History of Qinghai (青海) Province / East Tibet (2) Yuan & Ming Era's
This page was last updated on: July 10, 2017
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Qinghai Province of China
The Chinese Government Document 'Tibet as an inseparable part of China' further states:"In the middle of the Fourteenth century (1300 to 1400 AD), the Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming. In regard to Tibet, the Government of the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD - 1644 AD) basically followed the administrative method of the Yuan Dynasty. According to statistics from the Board of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, about 3000 to 4000 Tibetans came to the capital (Beijing) to pay their tribute each year in the 6Th decade of the 15Th Century. During the 300 year rule of the Ming Dynasty, the Tibetan and Han Peoples lived in harmony, promoting the stable development of the country".
The Chinese Government Document 'Tibet as an inseparable part of China says: "In 1253 AD, Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty (officially 1271 AD - 1368 AD) sent troops to Tibet to end the confusion and unified Tibet. (The fact was a direct betrayal of the Tibetans who had been offered allegiance bytheMongolsagainst the Han in China in 1228 AD. At that time The Rulers of Tibet were inclined to respond positively however their emissary, an important 'Lama', fell ill during the long and difficult journey, passing away at Lanzhou in 1228 AD and the deal fell through.)
From then on Tibet fell under the jurisdiction of the Yuan Dynasty and became a part of China
(Note ChinaReport.com : China was at that Time a Mongol Territory known as the Cathay Khanate. This made China part of Mongolia). In 1260 AD Kublai Khan made the Sagya Leader Basaba the State Tutor (later the Imperial Tutor (in China at the Court in Khanbalik=Beijing) .
Qinghai and Tibet during the Ming Dynasty:
China Report - Map Yuan Dynasty Mongol Empire in Time 1206 AD - 1294 AD
A Schematic Map of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan (TeMuJin) and descendants through its several stages of conquest in its short but Impressive Existance in History. Timeline depicts the Mongol Conquest starting in the Year 1206 AD, when Genghis Khan first united the Mongol-Turkic Tribes of Mongolia and Lake BayKal becoming Great Khan. The Timeline continues through the year 1219 AD, the year 1223 AD taking Transoxiania, 1227 AD, 1237 AD when the Northern Jin Dynasty of China was annihilated, 1259 AD conquering ancient China above the Jiangste River and 1279 AD when all of China was taken and the Yuan Dynasty Established under the Kublai Khan. Last is the Year 1294 AD when the
In 1264 AD, the Buddhist Affairs Administrative Office was founded, and Basaba was made director of the office and put in charge of the work of Buddhism in the country and of the affairs of Tibet. Three Pacification Commissioners Offices were established in Tibet during the Yuan Dynasty, which were the first
official organizational system established by the central government to exercise complete sovereignty over Tibet.
In 1268 AD, Kublai Khan sent officials to Tibet to establish census register and fix taxes (as was done in all other provinces and regions of the continent wide Mongolian Empire). Thirteen Wanhu (an official with an enfeoffment of 10.000 households) were appointed, and Sagya officials were appointed to supervise the collection of taxes. A local administrative management system of combining political power with religion was establishment under the jurisdiction of the Central Government."
Mongol Empire reached its largest geographical size and Zenith, 22% of world land area, but through lack of central leadership and over-expansion fragmented into 4 large parts, then imploded upon itself.
Qinghai and Tibet during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 AD - 1368 AD) :
After first contact between the Han and various Tibetan Peoples had been established, it were the Emperors of the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD) who first attempted and succeeded at the inclusion of Tibet into the Chinese Empire. They were temporarily succesful through an alliance with the new King Of Tibet, who had unified most of the Tibetan Territories. After war flared up several Times and the Tang had been defeated at several occassions, it came to an uneasy alliance through Marriage. And even that was not really enough to pacify the regions. Tibet always remained a restless Tribal Area which frequently revolted openly against the usually fairly nominal Tang Imperial Rule. Although the Tang regained some control over Tibet in the year 851 AD, the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the year 907 AD released Tibet and many other western regions from the grip of the Chinese Empire.
In fact, the Chinese Empire would entirely fragment and seize to exist, split between no less than Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms, plus the rising of the so-called Liao Dynasty in the Northern and Eastern Regions of China. The Liao Dynasty was not even Chinese but founded by the Khitans, a (semi-) nomadic tribe from the Mongolian Regions.
After the year 960 AD, what was left of the Han Chinese Culture and its territories was re-united by Emperor Taizu of Song (Reign 960 AD – 976 AD) who established a Capital at Kaifeng in current day Henan Province, on the lower reaches of the Yellow River and far way from Tibet. This short period of relative stability was soon ended when in 1115 AD, the Jurchen Tribes within the realm of the Liao Dynasty revolted and subsequently carved out their very own state, now known as the Jin Dynasty (1115 AD – 1234 AD).
The Uprising and following conquest by the Jurchens defeated Song Armies and drove the entire Dynasty from its Capital Kaifeng to move to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou in, Zhejiang Province). While the Jin Dynasty in the North and the Song in the South battled it out over ultimate domination in what was and is regarded as the Chinese heartlands, Ningxia and large swaths of Mongolia and what is now known as 'Xinjiang' fell under the Rule of the Tanggut Empire, or Xi Xia, Western Xia. Tibet was self-inclusive on its plateaux above the main routes of the Silk Road.
It was the Rise of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan which once more changed the map of Eastern Asia dramatically. Already during his advance on Jin and Song China, the Mongols were in close contact with the Tibetans.
In the year 1228 AD, after the defeat of Xixia, the Tibetans through misfortune failed to become allies of the Mongols in their advance on the Han Chinese. The Tibetan territories remained outside of this grand strategic game until the Mongols were well in control of large parts of China. Satisfied that they could win ultimate control, the Mongolians then turned their attention to the Tibetans. All tribes in Nations were to be included into the continent wide Mongol Empire, hence Tibet fell victim to Mongol Armies even before the official establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271 AD, when 'China' was made a part of a large Mongolian Empire under the name Cathay Khanate which did not include Tibet.
Where Tibetans inside the Mongol Territories and in Cathay were treated with reasonable respect, the Han were kicked down to the bottom of the social ladder with not many rights to speak off. Ethnic groups lived mainly besides eachother, not together.
Interestingly, through the taking away of what one might dub 'International Borders' during the blooming of the Yuan Dynasty and the Mongol Empire, trade and inter-cultural contacts experienced a boom across the continent. Naturally, trading
connections between Tibetan Regions and the Han heartlands remained strong. Jade's and even more importantly Tibetan Salt remained widely available. Instrumental in all of this were the trading and transportation cartels run by 'guilds' of Shanxi and Mongolian People.
Map Trade Routes in Asia in the 13Th Century.
A Schematic Map of the Eurasian Trade Routes existing in the 13Th Century. Clearly marked in Red Accent on the Map are the cities of the network of land-bound trading routes through Central Asia known as the Silk Road (the path of Marco Polo and others).
