History of China

Chengde 成德 (formerly Rehe 热河, also known as Jehol) was the summer capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, starting from the early eighteenth cen­tury. It is located in northeastern Hebei 河北, formerly southern Rehe Province, Manchuria. It contained eleven monasteries, eight of...

Khotanese Missions to Han China Khotan, lying to the east of the Qarakhanid stronghold in Kashgar, was a wealthy Buddhist state. Its mines were the main source of jade for all the lands along the Silk Route, especially Han China. Occasionally, its kings had even visited Han...

Introduction A large number of Han Chinese of all ages in China are interested in Buddhism, but as in Tibet, the main problem is the lack of teachers. Many young people are receiving m­onastic ordination, but their quality is low. The majority of college-educated youth...

The Establishment of the Pagmodru Hegemony Dorje-Gyalpo (1110 – 1170), a highly educated monk from Kham, disciple of the Kagyu master Gampopa, arrived in Central Tibet in 1158. He was given the name “Pagmodrupa” (Phag-mo gru-pa), meaning “One from Sow’s Ferry,” since he...

Tibetan Relations with China Tibet and China had first established diplomatic relations in 608 when Emperor Songtsen-gampo’s father, Namri-lontsen (gNam-ri slon-mtshan), had sent the first Tibetan mission to the Chinese court at the time of the Sui Dynasty. Songtsen-gampo, in...

Tangut Thwarting of Qarakhanid Plans for Further Expansion After the fall of Khotan, the Qarakhanids could not press further eastward in their campaign to capture the rest of the southern Tarim. Mahmud of Ghazni attacked from the south and war ensued between the two Turkic...

When al-Salit bin-Abdullah al-Hanafi arrived in Tibet, there were already two religious traditions sponsored by the imperial court, so-called “Bon” and Buddhism. The former was the native faith of Tibet, while the latter had been introduced by Tibet’s first emperor,...

The Establishment of the Jurchen Empire The Jurchen were a Tungusic Manchu people whose homeland was in northern Manchuria and the adjacent region of southeastern Siberia across the Amur River. They were for­est dwellers whom the Khitans conscripted for their ritual hunts....

The remainder of the Umayyad period over the ensuing years of the first half of the eighth century saw a bewildering frequent change of alliances as even more powers entered the fray for control of West Turkistan and the Silk Route. Through a review of the main events, it will...

An overview of the history of the Hui, who are unique among the 56 officially recognized nationalities of China in that religion (Islam) is their only unifying category of identity. They have no common unique national tongue, have had much intermarriage with Han Chinese, and...