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The 28 provinces of China - Xizang

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-29-05 04:01

The 28 provinces of China - Xizang

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The province of Xizang (惣錟徣)

http://chungyn.webhop.net/XiZang.jpg

(惣) Xi means west.
(錟) Zang means the name of an ethnic group.
惣錟 Xizang in Chinese means Western Treasure House.

This province is situated in the western part of China. The province was
named
after the Zang ethnic group (錟懓). An adjective Xi (west) is added before
the word Zang because this territory is in the west and therefore it becomes
Xizang (惣錟). The single word of this province is Zang (錟). Xizang means
the ethnic group of Zang brothers living in the west of China.

(恖岥) the population is 2.7 million.
(徣橉) The provincial capital is Lasa (漟嶧) with a population of 200,000.
(柺愊) The area of this province is 1.220,000 square kilometres.
The population is predominately Zang ethnic group (錟懓) with the exception
of small numbers of other ethnic groups of Han (娍懓), Hui (夞懓), Meng
(栔懓), Menba (栧攂懓) and Lhoba (噔攂懓).

The highest mountain in the world is in this province.
It is called Qomolanhma (庫杝楴囿曯) or in English Mount Everst.
In 2002, China launched a campaign to stop Westerners calling the world
tallest peak Mt Everest instead using its Chinese official Xizang language
Mt Qomolangma.

The mountain was named by the British as Mt Everest in 1865AD after Sir
George Everest, the Suryeyor -General of India who mapped the peak in 1852AD.
According to the Chinese recorded documents the mountain was mapped in
1717AD by the officials of the Qing Dynasty (1664AD to 1911AD).

This is a Zang folk song (錟懓柉鎻) sung by the people living in the western
part of the province producing salt in the salt lakes.

瀚慠晄惀杒曽揑惴梤,------Sui ran2 bu4 shi4 bei3 fang di2 ling2 yang2,
栫慭摜挊檜愥東夁錟杒;---Ye3 zeng ta4 zhao2 bing xue3 fan guo4 Zang bei3;

瀚慠晄惀屛忋揑戝婂,---Sui ran2 bu4 shi4 hu2 shang3 di2 da4 yan4,
栫梫挼摓悈棥嫀庢阣.---Ye3 yao tiao4 dao4 shui3 li3 qu4 qu3 yan2.

Although I am not the sheep from the north,
I have walked through the snow-capped mountains in northern Xizang province.

Although I am not a big bird in the lake,
I have to jump into water in the lake to obtain salt.

This is a brief account about Princess Wencheng (暥惉岞庡) brought tea to
the province of Xizang.

Princess Wencheng was the adopted daughter of Emperor Tai Zong Li Shimin
(懢廆峜掗棝悽柉 627AD to 649AD) of Tang Dynasty (搨挬 618AD to 907AD). Recorded
history stated that in 641AD Princess Wencheng married King Songzan Ganbu
(徏嬗姡晍), the King of Tufan (揻斣 present day Xizang province). The matchmaker
of this marriage was Wang Daozong (墹摴廆), the Administrator of Jiangxia
Prefcture (釾彯彂峕壞孲) in Hubei province (屛杒徣). Wang Daozong with an
entourage of many officials and maids accompanied Princess Wencheng to Tufan.

Princess Wencheng brought along with her, tea leaves, salt, cloths, silk
and the most important thing was the Han culture (娍暥壔), or Chinese culture.
The matrimonial reunion between Princees Wencheng and the King of Tufan
strengthened the tie between the people of Tang Dynasty and Tufan. King
Songzan Ganbu developed a habit of drinking tea brewed from the tea leaves
brought by Princess Wencheng. The King added butter, made from yak milk,
to his tea. He loved his butter tea so much that he could not live without
it. The fondness of drinking butter tea spread throughout Tufan.

In olden days packed tea leaves had to be brought by porters from the province
of Sichuan (巐愳徣) to Xizang. It was a long journal and the going was tough
for them carrying the bagged tea leaves on their backs and climbing the
roof of the world.

Nowadays, people living in Xizang province drink butter tea every day. In
fact they cannot live without their butter tea. "堸悈巚尮 Thinking of the
source of the water while one is drinking it" is the norm of the day when
the people of Xizang are drinking their butter tea. They often talk about
how Princess Wencheng brought tea to Xizang.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (揂塱尦)
All rights reserved 30012005

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The 28 provinces of China - Xinjiang

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-29-05 21:12

The 28 provinces of China

The province of Xinjiang (新疆省)

http://chungyn.webhop.net/XinJiang.jpg

(新) Xin means new.
(疆) Jiang means frontier.

(新疆) Xinjiang means new frontier land and its single word name is Xin
(新).
(人口) The population is 19.1 million
(省會) The provincial capital is Wulumuqi (Urumqi 烏魯木齊) with a population
of 1.1 million.
(面積). The area of the province is 1.600,000 square kilometres.

Xinjiang is the largest province in China.The population is a mixture of
many ethnic groups and the majority of them are Muslim. The main ethnic
group is the Uygur (維吾爾族) with a population of 7.2 million. The rest
of the ethnic groups are the Kazakh (哈薩克族), Han (漢族), Hui (回族),
Kirghiz (柯爾克孜族), Menggu (蒙古族), Tartar (塔塔爾族), Daur (達斡爾族
), Xibe (錫伯族), Tajik (塔吉克族), Uzbek (烏孜別克族), Russian (俄羅斯族
) and a few other groups..

Xinjiang is a land of song and dance (歌舞之鄉). In the 1950s Mao Zedong
wrote a poem about this territory. It is titled 萬方樂奏有于闐 Wan Fang
Le Zou You Yu Tian or Playing all kinds of happy music:

長夜難明赤縣天,---Chang2 ye4 nan2 ming2 chi4 xian4 tian,
百年魔怪舞翩躚,---Bai3 nian2 mo guai4 wu3 pian xian,
人民五億不團圓.---Ren2 min2 wu3 yi4 bu4 tuan2 yuan2.

一唱雄雞天下白,---Yi chang4 xiong2 ji tian xia4 bai2,
萬方樂奏有于闐,---Wan4 fang yue4 zou4 you3 yu2 tian3,
詩人興會更無前.---Shi ren2 xing4 hui4 geng wu2 qian2.

During the long night it is hard to distinguish the pink sky,
For a hundred years the demons and monsters had ruled this land,
And the five hundred millions citizens were not united.

Once the rooster crows the whole sky is bright,
All the places begin to play music,
The sudden flash of inspiration of the poets are unprecedented.

The Silk Road was already in existence during the Han Dynasty (漢朝 206BC
to 220AD). This territory was first subjugated by General Ban Chao (班超
32AD to 102AD) during the Han Dynasty. In 1638AD a provincial government
called Xinjiang (新疆) or the Administration of New Frontier was established
there by the decree of the Ming Emperor Yi Zong (明毅宗皇帝 1628AD to 1644AD)
to manage the affairs of this region. Ever since then it had been called
by that name, Xinjiang.

In 1938, Mao Zemin (毛澤民), the younger brother of Mao Zedong (毛澤東)
on his way to Russia for medical treatment. Mao Zemin passed through Xinjiang.
Sheng Shicai (盛世才), the Warlord of Xinjiang asked Mao Zedong, who was
in Yanan (延安) for permission to let Mao Zemin to stay in Xinjiang to help
running the finance of the province which was in great difficulty. Mao Zemin
was a financial expert in the Chinese Soviet Government in Yanan. Sheng
Shicai even begged Mao Zedong to allow his brother to help in building up
the Xinjiang economic. Eventually Mao Zedong agreed and Mao Zemin stayed
in Xinjiang instead of going to Russia.

In 1942, Sheng Shicai turned against the Communists and had Mao Zemin and
his two colleagues, Chen Tanqiu (陳潭秋) and Lin Jilu (林基路) arrested.
Later the three of them were executed by Sheng Shicai. Before he died Mao
Zemin told his friends in Xinjiang:

"我家為國家, 為革命已經犧牲了嫂嫂, 妹妹和弟弟,
只要能取得革命的勝利, 再犧牲我的生命又怕什麼!"

"Because of the country and the revolution my family had sacrificed my
sister-in-law (Yang Kaihui 楊開慧), my younger sister (Mao Zehong (毛澤紅
)
and my younger brother (Mao Zetian 毛澤田). If the revolution can be won
I am
not afraid of sacrificing my life!"

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 30012005

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The 28 provinces of China - Yunnan

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-30-05 22:01

The 28 provinces of China

Please click on Chinese Simplified to read Chinese.

The province of Yunnan (雲南省)

http://chungyn.webhop.net/YunNan.jpg

(雲) Yun means clouds.
(南) Nan means south.
(雲南) As this province is situated south of Yun Ling (雲嶺) or the ridge
of Yun (clouds) it is called Yun Nan or south of the ridge of the clods (Yun).

(人口) The population of this province is 43.7 million.
(省會) The provincial capital is Kunming (昆明) with a population of 3.8
million. .
(面積) The area of this province is 394.000 square kilometres.
There are more ethnic groups of people living in Yunnan province than another
other provinces in the country. The etnic groups are: Han (漢族), Tai (傣
族), Miao (苗族),Yi (彝族), Hui (回族), Zang (藏族), Lawu (拉祜族), Naxi
(納西族), Nu (怒族), Yao (瑤族), Hani (哈尼族), Jingpo (景頗族), Dulong
(獨龍族), Zhuang (壯族), Lisu (栗粟族). Wa (佤族), Bulang (布朗族), Achang
(阿昌族), Benglong (崩龍族), Pumi (普米族), 白族) and a few others.

This is a love song about the young people of the Miao ethnic group (苗族
). The 7.4 million ethnic Miao group are widely distributed . Many live
in compact communities in the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan,Guangxi,
Sichuan, Hainandao and Hubei.

曉妝斜插木梳新,---Xiao3 zhuang xie2 cha mu4 shu xin,
斑駁花衣緊裹身.---Ban bo2 hua yi jin3 guo3 shen.

In my morning makeup I wear a new wooden comb on my hair,
And I put on a flowery blouse.

吹動蘆笙鈴嚮處,---Chui dong4 lu2 sheng ling2 xiang3 chu3,
陌頭踏月暢懷春.---Mo4 tou2 ta4 yue4 chang4 huai2 chun.

In the evening, I hear the flute blowing from the reed,
Under the bright moon I go to meet my new lover.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代 722BC to 481BC) of the Zhou
Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC), the territory of the present day Yunnan
province was called the State of Dian (滇國). In 221BC, when Ying Zheng
(嬴政), the 37th ruler of the State of Qin (秦國) subjugated all the States
in the land and unified the country of what we now call China, he divided
his empire, the Qin Dynasty (秦朝 221BC to 207BC), into 41 Prefectures (郡
). The present day province of Yunnan was under the jurisdiction of Guilin
Prefecture (桂林郡). During the Han Dynasty (206BC to 220AD) it was called
the county of Dianchi (滇池縣). The single word name of this province is
Dian (滇) named after the State of Dian.

After they had occupied the present day of Yunnan province and eventually
conquered the whole of China, the Mongolians established the Yuan Dynasty
(元朝1206AD to 1368AD). There were many Muslims traders, builders, craftsmen
and Muslim persons followed the Mongolian Army to this region. Eventually.
the Mongolian Government appointed a Muslim Governor to rule this region
and his . name was Sayyid Ajall. The Muslims made Dali (大理) the center
of their communities. The most famous Muslim in Yunnan province was Admiral
Zheng He (鄭和) who had sailed seven times to Southeast Asia and the Middle
East during the period from 1405AD to 1433AD of the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368AD
to 1644AD).

During the war of resistance against the Japanese occupied of China, the
famed Burma Road, by which the war supplies from India wound their way through
the mountains in the west of the province to Kunming.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 31012005

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The 28 provinces of China - Zhejiang

Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-31-05 19:30

The 28 provinces of China

Please click on Chinese Simplified to read Chinese.

The province of Zhejiang (浙江省)

http://chungyn.webhop.net/ZheJiang.jpg
(浙) Zhe means the name of a river called Zhe.
(江) Jiang means a large river.

The largest river that flows through this province is called Qiantang Jiang
(錢塘江) which was called Zhejiang (浙江) during the ancient time. The name
of this province is named after the ancient name of the river Zhejiang (浙
江). The single word name of this province is Zhe (浙). Zhejiang means the
name of a river called Zhejiang.

(人口) the population is 44.7 million.
(省會) The provincial capital is Hangzhou (杭州) with a population of 6.1
million. There is an old Chinese blurb "天上有天堂, 地上有杭州 In heaven
there is paradise, on earth there is Hangzhou", particularly in the Xihu
(西湖) area.

Xihu is the symbol of Hanzhou city. Originally Xihu was a lagoon joining
the river of Qiantang (錢塘江). In the 8th century the governor of Hangzhou
ordered the lagoon to be dredged. A dike was built cutting off the lagoon
completely from the river Qiantang. The end result was that a lake was formed
with an area of three kilometres by three kilomrtres. Two causeways, the
Baiti (白提) and Suti (蘇提) were built splitting the lake into sections.
Please refer to the map of Hangzhou:

http://chungyn.webhop.net/ZheJiang.jpg

There are number of arched bridges were built on each of the causeways.
Small boats and ferries could pass under the bridges. There are flower gardens,
pavilions and bridges around the lake.

This is a poem on Xihu

山外青山樓外樓,---Shan wai4 qing shan lou2 wai4 lou2,
西湖歌舞幾時休?--Sihu ge wu3 ji shi2 xiu?
暖風董得遊人醉,---Nuan3 feng dong3 de2 you3 ren2 zui4,
直把杭州作汴州.---Zhi2 ba3 Hangzhou zuo4 Bianzhou

Out there, over the green mountains are the mansions,
When will the singing and dancing in the West Lake end?
The visitors are lost in the warm wind,
And they are taking Hangzhou as Bianzhou[1]

[1] Bianzhou (汴州) was the ancient name of the present day city of Kaifeng
(開封市) in Henan province (河南省)..

The longest man-made cannal in the world, the Da Yunhe (大運河) or the Grand
Cannal starts from Hangzhou (杭州) in Zhejiang province, passing through
the northern part of the province, through the whole province of Jiangsu
(江蘇省) and ends in Tianjin (天津), more than 1,000 kilometers in the north.
Through this canal food from the southern granary was shipped to the depleted
areas in the north. During the Yuan Dynasty (元朝 1206AD to 1368AD) when
Marco Polo passed through this province he described Hangzhou as one of
the most splendid in the world.

(面積) The area of this province is 101,800 square kilometres.
The population is predominately ethnic Han (漢族) with the exception of
a small number of about 0.6 million ethnic She (畬族) mostly in this province
and its neighbouring province of Fujian (福建省).

A brief history of this province

When Ying Zheng (嬴政), the King of the State of Qin (秦國), subjugated
all the States he established the Qing Dynasty (秦朝 221BC to 207BC). Ying
Zheng proclaimed himself the First Emperor of Qin (秦始皇帝) and he divide
his Empire into 41 Prefectures (郡). The territory of present day Zhejiang
province was named as Zhang Prefecture (鄣郡) with its administrative center
in the present day county of Changxing (長興縣).

During the Song Dynasty (宋朝 960AD to 1279AD), in 1126AD the Jin Dynasty
(金朝1115AD to 1234AD) from the north captured the Song capital, Kaifeng
(開封). The newly crowned Emperor Qin Zong Zhao Huan (欽皇帝趙桓) and his
father ex-Emperor Hui Zong Zhao Ji (徽皇帝趙佶) were captured by the Jin
and became prisoners of war.

The 9th son of Zhao Ji named Zhao Gou (趙構) continued to resist the Jin.
In the following year 1127AD Zhao Gou crowned himself as the 10th Emperor
of the Song Dynasty. He established his capital in the southern city of
Lin An (臨安 present day Hangzhou city 杭州市).

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 01022005

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