Liu Manqing

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
OccupationsDiplomat, 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

Liu (or Yudhona) was born in Lhasa, Tibet, the daughter of a Tibetan or Chinese father, Liu Rongguang, and a Tibetan mother. 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, where she learned Mandarin, and may have trained as a nurse at a missionary hospital.

Career

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, "successfully paving the way for a reconciliation between China and the Tibetan Government", predicted a 1930 news report. She conducted negotiations during visits with the 13th Dalai Lama, held a civil service appointment in China under Chiang Kai-shek, and was an envoy, interpreter and messenger between Chinese and Tibetan leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. She wrote three books, two about Tibet and one about education. In 1938, she reported to the Kuomintang in Chongqing about conditions in Xikang province.

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

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

Selected publications

Personal life

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.

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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.