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Qinghai

 

Tourism

Many tourist attractions center on Xining, the provincial seat of Qinghai.

The city itself has such notable stops, including the Great Mosque of Xining (清真大寺, qīngzhēn dà sì) and North Mountain Temple (北山寺, běishān sì).

Outside Xining lie two notable attractions:

The Kumbum Monastery (塔尔寺), one of the most important Yellow Hat Sect monasteries.

Qinghai Lake (青海湖) is another tourist attraction, albeit further from Xining than Kumbum. The lake is the largest saltwater lake in China, and is also located on the "Roof of the World," the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The lake itself lies at 3,600m elevation. The surrounding area is made up of rolling grasslands and populated by ethnic Tibetans. Most pre-arranged tours stop at Bird Island (鸟岛).

QINGHAI

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Qinghai  (青海) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake. It borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest.

 

Geography

Qinghai is located on the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The Yellow River (Huang He) originates in the middle of the province, while the Yangtze and Mekong have their sources in the southwestern part.

The average elevation of Qinghai is over 3000 meters above sea level. Mountain ranges include the Tanggula Mountains and Kunlun Mountains. Its average temperature is approximately -5 to 8°C, with January temperatures ranging from -18.2 to -7°C and July temperatures ranging from 5 to 21°C. It is also prone to heavy winds as well as sandstorms from February to April.

By area, Qinghai is the largest province in China - excluding the autonomous regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia, which are technically not provinces.

 

Economy

Qinghai's economy is amongst the smallest in all of China. Its nominal GDP for 2007 was just 76.1 billion RMB (US$10 billion) and contributes to a little over 0.3% of the entire country's economy. Per capita GDP was 13,836 RMB (US$1,820).

Its heavy industry includes iron and steel productions, located near its capital city of Xining. Oil and natural gas from the Chaidamu Basin have also been an important contributor to the economy.

 

Demographics

The population of Qinghai is approximately 5.2 million, among which the Han account for 54.5%. Other groups include the Tibetans 20.87%, Tu, Hui, Salar, and Mongols.

 

 

 

Northwestern China

Northwestern China (中國西北地區) includes the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Ningxia and the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai.

中國西北地區是中國西北內陸的一個區域，地理上包括黃土高原西部，渭河平原，河西走廊，青藏高原北部，內蒙古高原西部，柴達木盆地，和新疆大部的廣大區域。通常簡稱「大西北」或「西北」。

中國行政區劃中的西北五省區包括：陝西省，甘肅省，青海省，寧夏回族自治區，新疆維吾爾自治區。這源於中華人民共和國已撤銷的大行政區級單位——西北區。

 

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Tibetan

The Tibetan people (藏) are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper in the East and India, Nepal and Bhutan to the south. Numbering 5.4 million, they are the 10th largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

The distribution of Haplogroup D-M174 is found among nearly all the populations of Central Asia and Northeast Asia south of the Russian border, although generally at a low frequency of 2% or less. A dramatic spike in the frequency of D-M174 occurs as one approaches the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of western China. D-M174 is also found at high frequencies in Japan but it fades into low frequencies in the Han populated mainland China between Japan and Tibet.

"Different racial types live side by side or coalesce. The predominant strain in most cases in Mongoloid, but many travellers have been struck by the prevalence of what they describe as a 'Red Indian' type (in Kongpo, among the Hor nomads, and in Tatsienlu). Others have noted a European, 'Hellenic' or Caucasian element which seems sometimes to be identical with the preceding type, and sometimes to denote a separate type altogether, especially in north-eastern Tibet. A dwarfish type occurs in Chala, a district of Kham. Though all these are but impressions, the fact that different groups exist is plain. According to travellers with no special claim to scientific knowledge, the brachycephalic type predominates in the farming communities of the Brahmaputra valley and in the south-east. In Ladakh, it would appear to have been to have been superimposed on a dolichocephalic strain (no doubt Dards). Northerners, as in the Changthang lakes region—the Hor and Golok people—are themselves dolichocephalic , on the other hand. However, anthropologists merely distinguish two types: one distinctly Mongoloid and of slight build, typical of Kham. Blue-eyed 'blond' types have also been observed in the north-east."

 

 

Tu

Photo from Cultural China

The Monguor or Tu Zu people are ethnically Xianbei (鲜卑). They were classified into Tu Nationality (土族) by the Chinese Government in 1953 and are known as "Monguor" or "Mangghuer" in the Western publications. They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are distributed throughout the 31 provinces and regions of China, with a higher concentration in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in the northwest.

Ethnonym and Ethnic Origins: Ethnically the “Tu” descended from the Xianbei (鲜卑), a powerful nomadic people who descended from the Donghu in northeast China and played an important role in the Chinese and even the world’s history.

The name "Tu" was derived the name of Tuyühun (吐谷浑, also written as 土谷浑), the older son of the King of Murong (慕容) of Xianbei, who was the first Khan to separate and undertake the great westward migration from the northeast in 284. They founded two powerful empires of Tuyühun and Tangut-Xixia in the northwest. "Tuyuhun" was the Chinese phonetic transcription of his original name, "Teihu": "hun" in his Chinese name was pronounced as "hu" in the ancient times. The "Tu" represented “the Tuyühun people” or “the people of the Tuyühun Kingdom.” The reference became increasingly simplied into “Tuhun” (吐浑) and “Tüihun” (退浑) between the years of 908 and 1042, the reference was simplified to people. The earliest record of the specific designation "Tu" dates to the early Song Dynasty, in 1001 AD, when the Northern Song official discussed defense strategies against the Tangut-Xixia Empire. The official classification as "Tu Nationality" (土族) took place in 1953, when most of the Chinese nationalities were classified.

Internationally the "Tu" are known as "Monguor", a term invented by the European catholics in the beginning of the twentith century. It is the pronunciation of "Mongol" in the Xianbei language characterized by the final "r" sound, and came from the self reference of some Tu in Huzhu and Datong as "Chaaghaan monguor" (White Mongols) in contrast to their reference to the Mongolians as "Khara Monguor" (Black Mongols). The reference of "Chaaghaan" (White) came from their origins from the Murong Xianbei, who were historically referred to as the "Baibu Xianbei" due to their lighter skin in contrast to the other Xianbei groups (白部鲜卑, "White Section of the Xianbei"). Because the Mongols also derived their ancestry from the Xianbei, the two groups share much similarities in the languages, and the parallel festival celebrations of Nadun among the Tu and Naadam among the Mongolians, and shamanism as part of their religious practices.

Origins and History

The origins of the Tu are reflected in the local folktales that accounted the struggles the Tu ancestors, Donghu (東胡), with the Wangmang(汪茫) people more than four thousand years ago in northeast China. About three to four thousand years ago, the Donghu developed into the state of a country formed by the coalitions of the Donghu, Wuheng (乌恒), and Xianbei (鲜卑). Among the northern Chinese ethnic groups, the Donghu was the earliest to evolve into the state of civilization and first developed bronze technology. They spoke proto-Mongolian language and were associated with the Upper Xiajiadian Culture [夏家店上层文化], characterized by the practice of agriculture and animal husbandry in addition to handicrafts and bronze art. In the end of the third century B.C., the Xiongnu Maodun (匈奴冒顿) attacked to destroy the Donghu.

Origins as the Murong of the Xianbei Kingdom (2nd century BC): After Donghu coalition was disintegrated, the Wuheng and Xianbei moved respectively to Mt. Wuheng and Mt. Xianbei. The Wuhuan moved to Mt. Wuhuan and engaged in continuous warfare against the Xiongnu on the west and China on the south. As the Wuhuan and Xiongnu were worn out from the lengthy battles, the Xianbei preserved their strength by moving northward. The Murong (慕容) Section of Xianbei resided towards the north, and because of their lighter skin, they were referred to as "Bai Bu" (白部, lit. "White Section"), by the other Xianbei sections that resided in the west. In the first century, the Xianbei defeated the Wuhuan and northern Xiongnu, and developed into a powerful state, under the leadership of the first elected Khan Tanshihuai (檀石槐). In 87 A.D., the Xianbei killed the king of the northern Xiongnu, Shanyu Youliu (单于优留), resulting in its thorough disintegration. Therefater the Xiongnu submitted under the Xianbei and self proclaimed to be Xianbei. The Xianbei took control of the vast grassland of Mongolia formerly occupied by the Xiongnu.

In 235 AD, the last Khan of Xianbei, Kebineng (柯必能), was assassinated by the Chinese Cao Wei (曹魏) Kingdom and resulted in the disintegration of the Xianbei Kingdom. Thereafter, the Xianbei pushed their way inside the Great Wall and established extensive presence in China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439) period, the Xianbei founded six kingdoms, including the Former Yan (337-370), Western Yan (384-394), Later Yan (383-407), Southern Yan (398-410), Western Qin (385-430) and Southern Liang (397-414). These kingdoms were unified by the Tuoba Xianbei who established the Northern Wei (386-535) of the Northern Dynasties (386-581), in opposition to the Southern Dynasties (420-589) founded by the southern Chinese. In 534, the Northern Wei split into the Eastern Wei (534-550) and Western Wei (535-556) Kingdoms. The former evolved into the Northern Qi (550-577), and the latter evolved into the Northern Zhou (557-581), which pushed the Southern Dynasties to the south of the Yangtze River. In 581, the Prime Minister, Yang Jian, of the Northern Zhou, which was the last Xianbei kingdom of the Northern Dynasties, changed its national title into the Sui (581-618) Dynasty. The Sui annihilated the Southern Chen (557-589), the last kingdom of the Southern Dynasties, and unified the northern and southern China. The Tang (618-907) Dynasties succeeded the Sui and led China into the most prosperous state of civilization seen in the Chinese and world history. Contrary to the conventional beliefs that the Sui and Tang were founded by the Han ethnic group, these two powerful dynasties inherited the political structure of the Northern Wei and continued to be of Xainbei. The Khitans who founded the subsequent Liao Dynasty (916-1125) and the Mongols who founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) also derived their ancestry from the Xianbei. Through these extensive political establishments, the Xianbei who stayed in China were immersed among the Chinese, whereas those who followed the Mongols into the northern grasslands were immersed among the Mongols.

After the Xianbei Kingdom disintegrated, the Murong section separated first, led by Mohuba (莫护跋), to submit under Wei. He was succeeded by his son Muyan (木延) in 246, and grandson, Shegui (涉归), the latter of whom was appointed as the Xianbei Khan (单于). After She Gui died in 283, his brother, Nai (耐), first took the position of the Khan and, after being killed, was replaced by his younger son, Murong Gui (慕容廆). In 284, Tuyühun led Xianbei and Wuhuan from the Murong Section. The separation occurred during the Western Jin (265-316) which succeeded the Cao Wei (220-265) in northern China. Legends accounted that he separated due to the fight between his horses and those of Murong Wei. The actual cause was the intense struggle over the Khanate position. The fraction that supported Murong Wei into the Khanate position aimed at ruling over China, whereas Tuyühun intended to preserve the Xianbei culture and lifestyle. The disagreement resulted in Tuyühun to proclaim to be the Khan and undertook the long westward journey under the title of the Prince of Jin, followed by other Xianbei and Wuhuan groups.

Westward Migration to Qinghai and Gansu (4th century AD): Under the leadership of Tuyühun Khan, they "migrated westward 4,000 kilometers", and while passing through western Liaoning and Mt. Bai, more Xianbei groups joined from the Duan (段, Yuwen (宇文), and Bai (白) sections. At the Hetao Plains (河套平原) near Ordos (鄂尔多斯) in Inner Mongolia, they resided by Mt. Yin (阴山) for over thirty years, as the Tuoba Xianbei and Northern Xianbei joined through political and marriage alliances. In 315, they crossed the river and move southward to settle on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, thereby beginning their presence in the norhtwest China. They conquered the native peoples, who were summarily referred to as Qiang (羌) and included more than 150 loosely coordinated tribes, and established an Empire named to the honor of Tuyühun Khan. Two years later, Tuyühun Khan passed away in Linxia, Gansu, and his sixty sons inherited to further develop the Empire, by annihilating the Western Qin (385-430) and Xia (407-431) Kingdoms and annexing the Qinghai Xianbei, Tufa Xianbei, Qifu Xianbei and Haolian Xianbei from them. These Xianbei groups formed the core of the Empire and numbered about 3.3 million at their peak. The odest son of Tuyühun Yeyan (叶延) first succeeded him, and occupied the land of Xiqiang (西羌) through military conquest and established capital at Gansong (甘松, present south of Gansu), occupying a vast territory that covered the great Marshes of Gannan (甘南大草原) and Shaqiang (沙漒, present Hequ Marshes in northwest Sichuan), the upper and middle streams of the Tao River (洮河), and reached the Ruoergai Marshes (若尔盖草原, which transcends the present Gansu and Sichuan). After overtaking the Aba Grasslands (阿坝大草原), they expanded northwest along the Yellow River, Mt. Great Jishishan (大积石山, present Mt. Animaqing, 阿尼玛卿山) and Mt. Bailan (白兰山, present Mt. Bayankala, 巴颜喀拉山).

Tuyühun Empire and Expansion (4th-6th centuries AD): The Tuyühun descendants carried out extensive military expeditions westward, reaching as far as Hetian in Xinjiang and the borders of Kashmir and Afghanistan, and established a vast empire that encompassed Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, northern Sichuan, eastern Shaanxi, southern Xinjiang, and most of Tibet, stretching 1,500 kilometers from the east to the west and 1,000 kilometers from the north to the south. They unified northwest China for the first time in history, developed the southern route of the Silk Road, and promoted cultural exchanges between the eastern and western territories, dominating the northwest for more than three and half centuries until the Empire was destroyed by the Tibetans in 670.

Achai (阿柴) developed diplomatic relationships with the Liu-Song (刘宋) Dynasty (420-479), and expanded southwest to the east of River Jinsha (金沙江), the middle and upper streams of Yalong River (鸭砻江), Greater and Lesser Jinchuan (大小金川, present west of Sichuan), and the Qiang areas around the Dadu River (大渡河). He further expanded across Bailan to the other Qiang areas along the Tongtian River (通天河), and opened a route into the Xinu Kingdom (西女国, presently the Ali area in Tibet), current Lhasa and Nepal. In the northwest, he annexed the territories of Yifu (乙弗) and Qihan (契汗) and further expanded northward to reach the south of River Ruo (弱水, also known as Zhangye River, 张掖河). His son, Mugui (慕璝), brought the kingdom to its highest peak, by annexing West Qin (西秦) and eliminating Haolian Xia (郝连夏), and further expanding the territory to the upper streams of the Wei River (渭河, present central Gansu and Ningxia). At the southeast, the Kingdom extended to the Baishui River (白水江) area (present Yinping, Sichuan area). After his death in 436, his brother, Muliyan (慕利延), succeeded to be the Khan. In face of the growing and expanding North Wei (北魏) from the east, he undertook a famous westward campaign to eliminate the smaller kingdoms and to expand into the northwest of the present Tibet. After he died in 452, his son Shiyan succeeded him as Khan and further expanded to annex the south of the Great Chaidamu Basin (柴达木盆地) under his territory. Through these successful military conquests, he was able to expand into North Wei by 471.

Subsequently major changes took place in central China. Yang Jian (杨坚) replaced the North Zhou (北周) with Sui Dynasty. The Tuyuhun leadership did not adapt with changes in foreign policy and engaged in decades of warfare with the Sui. By 576, internal conflicts developed within the kingdom and brought it to a gradual decline. The Tuyuhun Khan, Kualu (夸吕), repeatedly abolished his heirs, killing those who were deemed not loyal, and further sent troops to assault the Sui and provoked the Sui to send troops to attack the Kingdom. Turmoil ensued and portions of the kingdom abandoned Tuyuhun and surrendered to the Sui.

Tibet Breaks Away from the Tuyuhun Kingdom (7th century): After the Tang Dynasty was established, the Chinese defeated the Turks in the north. Because the Tuyuhun kingdom controlled the crucial trade routes between the east and the west, the kingdom became the immediate target of attack by the Tang. Meanwhile, as the Tuyuhun kingdom underwent a decline through internal conflicts under the changing international politics, the region called Tubo (吐蕃, later known as Tibet), located in the southwest of the Kingdom, developed rapidly and expanded northward, directly threatening the kingdom. Songzanganbu (松赞干布) united the entire Tubo region and moved its capital to present Lhasa. The exile Tuyuhun Khan, Dayan (达延), submitted himself under Tubo, which resorted to an excuse that Tuyuhun objected its marriage with the Tang and sent 200,000 troops to attack. Tuyuhun troops retreated to the Qinghai area, whereas Tubo went eastward to attack the Dangxiang groups and reached the southern Gansu. The Tang Government was shocked and sent five troops to fight. Although Tubo withdrew in response, Tuyuhun lost much of its territory in southern Gansu. Meanwhile, the Tuyuhun Government was split between the pro-Tubo and pro-Tang fractions, with the former increasingly becoming stronger. In the struggle between the different fractions, the pro-Tubo fractions corroborated with Tubo and brought the Tubo troops to attack the Kingdom. The Tang sent the famous general, Xue Rengui (薛仁贵), who led 100,000 troops to fight Tubo in Dafeichuan (大非川, present Gonghe County in Qinghai). They were annihilated by the ambush of 200,000 troops of Dayan and Tobu, which became the biggest debacle in the Tang history.

Split into Eastern and Western Kingdoms (7th century): After its fall, the Tuyühun Empire disintegrated into an Eastern Kingdom that existed in the Tang Dynasty and a Western Kingdom in Tibet until the Tibetan Empire fell in the ninth century. The east Tuyuhun was distributed on the eastern side of Mt. Qilian (祁连山) and increasingly migrated eastward to central China, particularly following the An Shi Rebellion and the continued attacks of Tubo. The Anshi Turmoil shook the Tang Dynasty and caused its emperor to flee, during which Tubo overtook the entire territory of Tuyuhun. The former Khan and officials of Tuyuhun were forced to serve under the reign of Tubo until the internal turmoil developed within the Tubo Government and massive revolts brought an end to its ruling.

Tuyuhun Diaspora: Following the fall of the Tuyuhun Kingdom, the Tuyuhun people underwent continuous diasporas and were widely distributed over the vast territory in the north of the Yellow River, which stretched from the northwest to the central and eastern parts of China that covered the present Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong Provinces. Through the later dynasties, many Tuyuhun descendants became high-ranking officials and military generals. After the Tang Dynasty fell, Liu Zhiyuan(刘知远) conspired to murder the highest Tu leader, Bai Chengfu (白承福), in 946, who was reportedly so wealthy that “his horses had silver mangers”. With the robbed wealth that included an abundance of property and thousands of fine horses, Liu established the Latter Han (947-950), which lasted only four years and became the shortest dynasty in the Chinese history. The incident took away the central leadership and stripped the opportunity for the Tu to restore the Tuyühun Kingdom.

Founding of the West Xia kingdom (11th century): The Tangut-Xixia was established by the Tuoba descendants who followed Tuyühun from the Mt. Yin. After the empire fell, the Tang Court “bestowed” Tuoba Chici (拓跋赤辞), who was the famous prince of the Tuyühun Kingdom and controlled the Dangxiang Qiang, with the imperial name of “Li.” The Complete Book of the Tang, Quan Tang Shu (全唐书), recorded that the Buddhist monk, Fa Lin, pointed out to the Tang Emperor, Li Shimin (李世民), that Li had descended from the Tuoba Xianbei. It is likely that the Tang emperors and the Tuoba of the Tuyühun Kingdom were from the same Xianbei descent, or the monk would not have dared to speak of it in front of the Tang emperor. In the end of the Tang Dynasty, Tuoba Chici brought troops to suppress the Huangchao Rebellion on behalf of the Tang court and took control of the Xia State (夏州), in northern Shaanxi in 881. After the Tang fell in 907, the Tuoba descendants formally declared resistance against the expanding Northern Song in 982 and proclaimed independence to establish the Tangut-Xixia Empire in 1038.

The English reference of Tangut-Xixia derived from the combination of the Mongolian reference of “Tangut” and the Chinese reference as “Xixia” or “West Xia.” The Chinese reference derived from the location of the Empire on the western side of the Yellow River, in contrast to the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) on its east. The Mongolian usage of “Tangut” referred to the “Donghu people;” “-t” in Mongolian language means “people.” “Donghu” was a Chinese phonetic transcription whom the Mongols referred to as “Tünghu”. By the time that the Mongols emerged in the thirteenth century, the only Donghu people who existed were the Tu people, the Xianbei of the Tuyühun Kingdom, the founders of the Xixia Kingdom. That the Mongols referred to Xixia as “Tangut” to represent the founding ethnic group of the Tu is consistent with the theories on the Mongol origins postulated by the Outer Mongolian scholars, who have held that the Mongols had descended from the Xiongnu, more specifically the eastern Xiongnu who spoke proto-Mongolian language, as opposed to the western Xiongnu who spoke proto-Turkish language. The Chinese scholars have characterized the Mongols as having descended from the Xianbei, as recorded as “Mengwu Shiwei” by the Northern Dynasties. “Mengwu” was a variant Chinese transcription of “Menggu” designated to the Mongols, and “Shiwei” was a variant transcription of the Xianbei, since the Xianbei was also recorded as “Sian-pie,” “Serbi,” “Sirbi” and “Sirvi”. This equated the Mongols to be “Mongol Xianbei,” an interpretation that seems to be associated with the submission of the Xiongnu under the Xianbei. In 87 A.D., the Xianbei defeated the northern Xiongnu and killed their king, Shanyu Youliu, resulting in its thorough disintegration (Lü 2002:14), after which the Xiongnu submitted under the Xianbei and self proclaimed to be Xianbei. That the Mongolian usage of “Tangut” referred to the “Donghu people,” the Tu, validated the theories of Mongol descent from the Xiongnu postulated by the Outer Mongolian scholars. The term "Monguor" or "White Mongols" represented a reverse in the ethnonyms of the Xianbei and Xiongnu after the [Yuan Dynasty] in the thirteenth century.

The full title of the Tangut-Xixia Kingdom was “the Great Xia Kingdom of the White and High” (bai gao da xia guo 白高大夏国). The term “White,” or “bai,” was designated to the founding ethnic group, the Tu, which is consistent with the reference of them as “Chaaghaan,” or “White,” derived from their origins from the Murong Xianbei referred to as the “White Section.” The term “High,” or “gao,” is designated to the Qiang people who formed the majority population in Xixia. The “Qiang” were the native peoples conquered by Tuyühun after migrating to settle in the northwest. They initially rebelled but later their fate became intimately associated with the Xianbei, as they actively defended the kingdom when enemies attacked. The Qiang probably comprised the native Han and Tibetans, in addition to the Miao/Hmong (苗) ancestors who were relocated to the northwest from central China after their Three Miao Kingdom (三苗国) was destroyed by the legendary Chinese Emperor Yu (禹) about four thousand years ago. The autonyms of the Miao/Hmong included "Guoxiong", "Gaoxiong," or "Gouxiong." The character “gao,” or “High” could have derived as a variant abbreviation of it. The Qiang people referred to Xixia as their “gao mi yao ,” or “High mi yao” Kingdom. When “mi yao” is pronounced together, it is similar to “Miao.” This corroborated with the historical records that the relocated the Miao/Hmong ancestors formed the “Qiang” people and indicated that they believed the character “gao” or “High” in the national title of Xixia represented them. In addition to the Xianbei who ruled the Empire and the Qiang who formed the population base, the Xixia also comprised multiple other ethnic groups that included the Han, Tibetans, Uigurs, Khitans, Turks, and Mongols.

The Tangut-Xixia Empire inherited the political and social structures of the Tang and developed a unique and outstanding civilization characterized as “shining and sparkling”. It became the new kingdom for the Xianbei people who had lost their country, and earmarked permanent cultural imprints in northwest China. Through effective military organizations, the Xixia army inflicted extensive debacles against the Song and established a powerful stance against the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234), the last of which was founded by the Jurchens, the predecessors of the Manchus who founded the Qing (1644-1912) Dynasty. The Xixia territory encompassed the present Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and southernmost Outer Mongolia, measuring about eight hundred thousand square kilometer. In 1206, Gengis Khan unified the northern grasslands of Mongolia and led the Mongol troops to carry out six rounds of attacks against Xixia over twenty two years. As Xixia resisted vehemently, more and more Tu people crossed Mt. Qilian and joined the original Xianbei residents of Qinghai and Gansu in order to escape from the Mongol assaults, which gave rise to the current settlements of the Tu people. During the last round of attack, Gengis died. After the Kingdom was overrun in 1227, the Mongols caused devastating destructions on the Xixia architectures and written records, killed the last emperor, and massacred tens of thousands of civilians. The Xixia troops were incorporated into the Mongol army in their subsequent military conquests in central and southern China. Due to the extensive resistance of the Tu people against the Mongol attacks of Xixia, the Tu were initially suppressed by the Mongols, but toward the middle and later phase of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the Tu received equivalent treatment as the ruling Mongols and attained highest offices in the central court of the Yuan. After the Yuan fell, the Tu who followed the Mongols into the northern grassland were immersed among the Mongols.

 

 

Qiang

Photo from paulnoll.com

The Qiang people (羌族) are an ethnic group of China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 200,000, living mainly in northwestern part of Sichuan province. Nowadays, the Qiang are only a small segment of the Chinese population, but they are commonly believed to be an old, once strong and populous people whose history can be traced at least to the Shang Dynasty and whose offsprings are thought to include some portion of the modern Tibetans, some portion of the modern Han Chinese and many minority ethnic groups in Western China.

Early History: In ancient China literature, Qiang was usually used as a generic term for the non-Huaxia peoples in the west part of modern China. These peoples were frequently at war with the inhabitants of the Yellow River valley. Not until the rise of the state of Qin under Duke Mu was the Qiang expansion effectively checked. A Qiang leader, Yao Chang founded the Later Qin kingdom (384-417) during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. But it should be noted that Qiang was not a distinct ethnic identity until 20–30 years ago. The term "Qiang" (the Chinese character for which suggests a shepherd) was used in old Chinese inscriptions to refer generically to the various nomadic peoples living to the west and has no direct relationship to today's Qiang. It has only been in recent decades that these people identified themselves as Qiang

The structure of the graph 羌 also reflects this view. It was composed of two elements: 人 (man) and 羊 (sheep), suggesting a sheep-herding people. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) and Wei-Jin periods (221-419), Qiang were widely distributed along the mountainous fringes of the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, from the Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山) in Xinjiang province, and eastern Qinghai area, to southern Gansu, western Sichuan, and northern Yunnan. It was during this era that Qiang revolts along China's frontier borders led to a full scale invasion of China's interior by Qiang people. This was a significant factor in the eventual disintegration of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later imperial Chinese government restricted the term Qiang min 羌民 (Qiang people registered with the Chinese government) to refer to sinicized non-Han people living in the Min River valley in Sichuan and used the term Fan Qiang 番羌 (raw Qiang) to refer to less sinicized non-Han tribes living in the vicinity.

Recent History: At present, the Qiang have a self-identity, referring to themselves as Qiang zu (羌族) and erma or rma (尔玛). There are about 200,000 Qiang people today in western Sichuan, predominantly in the five counties of Maoxian, Wenchuan, Lixian, Beichuan and Heishui, of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. On 12 May 2008, the Qiang people were heavily affected by the major earthquake, whose epicenter was in Wenchuan County.

The Qiang today are mountain dwellers. In these small valleys, people cultivate narrow fluvial plains along creeks or mountain terraces, hunt animals or collect mushrooms and herbs (for food or medicine) in the neighboring woods, and herd yaks and horses on the mountain-top pastures. In the past, warfare between villages was common.

From the linguistic point of view, all modern Qiang people speak one of the two Qiang languages, which are members of the Qiangic sub-family of Tibeto-Burman. However, dialects are so different that communication between different Qiang groups is often in Han Chinese. Lacking a script of their own, the Qiangs also use Chinese characters.

Legend of the White Stones: At the legendary time when the Qiang people moved into Sichuan from Tibetan Plateau, they placed white stones on every hilltop and crossroads , for they did not want to forget the route leading back to their original homeland. These piles of white stones also acts as a token of their affection for their homeland and the people they left behind at the same time.

Upon arriving at the territory of the local Geji people, the Qiang fought a losing battle. Jirpol, witnessing the condition that they were in, instructed the Qiang to find a strong white stone and attach it to rattan sticks and fight with this weapon, tying some sheep wool to the neck of the stick as well. Victory was on their side, and the Qiangs began to look upon the white stones as gods to be worshipped.

The Later Qin (後秦; 384-417) was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty (265-420) in China. Note that the Later Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Western Qin.

Its second ruler Yao Xing supported the Buddhism propagation by the monk Kumarajiva.

All rulers of the Later Qin declared themselves "emperors", but for a substantial part of Yao Xing's reign, he used the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang).

 

 

Bonan

Photo from paulnoll.com

The Bonan (also Bao'an) people (保安族) are an ethnic group living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwestern China. They are one of the "titular nationalities" of Gansu's Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County, which is located south of the Yellow River, near Gansu's border with Qinghai.

Numbering approximately 17,000 the Bonan are the 7th smallest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

History: The Bonan people are believed to be descended from Muslim Mongol soldiers stationed in Qinghai during the Yuan or Ming dynasties.

The ancestors of today's Bonan people were Lamaist, and it is known that around 1585 they lived in Tongren County (in Amdo Region; presently, in Qinghai Province), north of the Tibetan Rebgong Monastery. It was in that year that the town of Bao'an was founded in that area.

Later on, some of the members of the Bonan-speaking community converted to Islam and moved north, to Xunhua County. It is said that they have been converted to Islam by the Hui Sufi master Ma Laichi (1681?- 1766). Later, in the aftermath of the Dungan Rebellion (during the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor (1862–1874) the Muslim Bonans moved farther east, into what's today Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County of Gansu Province.

It were the members of this Muslim part of the original Bonan community who are officially recognized as the separate "Bonan" ethnic group in today's PRC. Their brethren who have remained Lamaists, and stayed in Tongren, are now officially classified as part of the Monguor (Tu) ethnic group, even though they speak essentially the same Bonan language. The official concept of the "Bonan ethnic group" still remains somewhat artificial for the Bonans themselves.

Language: Both the Muslim Bonans in Gansu and their Buddhist cousins in Qinghai (officially classified as Monguor) have historically spoken the the Bonan language, a Mongolic language. The Buddhist Bonan of Qinghai speak a slightly different dialect that the Muslim Bonan of Gansu. Whereas the Bonan language of Gansu has undergone Chinese influences, the Bonan language of Qinghai has been influenced by Tibetan.

The Muslim Gansu Bonans are more numerous than their Buddhist Qinghai cousins (the estimates for the two groups were around 12,200 (in 1990), and around 3,500 (in 1980), respectively). However, it has been observed that in Gansu the use of Bonan language is declining (in favor of the local version - the "Hezhou dialect" - of Mandarin Chinese), while in Qinghai the language keeps being transmitted to younger generations.

Culture: The Bonan share many traditions with the Dongxiang and Hui. Their traditional dress includes elements of Tibetan, Hui and Dongxiang clothing. Married Bonan women wear black veils, while unmarried women wear green veils. Bonan men typically wear black or white head coverings and white jackets.

Bonan knives are renowned for their beauty and hardness and their manufacture and sale form an important part of the local economy, along with farming and ranching.

 

 

Dongxiang

Photo from paulnoll.com

The Dongxiang people (autonym: Sarta or Santa (撒尔塔); 東鄉族) are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Most of the Dongxiang live in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and surrounding areas of Gansu Province in northwestern China, while others groupings can also be found in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. According to the 2000 census, their population numbers 513,805. The Dongxiang are Chinese Muslims of Mongol descent mixed with various ethnic groups in the region.

Origin and Development: The Dongxiang are closely related to the Mongolians. Scholars speculate that their identity as an independent ethnic group arose through contact with Central Asians, due to whom the Dongxiang converted to Sunni Islam in the 13th century.

One possible origin is that they are descendants of Mongolian troops posted in the Hezhou area by Genghis Khan (1162-1227 AD) during his journey westward, while another possibility is that they could be a mixture of many peoples including Mongolian, Han, and Tibetan groups.

Their autonym, sarta, may also provide a contradictory clue to their origin: a similar word Sart was formerly used in Central Asia to refer to Arab traders, later to the local (mostly) Turkic-speaking city dwellers. Their official name.

Language and Education: The Dongxiang speak Dongxiang language, a member of the Mongolic family. The Dongxiang people also have a rich tradition of oral literature, but do not have their own writing system.

As a result of the language shift, some 20,000 people in several villages in the northeastern Dongxiang County now speak the so-called "Tangwang language": a creolized version of Mandarin with a strong Dongxiang influence, in particular in its grammar.

Government statistics show that the Dongxiang are among the poorest and least literate of China's minorities, with most Dongxiang having completed only an average of 1.1 years of schooling, a problem aggravated by the lack of a written language.

In 2004, the Ford Foundation provided US$30,000 in grant money for a pilot project to promote bilingual education in Dongxiang and Mandarin, in an effort to reduce school drop-out rates. The project is credited with the publication of a Dongxiang-Chinese bilingual dictionary as well as recent rises in test scores.

 

 

Di

氐

The Di (氐) were an ethnic group in China. They lived in areas of present-day provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi, from the 8th century BC to approximately the middle of 6th century AD. During the 4th and early 5th centuries, they established several of this era's Sixteen Kingdoms.

The Di were eventually assimilated into other populations. The modern Baima people living in southeast Gansu and northwest Sichuan are descended from the Di. Genetic evidence of the Di can be found in a minority of people in Sichuan.

氐，是古代中國西北部少數民族之一，主要活動於今陝西、甘肅、四川三省的交界地區。

氐族的起源歷來說法不一。一說氐族與羌族同源。不過幾年前曾有說法，指屬於藏族（古代的吐蕃人）一支的白馬藏人，此民系認為自己的方言和標準的藏語實在差異甚大，連習俗跟典型的藏族有很大的不同，應該不屬於藏族而是古代氐族的直系後裔，但是此說部分的民族學家並不接受。

2000年以後的分子人類學研究發現，白馬藏族的男性Y染色體中攜帶D1-M15單倍群的佔壓倒多數。此種單倍群(D1-M15)南方和北方的漢族中幾乎完全沒有；同時藏族的此種基因大約佔一半左右，另外一半和漢族有相同父系基因。英文維基百科條目：Haplogroup D1 (Y-DNA)但以上基於分子遺傳學的發現並沒有為氐人的起源和演化提供任何直接證據。

春秋戰國時始以氐為族名，居於中國西北部。漢朝至三國期間，氐族曾兩度大遷徙，至關中一帶居住。其時還有如羌族的少數民族遷入關中。惠帝時代，氐人曾與晉相戰兩年餘，到十六國時晉室南下，氐人便在北方建立前秦、後涼、仇池等政權。

隨著長居於中國日久，在唐朝時代，一部分氐族人與吐蕃人相融合，而其餘氐族則與漢族或其他民族相融合。

 

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* Genetic History of Southeast Asian Populations as Revealed by Ancient and Modern Human Mitochondrial DNA Analysis by P. Lertrit, et al.

Populations Selected for Genetic Comparison

 

Unrooted NJ Tree of 22 Selected Populations Based on Net Genetic Distances

 

PC Map of 22 Selected Populations Based on Net Genetic Distances

 

Haplogroup Frequencies

 

 

* Genetic Polymorphisms of 15 STR Loci in Chinese Han population living in Xi'an city of Shaanxi Province by Y.M. Wu, et al.

Abstract: Fifteen autosomal STRs loci were analyzed from a population sample of 446 unrelated healthy individuals of Chinese Han population residing in Xi'an city of Shaanxi Province using a multiplex PCR system. We report allele frequencies distribution and statistical parameters for all STR loci, D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA. The observed genotype frequencies and expected of genotype frequencies were evaluated by chi(2)-test and the Fisher exact tests. Chi-Square test showed all STR loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.05). Our studied population data were compared with the previously published population data of other ethnics or areas. After comparing, significant differences were found between Chinese Han population in Xi'an and Korean, Tibetan, Uigur, Chinese Han population in Guangdong Province, Hui population, Chinese Salar, Dongxiang and Tu ethnic minority living in Qinghai Province of China at some loci. The forensic parameters from the data showed high values. The data in the present study can be used greatly for routine forensic application in the region of Xi'an city.

 

 

* Genetic Analysis of 17 Biallelic Markers on Y Chromosome in 3 Chinese Ethnic Group Populations by JK Yu, et al.

OBJECTIVE: To study the genetic polymorphism of Y chromosome in different Chinese ethnic group populations. METHODS: Genotypes of 17 biallelic markers located in the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome in 76 men from 3 Chinese ethnic group populations (Han in Shandong, Bai in Yunnan, and Tu in Qinghai) were examined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and allelic-specific PCR (ASPCR). Their haplotypes made of these 17 binary markers were constructed. The principle component (PC) analysis was conducted based on the haplotype frequency distribution among these 3 and other 15 published Chinese ethnic group populations. RESULTS: The diversities of M50, M110, M103, M88, M3, and M7 were not found in these 3 populations. The frequencies of YAP+ were 23.8%, 6.7%, and 4% respectively in Tu, Bai, and Shandong Han. Eleven haplotypes were found in 3 populations--7 haplotypes (H1, H3, H5, H6, H8, H9, and H11) in Shandong Han (Han.SD), 8 haplotypes (H1, H2, H3, H5, H6, H8, H11, and H16) in Tu, and 9 haplotypes (H1, H3, H4, H5, H6, H8, H9, H11, and H13) in Bai. The predominant haplotypes were H1, H3, H5, H6, H8, and H11. According to PC analysis, Bai was close to Northern Han; Shandong Han, Southern Han (Han.S), Bai and Yunnan Tibetan clustered together; and Tu was close to Yi, Hui and Manchurian. CONCLUSIONS: Shandong Han may have had genetic exchanges with southern populations in China. It has been confirmed that some gene components of Han had flowed into Bai's gene pool. Gene flowed from Central Asia had impacted Chinese western populations.

 

 

* Tracing the Origins of Hakka and Chaoshanese by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis by Wen-Zhi Wang, et al.

Population Analyzed

 

Two-dimensional PC Plot of mtDNA of Han Populations

 

PC Map of Y Chromosome of Han Chinese

 

 

* Phylogeographic Differentiation of Mitochondrial DNA in Han Chinese by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

Abstract: To characterize the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in Han Chinese from several provinces of China, we have sequenced the two hypervariable segments of the control region and the segment spanning nucleotide positions 10171–10659 of the coding region, and we have identified a number of specific coding-region mutations by direct sequencing or restriction-fragment–length–polymorphism tests. This allows us to define new haplogroups (clades of the mtDNA phylogeny) and to dissect the Han mtDNA pool on a phylogenetic basis, which is a prerequisite for any fine-grained phylogeographic analysis, the interpretation of ancient mtDNA, or future complete mtDNA sequencing efforts. Some of the haplogroups under study differ considerably in frequencies across different provinces. The southernmost provinces show more pronounced contrasts in their regional Han mtDNA pools than the central and northern provinces. These and other features of the geographical distribution of the mtDNA haplogroups observed in the Han Chinese make an initial Paleolithic colonization from south to north plausible but would suggest subsequent migration events in China that mainly proceeded from north to south and east to west. Lumping together all regional Han mtDNA pools into one fictive general mtDNA pool or choosing one or two regional Han populations to represent all Han Chinese is inappropriate for prehistoric considerations as well as for forensic purposes or medical disease studies.

PC Map of the mtDNA Data of 13 Regional Han Samples

(Qinghai clusters with Liaoning, Zibo, Qingdao)

 

* Tracing the Genetic History of the Chinese People: Mitochondrial DNA analysis of aneolithic population from the Lajia site by Shi-zhu Gao, et al.

Abstract: Ancient DNA analysis was conducted on the dental remains of specimens from the Lajia site, dating back 3,800-4,000 years. The Lajia site is located in Minhe county, Qinghai province, in northwestern China. Archaeological studies link Lajia to the late period of the Qijia culture, one of the most important Neolithic civilizations of the upper Yellow River region, the cradle of Chinese civilization. Excavations at the site revealed that the inhabitants died in their houses as the result of a sudden flood. The Lajia site provides a rare chance to study the putative families, all of whom died at the same instant. Possible maternal familial relationships were investigated through mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis. Twelve sequences from individuals found in one house were assigned to only five haplotypes, consistent with a possible close kinship. Results from analyses of RFLP typing and HVI motifs suggest that the Lajia people belonged to the haplogroups B, C, D, M*, and M10. This study, combined with archaeological and anthropological investigations, provides a better understanding of the genetic history of the Chinese people.

 

 

* Analysis of Ancient Mitochondrial DNA from the Lajia Ruins in Minhe County of Qinghai Province by 高诗珠

Abstract: Lajia ruin is in Minhe county of Qinghai province. The climate of Lajia ruin is fine because of its location in Guanting basin at upper Yellow River. The cause of Lajia ruin may be a sudden disaster deducing from the remains in the ruins, which is different from other history ruins. This study tries to conclude the maternal relationship among the individuals of the human remains, also the genetic relationship between the ancient population and compared populations.Ancient DNA was extracted from the teeth nearly 3800 years old. After successfully amplification and sequencing, 14 nucleotide sequences of 325bp length in hypervariable regionⅠof the mtDNA control region were gotten. Eight haplotypes with 13 polymorphic sites in 14 individuals were obtained. Samples Y2 and Y10 shared the same haplotype with the transitions in sites 16223(C→T) and 16362(T→C). Samples Y5 and Y6 shared the same haplotype with the transitions in sites 16223(C→T), 16256(C→T) and 16260 (C→T). Samples Y8 and Y11 shared the same haplotype with the transition in sites 16223(C→T) and 16311(T→C). Samples Y7,Y12,Y13 and Y14 shared the same haplotype with the transitions in sites 16223(C→T)，16298(T→C) and 16327(C→T). Each of the four groups was considered to separately arise from same maternal lineages.Base on the specific mutation sites in mtDNA HVS Ⅰ and the haplogroups of sharing sequences, the sequences of Lajia specimens belonged to haplogroup B, M10, C, D and M* motifs. Haplogroup M10 exists mainly in north of China and seldom in south of China. Haplogroup B, C, D is the principal haplogroups in East Asia. While haplogroup M* is composed with those old haplotypes in Asia which cannot be classified to the other haplogroups. Three of 14 ancient Lajia specimens were considered to belong to haplogroup M10 motif. This suggests that compared with the populations in south of China, Lajia ancient specimens have closer relationship with north ones. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Lajia ancient specimens occupied a position in branches of East Asia and were far away from the branches of Europe, Central Asia and North Asia. Moreover, Lajia ancient specimens presented shorter genetic distance to Tibetan population of Qinghai and Yunnan than to other modern populations. This suggests that Lajia ancient specimens probably have closer relationship with the ancestor of Tibetan in maternal lineage.The multidimensional analysis of Lajia ancient population and other related populations were carried on. The result showed that Lajia ancient population was near the Tibetan from Qinghai and Yunnan, Qinghai Mongolian and Xi'an Han. This suggests that the genetic character of Lajia ancient population is probably related with its geographic distribution. The mtDNA gene pool of that region is continual on some extent.Phylogenetic network of mtDNA was constructed with Lajia and 11 other ancient populations. The backbone type was defined as a center of a star having>10 descendant types. On the basis of the star like clusters, we identified six radiation groups. Then we calculated the frequency of each of 11 populations in every group and constructed PC map. The map shows that Lajia ancient population has closer relationship with Jiangjialiang and Dulan ancient populations.14 Lajia ancient specimens were mainly in group one and group two, accounting for 78% and 14%. The result is similar with the modern populations in East Asia and suggests further that Lajia ancient population has a closer genetic relationship with modern East Asian populations.

 

 

* The ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism in East Asian Populations and Expansion of Rice Domestication in History by Yi Peng, et al.

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele and the Sites of Early Rice Relics

 

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele in the 38 East Asian Populations

 

 

Haplogroup D (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup D (M174) is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. Both D and E lineages also exhibit the single-nucleotide polymorphism M168 which is present in all Y-chromosome haplogroups except A and B, as well as the YAP unique-event polymorphism, which is unique to Haplogroup DE.

Origins: Haplogroup D is believed to have originated in Asia some 60,000 years before present. While haplogroup D along with haplogroup E contains the distinctive YAP polymorphism (which indicates their common ancestry), no haplogroup D chromosomes have been found anywhere outside of Asia.

Overview: Like haplogroup C, D is believed to represent the Great Coastal Migration along southern Asia, from Arabia to Southeast Asia and thence northward to populate East Asia. It is found today at high frequency among populations in Tibet, the Japanese archipelago, and the Andaman Islands, though curiously not in India. The Ainu of Japan and the Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands are notable for possessing almost exclusively Haplogroup D chromosomes, although Haplogroup C3 chromosomes also occur among the Ainu at a frequency of approximately 15%. Haplogroup D chromosomes are also found at low to moderate frequencies among populations of Central Asia and northern East Asia as well as the Han and Miao-Yao peoples of China and among several minority populations of Sichuan and Yunnan that speak Tibeto-Burman languages and reside in close proximity to the Tibetans.

Unlike haplogroup C, Hg D did not travel from Asia to the New World; it is found in no modern Native American (North, Central or South) populations. There is the possibility it traveled to the New World, like Hg C, but those lineages died out.

Haplogroup D is also remarkable for its rather extreme geographic differentiation, with a distinct subset of Haplogroup D chromosomes being found exclusively in each of the populations that contains a large percentage of individuals whose Y-chromosomes belong to Haplogroup D: Haplogroup D1 among the Tibetans (as well as among the mainland East Asian populations that display very low frequencies of Haplogroup D Y-chromosomes), Haplogroup D2 among the various populations of the Japanese Archipelago, Haplogroup D3 among the inhabitants of Tibet, Tajikistan and other parts of mountainous southern Central Asia, and Haplogroup D* (probably another monophyletic branch of Haplogroup D) among the Andaman Islanders. Another type (or types) of Haplogroup D* is found at a very low frequency among the Turkic and Mongolic populations of Central Asia, amounting to no more than 1% in total. This apparently ancient diversification of Haplogroup D suggests that it may perhaps be better characterized as a "super-haplogroup" or "macro-haplogroup." In one study, the frequency of haplogroup D* found among Thais was 10%.

The Haplogroup D Y-chromosomes that are found among populations of the Japanese Archipelago are particularly distinctive, bearing a complex of at least five individual mutations along an internal branch of the Haplogroup D phylogeny, thus distinguishing them clearly from the Haplogroup D chromosomes that are found among the Tibetans and Andaman Islanders and providing evidence that Y-chromosome Haplogroup D2 was the modal haplogroup in the ancestral population that developed the prehistoric Jōmon culture in the Japanese islands.

Subclades: This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup D subclades is based on the YCC 2008 tree and subsequent published research.

• DE
  • D (M174, 021355)
    • D*
    • D1 (M15)
      • D1a (N1)
        • D1a1 (N2)
    • D2 (M55, M57, M64.1, M179, P37.1, P41.1, P190, 12f2b)
      • D2a (M116.1)
        • D2a1 (M125)
          • D2a1a (P42)
            • D2a1a1 (P12)
          • D2a1b (022457)
            • D2a1b1 (P53.2)
        • D2a2 (M151)
        • D2a3 (P120)
    • D3 (P99)

 

Distribution

D*: Found at high frequencies among Andaman Islanders and 8-65% in northeast Indian tribes.

D1 (M15): Found at high frequencies among Qiang people, 30% with a moderate distribution throughout East Asia.

The Qiang people (羌族) are an ethnic group of China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 200,000, living mainly in northwestern part of Sichuan province. Nowadays, the Qiang are only a small segment of the Chinese population, but they are commonly believed to be an old, once strong and populous people whose history can be traced at least to the Shang Dynasty and whose offsprings are thought to include some portion of the modern Tibetans, some portion of the modern Han Chinese and many minority ethnic groups in Western China.

D1a (N1)

D2 (M55): Found at high frequencies among the Ainu, Japanese, and Ryukyuans. Frequencies: Ainu 87%, Okinawa 56%, Honshū 37% and Kyūshū 28%

D3a (P47): Found at high frequencies among Tibetans, with a moderate distribution among some other populations of southern Central Asia. The highest frequency are among the Pumi people 70%.

The Pumi (also Primi) people (普米族) are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

Ethnically related to the Tibetans in the Muli Tibetan Autonomous County and Yanyuan in Sichuan, the Pumi are recognized as an official minority nationality unique to Yunnan, with a population of 30,000. Communities are found notably in Pumi & Bai Autonomous County of Lanping, Yi Autonomous County of Ninglang, Lijiang Old Town, Naxi Autonomous County of Yulong, Lisu Autonomous County of Weixi and Yongsheng County, typically at elevations above 9,000 feet

The Pumi have the longest traceable migration path of any minority group in China. Originally existing as nomads inhabiting the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, they later moved to the warmer areas along valleys within the Hengduan Mountain Range in the 4th century B.C.

Subsequently, they moved to Northern Sichuan in the 7th century, and subsequently to northwest Yunnan in the 14th century. Many of them settled down to become farmers.

 

Haplogroup D1

Haplogroup D1 (M15) is a descendant branch of the greater Haplogroup D.

Its phylogenetically closest relatives are found among the peoples of Japan, Central Asia, and the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It is more distantly related to the Haplogroup E, whose E1b1b sub-clade is common throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia, and Europe.

Distribution: Haplogroup D1 is widely distributed throughout populations that dwell to the northwest, north, northeast, east, and southeast of the Himalaya. It is not found among the populations of India to the south and southwest. The distribution of Haplogroup D1 in Southeast Asia is also very limited, as it is found there only at low frequency and only among populations that speak Tibeto-Burman or Miao-Yao languages, which have ancestral ties to the north.

The distribution of Haplogroup D1 is much more regular in the north, as it is found among nearly all the populations of Central Asia and Northeast Asia south of the Russian border, although generally at a low frequency of 2% or less. A dramatic spike in the frequency of Haplogroup D1 occurs as one approaches the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of western China: among some local populations in Qinghai, it has been found to reach as high as 100%. Its frequency gradually fades as one travels south through the territory of the Tibetan peoples, as Haplogroup O3, which is the most common haplogroup among the Han Chinese and also generally found among Southeast Asian populations, becomes dominant. Haplogroup D1 continues to occur at an overall very low frequency among the Han people to the east; however, there are some indications that the frequency of D1 among the Hans may vary significantly between localities. A secondary, minor spike in the frequency of Haplogroup D1 occurs again in Korea, where it may reach as high as 5% to 8%; this somewhat heightened frequency does not stretch into Manchuria to the north or Japan to the east, which may corroborate historical accounts of immigration from the country of Qin (秦國) in the far west of ancient China to the country of Jinhan, which is believed to have been located somewhere in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. Ancient Chinese historians are known for their habit of drawing what often seem to be forced connections between contemporary peoples and putative ancestors of misty antiquity, and the comments about immigration from Qin to Jinhan might have been motivated by the similarity that the ancient central Chinese perceived between the languages of Qin and Jinhan. Nevertheless, on this occasion the genetic evidence seems to provide the story with some independent corroboration.

As for the ultimate origin of Haplogroup D1, one can only speculate that it might share a recent common ancestor with the Haplogroup D* (M174) Y-chromosomes that are found at a vanishingly low frequency among modern populations of Central Asia.

In regards to the ethnic affiliation of the original carriers of Haplogroup D1, it is notable that Haplogroup D1 Y-chromosomes have not been found to occur at all among many populations of Tibeto-Burman speakers, but Y-chromosomes belonging to the Haplogroup O3a5-M134 clade are commonly found among all Tibeto-Burman-speaking populations outside of Qinghai in addition to being the modal haplogroup among speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages in general, which suggests that the Haplogroup D1 Y-chromosomes found at high frequency among the populations of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau may reflect:

(1) A severe founder effect and/or genetic drift
(2) Descent from a Tibeticized Paleolithic substrate distantly related to modern populations of Central and/or Northeast Asia
(3) A massive incursion of foreign Y-chromosomes belonging to a now linguistically extinct tribe of ultimately Central Asian or Northeast Asian derivation, subsequent to the establishment of Sino-Tibetan-speaking Neolithic populations in the general area.

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History of Qinghai

Qinghai was only relatively recently made a province of China. A large part of the area, historically called Kokonor in English until the early 20th century, lies outside of China proper and has been an ethnic melting pot for centuries, mixing Tibetan, Han Chinese, Mongol, and Turkic influences. It was a battleground during the Tang and subsequent Chinese dynasties when they fought against successive Tibetan dynasties.

Prior to 1724, most of the area that is now Qinghai was under Tibetan control, but in that year it was conquered by the armies of the Qing Dynasty. Following the defeat of the Dzungars by the Qing in the mid 18th century, the area became home to peoples from what is now northern Xinjiang known as the Kokonor Mongols (Kokonor derives from the Mongolian language name of Qinghai).

In 1928, Qinghai became a province of the Republic of China. Subsequently it became the primary base for warlord Ma Bufang, before it became a province under the People's Republic of China in 1949.

 

 

Qijia Culture

The Qijia culture (齊家文化; 2400 BC - 1900 BC) was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of western Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. Johan Gunnar Andersson discovered the initial site at Qijiaping (齊家坪) in 1923. During the late stages of the culture, the Qijia culture retreated from the west and suffered a reduction in population size. Qijia culture produced some of the earliest bronze and copper mirrors found in China. Extensive domestication of horses are found at many Qijia sites.

The archaeological site at Lajia is associated with the Qijia culture.

Lajia (喇家) is an archaeological site located in Minhe County, Haidong Prefecture in Northwest China's Qinghai province. Lajia is associated with the Qijia culture and was discovered by archaeologists in 2000. The site covers an area of around 200,000 square meters. Archaeologists believe the site was abandoned after being devastated by an earthquake and subsequent flood.

In 2005, the oldest intact noodles yet discovered were located at Lajia, estimated at over 4,000 years old. The noodles were made from foxtail and broom millet.

 

 

Ethnic Tibetan Autonomous Entities

• Golog (果洛藏族自治州)
• Haibei (海北藏族自治州)
• Hainan (海南藏族自治州)
• Haixi (海西蒙古族藏族自治州)
• Huangnan (黄南藏族自治州)
• Yushu (玉树藏族自治州)

 

 

Autonomous Areas of China

In a similar fashion to the former Soviet Union's titular nations, a number of areas associated with one or more ethnic minorities are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China (PRC). These areas are recognized in the PRC's constitution and are nominally given a number of rights not accorded to other administrative divisions. The actual degree of autonomy of such regions is questioned. This is because their authority rests with the Constitution and the Law on Regional Autonomy, requiring leaders to seek prior approval from the National People's Congress (NPC) to pass legislation. This is not true for other provinces, which can pass legislation without such prior approval. For this reason, it has been contended that Autonomous regions are in fact "less autonomous."

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners were established after communist takeover, following Soviet practice. At first, the nomenclature of these autonomous areas were somewhat confused, with autonomous regions appearing at the province, prefecture, county, and township levels. Eventually the nomenclature was standardized to the conventions used today.

The first autonomous region to be established was Inner Mongolia, created within communist-held territory in 1947, two years before the establishment of the People's Republic. Xinjiang was converted from a province to an autonomous region in 1955. Guangxi and Ningxia followed in 1957, and Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established in 1965.

Of the five autonomous regions, only Tibet has an absolute majority (>50%) of the designated ethnic group, namely, the Tibetans. Xinjiang has a plurality (<50%) of the designated ethnic group, the Uyghurs, though this is disputed by Uyghur independence advocates, who claim that the Han Chinese population in Xinjiang has been severely understated. The remaining 3 autonomous regions have absolute majorities of Han Chinese, the majority ethnicity of China.

 

 

Ma Clique

The Ma clique (馬家軍; literally "Ma family army") was a family of warlords who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910's until 1949. The three most prominent warlords were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Hongbin, collectively known as the Xibei San Ma (lit. Three Mas of the Northwest). The Three Mas took control of the region during the Warlord Era, siding first with the Guominjun and then the Kuomintang; they fought against the Red Army during the Long March and the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Ma's were all ethnic Hui from Northwestern China, distinguished by their adherence to Islam.

 

Ma Bufang

Ma Hongkui

Ma Zhongying

During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War, the Ma fought for the Kuomintang side until the communists destroyed their forces and took over Gansu in August 1949, just months before the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Ma Hongkui fled with the Kuomintang to Taiwan. Accused of "frustrating the fulfillment of the military plan" by the Control Yuan, as he failed to defeat the Communist forces in his defense area, he then moved to Los Angeles, in the United States, where he died on January 14, 1970. Ma Bufang with his son Ma Jiyang fled by an airplane from Qinghai to Chongqing, then Hong Kong. In October 1949, Chiang Kai-shek urged him to return to the Northwest to resist PLA, but he fled to Saudi Arabia with more than 200 relatives and subordinates, in the name of hajj. Ma Chung-ying was believed to have been taken to Moscow as, "a respectful guest of the Soviet Union," where most accounts hold he was liquidated by Stalin in 1936 or 1937

 

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Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang; 青藏高原) Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in China and Ladakh in Kashmir, India. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average elevation of over 4,500 meters. Sometimes called "the roof of the world," it is the highest and biggest plateau, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometers (about four times the size of Texas or France).

The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by towering mountain ranges. It is bordered to the northwest by the Kunlun Range which separates it from the Tarim Basin, and to the northeast by the Qilian Range which separates the plateau from the Gobi Desert. Near the south the plateau is transected by the Yarlung Tsangpo River valley which flows along the base of the Himalayas, and by the vast Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the east and southeast the plateau gives way to the forested gorge and ridge geography of the mountainous headwaters of the Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze rivers in western Sichuan and southwest Qinghai. In the west it is embraced by the curve of the rugged Karakoram range of northern Kashmir.

One of the greatest advances in human culture is the development of nomadic pastoralism, the adaptation by nomadic people to survival on the world's grassland by raising livestock rather than crops which are unsuitable to the terrain. Nomads currently surviving on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas are the remainders of nomadic practices historically once widespread in Asia and Africa.

 

 

Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake (青海湖) or mTsho sngon po (in Tibetan language), historically known as Koko Nor or Kuku Nor (from the Mongolian name, literally meaning "Blue Lake"), is a saline lake situated in the province of Qinghai, and is the largest lake in China. The names Qinghai and Kokonor both mean "Blue/Teal Sea" in Standard Mandarin and Mongolian. It is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above sea level in a depression of the Tibetan Plateau in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo. 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, but increasing since 2004. Despite its salinity, it has an abundance of fish, such as the edible naked carp (Gymnocypris przewalskii, huángyú (湟鱼).

 

 

Kunlun Mountains

The Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.

From the Pamirs of Tajikistan, it runs east along the border between Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous regions to the Sino-Tibetan ranges in Qinghai province. It stretches along the southern edge of what is now called the Tarim Basin, the infamous Takla Makan or "sand-buried houses" desert, and the Gobi Desert. A number of important rivers flow from it including the Karakash River ('Black Jade River') and the Yurungkash River ('White Jade River'), which flow through the Khotan Oasis into the Taklamakan Desert.

Altyn-Tagh or Altun Range is one of the chief northern ranges of the Kunlun. Nan Shan or its eastern extension Qilian is another main northern range of the Kunlun. In the south main extension is the Min Shan. Bayan Har Mountains, a southern branch of the Kunlun Mountains, forms the watershed between the catchment basins of China's two longest rivers, the Yangtze River and the Huang He.

Mythology: The Kunlun mountains are believed to be Taoist paradise. The first to visit this paradise was, according to the legends, King Mu (976-922 BC) of the Zhou Dynasty. He supposedly discovered there the Jade Palace of Huang-Di, the mythical Yellow Emperor and originator of Chinese culture, and met Hsi Wang Mu (Xi Wang Mu) , the 'Spirit Mother of the West' usually called the 'Queen Mother of the West', who was the object of an ancient religious cult which reached its peak in the Han Dynasty, also had her mythical abode in these mountains.

 

 

Yellow River

 

The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho (黃河) is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi). Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through through Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and empties into the Bohai Sea. The mouth of the Yellow River is located at Dongying, Shandong.

The provinces of Hebei and Henan derive their names from the Huang He. Their names mean respectively "north of the (Yellow) River" and "south of the (Yellow) River".

Major cities located along the Yellow River include, starting from the source, Lanzhou, Wuhai, Baotou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Jinan.

The Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", as its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations and was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history.

 

 

Yangtze River

The Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang (長江), is the longest river in China and Asia, and the third-longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America.

The river is about 6,380 km long and flows from its source in Qinghai Province, eastwards into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It has traditionally been considered a dividing line between North and South China, although geographers consider the Qinling-Huai River line to be the official line of geographical division. As the largest river in the region, the Yangtze is historically, culturally, and economically important to China. One of the dams on the river, the Three Gorges Dam, is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.

History: The Yangtze Harbor is important to the cultural origins of southern China. Human activity was found in the Three Gorges area as far back as 27 thousand years ago, initiating debate over the origin of the Chinese people. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Ba and Shu were located along the western part of the river, covering modern Sichuan, Chongqing, and western Hubei; Chu was located along the central part of river, corresponding to Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui. Wu and Yue were located along the eastern part of the river, now Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Although the Yellow River region was richer and more developed at that time, the milder climate and more peaceful environment made the Yangtze River area more suitable for agriculture.

Historically, the Yangtze became the political boundary between north China and south China several times (see History of China) because of the difficulty of crossing the river. Many battles took place along the river, the most famous being the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD during the Three Kingdoms period.

Politically, Nanjing was the capital of China several times, although most of the time its territory only covered the southeastern part of China, such as the Wu kingdom in the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and smaller countries in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods. Only the Ming occupied most parts of China from their capital at Nanjing, though it later moved the capital to Beijing. The ROC capital was located in Nanjing in the periods 1911-1912, 1927-1937, and 1945-1949.

 

 

Xining

Xining (西寧) is the capital of Qinghai Province, People's Republic of China. Xining is located in the eastern part of Qinghai province and lies on the Huangshui River.

Xining has a history of over 2100 years and was a chief commercial hub on the Hexi Corridor caravan route to Tibet, handling especially timber, wool and salt in ancient times. The trade along the Hexi Corridor was part of a larger trade corridor along the Northern Silk Road, whose use was intensified in the first century BC after efforts by the Han Dynasty to control this route.

Under the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) a county there called Linqiang controlled the local Qiang tribesmen. It was again a frontier county under the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties; during the 7th and early 8th centuries it was a center of constant warfare with the Tuyuhun and (later) the Tibetan peoples. In 763 it was overrun by the Tibetans and while under Tibetan control was known to the Chinese as Qingtangcheng. Recovered by the Song dynasty in 1104, it received the name Xining (meaning "peace in the west") and has been the seat of a prefecture or superior prefecture under that name since that time. With the rise of Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism), which began in the 7th century AD, Xining became an important religious center; Qinghai's largest lamasery, a holy place to the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhists, was located at Kunbum, some 19 km to the southeast.

As the capital of Qinghai Province, Xining almost boasts all varieties of local flavors. Xining's cuisine is distinct from other varieties of Chinese cities using mainly food products native to the area. Food here is substantial, but quite inexpensive.

Xining Cuisine: A unique feature of snacks in Xining is that they are given names after the surname of their initiator. Some of the famous ones will be introduced in next context. Liangfen (bean jelly) is made from pea powder and cut into short strips. Liangfen is served with vinegar, chili and mashed garlic, mustard and salt to enhance the taste the dish. Niangpi is a popular snack made of flour and baking soda. It can be found anywhere in Xining for four-yuan. The most famous version of this snack is called Mazhong Niangpi and can be found in the Mojia Jie. Zasui Tang is a soup cooked with lamb and oxen entrails. Locals often eat this snack for breakfast. The hot soup helps warm people during the winter. Muslim Yoghurt is a must while in Xining – this breakfast is a kind of yoghurt made by local Muslim families and is served in small bowls for one-yuan. Terrine is a popular and inexpensive snack in Xining. It is a small hot pot which contains beef, mutton, been curd and vermicelli. Mutton Eaten with Fingers is the most famous snack in Qinghai Province. It is made of fresh mutton and served with a little salt. This snack is the favorite food of the herdsmen of Qinghai Province.

In Xining, some restaurants serve varieties of 'plateau flavor', such as Feng'er Liji (a round lamb tenderloin), Danbai Chongcao Ji (a medicine cuisine made of chicken, Chinese caterpillar fungus and eggs), Jinyu Facai (pork wrapped in flabelliform nostoc and shaped as a goldfish) among others. These dishes are often cooked by the locals at home.