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Liu Manqing

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Liu Manqing
劉曼卿
A young Chinese-Tibetan woman with short wavy dark hair, wearing a light-colored top with dark trim
Liu Manqing, from a 1936 biographical directory
Born1906
Lhasa, Qing China
Died1941 (aged 34–35)
Chongqing, China
Other namesLiu Man-ching, Yudhona, Yongjin, De Meixi
Occupation(s)Diplomat, translator, writer

Liu Manqing (Chinese: 劉曼卿; 1906–1941) was a Tibetan and Chinese writer, diplomat, messenger, and interpreter, born in Tibet.

Early life

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Liu (or Yudhona) was born in Lhasa, Tibet, the daughter of a Tibetan or Chinese father, Liu Rongguang, and a Tibetan mother.[1] She spoke Tibetan as her first language, and her family was Muslim. She lived in Darjeeling for a time in childhood, when her parents were expelled from Tibet. She was later educated in Beijing,[2] where she learned Mandarin, and may have trained as a nurse at a missionary hospital.[3][4]

Career

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Liu returned to Tibet as a young woman, despite the travel difficulties of reaching Lhasa. She proceeded by water, on horseback, and on foot over rugged land,[5] "successfully paving the way for a reconciliation between China and the Tibetan Government", predicted a 1930 news report.[6] She conducted negotiations during visits with the 13th Dalai Lama,[7][8] held a civil service appointment in China under Chiang Kai-shek,[9][10] and was an envoy, interpreter and messenger between Chinese and Tibetan leaders in the 1920s and 1930s.[11][12] She wrote three books, two about Tibet and one about education.[4] In 1938, she reported to the Kuomintang in Chongqing about conditions in Xikang province.[13]

In 1931, Liu was a founding member of the Association of the Border Areas of China, or Frontier Club.[3] She spoke about her experiences to the Frontier Club at the University of Shanghai in 1932.[12]

Liu used several names. She was also known as Yongjin and De Meixi.[1]

Selected publications

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  • Expedition in a Carriage to Xikang and Tibet (1933)
  • Tibet (1934)
  • Education in the Chinese Border Areas (1937)

Personal life

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Liu was married and soon divorced as a young woman in Beijing. She died in 1941, aged 35 years, in Chongqing. She is "remembered as a heroine by the Tibetan people", among whom the story of her arduous journeys to Lhasa is well known.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Atwill, David G. (2018-10-09). Islamic Shangri-La: Inter-Asian Relations and Lhasa's Muslim Communities, 1600 to 1960. Univ of California Press. pp. 46–49, 183, note 61. ISBN 978-0-520-97133-2.
  2. ^ "Who's Who in China". The China Weekly Review. 20 September 1930. p. 108. Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b Who's who in China; biographies of Chinese leaders. Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library – University of Toronto. Shanghai China Weekly Review. 1936. p. 168 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ a b c Jagou, Fabienne (October 2009). "Liu Manqing: A Sino-Tibetan Adventurer and the Origin of a New Sino-Tibetan Dialogue in the 1930s" (PDF). Revue d'Études Tibétaines. 17: 5–20.
  5. ^ Meng, C. Y. W. (6 September 1930). "Miss Liu's MIssion to Tibet". The China Weekly Review. pp. 22, 24. Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "A Courageous Woman Who Walked to Tibet". The China Weekly Review. 13 September 1930. p. 44. Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Wang, Jiawei; Nyima, Gyaincain; 尼玛坚赞 (1997). The Historical Status of China's Tibet. 五洲传播出版社. p. 148. ISBN 978-7-80113-304-5.
  8. ^ Ma, Lihua (2003). Old Lhasa : a sacred city at dusk. Beijing, China: Foreign Language Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-7-119-03124-8.
  9. ^ Lin, Hsaio-ting (2011-01-01). Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49. UBC Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7748-5988-2.
  10. ^ Grunfeld, A. Tom (1996). The making of modern Tibet. M.E. Sharpe. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-56324-713-2.
  11. ^ Shakabpa, Tsepon Wangchuck Deden (2009-10-23). One Hundred Thousand Moons: An Advanced Political History of Tibet. BRILL. p. 816. ISBN 978-90-474-3076-6.
  12. ^ a b "Girl Envoy to Tibet". North China Herald. 14 June 1932. p. 415. Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Meng, C. Y. W. (16 July 1938). "Sikong: A New Wall in the Bulwark Against Japan". The China Weekly Review. p. 221. Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
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