Monguor people

Xianbei (“Monguor”/“Tu”)

Alternative Names: Donghu (Tangut), Xianbei, “White Mongols” (“Chaghan Monguor”), and “Tu”
Regions with significant populations
China: Qinghai and Gansu
Languages
Altaic Mongolic
Religion
Yellow Sect (or Tibetan) Buddhism, Taoism and Shamanism
Related ethnic groups
Mongols

The "Monguor," as known in the West, and "Tu Zu," known in China are one of the fifty six officially recognized ethnic groups in the People’s Republic. Their identity as “Tu Zu” was made by the Chinese Government in the first ethnic classificatory campaign carried out in 1953. Western scholars have long perceived the name to be derogatory, for it equated with “the indigenous peoples,” and used “Monguor” instead based on their self reference of “Chaghan Monguor” (or “White Mongols”,Mongolian: Цагаан Монгол).

They totaled 241,198 in the 2000 Census and were primarily distributed in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in the northwest. They speak an Altaic Mongolic language and practice sedentary agriculture supplemented by minimal animal husbandry. Their culture and social organizations are based on Confucianism, and their religion is a harmonious blend of the Yellow Sect (Tibetan) Buddhism, Taoism, and Shamanism.

Ethnic Origins

Ethnically the “Monguor”/“Tu” are Xianbei, who could be characterized as the most powerful ethnic group who played significant roles in the Chinese and even the world’s history. They descended from the Donghu in northeast China more than 4,000 years ago and established extensive political establishments in China proper since the third century, whereby most of them were immersed among the Chinese and classified into “Han” and other ethnic groups later. The “Monguor”/“Tu” represented the Xianbei who followed Tuyühu Khan to separate and undertake the great westward migration in the third century. After settling down in the northwest, they subjugated the native peoples who were summarily referred to as the “Qiang” and successively established the powerful empires of Tuyühu (often misspelled as Tuyuhun)(284-670), which annexed the Western Qin (385-431), Southern Liang (396-414), and Haolian Xia (407-431) Kingdoms by the fifth century, and of Western Xia (1038-1227) through the thirteenth century. After the empires fell, they continued to play prominent roles in the national defense, and political and religious affairs of China, while preserving their language and culture attributable largely to their occupation in a unique and vitally strategic area in the northwest. Geographically, they have resided on the transitional areas from the Yellow Earth Plateau of China to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Culturally and politically, they have occupied the frontier regions of the Chinese civilization on the east and Tibetan civilization on the west. The multi-ethnic environment and relatively distant distribution, detached from the political centers of China, enabled them to preserve their identity and culture until the present times.

Origins of the Chinese Reference of “Tu”

The Chinese reference of “Tu” was derived from the name of Tuyühu Khan, who was the older son of the King of Murong Xianbei and separated to undertake the great westward migration from the northeast in 284. The last character of Tuyühu, pronounced as “hun” today, was pronounced as “hu” in the ancient Chinese language. The contemporary reference of his name spelled as “Tuyuhun” in China and the West should be “Tuyühu.” It came from the Chinese phonetic transcription of his original name “Teihu”, which is still a common name seen among the Xianbei today. Since the Chinese language cannot represent “Tei,” two characters of “Tu” and “yü” were used. The ethnonym “Tu” in Chinese came from the abbreviation of “the Tuyühu people” or “the people of the Tuyühu Empire.” Between the years 908 and 1042, the reference became simplified into “Tuhu” and “Tüihu” people. As the other ethnic groups of the Tuyühu Empire came to be ascribed with different ethnonyms through subsequent history, the Xianbei who founded the Empire remained to bear with the identity of “Tu.”

The Earliest Record of the Chinese Reference of “Tu”

The earliest record of the formal abbreviation of “Tu people” in Chinese occurred in the year of 1001 during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), when the Song officials discussed defense strategies against Western Xia. Since its first inception occurred at a time of war conflict, the name “Tu” was most likely associated with not only a derogatory meaning, as Western scholars have perceived, but also a hostile undertone. Its overlap with “the indigenous peoples” was a coincidence. In the Chinese context, “the indigenous peoples” more often applied to the Chinese, especially the southern Chinese, who have been extensively conquered by the northern nomadic peoples. Unlike that in the West, a derogatory connotation for “the indigenous peoples” can hardly be perceived in China. Its derogatory undertone came from the concurrent meaning of the Chinese character “Tu” for “earth and soil.” That its first inception took place during the time of a war conflict between the two countries would make the interpretation of a derogatory and even hostile connotation stronger.

The ethnonym “Tu” is unsupported by ethnographic context. It had always been imposed upon them, never a self reference. In Huzhu County of Qinghai, which holds the largest Xianbei settlement, the commonest self reference is “Chaghan Monguor” (or “White Mongols”). It occurred in contrast to the Mongols, who were referred to as “Khara Monguor” (or “Black Mongols”), when the Mongols established political governance centered in Xining during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The Sanchuan/Guanting area in Minhe County has the most densely populated Xianbei settlement distributed on the north bank of the [[Yellow River]], at the easternmost point of Qinghai, as the River flows eastward into Gansu. Archaeological discoveries and historical research indicated that the area is the homeland of the legendary Emperor Yü the Great, who established the Xia Dynasty (2070 B.C.-1600 B.C.), the first ever recorded dynasty in the ancient Chinese history. The dense settlement resulted from defense purposes against the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) founded by the Jurchens, which overlooked Western Xia across the River. There the commonest self reference is “Dasni kung,” which literally means “the people of our ethnic group” and reflected their extensive occupation in the region. Up until recently, the area has existed very much like an independent kingdom, where everyone speaks their native Xianbei language, as an extension from the historical past that it had always been an important part of their empires for over seventeen hundred years. Since ethnic identities are formed when the outside members are encountered and everyone who lived there has been Xianbei, there was no need to make ethnic distinctions among themselves. Because the Mongols did not establish political governance there during the Yuan Dynasty, they did not encounter the Mongols as the Huzhu and Datong Xianbei did. Therefore, no contrasting reference as “Chaghan” verses “Khara” Monguor was formed.

Origins of the Western Reference of "Monguor"

The reference of "Monguor" in the Western publications came from their self reference as “Chaghan Monguor” (or “White Mongols”). It was derived from their origins from the Murong Xianbei, from whom Tuyühu Khan separated and who had been historically referred to as “the White Section,” or “Bai Bu,” due to their lighter skin. The term "Monguor" was first used by the European Catholics missionaries, Smedt and Mosaert, who studied the Xianbei language and compiled a Xianbei-French Dictionary in the beginning of the twentieth century. subsequently the Flemish Catholic missionary, Louis Schram, made it into an international name through three volumes of extensive reports based on his experiences from having living among them from 1911 to 1922. The missionaries were well aware that the term was merely a variant pronunciation of “Mongol” in the Xianbei language, characterized by the final “-r” in place of “-l” in the Mongolian language. Their insistence on using it seems to have resulted from an inadequate knowledge on the earlier history and culture of the Xianbei, and their interpretation that the Chinese reference of “Tu” first occurred during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was derogatory and inappropriate.

Despite that “Monguor” was made into an international name for the Xianbei, it is not representative: the reference is only used by the Xianbei in Huzhu and Datong Counties in Qinghai, and when used, it should be combined with “Chaghan” (or “White”) in order to be distinguished from the “Khara” (or “Black”) Mongols. In Minhe County, which holds the most densely populated Xianbei settlement and where everyone speaks their native Xianbei language, it is never used as an autonym.

A Brief History

Earliest origins: the Donghu (4,000 years ago-3rd Century)

The “Monguor”/“Tu” descended from the Donghu in the northeast, also known as Manchuria. About three to four thousand years ago, the Donghu developed into the state of a country formed by the federations of Donghu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei. Among the northern ethnic groups, the Donghu was the earliest to evolve into a state of civilization and first developed bronze technology. They spoke proto-Mongolian language and their culture was associated with the Upper Xiajiadian Culture, characterized by the practice of agriculture and animal husbandry supplemented by handicrafts and bronze art. Through the use of cavalry and bronze weaponry in warfare, the Donghu dominated over the Xiongnu who resided on their west. In the end of the third century B.C., the Xiongnu Maodun attacked to destroy the Donghu by surprise and caused disintegration in the federation. The Wuhuan moved to Mt. Wuhuan and engaged in continuous warfare with the Xiongnu on the west and China on the south. As the Wuhuan and Xiongnu came to be worn out from the lengthy battles, the Xianbei preserved their strengths by moving northward to Mt. Xianbei. In the first century, the Xianbei defeated the Wuhuan and northern Xiongnu, and developed into a powerful state under the leadership of their elected Khan, Tanshihuai. In the third century, the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220A.D.) in China disintegrated into three kingdoms, including the Cao Wei (220-265) in the north, the Sun Wu (222-280) in the south, and the Shu Han (221-263) in the southwest. In 235, the Cao Wei assassinated the last Khan of the Xianbei, Kebineng, and caused disintegration in the Xianbei Kingdom. Thereafter, the Xianbei pushed their way inside the Great Wall and established extensive presence in China.

The Xianbei in China Proper (3rd century)

During the Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439) period, the Xianbei founded six kingdoms, including the Former Yan (281-370), Western Yan (384-394), Later Yan (383-407), Southern Yan (398-410), Western Qin (385-430) and Southern Liang (397-414). Most of them were unified by the Tuoba Xianbei, who established the Northern Wei (386-535), which was the first of the Northern Dynasties (386-581) founded by the Xianbei, in opposition to the Southern Dynasties (420-589) founded by the Chinese in southern China. In 534, the Northern Wei split into an Eastern Wei (534-550) and a Western Wei (535-556). The former evolved into the Northern Qi (550-577), and the latter into the Northern Zhou (557-581), while the Southern Dynasties were pushed to the south of the Yangtze River. In 581, the Prime Minister, Yang Jian, of the Northern Zhou, which was the last Xianbei kingdom of the Northern Dynasties, changed its national title into the Sui Dynasty (581-618). His son, Emperor Yang Guang, annihilated the Southern Chen (557-589), the last kingdom of the Southern Dynasties, thereby unifying northern and southern China. Yang Guang commanded the construction of the Grand Canal to enhance cultural exchanges and trade between the north and south, developed unified monetary and measurement standards, and initiated the national examination system to identify and promote talents based on merits. After the Sui came to an end amidst peasant rebellions and renegade troops, his cousin, Li Shimin, founded the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Born in Qin’an, Gansu and revered as “the Heavenly Khan,” or “Tian kehan”, Li led China to develop into the most prosperous state of civilization seen in the world, which saw extravagant palaces, architecture, music, literature, and fine arts, long before Europe was in the Dark Ages. Contrary to conventional beliefs that the Sui and Tang were founded by the “Han” ethnic group, these two powerful dynasties inherited the political structures of the Northern Wei and continued to be of Xianbei establishments. The Khitans who founded the subsequent Liao Dynasty (916-1125) and the Mongols who founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) in China proper also derived their ancestries from the Xianbei. Through these extensive political establishments, the Xianbei who entered into China were immersed among the Chinese and later classified into “Han,” whereas the “Monguor”/“Tu” represented the Xianbei who have preserved their distinctive identity, language, and culture until today.

Separation from the Murong Xianbei and Westward Migration (4th century AD)

The separation of Tuyühu from the Murong Xianbei occurred during the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316), which succeeded the Cao Wei (220-265) in northern China. Legends accounted the separation to be due to a fight between his horses and those of his younger brother, Murong Wei. The actual cause was intense struggle over the Khanate position and disagreement over their future directions. The fraction that supported Murong Wei into the Khanate position aimed at ruling over China, whereas Tuyühu intended to preserve the Xianbei culture and lifestyles. The disagreement resulted in Tuyühu to proclaim as the Khan, or Kehan, and undertook the long westward journey under the title of the Prince of Jin, or Jin Wang, followed by other Xianbei and Wuhuan groups. While passing through western Liaoning and Mt. Bai, more Xianbei groups joined them from the Duan, Yuwen, and Bai sections. At the Hetao Plains near Ordos in Inner Mongolia, Tuyühu Khan led them to reside by Mt. Yin for over thirty years, as the Tuoba Xianbei and Northern Xianbei joined them through political and marriage alliances. After settling down in the northwest, they established the powerful Tuyühu Empire named to his honor as the first Khan who led them there, by subjugating the native peoples who were summarily referred to as the “Qiang” and included more than 100 different and loosely coordinated tribes that did not submitted to each other or any authorities.

After Tuyühu Khan departed from the northeast, Murong Wei composed an “Older Brother’s Song,” or “the Song of A Gan:” “A Gan” is Chinese transcription of “a ga” for “older brother” in the Xianbei language. The song lamented his sadness and longing for Tuyühu. Legends accounted that Murong Wei often sang it until he died and the song got spread into central and northwest China. The Murong Xianbei whom he had led successively founded the Former Yan (281-370), Western Yan (384-394), Later Yan (383-407), and Southern Yan (398-410). Their territories encompassed the present Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan, and their capitals included Beijing and other cities. Through these establishments, they were immersed among the Chinese, whereas the Xianbei who followed Tuyühu Khan preserved their language and culture until the present times.

“Migration” of Mt. Xianbei from northeast to northwest China

In the extensive migrations that the Xianbei undertook in the northeast, northern, and northwest China, the name of Mt. Xianbei was found along their trajectories. The earliest recorded Mt. Xianbei was in the southern portions of Daxinganling, located in northeast Inner Mongolia, which represented the originating place of the Xianbei. Two Mt. Xianbei were recorded subsequently in western Liaoning: one in the present Jinzhou City and one near Yi County. Another Mt. Xianbei was recorded in the northern portions of Daxinganling, located near Alihe Town of Elunchun Autonomous County in Hulunbeiermeng in the northeastern portion of Inner Mongolia that borders eastern Russia. The Gaxian Cave, currently Khabarovsk and Amur regions in the Russian Far East, which had stone inscriptions of the Northern Wei emperor dated 443, was recognized to be the sacred ancestral shrine of the Xianbei. In the northwest, Qilian Mountains that run along Gansu and Qinghai Provinces was referred to as the Greater Mt. Xianbei. In Sanchuan/Guanting of Minhe County in Qinghai, which holds the most densely populated Xianbei settlement, Mt. Xianbei stands in the west, upon which sits the ancestral shrine of the Xianbei Khans.

Tuyühu Empire (4th-7th centuries AD)

After Tuyühu Khan died in Linxia, also known as Huozhou, Gansu in 317, his sixty sons inherited to further develop the Empire, by annihilating the Western Qin (385-430), which had annexed Southern Liang (396-414) earlier, and Haolian Xia (407-431) Kingdoms, from which the Qinghai Xianbei, Tufa Xianbei, Qifu Xianbei and Haolian Xianbei joined them. These Xianbei groups formed the core of the Tuyühu Empire and numbered about 3.3 million at their peak. They carried out extensive military expeditions westward, reaching as far as Hetian in Xinjiang and the borders of Kashmir and Afghanistan, and established a vast empire that encompassed Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, northern Sichuan, eastern Shaanxi, southern Xinjiang, and most of Tibet, stretching 1,500 kilometers from the east to the west and 1,000 kilometers from the north to the south. They unified northwest China for the first time in history, developed the southern route of the Silk Road, and promoted cultural exchanges between the eastern and western territories, dominating the northwest for more than three and half centuries until the Empire was destroyed by the Tibetans who rose up in 670.

Origins of the English Reference of “Tibet”

Through this extensive rule, the Xianbei asserted everlasting cultural imprints in the region. The English reference for “Tibet” most likely came from the Xianbei language for the Tibetans referred to as “Tiebie,” in contrast to the self reference of the Tibetans as “Bo”. The name “Tiebie” was probably derived from the Tuoba Xianbei who founded the Southern Liang (397-414). Because the Tuoba who established the Northern Wei (386-535) in China proper objected the Tuoba of Southern Liang to use the same Chinese characters, the latter adopted “Tufa,” when in fact they were of the same Tuoba descent. After the Southern Liang was annexed by the Western Qin, which in turn was annexed by the Tuyühu Empire, the majority of Tufa Xianbei joined the Tuyühu Empire. Some submitted under the Northern Wei in China, while a small fraction went into Tibet and gave rise to the name “Tiebie” . In the ancient Chinese records, the reference of Tibet included “Tubo” and “Tufan,” which reflected the Chinese transcriptions of “Tuoba” and “Tufa.” It is likely that “Tuoba” recorded in the Chinese language may have been pronounced as “Tiebie” originally in the Xianbei language. Among the Xianbei settlement in Minhe, Qinghai today, the La and Bao Family Villages were accounted to have descended from “Tiebie”, indicating that they have derived their origins from the Tufa (Tuoba) Xianbei of the Southern Liang. The Tibetans refer to the Xianbei as “Huo’er,” which came from the final word of the name of Tuyühu Khan. The Xianbei refer to Tuyühu Khan as “Huozhou didi;” in which “Huozhou” was applied to Linxia, Gansu where Tuyühu Khan died, and “didi” was traditionally a reverence term for a deceased ancestor with deity status. The earliest record of the Xianbei in the Western publications was made by the French missionaries, Huc and Gabet, who traveled through northwest China in 1844-46. They used “Dschiahour” to represent the Xianbei, based on Tibetan reference, in which “Dschia” was likely abbreviated from the first part of “Chaghan” (or “White”) from the self reference of the Xianbei as “Chaghan Monguor” (or “White Mongols”), and “Hour” was a variant record to the Tibetan reference of the Xianbei as “Huo’er” used by the Tibetans today.

The Rise of Tibet and Split of the Tuyühu Empire (7th century)

In the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Tuyühu Empire came to a gradual decline and was increasingly caught in the conflict between the Tang and Tibet. Because the Tuyühu Empire controlled the crucial trade routes between the east and the west, the Empire became the immediate target of invasion by the Tang. Meanwhile, Tibet developed rapidly under the leadership of Songzanganbu who united the Tibetans and expanded northward, directly threatening the Tuyühu Empire. The exile Tuyühu Khan, Dayan, submitted under Tibet, which resorted to an excuse that Tuyühu objected its marriage with the Tang and sent 200,000 troops to attack. The Tuyühu troops retreated to Qinghai, whereas Tibet went eastward to attack Dangxiang and reached into southern Gansu. The Tang Government was shocked and sent five troops to fight. Although Tibet withdrew in response, the Tuyühu Empire lost much of its territory in southern Gansu. Meanwhile, the Tuyühu Government was split between the pro-Tang and pro-Tibet fractions, with the latter increasingly becoming stronger and corroborated with Tibet to bring about an invasion. The Tang sent its famous general, Xue Rengui, to lead 100,000 troops to fight Tibet in Dafeichuan (present Gonghe County in Qinghai). They were annihilated by the ambush of 200,000 troops of Dayan and Tibet, which became the biggest debacle in the Tang history, and formally brought the Tuyühu Empire to an end.

After its fall in 670, the Tuyühu Empire split into an Eastern and Western Kingdom. The Eastern Kingdom existed on the eastern side of the Qilian Mountains and increasingly migrated eastward into central China, whereas the Western Kingdom existed under the leadership of the former exile Khan, Dayan, in Tibet. As the An Shi Rebellion shook up the Tang Court and caused its emperor to flee, Tibet overtook the entire territory of Tuyühu until internal turmoil developed within the Tibetan Government and massive revolts brought an end to its ruling. Through this period, the Xianbei underwent massive diasporas over a vast territory that stretched from the northwest into central and eastern parts of China, with the greatest concentrations found by Mt. Yin near Ordos. In 946, the Shatuo Turk, Liu Zhiyuan, conspired to murder the highest Xianbei leader, Bai Chengfu, who was reportedly so wealthy that “his horses had silver mangers”. With the robbed wealth that included an abundance of property and thousands of fine horses, Liu established the Latter Han (947-950), which lasted only four years and became the shortest dynasty in the Chinese history. The incident took away the central leadership and stripped the opportunity for the Xianbei to restore the Tuyühu Empire.

Western Xia Empire (11th century)

After the fall of the Tuyühu Empire, its famous prince, Tuoba Chici, who controlled the “Dangxiang Qiang” submitted under the Tang and was “bestowed” with the royal name of “Li” by the Tang court. According to the “Complete Book of the Tang,” or “Quan Tang Shu,” the Buddhist monk, Fa Lin, pointed out to the founding Emperor of the Tang, Li Shimin, that Li had descended from the Tuoba Xianbei. It is likely that the Tang emperor and the Tuoba of the Tuyühu Empire were from the same Xianbei origin, or the monk would not have dared to speak of it in front of Li. In the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tuoba brought troops to suppress the Huangchao Rebellion on behalf of the Tang court and took control of the Xia State, or Xia Zhou, in northern Shaanxi in 881. After the Tang fell in 907, the Tuoba descendants formally declared resistance against the expanding Northern Song in 982 and proclaimed independence to establish Western Xia (or Xixia), also known as Tangut, in 1038.

The Western Xia Empire inherited the political and social structures of the Tang and further developed an outstanding civilization characterized as “shining and sparkling”. It became the new kingdom for the Xianbei who had lost their country. The Western Xia made significant achievements in literature, art, music, architecture, and chemistry. Through effective military organizations that integrated cavalry, chariots, archery, shields, artillery (cannons carried on the back of camels), and amphibious troops for combats on the land and water, the Xia army inflicted extensive debacles against the Song and maintained a powerful stance in opposition to the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) Empires to its east, the last of which was founded by the Jurchens, who were the predecessors of the Manchus to found the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) later. The Xia territory encompassed the present Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and southernmost Outer Mongolia, measuring about eight hundred thousand square kilometers. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Genghis Khan unified the northern grasslands of Mongolia and led the Mongol troops to carry out six rounds of attacks against Western Xia over a period of twenty two years. As Western Xia resisted vehemently, more and more Xianbei crossed the Qilian Mountains to join the earlier establishments in Qinghai and Gansu in order to avoid the Mongol assaults, which gave rise to the current settlements of the Xianbei. During the last round of the Mongol attacks, Genghis died in Western Xia. The official account of the Mongol history attributed his death to an illness, whereas legends accounted that he died from a wound inflicted in the battles. After the Xia capital was overrun in 1227, the Mongols caused devastating destructions on its architectures and written records, killing the last emperor and massacring tens of thousands of civilians. The Xia troops were later incorporated into the Mongol army in their subsequent military conquests in central and southern China. Due to the fierce resistance of the Xia against the Mongol attacks, especially in causing the death of Genghis, the Xianbei were initially suppressed in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Toward the middle and later phases of the Yuan, they received equivalent treatment as the ruling Mongols and attained highest offices in the Central Court. After the Yuan fell, the Xianbei who followed the Mongols into the northern grassland were immersed among and later classified into the “Mongols.”

Origins of the English Reference of “Tangut-Xixia”

The English reference of “Tangut-Xixia” was derived from the combination of the Mongolian reference of “Tangut” and the Chinese reference as “Xixia” or “Western Xia.” The Chinese reference was derived from the location of the Empire on the western side of the Yellow River, in contrast to the Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) on its east. The Mongolian usage of “Tangut” most likely referred to the “Donghu people;” “-t” in Mongolian language means “people”. Whereas “Donghu” was a Chinese transcription, its Mongolian reference was “Tünghu”. By the time that the Mongols emerged in the thirteenth century, the only “Donghu people” who existed were the Xianbei from Tuyühu Empire, then known as the “Tu” who founded Western Xia.

That the Mongols referred to Western Xia as “Tangut” to represent the founding ethnic group, the Xianbei, is consistent with the theories of the Mongol origins postulated by the Outer Mongolian scholars, who have held that the Mongols had descended from the Xiongnu, more specifically the eastern Xiongnu who spoke proto-Mongolic language, as opposed to the western Xiongnu who spoke proto-Turkish language. In contrast, the Chinese scholars have characterized that the Mongols had descended from the Xianbei. The Mongols were recorded as “Mengwu Shiwei” in the Northern Dynasties: “Mengwu” was a variant Chinese transcription of “Menggu” designated to the Mongols, and “Shiwei” was a variant transcription of the Xianbei, as “Xianbei” was also recorded as “Sian-pie,” “Serbi,” “Sirbi” and “Sirvi”. This equated the Mongols to be “Mongol Xianbei,” which was likely associated with the submission of the Xiongnu under Xianbei. In 87 A.D., the Xianbei defeated the northern Xiongnu and killed their king, Chanyu Youliu, causing its thorough disintegration. Thereafter, the Xiongnu submitted under and self proclaimed to be Xianbei. This resulted in a mix of the Xiongnu into Xianbei and made it difficult to differentiate the two groups in subsequent historical records. That the Mongolian term “Tangut” represented “the Donghu people,” the Xianbei who had founded the Tuyühu and Western Xia Empires, would validate the theories of the Outer Mongolian scholars that the Mongols had descended from the Xiongnu. The fact that there were Wuhuan groups, who were part of the Donghu federation and followed Tuyühu Khan in the westward migration, would make the interpretation that “Tangut” represented “the Donghu people” stronger, not only from reflecting that the Wuhuan joined the Xianbei of the Tuyühu and Western Xia Empires, but also contrasting that the Mongols had descended from the Xiongnu. If the Mongols had descended from the Xianbei, as the Chinese scholars characterized, the Mongols would have shared the same ethnic origins with the Xianbei of Tuyühu Empire and not have called them as “the Donghu people” in reference of Western Xia. While the intimate associations between the two groups were manifested in the cross references of the Mongols as “Mengwu Shiwei” (or “Mongol Xianbei”) from the first century and the Xianbei as “Chaghan (or White) Monguor” in the thirteenth century, ethnically and culturally they remained different. As much as the prefix “Mengwu” (or “Mongol”) in front of “Shiwei” (or “Xianbei”) marked the difference between the Mongols and the Xianbei, the prefix “Chaghan” in front of “Monguor” indicated that the Xianbei were not the same as the Mongols. Culturally, the Mongols have retained a nomadic lifestyle, whereas the social organizations and religious lives of the Xianbei are of far greater complexities.

Origins of the “Chaghan” (or “White”) Mongols, Khitans, and Jurchens

When the Mongols emerged as a mighty power in the thirteenth century, a reverse occurred in the ethnonyms of the Xianbei and Mongols. This was represented in the reference of the Xianbei as “Chaghan Monguor” (or “White Mongols”), which gave rise to the ethnonym of “Monguor” known in the Western publications. The term “White Mongols,” or “Bai Menggu,” first occurred when Genghis Khan united the Mongols to rise up in Mongolia in 1206. The Xianbei who resided near Mt. Yin self proclaimed to be “White Mongols” and joined them. They received the same treatment as the Mongols and partook in their westward conquests in Central Asia and Europe.

As waves and waves of the Xianbei went south and westward to establish different empires, those who remained in the northeast emerged as major powers later to rule over China. While the “Mongol Xianbei” (or “Mengwu Shiwei”) emerged from the northern Manchuria and northeastern Mongolia, the Khitans, or “Qidan” in Chinese, derived their ancestral origins from the Yuwen Xianbei in southern Mongolia, who had earlier founded the Western Wei (535-556) and Northern Zhou (557-581) of the Northern Dynasties. When the Khitans established the Liao Dynasty (916-1125) in China proper, they were referred to as “Qara (or Black) Khitāy”. Their rule gave rise to the reference of China known as “Hătāi” and “Cathay” in the Persian and European countries. The reference of “Qara” (or “Black”) as a prefix in the name of the Khitans and “Khara” (or “Black”) in that of the Mongols may indicate that both groups had substantial input from the Xiongnu, who by self proclaiming to be “Xianbei” earlier made it hard in distinguish in the Chinese records.

After the Xianbei vacated from the northeast, the Jurchens, known as “Nüzhen” in Chinese, moved southward into Manchuria from their original habitation in the Tungus Plains in eastern Russia located on the north of Manchuria. They occupied the former areas of the Xianbei and ascribed Mt. Xianbei with a new name, known as “Daxinganling,” which remains to be used today and literally meant “White Mountains” in their Tungus language. They first established the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) in northern China by pushing the Liao Empire of the Khitans westward into Xinjiang. After the Jin Empire was destroyed by the Mongols in 1234, they withdraw back to Manchuria and returned later with the rejoined forces from the Mongols to establish the last dynasty of the Qing (1644-1912) in China under the new ethnonym of Manchu, or “Man Zu” in Chinese.

Origins of the Xia Title: “the Great Xia Kingdom of the White and Mighty”

The full national title of Western Xia was “the Great Xia Kingdom of the White and Mighty,” or “Bai Gao Da Xia Guo” (白高大夏国). The term “White” (or “Bai”) was designated to the founding ethnic group, the Xianbei from the Tuyühu Empire, which is consistent with their reference of “Chaghan” (or “White”), derived from their origins from the Murong Xianbei known as the “White Section.” The term “Mighty” (or “Gao”) was designated to the “Qiang” people who formed the majority of the population. The “Qiang” were the native peoples who were subjugated by the Xianbei in the northwest. They initially rebelled but later their fate became intimately associated with the Xianbei, as they actively defended the Empire when the enemies attacked. In addition to the Tibetans and authentic Han people, the “Qiang” comprised a portion of the Miao/Hmong who were relocated to the northwest from central China after their Three Miao Kingdom was destroyed by the legendary Chinese Emperor Yü the Great about four thousand years ago. The “Qiang” referred to Western Xia as their “Gao (or ‘Mighty’) Mi Yao” Kingdom. When “Mi Yao” is pronounced together, it is similar to “Miao.” Since the autonyms of the Miao/Hmong include “Guoxiong”, “Gaoxiong,” and “Gouxiong,” the character “Gao” (or “Mighty”) in the Xia national title could have derived as a variant abbreviation. “Bai Gao” in the national title was in turn used it to refer to the Yellow River, which had traditionally been referred to as the “Mother River” of China, known as “Mu Qin He,” that has nurtured their homeland.

More Recent History

The Xianbei culture today evolved as extensions from the Donghu, Xianbei, Tuyühu, Tang Dynasty, and Western Xia. The Flemish Catholic missionary, Schram, who conducted extensive studies on the Xianbei culture for over ten years in the beginning of the last century, cited Comte de Lesdain, who characterized the Xianbei culture as “the most authentic reminder … from which the Chinese sprung”. This characterization reflected the Xianbei culture under their observation has embodied “a high civilization fortified by its own history and distinctive social structure” developed by the Xianbei forefathers from their extensive rulings over China and preserved by the “Monguor”/“Tu.” As early as the Tuyühu period, Confucianism served as the core ideology to govern the country, and the Chinese Buddhism and Shamanism functioned as the principle religions. In Western Xia, Confucianism was further strengthened, and Taoism was made into the national religion along with Buddhism. As the Yellow Sect of Buddhism, also known as the Tibetan Buddhism, became prevalent in the northwest, their religious lives shifted from the Chinese toward Tibetan Buddhism. After Western Xia fell, its territory centered in Ningxia was fragmented by the successive establishments of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai Provinces, which increasingly weakened the political and military powers of the Xianbei. Through the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties, the Xianbei continued to play important roles in the national defense, and political and religious affairs of China. Starting in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the ranches of the Xianbei were taken into the state possession, and their horses became the subject of being drafted into the national army and looted by the Mongols from the north, resulting in the eventual shift of their lifestyles toward sedentary agriculture, supplemented by minimum animal husbandry, as the original Xianbei groups became settled into the form of different villages. In the last two centuries, the areas formerly occupied by the Xianbei were encroached upon by increasing inland Chinese migrations. Throughout this period, the Xianbei maintained a high degree of political autonomy and self governance under the local chiefdom system of Tusi. the Xianbei troops led by their Tusi defended not only their own homeland but also joined the national army to participate in wars that took place as far as in eastern Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Yunnan, Mongolia, and Dunhuang, which progressively weakened their military power. Their political power came to the ultimate decline when the Tusi system was abolished in 1931, which exacerbated more Xianbei to lose their language. By the founding of PR China in 1949, only about fifty thousand of the Xianbei have maintained to speak their language, primarily in Qinghai and Gansu. During the Chinese classificatory campaigns carried out in the 1950s, those who could no longer speak their language were classified into “Han,” those who could not speak their language but adopted the Islamic religion were classified into “Hui,” those who followed the Mongols into the northern grassland were classified into “Mongols,” and those who spoke their language and adopted the Islamic religion were classified into “Dongxiang,” “Bao’an,” and “Yügu” Nationalities.

The Chinese language

Through the extensive rule that the Xianbei had accomplished in China, they have had full capacity to develop a written script, yet they did not devise it. This reflected as much on their political vision and far-sightedness as a major flaw. The Khitans, Mongols, and Manchus developed written scripts when they ruled over China but failed to promulgate and maintain them. Perhaps the Xianbei forefathers foresaw the problems of devising a separate writing language, as it would heighten ethnic boundaries and intensify tensions that would create problems for their empires, although not devising a written script created ambiguities on their ethnic identity and history, so much so that most contemporary Chinese versions of history have attributed the Sui and Tang Dynasties founded by the Xianbei to the “Han” and proclaimed that the Xianbei had long “vanished”. As a long tradition, the Xianbei used both the Xianbei and Chinese for formal communications, and the Chinese written language for written communications. This feature is maintained in the Xianbei culture today, as represented in their weddings, funerals, and holiday celebrations, in which informal communication takes places in the Xianbei language whereas formal communication is mostly in the Chinese. In Western Xia, a separate script was devised for the “Qiang” majority. It resembled the structure of the Chinese, similar to that of the current Japanese and original Korean and Vietnamese written languages. The Western Xia monuments uncovered in recent decades had both the Chinese and Xia languages written and inscribed on them.

Archaeological and historical research indicated that the earliest Chinese written language was first developed by the “Dongyi,” or “the Eastern Barbarians”. It was made into the official language of China after the country was first unified by the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), which gave rise to the English reference of “China” derived from its original spelling as “Chin.” The language was used by all the imperial governments established in China, including the Mongol and Manchu Dynasties. In Taiwan, the Chinese language is referred to as “the National Language” (or “Guoyu”), and in Hong Kong, it is called “the Chinese language” (or “Zhongwen”), both of which reflected the historical past. In contrast, the Communist Chinese ascribed the Chinese language to the “Han” ethnic group and defined it as “the Han language” (or “Hanyu”). The differences between Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China highlight the peculiarly asserted “Han” concept by the Communist Chinese.

Origins of the “Han” concept

The “Han” concept used today was invented by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was the only dynasty that could be claimed to be established by the Chinese, as the others were founded by the non-Han peoples, in the past two millenniums of the imperial history of China and the second of the only two peasant rebellions that ever established centralized governments; the first being the Western Han (202 B.C.-9 A.D.) that succeeded the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.). The founding emperor of the Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a southern Chinese peasant, exploited the ethnic identity of the authentic Han who resided along the Han and Wei Rivers in Shaanxi, Gansu, and eastern Qinghai in northwest China, and imposed it upon the ethnically and culturally diverse northern and southern Chinese in order to mobilize them and overthrow the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) founded by the Mongols, who “least trusted” the southern Chinese and placed them on the very bottom of the ethnic strata. Subsequently Sun Yat-sen, who was of Hakka from southern China, strengthened the “Han” concept again in order to organize the Chinese internally to overthrown the last Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) founded by the Manchus and externally to oppose the Western powers. Through these political maneuvers, the historical reference of the southern Chinese as “Nanman Baiyue,” or “the Southern Barbarians of One Hundred Kinds,” was overridden with the identity of “Han.” The Communist Chinese who founded the People’s Republic were yet another southern Chinese peasant rebellion led by Mao Zedong, who used Marxism as a pretext while the mode of ruling represents the continuation of another dynasty. Through the nationwide ethnic classificatory campaigns, the “Han” identity invented by the Ming Dynasty was made official and imposed upon the ethnically and culturally diverse subgroups of the northern and southern Chinese, while the Chinese civilization that was substantially developed by the northern nomadic peoples and passively received by the Chinese came to be attributed to the “Han” by distorting ethnic boundaries and historical truism. In the 2000 Census, the “Han” were counted to number 1.14 billion out of the 1.24 billion, making up 91.5% of the national total, and occupied less than 37% of the vast territory of China, whereas the rest is inhabited by the non-Han peoples who are deemed as the “minorites”, a term not without stigmatizing and derogatory connotations in itself. Up until the present, the Chinese in Manchuria who are classified as “Han” continue to refer to the southern Chinese as “Nanman” or “the southern barbarians.”

Today the Xianbei references for the northern and southern Chinese reflect the “Han” identity before its invention by the Ming Dynasty. The northern Chinese are referred to as “Qidai kung,” which means the “Khitan people;” and the Chinese language is referred to as “Qidai wuge,” which means the “Khitan language,” both of which were derived from the Khitans who established the Liao Dynasty (916-1125) in China proper. The southern Chinese are referred to as “Duoruo ghazher kung,” which literally means “the people of the low place.” The Russian scholar, Potanin, who studied the Xianbei culture from 1884 to 1886, noted that the Xianbei referred to “the Mongols of the plain” as “Doro gadzoren Mongol,” which meant the “Mongols of the lower land”. This suggests that the Xianbei reference of the southern Chinese as “Duoruo ghazher kung” (or “the people of the low place”) preceded the Yuan Dynasty and may be related to their geographical location. If it came from the fact that the southern Chinese were placed on the lowest ethnic strata during the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols who established the Yuan would not have been referred to being part of them. The different references applied to the northern and southern Chinese reflect that they are not of the same ethnic group, which is consistent with ethnographic contexts. The cultures and languages of the southern Chinese differ vastly not only from the northern Chinese, but also among themselves, to the extent that the subgroups cannot communicate with each other in their languages, despite that they are all labelled as “Han” and their languages are claimed to be “dialects.”

the Xianbei Life and Culture Today

Most Xianbei in traditional village settlements today practice sedentary agriculture, supplemented by minimum animal husbandry. Those who have succeeded in the Chinese educational system take up positions in the government as high as the Vice Governor and bureau levels, and work in a wide range of academic, medical, business, and international fields. Some have made their ways to study and work in the West.

Religious Practices

In most villages, a Buddhist temple and a Taoist shrine coexist. Almost all the temples and shrines seen today have been rebuilt in the last three decades, since they were invariably destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). While Buddhist monks are common in most villages, Taoist priests and shamans have become very few and serve the whole area. The Taoist priests take charge of diverse functions that include weddings, funerals, and looking after the shrines, whereas the shaman's primary function is to serve as a trance medium during the Nadun celebration and sometimes illness management. Local accounts indicated that there have been multiple Catholic churches constructed in the Xianbei areas in the past. They were destroyed in early 1950s after the Communists took control and have not been rebuilt.

Characteristic Festivals: Nadun and Anzhao

Distinctive Xianbei cultural events take place throughout the year. Whereas the common festival held during the Spring Festival is “Yangguo,” the most characteristic tradition is represented by Nadun that takes place in the end of the summer. Nadun resembles Nadam of the Mongols in name but are different in format and content. Both “Nadun” and “Nadam” are special nouns designated to an annual festival and reflect their shared origins from the northern nomadic people who were recorded to have “one major gathering every spring for leisure and fun”. Whereas the Mongolian Nadam preserved the nomadic features of horse race, wrestling, and archery, the Xianbei Nadun has encoded their history through masked dance performances and presents as an annual military drill combined with joyful celebrations of harvest. Held by villages in turn along the Yellow River and circles through the entire Sanchuan/Guanting region in Minhe, the Nadun festival is inherently tied to agricultural work. It functions as the Xianbei form of “Thanksgiving” in the Western culture and expresses gratitude for an abundance of harvest blessed by Heaven referred to as “Tiangere.” The event lasts over two months, starting from the twelfth of the seventh month to the fifteenth of the ninth month by the Chinese lunar calendar, and spans for a total of 63 days, giving rise to its eponym as “the world’s longest festival. Among the Huzhu Xianbei, the characteristic traditional dance is “Anzhao.” Its name and styles bear resemblance to the “Andai” dance of the Mongols who live in Ordos, an area that has historically served as the transitional point for the Xianbei to move about in China.

Wedding Songs: Daola

The traditional weddings of the Xianbei are incomparable affairs embellished with elaborate rules of courtesy and appropriateness, in which hundreds of songs referred to as “daola” are sung for days and nights with great variations in melody and contents. Wherever the Xianbei go, their songs follow them and can be heard in parties, banquets, and gatherings in cities where they work, which have come to be known as their signature mark.

Suppression of History in China

Despite that their ethnic origins and history have been clarified through extensive research conducted by their own scholars, their full history remains systematically suppressed in China, especially that they are the Xianbei and founders of the Western Xia Empire. That the Tuyühu Xianbei, who have been referred to as the “Tu” in the Chinese record since the Northern Song Dynasty, had founded the Western Xia was extensively documented in the Song History (Song Shi), Liao History (Liao Shi), Complete Book of the Liao (Quan Liao Wen), Jin History (Jin Shi), Supplemental Zizhitongjian Extended (Xu Zizhitongjian Changbian), and the Xia Language Dictionary (Wen Hai). However, the Communist Chinese versions of history have claimed that the Xianbei had long “vanished,” and treated the Song as a legitimate dynasty and Western Xia as a foreign or enemy state. There may have been concerns that revealing historical truths would undermine the “ethnic harmony” maintained under the “Han” dominance and lead the Xianbei to seek independence. As a whole, the Tuyühu Xianbei became part of China around the same time as the Tibetans after Western Xia was destroyed by the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty in the thirteenth century, which would entitle them to seek independence as much as the Tibetans. Despite that the Xianbei have been classified into different ethnic groups and their territory was fragmented into different areas, since the northwestern ethnic groups have resided on the same territory and shared similar culture that is significantly different from the southern Chinese, on top of an increasing economic gap, it is possible that they may get organized and seek independence as the Tibetans, Uigurs, and Mongols did. These considerations probably contributed to the extensive suppression and distortions of their ethnic origins and history on the mainland China.

A Rapidly Vanishing Culture

In an age of globalization and commercialism that have swept across China and most parts of the world, the traditional Xianbei culture and language are under great threats of becoming extinct. The Nadun programs have increasingly become shortened in most villages, and traditional songs and proverbs are rapidly vanishing. These cultural traditions represent rare and valuable assets not only for the Xianbei, but also for the world. Given their relatively small population size, it is beyond their capabilities to defend against the larger forces and protect their own culture. Greater international efforts are needed to help preserve the unique cultural heritage that they have handed down for thousands of years.

Further reading

• Anonymous (1977). Pater Lodewijk, Jozef, Maria Schram (1883-1971), "Een Brugs missionaris en etnoloog." Haec Olim 21: 16-24.
• Dpal ldan bkra shis, Hu Jun, Hu Ping, Limusishiden (Li Dechun), Keith Slater, Kevin Stuart, Wang Xianzhen, and Zhu Yongzhong (1996). "Language Materials of China’s Monguor Minority: Huzhu Mongghul and Minhe Mangghuer." Sino-Platonic Papers No 69.
• Dwyer, Arienne M (2005). "Language Contact and Variation: A Discourse-based Grammar of Monguor."
• Feng Lide and Kevin Stuart (1992). "Interethnic Cultural Contact on the Inner Asian Frontier: The Gangou People of Minhe County, Qinghai." Sino Platonic Papers No 33.
• Field, Kenneth L (1997). A Grammatical Overview of Santa Mongolian. University of California, Santa Barbara PhD dissertation.
• Kämpfe, Hans-Rainer (1974). Die soziale Rolle des 2. Pekinger Lcang skya qutuqtu Rol pa’i rdo rje (1717-1786): Beitrage zu einer Analyse anhand Tibetischer und mongolischer Biographien. Bonn: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität.
• Stefan Georg|Georg, Stefan (2003). "Mongghul." In Juha Janhunen, editor (2003). The Mongolic Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 286–306.
• Hasibate, editor (1986). Tuzu yu cidian [Tu Language Dictionary]. Mongolian Language Family Dialects Research Series Vol. 14. Huhehaote: Nei menggu renmin chubanshe [Inner Mongolia People’s Press].
• Hecken, J. Van (1977). "Schram, Lodewijk, Jozef, Maria, missionaris en etnoloog." Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek 7:856-865.
• Hu Jun and Kevin Stuart (1992). "The Guanting Tu (Monguor) Wedding Ceremonies and Songs." Anthropos 87:109 132.
• Hu Jun and Kevin Stuart (1992). "Illness Among the Minhe Tu, Qinghai Province: Prevention and Etiology." Mongolian Studies 15:111 135.
• Illich, Marina (2006). Selections from the Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Polymath: Chankya Rolpai Dorje (Lcang skya rol pa’i rdo rje), 1717-1786. Columbia University PhD dissertation.
• Juha Janhunen, editor (2003). The Mongolic Languages. London: Routledge.
• Juha Janhunen (2003). "Shirongol and Shirongolic." Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 8:83-89.
• Juha Janhunen (2006). "On the Shirongolic Names of Amdo." Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 11:95-103.
• Juha Janhunen, Lionel Ha Mingzong and Joseph Tshe.dpag.rnam.rgyal (2007). "On the Language of the Shaowa Tuzu in the Context of the Ethnic Taxonomy of Amdo Qinghai." Central Asiatic Journal.
• Lipman, Jonathan N (1981). The Border World of Gansu, 1895-1935. Stanford University PhD dissertation. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.
• Li Keyu (1987). Mongghul Qidar Merlong [Mongghul-Chinese Dictionary]. Xining: Qinghai renmin chubanshe [Qinghai People’s Press].
• Li Xuewei and Kevin Stuart (1990). "Population and Culture of the Mongols, Tu, Baoan, Dongxiang, and Yugu in Gansu." Mongolian Studies 12:71 93.
• Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart (1994). "‘Caring for All the World’: The Huzhu Monguor (Tu) Pram." In Edward H. Kaplan and Donald W. Whisenhunt, editors. Opuscula Altaica: Essays in Honor of Henry Schwarz. Bellingham: Western Washington University Press. pp. 408–426
• Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart (1995). "Larinbuda and Jiminsu: A Monguor Tragedy." Asian Theatre Journal 12:2, 221-263.
• Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart (1996). "Review of Shilaode [Dominik Schröder] editor, translator, Li Keyu. Tuzu gesaer [Monguor Gesar]." Anthropos 91:297.
• Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart, editors (1998). Huzhu Mongghul Folklore: Texts and Translations. München: Lincon Europa.
• Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart (1999). "Huzhu Mongghul Language Materials." Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja—Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 88:261-264.
• Limsishiden and Kevin Stuart, editors (2001). Huzhu Mongghul Texts: Chileb 1983-1996 Selections. 2 vol. München: Lincom Europa.
• Liu, Xueyao (劉學銚) (1994). Xianbei shi lun 鮮卑史論. Taibei 台北市, Nan tian shu ju 南天書局.
• Lu Jianfu (吕建福) (2002). Tu Zu Shi (土族史, The Tu History). Beijing (北京), Chinese Social Sciences Publishing House (中国社会科学出版社).
• Missions de Scheut (1920). Geschiedenis van de Christenheid Si-ning: 77-82 ; 110-116.
• Ma, Guangxing (1990). "Wedding, Etiquette, and Traditional Songs of the Minhe Region Tu (translated by Jun Hu and Kevin Stuart)." Asian Folklore Studies 49 (2): 197-222.
• Missions de Scheut (1920). Lettres du P. Schram: 38-41.
• Missions de Scheut (1920). Notes sur la prefecture chinoise d Si-ning (Koukounor): 79-85 &112-119.
• Missions de Scheut (1921). De gelukkigste men's in Kansoe: 138.
• Missions de Scheut (1921). L’Immaculee et les paiens de Chine: 201-220.
• Missions de Scheut (1921). De zwarte ellende in Si-ning: 217-223.
• Molè, Gabriella (1970). The Tu-yü-hun from the Northern Wei to the Time of the Five Dynasties. Serie Orientale Roma 41. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estreme Oriente.
• Antoine Mostaert|Mostaert, Antoine (1931). "The Mongols of Kansu and their Language." Bulletin of the Catholic University of Peking 8:75-89.
• Antoine Mostaert|Mostaert, Antoine (1963-1964). "Over Pater Louis Schram CICM." Haec Olim 15:103-108.
• Ngag dbang chos ldan (Shes rab dar rgyas) and Klaus Sagaster (1967). Subud erike, “ein Rosenkranz aus Perlen”: die Biographie des 1. Pekinger lCang skya Khutukhtu, Ngag dbang blo bzang chos ldan. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
• Ngag dbang thub bstan dbang phyug and Hans-Rainer Kämpfe (1976). Nyi ma’i ‘od zer/ Naran-u gerel: Die Biographie des 2. Pekingger lCang skya Qutugtu Rol pa’i rdo rje (1717-1786), Monumenta Tibetica Historica, Abteilung II: Vitae, Band 1. St. Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.
• Norbu, Kalsang (Skal bzang nor bu), Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart (1999). "A Ritual Winter Exorcism in Gnyan Thog Village, Qinghai." Asian Folklore Studies 58:189-203.
• Postiglione, Gerard A., editor (1999). China’s National Minority Education: Ethnicity, Schooling and Development. New York: Garland Press.
• Potanin, G. N (1893). Tangutsko-Tibetskaya okraïna Kitaya i Central’naya Mongoliya, vols. 1-2. St. Petersburg.
• Potanin, G. N (1950). Tangutsko-Tibetskaya okraina Kitaya i tsentral’naya Mongoliya (The Tangut-Tibetan frontier of China and Central Mongolia). Moscow. State Publisher. (An abridged edition of the 1893 version.)
• Qi Huimin, Limusishiden, and Kevin Stuart (1997-1998). "Huzhu Monguor Wedding Songs: Musical Characteristics." Parts I, II, III, IV. Chinese Music 20:1, 6-12, 14-17; 20:2, 32-37; 20:3, 43-52; 20:4, 68-71; 21:1, 10-13.
• Qi Huimin, Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart (1999). "Minhe Mangghuer Wedding Songs: Musical Characteristics." Asian Folklore Studies 58:77-120.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1912). Kansou. Missions en Chine et au Congo 149.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1918). Catholic Missions. Ethnographic Notes 229-231.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1927). "Christelijke Kunst in China." Bulletin Catholique de Peking 668-376.

• Schram, Louis MJ (1932). "Le mariage cez les T’ou-jen du Kan-sou [Marriage Among the Monguor of Gansu]." Variétés Sinologiques 58. [Available in an English translation (1962) by Jean H. Winchell in the Human Relations Area Files AE9].
• Schram, Louis MJ (1954). "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Their Origin, History, and Social Organization." Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 44:1.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1954). "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Part II. Their Religious Life." Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47:1.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1955). Two letters to Marguerite Hebert. Hebert (Raphael & Family) Papers Mss. 4769, Subseries 8. Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University.
• Schram, Louis MJ (1961). "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Part III. Records of the Monguor Clans." Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 51:3.
• Schram, Louis MJ. (Li Meiling, translator; Robert Fried and Heather Fried, proofreaders) (2006). "蒙古尔部族的组织 Mengguer Buzu de Zuzhi [Organization of the Monguor Clan]." 青海民族研究 Qinghai Minzu Yanjiu [Nationalities Research in Qinghai]. 1:29-36; 2:10-14.
• Schröder, Dominik (1952/1953). "Zur Religion der Tujen des Sininggebietes (Kukunor) [On the Religion of the Monguor of the Xining Region (Koknor)]." Anthropos 47:1-79, 620-658, 822-870; 48:202-249. [Available in an English translation (1962) by Richard Neuse IN Human Relations Area Files AE9.]
• Schröder, Dominik (1959). Aus der Volksdicntung der Monguor [From the Popular Poetry of the Monguor]; 1. Teil: Das weibe Glücksschaf (Mythen, Märchen, Lieder) [Part 1. The White Lucky-Sheep (Myths, Fairytales, Songs)]. Asiatische Forschungen 6. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
• Schröder, Dominik (1964). Der dialekt der Monguor In B. Spuler, editor Mongolistik. (Handbuch der Orientalistik, 1. Abteilung, 5. Band, 2. Abschnitt). Leiden: EJ Brill.
• Schröder, Dominik (1970). Aus der Volksdichtung der Monguor [From the Popular Poetry of the Monguor]; 2. Teil: In den Tagen der Urzeit (Ein Mythus vom Licht und vom Leben) [Part 2. In the Days of Primeval Times (A Myth of Light and Life)]. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
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• Todaevam Buljash Khojchievna (1961). Dunsyanskii yazyk. Moskva: Institut narodov Aziï AN SSSR.
• Todaevam Buljash Khojchievna (1963). "Einige Besonderheiten der Paoan-Sprache." Acta Orientalia Hungarica 16: 175-197.
• Todaevam Buljash Khojchievna (1966). Baoan’skii yazyk. Moskva: Institut narodov Aziï AN SSSR.
• Todaevam Buljash Khojchievna (1973). Mongorskii yazyk: Issledovanie, teksty, slovar (The Monguor Language: Analysis, Texts, and Glossary). Moskva: Institut vostokovedeniya AN SSSR.
• Üjiyediin Chuluu (Wu Chaolu) (1994). "Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Monguor." Sino-Platonic Papers No 57.
• Wang Xianzheng and Kevin Stuart (1995). "‘Blue Skies and Emoluments’: Minhe Monguor Men Sing I and II." Chinese Music 18(1):13-18; 18:(2):28-33.
• Wang Xianzheng, Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart (1995). "‘The Brightness of the World’: Minhe Monguor Women Sing." Mongolian Studies 18:65-83.
• Wang Xianzhen, writer; Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart, editors (2001). Mangghuerla Bihuang Keli [Mangghuer Folktale Reader]. Chengdu, China-Chengdu Audio Press.
• Zhaonasitu, editor. Tuzu yu jianchi [A Brief Account of the Monguor Language]. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe [Nationalities Press].
• Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart (1996). "Minhe Monguor Nadun Texts." CHIME 9:Autumn, 89-105.
• Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart (1996). "A Minhe Monguor Drinking Song." Central Asiatic Journal 40(2):283-289.
• Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart (1997). "Minhe Monguor Children’s Games." Orientalia Suecana XLV-XLVI:179-216.
• Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart (1999). "Education Among the Minhe Monguor." In Postiglione, Gerard A., editor (1999). China’s National Minority Education: Ethnicity, Schooling and Development. New York: Garland Press.
• Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart (1999). "‘Two Bodhisattvas From the East’: Minhe Monguor Funeral Orations." Journal of Contemporary China 8(20):179-188.
• Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu), Keith Slater, and Kevin Stuart (1997). "Gangou Chinese Dialect: A Comparative Study of a Strongly Altaicized Chinese Dialect and Its Mongolic Neighbor." Anthropos 92:433-450.
• Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu), and Kevin Stuart (1995). "The Frog Boy: An Example of Minhe Monguor." Orientalia Suecana XLII-XLIV:197-207.
• Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu, and Kevin Stuart (1999). "NI in Minhe Mangghuer and Other Mongol Languages." Archív Orientální 67(3):323-338.

External links

• The Tu ethnic minority (Chinese government site in English)
• Tu entry on Ethnologue, version 15
• Case Studies: Monguor Data Collection
• Salar and Monguor grammatical sketches; pictures and sound samples
• Several Monguor folktales (Archived version)