imported>Kautilya3: Adding Yatung Chu to the lead

2021-07-04T12:00:05Z

Adding Yatung Chu to the lead

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[[File:1898 map of Chumbi Valley by Waddell.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Map of Chumbi Valley in 1898, showing Yatung west of Rinchengang. (The red line shows the route allowed for British Indian traders before the Younghusband Expedition.)]]

'''Old Yatung''' ({{zh|t=老亚东|p=Lǎo Yàdōng}}), originally just "Yatung", with a native Tibetan spelling of '''Nyatong'''<ref name=Nyatong>{{harvp|Kawaguchi, Three Years in Tibet|1909|p=643}}: "Miss [Annie R.] Taylor returned with the object of converting the Tibetan people, and now lives at the town of '''Nyatong''', which by some is called '''Yatung'''."
</ref>
or '''Myatong''',{{sfnp|Paget, Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, Vol. IV|1907|p=60}} is a location 2 miles west of [[Rinchengang]] in the lower [[Chumbi Valley]] in the present day [[Yadong County]] of Tibet.{{sfnp|Paget, Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, Vol. IV|1907|p=60}} It is in the valley of '''Yatung Chu''', the river that flows down from [[Jelep La]] to join the [[Amo Chu]] river near Rinchengang.<ref name=White/><ref name=Fader/><ref name=Candler/>
But according to travel writer John Easton, Yatung is actually a hill top location adjoining the valley, which has a historic Kagyu monastery. The monastery itself lies along the route from the [[Nathu La]] pass via Champithang.<ref name=Easton>
{{harvp|Easton, An Unfrequented High through Sikkim and Tibet|1928|pp=47–48}}: [Marching from Champithang] for nearly two hours we marched ..., until we came to Old Yatung, perched on the buttress that divides the valley of the Amo Chu.... Yatung, to them [the local Tibetans], is merely a monastery, where the lamas live and the prayer flags flap.
</ref>

Yatung entered history as the location offered by China for a trade mart of British India in the [[Convention of Calcutta#Trade regulations|1893 trade regulations]]. After the 1904 [[Younghusband Expedition]], the British founded a new town at the confluence of Kangphu Chu and Tromo Chu rivers (the two headwaters of [[Amo Chu]]) and named this town "[[Yatung]]". It was to become a trading center and the eventual headquarters of the Yadong County. The original Yatung has been subsequently referred to as "Old Yatung".{{sfnp|Easton, An Unfrequented High through Sikkim and Tibet|1928|p=48}}

== Name ==
According to a historical dictionary, the name "Yatung" ({{zh|s=亚东|t=亞東|hp=Yàdōng|w=Ya-tung}}) is the Chinese rendering of a Tibetan place name meaning "[[nasal bridge]] mountain".<ref>{{cite web |title=老亚东 |url=https://www.cidianwang.com/lishi/diming/2/76672ny.htm |access-date=25 March 2021 |quote=亚东，系用汉字译写的藏语地名，意为“鼻梁山”。为藏语所称“卓木”地域，而现统称亚东地域中的一小村名。|trans-quote=Yadong is a transliteration using Chinese characters of a Tibetan-language place name meaning "[[nasal bridge]] mountain", the name of a small village located in the region known as "Chomo" in Tibetan and now collectively known as Yadong.}}</ref> The dictionary does not state the original Tibetan name, but the Japanese monk [[Ekai Kawaguchi]] states it as "Nyatong".<ref name=Nyatong/> (Some other British sources mention it as "Myatong".){{sfnp|Paget, Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, Vol. IV|1907|p=60}} Tibetologist [[L. Austine Waddell]] spells it as "Na-dong", and states that it means "the ear".{{sfnp|Waddell, Lhasa and its Mysteries|1905|p=81}}

== Geography ==
{{OSM Location map
| coord = {{coord|27.4301|88.9180}} 
| float = right
| zoom = 13
| width = 320
| height = 350
| caption = Old Yatung sites
| nolabels = 1

| minimap = file
| mini-file = China Tibet location map.svg
| mini-width = 100
| mini-height = 73
| minipog-x = 52
| minipog-y = 64
| scalemark = 120
| shape = image

| map-data-light = Q10868391
| map-data-text = Xiaydong Township
| map-data-color = Orange

| mark-coord1 = {{coord|27.4301802|88.9283180}}
| mark1 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size1 = 10
| label1 = Rinchengang
| label-size1 = 10
| label-color1 = hard red
| label-pos1 = right | label-offset-x1 = 2 | label-offset-y1 = -5
| mark-title1 = [[Rinchengang]]
| mark-image1 =
| mark-description1 = Town in Chumbi Valley

| mark-coord2 = {{coord|27.4317895|88.9150545}}
| mark2 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size2 = 6
| label2 = Kagyu monastery
| label-size2 = 10
| label-color2 = hard red
| label-pos2 = top |label-offset-x2 = 0 |label-offset-y2 = 0
| mark-title2 = Yagung Kagyu monastery
| mark-image2 =
| mark-description2 =

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|27.42492|88.9065}}
| mark3 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size3 = 6
| label3 = Customs |labela3 = house
| label-size3 = 10
| label-color3 = hard red
| label-pos3 = top |label-offset-x3 = 0 |label-offset-y3 = 0
| mark-title3 = Yatung customs house
| mark-image3 =
| mark-description3 =

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|27.42801291123724|88.91719950414078}}
| mark4 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size4 = 6
| label4 = Pasha gompa |labela4 = site?
| label-size4 = 10
| label-color4 = hard grey
| label-pos4 = bottom |label-offset-x4 = 0 |label-offset-y4 = 0
| mark-title4 = Possible site of a former Pasha gompa
| mark-image4 =
| mark-description4 =

| mark-coord5 = {{coord|27.4341368|88.9249170}}
| mark5 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size5 = 8
| label5 = Geling
| label-size5 = 10
| label-color5 = hard red
| label-pos5 = right |label-offset-x5 = 5 |label-offset-y5 = 0
| mark-title5 = Geling
| mark-image5 =
| mark-description5 = Village in Chumbi Valley

| mark-coord6 = {{coord|27.4447239|88.9218932}}
| mark6 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size6 = 8
| label6 = Chema
| label-size6 = 10
| label-color6 = hard red
| label-pos6 = right |label-offset-x6 = 5 |label-offset-y6 = 0
| mark-title6 = [[Chema, Tibet|Chema]] (Bye-ma/Qiema)
| mark-image6 =
| mark-description6 = Village in Chumbi Valley

| mark-coord10 = {{coord|27.4379|88.9222}}
| mark10 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg
| mark-size10 = 10
| label10 = Amo Chu
| label-size10 = 10
| label-color10 = hard blue
| label-pos10 = right |label-offset-x10 = 0 |label-offset-y10 = 0
| mark-title10 = [[Amo Chu]] river
| mark-image10 =
| mark-description10 = Called Torsa river in India

| mark-coord11 = {{coord|27.349324|88.988679}}
| mark11 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg
| mark-size11 = 15
| label11 = Amo Chu
| label-size11 = 10
| label-color11 = hard blue
| label-pos11 = right |label-offset-x11 = 0 |label-offset-y11 = 0
| mark-title11 = Amo Chu river
| mark-image11 =
| mark-description11 = Part of the prevailing border

| mark-coord12 = {{coord|27.42181|88.90464}}
| mark12 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg
| mark-size12 = 15
| label12 = Yatung Chu
| label-size12 = 10
| label-color12 = hard blue
| label-pos12 = right |label-offset-x12 = 0 |label-offset-y12 = 0
| mark-title12 = Yatung Chu
| mark-image12 =
| mark-description12 = Tributary of Amo Chu

| mark-coord21 = {{coord|27.441|88.897}}
| mark21 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size21 = 0
| label21 = TO NATHU LA
| label-size21 = 10
| label-color21 = hard grey
| label-pos21 = bottom |label-offset-x21 = 0 |label-offset-y21 = 0
| mark-title21 = Road to [[Nathu La]]
| mark-image21 =
| mark-description21 = Runs along the traditional track on a ridge

| mark-coord22 = {{coord|27.4117|88.900}}
| mark22 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size22 = 0
| label22 = TO JELEP LA
| label-size22 = 10
| label-color22 = hard grey
| label-pos22 = bottom |label-offset-x22 = 0 |label-offset-y22 = 0
| mark-title22 = Track to [[Jelep La]]
| mark-image22 =
| mark-description22 = Runs along the valley

| mark-coord23 = {{coord|27.456|88.926}}
| mark23 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size23 = 0
| label23 = TO CHUMBI AND |labela23=NEW YATUNG
| label-size23 = 10
| label-color23 = hard grey
| label-pos23 = bottom |label-offset-x23 = 0 |label-offset-y23 = 0
| mark-title23 = Road to New Yatung ([[Shasima]])
| mark-image23 =
| mark-description23 =

| mark-coord25 = {{coord|27.417|88.937}}
| mark25 = Red pog.svg
| mark-size25 = 0
| label25 = TO BHUTAN
| label-size25 = 10
| label-color25 = hard grey
| label-pos25 = bottom |label-offset-x25 = 0 |label-offset-y25 = 0
| mark-title25 = Track to Bhutan
| mark-image25 =
| mark-description25 = Runs along the Amo Chu river
}}

The Yatung ("nasal bridge") mountain lies between the two tributaries that flow into the Amo Chu river at [[Chema, Tibet|Chema]] and [[Rinchengang]] respectively. The track to the [[Nathu La]] pass runs on the southern shoulder of the mountain, passing by a Kagyu monastery, whose location is the main "Yatung" according to John Easton.<ref name=Easton/> The track to [[Jelep La]] runs in the narrow valley of the river called Yatung Chu.<ref name=White>
Letter from C. J. White dated Yatung, 9 June 1894 in {{harvp|Papers Relating to Tibet|1904|pp=28–29}}
</ref><ref name=Fader>
{{harvp|Fader, Called from Obscurity|2002|p=43}}: "It [Rinchengang] was a large village located along the main valley river, the Amo Chu (...), at the Amo's confluence with the river Yatung."
</ref><ref name=Candler>
{{harvp|Candler, The Unveiling of Lhasa|1905|p=31}}: "At Rinchengong, a mile beyond the barrier, the Yatung stream flows into the Ammo Chu."
</ref>
A Pasha gompa (Buddhist temple) was located in its valley below the monastery, but is said to have been abandoned in 1888, and later moved to the precincts of the Kagyu monastery.<ref name=gunag5>
[https://www.guang5.com/fjsy/sydq/3941.html 西藏亚东噶举寺] (Yadong Kagyu Monastery, Tibet), www.guang5.com, 7 October 2012.
</ref>

Further upstream on the Yatung river was a customs house run by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, which often employed Englishmen as commissioners.{{sfnp|Fleming, Bayonets to Lhasa|1961|pp=113–114}} Its first Commissioner in 1894 was F. E. Taylor,<ref>{{citation |last=Zhang |first=Yong-pan |title=From Phari to Kalimpong:Yatung Customs Making and Modern Tibetan Border Trade in the Late Qing Dynasty |website=CNKi |url=https://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-QHMJ201703036.htm |access-date=2 April 2021}}</ref> but, during the Younghusband Expedition, a certain Captain Parr was apparently posted to handle the encounter.{{sfnp|Fleming, Bayonets to Lhasa|1961|pp=113–114}} Indian traders were only allowed to come up to this point. So the customs house also had some overnight halting facilities.<ref name=White/> All these locations were associated with the name "Yatung".

In the [[Convention of Calcutta#Trade reglations|1893 trade regulations]], China agreed to the British India setting up a trade mart at "Yatung", which was none other than this customs house. Though sources occasionally allude to a "Yatung village", there was in fact none.<ref>
{{harvp|Candler, The Unveiling of Lhasa|1905|p=31}}: "The Customs House, the missionary house, and the houses of the clerks and servants of the Customs and of the headman, form a little block. Beyond it there is a quarter of a mile of barren stony ground, and then the wall with military pretensions."
</ref>

Upstream from the customs house is the confluence of the two streams flowing down from Nathu La (''Champi Chu'') and Jelep La (''Yatung Chu''). The literature on the Younghusband Expedition contains vivid descriptions of the route from Jelep La, which was described as being steep and slippery.<ref>
{{harvp|Fleming, Bayonets to Lhasa|1961|p=113}}: "[Jelep La] was undefended, and this was fortunate for the expedition [...] slithered down the far side where, after the leading troops had trampled the snow, the track, 'as steep as the side of a house, became a regular slide, as slippery as glass.... I believe [wrote an officer afterwards] there was not a single load that was not thrown at least once."
</ref>
The route from Nathu La was considered superior as it ran on the shoulder of the mountain, but the Tibetans only allowed trade through Jelep La until later British coercion.

{{clear}}
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{citation |title=Papers Relating to Tibet |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |year=1904 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.106703 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Papers Relating to Tibet|1904}}}}
* {{citation |title=Further Papers Relating to Tibet |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |year=1920 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.1640 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Further Papaers Relating to Tibet|1920}}}}
* {{citation |last=Candler |first=Edmund |title=The Unveiling of Lhasa |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co |location=London |year=1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/unveilingoflhasa00cand |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Candler, The Unveiling of Lhasa|1905}}}}
* {{citation |last=Easton |first=John |title=An Unfrequented High through Sikkim and Tibet |publisher=The Scholartis Press |location=London |year=1928 |url=https://archive.org/details/unfrequentedhigh00john |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Easton, An Unfrequented High through Sikkim and Tibet|1928}}}}
* {{citation |last=Fader |first=H. Louis |title=Called from Obscurity: The Life and Times of a True Son of Tibet, God's Humble Servant from Poo, Gergan Dorje Tharchin, Vol. 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqDYAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Tibet Mirror Press |isbn=978-99933-922-0-0 |ref={{sfnref|Fader, Called from Obscurity|2002}}}}
* {{citation |last=Fleming |first=Peter |title=Bayonets to Lhasa |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |year=1961 |url=https://archive.org/details/bayonetstolhasaf00flem |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Fleming, Bayonets to Lhasa|1961}}}}
* {{citation |last=Kawaguchi |first=Ekai |title=Three Years in Tibet |publisher=The Theosophist Office |location=Adyar, Madras |year=1909 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.1848 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Kawaguchi, Three Years in Tibet|1909}}}}
* {{citation |last=Paget |first=William Henry |title=Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, Vol. IV – North and North-Eastern Frontier Tribes |publisher=Government Monotype Press |location=Simla |year=1907 |url=https://archive.org/details/frontieroverseas04indi |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Paget, Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, Vol. IV|1907}}}}
* {{citation |last=Waddell |first=L. Austin |title=Lhasa and its Mysteries |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79988 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Waddell, Lhasa and its Mysteries|1905}}}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadong, Old}}
[[Category:Yadong County]]

Old Yatung - Revision history

imported>Kautilya3: Adding Yatung Chu to the lead