PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF WEST CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01018A000100110001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 146
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 29, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REPORT

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Kansu, Sikang, Tsinghai, and Northwestern Szechwan
CIA/RR-G-11
Office of Research and Reports
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A. Environmental AIjustments and Cultural Relations . . . 5
B. Regional Divisions of West China . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Physical Basis : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3. The Geographic Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
II. The Frontiers of Chinese Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A. The Culture Complex in the Agricultural Areas . . . . 17
1. The Chinese and the Moslems . . . . . . . . . . . L7
2. Land Reform and the Moslems . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3. Trading Between the Moslems and Nomads . . . . . . 22
B. The Kansu Corridor (Region A) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2(,
1. General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2. Geographic Subdivisions of the Corridor . . . . . 9
a. The Wu-wei Basin (Region Al) . . . . . . . . . 29
b. The Etsin Gol Basin (Region A2) . . . . . . . .?9
C. The Su-lo Ho Basin (Region A3) . . . . . . . . 30
d.. Pei Shan and the Mongolian Plateau
(Region Al-i-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3. Settlement in the Kansu Corridor . . . . . . . . . 11
C. The Nan Shan and Astin Tagh (Region B) . . . . . . . . 4
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D. The Sino-Tibetan Borderland (Region C) . . . . . . . . 37
1. General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2. geographic Areas of the Borderland . . . . . . . . 40
a . Agricultural Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
+;:L) The Loess Plateau (Region Cl) . . . . . . 40
2) The Yellow River and Huang Shui
(Sining) Valleys (Region C2) . . . . . 42
3) The Wei Ho Valley (Region C3) . . . . . . 42
4) The Koko Nor Basin (Region C4) . . . . . 43
:~. The Border Forest 'Region (Region C5)
and Its People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . 44
;2) The Ya Area (Chinese) . . . . . . . . . . 4'7
3) The Ning Area (Yi-chia) . . . . . . . . . 48
,4) Northwestern Szechwan (Ch'iang
and Gyarong) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5) Southern Kansu (Kham Tibetans) . . . . . 55
I=I. The High Steppes of Tsang Tibet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
A. The Tsaidam Basin (Region D) . . .. . . . . . . . . . 59
1. 3eneral Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2. 3eographic Subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
a. 'r:ne Tsaidam Salt Marsh (Region Dl) . . . . . . 59
io. The Southern Corridor (Region D2) . . . . . . 61
The Tsaidam Gravel and Salt Deserts
(Region D3) . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 62
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d. The Tsaidam Sand Desert (Region D)+) . . . . . 6'-
e. The Tsaidam Steppe (Region D5) . . . . . . . . 63
3. The Tsaidam Mongols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 $
B. The Central Mountain Region (Region E) . . . . . . . . 66
1. General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2. The Goloks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
C. The Tibetan Plateau (Region F) . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
1. The Chang Thang (Region Fl) . . . . . . . . . . . E,8
2. The Outer Plateau (Region F2) . . . . . . . . . . 'r'1
3. The Tsang Tibetans of the Plateaus . . . . . . . . 4
IV. The Gorges Region of Khan Tibet . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9
A. General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9
B. Geographic Subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? ~31
1. The River Gorges Region (Region G) . . . . . . . . 31
a. The Humid Gorges (Region G1) . .. . . . . . . . 31
b. The Arid Gorges (Region G2) . . . . . . . . . 33
2. The Tibetan Valley Region (Region H) . . . . . . . 35
C. The Kham Tibetans of the Gorges Region . . . . . . . . 86
D. Contacts Between the Kham Tibetans and
the Tsang Tibetans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
V. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
A. Environmental Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92'
B. Culture Contact and Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . 94+
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C. Social Control . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . , . . . . 94
D. The Possibilities of Communist Control and
Development of West China . . . . ? . . . . . . . .
Appendixes
Appendix A. Routes of West China . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 100
Appendix B. Cities of West China . . . . . . . . . . . ? . 105
Appendix C. Gaps in Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10'7
Appendix D. Sources and Evaluation of Sources . . . . . . . . 108
1. Evaluation of Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2. 'Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Illustrations Following Page
Figure 1. Hui people (Chinese-speaking Moslems)
of a Moslem village in the Loess Plateau
Region (Region Cl) of eastern K.ansu . . . . . . . 58
Figure 2. A Moslem mosque in a suburb of Lan-thou. The 58
Moslem crescent is faintly discernible atop
the pagodalike minaret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure ,. Members of a. Tsang Tibetan caravan gather
around a "kettle" with their tsamba bowls.
Note the high-crowned and broad-brimmed hats
and typical Tibetan sheepskin coats . . . . . . . 58
Figure 4. A Golok lama from the Central Mountain Region
(Region E2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure 5. A terraced and eroded valley in the Loess
Plateau Region (Region Cl) in southeastern
Kansu. An agricultural village can be
seen at the left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure 6. Short bunch-grass vegetation predominates in
the Tsaid.am Steppe Region (Region D5),
south of Koko Nor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
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Figure 7. A high mountain valley in southern Sikang,
14,400 feet in elevation, covered with
alpine sod, flowers, and dwarfed shrubs
(Region C5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
J8
Figure 8. The southern part of Tatsienlu (K'ang-ting),
the trade center of southern Sikang on
the Gya-Lam or China Road (Region C5) . . . . . .
)_c
Figure 9. Hsi-fan peasants in the Yi-chia territory of
southern Sikang (Region C5) . . . . . . . . . . .
'58
Figure 10. An aboriginal village (elevation 12,500 feet)
overlooking the Ya-lung River in southern
Sikang (Region C5). Note the grain-drying
racks (left) and stacked firewood (left center) .
58
Figure 11. A horse and man, launched from the opposite
bank, slide down a rope bridge across the
Ya-lung River in southern Sikang (Region C5) . . .
58
Figure 12. A herd of yaks grazing in a high steppe
valley. The large bull (right) stands
about 5 feet 6 inches at the withers . . . . . . .
78
Figure 13. A Golok herdsman's house in the Central
Mountain Region (Region E2). The man in
the center is probably a house lama. The
herdsman's wife (left) is preparing food
over the stone and mud stove . . . . . . . . . . .
78
Figure 14. Landscape typical of the Chang Thang
(Region Fl) in the Thanglha Mountains
along the southwestern Tsinghai border . . . . . .
.
Figure 15. The short-grass steppe' of the Outer
Plateau (Region F2) northeast of
Yii-shu (Jyekundo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
Figure 16. The town of YU-shu (Jyekundo) in a valley
of the Outer Plateau (Region F2). Note
the typical flat-topped Tibetan houses . . . . . .
78
Figure 17. Tsang Tibetan nomads near their black yak-hair
tent in the Outer Plateau (Region F2) . . . . . .
(8
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Figure 18.. A caravan using yaks, on the road to Lhasa . . . . . 78
Figure 19. The humid gorge of the Shou Chu, a tributary
river of the Yangtze in southern Sikang
(Region G1) . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Figure 20. The arid gorge of the Mekong River in
southwestern TBinghai (Region G2) . . . . . . . . 104
Figure 21. Kham TibetaX1 peasants from the Shou Chu
Valley shown in Figure 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Figure 22. Travelers on the Gya-Lans (China Road) en route
from Chamdo to Lhasa ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Figure 23. The Yellow River looking upstream (west),
showing the city of Lan-chou at the left.
The steel bridge (,--enter) connects Lan-chou
with. the Northwest Highway and the road to
S inirs.g . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Terrain Regions and Ethnic Groups of West China (CIA No. 12615)
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PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF WEST CHINA
;summary
West China, comprising Kansu, Tsinghai, Sikang, and northwestern
Szechwan, is a series of terraces or steps buttressed by great latitu-
dinal ranges, which descend in elevation to the north, south, and
east from the vast and lofty saucerlike basin of Chang Thang in tie
west-central part of West China. The steps in the descent are mo.!-:
clearly defined to the north, where terraces of the Tsaidam Basin ar.d
Mongolian Plateau are successively lower and are set off from eact
other by mountain ranges -- the Kun-lun Shan and the Nan Shan. T)
the south, the first step down is to the Tsangpo Basin south of t5e
Nyenchhen Thanglha ranges and the second is to the lowlands of India
beyond the Himalayas. East of the Chang Thang, the steps are less
abrupt, and terrain regions are less pronounced. The Salween, MEkong,
and Yangtze Rivers form along the alpine rim of the Chang Thang ?nd
cross the gradual slope of the Outer Plateau, flowing to the east and
southeast until their subtropical gorges cut through the plateau edge
in southern Sikang. The north-south mountain rim of the Tibetan
Plateau extends along the entire eastern border of West China. t:
not only links together the east-west ranges but also forms a major
geographic boundary -- that between the monsoonal agriculture of
China Proper and the arid nomadism of West China.
Along the boundary between agriculture and nomadism, there Ls
also a broad cultural transition zone that extends from the Yangtze
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River in the south to the Nan Slaan in the north. The transition is
from the Confu ian-Buddhist Chinese agriculturists on the east to
Lamaist Tibetan nomads and shifting agriculturists, with admixtures
of relict aboriginal shamanistic tribes, on the west. In Kansu, the
a~guiculturists of the transition zone comprise two ccexisting but
culturally divergent groups -- the Han Chinese and the Hui people
(Chinese Moslems). West of the "border area, in the high steppes and
arid :intermontane basins, are the nomads -- the Tsang Tibetans south
of the Central Mountain Belt and the Tsaidam Mongols to the north.
All the cultural groups of West China have evolved distinctive
adjustments to their environments, which range from the northern arid
steppes and deserts through the western high alpine deserts and
steppes to the htunid_ semitropical. forests in the southeast.
Partly because of their different modes of life and. partly be-
cause of their :incompatible social and religious norms and practices,
the various ethnic groups are in conflict wherever their territories
touch. The Han Chinese and the Hui people conflict over religious
norms and. practices; the Chinese, the Khan Tibetans, and the aboriginal
tribes are at odds over the small available amount of arable land;
the Chinese and Moslems have trade differences with the nomads, both
Tibetan and Mongol; and among the nomads, there are differences born
of the age-old struggle for survival in the steppes and deserts.
Catalytic to these points of conflict are the harsh political, social,
economic, and ideological controls superimposed by the Chinese Com-
monists on West China. In conflict with these measures are the ancient
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social, economic, and religious controls exercised by the Lamaist won-
asteries over the peoples of West China.
The distinctive adjustments to specific environments (both pl,-yTsical
and cultural), the lines of culture contact and conflict, and. the evoi. ing
pattern of social control constitute the major elements of the cu tural_
geography of West China.
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I. People and Environment in West China
A. Environmental Adjustments and Cultural Relations
The mutual dependence among the various physical and cultural
environments of West China and the distinctive adjustments that tie
major ethnic groups have made to their environments have given ri:,e
to three major problems that bear on the future of West China:
(1) environmental adjustment, (2) culture contact and conflict, and
(3) social control. The first problem -- essentially the business of
keeping alive -- occupies the energies of all who live in or travel
through West China. The special characteristics of environment and
differences among ethnic groups have a bearing on the social and
economic future of the various regions -- the future of nomadic herding,
of sedentary or intensive agriculture, or of Communist-developed
mining and industry. The present status and future development of
corridors and routes of communication and transportation, important to
military and political control as well as to trade, are dependent, upon
a knowledge of how to get along in a specific region.
The second problem deals with the spread of and contacts between
different types of culture and the resulting cultural integratiot or
disintegration. Culture contact, conflict, and acculturation have
important effects upon intraregional movement, trade, and the economic
and political development of West China.
The third problem is concerned with the social and political systems
set up by ethnic groups to enforce conformity to the accepted ways of
life. The traditional modes of social control and the superimposed
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controls of the Chinese Commronists not only have an effect on the pace
of acculturation and the future economic and commercial development of
'West China, but also are indispensable factors in the determination and
assessment of strategic routes and areas.
3. Regional Divisions of West China
1. Physical Basis
Terrain in West China varies in three dimensions: latitude,
longitude, and altitude. Physiography and climate set a terrain
pa-',tern that ranges from alpine meadows and snow-capped peaks in the
south to barren gravel and sand deserts in the north, and from wet
monsoonal forests in the southeast to high, arid alpine deserts in
the west. On the accompanying map (CIA 12615) terrain regions have
teen delimited on the basis of their most characteristic physical
feature: vegetation, climate, soils, landforms, elevation, or
combinations of these factors.
Three mountain ranges that extend from west to east across
West China provide as. initial basis for regional differentiation.
In the north, the Astir Tagh enters West China along the northwestern
border of Tsinghai, and its southern branch, the Nan Shan (Region B*),
straddles the Kansu-Tsinghai border, terminating at the Yellow River
in eastern Kansu. North of the Nan Shan is the Kansu Corridor (Regions
Al through. A3), a discontinuous string of fragmented cases that extend
*Regions designated by`letter or letter and number are keyed to the
accompanying map, CIA 12615.
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from central Kansu to the western border of Kansu. North and northeast
of the Kansu Corridor lies the Pei Shan (Region AL-), including the
Mongolian Plateau and vast stretches of hamada (bare gravel deser
and erg (sandy desert).
South of the Astin Tagh-Nan Shan chain and lying along this im-
posing barrier of the Kun-lun Shan and the Amne Machin Ranges is a,
series of intermontane basins extending from the northwestern border
of Tsinghai eastward to the Yellow River. This region includes the
interior desert basin of the Tsaidan (Region D) and the steppe b&sin
of the Koko Nor (Region C)+).
The series of ranges that enters Tsinghai at its western
border and extends east and southeast across West China includes the
Kun-lun Shan, the Amne Machin, and the Bayan Kara Shan (Region E.
The ranges culminate in the east in the headwater region of the Yellow
River. This group of high mountain
of the Chang Thang (Region Fl), the
and the rolling grass-covered Outer
ranges forms the northern border
high, cold, desert plateau oi' Tibet,
Plateau of Tibet (Region F2), which
extend from the Tibetan border southeastward to the deep gorges i,long
the southern Sikang border (Region G). A third mountain range, the
Nyenchhen Thanglha (Region Hl), forms the southern boundary of tjae Outer
Plateau in western Sikang and the northern boundary of the Tsangpo
Basin (Region H2). The range extends from beyond the western borders
of Sikang to the south-central border of Sikang. The cultivated
Tsangpo Basin extends east and west along the northern slopes of the
Himalayas (Region H3).
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The latitudinal regions of West China are bordered on the east
b:y -:he longitudinal zone of the Sino-Tibetan Borderland. The borderland
includes the Loess Plateau (Region Cl), the cultivated valleys of the
Yellow River, the Huang Shui (Sining), and the Wei Ho (Regions C2
through C)+) in Baste:-n Kansu, and the transitional zone of forested
lands comprising southern Kansu, northwestern Szechwan, and south-
eastern Sikang (Region C5).
From the standpoint of elevation, West China consists of region-
al steps down from the Chang Thang, which has an average elevation of
1.6,000 feet. North of the Chang Thang, across the Kun-lun Shan, is
the Tsaidam Basin at an average elevation of 9,000 feet. Farther to
the north, across, the Nan Shan barrier, is the Mongolian Plateau,
which is 3,000 feet lower. Southeast of the Chang Thang, in the
vicinity of the headwaters of the three great rivers, the Outer
Plateau drops to an average elevation of 13,000 to 15,000 feet, with
relative relief increasing as the valleys of the Salween, Mekong,
and Yangtze Rivers deepen to the south. Beyond the Outer Plateau, a
final drop in elevation occurs from the Sino-Tibetan Borderland to the
Szechwan Basin.
2. Ethnic Basis
In West China there is a striking sociogeographic relationship
between the various t:y]pes of physical environment and the distribution
of distinct ethnic groups. Between areas with different ways of life
are transitional zones of cultural overlap in which the processes of
acculturation and cul'uuure conflict are the primary characteristics.
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The accompanying map shows the distribution of the various ethnic
groups of West China in relation to the environments in which they
live. The boundaries between ethnic groups are arbitrary, and the
area occupied by one group should be assumed to grade into that car'
its neighbor. On the map, cultural overlap is shown only for the most
complex zone of culture contact, which extends along the eastern
border of the study area.
The Han Chinese constitute the dominant group throughout West
China by virtue of the political control exercised by the Chinese
Communists. The formal social control exerted by the Communists over
the various minority groups in West China creates one of the chifrf
problems of culture conflict and social control in the area. Numer-
ically, the Han Chinese are in the majority only in the arable valleys
of the narrow transition zone comprising the Frontiers of Chinesi,
Agriculture (Region B). From here the Chinese agriculturists hare
advanced into the valleys of the highland areas of Tsinghai and ")ikang
and have come into conflict with Tibetan, Moslem, and aboriginal groups.
The dominance of Han Chinese declines from east to west in Region B.
Coexistent with the Han Chinese are various Moslem minority
groups: (1) the Hui people, who do not intermingle with other g.-oups;
(2) the Tung-hsiang (East Country) Moslems, who are concentrated in a
triangular area between Lan-chou and Lin-hsia, formed by the jun~?tion
of the Yellow River and the T'ao Ho; and (3) the Salars, a community
in Hsin-hua Hsien, along both banks of the Yellow River east of hsi-ninp:
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(see :map). Although a majority of these people are subsistence farmers
like the Chinese, they have resisted assimilation and acculturation by
the Chinese and have preempted the more adventuresome occupations, such
as :innkeeper, muleteer, carter, and soldier.
Opposing the tide of Chinese agriculturists in their advance
into the frontier zone are the Tibetan nomads of the high grassland
plateau that extends in an arc from the slopes of the Nan Shan north
of the Koko Nor, southeastward around the headwaters of the Yellow
River, to the headwaters of the Yalung, Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween
Rivers (Region F). In the river valleys reaching up into the western
edge of the plateau, the Tibetan component of the frontier zone ranges
from partly Sinicized Tibetans in mixed Tibetan-Chinese villages to
wholly Tibetan agricultural villages. This main zone of transition,
where the processes of culture contact and acculturation can be seen
at work, is indicated on the map by the admixture of Chinese and Tibetans
in a belt extending from the Nan Shan in the north to southern Sikang
in the south.
Farther to the west, beyond the grazing lands of Koko Nor and
between the Nan Shan and Kun-lun Shan, is the area of the Tsaidam
Mongols (Region D). Although these nomadic herdsmen range over the
area, they are most likely to be concentrated in the grazing lands
adjoining the springs and lakes fringing the Tsaidam salt swamp in
the north, south, and east. Trade with the east and the attraction
of the grasslands in the Koko Nor region bring the Tsaic.am Mongols
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into contact with the complex of ethnic groups in Region C, ther by
complicating the pattern of culture contact.
In the south the slowly penetrating Chinese agriculture -~n-
counters a different Tibetan culture complex. The Kham Tibetans
of the south are sedentary agriculturists, with livestock raisins
a secondary occupation. The Khan Tibetans terrace and farm the elopes
of the deep V-shaped gorges of the Ya.lung, Yangtze, Mekong, and
Salween. Within Region C the Kharn Tibetan agricultural zone is ;o
narrow in the north that there is almost immediate contact between
the Chinese and the nomadic Tibetans. Farther south the Kham Ti>etan
zone widens. Consequently, the Chinese agriculturists here compute
with their Tibetan counterparts rather than with nomads.
A number of aboriginal groups, which in a sense serve as buffer
groups separating the Chinese from Tibetans, add to the complexity
of the culture pattern in Region C. These groups are characteri:;tically
found in the more inaccessible mountainous parts of the region. In
the headwater valleys of the Yellow River in the north are the Goloks.
The Gyarong and Chiang tribes are located in the high mountains of
northwestern Szechwan. Farther to the south, in the mountains within
the lower bend of the Yellow River, are the Yi-chia, Independent Lobo,
and several other tribes. On the accompanying map the general e.-tent
of the territory of these tribes is indicated as intermediate to the
overlapping zones of Chinese and Tibetans.
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3. The Geographic Regions
West China is divided on the accompanying map into eight major
terrain regions: the Kansu Corridor, the Nan Shan, the Sino-Tibetan
Borderland, the Tsaidam Basin, the Central Mountain Region, the Tibetan
Plateau, the River Gorges Region, and the Tibetan Valley Area. Each
of these constitutes a distinctive complex of landforms, climate, and
vegetative features which differentiates it from the adjoining region.
The map also indicates the general distribution of 11 major ethnic
groups? the Han Chinese, the Hui people (Chinese-speaking Moslems),
the Tsang Tibetans, the Kham Tibetans, the Tsaidam Mongols, the Tung-
hsiang Moslems, the Salars, the Chiang, the Gyarong, the Yi-chia,
and the Goloks. Each of these groups is made up of a number of separate
tribes whose common way of life is shared by -the other ethnic groups
that inhabit the same terrain region or regions. Although specific
customs and techniques may differ, there are generally common adjust-
ments 'to particular environments, common modes of transportation, and
even common forms of religious observance. On the basis of interrela-
tion of types of terrain and ethnic groups, three major geographic
regions have been delimited, each of' which reflects the essential. inter-
dependence between ethnic groups and. terrain regions -- (1) the Frontiers
of Chinese Agriculture, (2) the High. Steppes of Tsang Tibet, and (3)
the Gorges Region r_,f Kham Tibet.
The Han Chinese and other groups, ever in search of agricultural.
land, are infiltrating West China along its eastern and northern frontiers.
l:n this zone of culture contact and conflict are the Kansu Corridor,
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the Nan Shan, and the Sino-Tibetan Borderland, all of which are pop-
ulated chiefly with Han Chinese, Hui people, Tung-hsiang Moslems, and
Salars. These peoples share the more sophisticated agricultural way
of life of China proper and come in contact, in the frontier zone, with
nomadic tribes and sedentary agriculturists. In the southern part.
of the zone, the contact and conflict with nomadic and sedentary (,filmic
groups are further complicated by the presence of aboriginal groups3 --
the Ch'iang, Gyarong, and Yi-chia tribes. This frontier region o''
culture contact and conflict is considered in this report under tie
designation "The Frontiers of Chinese Agriculture."
The second major geographic region, the High Steppes of Tsang
Tibet, includes the Tsaidam Basin, the Central Mountain Region, and
the Tibetan Plateaus -- areas in which the problems of environmertal
adjustment are almost identical. The habitable parts of the thr?e
terrain regions are characteristically high-altitude, short-grasE
steppe. Nomadic pastoralism, the predominant way of life on the steppe,
is followed by Tsang Tibetans on the Tibetan Plateaus, Tsaidam Mk>tigols
in the borders of the Tsaidam, and Goloks in the Central Mountain
Region.
Kham Tibet, the third major geographic region, including the
River Gorges Region and the Tibetan Valley Area, is characterized by
primitive sedentary agriculture. Although the Han Chinese are pene-
trating the valleys of the Kham Tibetans along the frontier zone, the
latter still maintain their way of life in the steep, inaccessible
valleys along the major rivers of West China.
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The three geographic regions with their component terrain and
ethnic regions are given in the following table.
Geographic, Terrain, and Ethnic Regions of West China
I. The Frontiers of Chinese AgriculturE_
Terrain Regions Ethnic Groups
The :Kansu Corridor (Region A) Flan ('hi-
e
H
Wu-wei Basin (Region Al)
Etsin Gol Basin (region A2)
Su-lo Ho Basin (Region A3)
Pei Shan and Mongolian Plateau
(Region A)+)
ee,
ui People,
Mongols
Nan Shan (Region -3) Tsaidam Mongols,* Tsang
Tibetans
The Sino-Tibetan Borderland (Region C)
Loess Plateau (Region Cl)
Yellow River and Huang Shui- Han Chinese,* Hui people,*
(Sining) Valleys (Region C2) Tsang Tibe-:;ans, Tung-hsiar.,g
Moslems, Salars, Tsaidam
Wei Ho Valley (Region C3) Mongols
Koko Nor Basin (Region C)+)
Border Forest Region (Region C5) Han Chinese, Kham Tibetans,
Ch'iang,* Gyarong,* Yi-chia*
"Asterisks indicate the dominant ethnic groups.
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II. The High Steppes of Tsang Tibet
Terrain Regions Ethnic Groups
Tsaidam Basin (Region D)
Tsaidam Salt Marsh (Region Dl)
Southern Corridor (Region D2)
Tsaidam Gravel and Salt Deserts
(Region D3)
Tsaidam Mongols,* Hui
people, Han Chinese
Tsaidam Sand Desert (Region D4)
Tsaidam Steppe (Region D5)
Central Mountain Region (Region E)
Kun-lun Shan (Region El) Tsaidam Mongols, Tsang Titetans
Anne Machin, Bayan Kara Shan, Goloks,* Tsaidam Mongols,
and the Headwaters of the Tsang Tibetans
Yellow River (Region Et.
Tibetan Plateau Region (Region F)
Chang Thang (Region Fl) Some Tsang Tibetans, but
largely uninhabited
Outer Plateau (Region F2) Tsang Tibetans,'- Han Chinese
III. The Gorges Region of Kham Tibet
Terrain Regions Ethnic Groups
River Gorges Region (Region G) Kham Tibetans,* Han Chine;~e
Humid Gorge Region (Region Gl)
Arid Gorge Region (Region G2)
Tibetan Valley Region (Region H) Kham Tibetans,* Tsang Tibetans
Nyenchhen Thangiha (Region Hl)
Tsangpo Basin (Region H2)
Himalayas (Region H3)
*Asterisks indicate the dominant ethnic groups.
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II. The Frontiers of Chinese Agriculture
A. The Culture Complex in the Agricultural Areas
1. The Chinese and the Moslems
The most outstanding characteristic of the Frontiers of
Chinese Agriculture is the coexistence of two ethnic groups whose
modes of living, while superficially similar, are essentially in
conflict. The two predominating groups are the Han Chinese and tie
Hui people, or Chinese Moslems (Figure 1). Other Moslems are the
Turki-speaking Salars and the Tung-hsiang Moslems.
The physical environment of the Chinese and Moslem groups
is the same and the form of their social organization is almost
identical. They are primarily agricultural and live in villages
typical of North China. The villages are the basic units of social
control, with the village headman responsible for the maintenance' of
law and order and the carrying out of government regulations. The
larger villages may have family protection associations or organ_zed
units of the militia, but even the smaller villages are recognized as
autonomous units by the hsien government. 1, 2/* Village development
has been described as follows:
When some peculiar suitability such as location on a
well traveled road, makes a village acceptable to an
entire district as a market town, it may grow to the
proportions of a city. A typical farming village sup-
ports between 20 and 30 families. Whenever the popu-
lation grows so large that those whose fields lie on
the periphery can no longer go back and forth each
*Reference numbers are to the sources listed in Appendix D.
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day, the village begins to break up, those with the
very distant fields becoming the nucleus of a new
settlement. 1/
The Han Chinese and the Hui people are similar also in
language and dress, but their most important common characteristic
is that they are predominantly farmers of the small land-owning
peasant type and follow the same seasonal agricultural routine.
Seasons of comparative leisure alternate with seasons of great ac-
tivity. Farming operations are begun in early spring when the fields
are fertilized. The plowing and seeding is done by the men; cultiva-
tion, weeding, and harvesting by all members of the family. By early
winter the threshing and winnowing of the grain are completed, a
year's supply of food and seed grain is set aside, and any surplus
that remains is sold to buy clothing and other necessities of life.
Farm incomes are supplemented by the sale of wood, charcoal, or
f odder. 1, 3, 4/
Peasant farmers have little livestock beyond a few sheep and
s pig or two. A coarse homemade cloth is made from sheep's wool by
farmers, using portable looms. 1, 5/ According to Ekvall:
... the food of the peasant is of the very coarsest,
and he has but scant protection against the rigors of
the climate; yet he feels that with his home and a
regular yield from his fields there is little else he
needs. Brushwood provides him with more firewood than
the catty dweller can generally afford. The stable
droppings and the dried leaves and chaff which he
gathers assures him of at least a hot kang on which to
sleep (the kang is a sort of hollow platform made of
dried mud and is heated from beneath by smudge fires).
The days are not unpleasant; he can while away the
hours just standing around in the winter sunshine, or
-. 18 -
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he can inject a little adventure into his life by
going to town with grain, fodder, or firewood, and
perhaps bringing back with him something he was able
to buy in the market. J
Despite the common mode of life, the two ethnic groups main-
tain separate villages, which alternate in an irregular pattern se)
that some districts are predominantly Chinese and others are pre-
dominantly Moslem (see map CIA 12615). In the larger villages, w.nere
the size of the population permits a diversification of occupations,
there is a tendency for the Moslems to follow subsidiary occupations
that require more hardihood and daring. Such occupations are those
of innkeeper, trader, muleteer, carter, and soldier.
Since the Moslems are willing to risk possible seizure ty
the military forces, conscription into service by civil authorities,
or the depredations of bandits, they have a monopoly on the hazardous
trading profession. 1, The muleteer or carter also must
operate with the expectation that at any time the results of years of
work without rest, long miles on the road, and countless hours us'
feeding and caring for animals and gear may be wiped out overnigit.
They may be commandeered by civil or military authorities to carry
persons or goods, or the military authorities or bandits may appro-
priate their animals outright. l Even innkeeping in the frontier
region is adventurous. Although the profits are large, the risks
are great, since both bandits and military forces may come to an inn
and demand free service. The innkeeper is likely to have the profits
of a month wiped out by the unwelcome guests of a single night. V
NF NTIAL
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The occupation in which the Moslems definitely excel is that of
soldier. The pre-Communist Governor of Tsinghai, Ma Pu-fang, was
once a carter in the army transportation service. i/
The handicrafts, on the other hand, are generally monopolized
by the Chinese, who make the best carpenters, silversmiths, black-
smiths, masons, and tailors. The Chinese also show a greater apti-
tude for schoolteaching, accounting, medicine, engineering, and
administration. 1, 8f
Religious beliefs and other purely ideological factors, more
than occupational differences, tend to set the two ethnic groups
apart, and religious observances and habits integrate and reinforce
the isolation of the segregated villages. Chinese religious observ-
ances include periodic communal festivals and theatricals and the
communal maintenance; of the local temple or shrine. These activities
play a large part .n maintaining community consciousness among the
Chinese. _L4
The Hui people regard the Chinese festivals, theatricals,
and temple building as offensive idol worship. Although Islam is an
individualistic religion, the Hui also have -their special communal
religious observances, such as the month-long fast of Ramadan, during
which no good Moslem either eats or drinks between dawn and dark.
Since Ramadan usually coincides with the Chinese New Year, consider-
able ill feeling is generated when the Moslems have to confront the
Chinese New Year's feasting with long-faced abstinence. 11.9/
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The conflict between the Chinese and the Moslem minority is
intensified in the case of the Turki-speaking Salars who have settled
in Hsun-hua Hsien in the Loess Plateau region. While the Hui differ
from the Han Chinese in religion, occupation or specialization, at!d
community organization, they share a common language. The Salarsa on
the other hand, differ from the Chinese in language as well as re_igion,
and the estimated 300,000 Salars in Kansu and Tsinghai have maint-lined
an even more militant independence and isolation than have the HuL.
5, 9, to
Another distinctive Moslem minority is the Tung-hsiang
Moslems, who live in a triangular area formed by the confluence cC
the Yellow River and the T'ao Ho and are estimated to number 200,000
people. It is reported that they maintain an even more belligerent
community isolation than do the Salars, even though they have ac-
cepted a number of Chinese culture traits. The Tung-hsiang Moslc;ms
have been active in every Moslem revolt against Chinese authorit:! in
recent years, and they played an important role in the military
organization of former Governor Ma Pu-fang. Their cultural excli-
siveness is such that there are no Chinese communities within th
Tung-hsiang Moslem area. 5,_g,_10, ll
2. Land Reform and the Moslems
A manifestation of the Chinese-Moslem conflict in Kansv
Province was an April 1952 Moslem uprising in which communicaticns
were wrecked, public grain was seized, and Communist cadres were
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kil:Led. According to the Hsi-an Ch'unChung Jih Pao of 21 October
"in the spr'_ng of this year when agrarian reform was being
carried out in local districts, owing to defects and inertia on the
part of certain cadres propagating and implementing the policy ... a
rash decision was made to distribute the Moslem mosque lands volun-
tarily offered by Che-ho-jen-yeh, the leader of a local sect." The
Moslems, already incensed by land-reform policies that were partial
to the Chinese administrators, revolted when the reform program was
extended to include the confiscation of mosque property (Figure 2)
and made a determined but unsuccessful effort to gain control of the
area from the Comm :ousts . 12 t_ 13/
3. Trading Between the Moslems and. Nomads
The pattern of trading in the northern part of the study area
is closely related to the environmental conditions of the nomadic
tribes and to the distinctive specializations of the Moslems. Trade
in Tsinghai is carried on between the Moslems and. the nomadic Tsang
Tibetans and Tsaideir. Mongols, rather than between nomadic and seden-,
tary Tibetan tribes as it is in Sikang.
The need for trade among the nomads is based on the fact that
no,ghere in the steppe areas of the nomads is the altitude less than
11,000 feet, and agriculture is therefore nearly impossible. Few
edible plants are available, and without the grain trade the nomads
would be restricted to a diet of meat and milk products. The Moslems
act as middlemen in exchanging tae products of the nomadic tribes
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for grain. The nomads produce most of the commodities for which
there is a demand in China Proper -- lambskins, sheepskins, wool,
and livestock. For the Moslems, trade is an especially profitable
way of supplementing the income of subsistence farming. 1 14-
A greater number of Tibetans take part in the reciprocal
trade than do the Moslems. The Moslems operate from their farms )r
places of business and go into Tibetan country for periods rangin
from 3 months to 2 years, whereas the Tibetans who journey to the
Sino-Tibetan Borderland each year stay only a month or so. Con-
sequently the Moslems, through longer contact with Tibetans, are
more likely to acquire Tibetan culture traits. 1/
Most Moslem caravans organized to trade with the Tibetars
are on a large scale. The size of a caravan, which is measured in
"kettles," is proportionate to the degree of protection needed; arge
caravans also result in lower costs. The "kettle" denotes the mt:rnbers
of a caravan unit that have a common.campfire and food supply, that
is, those who eat out of the same kettle. The "kettle" may vary in
size from three to a dozen men. The smallest caravans have at l,:ast
2 or 3 "kettles"; the largest may include up to 40 or 50 (see Fi:;ure
3) - i/
Moslem caravans establish contact and obtain permission. for
travel through a "guest-host" relationship, which is initially estab-
lished through a mutual friend. Upon reaching a tribe the caravan
breaks up, each Moslem trading group going to its particular host.
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The original caravan may never reassemble, but new caravans may be
formed by groups who are going in the same direction or to the same
t.:r_bes. The guest-host relationship may vary from a warm friendship
to a very casual mercenary association, but the relationship is con-
tinued and renewed on each successive trading venture. The routine
of contact between guests and hosts includes a number of social re-
quirements, of which the most important is the presentation of a
gift covered with the "scarf of felicity" (a small white or light-
blue silk scarf, whose use is a polite congratulatory social gesture
that must accompany every gift). The guest-host relationship furnishes
the Moslem trader with a certain amount of protection and help in
making trade contacts.. For these favors the nomad host expects pref-
erential rates. .12 7L 1/
"The trading itself is the very ultimate in haggling and
bargaining, with all the intricacies of Oriental concern with quality,
quantity, and payment involved." l/ Although much of the payment is
in goods, there is little barter of article for article; catties of
butter are used for "small change" and various weights of silver for
the larger amounts. The Moslems bring to the Tibetan country cotton
cloth, coarse silks, dry goods, needles, thread, colored cloth,
satins and brocades, pots and kettles, rifles and ammunition, Russian
leather, wheat, and luxury foodstuffs. The largest import item is
grain. Tea, although a significant import item, enters the nomadic
regions from the southern Sikang trading area, with its centers at
Tatsienlu and Yu.-shu. 1 jt 15, 1.5/
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The chief exports of the nomads are cattle, sheep, horse,;,
and the products of livestock, such as wool, hides, furs, yak-ta,i.!.s,
felt, sheep, and yak hair. Salt is also a major export from the
Tsaidam Basin. 1, 15/
A Tibetan caravan has greater cohesion, integration, and
degree of cooperation than is found in a Moslem caravan. The Tibetan
caravans never break up until they return to the point of their
origin, regardless of the delays and troubles encountered en route
by individuals of the caravan. When they arrive at Moslem trading
centers in the Sino-Tibetan Borderland, the individual members of
the caravan may have separate "hosts" in the village, but the Tibetan
caravan camp remains intact and does not break up into separate units. i/
Tibetan caravans start out after the tribe has made its
winter encampment but while grazing is still available and before the
cattle have been weakened by the difficult winter. Thus the cart?van
period is limited to a few months in the fall and early winter, since
the caravans cannot start until the winter encampment is made and can-
not enter the Tibetan farming region until the grain harvests are in
and the roads are open. A Tibetan trade caravan will stay in a Moslem
community for no longer than 2 or 3 weeks, since the Tibetans are
anxious to return to the midwinter festivities in the lamaseries.
1 i1i 15
Moslem caravans start in the winter when the nomad's supply
of furs is fairly well in and. remain until the spring supply of
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lambskins is ready. In some cases, Moslem traders make a quick trip
of a few months befcre the deep snows set in. In most cases, however,
the caravans stay through the winter, since late spring or early
summer is the best :Lme to trade for livestock. In any case, the
best time to travel in Tibetan country is in fall and early winter,
when the bogs are frozen, the weather is dry, and there is an abun-
dance of dried fuel. 1, 14, 15, 16, 17/
Among the effects of the culture contact brought about through
trading are: (1) the Tibetans have emerged from their isolation and
have acquired a knowledge of the outside world through their contact
with the Moslems and. through their own visits to Moslem villages; (2)
Moslem traders have become Tibetanized to the extent of adopting
nomadic clothing, travel equipment, and words relating to travel or
environments; and (3) the Moslem trader seems to have acquired some
religious tolerance through contact with the nomads. 1./
B. The Kansu Corridor (Region A
1. General Characteristics
The Yellow Raver, flowing north from the highlands of
Ts:inghai toward its great loop in the Ordos Desert, divides the
Province of Kansu into eastern and western parts. The western part
of the province, between the high ramparts of the Nan S3han on the
south and the lower heights of the Pei Shan and the Mongolian Plateau
on the north, constitutes the Kansu Corridor, a narrow trough extend-
in?; from southeast to northwest. (Region A on the accompanying map.)
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The Corridor is the westernmost extension of the Han Chinese
agricultural complex into West China and is strategically locates on
the best natural route from China to the USSR. Farther to the south,
travel over the route to the USSR via the Koko Nor, Tsaidam, and the
Tarim Basin is handicapped by an unfriendly population and harsh en-
vironment. The routes from China through Sikang are oriented toward
Tibet and India rather than the USSR, and all traverse extremely
rugged terrain. The recent construction of the Lung Hai Railroat
from Tien-shui to Yung-teng beyond Lan-chou and the proposed ex::-_n-
sion of the line through the Corridor to Sinkiang and on to a co:inec-
tion with the Turk-Sib Railroad in the USSR emphasize the strate.Tic
importance of the Kansu Corridor in the development of Chinese t^ade
with the USSR, as well as the interest in developing the northwestern
provinces and far-western territories of China.
The Kansu Corridor is divided into three basins or oasis;
areas -- the Wu-wei (Region Al), the Etsin Gol (Region A2), and he
Su-lo Ho (Region A3) -- each watered by streams that flow into i-
from the northern slopes of the Nan Shan. North of the basins ae
the desert lands of the Mongolian Plateau, in which desert shrub is
the predominant vegetation.
The Wu-wei, the easternmost basin in the Corridor, is traversed
by rivers that rise in the extreme eastern ranges of the Nan Shan and
terminate in the sand desert northeast of the Wu-wei. The Wu-we--- Basin
is separated from the Etsin Gol Basin to the northwest by a low cut.lier
of the Nan Shan. 187 19/
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The Etsin Gol Basin is watered by the Kan-chou Ho and the
Lin Shui, which enter the Kansu Corridor from the southeast and the
west, respectively. Northeast of Chiu-ch'uan, the two rivers combine
and flow northeastward to the lakes of the Etsin Gol. The oases of
the Etsin Gol Basin are strung along the northern side of the depres-
sion in the form of a triangle witn its apex at the northern border
of Kansu Province. 18
The Su-lo Ho Basin is the terminal drainage basin of the
Su-lo Ho and its tributary, the Tang Ho. North of the Su-lo Ho Basin
a hamada, or bare-gravel desert covered with scrub, extends to the
foothills of the Pei Shan. Beyond the Pei Shan and extending east
to the terminal lakes of the Etsin Gol are areas of sand in which th,
only vegetation is xerophytic desert scrub. The same hamada also ex-
tends south to the foothills of the Nan Shan and forms the divide
between the Su-lo Ho Basin and the Etsin Gol Basin. 18/
In the Kansu Corridor as in other sections of West China the
natural routes of communication do not follow drainage lines but cut
across them, moving from one drainage basin to the next across the
hamadas that form the drainage divides. The northern part of the
Kansu Corridor receives its underground water chiefly from the Nan
Shan. Most of the oases are on the northern side of the depression.
In general, the major areas of cultivation are located along the
Kan-chou Ho and the Etsin Gol in the Etsin Gol Basin and along the
Su-lo Ho and the Tang Ho in the Su-lo Ho Basin. 24
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2. Geographic Subdivisions of the Corridor
a. The Wu-wei Basin (Region Al)
The Wu-wei Basin contains the most extensive oasis of
irrigated alluvial fans or flood plains in the Kansu Corridor. Like
the similar but less extensive areas in the Su-lo Ho and Etsin Gol
Basins, the irrigated areas of the Wu-wei Basin are bordered by
stretches of lowland pasture that lie within the Corridor. The Wv--
wei oasis extends along the foot of the northeasternmost range of
the Nan Shan, from east of Ku-lang northwestward through Wu-wei to
Yung-ch'ang, a small, isolated, cultivated oasis farther to the north-
east, at Min-chin near the Kansu border. 19, 20, 21
b. The Etsin Gol Basin (Region A2)
Two, strings of oases comprise the cultivated area of
the Etsin Gol. The eastern group includes the oases of Chiu-ch'uun
and Chin-t'a, located in terminal depressions that receive stream3
draining the foothills of the Nan Shan. Cultivation is carried on
for the most part with the aid of irrigation water obtained from the
subsoil. To the northwest and east, the eastern depression is sepa-
rated from the major basin of the Etsin Gol by gravel slopes and ?i.igh
sand dunes. The largest continuous area of oasis cultivation is
around Min-lo and Shan-tan and follows the Kan-chou Ho past Chan&,-
yeh north to the border area around Ting-hsin.
Small areas of cultivation and many traces of abandoned
cultivation are found at the southern foot of the Nan Shan. Abaa;.donment
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is not uncommon, because oases are liable to change in position and
in extent owing to the difficulty of maintaining canal heads in the
shifting river courses, which pass over gravel fans or become deltaic
upon entering the Corridor. 18, 20,_22/
c. The Su _lo Ho Basin (Region A3 )
The Su-lo Ho Basin extends for some 220 miles from east
to west. The Su-lo Ho descends into the eastern end of the Basin at
Yu-men from its source in the central Nan Shan. North of Yu-men, the
Su-lo Ho turns west into the basin and passes through the oasis of
An?-hsi, the departure point for the caravan route that leads north-
west through the hamada to Ha-mi and farther into Sinkiang. The oasis
of Tun-huang is located on the slopes of the Nan Shan where the Tang
Ho, the only affluent of the Su-lo Ho, enters the basin. Except for
these oases, the basin of the Su-lo Ho consists mainly of slopes of
absolutely bare gravel descending from the western. Nan Shan in the
south and the utterly barren Pei Shan in the north. 18 L 21/
d. Pei Shan and the Mongolian Plateau (Region AI-)
North cf the Kansu Depression, the bare gravel slopes of
the Pei Shan and the sandy deserts of the Mongolian Plateau stretch
out as a barrier of aridity along the entire length of the Corridor.
This zone is sterile and incapable of supporting settled life or even
nomadism. Considerable parts of the area are still unexplored. 19/
There is a definite transition of vegetation and lan.dforns
frorl the Kansu Corridor northward into the desert. Immediately beyond
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the cultivated oases is a zone of desert vegetation consisting of
tamarisks, wild poplars, or reeds growing in low drift sand. Closely
spaced, conical sand-and-tamarisk hillocks up to 50 feet or more in
height are distinctive features of this area. Beyond the low drift
sand and scrub is the sandy desert, which may have a scant covering
of saxaul shrub. Where soft clay soil is exposed, strong winds from
the northeast constantly abrade the surface, forming an almost endless
succession of parallel furrows and ridges, or yardangs. 18, 20, 2:1, 23/
Wild poplars (toghraks) usually mark the courses of
running water, and lines of dead wild poplars are usually found along
the courses of dried-up river beds in the desert areas and on the
sides of dry alluvial fans. The boundaries between types of vegeta-
tion, often as sharp as a knife edge, are caused by variations in
distribution of underground water. The differences between the
vegetation of gravel slopes, on areas of loess soil, and in sandy
areas are readily noticeable, and the likelihood of encountering a
spring, a river, or underground water should be associated with c.hese
differences. 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26/
3. Settlement in the Kansu Corridor
The settlement and economy of the Corridor are closely re-
lated to the physical features. Along the northern slopes of the
Nan Shan, and increasing in extent toward the northeast, are grass-
lands above 6,500 feet in elevation. Some forested areas are found
on the higher north-facing slopes in the northeast section, intermixed
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with grasslands containing scattered areas of pine and fir. Grass,
forest, and desert--shrub vegetation together cover less than half of
the Corridor, the remainder being gravel or sand desert. 8, 201
The most intense cultivation is in the eastern part of the
Corridor -- in Wu-wei, Chang-yeh, Ku-lang, and Yungichiang hsiens --
but cultivated and other occupied land (roads, houses, etc.) makes up
onLy 2.2 percent of the total land area. The remainder is either
nonarable or dry grassland pastures. Upland grazing is concentrated
chiefly in the eastern part of the Corridor along the northern slopes
of the Nan Shan and in the Miens of Chang-,yeh and Yung-ch'ang, where
mi'd winters and light snowfall make year-round grazing possible. In
the highlands of the western part of the province, grazing is limited
to the summer months, and the seminomads of western Kansu return to
permanent settlements in the plains or mountains for the winter.
18, 19. 241/
The agricultural economy of the Corridor is based on self-
sufficient farmers who occasionally produce a farm surplus, such as
cotton or farm animals, that they can sell. Cooperative action is
taken to protect crops in times of flood or drought, to provide it-.
rigation, to establish credit, and to maintain the social relation-
ships of families, clans, and secret societies. 8/
Wheat is the most important crop in the Corridor, and the
sheep raised on irrigated pastures comprise 77 percent of the live-
stock in the area. They are usually the barter items for the Corridor
farmers, being traded for tea and other commodities. As a result of
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the isolation of the Corridor and lack of markets for livestock,
farmers generally keep only a few more animals than are required to
supply their own needs. 8/
Two main areas of population concentration in the Corridor
are the Wu-wei Basin and the Etsin Gol Basin. Since the economy of
the Corridor consists of self-sufficient farming and seminomadic
livestock raising, the urban functions of the larger cities, suck as
Wu-wei and Chang-yeh, are limited to handicrafts and a few commercial
activities. Inn and hotel services are probably the main commercial
activity in the Corridor, with inns generally located along the gain
roads. 8/
The most serious handicap to the commercial development of
the Corridor has been the lack of transportation. Although the
Northwest Highway is the main artery of communication between China
and the west and has a gravel surface and generally easy grades, only
pushcarts and a few animal-drawn vehicles are available for local.
transportation. Together they are incapable of providing adequate
commercial service for the Corridor cities. 5/
Despite the limited commercial activity, merchant guilds
organized to carry on most of the trading in the Corridor have
exerted a strong influence on the commerce and even the politics
of the area. Guilds are also formed by craftsmen and by other oc-
cupational and special-interest groups. These guilds are important
in the control of competition, wages, prices, and hours of work. 8/
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The merchant and handicraft guilds constitute only the most
obvious of the local community- controls in the Corridor. Each of the
various specialist groups -- merchants, craftsmen, subsistence farmers,
and seminomadic herders -- has its own modes of occupational coopera-
tion and related social controls? Each group tends to maintain its
ethnic unity through such shared communal activities. as religious
otbservances, burial rites, and customs relating to food and housing. 8/
C. The Nan Shan and Astin Tagh (Region 13)
The natural corridor of KanEu Province and the less well-defined
c 3rridor of the Koko Nor and Tsaidam Basins are separated by a series
of mountain ranges that branch off from the Kun-lun system south of
the Tarim Basin. The range that separates the Tsaidam Basin from the
Tarim is the Astin Tagh. East from approximately the point where the
Astin Tagh enters the southeastern corner of Kansu Province, the series
of parallel ranges known collectively as the Nan Shan extends south-
eastward to the valley of the Yellow River. Outliers of the Nan Shan
extend far to the south and east and form the drainage divide between
Koko Nor and the Yellow River system.
Although the two mountain systems are penetrated by several
major streams that flow into the terminal oases in the Kansu Corridor
and by streams that terminate in'the interior drainage basins of the
Tsaidam, Koko Nor, and Tarim, few natural routes cross the mountains.
The three major crossings are: (1) the road that follows the Ta-tung
Ho to a pass on the Tsinghai-Kansu border and then down to Min-lo in
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the Etsin Gol Basin, (2) a caravan track that connects the Su-lo ?[o
Basin with the northern Tsaidam oases of Bulungin Nor and Sukhain
Nor, via the valley of the Tang Ho, and (3) a road that follows tze
southern edge of the Tsaidam swamp and crosses the Astin Tagh norl;h-
west of Ghaz Kul en route to Charkhlik in the Tarim Basin.
3/
The Astin Tagh has severely weathered, pinnacled crests and peaks
surmounting hard, barren, rock slopes that form rugged eccentric masses.
The high winds leave little loose material on the lower slopes, and
the mountains have a characteristically peaked and jagged outline.
23, 2
The Astin Tagh system consists of two ranges in the area north-
west of Ghaz Kul and up to four ranges along the northern border of
the Tsaidam Basin, which are arranged in a parallel system trendsng
from southwest to northeast. Between the parallel ranges are lati-
tudinal sedimentary basins and terminal lakes that are almost alvays
dry but may be covered by a very thin sheet of water for one or two
days a year. 5, 18, 23, 27/
The parallel ranges of the Nan Shan become higher from north to
south, with the southernmost range including peaks that rise to about
20,000 feet. 23/
The Nan Shan can be further subdivided into the western Nan Shan,
extending from the mutual drainage divide of the Lin Shui and thr Su-
to Ho (south of Yu-men), and the eastern Nan Shan, including tha-, sec-
tion between the Koko Nor Basin and the Etsin Gol and Wu-wei Basins.
7
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Although vegetation varies in type from grassland to alpine, the most
common type on both north and south slopes of the western Nan Shan is
bush steppe (semidesert to desert). 18, 27, 28/ The high valleys of
the western Nan Shan are the winter grazing grounds of the northern
Tsaidam Mongols. Some of the more important of the Nan Shan valleys
are those of the Yeh-man Ho, the Shargaltein, and the Tang Ho. 18,.-27,-28-/
In contrast to the north-facing slopes of the western Nan Shan,
those of the eastern Nan Shan from Etsin Gol to the Yellow River
valley face the northeast. The moist influences of the Pacific winds
are :increasingly apparent toward the eastern end of the mountains.
The most extensive tracts of mountain pasture begin at an elevation
above 6,500 feet near Chang-yeh and extend along the crestline to the
Huang Shui (Sining) Valley. Above the pastures are the most exten-
sively forested areas in the Nan Shan. South of the cre tline are
flat, cultivated valleys bordered by treeless grass plains. 3, 8, 23, 29/
The northern slopes of the Nan Shan have no settlements and are
occupied only by herdsmen of the Kansu Corridor who graze their sheep
on the mountain pastures in winter (see p. 31 ff., "Settlement in the
Kansu Corridor"). Most of the high valleys of the central Nan Shan
Ranges as well as the southern slopes are occupied only during the
winter months by the Tsa:Ldam Mongols (see p. 63 for a discussion of
the Tsaidam Mongols).
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D. The Sino-Tibetan Borderland (Region C)
1. General Characteristics
The Sino-Tibetan Borderland is a region of extremely complex
cultural contact comprising the frontier regions of eastern Kansu,
northeastern Tsinghai, and neighboring portions of Szechwan and
Sikang. It includes the Border Forest Region (Region C5), a zone of
transition between the lowlands of China Proper and the uplands oi'
the Loess Plateau (Region Cl); the Yellow River, Huang Shui (Sining),
and Wei Ho Valleys (Regions C2 and C3), the Koko Nor Basin (Region,.
C4), a part of the Kansu Corridor and the eastern Nan Shan, and tie
northermost parts of the Outer Plateau. Because this area of ethaic
contact includes so many different environments, it is necessary ro
summarize briefly some of the general physical and cultural charac-
teristics of the area.
Elevations in the Sino-Tibetan Borderland vary from somewhat
over 5,000 feet in the Yellow River valley to about 1+,000 feet, the
highest point of human habitation in this area. The temperature
range between the lowest and highest climatic zones is greater than
would normally occur in a spread of 20 to 30 degrees of latitude.
Differences in elevation also result in striking rainfall differences in the lower regions the rainfall decreases with the elevation, where-
as the higher levels have abundant precipitation during the summer.
The winters throughout the area are dry and cold; precipitation man and a horse and drop them several feet in the swamp. An un-
Usual characteristic of the salt-encrusted silt is the fresh or nearly
fresh subsoil water in some places. Such areas can be distinguished
by a dense growth of reeds and tamarisk. 5L 7, 14, ].6,-18, 20, 2Q1/
The variations in vegetation around the terminal lakes
depend upon the salinity of their waters. For example, Kurlik Nor is
fed by mountain streams and In turn feeds T'o-so Hu (Tossup Nor); the
former is fresh and is surrounded by a dense growth of reeds and grass,
whereas the latter is salty and has halophytic reeds, grasses, and.
brush on its shores. Several types of vegetation cover are found
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around Su-kan Hu (Sukhain Nor) and Pu-lun-ken Hu (Bulungin Nor) ;_n
the Sirtun Plain. They include short steppe grass on the higher
ground above the lakes; white salty shor, with halophytic tussoc'.cs of
tall grass; marshy land; salt bogs; sand with sparse grass cover; and
brush-covered ground. 20, 29, 56/
The two smaller areas between Kurlik Nor and Su-kan Hu
(Sukhain Nor), indicated on the map as D2, have the same characteristics.
20, 56/
b. The Southern Corridor (Region D2)
The narrow belt of vegetation that borders the Tsaid~tm
swamp on the south varies from 1 to 20 kilometers in width and cmn-
sists of two or three distinct vegetative zones. On the lowest Level,
next to the swamp, is a zone of tamarisk, often so dense that it be-
comes a jungle, topped by.a narrow belt of tamarisk cones and dead
tamarisks. Tamarisk cones are hummocks, often 50 feet high, forned by
sand collecting around the root systems of dead tamarisks. Rising
above the belt of tamarisk cones is the gravel desert piedmont or
sai, which in some places may be covered by sand dunes for long dis-
tances. The sai is a comparatively narrow belt with some vegetation and
lies between the mountains and the swamp. This belt is the rout, of
caravans traveling between the Koko Nor and the Tarim Basin on the
west and Lhasa on the south. Springs occur within the belt of vegeta-
tion after emerging from the gravel sai and before disappearing into th<
Tsaidam swamp. 18, 27, 56, 57 58
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c. The Tsaidam Gravel and Salt Deserts (Region D3)
These regions, occupying the greater part of the north-
ern part of the Tsaidam Basin, are mainly unexplored. According to
Hed.in, 27/ the area consists mainly of the gravel piedmont slopes of
the Astin Tagh, almost completely without vegetation. On the extreme
western edge are flat, shallow, self-contained basins with hard,
ster:Lle, dry-clay surfaces covered with fine powdery material.. Above
the basins, the slopes of the foothills of the mountains are mantled
with gravel. 14, 18, 27, 29/
The same author describes another part of the region
as looking "as if it had formerly been a barren salt marsh, and as if
the saliferous mud, when it dried, had expanded and then shrivelled
like the skin of a withered apple." 27/ Some of the shor consisted of
"ridges three feet high separated by hollows 9 feet across which were
sprinkled with white salt and sharp-edged crystals of gypsum which
wounded the camel's feet," or of hollow salt-encrusted tables with
hard, sharp outcropping edges "sometimes almost horizontal, at other
times sticking straight up." 27/
d. The Tsaidam Sand Desert (Region D4)
Although small areas of sandy plains and sand dunes
occur in the Southern Corridor (Region D2) and in the steppe areas of
the Tsaidam (Region D5), the most extensive areas of sand. plains and
drifted dunes are in the northwestern section of the Tsaidam Basin
(Region D!+). No accounts of the character of this region are avail-
able, since it is almost completely unexplored, and only the approx-
imate extent of the region is known.
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e. The Tsaidam Steppe (Region D5)
South of the Koko Nor Basin is a steppe region that r?on-
stitutes a continuation of the Tsaidam Basin (see Figure 6). The
Tsaidam Steppe, which consists of mixed short and tall grasses on be
lower slopes and in the valleys, is differentiated from the Border
Forest Region by its regional slope -- northwest towards the Tsaid_im
drainage basin -- and by the more xerophytic character of its vegeta-
tion. In addition to the fairly continuous cover of short and tall
grasses, the shaded mountain slopes have a dense growth of bushes at
the middle elevation; only the highest slopes have a cover of poplar,
spruce, and fir. Forests are most common on the sunny slopes, since
the shady slopes and the highest peaks are usually too cold for trees of
any kind.. Areas of sand flats and sand dunes occupy some of the Sower
valleys adjacent to the Tsaidam Basin. 5, 14, 20, 27, 29, 56, 57, 58,_59`
3. The Tsaidam Mongols
The inhospitable basin of the Tsaidam has been inhabited by
the Mongols of the Khoshot tribe since the seventeenth century, w}ienL
the confederacy of the Oirat tribes moved southward from Dzungaria to
the region around Koko Nor. Although information on the Mongols .s
scanty, there are 29 Mongol banners in Tsinghai, each governed by a
local chief. 58, 60, 61/ The banners are organized into two leagues:
the Koko Nor East Wing League with 13 banners and the Koko Nor Wept
Wing League with 16 banners. _'l/ In 1927, the most prosperous ani
numerous of the Tsaidam Mongols were the Kurlik Khoshots, who occ,zpy
most of the grazing lands in the high valleys of the Nan Shan almost
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as far as the Kansu Corridor, the pastures around the salt lakes of
Ikhe Nor, Pa-_ka-ch'ai-ta-mu Hu (Baga Nor), and Kurlik Nor, and grazing
lands in the.vic:inity of Pu-lun-ken Hu (Bulungin Nor) in northern
Tsaidam. The Kuket Khoshots occupied the grazing lands to the east
of the Kurlik Khoshots,, and the Barun Khoshots held the grassland
steppes in the vicinity of Tu-lun west of Koko Nor. South of the
Tsa:idam salt swamp, the grazing grounds of the Taichinar Khoshots ex-
tended along the southern corridor of the Tsaidam (see map CIA 12615)
and the northern foothills of the Kun-lun Shan. 28, 60,/ The areas of
concentration probably remain substantially the same today.
The Tsaidam Mongols are primarily livestock breeders. Each
year, horses, camels, and sheep are sold to the Moslem and Chinese traders
who journey into the Tsaidam. The Tsaidam horse is a well-built animal,
but it has fragile hocfs that are suited only to the soft saline ground
of the Tsaidam Basin. The Tsaidam camel, on the other hand, is capable
of withstanding the rarefied air of the mountains and is frequently used
on the northern trade route to Tibet, even though it has a slighter build
and smaller carrying capacity than the larger Mongolian camels. 58, 601
Moslem and Chinese traders visit the Mongol encampments of the
Tsaidam during the summer months, coming from their headquarters in
F_-astern Kansu. Some trade is also carried on by the Tsaidam Mongols
when. they attend fairs and religious festivals at Kumbum Monastery
In the autumn. 1 11+ 6(f
Around Kurlik Nor and along the Southern Corridor (Region D2),
some cf the land is cultivated by Mongols or by Chinese who lease the
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land from the Mongols. The chief crop is barley. For the most, pE.,.rt,
however, the Tsaidam Mongols depend upon trading caravans for their
annual supply of grain or obtain it from the sedentary Tibetans. -4, bO/
The Tsaidam Mongols live in circular tents (yurts) of woo'
felt, which may have two-Leaf doors hung on a wooden frame that
makes a high threshold. Sheepskin curtains are hung both inside and
outside the doors to keep out the cold wind and sand. Both these
curtains must be opened from the left, since entrance from the riht
would bring the visitor into the wife's quarters, which is strictly
forbidden. Visitors ,hould also avoid stepping on the threshold
(bad luck) and should avoid contact with the women and children.
Inside the yurt, opposite and slightly to the left of the
entrance, is a Buddhist altar. In the center of the room is a fire
pit, and the floor, made of pounded earth, is usually covered with
sheets of felt matting or sheepskins. The master's quarters are usually
beyond and to the left of the fire pit. On the right side of the tent
there may be a wooden rack for kitchen utensils, and beside the ,ack
a crude churn for making butter-tea. The remainder of the yurt':
furnishings consist of chests of drawers and other household par~-.phernal.ia.
The size and furnishings of Mongol yurts indicate the prosperity of the
owners. 14, 60, 61/
The Mongol men wear a cloth shirt trimmed with fur, trour.ers
of blue or brown, and a large heavy coat trimmed with leopard or lynx
fur. Distinguishing features of the Mongol costume are the leather
boots, numerous heavy charm boxes hung around the neck, and the :;mall
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.felt hat edged with a narrow strip of silk. The women wear the sane
type of large coat, generally trimmed with their favorite color --
green. - - and with pieces of red cloth sewn on the shoulders. Like
other nomadic women, they decorate their headdress with pieces of
turquoise and coins. and wear coral necklaces and charm boxes.
1l+, 60, 61, 62/
B. The Central^Mountain Region (Region E)
1. General Characteristics
The Kun-lun (Region El) and Anne Machin Mountain systems
(Region E2) constitute an almost continuous mountain barrier that ex-
tends across the central part of West China from west to east. Their
effectiveness as a -barrier to communications is modified by three
factors: (1) the barrier is not as high nor as difficult to penetrate
as the Nan Shan, since it is broken by rivers that flow through it --
such as the Chulak Akkan in the,Kun-lun Shan and the Nai-ch'i-kuo-lo
Ho, which forms the boundary between the Kun-lun and the Amne Machin;
(2) the mountain barrier is penetrated by the valley of the Yellow
River on the northeast a.ad includes, in the east, the steppe basin in
the headwaters area of the Yellow River; and (3) several routes of
travel cross the eastern part of the barrier, the western part being
largely uninhabited. The Central Mountain Region, nevertheless,
constitutes a barrier between culture groups almost equal to the Nan
S]:ian. l:n?the south are the Tsang and Kham Tibetans (see p. 74 ff.
for discussion of the Tsang Tibetans and p. 106 ff., of the Khan Tibetans),
while north of the mountains, in the Tsaidam Basin, are the nomadic Mongols.
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Although the Kun-lun Shan and the Anne Machin and Bayan Kara
Shan are differentiated on the accompanying map, they are-more or less
continuous and differ only in structure. The Kun-lun Shan (Region El)
is a series of discontinuous mountain chains having an average elevation
of about 20,000 feet -- only 4,000 feet above the general level of the
Chang Thang but 10,000 to 12,000 feet above the Tsaidam Basin. Fach
mountain chain consists of a succession of snowy domes with deep:y
ravined slopes. The domes are separated by high gravel plains con-
taining large areas of black mud bogs. The passes between the Chang
Thang and the Tsaidam Basin are relatively low but are difficult ce-
cause of the violent storms characteristic of the Kun-lun and the Chang
Thang. (For further discussion of terrain characteristics of this
area, see the terrain description of the Chang Thang, Region Fl, p. 68
ff.) 14, 27, 35, 58, 60/
In the east, in the vicinity of the Nai-chi-kuo-lo Ho, the Kun-
lun Ranges merge into a confused mountain area consisting of the Amne
Machin Ranges, the Bayan Kara Shan, and the headwaters area of the
Yellow River. The mountains rise to elevations of up to 22,000 feet
in the central Amne Machin and consist of massifs separated by rolling
plains and broken hill country (Figure 12). The plains are intErsectecl
by deep troughlike valleys and gorges; steppe vegetation is characteristi-
in the eastern valleys. In other areas, forests with altitudin