Ge Jianxiong (ËëõÂâëÈõÑ) is a professor and director of Institute of Chinese History and Geography Studies of Fudan University. His following article “How Big was the Ancient China” is published on the China Review magazine and syndicated to China’s biggest internet portals like 163 and QQ. The translation is done by Letters from China blog:
… How big was the 8th-century “China”? If “China” means the land of the Tang Dynasty, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, which was ruled by Tubo/Tufan (ÂêêËïÉ), does not count. Tubo/Tufan was a sovereignty independent of the Tang Dynasty. At least it was not administered by the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Tang Taizong to marry Princess Wencheng to the Tibetan king; there would have been no need to erect the Tang-Tubo/Tufan alliance tablet. It would be a defiance of history if we claim that since the Tang Dynasty Tibet has always been a part of China – the fact that the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau subsequently became a part of the Chinese dynasties does not substantiate such a claim … [Full Text]
