On May 19, the Academic Forum to Study the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Beijing-Tibet Ancient Road” was held in Beijing, China. Director General Zheng Dui and Deputy Director General Li Decheng of the China Tibetology Research Center Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Qinghai Province, China Garwa Ngawang Zangpo Scholars of Southwest University for Nationalities, Tibet University, Sichuan Academy for social sciences, etc., as well as religious figures and news media representatives from Qinghai and Gansu attended.
“The Beijing-Tibet Ancient Road – Based on Research on the Ancient Postal Road from Beijing to Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty” was a sub-project expanded from “The Belt and Road Initiative and its Relation to the Development of Tibetan Buddhism”. became. Supported by the National Social Science Fund of China in 2017.
Ever since the concept of “Ancient Beijing-Tibet Road” and its connotation and extension were first proposed and defined, it has been highly valued by the Chinese academic community. In 2019, the expert group started research work. Led by Garwa Ngawang Zangpo, the team re-entered the “Ancient Beijing-Tibet Road” and inspected important ancient caravanserai and temples along the road (including those in present-day Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia , Ningxia and Qinghai). , Gansu, Sichuan and Tibet) conducted focus groups and interviews with experts from these places and collected, organized and analyzed relevant information.
The Ancient Beijing-Tibet Road – Based on the Research on the Ancient Post Road from Beijing to Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty, edited by Zheng Dui and written by Garwa Ngawang Sangpo, was published by China Tibetology Publishing House in 2021. This publication further proves the longstanding relationships and communications between different ethnic groups from Beijing to Tibet.
At the forum, Garwa Ngawang Zangpo delivered a keynote speech entitled “The Beijing-Tibet Ancient Road as the Four Bridges Connecting Beijing and Tibet.” Garwa Ngawang Zangpo mentioned that the Beijing-Tibet ancient road has been an important bridge for the transportation, politics, culture and ethnicity of Beijing and Tibet, and has significant historical and practical significance.
In particular, the ancient Beijing-Tibet Road, intertwined with the Silk Road and the ancient Tangbo Road, which greatly expanded and enriched road transportation in ancient China, highlights the broad connotation of today’s Belt and Road Initiative and reflects the narrow ones Relations and communication between ethnic groups have been reflected since ancient China and show the deep cohesion and “centripetal force” of the Chinese nation.
According to Garwa Ngawang Zangpo, Köden, son of the Mongolian Ögedei Khan, and Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen, a Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar, held the historically significant Liangzhou Talk in Liangzhou (modern day Wuwei, Gansu, China) in 1247. Thereafter, Sakya Pandita wrote the “Letters of Sakya Pandita to the Tubo People,” in which he highlighted the respect that the Mongol royal family had for religious beliefs and the Tibetan people, and subsequently made Tibet an administrative region under the central government of the Yuan Dynasty .
In order to strengthen the connection between the central government and various regions and achieve the great unification of China, Kublai Khan established 72 caravanserai after ascending the throne from Dayidu Qota, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty (now in Beijing), to Sakya Monastery in Shigatse , Tibet, along the Ancient Being-Tibet Road.
Since then, many noble families from Mongolia and Tibet, as well as from near the Yellow River, settled along the road. Moving and developing into new areas, as well as the difficulties experienced during this experience, resulted in people from different geographic locations and ethnic groups helping each other and forming relationships. Most importantly, it is also a reflection of the developments of the Chinese nation’s large family and a strong sense of community for them.
On behalf of China Tibetology Research Center, Zheng Dui Garwa presented Ngawang Zangpo with the letter of appointment as invited researcher of the Institute of Religious Studies of China Tibetology Research Center. Garwa Ngawang Zangpo said he was honored to receive and accept the invitation and would continue to do good work in exploring, protecting and promoting national culture. Meanwhile, he hoped that the ancient Beijing-Tibet road could receive more attention from people from all walks of life, and that one day the ancient Beijing-Tibet road and important historical and cultural sites protected at the national level along the road , could be included in the World Heritage List.
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