Qinghai

Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known Kokonor, is a landlocked province in

the northwest

of the

People's Republic of China

. It is one of the largest provinces of China by area, and is ranked fourth largest in area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is

Xining

.

Qinghai borders

Gansu

on the northeast,

Xinjiang

on the northwest,

Sichuan

on the southeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest. Qinghai province was established in 1928 during the period of the Republic of China, and until 1949 was ruled by Chinese Muslim warlords known as the Ma clique. The Chinese name "Qinghai" is after

Qinghai Lake

, the largest lake in China. The lake is known as Tso ngon in Tibetan, and as Kokonor Lake in English, derived from the Mongol Oirat name for Qinghai Lake. Both Tso ngon and Kokonor are names found in historic documents to describe the region. Gangchen Khishong, 2001. ''Tibet and Manchu: An Assesment of Tibet-Manchu Relations in Five Phases of Development''. Dharmasala: Narthang Press, p.1-70.

Located mostly on the Tibetan Plateau, the province has long been inhabited by a number of peoples including the Tibetans,

Mongols

, Han (concentrated in the provincial capital of Xining and nearby Haidong), Hui, Monguors, and Salars. According to 2021 census reports, Tibetans constitute a fifth of the population of Qinghai and the Hui compose roughly a sixth of the population. There are over 37 recognized ethnic groups among Qinghai's population of 5.6 million, with national minorities making up a total of 45.5% of the population.

The area of Qinghai was controlled by Manchu-led Qing China around 1724, after their defeat of Khoshut Mongols, which controlled most of the area that is now Qinghai. After the internal overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qinghai came under Chinese Muslim warlord

Ma Qi

's control until the Northern Expedition by the Republic of China consolidated central control in 1928. In the same year, the province of Qinghai was established by the Nationalist Government, with Xining as its capital.

History

During the Bronze Age, Qinghai was home to the Qiang people who traditionally made a living in

agriculture

and husbandry, the Kayue culture. The eastern part of the area of Qinghai was under the control of the

Han dynasty

about 2,000 years ago. It was a battleground during the Tang and subsequent Chinese dynasties when they fought against successive Tibetan tribes.

In the middle of 3rd century CE, nomadic people related to the

Mongol

ic Xianbei migrated to pasture lands around the

Qinghai Lake

(Koko Nur) and established the Tuyuhun Kingdom.

In the 7th century, the Tuyuhun Kingdom was attacked by both the

Tibetan Empire

and the Tang dynasty as both sought control over the

Silk Road

trade routes. Tibetan King Songsten Gampo was victorious, and settled the area around Tso ngon (Lake Go, or Kokonor Lake). Military conflicts had severely weakened the Tuhuyun kingdom and it was incorporated into the Tibetan Empire. The Tibetan Empire continued expanding beyond Tso ngon during

Trisong Detsen

's and Ralpachen's reigns, and the empire controlled vast areas north and east of Tso ngon until 848, which included

Xian

.

After the disintegration of the Tibetan Empire, small local factions emerged, some under the titular authority of China. The Song dynasty defeated the Tibetan Kokonor Kingdom in the 1070s. During the Mongol Yuan dynasty's administrative rule of Tibet, the region comprised the headwaters of the Ma chu (Machu River,Yellow River) and the Yalong (Yangtze) rivers and was known as

Amdo

, but apportioned to different administrative divisions than Tibet proper.

Most of Qinghai was once also a short time under the control of early

Ming dynasty

, but later gradually lost to the

Khoshut Khanate

founded by the Oirats. The Xunhua Salar Autonomous County is where most Salar people live in Qinghai. The Salars migrated to Qinghai from

Samarkand

in 1370. The chief of the four upper clans around this time was Han Pao-yuan and Ming granted him office of centurion, it was at this time the people of his four clans took Han as their surname. The other chief Han Shan-pa of the four lower Salar clans got the same office from Ming, and his clans were the ones who took Ma as their surname.

From 1640 to 1724, a big part of the area that is now Qinghai was under Khoshut Mongol control, but in 1724 it was conquered by the armies of the Qing dynasty.

Xining

, the capital of modern Qinghai province, began to function as the administrative center, although the city itself was then part of

Gansu

province within the "Tibetan frontier district". In 1724, 13-Article for the Effective Governing of Qinghai (Chinese:青海善后事宜十三条) was proposed by Nian Gengyao and adopted by the Central Government to gain full control of Qinghai.

During the rule of the Qing dynasty, the governor was a viceroy of the Qing Emperor, but the local ethnic groups enjoyed much autonomy. Many chiefs retained their traditional authority, participating in local administrations. The Dungan revolt (1862–77) devastated the Hui Muslim population of

Shaanxi

, shifting the Hui center of population to

Gansu

and Qinghai. Another Dungan revolt broke out in Qinghai in 1895 when various Muslim ethnic groups in Qinghai and Gansu rebelled against the Qing. Following the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the region came under Chinese Muslim warlord

Ma Qi

control until the Northern Expedition by the Republic of China consolidated central control in 1928.

In July–August 1912, General

Ma Fuxiang

was "Acting Chief Executive Officer of Kokonur" (de facto Governor of the region that later became Qinghai). In 1928, Qinghai province was created. The Muslim warlord and General

Ma Qi

became military governor of Qinghai, followed by his brother Ma Lin (warlord) and then Ma Qi's son

Ma Bufang

. In 1932 Tibet invaded Qinghai, attempting to capture southern parts of Qinghai province, following contention in Yushu, Qinghai, over a monastery in 1932. The army of Ma Bufang defeated the Tibetan armies. Governor of Qinghai

Ma Bufang

was described as a socialist by American journalist John Roderick and friendly compared to the other Ma Clique warlords. Ma Bufang was reported to be good humoured and jovial in contrast to the brutal reign of

Ma Hongkui

. Most of eastern China was ravaged by the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, by contrast, Qinghai was relatively untouched.

Ma Bufang increased the prominence of the Hui and Salar people in Qinghai's politics by heavily recruiting to his army from the counties in which those ethnic groups predominated. General Ma started a state run and controlled industrialization project, directly creating educational, medical, agricultural, and sanitation projects, run or assisted by the state. The state provided money for food and uniforms in all schools, state run or private. Roads and a theater were constructed. The state controlled all the press, no freedom was allowed for independent journalists.

As the 1949 Chinese revolution approached Qinghai, Ma Bufang abandoned his post and flew to

Hong Kong

, traveling abroad but never returning to China. On January 1, 1950, the Qinghai Province People's Government was declared, owing its allegiance to the new

People's Republic of China

. Aside from some minor adjustments to suit the geography, the PRC maintained the province's territorial integrity. Resistance to Communist rule continued in the form of the Huis' Kuomintang Islamic insurgency (1950–58), spreading past traditionally Hui areas to the ethnic-Tibetan south. Although the Hui composed 15.6% of Qinghai's population in 1949, making the province the second-largest concentration of Hui after

Ningxia

, the state denied the Hui ethnic autonomous townships and counties that their numbers warranted under Chinese law until the 1980s.

File:Khoshut Khanate.png, The

Khoshut Khanate

(1642–1717) based in the Tibetan Plateau
File:Chiang Kai-shek on right Ma Buqing on left Ma Bufang second from left.png,

Chiang Kai-shek

, leader of Nationalist China (right), meets with the Muslim generals

Ma Bufang

(second from left), and

Ma Buqing

(first from left) in

Xining

, Qinghai, in August 1942

Geography

Qinghai is located on the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The Yellow River originates in the southern part of the province, while the Yangtze and

Mekong

have their sources in the southwestern part. Qinghai is separated by the

Riyue Mountain

into pastoral and agricultural zones in the west and east.

The average elevation of Qinghai is over above sea level. Mountain ranges include the Tanggula Mountains and

Kunlun Mountains

, with the highest point being Bukadaban Feng at . Due to the high altitude, Qinghai has quite cold winters (harsh in the highest elevations), mild summers, and a large diurnal temperature variation. Its mean annual temperature is approximately , with January temperatures ranging from and July temperatures ranging from . It is also prone to heavy winds as well as

sandstorms

from February to April. Significant rainfall occurs mainly in summer, while precipitation is very low in winter and spring, and is generally low enough to keep much of the province semi-arid or

arid

.

By area, Qinghai is the largest province in the People's Republic of China (excluding the autonomous regions).

Qinghai Lake

is the largest salt water lake in China, and the second largest in the world. The Qaidam basin lies in the northwest part of the province. About a third of this resource rich basin is desert. The basin has an altitude between 3000 and 3500 meters.

The Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, is located in Qinghai and contains the headwaters of the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and

Mekong River

. The reserve was established to protect the headwaters of these three rivers and consists of 18 subareas, each containing three zones which are managed with differing degrees of strictness.

File:Nianbaoyuze Geopark 2015.jpeg, Nyenpo Yurtse, Jigzhi County, Qinghai
File:青海日月山 - panoramio - Tiger@西北 (3).jpg,

Riyue Mountain

in Qinghai

Politics

Administrative divisions

Because the Han form Qinghai's ethnic majority and because none of its many ethnic minorities have clear dominance over the rest, the province is not administered as an autonomous region. Instead, the province has many ethnic autonomous areas at the district and county levels. Qinghai is administratively divided into eight prefecture-level divisions: two prefecture-level cities and six autonomous prefectures:

The eight prefecture-level divisions of Qinghai are subdivided into 44 county-level divisions (6 districts, 4 county-level cities, 27 counties and 7 autonomous counties).

Urban areas

Population

Demographics

Ethnicity

There are over 37 recognized ethnic groups among Qinghai's population of 5.2 million, with national minorities making up 45.5% of the population. The demographic mix is similar to

Gansu

province, with Han (54.5%), Tibetan (20.7%), Hui (16%), Tu (Monguor) (4%), Mongol, and Salar being the most populous groups. Han Chinese predominate in the cities of

Xining

,

Haidong

,

Delingha

and

Golmud

, and elsewhere in the northeast. The Hui are concentrated in Xining, Haidong, Minhe County, Hualong County, and Datong County. The Tu people

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