth-century India, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Religious texts and commentaries comprise the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a language of these areas. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, the number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million. Westerners unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism initially turned to China for an understanding, there the term used was lamaism to distinguish it from a then traditional Chinese form. The term was taken up by scholars including Hegel, as early as 1822. Insofar as it implies a discontinuity between Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, the term has been discredited, another term, Vajrayāna is occasionally used mistakenly for Tibetan Buddhism. More accurately, it signifies a certain subset of practices included in, not only Tibetan Buddhism, the native Tibetan term for all Buddhism is doctrine of the internalists. There is an association between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the temporal in Tibet. The term for this relationship is chos srid zung brel, in the west the term Indo-Tibetan Buddhism has become current, in acknowledgement of its derivation from the latest stages of Buddhist development in northern India. Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism, the Foundational Vehicle, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, the Mahāyāna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state. The motivation in it is the mind of enlightenment — an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are revered beings who have conceived the will and vow to dedicate their lives with bodhicitta for the sake of all beings, Tibetan Buddhism teaches methods for achieving buddhahood more quickly by including the Vajrayāna path in Mahāyāna. Buddhahood is defined as a free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience. When one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, in this state, all limitations on ones ability to help other living beings are removed. It is said there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to all sentient beings. However it is believed that ones karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them, there is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
–
Boudhanath; a
stupa in
Kathmandu,
Nepal. Stupas symbolize the mind of a Buddha.
Tibetan Buddhism
–
Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads
Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan
Kangyur
Tibetan Buddhism
–
The Vajrayāna deity,
Vajrasattva
Tibetan Buddhism
–
A
sand mandala
5.
Monarchy
–
The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
Monarchy
–
Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in
Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.
Monarchy
–
Thutmose I, the third
Pharaoh of the
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
Monarchy
–
King George III of the United Kingdom, Portrait by
Allan Ramsay, 1762
Monarchy
–
King
Salman of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarch.
6.
Songtsen Gampo
–
His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Tökarma. The dates of his birth and when he took the throne are not certain. In Tibetan accounts, it is accepted that he was born in an Ox year of the Tibetan calendar. He is thought to have ascended the throne at age thirteen, there are difficulties with this position, however, and several earlier dates for the birth of Songtsän Gampo have been suggested, including 569,593 or 605. It is said that Songtsän Gampo was born at Gyama in Meldro, a region to the northeast of modern Lhasa), the son of the Yarlung king Namri Songtsen. The book The Holder of the White Lotus says that it is believed that he was a manifestation of Avalokiteśvara and his identification as a cakravartin and incarnation of Avalokiteśvara began in earnest in the indigenous Buddhist literary histories of the 11th century. Some Dunhuang documents say that, as well as his sister Sad-mar-kar, Songtsän Gampo had a brother who was betrayed and died in a fire. Little, if anything, else is known about this brother, Songtsän Gampos mother, the queen, is identified as a member of the Tsépong clan Wylie, tshe spong, Tibetan Annals Wylie, tshes pong), which played an important part in the unification of Tibet. Her name is recorded variously but is identified as Driza Tökarma, Songtsän Gampo had six consorts, of whom four are considered native and two - the well-known ones - foreign. Some accounts say that when Gungsong Gungtsen reached the age of thirteen, his father, Songtsän Gampo, retired, Gungsong Gungtsen is also said to have married A-zha Mang-mo-rje when he was thirteen, and they had a son, Mangsong Mangtsen. Gungsong Gungtsen is said to have ruled for five years when he died at eighteen. His father, Songtsän Gampo, took the throne again, Gungsong Gungtsen is said to have been buried at Donkhorda, the site of the royal tombs, to the left of the tomb of his grandfather Namri Songtsen. The dates for events are very unclear. According to Tibetan tradition, Songstän Gampo was enthroned while still a minor as the king of the Yarlung Dynasty after his father was poisoned circa 618. He is said to have born in an unspecified Ox year and was 13 years old when he took the throne. This accords with the tradition that the Yarlung kings took the throne when they were 13, if these traditions are correct, he was probably born in the Ox year 605 CE. The Old Book of Tang notes that he was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne, after Thonmi Sambhota returned from India, Songtsen Gampo stayed in a cave for three years with Thonmi Sambhota to learn whatever he had learned in India. Songtsän Gampo moved the seat of his newly unified kingdom from the Yarlung Valley to the Kyichu Valley, the site itself was originally a herding ground called Rasa but the name was changed to Lhasa on the kings founding of the Jokhang Temple
Songtsen Gampo
–
Songtsän Gampo
Songtsen Gampo
–
Songtsen Gampo (centre), Princess Wencheng (right) and Bhrikuti Devi of Nepal (left)
Songtsen Gampo
–
A statue of Songtsän Gampo in his traditional meditation cave at
Yerpa
Songtsen Gampo
–
Emperor Songtsän Gampo with Princesses
Wencheng and
Bhrikuti
7.
Trisong Detsen
–
Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen was the son of Me Agtsom and the 37th emperor of Tibet. He ruled from 755 until 797 or 804 CE, the empire Trisong Detsen inherited had declined somewhat from its greatest extent under the first Dharma King, Songtsän Gampo. Disintegration continued during Trisong Detsens reign when, in 694, Tibet lost control of cities in Turkestan and, in 703. Meanwhile, Arab forces vied for influence along the border lands of the Tibetan empire. Trisong Detsen is very important to the history of Tibetan Buddhism as one of the three Dharma Kings who established Buddhism in Tibet, the Three Dharma Kings were Songtsän Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpacan. The first edict of Trisong Detsen already mentions a community of monks at Bsam-yas, the two pandits began by establishing Samye as the first vihara in Tibet. Several Tibetans were eventually initiated as monks and a vast translation project was undertaken translating the Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Classical Tibetan, the party received teachings and three Chinese texts from Kim, who died soon after. Trisong Detsen patronised a second party to China in 763 and this second expedition was headed by a high minister, Sba Gsalsnan. There is scholarly dissent about whom Gsalsnan encountered in Yizhou, early scholarship considered Kim, but this had been revised to Baotang Wuzhu, head and founder of Baotang Monastery in Chengdu. Both Kim and Baotang Wuzhu were of the school of Chan. Trisong Detsen, hosted a famous two-year debate from 792-794 CE and he sponsored a Dharma debate between the Chan Buddhist Moheyan, who represented the third documented wave of Chan dissemination in Tibet, and the scholar Kamalaśīla, a student of Śāntarakṣita. Effectively the debate was between the Chinese and Indian Buddhist traditions as they were represented in Tibet, sources differ about both the nature of the debate as well as the victor. Stein holds that Kamalaśīla disseminated a gradualist approach to enlightenment, consisting of purificatory sādhanā such as cultivating the pāramitās, kamalashilas role was to ordain Tibetans as Buddhist monks and propagate Buddhist philosophy as it had flourished in India. Stein holds that Kamalaśīla was victorious in the debate and that Trisong Detsän sided with Kamalaśīla, Trisong Detsän is also traditionally associated with the construction of Boudhanath in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The role of Padmasambhava on the hand was to establish the teaching of Buddhist Tantra in Tibet. During the reign of Trisong Detsän the combined efforts of Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita, in 783 a peace treaty was negotiated between China and Tibet giving Tibet all lands in Qinghai. At that time, the Tang Empire had started its decline due to the An Lushan Rebellion, the King also formed an alliance with Nanzhao in 778, joining forces to attack the Chinese in Sichuan. Trisong Detsän next sought to expand westward, reaching the Amu Darya and threatening the Abbasid Caliph, the Caliph was concerned enough to establish an alliance with the Chinese emperor
Trisong Detsen
–
Trisong Detsen statue at
Samye. Photo: Erik Törner.
8.
Late Antiquity
–
Late antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages in mainland Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the Near East. The development of the periodization has generally been accredited to historian Peter Brown, precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century to, in the East, the early Islamic period, following the Muslim conquests in the mid–7th century. In the West the end was earlier, with the start of the Early Medieval period typically placed in the 6th century, beginning with Constantine the Great, Christianity was made legal in the Empire, and a new capital was founded at Constantinople. The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe, the term Spätantike, literally late antiquity, has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in the early 20th century. Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the Roman tradition, Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in Late Antiquity, notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine. Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. Celibate and detached, the clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables. The Late Antique period also saw a transformation of the political and social basis of life in. The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities, archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean basin. Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines, in Roman Britain, the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of black earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces. A similar though less marked decline in population occurred later in Constantinople. In Europe there was also a decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce. The degree and extent of discontinuity in the cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. In the western Mediterranean, the new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic victory cities
Late Antiquity
–
The
Barberini ivory, a late
Leonid /
Justinian Byzantine ivory leaf from an imperial
diptych, from an imperial workshop in
Constantinople in the first half of the sixth century (
Louvre Museum)
Late Antiquity
–
Modern statue of
Constantine I at
York, where he was proclaimed
Augustus in 306.
Late Antiquity
–
The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius, 1883:
John William Waterhouse expresses the sense of moral decadence that coloured the 19th-century historical view of the 5th century.
Late Antiquity
–
View west along the Harbour Street towards the Library of Celsus in
Ephesus. The pillars on the left side of the street were part of the
colonnaded walkway apparent in cities of Late Antique
Asia Minor.
9.
Zhangzhung
–
Zhangzhung or Shangshung was an ancient culture and kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet, which pre-dates the culture of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. Zhangzhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which in turn, has influenced the philosophies and practices of Tibetan Buddhism, Zhangzhung people are mentioned frequently in ancient Tibetan texts as the original rulers of central and western Tibet. Only in the last two decades have archaeologists been given access to do work in the areas once ruled by the Zhangzhung. Recently, a match has been proposed between the Zhangzhung and an Iron Age culture now being uncovered on the Changtang plateau in northwestern Tibet. According to Annals of Lake Manasarowar, at one point the Zhang Zhung civilization consisted of 18 kingdoms in the west and northwest portion of Tibet, thus the Zhang Zhung culture controlled the major portion of the roof of the world. Tradition has it that Zhang Zhung consisted of three different regions, sGob-ba, the outer, Phug-pa, the inner, and Bar-ba, the inner region is said to be sTag-gzig, and the middle rGya-mkhar bar-chod, a place not yet identified. While it is not certain whether Zhang Zhung was really so large, it is known that it was an independent kingdom and covered the whole of Western Tibet. The capital city of Zhang Zhung was called Khyunglung, the Silver Palace of Garuda, southwest of Mount Kailash, which is identified with palaces found in the upper Sutlej Valley. The Zhang Zhung built a fort, Chugtso Dropo, on the shores of sacred Lake Dangra. The fact that some of the ancient texts describing the Zhang Zhung kingdom also claimed the Sutlej valley was Shambhala, the land of happiness, may have delayed their study by Western scholars. According to Rolf Alfred Stein author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Shang Shung was not historically a part of Tibet and was a foreign territory to the Tibetans. According to Rolf Alfred Stein, “…Then further west, The Tibetans encountered a foreign nation. - Shangshung, with its capital at Khyunglung, mt. Kailāśa and Lake Manasarovar formed part of this country. Whose language has come down to us through early documents, though still unidentified, it seems to be Indo European. …Geographically the country was open to India, both through Nepal and by way of Kashmir and Ladakh. Kailāśa is a place for the Indians, who make pilgrimages to it. No one knows how long they have done so, but the cult may well go back to the times when Shangshung was still independent of Tibet, how far Shangshung stretched to the north, east and west is a mystery…. We have already had an occasion to remark that Shangshung, embracing Kailāśa sacred Mount of the Hindus, the situation may even have lasted for quite a long time
Zhangzhung
–
Kingdoms in 565.
Zhangzhung
–
The Territorial Extent of Ladakh during the period of King Nyimagon about 975–1000 as depicted in A History of Western Tibet by A.H. Francke, 1907
Zhangzhung
–
The empire of King Tsewang Rnam Rgyal 1., and that of King Jamyang Rnam Rgyal., about 1560–1600
10.
Guiyi Circuit
–
The Guiyi Circuit, or Guiyi Army was a regional government from the Chinese Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty. The Zhang family controlled the Guiyi Circuit until the early 10th century, the seat of the Guiyi Circuit was situated in Shazhou. The Hexi Corridor is an important part of the Silk Road, after the An-Shi Rebellion, the Hexi Corridor was gradually occupied by the Tibetans. Around the 770s or the 780s, Shazhou, an important city in the Hexi Corridor, was occupied by the Tibetans. After some 60 years of Tibetan rule, Tibet entered the Era of Fragmentation in around 842, and Zhang Yichao, the Emperor Xuānzong of Tang created the Guiyi Circuit and made Zhang Yichao the Guiyi Jiedushi in 851. Zhang kept chasing the Tibetans out of ten nearby prefectures, Zhang Yichao sent delegations to the royal court to express their submission to the Tang Dynasty. However, the government of Tang did not trust the Guiyi Circuit. At the beginning Zhang Yitan, elder brother of Zhang Yichao, was sent to the court as a hostage. In 867, probably because of the death of Zhang Yitan, Zhang Yichao also went to Changan, the capital of the Tang, as a hostage, Zhang Yichao made Zhang Huaishen, son of Zhang Yitan, control the Guiyi Circuit. The influence of the Uyghurs became strong in the Hexi Corridor at the time of Zhang Huaishen, during the rule of Zhang Huaishen, the power of the Guiyi Circuit was waning, and its territory was shrinking. Zhang Huaishen died in 890, and the Guiyi Circuit fell in a chaotic period, no direct records were left about what happened between 890 and 894. Suo Xun, son-in-law of Zhang Yichao, declared himself as the Jiedushi, the killer of Suo Xun is not clear yet. The fourteenth daughter of Zhang Yichao established her nephew, Zhang Chengfeng, also a grandson of Zhang Yichao, as the Jiedushi in 894. There might have been a struggle between Zhang Chengfeng and the Li family as pointed out by some scholars, the details of which were obscure due to the lack of explicit historic records. Zhang Chengfeng eventually had the real power, the Ganzhou Uyghur Khanate was getting stronger during the rule of Zhang Chengfeng. The Tang Dynasty also came to its last years at this time, the last two emperors of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Zhaozong and Emperor of Ai, became puppets of Zhu Quanzhong, founder of the Later Liang. Zhang Chengfeng then declared the establishment of Jinshan State and himself Son of Heaven, the establishment time of the Jinshan State was not clear, probably around 905 or 910. However, in 911, the Jinshan State was defeated by the Ganzhou Uyghur Khanate, the Great Chancellor and the elders of Jinshan State made a treaty with the Ganzhou Uyghur Khanate, recognizing the superiority of the latter over the former
Guiyi Circuit
–
Section of mural commemorating victory of Zhang Yichao over the Tibetans. Mogao Cave 156, Late Tang Dynasty.
Guiyi Circuit
–
The Tibetan Empire at its greatest extent around the 780s and the 790s CE
11.
Qocho
–
The Kingdom of Qocho, also called the Idiqut state, was a Uyghur state created during 856–866 and centered in Qocho, Jimsar County, Hami City, and Kucha. Qocho served as its winter capital with Beshbaliq its summer capital and this Uyghur Kingdom played a vital role in the Turkification of Xinjiang. The Yenisei Kirghiz had driven the people of the Uyghur Khaganate into Turfan, mainly Turkic and Tocharian, but also Chinese and Iranian peoples such as the Sogdians were assimilated into the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho. Chinese were among the population of Qocho, the Uyghurs of Qocho continued to produce the Chinese Qieyun rime dictionary and developed their own pronunciations of Chinese characters, left over from the Tang influence over the area. Professor James A. Buddhist Uyghurs created the Bezeklik murals, besides the jihad against Yutian, the Uygur Karakhoja Kingdom was also subjected to Jihad in which Buddhist temples were razed and Islam spread by the Karakhanid ruler Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan. The Compendium of the Turkic Dialects by Kashgari, included among the infidels, the identities of Buddhist and Uyghur were intertwined with each other. The Buddhist Uighurs were subjected to an attack by the Muslim Turks, Mahmud Kaşgaris works contained poetry stanzas and verses which described fighting between Buddhist Uighurs and Muslim Karakahnids. Qatun Sini, at the hands of the Tangut Khan, Mahmud Kashgari insulted the Uyghur Buddhists as Uighur dogs and called them Tats, which referred to the Uighur infidels according to the Tuxsi and Taghma, while other Turks called Persians tat. Buddhist origin words like toyin and Burxān or Furxan had negative connotations to Muslim Turks, the wars against the Buddhist, Shamanist, and Manichean Uighurs were considered a Jihad by the Kara-Khanids. Islam was the enemy of the Christian and Buddhist Turfan Uyghur Kingdom, the Imams and soldiers who died in the battles against the Uyghur Buddhists and Khotan Buddhist Kingdom during the Tarim Basins Islamification at the hands of the Karakhanids are revered as saints. It was possible the Muslims drove some Uighur Buddhist monks towards taking asylum in the Western Xia dynasty, the kingdom was a Buddhist state, with both state-sponsored Mahayana Buddhism and Manichaeism, and was a center of Uyghur culture. The Uyghurs sponsored the construction of many of the temple-caves in what is now Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves and they abandoned the Old Turkic alphabet and adopted and modified the Sogdian alphabet, which later came to be known as the Old Uyghur alphabet. The Idiquts ruled independently until they become a state of the Qara Khitai. In 1209, the Kara-Khoja ruler Baurchuk Art Tekin declared his allegiance to the Mongols under Genghis Khan, after submitting to the Mongols, the Uyghurs went into the service of the Mongol rulers as bureaucrats, providing the expertise that the initially illiterate nomads lacked. Qocho continued exist as a vassal to the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty, a hybrid court was used when Han Chinese and Uighurs were in involved in legal issues. The Buddhist Uyghurs of the Kingdom of Qocho and Turfan were converted to Islam by conquest during a ghazat at the hands of the Muslim Chagatai Khanate ruler Khizr Khoja, Qocho and Turfan were viewed as part of Khitay, which was a name for China. The 1390s war by Kizir Khojas against the Uigurs of Qoco is also considered a Jihad, as a consequence of the Jihad, the religion of Islam was forced on Qocho and this resulted in the city of Jiaohe being abandoned. The mujahideen of the Islamic Chagatai Khanate conquered the Uyghur and Hami was purged of the Buddhist religion which was replaced with Islam, the Islamic conversion forced on the Buddhist Hami state was the final event in the Islamization
Qocho
Qocho
–
History of the Turkic peoples Pre-14th century
Qocho
–
Uygur Khan Successor (8th and 9th century wall painting)
Qocho
12.
History of Tibet
–
Tibetan history, as it has been recorded, is particularly focused on the history of Buddhism in Tibet. This is partly due to the role this religion has played in the development of Tibetan and Mongol cultures. Tibet lies between the areas of the ancient civilizations of China and of India. Extensive mountain ranges to the east of the Tibetan Plateau mark the border with China, Tibet is nicknamed the roof of the world or the land of snows. Linguists classify the Tibetan language and its dialects as belonging to the Tibeto-Burman languages, some archaeological data suggests archaic humans may have passed through Tibet at the time India was first inhabited, half a million years ago. Modern humans first inhabited the Tibetan Plateau at least twenty-one thousand years ago and this population was largely replaced around 3,000 BC by Neolithic immigrants from northern China. However, there is a partial genetic continuity between the Paleolithic inhabitants and the contemporary Tibetan populations, megalithic monuments dot the Tibetan Plateau and may have been used in ancestor worship. Prehistoric Iron Age hill forts and burial complexes have recently found on the Tibetan Plateau. According to Namkhai Norbu some Tibetan historical texts identify the Zhang Zhung culture as a people who migrated from the Amdo region into what is now the region of Guge in western Tibet, Zhang Zhung is considered to be the original home of the Bön religion. He was assassinated and Zhang Zhung continued its dominance of the region until it was annexed by Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. In A. D.108, the Kiang or Tibetans, liang Kin, at the price of some fierce fighting, held them off. Similar incursions were repelled in A. D. 168-169 by the Chinese general Tuan Kung, the dates attributed to the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo, vary. Some Tibetan texts give 126 BC, others 414 BC, Nyatri Tsenpo is said to have descended from a one-footed creature called the Theurang, having webbed fingers and a tongue so large it could cover his face. Due to his appearance he was feared in his native Puwo. There he was greeted as a fearsome being, and he became king, the Tibetan kings were said to remain connected to the heavens via a dmu cord so that rather than dying, they ascended directly to heaven, when their sons achieved their majority. According to various accounts, king Drigum Tsenpo either challenged his clan heads to a fight, during the fight the kings dmu cord was cut, and he was killed. Thereafter Drigum Tsenpo and subsequent kings left corpses and the Bön conducted funerary rites, in a later myth, first attested in the Maṇi bka bum, the Tibetan people are the progeny of the union of the monkey Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. But the monkey was a manifestation of the bodhisattva Chenresig, or Avalokiteśvara while the ogress in turn incarnated Chenresigs consort Dolma, from the 7th century AD Chinese historians referred to Tibet as Tubo, though four distinct characters were used
History of Tibet
–
Tibet within the Yuan dynasty under the top-level department known as the
Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan).
History of Tibet
–
The Potala Palace in Lhasa
History of Tibet
–
Tibet within the Qing dynasty in 1820.
13.
Mongol Empire
–
The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of tribes in the Mongol homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan. The empire grew rapidly under the rule of him and his descendants, the Toluids prevailed after a bloody purge of Ögedeid and Chagataid factions, but disputes continued even among the descendants of Tolui. Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to control of the Chagatayid and Ögedeid families. The Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 marked the point of the Mongol conquests and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty, but it was later taken by the Han Chinese Ming dynasty in 1368. What is referred to in English as the Mongol Empire was called the Ikh Mongol Uls, in the 1240s, one of Genghiss descendants, Güyük Khan, wrote a letter to Pope Innocent IV which used the preamble Dalai Khagan of the great Mongolian state. After the succession war between Kublai Khan and his brother Ariq Böke, Ariq limited Kublais power to the part of the empire. Kublai officially issued an edict on December 18,1271 to name the country Great Yuan to establish the Yuan dynasty. Some sources state that the full Mongolian name was Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus, the area around Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of North China had been controlled by the Liao dynasty since the 10th century. In 1125, the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens overthrew the Liao dynasty, in the 1130s the Jin dynasty rulers, known as the Golden Kings, successfully resisted the Khamag Mongol confederation, ruled at the time by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Temujin. The Mongolian plateau was occupied mainly by five powerful tribal confederations, Keraites, Khamag Mongol, Naiman, Mergid, khabuls successor was Ambaghai Khan, who was betrayed by the Tatars, handed over to the Jurchen, and executed. The Mongols retaliated by raiding the frontier, resulting in a failed Jurchen counter-attack in 1143, in 1147, the Jin somewhat changed their policy, signing a peace treaty with the Mongols and withdrawing from a score of forts. The Mongols then resumed attacks on the Tatars to avenge the death of their late khan, the Jin and Tatar armies defeated the Mongols in 1161. During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century and it is thought that as a result, a rapid increase in the number of war horses and other livestock significantly enhanced Mongol military strength. Known during his childhood as Temujin, Genghis Khan was the son of a Mongol chieftain, when he was young he was from one of Yesugis orphaned and deserted families, he rose very rapidly by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait. Kurtait was the most powerful Mongol leader during this time and was given the Chinese title Wang which means Prince, Temujin went to war with Wang Khan. After Temujin defeated Wang Khan he gave himself the name Genghis Khan and he then enlarged his Mongol state under himself and his kin
Mongol Empire
–
Mongolian tribes during the Khitan
Liao dynasty (907-1125)
Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
–
Eurasia on the eve of the Mongol invasions, c. 1200.
Mongol Empire
–
Genghis Khan,
National Palace Museum in
Taipei, Taiwan
14.
Tibet under Yuan rule
–
Tibet under Yuan rule refers to the Yuan dynastys rule over Tibet from approximately 1270 to 1354. During the Yuan rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Mongol Yuan dynasty and it is also called the Sakya dynasty after the favored Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The region retained a degree of autonomy under the Sakya lama, who was the de jure head of Tibet. Tibet retained nominal power over religious and political affairs, while the Mongols managed a structural and administrative rule over the region and this existed as a diarchic structure under the Yuan emperor, with power primarily in favor of the Mongols. One of the purposes was to select a dpon-chen, usually appointed by the lama. Prior to the Yuan dynasty, Tibet had previously been invaded by the Mongol Empire, the first invasion was by Prince Köden or Godan, grandson of Genghis Khan and son of Ögedei Khan. The second invasion by Möngke Khan resulted in the region falling under Mongol rule. Kublai Khan incorporated the region into his later Yuan dynasty, drogön Chögyal Phagpa, the Sakya lama, became a religious teacher to Kublai, who made him the nominal head of the region. While no modern equivalents remain, the relationship is analogous to that of the British Empire, the rule was described in the Mongolian chronicle Ten Laudable Laws, which describes two orders, one order based on the religious and one order based on the secular. Religious is based on the Sutras and Dharani, secular on peace, the Sakya Lama is responsible for the religious order, the Yuan Emperor for the secular. The religion and the state dependent on each other, each with its own functions. Through their influence with the Mongol rulers, Tibetan lamas gained considerable influence in various Mongol clans, besides Kublai, there were, for example, clear lines of influence between scattered areas of Tibet and the Mongol Ilkhanate based in Persia. Kublais success in succeeding Möngke as Great Khan meant that after 1260, Phagpa, Phagpa became head of all Buddhist monks in the Yuan empire. Tibet would also enjoy a high degree of autonomy compared to other parts of the Yuan empire, though further expeditions took place in 1267,1277,1281. Drogön Chögyal Phagpa was the advisor and guru to Kublai Khan. In 1260, Kublai appointed Chögyal Phagpa as Guoshi, or State Preceptor, in 1260, Phagpa was the first to initiate the political theology of the relationship between state and religion in the Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhist world. With the support of Kublai Khan, Chögyal Phagpa established himself and his sect as the preeminent spiritual leader in Tibet, a census was conducted in 1268 and Tibet was divided into thirteen myriarchies. While maintaining administrative control through the dpon-chen, Kublais relationship with the Sakya Lama became known in the Tibetan tradition as the patron, subsequently, each Yuan emperor had a Lama as a spiritual guide
Tibet under Yuan rule
–
Tibet within the Yuan dynasty under the top-level department known as the
Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan).
Tibet under Yuan rule
–
Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, the first Imperial Preceptor of the Yuan dynasty.
15.
Ganden Phodrang
–
The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang was the Tibetan regime or government that was established by the 5th Dalai Lama with the help of the Güshi Khan of the Khoshut in 1642. Lhasa became the capital of Tibet in the beginning of this period, Kashag became the governing council of the Ganden Phodrang regime during the early Qing rule. Ganden Phodrang was named after the residential quarters of the holder of the Dalai Lama lineage in the Drepung Monastery since the 2nd Dalai Lama, according to some, the Ganden Phodrang is represented by the Central Tibetan Administration or Dalai Lamas government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India after 1959. However, this is Ganden Phodrang in a different sense, the service or labrang of the Dalai Lama. Altan Khan of the Tümed Mongols chose the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism as his Buddhist faith, in 1577 he invited the leader of this order, Sonam Gyatso, to come to Mongolia and teach his people. He designated Sonam Gyatso as Dalai, as a result, Sonam Gyatso became known as the Dalai Lama. His efforts were successful in part because of aid from Güshi Khan, all power and authority lay in the hands of the Dalai Lama right up to his death and Güshi Khan did not interfere in the administration nor tried to control its policies. The core leadership of this government is referred to as the Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang. The 5th Dalai lama initiated the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa and it remained the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. In 1717, the last khan of the Khoshut Khanate, Lha-bzang Khan, was killed by the Mongol Dzungar Khanate forces invading Lhasa. The Dzungar forces were in turn expelled by the forces of the Qing dynasty from Tibet in 1720. The Kashag, the council of Tibet also lasted in Lhasa until the 1950s, was created in 1721. In that year the Tibetan government was reorganized after the riots in Lhasa of the previous year, the first Europeans to arrive in Tibet were the Portuguese missionaries António de Andrade and Manuel Marques in 1624. They were welcomed by the King and Queen of Guge, and were allowed to build a church, the king of Guge eagerly accepted Christianity as an offsetting religious influence to dilute the thriving Gelugpa and to counterbalance his potential rivals and consolidate his position. All missionaries were expelled in 1745 and this would last until the 1950s, when Tibet was incorporated into the Peoples Republic of China. The state structure remained in place for a few years but was dissolved in 1959 after the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The Central Tibetan Administration was established by the 14th Dalai Lama, Kashag Dalai Lama Mongol conquest of Tibet Khoshut Khanate Dzungar Khanate Tibet under Qing rule Tibet List of rulers of Tibet Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. Tibet, A Political History. New York, Yale University Press, and, Singapore, Potala Publications
Ganden Phodrang
–
The Potala Palace in Lhasa
16.
Tibet under Qing rule
–
Tibet under Qing rule refers to the Qing dynastys rule over Tibet from 1720 to 1912. During the Qing rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Qing dynasty established by the Manchus in China, however, the Chinese began to take steps to reassert their authority shortly after the British expedition to Tibet. Güshi Khan of the Khoshut in 1641 overthrew the prince of Tsang and made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet, the time of the 5th Dalai Lama was also a period of rich cultural development. He acted as a mediator between Mongol tribes, and between the Mongols and the Qing Kangxi Emperor, the Dalai Lama would assign territories to Mongol tribes, and these decisions were routinely confirmed by the Emperor. In 1674, the Emperor asked the Dalai Lama to send Mongolian troops to suppress a rebellion in Yunnan. The Dalai Lama agreed to do so, but also advised Kangxi to resolve the conflict in Yunnan by allotting fiefs instead of military action. This was apparently a turning point for the Emperor, who began to take action to deal with the Mongols directly, the 5th Dalai Lama died in 1682. His regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, concealed the death and continued to act in his name, in 1688, Galdan Boshugtu Khan of the Khoshut defeated the Khalkha Mongols and went on to battle Qing forces. This contributed to the loss of Tibets role as mediator between the Mongols and the Emperor, several Khalkha tribes formally submitted directly to Kangxi. When Sangye Gyatso complained to Kangxi that he could not control the Mongols of Kokonor in 1693, Kangxi annexed Kokonor, giving it the name it bears today and he also annexed Tachienlu in eastern Kham at this time. When Kangxi finally destroyed Galdan in 1696, a Qing ruse involving the name of the Dalai Lama was involved, about this time, some Dzungars informed the Kangxi Emperor that the 5th Dalai Lama had long since died. He sent envoys to Lhasa to inquire and this prompted Sangye Gyatso to make Tsangyang Gyatso the 6th Dalai Lama public. Tsangyang Gyatso enjoyed a lifestyle that included drinking, the company of women, in 1702, he refused to take the vows of a Buddhist monk. The regent, under pressure from the Emperor and Lhazang Khan of the Khoshut, in 1705, Lhazang Khan used the sixth Dalai Lamas escapades as excuse to take control of Lhasa. The regent Sanggye Gyatso, who had allied himself with the Dzungar Khanate, was murdered, and he died on the way, near Kokonor, ostensibly from illness but leaving lingering suspicions of foul play. Lhazang Khan appointed a new Dalai Lama who, however, was not accepted by the Gelugpa school, Kelzang Gyatso was discovered near Kokonor and became a rival candidate. The Dzungars proceeded to loot, rape and kill throughout Lhasa and they also destroyed a small force in the Battle of the Salween River which the Emperor had sent to clear traditional trade routes. They brought Kelzang Gyatso with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and he was installed as the seventh Dalai Lama, a Chinese protectorate over Tibet was established at this time, with a garrison at Lhasa, and Kham was annexed to Sichuan
Tibet under Qing rule
–
Tibet within the Qing dynasty in 1820.
17.
Historical money of Tibet
–
The use of historical money in Tibet started in ancient times, when Tibet had no coined currency of its own. Bartering was common, gold was a medium of exchange, and shell money, a few coins from other countries were also occasionally in use. Coins were first used in an extensive way in the 17th century. There were however various difficulties with this system, in 1763/64 and 1785 the first silver coins were struck in Tibet. In 1792 the first mass-produced silver coins were created under joint Chinese, coins bearing Tibetan inscriptions only were subsequently replaced by issues which had Chinese and Tibetan legends. In 1840 purely Tibetan coinage was struck under Tibetan authority, in 1910 the Tibetan government started producing a large range of copper and silver coins of different denominations, and in 1918 to 1921, gold coins were struck. Tibetan banknotes were first issued in 1913, from 1955 to 1959 no more Tibetan coins were created, although banknotes were still being printed, and by 1959 all of the money was gradually being replaced with renminbi yuan. In ancient Tibet, the use of coins was insignificant, tibet’s main neighbours, India, Nepal and China had had their own coinage since time immemorial. Tibet had the biggest trade volume with China, the main items being horses from north-eastern Tibet. Tibet also exported medicinal herbs, stag antlers, musk and gold to China, and apart from tea, the trade volume with Tibets southern neighbours, India, Nepal and Bhutan, was much smaller. The Tibetan traders mainly exchanged salt and wool for grain with these countries, traditionally one measure of salt was traded for one measure of grain at the border with Nepal and India. Other, less important export goods were yak tails, musk, for the 17th century, the export of falcons to India is also recorded. For large transactions within Tibet, gold dust and Chinese silver ingots were used and these ingots came in different shapes, the most common kind resembled horseshoes or donkey shoes, and were named rta rmig ma in Tibetan. For small transactions, various consumer goods could be used, among others, these were areca nuts, tobacco, ceremonial scarves and tea Tea was usually traded in the form of tea bricks. This developed into the most important medium of exchange in the 19th century, so far there exists no consent whether these pieces could be regarded as coins. The officials had to convert these into the current monetary standard, lastly a form of gold currency named Sertam is mentioned which had a gold weight of 2 sewas. Fifteen Sertam corresponded to one standard Changsho, the currency unit Gursho was already mentioned by Sarat Chandra Das in his Tibetan-English Dictionary. According to this author 1 Gursho =24 sewas, Chinese silver ingots were used until the 20th century for larger transactions
Historical money of Tibet
–
Tibetan 1 srang silver coin, dated 15-43 (= AD 1909) obverse
Historical money of Tibet
–
Tibetan 1 srang silver coin, dated 15-43 (= AD 1909) reverse
Historical money of Tibet
Historical money of Tibet
–
kong par tangka dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),obverse
18.
History of European exploration in Tibet
–
Tibet has attracted European missionaries and explorers for over 500 years. The internal and external politics of Tibet, China, Bhutan, Assam, the combination of inaccessibility and political sensitivity made Tibet a mystery and a challenge for Europeans well into the 20th century. These obstacles did not deter a number of missionaries, scholars, geographers, soldiers, the earliest European reports of Tibet were from Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela who left Zaragoza, Aragon in 1160 and travelled to Baghdad before returning to Navarre in 1173. Based on his discussions with learned men, Rabbi Benjamin describes Tibet as being the land of musk, less than 100 years later, an emissary was sent by Louis IX to the Mangu Khan in Karakorum in 1253. Friar William of Rubruck reported that the Tibetan people ‘were held an abomination among all nations’ due a ritual of drinking from the skulls of their parents, friar William was also the first to describe a Tibetan lama’s garments in detail. The first documented European claim to have visited Tibet came from Odoric of Pordenone, odorics record was later plagiarized and popularized by John de Mandeville. By 1459 the general location of Tibet was clearly known as Thebet appears on the Fra Mauro Map in close proximity to its correct location. The first documented Europeans to arrive in Tibet were a pair of Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, António de Andrade, Andrade and Marques eight-month journey began in Agra, where they joined the procession of the Emperor Jehangir and proceeded to Delhi under the protection of the Emperor. In Delhi, Andrade and Marques disguised themselves as Hindu pilgrims, the caravan followed the Ganges River to Srinagar and Garhwal where they were discovered. The Raj of Garhwal detained and interrogated both men for a week before allowing Andrade and Marques to proceed, Andrade and Marques rejoined the caravan and reached Badrinath, probably in early June 1624. In Badrinath, they left the caravan and proceeded to Mana, the last town before the Mana Pass and the border of Tibet. Andrade and Marques made one failed attempt on the Mana Pass which was blocked by heavy snow, Marques remained in Mana to deflect the pursuit and rejoined Andrade and a group of Tibetans for a second successful assault on Mana Pass in either July or August 1624. The two were welcomed warmly by the King and Queen of Guge, becoming the first documented Europeans to enter Tibet, staying in Tibet for only a month, Andrade and Marques would return to Agra by November 1624 to organize a mission trip for the following year. In 1625 with the support of the King and Queen of Guge, Andrade. On the advice of Andrade, a mission was dispatched to southern Tibet from India in 1627, the Portuguese missionaries João Cabral and Estêvão Cacella were welcomed at Shigatse by the King of Utsang. Cabral and Cacella established a mission at Shigatse in 1628, Cabral and Cacella also provided the first information that reached western civilization about the mystical country of Shambhala in their reports to India. Both missions were evacuated in 1635 as the missions became embroiled in the rivalry between the Red Hat Sect and the Yellow Hat Sect and it would be twenty-five years before the next documented Europeans visited Tibet. In 1661, two Jesuits, Johannes Grueber of Austria and Albert Dorville traveled from Peking to Agra, India by way of Lhasa on an Imperial Passport, the 18th century brought more Jesuits and Capuchins from Europe
History of European exploration in Tibet
–
1667 illustration
History of European exploration in Tibet
–
Himalayas, on the southern rim of the Tibetan plateau.
History of European exploration in Tibet
–
George Bogle was welcomed by the
Panchen Lama at
Tashilhunpo in
Shigatse
19.
Tibetan alphabet
–
The Tibetan alphabet is an abugida used to write the Tibetic languages such as Tibetan, as well as Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, and sometimes Balti. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script while the cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script. The alphabet is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in Tibet, Bhutan, India. The Tibetan alphabet is of Indic origin and it is ancestral to the Limbu alphabet, the Lepcha alphabet, the creation of the Tibetan alphabet is attributed to Thonmi Sambhota of the mid-7th century. Tradition holds that Thonmi Sambhota, a minister of Songtsen Gampo, was sent to India to study the art of writing, the form of the letters is based on an Indic alphabet of that period. The most important, an official orthography aimed to facilitate the translation of Buddhist scriptures, Standard orthography has not altered since then, while the spoken language has changed by, for example, losing complex consonant clusters. As a result, in all modern Tibetan dialects, in particular in the Standard Tibetan of Lhasa and this divergence is the basis of an argument in favour of spelling reform, to write Tibetan as it is pronounced, for example, writing Kagyu instead of Bka-rgyud. In contrast, the pronunciation of the Balti, Ladakhi and Burig languages adheres more closely to the archaic spelling, in the Tibetan script, the syllables are written from left to right. Syllables are separated by a tsek, since many Tibetan words are monosyllabic, spaces are not used to divide words. The Tibetan alphabet has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as radicals, as in other Indic scripts, each consonant letter assumes an inherent vowel, in the Tibetan script its ཨ /a/. The alphabet ཨ /a/ is also the base for dependent vowels marks, although some Tibetan dialects are tonal, the language had no tone at the time of the scripts invention, and there are no dedicated symbols for tone. However, since tones developed from segmental features they can usually be predicted by the archaic spelling of Tibetan words. The unique aspect of the Tibetan script is that the consonants can be either as radicals, or they can be written in other forms. To understand how this works, one can look at the radical ཀ /ka/, in both cases, the symbol for ཀ /ka/ is used, but when the ར /ra/ is in the middle of the consonant and vowel, it is added as a subscript. On the other hand, when the ར /ra/ comes before the consonant and vowel, ར /ra/ actually changes form when it is above most other consonants, thus རྐ rka. However, an exception to this is the cluster རྙ /rnya/, similarly, the consonants ཝ /wa/, ར /ra/, and ཡ /ja/ change form when they are beneath other consonants, thus ཀྭ /kwa/, ཀྲ /kra/, ཀྱ /kja/. Besides being written as subscripts and superscripts, some consonants can also be placed in prescript, postscript, the third position, the post-postscript position is solely for the consonants ད /tʰa/ and ས /sa/. The superscript position above a radical is reserved for the consonants ར /ra/, ལ /la/, the vowels used in the alphabet are ཨ /a/, ཨི /i/, ཨུ /u/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/
Tibetan alphabet
–
Polychrome text left of center is the primary
mantra of
Tibetan Buddhism, Sanskrit
Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (
Tibetan: ༀམཎིཔདྨེཧཱུྃ,
Wylie: oMmanipad+mehU~M). Monochrome text right of center reads Sanskrit "Oṃ
Vajrasattva Hūm" (
Tibetan: ༀབཛྲསཏྭཧཱུཾ,
Wylie: oM badzrasatwa hUM), an invocation to the embodiment of primeval purity.
Tibetan alphabet
–
The number plate of a car registered in
Jammu and Kashmir, in Roman and Tibetan scripts.
20.
Tibet
–
Tibet is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, spanning about 2.4 million km2 and nearly a quarter of Chinas territory. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an elevation of 4,900 metres. The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earths highest mountain, the Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century, following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area. The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government, later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. There are tensions regarding Tibets political status and dissident groups that are active in exile and it is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured. The economy of Tibet is dominated by agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism, in there is Bön, which is similar to Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is an influence on the art, music. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences, staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea. The Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means Tibet or Tibetan Plateau, although it meant the central region around Lhasa. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin. Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang although the geographical term Xīzàng is often limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor through the addition of a prefix meaning west to Zang, the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo. This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century, in the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon. Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo, Wusizang, Tubote, the English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. Historical linguists generally agree that Tibet names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat orTūbātt, itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd, literally, according to Matthew Kapstein, From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. More controversial is the theory that the Tibeto-Burman family is part of a larger language family, called Sino-Tibetan
Tibet
–
"Greater Tibet" as claimed by Tibetan exile groups
Tibet
–
Tibetan family in
Kham attending a horse festival
Tibet
–
King
Songtsän Gampo
Tibet
–
Tibet in 1734. Royaume de Thibet ("Kingdom of Tibet") in la Chine, la Tartarie Chinoise, et le Thibet ("China, Chinese
Tartary, and Tibet") on a 1734 map by
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, based on earlier Jesuit maps.
21.
Empire
–
An empire can be made solely of contiguous territories such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or of territories far remote from the homeland, such as a colonial empire. Aside from the formal usage, the term empire can also be used to refer to a large-scale business enterprise. The term empire is associated with words such as imperialism, colonialism. Empire is often used to describe a displeasure to overpowering situations, the former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion, territorial empires tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has applied to maritime empires or thalassocracies, with looser structures. Empires are usually larger than kingdoms and this aspiration to universality resulted in conquest by converting ‘outsiders’ or ‘inferiors’ into the colonialized religion. This association of nationality and race became complex and has had an intense drive for expansion. An empire is a multi-ethnic or multinational state with political and/or military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the ethnic group. This is in contrast to a federation, which is a state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a political party who rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitute an empire vary and it might be a state affecting imperial policies or a particular political structure. Empires are typically formed from ethnic, national, cultural. Empire and colonialism are used to refer to relationships between powerful state or society versus a less powerful one, sometimes, an empire is a semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of emperor. That rulers nation logically becomes an empire, despite having no additional territory or hegemony, among the last of the empires in the 20th century were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Manchukuo, the German Empire, and Korea. Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea, Empires originated as different types of states, although they commonly began as powerful monarchies. Ideas about empires have changed over time, ranging from public approval to universal distaste, Empires are built out of separate units with some kind of diversity – ethnic, national, cultural, religious – and imply at least some inequality between the rulers and the ruled. Without this inequality, the system would be seen as commonwealth, many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways
Empire
–
Maurya Empire of
India at its greatest extent under
Ashoka the Great
Empire
–
Imperialism and colonization in 1900
Empire
–
Han Empire of China in 87 BC.
Empire
–
In the year 1690, the
realms of the
Mughal Empire spanned from
Kabul to
Cape Comorin.
22.
Tibetan Plateau
–
It stretches approximately 1,000 kilometres north to south and 2,500 kilometres east to west. Sometimes termed the Third Pole, the Tibetan Plateau contains the headwaters of the basins of most of the streams in surrounding regions. Its tens of thousands of glaciers and other geographical and ecological features serve as a water tower storing water, the impact of global warming on the Tibetan Plateau is of intense scientific interest. The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by mountain ranges. In the west the curve of the rugged Karakoram range of northern Kashmir embraces the plateau, the Indus River originates in the western Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar. The Tibetan Plateau is bounded in the north by an escarpment where the altitude drops from around 5,000 metres to 1,500 metres over a horizontal distance of less than 150 kilometres. Along the escarpment is a range of mountains, in the west the Kunlun Mountains separate the plateau from the Tarim Basin. About halfway across the Tarim the bounding range becomes the Altyn-Tagh, in the V formed by this split is the western part of the Qaidam Basin. The Altyn-Tagh ends near the Dangjin pass on the Dunhuang-Golmud road, to the west are short ranges called the Danghe, Yema, Shule, and Tulai Nanshans. The easternmost range is the Qilian Mountains, the line of mountains continues east of the plateau as the Qin Mountains which separate the Ordos Region from Sichuan. North of the runs the Gansu or Hexi Corridor which was the main silk-road route from China proper to the West. The plateau is an arid steppe interspersed with mountain ranges. Annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 300 millimetres and falls mainly as hail, the southern and eastern edges of the steppe have grasslands which can sustainably support populations of nomadic herdsmen, although frost occurs for six months of the year. Permafrost occurs over parts of the plateau. Proceeding to the north and northwest, the plateau becomes progressively higher, colder and drier, here the average altitude exceeds 5,000 metres and winter temperatures can drop to −40 °C. The geological history of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to that of the Himalayan mountain range, the Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consist mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Their formation is a result of a collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor
Tibetan Plateau
–
Buddhist stupa and houses outside the town of
Aba, on the Tibetan Plateau.
Tibetan Plateau
–
The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau lies between the
Himalayan range to the south and the
Kunlun Range to the north.
Tibetan Plateau
–
NASA satellite image of the south-eastern area of Tibetan Plateau.
Brahmaputra River is in the lower right.
Tibetan Plateau
–
The Tibetan Plateau lies between the
Himalayan range to the south and the
Taklamakan Desert to the north.
23.
East Asia
–
East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either geographical or ethno-cultural terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it includes China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, it covers about 12,000,000 km2, or about 28% of the Asian continent, the East Asian people comprise more than 1.5 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the world average of 45/km2. Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other populations of northern East Asia. The Chinese calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived, Chinese Dynasties dominated the region in matters of culture, trade, and exploration as well as militarily for a very long time. There are records of tributes sent overseas from the kingdoms of Korea. There were also considerable levels of cultural and religious exchange between the Chinese and other regional Dynasties and Kingdoms, as connections began to strengthen with the Western world, Chinas power began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a nation state, throughout World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia, there are mixed debates around the world whether these countries or regions should be considered in East Asia or not. Vietnam Siberia in Russia Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, however, in this context, the term Far East is often more appropriate which covers ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term Asia Pacific Region is often used in describing East Asia and this usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both East Asia and Northeast Asia. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea, the military and economic superpower of China became the largest economy in the world in 2014, surpassing the United States of America. Currently in East Asia, trading systems are open, and zero or low duties on imports of consumer and capital goods etc. have considerably helped stimulate cost-efficiency. Free and flexible labor and other markets are important factors making for high levels of business-economic performance. East Asian populations have demonstrated highly positive work ethics, there are relatively large and fast-growing markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds. The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilisation of China, East Asia, as well as Vietnam, share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and historically a common writing system
East Asia
–
Tokyo is the largest city in the world, both in
metropolitan population and
economy.
East Asia
–
East Asia
East Asia
–
Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea (ROK), and is a leading global technology hub.
East Asia
–
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan.
Kaohsiung Harbor is one of the largest harbors in the world.
24.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also referred to as the -stans as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix -stan. Central Asias five former Soviet republics are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, the Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. This crossroads position has intensified the conflict between tribalism and traditionalism and modernization, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was predominantly Iranian, peopled by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Parthians. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan, the idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions, historically built political geography and geoculture are two significant parameters widely used in the scholarly literature about the definitions of the Central Asia. The most limited definition was the one of the Soviet Union. This definition was also used outside the USSR during this period. However, the Russian culture has two terms, Средняя Азия and Центральная Азия. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia, the UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity and these areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan, the Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, most of the peoples are considered the indigenous peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is a large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains, vast deserts. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe. Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming, the Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° E, to the Great Khingan Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes, The worlds northernmost desert, at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, the Northern Hemispheres southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17′ N
Central Asia
–
On the southern shore of Issyk Kul lake,
Issyk Kul Region.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia
Central Asia
–
Uzbek men from
Khiva, ca. 1861–1880
Central Asia
–
Kazakh man on a horse with golden eagle
25.
South Asia
–
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia. Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan. China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia. Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
South Asia
–
While South Asia had never been a coherent
geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity
South Asia
–
South Asia
South Asia
–
Ethno-linguistic families of South Asia.
26.
Tarim basin
–
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in northwest China occupying an area of about 1,020,000 km2. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its boundary is the Kunlun Mountains on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Taklamakan Desert dominates much of the basin, the historical Uyghur name for the Tarim Basin is Altishahr, which means six cities in Uyghur. They were governed separately until 1884, north side, The Chinese called this the Tien Shan Nan Lu or Tien Shan South Road, as opposed to the Bei Lu north of the mountains. Along it runs the modern highway and railroad while the middle Tarim River is about 100 km south, Kashgar was where the caravans met before crossing the mountains. Center, Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert which is too dry for permanent habitation, the Yarkand, Kashgar and Aksu Rivers join to form the Tarim River which runs along the north side of the basin. Formerly it continued to Loulan, but some time after 330AD it turned southeast near Korla toward Charkilik, the Tarim ended at the now-dry Lop Nur which occupied a changing position east of Loulan. Eastward is the fabled Jade Gate which the Chinese considered the gateway to the Western Regions, beyond that is Dunhuang with its ancient manuscripts and then Anxi at the west end of the Gansu Corridor. The modern road continues east to Tibet, there is no current road east across the Kumtag Desert to Dunhuang, but caravans somehow made the crossing thru the Yangguan pass south of the Jade Gate. Roads and passes, rivers and caravan routes, The Southern Xinjiang Railway branches from the Lanxin Railway near Turpan, follows the side of the basin to Kashgar. Roads, The main road from eastern China reaches Urumchi and continues as highway 314 along the side to Kashgar. Highway 315 follows the side from Kashgar to Charkilik and continues east to Tibet. There are currently four north-south roads across the desert,218 runs from Charkilik to Korla along the former course of the Tarim forming an oval whose other end is Kashgar. The Tarim Desert Highway, an engineering achievement, crosses the center from Niya to Luntai. The new Highway 217 follows the Khotan River from Khotan to near Aksu, a road follows the Yarkand River from Yarkand to Baqu. East of the Korla-Charkilik road travel continues to be very difficult, Rivers coming south from the Tien Shan join the Tarim, the largest being the Aksu. Rivers flowing north from the Kunlun are usually named for the town or oasis they pass through, Most dry up in the desert, only the Hotan River reaching the Tarim in good years. An exception is the Qiemo River which flowed northeast into Lop Nor, ruins in the desert imply that these rivers were once larger
Tarim basin
–
NASA landsat photo of the Tarim Basin
Tarim basin
–
Dzungaria
Tarim basin
–
Fresco from a
stupa shrine,
Miran
27.
Himalayas
–
The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
Himalayas
–
The north face of
Mount Everest seen from the path to the base camp in
Tibet Autonomous Region,
China
Himalayas
Himalayas
–
Panoramic view of Langtang Range in
Nepal
Himalayas
–
Indus River
28.
Bengal
–
Bengal is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in Asia, which is located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically, it is made up by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, in 2011, the population of Bengal was estimated to be 250 million, making it the most densely populated region in South Asia. An estimated 160 million people live in Bangladesh, while 91.3 million people live in West Bengal, the predominant ethno-linguistic group are the Bengali people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Bengali language. Bengali Muslims are the majority in Bangladesh, Bengali Hindus are the majority in West Bengal. Dense woodlands, including rainforests, cover Bengals northern and eastern areas. In the littoral southwest are the Sunderbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest, in the coastal southeast lies Coxs Bazaar, the longest beach in the world at 125 km. The region has a climate, which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons. Bengal has played a role in the history of Asia. In antiquity, its kingdoms were known as seafaring nations, at times an independent regional empire, or a bastion of larger empires, the historical region was a leading power of the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic East. Bengali culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature, music, art, architecture, sports, currency, commerce, politics and cuisine. The name of Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Banga, theories on the origin of the term Banga point to the Proto-Dravidian Bong tribe that settled in the area circa 1000 BCE and the Austric word Bong. The term Bangaladesa is used to describe the region in 11th century South Indian records, the modern term Bangla is prominent from the 14th century, which saw the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal, whose first ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was known as the Shah of Bangala. The Portuguese referred to the region as Bengala in the Age of Discovery, most of the Bengal region lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, but there are highlands in its north, northeast and southeast. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, the total area of Bengal is 232,752 km2—West Bengal is 88,752 km2 and Bangladesh 147,570 km2. The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet regions are home to most of the mountains in Bangladesh. Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres above the sea level, because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres, a major part of the coastline comprises a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger. In 1997, this region was declared endangered, West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south
Bengal
–
Map of Hindoostan in 1831 with Bengal (Green colored at the right)
Bengal
–
Map of the Bengal region
Bengal
–
Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in
Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BC and was the ancient capital of the
Pundra Kingdom.
Bengal
–
Asia in 323 BC, the
Nanda Empire of
Magadha and
Gangaridai Empire of Bengal in relation to
Alexander 's Empire and neighbours.
29.
Pamirs
–
The Pamir Mountains, or the Pamirs, are a mountain range in Central Asia at the junction of the Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and Hindu Raj ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains, the precise extent of the Pamir Mountains is debatable. They lie mostly in Gorno-Badakhshan province of Tajikistan, to the north they join the Tian Shan mountains along the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan. To the south border the Hindu Kush mountains along Afghanistans Wakhan Corridor. Since Victorian times, they have known as the Roof of the World. The name Pamir is used commonly in Modern Chinese and loaned as simplified Chinese, 帕米尔, traditional Chinese, 帕米爾, pinyin. The three highest mountains in the Pamirs core are Ismoil Somoni Peak,7,495 m, Ibn Sina Peak,7,134 m, in the Eastern Pamirs, Chinas Kongur Tagh is the highest at 7,649 m. There are many glaciers in the Pamir Mountains, including the 77 km long Fedchenko Glacier, the longest in the former USSR, covered in snow throughout the year, the Pamirs have long and bitterly cold winters, and short, cool summers. Annual precipitation is about 130 mm, which supports grasslands but few trees, the East-Pamir, in the centre of which the massifs of Mustagh Ata and Kongur Tagh are situated, shows from the W-margin of the Tarim Basin an East-West extension of c.200 km. Its North-South extension from King Ata Tagh up to the North-West Kunlun foothills amounts to c.170 km. From this glacier area an outlet glacier has flowed down to the north-east through the Gez valley up to c.1850 m asl and this outlet glacier received inflow from the Kaiayayilak glacier from the Kongur-north-flank. From the north-adjacent Kara Bak Tor -massif the Oytag valley glacier in the same exposition flowed also down up to c.1850 m asl. At glacial times the glacier snowline as altitude limit between glacier nourishing area and ablation zone, was lowered about 820 to 1250 altitude metres against today. Under the condition of comparable proportions of precipitation there results from this a depression of temperature of at least 5 to 7.5 °C. Coal is mined in the west, though sheep herding in upper meadowlands are the source of income for the region. This section is based on the book by R. Middleton, about 138 BC Zhang Qian reached the Fergana Valley northwest of the Pamirs. Ptolemy vaguely describes a route through the area. From about 600 AD, Buddhist pilgrims travelled on both sides of the Pamirs to reach India from China, in 747 a Tang army was on the Wakhan River
Pamirs
–
Pamir Mountains from an airplane, June 2008
Pamirs
Pamirs
–
Pamir Mountains on map showing
Sakastan about 100BC
Pamirs
–
Part of the Pamir Mountain range in springtime.
30.
Gansu
–
Gansu is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the northwest of the country. It lies between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, the Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. Gansu has a population of 26 million and covers an area of 425,800 square kilometres, the capital is Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of the province. Gansu is a compound of the names of Ganzhou and Suzhou, Gansu is abbreviated as 甘 or 陇, and is also known as Longxi or Longyou, in reference to the Long Mountain east of Gansu. Gansu is a name first used during the Song dynasty of two Sui and Tang dynasty prefectures, Gan and Su. In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to Neolithic cultures, the Dadiwan culture, from where archaeologically significant artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about 6000 BC to about 3000 BC. The Majiayao culture and part of the Qijia culture took root in Gansu from 3100 BC to 2700 BC and 2400 BC to 1900 BC respectively, the Yuezhi originally lived in the very western part of Gansu until they were forced to emigrate by the Xiongnu around 177 BCE. The State of Qin, later to become the state of the Chinese empire, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu. The Qin name is believed to have originated, in part, Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200-year-old map of Guixian County. In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, the Han dynasty extended the Great Wall across this corridor, building the strategic Yumenguan and Yangguan fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there, the Ming dynasty built the Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu. By the Qingshui treaty, concluded in 823 between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty, China lost a part of Gansu province for a significant period. After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, an Uyghur state was established in parts of Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036 AD, during that time, many of Gansus residents were converted to Islam. Along the Silk Road, Gansu was an important province. Temples and Buddhist grottoes such as those at Mogao Caves and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han garrison near the Yumen pass in August 2006, the province was also the origin of the Dungan Revolt of 1862-77. Among the Qing forces were Muslim generals like Ma Zhanao and Ma Anliang who helped Qing crush the rebel Muslims, the revolt spread into Gansu from neighbouring Qinghai. Frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow progress of the province until recently
Gansu
–
Jiayuguan Fort
Gansu
–
Map showing the location of Gansu Province
Gansu
–
The ruins of a
Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Chinese
watchtower made of
rammed earth at
Dunhuang, Gansu province, the eastern edge of the
Silk Road
Gansu
–
Semi-arid land, suitable for light grazing
31.
Yunnan
–
Yunnan is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country. It spans approximately 394,000 square kilometres and has a population of 45.7 million in 2009, the capital of the province is Kunming, formerly also known as Yunnan. The province borders Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the peaks to river valleys as much as 3,000 metres. Yunnan is rich in resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of plants in China. Yunnans reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, the Han Empire first recorded diplomatic relations with the province at the end of the 2nd century BC. It became the seat of a Sino-Tibetan-speaking kingdom of Nanzhao in the 8th centuryAD, Nanzhao was multi-ethnic, but the elite most-likely spoke a northern dialect of Yi. The Mongols conquered the region in the 13th century, with local control exercised by warlords until the 1930s, as with other parts of Chinas southwest, Japanese occupation in the north during World War II forced another migration of majority Han people into the region. These two wave of migration contributed to Yunnan being one of the most ethnically diverse provinces of China, major ethnic groups include Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao. The Yuanmou Man, a Homo erectus fossil unearthed by railway engineers in the 1960s, has determined to be the oldest-known hominid fossil in China. By the Neolithic period, there were settlements in the area of Lake Dian. These people used tools and constructed simple wooden structures. Around the 3rd century BC, the area of Yunnan around present day Kunming was known as Dian. The Chu general Zhuang Qiao entered the region from the upper Yangtze River and he and his followers brought into Yunnan an influx of Chinese influence, the start of a long history of migration and cultural expansion. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified China and extended his authority south, commanderies and counties were established in Yunnan. An existing road in Sichuan – the Five Foot Way – was extended south to present day Qujing
Yunnan
–
Bronze sculpture of the
Dian Kingdom, 3rd century BCE
Yunnan
–
Map showing the location of Yunnan Province
Yunnan
–
A scene of the Qing campaign against the
Miao people in 1795.
Yunnan
–
Snowy mountains in
Diqing, northwestern Yunnan.
32.
Buddhism
–
Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
Buddhism
–
Standing Buddha statue at the
Tokyo National Museum. One of the earliest known representations of the
Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE.
Buddhism
–
The Dharmachakra
Buddhism
–
Relic depicting Gautama leaving home. The Great Departure, c.1–2nd century. (
Musée Guimet)
Buddhism
–
Ascetic
Gautama with his five companions, who later comprised the first
Sangha. (Painting in
Laotian temple)
33.
Old Tibetan Chronicle
–
The Old Tibetan Chronicle is a collection of narrative accounts and songs relating to Tibets Yarlung dynasty and the Tibetan Empire. The Chronicle, together with the Old Tibetan Annals comprise Tibets earliest extant history, the Old Tibetan Chronicle is extant in two manuscripts in the Pelliot Collection at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, and some manuscript fragments. The main scroll comprises Pelliot tibétain 1286 and Pelliot tibétain 1287, the Tibetan text is written on the blank verso sides of panels pasted together from Chinese scrolls. In addition, two folios from an original manuscript, Pelliot tibétain 1144 and IOL Tib J1375, overlap with narratives found in the Chronicle. The Old Tibetan Chronicle is a text of various lists, narratives. Geza Uray has argued that this composition was made in Dunhuang itself rather than Central Tibet, the Chronicle begins with a series of lists - of marriage alliances, principalities, emperors and ministers. The list of emperors is prefaced by an account of the descent of the first emperor Nyatri Tsenpo from heaven, and ends with an account of the death of Drigum Tsenpo, the first mortal in the line. After this the Chronicle narrates the overthrow of the prince Zingpoje - this narrative is also represented in the fragmentary Version II of the Chronicle, the narrative then continues with an account of the following Tibetan emperors before coming to the reign of Songtsen Gampo. This section actually concentrates on the activities of the minister Khyungpo Pungse, the Chronicle then continues with a narrative of the following emperors, before coming to Trisong Detsen, in which his victory over the rival Tibetan king Lig Myi-rhya is celebrated. The Chronicle then returns to the reign of an earlier emperor Tridu Songtsen, the Chronicle does not offer a comprehensive account of the history of Tibet. This is partly because of the nature of its composition from earlier narratives and it has also been argued by Lajos Ligeti and Geza Uray that the material in the Chronicle represents the interests of specific Tibetan clans, namely the Dba and Myang clans. In this it is comparable to another early Tibetan historical text, the Testament of Ba, contradicting later Tibetan Buddhist histories, neither the Annals nor the Chronicle make any mention of Buddhism in the reign of Songtsen Gampo. It has been clear since the Chronicle was first published there are problems with its chronology. The victory over Lig Myi-rhya is narrated in the section on Trisong Detsen, yet in the song and the following narrative the emperor named is Songtsen Gampo. Furthermore, the Chronicle ends in the reign of Tridu Songtsen, there are two main theories regarding this anachronism. Ariane Macdonald and Yoshiro Imaeda have argued that the problems with chronology arose because the Chronicle was composed from a variety of different sources. Geza Uray on the hand has argued that the scroll of Pelliot tibétain 1287 was cut up and rearranged some time after it was originally written. Documents de Touen-houang relatifs a lhistoire de Tibet, J. Bacot, F. W. Thomas, Ch. Touissant
Old Tibetan Chronicle
–
Paul Pelliot examines manuscripts in
cave 17
34.
Sui Dynasty
–
The Sui Dynasty was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China of pivotal significance. It was succeeded by the Tang dynasty, which inherited its foundation. Founded by Emperor Wen of Sui, the Sui dynasty capital was Changan and they also spread and encouraged Buddhism throughout the empire. By the middle of the dynasty, the unified empire entered a golden age of prosperity with vast agricultural surplus that supported rapid population growth. A lasting legacy of the Sui dynasty was the Grand Canal, the dynasty, which lasted only thirty-seven years, was undermined by ambitious wars and construction projects, which overstretched its resources. Particularly, under Emperor Yang, heavy taxation and compulsory labor duties would eventually induce widespread revolts, the dynasty is often compared to the earlier Qin dynasty for unifying China after prolonged division. Wide-ranging reforms and construction projects were undertaken to consolidate the newly unified state, after crushing an army in the eastern provinces, Yang Jian usurped the throne to become Emperor Wen of Sui. In a bloody purge, he had fifty-nine princes of the Zhou royal family eliminated, Emperor Wen abolished the anti-Han policies of Zhou and reclaimed his Han surname of Yang. In his campaign for southern conquest, Emperor Wen assembled thousands of boats to confront the forces of the Chen dynasty on the Yangtze River. The largest of ships were very tall, having five layered decks. They were outfitted with six 50-foot-long booms that were used to swing and damage enemy ships, besides employing Xianbei and other Chinese ethnic groups for the fight against Chen, Emperor Wen also employed the service of people from southeastern Sichuan, which Sui had recently conquered. In 588, the Sui had amassed 518,000 troops along the bank of the Yangtze River. The Chen dynasty could not withstand such an assault, by 589, Sui troops entered Jiankang and the last emperor of Chen surrendered. Although Emperor Wen was famous for bankrupting the treasury with warfare and construction projects. He established granaries as sources of food and as a means to market prices from the taxation of crops. The large agricultural surplus supported rapid growth of population to historical peak, the state capital of Changan, while situated in a military-secured heartland of Guanzhong, was remote from the economic centers to the east and south of the empire. Emperor Wen initiated the construction of the Grand Canal, with completion of the first route that directly linked Changan to the Yellow River, Later Emperor Yang would enormously enlarge the scale of the Grand Canal construction. Externally, the emerging nomadic Turkic Khaganate in the north posed a threat to the newly founded dynasty
Sui Dynasty
–
History of China
Sui Dynasty
–
Sui dynasty circa 609 AD
Sui Dynasty
–
Sui dynasty
Bodhisattva, sandstone, Tianlongshan Grottoes,
Shanxi, 6th century.
Sui Dynasty
–
A Sui dynasty pilgrim flask made of
stoneware.
35.
Yarlung Valley
–
It is situated in Nedong County of Lhokha Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The capital of Lhokha Prefecture, Zêtang, in the Yarlung Valley, is one of Tibets largest cities and it was originally well-forested and suitable for agriculture. The Tsetang district is famous for its apples and pears, the Yarlung and the adjoining Chongye Valley formed the original seat of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibetan kings and controlled important ancient trade routes into India and Bhutan. The first Tibetan Emperor, Songtsen Gampo, moved the capital to Lhasa after greatly expanding his territories and power. The valley, often referred to as the cradle of Tibetan civilisation, is only 72 km long, there are three renowned power places, Sheldrak, Tradruk, and Yumbu Lagang or. Also, there are three major stupas which serve as receptacles for sacred relics, Takchen Bumpa, Gontang Bumpa, a modern bridge has been built a few kilometres downstream at Nyago. Even by the time Sarat Das visited in 1879 it was in such a state of disrepair that he had to take a boat containing traders and their donkeys. There are four lamaseries around Tse-tang, and in the town are some fifteen Nepalese, twenty Chinese, mutton and butter were abundant, but barley, though cheap, is of inferior quality. It is one of the four sacred mountains of Central Tibet, and the abode of Yarlha Shampo and it is also famous for its cave at 4,060 metres near the summit. This is where, according to legend, Chenrezig incarnated as a red monkey and impregnated a sinmo, or white ogress, in the cave may be seen a naturally occurring image of a monkey and paintings of simian figures. It is said that within the mountain is a beyul or hidden land, Sheldrak Monastery Above the Sekhang Zhika village, bypassing a sacred burial ground with a stupa dedicated to Hayagriva, is Sheldrak Monastery. Founded in the 14th century, it is dedicated to the Terton or treasure-finder Sangye Lingpa. It contains images of Padmasambhava with his two foremost consorts, the Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava, and Karmapa Rangjung Dorje and it is one of the most revered pilgrimage destinations on the Tibetan plateau and symbolizes the Buddha attributes of Padmasambhava. Originally there was an image of Padmasambhava, but this has now been moved to Traduk Monastery. Tsogyel Sangpuk faces northeast and is the meditation cave of Yeshe Tsogyal. Its location is indicated by a flag to the south of the cave. Pema Shelpuk or Padma Shepuk faces west and this is where the famous Orgyen Lingpa discovered the terma Pema Katang and many other important works here. It is a vital Nyingma site, lhabab Ri - The Hill of Divine Descent is the highest of three hilltops at the southern end of the Pema Tsekpa range, below the Sheldrak Caves
Yarlung Valley
–
The restored
Yungbu Lakang Palace.
Yarlung Valley
Yarlung Valley
–
Elderly Tibetan women at Ombu Lhakang in the Yarlung Valley
36.
Yerpa
–
Yerpa, is only a short drive to the east of Lhasa, Tibet, and consists of a monastery and a number of ancient meditation caves that used to house about 300 monks. Dra Yerpa is located on a hillside in Dagzê County, the entrance to the Yerpa Valley is about 16 kilometres northeast of Lhasa on the northern bank of the Kyichu. From there, it is another 10 kilometres to the famous ancient meditation caves in the limestone cliffs of the Yerpa Valley. There is an ancient sky burial site opposite the main caves, the famous legendary hero Gesar of Ling is said to have visited the valley. The holes his arrows left in the cliffs are believed to be evidence of his presence, there are a number of small temples shrines and hermitages and the cliffs contain some of the earliest known meditation sites in Tibet, some dating back to pre-Buddhist times. Among the more famous are those connected with Songtsen Gampo. His Tibetan queen, Monza Triucham, founded the Dra Yerpa temple here and he and his two foreign-born queens are said to have meditated in the Peu Marsergyi Temple and in the Chogyel Puk, and to have discovered self-originated symbols of the Buddha-body, speech and mind. After Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje assassinated the anti-Buddhist Bon Emperor Langdarma in 842 CE he is said to have himself in a cave. His hat was kept there until 1959, Yerpa became one of the three most important centres of meditation and retreat in Central Tibet. Several of Guru Rinpoches disciples are said to have meditated here. Atisha preached extensively in the valley, atishas hermitage is in ruins but had 300 monks in the 19th century and was the summer quarters for the Ramoche Monastery. Later histories record that both Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Detsen founded temples at Yerpa, and Klu-mes Tshul-khrims did some refurbishing in the 11th century, the ancient Kadampa gompa Yerpa Drubde passed to Gelug control after the reformation of Je Tsongkhapa. After the death of the 4th Dalai Lama, in 1618 the monks of the Gelug monasteries of Sera and those who were not killed took refuge in Taglung, to the northeast. Khöntön Rinpoché, who had tried to persuade the monks of Sera to avoid violence, Yerpa lost its wealth at this time, and was placed under the jurisdiction of Taklung Monastery. There were some 300 monks living at Yerpa from at least the beginning of the 19th century until 1959 and it also acted as summer residence for the Gyuto Lhasa Tantric College. The Drubde monastery, the residence of the Gyutö College, was destroyed in 1959. During the Cultural Revolution the whole complex at Yerpa, including the Drag Yerpa monastery, using voluntary labor and donations some of the cave temples and Drag Yerpa were later partially restored. Police came to Yerpa after the disturbances of October 1987 and pasted notices on the temple doors warning people against taking part in counter-revolutionary activities, in 1998 the government demolished a number of chapels that had been built without authorization
Yerpa
–
Monastery ruins, 1993
Yerpa
–
Yerpa, 1993
Yerpa
–
Entrance to Dawa Puk,
Guru Rinpoche 's cave
Yerpa
–
Self-originated sacred symbol
37.
Tuyuhun Kingdom
–
Tuyuhun was a powerful kingdom established by Eurasian nomads related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley. After the disintegration of the Xianbei state, nomadic groups were led by their khagan, Tuyuhun, after Tuyuhun died in Linxia, Gansu in 317, his sixty sons further expanded the empire by defeating the Western Qin and Xia kingdoms. The Qinghai Xianbei, Tufa Xianbei, Qifu Xianbei and Haolian Xianbei joined them and they moved their capital 6 kilometres west of Qinghai Lake. After the Jin elevated their status by conferring on their ruler the old Xiongnu title of chanyu in 281, they were ruled, from 285 and these Xianbei groups formed the core of the Tuyuhun Empire and numbered about 3.3 million at their peak. The Tuyuhun Empire existed as an independent kingdom outside China and was not included as part of Chinese historiography, in the beginning of the Tang dynasty, the Tuyuhun Empire came to a gradual decline and was increasingly caught in the conflict between China and Tibet. Because the Tuyuhun controlled the trade routes between east and the west, the empire became the immediate target of invasion by the Tang. The Tibetan Empire developed rapidly under the leadership of Songtsen Gampo, soon after he took the throne of the Yarlung Kingdom in Central Tibet in 634, he defeated the Tuyuhun near Qinghai Lake and received an envoy from the Tang. The Tibetan emperor requested marriage to a Chinese princess, but was refused, in 635-6 the Tang emperor defeated the Tibetan army, after this campaign, the Chinese emperor agreed to provide a Chinese princess to Songtsen Gampo. The Tibetan emperor, who claimed that the Tuyuhun objected to his marriage with the Tang, the Tuyuhun troops retreated to Qinghai, whereas the Tibetans went eastward to attack the Tangut people and reached into southern Gansu. The Tang government sent troops to fight, although the Tibetans withdrew in response, the Tuyuhun Empire lost much of its territory in southern Gansu to Tibetans. The Tuyuhun Government was split between the pro-Tang and pro-Tibet fractions, with the latter increasingly becoming stronger and collaborated with Tibet to bring about an invasion, the Tang sent general Xue Rengui to lead 100,000 troops to fight Tibet in Dafeichuan. They were annihilated by the ambush of 200,000 troops led by Dayan, Tibet overtook the entire territory of the Tuyuhun. After the fall of the kingdom, the Tuyuhun people split, led by Murong Nuohebo on the eastern side of the Qilian Mountains they migrated eastward into central China. The rest remained and were ruled by the Tibetan Empire, in 946, a Shatuo, Liu Zhiyuan, conspired to murder the highest Xianbei leader, Bai Chengfu, who was reportedly so wealthy that “his horses had silver mangers”. The Tuyuhun people were experts in horse breeding and also practiced agriculture, List of Bronze Age states List of Classical Age states List of Iron Age states List of medieval great powers Beckwith, Christopher I. Empires of the Silk Road, A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present, the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia, A History of the Struggle for Great Power Among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese During the Early Middle Ages. Emperor Taizongs campaign against Tuyuhun - with the 634 defeat of Tuyuhun troops http, //www. chinaknowledge. de/History/Altera/tuyuhun. html
Tuyuhun Kingdom
–
Asia in 565 CE, showing Tuyuhun and its neighbors.
Tuyuhun Kingdom
–
Rouran Khaganate, Tuyuhun,
Yueban and
Northern Wei
Tuyuhun Kingdom
–
Remnants of Tyuhun in northern
Hebei and northern
Qinghai
38.
Standard Tibetan
–
Standard Tibetan is the most widely spoken form of the Tibetic languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect, for this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Lhasa Tibetan. Tibetan is a language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. The written language is based on Classical Tibetan and is highly conservative, like many languages, Standard Tibetan has a variety of language registers, Phal-skad, the vernacular speech. Zhe-sa, the spoken style, particularly prominent in Lhasa. Chos-skad, the style in which the scriptures and other classical works are written. In scientific and astrological works, the numerals, as in Vedic Sanskrit, are expressed by symbolical words, Tibetan is written with an Indic script, with a historically conservative orthography that reflects Old Tibetan phonology and helps unify the Tibetan-language area. Wylie transliteration is the most common system of romanization used by Western scholars in rendering written Tibetan using the Latin alphabet, Tibetan pinyin, however, is the official romanization system employed by the government of the Peoples Republic of China. Certain names may also retain irregular transcriptions, such as Chomolungma for Mount Everest, the following summarizes the sound system of the dialect of Tibetan spoken in Lhasa, the most influential variety of the spoken language. These sounds normally occur in closed syllables, because Tibetan does not allow geminated consonants, the result is that the first is pronounced as an open syllable but retains the vowel typical of a closed syllable. For instance, zhabs is pronounced and pad is pronounced, but the compound word and this process can result in minimal pairs involving sounds that are otherwise allophones. Sources vary on whether the phone and the phone are distinct or basically identical, phonemic vowel length exists in Lhasa Tibet but in a restricted set of circumstances. Assimilation of Classical Tibetans suffixes, normally ‘i, at the end of a word produces a long vowel in Lhasa Tibetan, in normal spoken pronunciation, a lengthening of the vowel is also frequently substituted for the sounds and when they occur at the end of a syllable. The vowels, and each have nasalized forms, and, respectively, in some unusual cases, the vowels, and may also be nasalised. The Lhasa dialect is described as having two tones, high and low. However, in words, each tone can occur with two distinct contours. It is normally safe to only between the two tones because there are very few minimal pairs that differ only because of contour. The difference occurs only in words ending in the sounds or, for instance
Standard Tibetan
–
Stone tablets with prayers in Tibetan language at a Temple in
McLeod Ganj
Standard Tibetan
–
Pejas, scriptures of
Tibetan Buddhism, at a library in
Dharamsala, India
39.
Koko Nur
–
Qinghai Lake, Kokonor or Tsongon Po is the largest lake in the Peoples Republic of China. Located in Qinghai province on a basin, Qinghai Lake is classified as a saline and alkaline lake. Qinghai Lake has an area of 4,317 square kilometres, an average depth of 21 metres. The current Chinese name Qinghai, the older Mongolian name Kokonor, Qinghai Lake is located about 100 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m above sea level in a hollow of the Tibetan plateau. Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake, most of them seasonal, five permanent streams provide 80% of total influx. The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century, there are five native fish species, The edible naked carp, which is the most abundant in the lake, and four stoneloaches. 14 parts per thousand and pH of 9.3, Qinghai Lake became isolated from the Yellow River about 150,000 years ago. Qinghai Lake is sandwiched between Hainan and Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures in northeastern Qinghai, the lake is located at the crossroads of several bird migration routes across Asia. Many species use Qinghai as a stop during migration. As such, it is a point in global concerns regarding avian influenza, as a major outbreak here could spread the virus across Europe and Asia. Minor outbreaks of H5N1 have already identified at the lake. At the tip of the peninsula on the side of the lake are the Bird Islands. The lake often remains frozen for three months continuously in winter, there is an island in the western part of the lake with a temple and a few hermitages called Mahādeva, the Heart of the Lake which historically was home to a Buddhist monastery. No boat was used during summer, so monks and pilgrims travelled to and it is also known as the place where Gushri Khan and other Khoshut Mongols migrated to during the 1620s. The lake is circumambulated by pilgrims, mainly Tibetan Buddhists, especially every Horse Year of the 12-year cycle, in the Han Dynasty, Qinghai Lake was called the West Sea, and substantial numbers of Han Chinese lived in the Xining valley. In the 17th century, Mongolic-speaking Oirat and Khalkha tribals migrated to Qinghai, in 1724, the Qinghai Mongols led by Lobzang Danjin revolted against Chinas Qing Dynasty. The Yongzheng Emperor, after putting down the rebellion, stripped away Qinghais autonomy, Yongzheng also sent Manchu and Han settlers to dilute the Mongols. During Nationalist rule, Hans formed a majority of Qinghai Provinces residents, during the ritual, the Chinese national anthem was sung, all participants bowed to a Portrait of Kuomintang party founder Dr. Sun Yat-sen, as well as to the God of the Lake
Koko Nur
–
From space (November 1994). North is to the left.
Koko Nur
–
Qinghai Lake, 2006
Koko Nur
–
A bird island
40.
Princess Wencheng
–
Princess Wencheng, surnamed Li, was a member of a minor branch of the royal clan of the Chinese Tang dynasty. In 641, she was granted by Emperor Taizong of Tang to King Songtsän Gampo of Tibet for marriage and she is popularly known in Tibet as Gyasa, or Chinese wife. Much of her life has been mythified and used for propaganda purposes, Traditional Tibetan histories consider both Wencheng and Bhrikuti as physical manifestations of the bodhisattva Tara, although the historical veracity of Bhrikuti is still debated among scholars. Chinese records mention receiving envoys and tributes in 634 from Songtsän Gampo wherein the king requested to marry a Chinese princess and was refused. In 635/636 the Tibetan kings forces attacked and defeated the Tuyuhun, Songtsän Gampo attacked the Chinese frontier city of Songzhou – Chinese sources say a Tang force defeated his army and he retreated and sent an apology to the Tang emperor. Taizong then agreed to marry a Chinese princess to the Tibetan king, Songtsän Gampo and Princess Wencheng married in hopes of promoting harmonious, matrimonial relationships between Tibet and China. Because the stories of her matrimonial journey are evolving and ever increasing and these stories are included in such medieval romances as the Maṇi bka bum and historiographies such as the Rgyal rabs Gsal bai Me long. Additionally and more importantly, Wencheng arrived with new agricultural methods and this included the introduction of seeds of grains and rapeseed, other farming tools and advice on how to increase Tibetan agricultural productivity. Chinese sources credit Wencheng with bringing Chinese culture to Tibet, tradruk Temple in Nêdong is also connected with Wencheng, a thangka embroidered by Wencheng is kept in one of its chapels. Wenchengs legacy and influence lives on, generations of poets continue to write countless verses to praise her doings. Two traditional days, the day of the fourth month. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia, the Power-places of Central Tibet, The Pilgrims Guide. London and New York, Routledge & Kegan Paul, jay, Jennifer W. Li, Princess Wencheng. In Lee, Lily Xiao Hong, Wiles, Sue, biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Tang Through Ming, 618–1644. The Story of Tibet, Conversations with the Dalai Lama, history As Propaganda, Tibetan Exiles versus the Peoples Republic of China, Tibetan Exiles versus the Peoples Republic of China. How Old was Srong Brtsan Sgampo, mun Sheng Kong Co and Kim Sheng Kong Co, Two Chinese Princesses in Tibet. The Chinese Princess Wencheng in Tibet, A Cultural Intermediary between Facts and Myth, in Gálik, M. Štefanovičová, T. Trade, Journeys, Inner- and Intercultural Communication in East and West. A Prolegomenon to the Palladium of Tibet, the Jowo Śākyamuni, proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS,2003
Princess Wencheng
–
Statues of
Songtsen Gampo (centre), Princess Wencheng (right), and
Bhrikuti of
Nepal (left)
Princess Wencheng
–
Wencheng's and Bhrikuti's legacy—
Jokhang in Lhasa—founded to house statues of the Buddha which each bride brought with her
dowry.
Princess Wencheng
–
Statues of Songtsän Gampo with Princesses Wencheng and
Bhrikuti in
Gyantse
41.
Qiang people
–
The Qiang people are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by China. They live mainly in a region in the northwestern part of Sichuan on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. A group called Qiang were mentioned in ancient Chinese texts as well as in inscriptions on oracle bones 3000 years ago, however, this was applied to a variety of groups, they are not the same as the modern Qiang. Nonetheless, it is possible that the modern Qiang might be descended from one of the referred to as Qiang in ancient times. Qiang territory lies between the Han Chinese and historical Tibet, and the Qiang would fall under the domination of both. There was also infighting between different villages and the Qiang constructed watchtowers and houses with stone walls and small windows. Each village may have one or more towers in the past. The modern Qiangs refer to themselves as IPA, or IPA, however, they did not define themselves with the Chinese term Qiang ethnicity until the twentieth century as Qiang is a Han Chinese classification. On 12 May 2008, the Qiang people were affected by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Genetic evidence reveals a predominantly Northern Asian-specific component in Qiangic populations, the Qiang speak the agglutinative Qiangic languages, a subfamily of the Tibeto-Burman languages. However, Qiang dialects are so different that communication between different Qiang groups is often in Han Chinese, until recently, the Qiang lacked a script of their own, and the Qiangs carved marks on wood to remember events or communicate. In the late 1980s a writing system was developed for the Qiang language based on the Qugu variety of a Northern dialect using the Latin alphabet, the Qiangs also use Chinese characters. The often matrilineal Qiang society is primarily monogamous, although polyandry, since most women are older than their husbands and lead agricultural activities, they act as the head of the family as well as the society. Romantic love is considered important, and sexual freedom is prevalent, in the past, marriages were arranged by an individuals parents, with approval from the individual. It is still not unusual for the bride to live in her parents home for a year or so after her marriage, in the past, children were usually separated from their parents after marriage, except for the first son and his family. However, such customs have been discarded since the Chinese Civil War. The Qiang also have strict customs regarding birth and death, prior to the birth of a baby the pregnant woman is not allowed to go near the riverside or a well, attend a wedding ceremony, or stand in the watchtower
Qiang people
–
Qiang
Qiang people
–
Qiang watchtower
Qiang people
–
Qiang Ethnic Minority Folklore Museum in
Beichuan
Qiang people
–
A traditional Qiang house in Baodinggou nature reserve, Maoxian, Sichuan.
42.
Songzhou (historical prefecture in Sichuan)
–
Songpan is a county of northwestern Sichuan province, China, and is one of the 13 counties administered by the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. It has an area of 8,608 square kilometres, China National Highway 213 The economy of Songpan is dominated by agriculture and livestock raising. In recent years, tourism has become an important sector. Additionally, Songpan is popular among students and other Chinese language learners staying in China as the base for treks through the scenic mountains nearby. Apart from the attraction of Huanglong which is located in the county. The ancient city of Songpan was built during Tang Dynasty and it was rebuilt during Ming Dynasty. Songpan was an important military post and it was also an important economic and trading center for horse and tea exchange between Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet. At the time of the Tang Dynasty, it was the border between Tibetan Empire and Chinese Empire, songtsän Gampo king of Tibet tried to military invade China by this gate. Chinese Emperor Emperor Taizong of Tang offered him the Princess Wencheng to calm down the Tibetan king at Songzhou in 641, according to Tibetan and Chinese legends, Princess Wencheng then brings with her among other things the Jowo statue to the Tibetan Empire. In August 1935, led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, while Songpan can be a charming city in its own right, the countryside surrounding the city offers a variety of tourist attractions. The hills surrounding the city are visual delights of Tibetan cattle herders leading their livestock over rolling grasses, endless valleys, all of this can be seen through affordable horseback riding outlets on the outskirts of the city. Songpan covers latitudes 32° 06′−33° 09′ N and longitudes 102° 38′−104° 15′ E, neighbouring counties are Pingwu to the east, Beichuan to the southeast, Mao to the south, Hongyuan and Heishui to the southwest, and Jiuzhaigou and Zoigê to the north. Due to its altitude, Songpan has a continental climate, with cool winters and warm. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −4.0 °C in January to 14.4 °C in July, the high elevation also results in a large diurnal temperature variation, exceeding 17 °C in winter. More than 70% of the 733 mm of precipitation occurs from May to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 31% in September to 57% in December, jiandi Dao 1976 Songpan-Pingwu earthquake Government Website Additional Songpan tourist information Songpan travel information
Songzhou (historical prefecture in Sichuan)
–
The
Huanglong terraces
Songzhou (historical prefecture in Sichuan)
–
Architecture in Songpan
Songzhou (historical prefecture in Sichuan)
–
Street peddlers in Songpan, 2002
Songzhou (historical prefecture in Sichuan)
43.
Tang dynasty
–
The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
Tang dynasty
–
History of China
Tang dynasty
–
Tang dynasty circa 700
Tang dynasty
–
Portrait painting of
Emperor Yang of Sui, commissioned in 643 by
Taizong, painted by
Yan Liben (600–673)
Tang dynasty
–
Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649) receives
Gar Tongtsen Yülsung, ambassador of
Tibet, at his court; painted in 641 AD by
Yan Liben (600–673)
44.
Kingdom of Khotan
–
The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Iranic Saka Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin. The ancient capital was originally sited to the west of modern-day Hotan at Yotkan, from the Han dynasty until at least the Tang dynasty it was known in Chinese as Yutian. This largely Buddhist kingdom existed for over a thousand years until it was conquered by the Muslim Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1006, much of the archaeological evidence of the ancient city of Khotan however had been obliterated due to centuries of treasure hunting by local people. The inhabitants of Khotan used Khotanese, an Eastern Iranian language, and Gandhari Prakrit, from the 3rd century onwards they also had a visible linguistic influence on the Gāndhārī language spoken at the royal court of Khotan. The Khotanese Saka language was recognized as an official court language by the 10th century. The kingdom of Khotan was given names and transcriptions. The ancient Chinese called Khotan Yutian also written as 于窴 and other similar-sounding names such as Yudun, Huodan, sometimes they also used Jusadanna, derived from Indo-Iranian Gostan and Gostana, the names of the town and region around it, respectively. To the Tibetans in the seventh and eight centuries, the kingdom was called Li and the capital city Hu-ten, Hu-den, Hu-then and Yvu-then. The name as written by the locals changed over time, in about the third century AD, the people wrote Khotana in Kharoṣṭhī script. From this came Hvamna and Hvam in their latest texts, where Hvam kṣīra or the land of Khotan was the name given, Khotan became known to the west while the –t- was still unchanged, as is frequent in early New Persian. The local people also used Gaustana under the influence of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, and Yūttina in the ninth century, the geographical position of the oasis was the main factor in its success and wealth. To its north is one of the most arid and desolate desert climates on the earth, the Taklamakan Desert, to the east there were few oasis beyond Niya making travel difficult, and access is only relatively easy from the west. Khotan was irrigated from the Yurung-kàsh and Kara-kàsh rivers, which water the Tarim Basin and these two rivers produce vast quantities of water which made habitation possible in an otherwise arid climate. This therefore increased the productivity of the industry which has made Khotan famous for its cereal crops. Therefore, Khotan’s lifeline was its vicinity to the Kunlun mountain range, the kingdom of Khotan was one of the many small states found in the Tarim Basin that included Yarkand, Loulan, Turfan, Kashgar, Karashahr, and Kucha. To the west were Central Asian kingdoms of Sogdiana and Bactria. It was surrounded by neighbours, such as the Kushan Empire, China, Tibet. From an early period, the Tarim Basin had been inhabited by different groups of Indo-European speakers such as the Tocharians and Saka people
Kingdom of Khotan
–
Portrait of a king of Khotan, Dunhuang Mogao Caves, 10th century
Kingdom of Khotan
–
Map of Tarim Basin in the 3rd century C.E. Khotan kingdom shown in green in the southern region.
Kingdom of Khotan
–
Coin of
Gurgamoya, king of Khotan. Khotan, 1st century CE. Obv:
Kharosthi legend, "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya. Rev: Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin".
British Museum
Kingdom of Khotan
–
Daughter of the King of Khotan married to the ruler of
Dunhuang, Cao Yanlu, shown here wearing elaborate headdress decorated with jade pieces. Mural in
Mogao Cave 61,
Five Dynasties.
45.
Tarim Basin
–
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in northwest China occupying an area of about 1,020,000 km2. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its boundary is the Kunlun Mountains on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Taklamakan Desert dominates much of the basin, the historical Uyghur name for the Tarim Basin is Altishahr, which means six cities in Uyghur. They were governed separately until 1884, north side, The Chinese called this the Tien Shan Nan Lu or Tien Shan South Road, as opposed to the Bei Lu north of the mountains. Along it runs the modern highway and railroad while the middle Tarim River is about 100 km south, Kashgar was where the caravans met before crossing the mountains. Center, Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert which is too dry for permanent habitation, the Yarkand, Kashgar and Aksu Rivers join to form the Tarim River which runs along the north side of the basin. Formerly it continued to Loulan, but some time after 330AD it turned southeast near Korla toward Charkilik, the Tarim ended at the now-dry Lop Nur which occupied a changing position east of Loulan. Eastward is the fabled Jade Gate which the Chinese considered the gateway to the Western Regions, beyond that is Dunhuang with its ancient manuscripts and then Anxi at the west end of the Gansu Corridor. The modern road continues east to Tibet, there is no current road east across the Kumtag Desert to Dunhuang, but caravans somehow made the crossing thru the Yangguan pass south of the Jade Gate. Roads and passes, rivers and caravan routes, The Southern Xinjiang Railway branches from the Lanxin Railway near Turpan, follows the side of the basin to Kashgar. Roads, The main road from eastern China reaches Urumchi and continues as highway 314 along the side to Kashgar. Highway 315 follows the side from Kashgar to Charkilik and continues east to Tibet. There are currently four north-south roads across the desert,218 runs from Charkilik to Korla along the former course of the Tarim forming an oval whose other end is Kashgar. The Tarim Desert Highway, an engineering achievement, crosses the center from Niya to Luntai. The new Highway 217 follows the Khotan River from Khotan to near Aksu, a road follows the Yarkand River from Yarkand to Baqu. East of the Korla-Charkilik road travel continues to be very difficult, Rivers coming south from the Tien Shan join the Tarim, the largest being the Aksu. Rivers flowing north from the Kunlun are usually named for the town or oasis they pass through, Most dry up in the desert, only the Hotan River reaching the Tarim in good years. An exception is the Qiemo River which flowed northeast into Lop Nor, ruins in the desert imply that these rivers were once larger
Tarim Basin
–
NASA landsat photo of the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin
–
Dzungaria
Tarim Basin
–
Fresco from a
stupa shrine,
Miran
46.
Aksu, Xinjiang
–
Aksu, is a city in and the seat of Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, lying at the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. The name Aksu literally means water, and is used for both the oasis town and the river. The economy of Aksu is mostly agricultural, with cotton, in particular long-staple cotton, also produced are grain, fruits, oils, and beets. The industry mostly consists of weaving, cement, and chemical industries, the land currently under the administration of the Aksu City is divided in two parts, separated by the Aral City. The northern part hosts the city center, while the part is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert. The name Aksu comes from the Uyghur word for white water and it is also transliterated Akesu, Ak-su, Akshu, Aqsu. It is also known as Bharuka and Bolujia, Po-lu-chia From the Former Han dynasty at least until the early Tang dynasty, the ancient capital town of Nan was likely well south of the present town. During the Han dynasty, Gumo is described as a kingdom containing 3,500 households and 24,500 individuals and it is said to have produced copper, iron and orpiment. The territory of Gumo was roughly situated in the counties of Baicheng and Wensu, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited this kingdom in 629 CE and referred to it as Baluka. He recorded that there were tens of Sarvastivadin Buddhist monasteries in the kingdom and he said the kingdom was 600 li from east to west, and 300 li from north to south. Its capital was said to be six li in circumference and he also stated that fine cotton and hemp cloth made in the area was traded in neighbouring countries. In the 7th, 8th, and early 9th centuries, control of the region was often contested by the Chinese Tang dynasty, the Tibetan Empire. Tibet seized Aksu in 670, but Tang forces reconquered the region in 692, tibet regained the Tarim Basin in the late 720s, and the Tang dynasty again annexed the region in the 740s. The Battle of Talas led to the withdrawal of Chinese forces. Aksu was positioned on a junction of routes, the northern-Tarim route Silk road. In 1207–08, they submitted to Genghis Khan, around 1220, Aksu became the capital of the Kingdom of Mangalai. The area had been part of the whole Mongol Empire before it was occupied by the independent-minded Chagatai Khanate under the House of Ogedei in 1286 from the hands of Kublais Yuan Dynasty. After the decline of the Yuan Dynasty in the century and subsequently the Chagatai Khanate in the late 14th century, Aksu fell under the power of Turkic
Aksu, Xinjiang
–
Location of Aksu City (pink) in Aksu Prefecture and Xinjiang
47.
Four Garrisons of Anxi
–
The Four Garrisons of Anxi were Chinese military garrisons installed by the Tang Dynasty between 648 and 658. They were stationed at the Indo-European city-states of Kucha, Hotan, Kashgar, Kucha was also the seat of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West. The troops were sent and stationed here from within Tang China proper, based upon the Chinese texts, the Tang campaign against Kucha in 648 established Tang rule over the entire Tarim Basin. According to Zhang Guangdas theory, this is in due to a number of inaccurate Chinese sources linking the expedition to the establishment of the Four Garrisons of Anxi. Instead the headquarters returned to Gaochang until 658, when it was moved back to Kucha following a Tang armys suppression of a local pro-Turk revolt. The Tang only gained a loose suzerainty over the Tarim Basin states in 649, the main challengers to the Chinese for hegemony over the region were the Tibetans, who had been invading the region since 662 and seized it in 670, interrupting Chinese sovereignty in the area. According to Chinese texts, during this period the Chinese re-captured some or all of the garrisons in 675,679,682, however this is disputed by Christopher Beckwith. Nevertheless, Kashgar surrendered to China in 673 and Khotan in 674. Meanwhile, in 679, another fortress was built in Suyab, situated near the Chui River, this would later replace Karashahr as one of the Four Garrisons until 719, when the Turgesh took over it. With the defeat of the Tibetans in 692, and after a seizure of Kucha by the Turgesh for 8 months in 709. In the year 790 the garrisons along with the seat of the Protectorate to Pacify the West fell one by one into Tibetan hands, the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Encyclopedia of China, 1st ed. Wang, Xiaofu, history of the Political Relationship Between the Tang, Tibetans, and Arabs. ISBN 978-7-5004-0432-3, OCLC28622013 Zhang, Guangda
Four Garrisons of Anxi
–
History
48.
Wu Zetien
–
Wu was the only Empress regnant of China in more than four millennia. Wu was the concubine of Emperor Taizong, after his death, she married his successor—his ninth son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozongs huanghou in 655, although having considerable political power prior to this. After Gaozongs debilitating stroke in 660, Wu Zetian became administrator of the court, besides her career as a political leader, Wu Zetian also had an active family life. One of her grandsons became the renowned Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, in Chinese history and literature, Wu Zetian was known by various names and titles. Mention of her in the English language has increased their number. The exact birth name of Wu Zetian is no longer retrievable and she changed her name to Wu Zhao after rising to power, often written as 武曌, with 瞾 being one of the invented characters by Wu. Wu was her surname, which she retained, according to traditional Chinese practice, after marriage to Gaozong. Emperor Taizong gave her the art name Wu Mei, meaning glamorous, during her life, and posthumously, Wu Zetian was awarded various official titles. Both hou and huangdi are titles, born Wu Zhao, she is not properly known as Wu Hou until receiving this title in 655, nor is she properly known as Wu Zetian, her regnal name, until 690, when she took the title, huangdi. Various Chinese titles have been translated into English as empress, including empress in both the sense of empress consort and empress regnant, generally the emperor was male and his chief spouse was given a title such as Huanghou, often translated as empress or more specific empress consort. Since the time of Qin Shi Huang the Emperor of China used the title Huangdi, Wu Zetian was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Huangdi. Wu Zetian is said to be the woman in Chinese history to wear the yellow robe as a monarch. The Wu family clan originated in Wenshui County, Bingzhou, the birthplace of Wu Zetian is not documented in preserved historical literature and remains controversial. Some argue that Wu Zetian was born in Lizhou, while others insist she was born in the imperial capital of Changan. She lived from 17 February 624 –16 December 705, Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang. In the same year, an eclipse of the sun was visible across China. Her father Wu Shihuo was engaged in the business and the family was relatively well off. Her mother was from the powerful Yang family, during the final years of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan stayed in the Wu household many times and became close to the Wu family, whilst holding appointments in both Hedong and Taiyuan
Wu Zetien
–
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetien
–
History of China
Wu Zetien
–
Commemorative stele at
Qianling Mausoleum, where Wu Zetian and her husband Emperor Gaozong were buried
Wu Zetien
–
Maitreya statue from the reign of Wu Zetian
49.
Yangtze
–
The Yangtze River, known in China as the Cháng Jiāng or the Yángzǐ Jiāng, is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country and it drains one-fifth of the land area of the Peoples Republic of China and its river basin is home to one-third of the countrys population. The Yangtze is the sixth-largest river by volume in the world. The Yangtze River plays a role in the history, culture. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the PRCs GDP, for thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world, in recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves, a stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In mid-2014 the Chinese government announced it was building a transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports. Because the source of the Yangtze was not ascertained until modern times, Yangtze was actually the name of Chang Jiang for the lower part from Nanjing to the river mouth at Shanghai. In modern Chinese, Yangtze is still used to refer to the part of Chang Jiang from Nanjing to the river mouth. Yangtze never stands for the whole Chang Jiang, Chang Jiang is the modern Chinese name for the lower 2,884 km of the Yangtze from its confluence with the Min River at Yibin in Sichuan Province to the river mouth at Shanghai. Chang Jiang literally means the Long River, in Old Chinese, this stretch of the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang 江, a character of phono-semantic compound origin, combining the water radical 氵 with the homophone 工. Krong was probably a word in the Austroasiatic language of local peoples such as the Yue, similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, all meaning river, it is related to modern Vietnamese sông and Khmer kôngkea. By the Han Dynasty, Jiang had come to any river in Chinese. The epithet 長, means long, was first formally applied to the river during the Six Dynasties period, various sections of Chang Jiang have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the Chuan Jiang or Sichuan River, in the Hubei Province, the river is also called the Jing Jiang or the Jing River after Jingzhou. In Anhui Province, the takes on the local name Wan Jiang after the shorthand name for Anhui. And Yangzi Jiang t 揚子江s 扬子江, p Yángzǐjiāng) or the Yangzi River, the name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called Yangzi or Yangzijin
Yangtze
–
Dusk on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (
Three Gorges)
Yangtze
–
A map of China depicting the Yellow River's southerly path following its stabilization by the Grand Eunuch
Li Xing 's public works after the
1494 flood.
Yangtze
–
Cruise on the Yangtze River before sunset
Yangtze
–
The glaciers of the Tanggula Mountains, the source of the Yangtze River
Tibet portal
