HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Qinghai Lake or Ch'inghai Lake, also known by other names, is the
largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in China. Located in an
endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...
in
Qinghai Province Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest pop ...
, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline salt lake. The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century but increasing since 2004. It had a surface area of , an average depth of , and a maximum depth of in 2008.


Names

Qinghai is the romanized Standard Chinese
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
pronunciation of the name Although modern Chinese distinguishes between the colors blue and green, this distinction did not exist in
classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...
. The color (''qīng'') was a "single" color inclusive of both blue and green as separate shades. (English for ''qīng'' is cyan or turquoise, also linguists have coined the
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsXiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
,
Han China The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...
connected the lake with the legendary "Western Sea" assumed to balance the East China Sea, but as the Han Empire expanded further west into the
Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...
other lakes assumed the title. In English, Qinghai Lake was formerly known as Ch'inghai Lake or ; the
Chinese Postal Map The history of the postage stamps and postal history of China is complicated by the gradual decay of Imperial China and the years of civil war and Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 1940s. In modern times, postal delivery is handled by Ch ...
romanization was of the Mongolian name . As for the Mongolians, the color of the lake is unambiguously labeled blue, but classical Mongolian did not distinguish between lakes and larger bodies of water. The Chinese name, using "sea" rather than "lake," is thus an overly literal
calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...
of this name, used by the
Upper Mongols The Upper Mongols ( Mongolian: Дээд монгол, ''Deed mongol'', Mongolian script: ), also known as the Köke Nuur Mongols ( Mongolian: Хөх нуурын Монгол, Mongolian script: , "Blue lake Mongol") or Qinghai Mongols ( Chinese: ...
, some of whom made up the local ruling class during the standardization of western Chinese toponyms in the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
. Similar use of the Chinese word for "sea" to translate Mongolian lake toponyms can be seen elsewhere around Qinghai, as with
Lake Heihai Lake Heihai is a small mesosaline lake in Golmud County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in western China. Names "Lake Heihai" is an English clarification of the pinyin romanization of the Chinese name meaning . (As with Qinghai Lake, ...
("Black Sea") in the Kunlun Mountains. The Tibetans also separately calqued the name as "Blue Lake, Sea".


Geography

Qinghai Lake lies about west of
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...
in a hollow of the
Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...
at above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
. It lies between
Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; , , Tib.pin.: ''cojang poirig ranggyong kü'') is an autonomous prefecture of northeastern Qinghai Province, China. The prefecture has an area of and its seat is Haiyan County. Its name literally means " ...
and
Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, formerly known as Tsolho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; ), is an autonomous prefecture of Northeastern Qinghai Province in Western China. The prefecture has an area of and its seat is located in Gonghe C ...
in northeastern Qinghai in
Northwest China Northwest China () is a statistical region of China which includes the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Ningxia and the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. It has an area of 3,107,900 km2. The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid con ...
. The lake has fluctuated in size, shrinking over much of the 20th century but increasing since 2004. It had a surface area of , an average depth of , and a maximum depth of in 2008. Twenty-three rivers and streams empty into Qinghai Lake, most of them seasonal. Five permanent streams provide 80% of the total influx. The relatively low inflow and high evaporation rates have turned Qinghai saline and alkaline; it is presently about 14 ppt salt with a pH of 9.3. It has increased in salinity and
basicity In chemistry, there are three definitions in common use of the word base, known as Arrhenius bases, Brønsted bases, and Lewis bases. All definitions agree that bases are substances that react with acids, as originally proposed by G.-F. ...
since the early
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
. At the tip of the peninsula on the western side of the lake are Cormorant Island and Egg Island, collectively known as the Bird Islands. Qinghai Lake became isolated from the
Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
about 150,000 years ago. If the water level were to rise by approximately , the connection to the Yellow River would be reestablished via the low pass to the east used by highway S310. 18,000 years ago, just after the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, the lake level of Lake Qinghai was around 30 metres lower than today. Between 15,600 and 10,700 years ago, lake levels secularly increased to around 10 metres lower than the present lake level, after which they declined slightly until around 9,200 years ago, when they began to rise again. Around 5,900 years ago, lake levels reached a peak of a few metres higher than today, before declining again amidst a regional cooling and drying trend until 1,400 years ago, when they were less than 10 metres lower than average modern levels. They then began to rise once more until reaching their present level.


Climate

The lake often remains frozen for three months continuously in winter.


History

During the
Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(206 BCE–220 CE), substantial numbers of
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
lived in the
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...
valley to the east.. In the 17th century, Mongolic-speaking Oirat and
Khalkha The Khalkha (Mongolian script, Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tum ...
tribals migrated to Qinghai and became known as Qinghai Mongols. In 1724, the Qinghai Mongols led by revolted against the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
. The
Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Yinzhen, was the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned from ...
, after putting down the rebellion, stripped away Qinghai's autonomy and imposed direct rule. Although some
Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
lived around the lake, the Qing maintained an administrative division from the time of
Güshi Khan Güshi Khan (1582 – 14 January 1655; ) was a Khoshut prince and founder of the Khoshut Khanate, who supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan as the main benefactor of the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1637, Güshi ...
between the Dalai Lama's western realm (slightly smaller than the current
Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
) and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in the east. Yongzheng also sent Manchu and Han settlers to dilute the Mongols. During Nationalist rule (1928-1949), the Han formed a majority of Qinghai Province's residents, although Chinese Muslims (
Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
) dominated the government. The
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
Hui general
Ma Bufang Ma Bufang (1903 – 31 July 1975) (, Xiao'erjing: ) was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general. General Ma started an industrialization pro ...
, having invited Kazakh Muslims, joined the governor of Qinghai and other high ranking Qinghai and national government officials in conducting a joint Kokonuur Lake Ceremony to worship the God of the Lake. During the ritual, the Chinese national anthem was sung and all participants bowed to a Portrait of
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
founder Sun Yat-sen as well as to the God of the Lake. Participants, both Han and Muslim, made offerings to the god. After the 1949 Chinese revolution, refugees from the 1950s
Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...
settled in the area west of Qinghai Lake. After the
Chinese economic reform The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and " socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of ...
in the 1980s, drawn by new business opportunities, migration to the area increased, causing ecological stresses. Fresh grass production in Gangcha County north of the lake declined from a mean of to in 1987. In 2001, the
State Forestry Administration of China The State Forestry and Grassland Administration () is an administration of the People's Republic of China, in charge of the national forestry affairs. It was founded in 1949 as Ministry of Forestry and Farming. On November 5, 1951, it changed to ...
launched the "Retire Cropland, Restore Grasslands" () campaign and started confiscating Tibetan and Mongol pastoralists' guns in order to preserve the endangered
Przewalski's gazelle Przewalski's gazelle (''Procapra przewalskii'') is a member of the family Bovidae, and in the wild, is found only in China. Once widespread, its range has declined to six populations near Qinghai Lake. The gazelle was named after Nikolai Przheva ...
. Prior to the 1960s, 108 freshwater rivers emptied into the lake. As of 2003, 85% of the river mouths have dried up, including the lake's largest tributary, the Buha River. In between 1959 and 1982, there had been an annual water level drop of , which was reversed at a rate of between 1983 and 1989, but has continued to drop since. The
Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...
reported in 1998 the lake was again threatened with loss of surface area due to livestock over-grazing, land reclamations, and natural causes. Surface area decreased 11.7% in the period from 1908 to 2000. During that period, higher lake floor areas were exposed and numerous water bodies separated from the rest of the main lake. In the 1960s, the Gahai Lake (尕海, ''Gǎhǎi'') appeared in the north; Shadao Lake (沙岛, ''Shādǎo''), covering an area of to the northeast, followed in the 1980s, along with Haiyan Lake (海晏, ''Hǎiyàn'') of . Another daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. Qinghai Provincial Remote Sensing Center, attributed the separation of Qinghai Lake to shrinkage of the water surface as a result of a lowered water level and desertification in the region. The water surface has shrunk by over the last three decades.Qinghai Lake splits due to deterioration
Chinadaily.com.cn (2004-02-24). Retrieved on 2010-09-27.


Wildlife

The lake is located at the crossroads of several bird migration routes across Asia. Many species use Qinghai as an intermediate stop during migration. As such, it is a focal point in global concerns regarding avian influenza (
H5N1 Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type ...
), as a major outbreak here could spread the virus across Europe and Asia, further increasing the chances of a pandemic. Minor outbreaks of H5N1 have already been identified at the lake. The Bird Islands have been sanctuaries of the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone since 1997. There are five native fish species: The edible naked carp (''Gymnocypris przewalskii'', ), which is the most abundant in the lake, and four stoneloaches (''
Triplophysa stolickai The Tibetan stone loach (''Triplophysa stolickai'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. The specific name is sometimes spelled ''stoliczkae'' but the original spelling used by Steindachner is ''stoličkai''.Wu, Y.-Y., Sun ...
'', '' T. dorsonotata'', '' T. scleroptera'' and '' T. siluroides'').. Other
Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
fish species occurred in the lake, but they disappeared with the increasing salinity and
basicity In chemistry, there are three definitions in common use of the word base, known as Arrhenius bases, Brønsted bases, and Lewis bases. All definitions agree that bases are substances that react with acids, as originally proposed by G.-F. ...
, beginning in the early
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
.


Culture

There is an island in the western part of the lake with a temple and a few hermitages called "Mahādeva, the Heart of the Lake" (''mTsho snying Ma hā de wa'') which historically was home to a Buddhist monastery. The temple was also used for religious purposes and ceremonies. No boat was used during summer, so monks and pilgrims traveled to and from only when the lake froze over in winter. A nomad described the size of the island by saying that: "if in the morning a she-goat starts to browse the grass around it clockwise and its kid anti-clockwise, they will meet only in the night, which shows how big the island is." It is also known as the place to which Gushri Khan and other Khoshut Mongols migrated during the 1620s. The lake is currently circumnavigated by pilgrims, mainly Tibetan Buddhists, especially every Horse Year of the 12-year cycle. Nikolay Przhevalsky estimated it would take about eight days by horse or 15 walking to circumambulate the lake, but pilgrims report it takes about 18 days on horseback, and one took 23 days walking to complete the circuit.


Gallery

File:Rapeseed at Qinghai Lake.jpg,
Rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...
fields Qinghai Lake 2016 05.jpg, Grassland near the lake Qinghai Lake 2016 01.jpg, Gya'yi Monastery () at Qinghai Lake 青海湖边藏民帐篷 - panoramio.jpg, Yurt on the shore


See also

*
Qinghai Lake railway station Qinghaihu railway station is a railway station on the Qingzang railway. It serves Qinghaihu Township in Haiyan County, Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in ...
*
Tour of Qinghai Lake The Tour of Qinghai Lake is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in the Qinghai province of China since 2002, named after Qinghai Lake. The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC race as part ...
* North West Nuclear Weapons Research and Design Academy


References


Citations


Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .


External links

* *
Qinghai Lake Protection and Utilization Administration Bureau
(official) *
Qinghai Lake Tourism and Culture Network
(official)

(Eastday.com.cn 07/17/2001) * {{authority control Lakes of China Lakes of Qinghai Shrunken lakes
Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
Amdo Tourist attractions in Qinghai Parks in Qinghai