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133-614: In 997 the elders of Amdo found a descendant of the Yarlung dynasty in Gaochang by the name of Qinanling Wenqianbu. They took him to Hezhou where they named him Gusiluo /Juesiluo, otherwise known as Gyelsé, meaning "son of Buddha". In 1008 Gusiluo was enthroned at Kuozhou as Tsenpo . In 1017 Tsongkha was defeated by the Song dynasty commander Cao Wei . In 1025 Gusiluo relocated to Miaochuan . In 1032 Gusiluo relocated to Qingtang . Around

266-409: A Tangut -led imperial dynasty of China that existed from 1038 to 1227. At its peak, the dynasty ruled over modern-day northwestern China, including parts of Ningxia , Gansu , eastern Qinghai , northern Shaanxi , northeastern Xinjiang , and southwest Inner Mongolia , and southernmost Outer Mongolia , measuring about 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 square miles). The capital of Western Xia

399-513: A Tibetan Buddhist priest, Phagspa , visited Mongol leader Kublai Khan and entered his service. From the 14th century to the 16th century, the Ming Dynasty controlled some border areas within today's Xining , Xunhua and Hualong . The Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty seized control of Amdo in the 1720s after wars with Khoshut leader Lobdzan Dandzin. From the mid-18th century, Amdo

532-651: A "minority nationality" within their own country, was set down in the constitution of the PRC. Western Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( Chinese : 西夏 ; pinyin : Xī Xià ; Wade–Giles : Hsi Hsia ), officially the Great Xia ( 大夏 ; Dà Xià ; Ta Hsia ), also known as the Tangut Empire , and known as Mi-nyak to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was

665-719: A 150,000 strong army. By 1036, he had annexed both the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom and the Guiyi Circuit to his west. In the same year, the Tangut script was disseminated for use in the Tangut government and translations of Chinese and Tibetan works began at once. The script's creation is attributed to Yeli Renrong and work on it likely began during the reign of Deming. In 1038, Yuanhao declared himself emperor ( wu zu or Blue Son of Heaven), posthumously Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia , of

798-512: A Circuit judge, convinced Gao to reconcile with Liu. On 21 December, Xia forces breached the dikes along the Yellow River and flooded the camps of the two besieging Song armies, forcing them to retreat. Xia harassment turned the retreat into a rout. By the end of 1081, only Chong E remained in active command. In September 1082, the Xia counterattacked with a 300,000 strong army, laying siege to Yongle,

931-547: A Liao princess, who along with her son, apparently died of heartbreak in 1125 when the Khitan emperor was captured by the Jurchens. In 1138, the penultimate year of his reign, Chongzong took the daughter of Ren Dejing as his empress. Chongzong died at the age of 56 in the summer of 1139. The 16-year-old Renxiao succeeded his father, Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia , as emperor, posthumously Emperor Renzong of Western Xia . His mother

1064-440: A Sogdian governor, An Congjin. An Congjin besieged Xiazhou with 50,000 soldiers, but the Tanguts mounted a successful defensive by rallying the tribes and stripping the countryside of any resources. The Later Tang army was forced to retreat after three months. Despite Later Tang aggression, Yichao made peace with them by sending 50 horses as an offering. Yichao died in 935 and was succeeded by his brother Yixing . Yixing discovered

1197-619: A Tibetan language. People from Amdo and Kham have traditionally identified themselves as Amdowas and Khampas rather than Tibetans, sometimes more connected to the Chinese than they were to Ü-Tsang (Central Tibet). The inhabitants of Amdo are referred to as Amdowa ( Tibetan : ཨ་མདོ་པ། , Wylie : a mdo pa ) as a distinction from the Tibetans of Kham (Khampa, Tibetan : ཁམས་པ། , Wylie : khams pa ) and Ü-Tsang, however, they are all considered ethnically Tibetan. Today, ethnic Tibetans predominate in

1330-581: A Tibetan priest, Phagspa , visited Kublai Khan he became so popular that he was made Kublai's spiritual guide and later appointed by him to the rank of priest king of Tibet and constituted ruler of (1) Tibet Proper, comprising the thirteen states of Ü-Tsang; (2) Kham, and (3) Amdo. He spent his later years at Sakya Monastery in Ü-Tsang, which required that he travel through Amdo regularly. On one of these trips, he encountered armed resistance in Amdo and required escorts from Mongol Princes to travel through Amdo. While

1463-504: A Xia army, killing 8,000. In October, Li Xian took Lanzhou. On 15 October, Liu Changzuo's 50,000-strong army met a Xia force of 30,000 led by the Empress Regent Liang's brother. Liu's commanders advised him to take a defensive position, but he refused, and led a contingent of shield warriors with two ranks of crossbowmen and cavalry behind, with himself leading at the front with two shields. The battle lasted for several hours before

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1596-541: A brief period after 998, Jiqian accepted Song suzerainty, until the fall of 1001 when he began raiding again. Jiqian died on 6 January 1004 from an arrow wound. His son and successor, Deming , proved to be more amicable towards the Song than his predecessor. Deming sent tribute missions to both the Liao dynasty and the Song dynasty. At the same time he expanded Tangut territory to the west. In 1028, he sent his son Yuanhao to conquer

1729-814: A descendant of Tuoba Chici, Tuoba Chaoguang, was put in charge of the loyal Tanguts. The Yeli, Bali, and Bozhou clans continued to side with the Tibetans, however the Tanguts also came under Tibetan predation, and frontier settlements continued switching between Tang and Tibetan control for many years. In 806, the Acting Minister of Works, Du You, admitted that they treated the Tanguts badly: In recent years, corrupt frontier generals have repeatedly harassed and mistreated [the Tanguts]. Some profited from [unfair trading in] their fine horses; some seized their sons and daughters. Some accepted their local products as bribes, and some imposed corvée on them. Having suffered so much hardship,

1862-549: A fortress town west of Mizhi . The Xia sent out cavalry to prevent Song relief attempts. The defending commander, Xu Xi, deployed his troops outside the town gates but refused to attack the enemy troops while they forded the river. Then he refused to let his troops in when the Tangut Iron Hawk cavalry attacked, decimating the defending army. With the capture of Yongle, the Song lost 17,300 troops. In March 1083, Xia forces attacked Lanzhou. The defending commander, Wang Wenyu, led

1995-527: A minority (ca. 8.5%) of the total population there and so the region did not attain TAP status. The vast Haixi (མཚོ་ནུབ།; mtsho nub ) Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, to the west of the Qinghai Lake, also has a minority Tibetan population (ca. 10%), and only those Tibetans in the eastern parts of this Prefecture are Amdo inhabitants. Mongols too have been long-term settlers in Amdo, arriving first during

2128-680: A period alternating between the supremacy of the Dalai Lama (nominally) and Mongol overlords. In 1642, Tibet was reunified under the 5th Dalai Lama , by gaining spiritual and temporal authority through the efforts of the Mongol king, Güshi Khan . This allowed the Gelug school and its incarnated spiritual leaders, the Dalai Lamas, to gain enough support to last through the present day. Gushi Khan also returned portions of Eastern Tiber (Kham) to Tibet, but his base in

2261-420: A plot by Huizong and his concubine, Li Qing, to turn over the Xia's southern territory to the Song was uncovered. Li Qing was executed and Huizong was imprisoned. The emperor's loyalists immediately rallied their forces to oppose Liang rule while Yimai tried to in vain to summon them with the imperial silver paiza . Seeing the infighting breaking out in the Xia, the Song decided to go on the offensive. In 1081,

2394-483: A plot by his brother, Yimin, to overthrow him in 943. Yimin fled to Chinese territory, but was returned to Xiazhou for execution. Over 200 clan members were implicated in the plot, resulting in a purge of the core ranks. Yimin's post was taken by a loyal official, Renyu. Not long afterward, Renyu was killed by the Yemu Qiang , who departed for Chinese territory. In 944 Yixing may have attacked the Liao dynasty on behalf of

2527-610: A shorter seasonal trek as their pasture may be nearby, and they may even migrate between homes each day. As in Amdo and Kham, independent local polities were the traditional governing systems. In Amdo, communities of nomads, farmers, horse traders and monasteries were organized into these polities, which continued from the era of the Tibetan Empire . Varying in size from small to large, some were inherited while others were not, and both women and men were individual leaders of these polities. Tsowas , consisting of groups of families, are

2660-514: A six-unit bodyguard of 5,000 and his elite cavalry force, Iron Cavalry ( tieqi ) of 3,000. It was a fearful concentration of military might overlaying a relatively shallow economic base. In the winter of 1039–1040, Jingzong laid siege to Yanzhou (now Yan'an ) with over 100,000 troops. The prefect of Yanzhou, Fan Yong, gave contradictory orders to his military deputy, Liu Ping, making him move his forces (9,000) in random directions until they were defeated by Xia forces (50,000) at Sanchuan Pass. Liu Ping

2793-493: A small contingent out at night and made a surprise attack on the Xia encampment, forcing them to retreat. The Tanguts made two more attempts to take Lanzhou in April and May but failed on both accounts. Their simultaneous attack on Linzhou also failed. After multiple defeats, the Xia offered peace demands to the Song, which they refused. In January 1084, Xia forces made a last attempt to take Lanzhou. The siege lasted for 10 days before

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2926-653: Is a historical name for the region that originated from the 5th-century Hu Xia dynasty . The name Tangut is derived from a form first found in the Orkhon inscriptions dated to 735, which is transcribed in Chinese as Tangwu or Tangute ( Tangghut ( Tangɣud ) in Mongolian ). Tangut was used a common name for certain tribes in the Amdo -Kokonor- Gansu region until the 19th century. The Tanguts called themselves Minag, transcribed in Chinese as Mianyao or Miyao. The Tanguts originally came from

3059-403: Is the same throughout Tibetan-speaking regions and is based on Classical Tibetan . The formal name of Amdo is Domey ( Tibetan : མདོ་སྨད་ ) in literatures. Historically, Amdo and Kham together were also called Do Kham on maps and manuscripts. The Ch'iang people were early users of iron and stories abound of them in their iron breast-plates with iron swords. From the seventh through

3192-509: The 14th Dalai Lama , the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen , and the great Gelug school reformer Je Tsongkhapa . Amdo consists of all of northeastern Tibet, including the upper reaches of the Machu or Yellow River and Lake Qinghai. Its southern border is the Bayan Har Mountains . The area is wind-swept and tree-less, with much grass. Animals of the region consist of the wild yak and

3325-748: The Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom . Two years later the Guiyi Circuit surrendered to the Tanguts. Yuanhao invaded the Qinghai region as well but was repelled by the newly risen Tibetan kingdom of Tsongkha . In 1032, Yuanhao annexed the Tibetan confederation of Xiliangfu , and soon after his father died, leaving him ruler of the Tangut state. Upon his father's death, Yuanhao adopted the Tangut surname of Weiming (Tangut: Nweimi) for his clan. He levied all able bodied men between 15 and 60 years of age, providing him with

3458-692: The Hui Muslim warlords of the Ma Family , which supported the Republic of China (ROC), began occupying parts of Amdo, which was gradually incorporated into ROC provinces. Since 1949, Chinese Communist Party forces have been able to defeat both Tibetan and the Nationalist Government forces, solidifying their hold on the area roughly by 1958. Amdo is the home of many important Tibetan Buddhism spiritual leaders, lamas , monks, nuns, and scholars, including

3591-656: The Kanlho (ཀན་ལྷོ།; Gannan) TAP of the southwest Gansu province, and sections of the Rngaba (རྔ་བ།; Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous prefecture of north-west Sichuan province. Additionally, a great many Amdo Tibetans live within the Haidong (མཚོ་ཤར།; Wylie : mtsho shar ) Prefecture of Qinghai which is located to the east of the Qinghai Lake (མཚོ་སྔོན།, Wylie: mtsho sngon ) and around Xining (ཟི་ལིང།; zi ling ) city, but they constitute only

3724-661: The Kirti Gompas of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Taktsang Lhamo in Dzoge County. From 1958 to 1962, the political climate in Amdo was considered unbearable. In 1958, the arrest and murder of the Tseten Monastery's Khenpo Jigme Rigpai Nyingpo while incarcerated in Xining 's Nantan prison marked the beginning of the period. Amdo Tibetans' traditional lifestyle and economy are centered on agriculture. Depending on

3857-525: The Later Han to appease local commanders, including Yixing. In 960 Dingnan came under attack by Northern Han and successfully repelled invading forces. In 962 Yixing offered horses as tribute to the Song dynasty. Yixing died in 967 and was succeeded by his son, Kerui. Kerui died in 978 and was succeeded by Jiyun. Jiyun ruled for only a year before dying in 980. His son was still an infant, so Jiyun's brother, Jipeng, assumed leadership. Jipeng did not go through

3990-583: The Later Jin . The sources are not clear on the event. In 948 Yixing requested permission to cross the border and attack the Yemu Qiang but was refused. Instead Yixing attacked a neighboring circuit under encouragement from the rebel Li Shouzhen , but retreated upon encountering an imperial force. In 952 the Yeji people north of Qingzhou rebelled, causing the Tanguts significant difficulty. Honorary titles were given out by

4123-462: The Liao dynasty . At the same time, the Tanguts were also involved in a war with the Zubu to their north. In 1103, the Song annexed Tsongkha and spent the following year weeding out native resistance. The expansion of Song territory threatened the Xia's southern border, resulting in Tangut incursions in 1104 and 1105. Eventually the Xia launched an all out attack on Lanzhou and Qingtang . However, after

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4256-648: The Ngaba area of the former Amdo into Sichuan. This boundary also roughly corresponds with the modern boundary of Qinghai with Sichuan. A new boundary, following the Ning-ching mountain range, was established between Sichuan and Tibet. East of these mountains, local chieftains ruled under the nominal authority of the Sichuan provincial government; Lhasa administered the area to the west. The 1720s thus saw Tibet's first major reduction in area in centuries. The Gansu region bordering Tibet

4389-561: The Ordos region in northern Shaanxi. In the 760s, the military commander, Ashina Sijian, harassed six Tangut tribes and took their camels and horses. The Tanguts fled west across the Yellow River and started working for the Tibetans as guides on raiding expeditions. In 764, the Tanguts joined the Tibetans and Uyghurs in supporting the Tang rebel Pugu Huaien . After the Tang reasserted their authority,

4522-656: The Qinghai - Sichuan - Tibet region, whose home originally was in the highlands of western Sichuan. According to Chinese records, which called them the Dangxiang, the Tanguts were descended from the Western Qiang people, and occupied the steppes around Qinghai Lake and the mountains to its south. In 608, the Tanguts helped the Sui dynasty defeat the Tuyuhun , however they were betrayed by

4655-608: The Sumpa , then with the Tuyuhun . Around 1032, the Tangut people , possibly of Qiang descent, formed the Western Xia , which lasted into the 13th century. The Mongols had conquered eastern Amdo by 1240 and would manage it under the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs , separately from the other territories administered by the Yuan dynasty. A patron and priest relationship began in 1253 when

4788-451: The Tanguts and began interfering with trade caravans entering the Song dynasty . In 1070 the monks Jiewuchila and Kangzunxinluojie attempted to enthrone Mucheng's younger brother Donggu at Wushengjun but failed. In 1072 the Song dynasty commander Wang Shao attacked Mucheng and gained control of Wushengjun (Xizhou) and Hezhou, though Mucheng escaped. The Song general Jing Sili was killed by

4921-552: The Tibetans and migrated eastward, to what are now parts of Shanxi and Shaanxi . In 584-5 Tuoba Ningzong led the first group of Tanguts to submit to the Sui. In 628-629 another group under the leadership of Xifeng Bulai surrendered to the Tang. After the Tuyuhun were defeated in 635, the Tanguts under Tuoba Chici also surrendered. The 340,000 Tanguts were divided into 32 jimi prefectures under

5054-502: The Vinaya , he was set to travel to Central Tibet, but for a drought. Instead he chose to travel in solitude to Amdo. Locals had heard of him and his solitude was not to be as he was sought after. In time he established a line of refugee monks in Amdo and with the wealth that he acquired he built temples and stupas also. The area was ruled by a Tibetan theocracy called Tsongkha from 997 to 1104. The historical Qiang came into contact with

5187-494: The kiang . Domesticated animals of the region consist of the domestic yak and dzo , goats, sheep, and the Mongolian horse . Amdo has been described in epic stories and history as a land where splendid horses are raised and run wild. In historical times, the people of the region were typically non-Tibetan, such as the Mongols or the Hor people , although the latter were able to speak

5320-416: The 10 virtues of the land. Two of the virtues are in the grass, one for meadows near home, one for distant pastures. Two virtues in soil, one to build houses and one for good fields. Two virtues are in the water, one for drinking and one for irrigation. There are two in the stone, one for building and one for milling. The timber has two virtues, one for building and one for firewood. The original inhabitants of

5453-541: The 1720s. The boundaries of Xining Prefecture, which contains most of Amdo, with Sichuan and Tibet-proper was established following this. The boundary of Xining Prefecture and Xizang , or Central Tibet, was the Dangla Mountains . This roughly corresponds with the modern boundary of Qinghai with the Tibet Autonomous Region . The boundary of Xining Prefecture with Sichuan was also set at this time, dividing

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5586-475: The 1950s. Tibetan region of Lho-Jang and Gyarong in Kham, and Ngapa (Chinese Aba) and Golok in Amdo, were still independent of Chinese hegemony, despite the creation on paper of Qinghai Province in 1927. The 14th Dalai Lama was born in the Amdo region, in 1935, and when he was announced as a possible candidate, Ma Bufang tried to prevent the boy from travelling to Tibet. He demanded a ransom of 300,000 dollars, which

5719-479: The Advance and Fortify campaign of 1097–1099, Xia forces were no longer able to defeat Song positions. Failing to take major cities, the Tangut forces went on a rampage, killing tens of thousands of local civilians. The next year, Chongzong made peace with the Song, but was unable to clearly demarcate their borders, leading to another war in 1113. In 1113, the Xia started building fortifications in disputed territory with

5852-427: The Amdo region were the forest-dwellers ( nags-pa ), the mountain-dwellers ( ri-pa ), the plains-dwellers ( thang-pa ), the grass-men ( rtsa-mi ), and the woodsmen ( shing-mi ). The grass men were famous for their horses. Gewasel is a monk that helped resurrect Tibetan Buddhism. He was taught as a child and showed amazing enthusiasm for the religion. When he was ordained he went in search of teachings. After obtaining

5985-640: The Chinese Communist Party to impose rapid collectivization on the pastoral communities of the grasslands. Rebellion also stirred the region at the beginning of the 1950s as “Liberation” first settled on the northeastern Tibetan plateau. The immediate ramifications of each disturbance both for the Amdo Tibetan elites and commoners, and for the Han cadres in their midst, elucidates early PRC nation-building and state-building struggles in minority nationality areas and

6118-417: The Dalai Lama ruling Central Tibet. Eastern Tibet, including Amdo and Kham , were ruled by local and regional warlords and chiefs. The Hui Muslims administered the agricultural areas in the north and east of the region. Amdo saw numerous powerful leaders including both secular and non. The monasteries, such as Labrang , Rebkong , and Taktsang Lhamo supervised the choosing of the local leaders or headmen in

6251-641: The Drotsang Sargön; the monastery at Detsa Nangso was called the Detsa Gompa. Earlier in 1376, a Horse and Tea Trading Station was in Co né. After the People's Republic of China 's (PRC) was founded, communist administrators overlaid a series of larger Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures (TAP) on top of the existing county system, but only where Tibetans formed the majority of the population. This policy towards Tibetans, considered

6384-498: The Great Xia with his capital at Xingqing in modern Yinchuan. Jingzong expanded the bureaucratic apparatus mirroring Chinese institutional practices. A Secretariat (Zhongshu sheng), Bureau of Military Affairs (Shumi yuan), Finance Office (San si), Censorate (Yushi tai), and 16 bureaus (shiliu si) under the supervision of a chancellor (shangshu ling) were created. Jingzong enacted a head shaving decree that ordered all his countrymen to shave

6517-458: The Jurchens and declared himself a vassal of Jin in 1124. Domestically the reign of Chongzong saw a formal consolidation of the relationship between the imperial court and the great clans, whose positions were assured in legal documents. After his mother's death in 1099, Chongzong stripped the Rende clan of its military power. Rende Baozhuang was demoted. Chongzong's brother, Chage, was given command of

6650-733: The Kokonor region of Amdo remained under Mongol control. In 1705, with the approval of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty , Lha-bzang Khan of the Khoshud deposed the regent and killed the 6th Dalai Lama . The Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet during the chaos, and held the entire region until their final defeat by an expedition of the Qing imperial army in 1720 . When the Manchu Qing dynasty rose to power in

6783-486: The Mongols before native Chinese overthrew the Yuan dynasty in 1368, although it avoided directly resisting the Yuan court until the latter's fall. By 1343, Mongol authority in Amdo had weakened considerably: Köden’s fiefdom had been leaderless for some time, and the Tibetans were harassing the Mongols near Liangzhou (byang ngos). In 1347, a general rebellion erupted in some two hundred places in eastern Tibet, and though troops were sent to suppress them, by 1355 eastern Tibet

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6916-433: The Nationalists. By 1952, the major towns in the region were fully under the control of People's Republic of China , though many of the rural areas continued to enjoy de facto autonomy for several more years. Tibetan guerrilla forces in Amdo emerged in 1956 and continued until the 1970s fighting the People's Liberation Army. In 1958, Chinese communists assumed official control of Tibetan regions in Kham and Amdo. Many of

7049-406: The Song army constructed 40 fortifications across the Ordos plateau . In 1098, the Empress Regent Liang sent a 100,000 strong army to recapture Pingxia. The Tangut army was completely defeated in their attempt to dislodge the Song from their high ground position, and their generals Weiming Amai and Meiledubu were both captured. Empress Dowager Liang died in 1099, apparently poisoned by assassins from

7182-454: The Song attacked his camp and captured his mother and wife, but he narrowly escaped. He rebounded from this defeat by capturing Yinzhou the next year. Along with Yinzhou, Jiqian captured large amounts of supply, allowing him to increase his following. In 986, Jiqian submitted to the Khitans and in 989, Jiqian married into Khitan nobility. Jiqian also made symbolic obeisance to the Song, but the Song remained unconvinced of his intentions. Jipeng

7315-508: The Song dynasty in 1070–1071 over Suizhou . In 1072 Huizong's sister was married to Linbuzhi (Rinpoche), the son of the Tsongkha ruler, Dongzhan. These events occurred under the regency of the Empress Dowager Liang and her brother, Liang Yimai. Huizong was married to one of Yimai's daughters to ensure the continued control of the Liang over the imperial Weiming clan. In 1080 Huizong rebelled against his mother's dominance by discarding with Tangut ritual in favor of Chinese ceremonies. A year later

7448-453: The Song dynasty launched a five-pronged attack on the Xia. After initial victories, Song forces failed to take the capital of Xia, Xingqing , and remained on the defensive for the next three years. Xia counterattacks also experienced initial success before failing to take Lanzhou multiple times. In 1085, the war ended with the death of Emperor Shenzong of Song . In the summer of 1081, the five Song armies invaded Western Xia. Chong E defeated

7581-429: The Song tried to directly administrate the area, but Tibetan resistance forced the reinstatement of Longza as hereditary administrator and Mucheng's son, Bangbiwudingwa as military commissioner with responsibility over the Tibetan tribes. Longza returned to power in 1101, but was immediately driven off by his brother, Xisheluosa. In 1103, the Song dispatched Wang Hou to conquer Tsongkha. Wang led 20,000 troops to capture

7714-405: The Song's dire predicaments by increasing annual tribute payments by 100,000 units of silk and silver (each). The Song appealed to the Liao for help, and as a result, Emperor Xingzong of Liao invaded Western Xia with a force of 100,000 in 1044. Liao forces enjoyed an initial victory but failed to take the Xia capital and were brutally mauled by Jingzong's defenders. According to Song spies, there

7847-413: The Song, and took the Qingtang region. Incensed at this provocation, Emperor Huizong of Song dispatched Tong Guan to evict the Tanguts. In 1115, 150,000 troops under the command of Liu Fa penetrated deep into Xia territory and slaughtered the Tangut garrison at Gugulong. Meanwhile, Wang Hou and Liu Chongwu attacked the newly built Tangut fortress of Zangdihe. The siege ended in failure and the death of half

7980-411: The Sui forces, who took the chance to loot the Tanguts. In 635, they were requested to serve as guides for Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tuyuhun , but the Tang forces double crossed them in a surprise attack and seized thousands of livestock. In retaliation, the Tanguts attacked the Tang and killed thousands of their soldiers. By the 650s, the Tanguts had left their homeland to escape pressure from

8113-415: The Tangut army ran out of supplies and was forced to retreat. The war ended in 1085 with the death of Emperor Shenzong in April. In exchange for 100 Chinese prisoners, the Song returned four of the six captured towns. Hostilities between the Song and Xia would flare up again five years later, and conflict would continue sporadically until the Song lost Kaifeng in the Jingkang incident of 1127. Huizong

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8246-402: The Tangut army, which he led to many victories against the Song. A state school was established with 300 students supported by government stipends. A "civilian" faction arose under the leadership of the imperial Prince Weiming Renzhong, who often denounced Chage for corruption and abuse of power. Chongzong shuffled appointments to play the two factions against each other. In 1105, Chongzong married

8379-524: The Tangut army. Yizong regrouped at Qingtang and launched another attack on Qingzhou in December but withdrew after threats by Emperor Yingzong of Song to escalate the conflict. The next year, the Song commander Chong E attacked and captured Suizhou . Yizong died in January 1068, presumably from his wounds, at the age of 20. The seven-year-old Bingchang, posthumously Emperor Huizong of Western Xia , succeeded his father, Emperor Yizong of Western Xia . Huizong's reign began with an inconclusive war with

8512-408: The Tanguts as /mjɨ-njaa/ , and to the Tibetans as Minyak. Another name the Tanguts used for their state was /khjɨ-dwuu-lhjij/ ( 萬祕國 ), which means the "State of Ten Thousand Secrets". "Western Xia" or "Xi Xia" is the state's Chinese name. "Western" refers to its location to the west of the Liao (916–1125) and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties, as well as the Song. "Xia" (pointing to the Xia dynasty )

8645-414: The Tanguts rebelled and fled. They either sent envoys to contact the Uighurs or cooperated with the Tibetans to raid our borders. These are the consequences of [Tang frontier generals’ wrong] deeds. We must discipline them. In 814 the Tang appointed a Commissioner for Pacifying the Tanguts to Youzhou (modern Otog Banner ), however this did not resolve the Tangut problem. In 820 the Tanguts were subjected to

8778-523: The Tibetan border settlements, forcing Xisheluosa to retreat to Tsongkha (Zongge). Wang's forces were increased by another 10,000 reinforcements. They defeated a Tibetan army, taking 4,316 heads and over 3,000 prisoners. A princess of Tsongkha led her followers to surrender. Qingtang turned on Xisheluosa, who fled further west into Qinghai . The Song armies occupied the region again and renamed Qingtang to Xining . Xiazheng found refuge in Song territory and died in 1102. In 1108, Longza, renamed Zhao Huaide,

8911-401: The Tibetan warrior Guizhang. During the taking of Hezhou, 7,000 Tibetans were killed and 12,000 were taken prisoner. More than 20,000 tent dwellings were destroyed. In 1074 Dongzhan and Mucheng submitted to Song governance. After the failed Song invasion of Western Xia ended in 1085, the Song lost all influence in Tsongkha. Mucheng had been succeeded by Guizhang. In 1086, Dongzhan died and

9044-563: The Tibetans, then commenced to tax the town heavily for 8 years. In 1925, a Tibetan rebellion broke out, with thousands of Tibetans driving out the Muslims. Ma Qi responded with 3,000 Chinese Muslim troops, who retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetan monks as they tried to flee. Ma Qi besieged Labrang numerous times, the Tibetans and Mongols fought against his Muslim forces for control of Labrang, until Ma Qi gave it up in 1927. His forces were praised by foreigners who traveled through Qinghai for their fighting abilities. However, that

9177-402: The Uyghurs after the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate because they both wanted to monopolize the horse trade which passed through Lingzhou. In 873, the senior Tangut leader at Xiazhou, Tuoba Sigong , occupied Youzhou and declared himself prefect. When Chang'an fell to Huang Chao in 880, Sigong led a Chinese-Tangut army to assist Tang forces in driving out the rebels. For his service, he

9310-750: The Xia capital instead, to which Gao also refused, and instead took it as a slight that he could not take Lingzhou. Gao relayed his version of events to the Song court, then had Liu removed from command, merging the two forces. By November, the Xia had abandoned the middle of the Ordos plateau , losing Xiazhou . On 20 November, Wang Zhongzheng took Youzhou and slaughtered its inhabitants. At this point Wang became concerned that he would run out of supplies and quarreled with Chong E over provisions. He also forbade his troops from cooking their meals because he feared it would alert Xia raiders of their position. His troops became ill from their uncooked food, started to starve, and came under attack by enemy cavalry anyway. Wang

9443-402: The Xia envoy. The Liang clan was reportedly of Han Chinese ancestry, albeit assimilated into Tangut culture, but their faction would later lead the opposition to the pro-Chinese policy. The Han Chinese empresses of the Liang clan, Paul Forage notes, were more aggressive in their stance against the Song dynasty than the emperors they were representing. In 1064, Yizong raided the Song dynasty. In

9576-433: The Xia forces retreated, suffering 2,700 casualties. Afterwards, Liu captured a large supply of millet at the town of Mingsha, and headed towards Lingzhou . Liu's vanguard attacked the town's gate before the defenders had a chance to close it, dealing several hundred casualties, and seizing more than 1,000 cattle before retreating. Liu wanted Gao Zunyu to help him take Lingzhou, but Gao refused. Then Liu suggested they take

9709-404: The Xia once and for all. He gave orders for Liu Fa to lead 200,000 into the heart of the Xia empire, aiming straight at the capital region. It quickly became apparent that this was a suicide mission. The Song army was met outside the city by an even larger Tangut army led by the Xia prince, Chage. The Tangut army surrounded the Song forces, killing half of them, with the remaining falling back during

9842-464: The Xifan and Huige to the west, and (5) 50,000 in the eastern skirtlands of Helan Mountains, 50,000 at Ling, and 70,000 spread between Xing prefecture and Xingqing fu, or superior prefecture. Altogether Yuanhao had as many as 370,000 men under arms. These were mounted forces, which had been stretched thin by hard warfare and probably excessive use of non-warrior horsemen impressed to fill the army. He maintained

9975-603: The area around the Hexi Corridor , a stretch of the Silk Road , the most important trade route between northern China and Central Asia . They made significant achievements in literature, art, music, and architecture, which was characterized as "shining and sparkling". Their extensive stance among the other empires of the Liao , Song , and Jin was attributable to their effective military organizations that integrated cavalry, chariots, archery, shields, artillery (cannons carried on

10108-575: The areas under their control. These tribes consisted of several thousand nomads. Meanwhile, Sokwo , Ngawa , and Liulin , had secular leaders appointed, with some becoming kings and even creating familial dynasties. This secular form of government went as far as Machu. The Muslim warlord Ma Qi waged war in the name of the Republic of China against the Labrang monastery and Goloks. After ethnic rioting between Muslims and Tibetans emerged in 1918, Ma Qi defeated

10241-473: The back of camels), and amphibious troops for combat on land and water. The full title of the Western Xia as named by their own state is L1572 L1890 L2937 L4456 reconstructed as /*phiow¹-bjij²-lhjij-lhjij²/ , which word by word denotes 'white', 'high', 'kingdom', 'great', or 𗴂𗹭𘜶𗴲𗂧 , 'white', 'high', 'great', 'summer', 'kingdom'. The corresponding Chinese name, 白高大夏國 ("White High Great Xia State"),

10374-459: The basic socio-cum-political organization. The Golok peoples, Gomé and Lutsang peoples arranged themselves in tsowas . A larger organisation is the sgar , translated as 'encampment', while larger still is the nangso , translated as 'commissioner'. There were also kingdoms, such as Kingdom of Co ne (Choné). In 1624, for example, the Drotsang Nangso sponsored a monastery which was called

10507-759: The capital, and remained unable to seize any territory. In 1042, Jingzong advanced south and surrounded the fort of Dingchuan. The defending commander Ge Huaimin lost his nerve and decided to run, abandoning his troops to be slaughtered. Again, Jingzong failed to gain significant territory. Half his soldiers had died from attrition and after two years, Xia could no longer support his military endeavors. Tangut forces began suffering small defeats, being turned back by Song forces at Weizhou and Linzhou . By 1043, there were several hundred thousand trained local archer and crossbow militiamen in Shaanxi, and their archery skills were now generally effective. Crucial to defense (or offense)

10640-439: The concept of Tibet's Three Regions can be dated back to Tibetan Empire , Dunhuang manuscripts referring to the eastern parts of its territory as mdo-gams ( Tibetan : མདོ་གམས ) and mdo-smad ( Tibetan : མདོ་སྨད ), Yuan confirmed the division, and Do Kham as two well defined commanderies, along with Ü-Tsang , were collectively referred to as the three commanderies of Tibet since then. Tibet regained its independence from

10773-580: The control of Tangut chieftains appointed as prefects. Another wave of Tanguts entered Tang territory in 692, adding as many as 200,000 persons to the population in Lingzhou and Xiazhou . In 721–722, Tuoba Sitai, a descendant of Tuoba Chici, aided the Tang in putting down a Sogdian -led revolt in Shuofang . By the time of the An Lushan Rebellion in the 750s, the Tanguts had become the primary local power in

10906-400: The deaths of Renzhong and Chage in 1156, Ren Dejing rose through the ranks and became very powerful. In 1160 he obtained the noble title of Chu, the first Chinese to do so in the Tangut state. Ren tried to have the schools shut down and called them useless Chinese institutions wasting resources on parasitic scholars. It is unknown how the emperor responded but the schools were not closed. In 1161

11039-699: The early 18th century it established Xining, a town to the north of Amdo, as the administrative base for the area. Amdo was placed within the Qinghai Region. During this period they were ruled by the Amban , who allowed near total autonomy by the monasteries and the other local leaders. The 18th century saw the Qing Empire continue to expand further and further into Tibet as it engulfed Eastern Tibet including Amdo and even assumed control over Central Tibet . The Yongzheng Emperor seized full control of Qinghai (Amdo) in

11172-480: The emperor a male child in 1047, named Liangzuo, who was raised by his uncle, Mocang Epang. The disinherited heir apparent stabbed Jingzong in the nose and fled to Mocang Epang's residence where he was arrested and executed. Jingzong died the next day on 19 January 1048 at the age of 44. After Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia died in 1048, a council of elders selected his cousin as the new ruler. Mocang Epang objected on grounds of primogeniture and put forth his nephew,

11305-702: The emperor opened a Hanlin Academy to compile the Xia historical records. In 1161-2 the Tanguts briefly occupied territory of both the Jurchen Jin dynasty and Song dynasty during the Jin–Song Wars . From 1165 to 1170, Ren Dejing tried to establish his own semi-autonomous realm, and in the process meddled in the affairs of the Zhuanglang tribes, who lived in the border region of the Tao River valley. He also tried to enlist

11438-463: The establishment of schools throughout the country and a secondary school opened for imperial scions aged seven to fifteen. A Superior School of Chinese Learning was opened the following year and Confucian temples were built throughout the land. In 1147 imperial examinations were instituted, although Tangut records do discuss using them for selection of officials. The Tangut law code only discusses inheritance of office and rank. In 1148 an Inner Academy

11571-452: The fall of 1066, he mounted two more raids and in September, an attack on Qingzhou was launched. The Tangut forces destroyed several fortified settlements. Song forces were surrounded for three days before cavalry reinforcements arrived. Yizong was wounded by a crossbow and forced to retreat. Tangut forces attempted another raid later on but failed, and a night attack by Song forces scattered

11704-451: The hands of his own troops. The other group, led by Yelü Dashi , joined Emperor Tianzuo of Liao at the Xia border. In the early summer of 1123, Dashi was captured by the Jin and forced to lead them to Tianzuo's camp, where the entire imperial family except for Tianzuo and one son were captured. Tianzuo sought refuge with Chongzong, who while initially receptive, changed his mind after warnings from

11837-511: The help of the Jurchens , but they refused his overtures. Ren started construction of fortifications along the Jin border. In 1170 Ren pressured Renzong to grant him the eastern half of the realm as well as for Emperor Shizong of Jin to grant him investiture. In the summer of that year, Renzong's men secretly rounded up Ren Dejing and his adherents, executing them. Wo Daochong succeeded Ren Dejing as chief minister. A Confucian scholar, he translated

11970-403: The historical independent polities of hereditary rulers and kingdoms remained, while Mongol and Chinese populations fluctuated among the indigenous peoples and Tibetans. During this time period, Buddhist monks from Central Tibet exiled to the Amdo region. There is a historical account of an official from the 9th century sent to collect taxes to Amdo. Instead, he acquires a fief. He then tells of

12103-596: The influence of this crucial transitional period on relations between Han and Tibetan in Amdo decades later. As a prelude to the Beijing Olympics , protests broke out in 2008 in Amdo, among other places. Some were violent; however the majority were peaceful. Amdo was traditionally a place of great learning and scholarship and contains many great monasteries including Kumbum Monastery near Xining , Rongwo Monastery in Rebgong , Labrang Monastery south of Lanzhou , and

12236-413: The invasion force. Wang bribed Tong to keep the number of casualties a secret from the emperor. The next year, Liu Fa and Liu Chongwu took a walled Tangut city called Rendequan. Another 100,000 troops were sent against Zangdihe and succeeded in taking the fortress. The Xia made a successful counterattack in the winter of 1116–1117. Despite piling casualties on the Song side, Tong was adamant about eradicating

12369-610: The largest population density, with the result that the Han Chinese outnumber other ethnicities in Qinghai province generally. The majority of Amdo Tibetans live in the larger part of Qinghai province, including the Mtshobyang (མཚོ་བྱང་།; Haibei in Chinese) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Mtsholho (མཚོ་ལྷོ་།; Hainan) TAP, Rmalho (རྨ་ལྷོ་།; Huangnan) TAP, and Mgolog (མགོ་ལོག།; Guoluo) TAP, as well as in

12502-676: The ministers, unsuccessfully. In 821, a treaty established the borders between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty , while three stele were built – one at the border, one in Lhasa, and one in Chang'an . The Tibetan army settled within the eastern frontier. After 838 when Tibet's King Lang darma killed his brother, the Tibetan Empire broke into independent principalities, while Do Kham (Amdo and Kham) maintained culturally and religiously Tibetan. Within Amdo,

12635-552: The night. The Tanguts pursued the Song and defeated them again the next day. Liu was beheaded. A ceasefire was called in 1119 and Huizong issued an apology to Xia. In 1122, the Jürchen Jin dynasty took the Southern Capital of the Liao dynasty , and the remaining Khitans fled in two groups to the west. One group led by Xiao Gan fled to Xia where they set up a short lived Xi dynasty that lasted only five months before Gan died at

12768-539: The ninth century, the Tibetan Empire extended as far north as the Turfan , south into India and Nepal , east to Chang'an , and west to Samarkhand . During this period, control of Amdo moved from Songtsen Gampo and his successors to the royal family's ministers, the Gar ( Wylie : ' gar ). These ministers had their positions inherited from their parents, similar to the emperor. King Tüsong tried to wrest control of this area from

12901-553: The nomads of Amdo revolted. Some areas were reported virtually empty of men: They either had been killed or imprisoned or had fled. The largest monastery in Amdo was forced to close. Of its three thousand monks, two thousand were arrested. In July 1958 as the revolutionary fervor of the Great Leap Forward swept across the People's Republic of China, Zeku County in the Amdo region of cultural Tibet erupted in violence against efforts by

13034-517: The region and environment Amdo Tibetans live in, they are either nomads (Drog pa) or farmers (Sheng pa). The economy of Amdo of has been constant throughout history and has changed little in the modern time. A typical family has two homes or bases: one for when they move up into the mountains with their animals in the summer for better grazing, and another down in the valleys where they weather harsh winters and grow fodder for their livestock in small agricultural fields. The families of some villages may make

13167-490: The rest of Amdo was gradually assimilated into the Kuomintang Chinese provincial system, with the major portion of it becoming nominally part of Qinghai province and a smaller portion becoming part of Gansu province. Due to the lack of a Chinese administrative presence in the region, however, most of the communities of the rural areas of Amdo and Kham remained under their own local, Tibetan lay and monastic leaders into

13300-528: The same time his eldest son Xiazhan established himself in Hezhou and his second son Mozhanjiao in Tsongkha. In 1054 assisted the Song army in resolving a dispute among Tibetan tribes. In 1058 a Khitan princess married Gusiluo's son Dongzhan. Dongzhan killed Xiazhan and Mozhanjiao. In 1065 Gusiluo died and was succeeded by his son Dongzhan. Mucheng, son of Xiazhan, declared independence in Hezhou. Mucheng sided with

13433-589: The son of Jingzong and Lady Mocang, as candidate. No dissent was forthcoming, so the two-year-old Liangzuo became emperor, posthumously known as Emperor Yizong of Western Xia . In 1056 the empress dowager died. In 1061 Yizong eliminated Mocang Epang and married Lady Liang, formerly the wife of Epang's son. Yizong appointed Lady Liang's brother, Liang Yimai, as palace minister. This would start two generations of Liang dominance in Xia. During Yizong's reign, he attempted to enact more Chinese forms of governance by replacing Tangut rites with Chinese court ritual and dress, which

13566-453: The son of the Yeli empress, whose uncle Yeli Wangrong was concerned about the development. Ninglingge was thus arranged to marry the daughter of Wangrong, who planned to kill the emperor on the eve of the wedding. The plot leaked and Wangrong as well as four other Yeli conspirators were executed. The Yeli empress was demoted and Lady Moyi was installed in her place. Another concubine, Lady Mocang, bore

13699-508: The time of Genghis Khan , but particularly in a series of settlement waves during the Ming period. Over the centuries, most of the Amdo Mongols have become highly Tibetanised and, superficially at least, it is now difficult to discern their original non-Tibetan ethnicity. There are many dialects of the Tibetan language spoken in Amdo due to the geographical isolation of many groups. Written Tibetan

13832-425: The top of their heads so that if within three days, someone had not followed his order, they were allowed to be killed. In response, the Song dynasty offered to bestow ranks on the Tanguts, which Jingzong rejected. The Song then cut off border trade and put a bounty on his head. The Xia's chief military leader, Weiming Shanyu, also fled to seek asylum with the Song, however he was executed at Youzhou . What ensued

13965-425: The traditional channel of acquiring consent from the elders, which caused dissent among the Tangut elites. The Tangut prefect of Suizhou challenged Jipeng's succession. In 982 Jipeng fled to the Song court and surrendered control of Dingnan Jiedushi. His brother or cousin, Jiqian , did not agree to this and refused to submit to Song administration. Jiqian led a group of bandit holdouts and resisted Song control. In 984,

14098-426: The tyranny of a local governor, Tian Jin. They retaliated by joining the Tibetans in raids on Tang garrisons. Sporadic conflict with the Tanguts lasted until the 840s when they rose in open revolt against the Tang, but the rebellion was suppressed. Eventually the Tang court was able to mollify the Tanguts by admonishing their frontier generals and replacing them with more disciplined ones. The Tanguts also fought against

14231-508: The west and Kham in the east. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu ( Yellow River ) to the Drichu ( Yangtze ). It is mostly coterminous with China's present-day Qinghai province, but also includes small portions of Sichuan and Gansu provinces. Amdo was a part of the Tibetan Empire until the 9th century and later a local Tibetan theocracy called Tsongkha until the 12th century. A priest and patron relationship began in 1253 after

14364-433: The western and southern parts of Amdo, which are now administered as various Tibetan, Tibetan-Qiang, or Mongol-Tibetan autonomous prefectures. The Han Chinese are majority in the northern part (Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) and eastern part ( Xining city and Haidong city) of Qinghai province. While Xining city and Haidong city are geographically small compared to the rest of Qinghai province, this area has

14497-435: The younger sister of Liang Qipu, ruled as regent. The Song dynasty continued to campaign against the Xia in 1091 and 1093. In 1094, Rende Baozhuang and Weiming Awu slew Liang Qipu and exterminated his clan. In 1096 the Song stopped paying tribute to the Xia and the next year, launched an "advance and fortify" campaign centered on guarding key locations along river valleys and mountains to erode the Xia position. From 1097 to 1099,

14630-558: Was Xingqing (modern Yinchuan ); another major Xia city and archaeological site is Khara-Khoto . Western Xia was annihilated by the Mongols in 1227. Most of its written records and architecture were destroyed, so the founders and history of the empire remained obscure until 20th-century research in China and the West. Today the Tangut language and its unique script are extinct, only fragments of Tangut literature remain. The Western Xia occupied

14763-579: Was a prolonged war with the Song dynasty which resulted in several victories at great cost to the Xia economy. Beyond establishing a Chinese-style central government for the militarized kingdom (which included sixteen bureaus), he also designated eighteen military control commissions spread among five military zones: (1) 70,000 soldiers to deal with the Liao, (2) 50,000 assigned to deal with Huan, Qing, Zhenrong, and Yuan prefectures, (3) 50,000 opposite Fuyan circuit and Lin and Fu[1] prefectures, (4) 30,000 to deal with

14896-402: Was a succession of carts bearing Liao dead across the desert. Having exhausted his resources, Jingzong made peace with the Song, who recognized him as the ruler of Xia lands and agreed to pay an annual tribute of 250,000 units of silk, silver, and tea. Toward the end of the war, Jingzong took the intended bride of his son, Lady Moyi, as his concubine. Jingzong's designated heir, Ninglingge, was

15029-455: Was administered by a series of local Tibetan rulers who were associated with the government located in Ü-Tsang through monastery systems, and Dalai Lama's Ganden Podrang has not directly governed Amdo since that time. Local Tibetan rulers were often in some kind of alliance with or under the titular authority of a larger, more powerful non-Tibetan regime such as the Mongols and the Qing. From 1917

15162-604: Was administered by an imperial viceroy . Portions of the country were placed under Chinese law while the Tibetans enjoyed almost complete independence, ruled by Tibetan chiefs that held grants or commissions from the Imperial Government. In 1906, the 13th Dalai Lama while touring the country, was enticed by a procession of a thousand lamas , to stay at the temple at Kumbum . He spent a year resting and learning among other things Sanskrit and poetry. In 1912, Qing Dynasty collapsed and relative independence followed with

15295-612: Was also used. Chinese and Japanese scholars commonly interpret the first two words as "upper reaches of the White River", which was possibly referring to the Yellow River . Kepping (1994) proposed the translation "the Kingdom of the Great Xia of the White and Lofty", and suggested that the name refers to a peak in the Helan Mountains named the "White and Lofty Mother". The region was known to

15428-693: Was established and staffed with renowned scholars. Renzong also greatly patronized Buddhist learning. The majority of the Tangut Tripitaka was completed during his reign. In 1189, the 50th anniversary of Renzong's accession, 100,000 copies of the "Sutra on the visualization of the Maitreya Bodhisattva's ascent and rebirth in Tushita Heaven" (Guan Mile pusa shang sheng Toushuai tian jing) was printed and distributed in both Chinese and Tangut, and 50,000 copies of other sutras were also printed. After

15561-558: Was granted in 881 control of Xiazhou, Youzhou, Suizhou , Yinzhou , and later also Jingbian . Together the territory was called Dingnan Jiedushi , also known as Xiasui, centered on modern Yulin , Shaanxi . After the Huang Chao rebellion's defeat in 883, Sigong was granted the dynastic surname Li and enfeoffed as "Duke of Xia". In 878, the Shatuo chieftain Li Guochang attacked the Tanguts but

15694-613: Was himself murdered by soldiers of Dingnan and was replaced by Yichang's uncle, Renfu , who was a popular officer in the army. In 910 Dingnan came under a monthlong siege by the forces of Qi and Jin but was able to repel the invasion with the aid of Later Liang. In 922 Renfu sent 500 horses to Luoyang , perhaps to aid the Later Liang in fighting the Shatuo. In 924 Renfu was enfeoffed as "Prince of Shuofang" by Later Tang . When Renfu died in 933, Later Tang tried to replace his son, Yichao , with

15827-464: Was later conquered by the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) , which ceded the area to the Western Xia in 1136. This Tibet -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Amdo Amdo ( Tibetan : ཨ་མདོ་ , Wylie : a mdo [ʔam˥˥.to˥˥] ; Chinese : 安多 ; pinyin : Ānduō ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Ü-Tsang (Central Tibet) in

15960-704: Was no longer mentioned in the dynastic history of the Mongols. Although the following Ming Dynasty nominally maintained the Mongol divisions of Tibet with some sub-division, its power is weaker and influenced Amdo mostly at their borders. The Mongols again seized political control in Amdo areas from the middle of the 16th century. However, the Ming Dynasty continued to retain control in Hezhou and Xining wei. Upper (Kokonor) Mongols from northern Xinjiang and Khalkha came there in 16th and 17th centuries. Power struggles among various Mongol factions in Tibet and Amdo led to

16093-588: Was not the last Labrang saw of General Ma. The Muslim forces looted and ravaged the monastery again. In 1928, the Ma Clique formed an alliance with the Kuomintang . In the 1930s, the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang , the son of Ma Qi, seized the northeast corner of Amdo in the name of Chiang Kai-shek 's weak central government, effectively incorporating it into the Chinese province of Qinghai. From that point until 1949, much of

16226-509: Was opposed by the Liang faction that favored Tangut forms. At the same time, Song and Xia emissaries regularly exchanged insults. The emperor supported sinification through the import of Chinese books, revived the use of his Chinese surname Li and other Chinese protocols, and pursued accommodation with the Song dynasty in border disputes and opening of trade. However, these diplomatic overtures were squandered by arrogant Song representatives who insulted

16359-400: Was ordered to withdraw while Chong E covered his retreat. Wang lost 20,000 men. On 8 December, Gao Zunyu decided to attack Lingzhou, only to realize he had forgotten to bring any siege equipment, and there were not enough trees around for their construction. Gao took out his frustration on Liu Changzuo, who he tried to have executed. Liu's troops were on the verge of mutiny before Fan Chuncui,

16492-547: Was paid and then he escorted the young boy to Tibet. In May 1949, Ma Bufang was appointed Military Governor of Northwest China, making him the highest-ranked administrator of the Amdo region. However, by August 1949, the advancing People's Liberation Army had annihilated Ma's army, though residual forces took several years to defeat. By 1949, advance units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (the PLA) had taken much of Amdo from

16625-439: Was raised to the rank of prince and military governor. Rebellious elements in the newly conquered territory persisted. The tribal chieftains, Jiezhanpangjian and Zangzhengpuge, continued to raid Song territory. Song forces eventually forced Jiezhanpangjian to flee and without his help, Zangzhengpuge submitted to Song authority. By 1109 the Song dynasty had registered all the Tibetan towns of Kokonor under Chinese names. The area

16758-539: Was released and sent to live in Qinzhou , where he died two years later. Aligu was an unpopular ruler. In 1092 he incarcerated the tribal leader Wenxixin and his son Xibawen as Song spies. Aligu died in 1096 and was succeeded by his son, Xiazheng. In 1099, Xiazheng was expelled by Xinmouqinzhan, who enthroned Longza as rightful heir to the Gusiluo line. The Song commander Wang Shan defeated Longza and occupied Tsongkha. At first

16891-518: Was repelled by a Tuyuhun intervention. Sigong died in 886 and was succeeded by his brother Sijian . In 905 Li Keyong 's independent regime allied with the Khitans , which pushed the Tanguts into an alliance with Later Liang , which awarded the Dingnan rulers with honorary titles. Sijian died in 908 and was succeeded by his adopted son Yichang , who was murdered by his officer Gao Zongyi in 909. Gao Zongyi

17024-417: Was returned to his throne in 1083. Liang Yimai died in 1085 and his son, Liang Qipu, succeeded his position as chief minister. The Empress Dowager Liang also died later that year. In 1086 Huizong passed away at the age of 26. The three-year-old Qianshun succeeded his father, Emperor Huizong of Western Xia , as emperor, posthumously Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia . His mother, the new Empress Dowager Liang,

17157-538: Was sent by the Song to destroy Jiqian, but he was defeated in battle on 6 May 994, and fled back to Xiazhou . Jiqian sent tribute on 9 September as well as his younger brother on 1 October to the Song court. Emperor Taizong of Song was receptive of these gestures, but Jiqian returned to raiding Song territory the next year. In April 996, Taizong sent troops to suppress Jiqian, who raided Lingzhou in May and again in November 997. For

17290-476: Was succeeded by his adopted son, Aligu ( Khotanese mother). Aligu hid the death of Dongzhan for a year and induced his father's Khitan wife to kill two other wives to eliminate potential rivals. Then he married his daughter to the Tanguts . Aligu gained Song recognition, which infuriated Guizhang. Guizhang fortified himself at Taozhou and began raiding Song territory. In 1087, Song forces led by Chong Yi captured Guizhang and sent him to Kaifeng . Two years later he

17423-453: Was taken captive. Despite the defenders' mediocre performance, Jingzong was forced to lift the siege and retreat to a ring of forts overlooking Yanzhou, when heavy winter snows set in. A Song army of 30,000 returned later that winter under the command of Ren Fu. They were ambushed at Haoshuichuan and annihilated. Despite such victories, Jingzong failed to make any headway against Song fortifications, garrisoned by 200,000 troops on rotation from

17556-482: Was the Chinese concubine, Lady Cao. In 1140 a group of Khitan exiles led by Xiao Heda rebelled. The Xia forces under Ren Dejing crushed them. Renzong wanted to reward Ren with a palace appointment but his councilor, Weiming Renzhong, convinced him to keep him as a field commander. In 1142-3 famine and earthquake caused unrest in Xiazhou. Renzong responded with tax remissions and relief measures. In 1144 Renzong decreed

17689-593: Was the use of local non-Chinese allies to screen Song from the monetary costs and social costs of full-scale war. By mid-1042, the accumulated efforts of men like Fan Zhongyan and others to entice the fan to settle in the in-between areas were paying off. The fan generally and the Qiang specifically were siding with the Song much more than with the Xia at this point. By now, also, there were enough forts and walled cities to limit Yuanhao’s maneuverability and to improve mutual support against him. The Liao dynasty took advantage of

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