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gq: Some scholars note that Tibetan leaders during the Ming frequently engaged in civil war and conducted their own foreign diplomacy with neighboring states such as Nepal. Some scholars underscore the commercial aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship, noting the Ming dynasty's shortage of horses for warfare and thus the importance of the horse trade with Tibet. Others argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship. In hopes of reviving the unique relationship of the earlier Mongol leader Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) and his spiritual superior Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) made a concerted effort to build a secular and religious alliance with Deshin Shekpa (1384–1415), the Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu school. However, the Yongle Emperor's attempts were unsuccessful. | Question: The Tibetan leaders had a diplomacy with what neighboring state? Question: What important trade did the Ming Dynasty have with Tibet? Question: During what years did the Mongol leader Kublai Khan rule? Question: Who did the Yongle Emperor try to build a religious alliance with? Question: Deshin Shekpa was the head of what school? |
gq: The Ming initiated sporadic armed intervention in Tibet during the 14th century, but did not garrison permanent troops there. At times the Tibetans also used armed resistance against Ming forays. The Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) made attempts to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations after the Mongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644–1912) of China in their support for the Dalai Lama of the Gelug school. By the late 16th century, the Mongols were successful armed protectors of the Gelug Dalai Lama, after increasing their presence in the Amdo region. This culminated in Güshi Khan's (1582–1655) conquest of Tibet from 1637–1642 and the establishment of the Ganden Phodrang regime by the 5th Dalai Lama with his help. | Question: What did the Tibetans use against Ming forays? Question: When was the Mongol-Tibetan alliance started? Question: Who were the armed protectors for the Gelug Dalai Lama? Question: Which regime did Güshi Khan help establish? |
gq: Tibet was once a strong power contemporaneous with Tang China (618–907). Until the Tibetan Empire's collapse in the 9th century, it was the Tang's major rival in dominating Inner Asia. The Yarlung rulers of Tibet also signed various peace treaties with the Tang, culminating in a treaty in 821 that fixed the borders between Tibet and China. | Question: Who was the Tangs biggest rival? Question: In what century did the Tibetan Empire fall? Question: Who signed multiple peace treaties with the Tang? Question: What year did Tang and Tibet sign a treaty to fix the borders? Question: What did one of the treaties between the Tang and Tibet help fix? |
gq: During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China (907–960), while the fractured political realm of China saw no threat in a Tibet which was in just as much political disarray, there was little in the way of Sino-Tibetan relations. Few documents involving Sino-Tibetan contacts survive from the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Song were far more concerned with countering northern enemy states of the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty (907–1125) and Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty (1115–1234). | Question: When did the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China take place? Question: What dynasty was concerned with countering northern enemy states? Question: When did the Song dynasty take place? Question: Who ruled the Liao dynasty? Question: Who ruled the Jin dynasty? |
gq: In 1207, the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan (r. 1206–1227) conquered and subjugated the ethnic Tangut state of the Western Xia (1038–1227). In the same year, he established diplomatic relations with Tibet by sending envoys there. The conquest of the Western Xia alarmed Tibetan rulers, who decided to pay tribute to the Mongols. However, when they ceased to pay tribute after Genghis Khan's death, his successor Ögedei Khan (r. 1229–1241) launched an invasion into Tibet. | Question: Which ruler took Western Xia under their control? Question: Who was Genghis Khan's successor? Question: Who invaded Tibet? Question: What years did Ögedei Khan rule? |
gq: The Mongol prince Godan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, raided as far as Lhasa. During his attack in 1240, Prince Godan summoned Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, to his court in what is now Gansu in Western China. With Sakya Pandita's submission to Godan in 1247, Tibet was officially incorporated into the Mongol Empire during the regency of Töregene Khatun (1241–1246). Michael C. van Walt van Praag writes that Godan granted Sakya Pandita temporal authority over a still politically fragmented Tibet, stating that "this investiture had little real impact" but it was significant in that it established the unique "Priest-Patron" relationship between the Mongols and the Sakya lamas. | Question: Who was the Mongol prince? Question: Who was the leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism? Question: Who was the regent of the Mongol Empire? Question: In what years was Töregene Khatun the regent of the Mongol Empire? |
gq: Starting in 1236, the Mongol prince Kublai, who later ruled as Khagan from 1260–1294, was granted a large appanage in North China by his superior, Ögedei Khan. Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama (1203–1283)—the head lama of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism—rejected Kublai's invitation, so instead Kublai invited Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280), successor and nephew of Sakya Pandita, who came to his court in 1253. Kublai instituted a unique relationship with the Phagpa lama, which recognized Kublai as a superior sovereign in political affairs and the Phagpa lama as the senior instructor to Kublai in religious affairs. Kublai also made Drogön Chögyal Phagpa the director of the government agency known as the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs and the ruling priest-king of Tibet, which comprised thirteen different states ruled by myriarchies. | Question: What title did prince Kublai rule as from 1260 to 1294? Question: Who was the superior of prince Kublai? Question: Who became the second Karmapa Lama? Question: With whom did Kublai Khan have a unique relationship with? Question: How many states were ruled by myriarchies? |
gq: Kublai Khan did not conquer the Song dynasty in South China until 1279, so Tibet was a component of the early Mongol Empire before it was combined into one of its descendant empires with the whole of China under the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Van Praag writes that this conquest "marked the end of independent China," which was then incorporated into the Yuan dynasty that ruled China, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, parts of Siberia and Upper Burma. Morris Rossabi, a professor of Asian history at Queens College, City University of New York, writes that "Khubilai wished to be perceived both as the legitimate Khan of Khans of the Mongols and as the Emperor of China. Though he had, by the early 1260s, become closely identified with China, he still, for a time, claimed universal rule", and yet "despite his successes in China and Korea, Khubilai was unable to have himself accepted as the Great Khan". Thus, with such limited acceptance of his position as Great Khan, Kublai Khan increasingly became identified with China and sought support as Emperor of China. | Question: Where did Khubilai seek support as Emperor? Question: When did Kublai Khan conquer the song dynasty? Question: Which dynasty ruled all of china? Question: When did the Yuan dynasty rule? Question: What did Khubilai claim for a while? |
gq: In 1358, the Sakya viceregal regime installed by the Mongols in Tibet was overthrown in a rebellion by the Phagmodru myriarch Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (1302–1364). The Mongol Yuan court was forced to accept him as the new viceroy, and Changchub Gyaltsen and his successors, the Phagmodrupa Dynasty, gained de facto rule over Tibet. | Question: What year was the Sakya viceregal regime eradicated? Question: Who placed the Sakya viceregal regime position of authority? Question: Who eradicated the Sakya viceregal regime? Question: Which dynasty became ruler of Tibet? |
gq: In 1368, a Han Chinese revolt known as the Red Turban Rebellion toppled the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China. Zhu Yuanzhang then established the Ming dynasty, ruling as the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398). It is not clear how much the early Ming court understood the civil war going on in Tibet between rival religious sects, but the first emperor was anxious to avoid the same trouble that Tibet had caused for the Tang dynasty. Instead of recognizing the Phagmodru ruler, the Hongwu Emperor sided with the Karmapa of the nearer Kham region and southeastern Tibet, sending envoys out in the winter of 1372–1373 to ask the Yuan officeholders to renew their titles for the new Ming court. | Question: Who caused the Yuan dynasty to fall? Question: Who created the Ming Dynasty? Question: Who ruled as the the Hongwu Emperor? Question: What years did Zhu Yuanzhang rule as the Hongwu Emperor? Question: Who did the Hongwu Emperor send convoys to? |
gq: As evident in his imperial edicts, the Hongwu Emperor was well aware of the Buddhist link between Tibet and China and wanted to foster it. Rolpe Dorje, 4th Karmapa Lama (1340–1383) rejected the Hongwu Emperor's invitation, although he did send some disciples as envoys to the court in Nanjing. The Hongwu Emperor also entrusted his guru Zongluo, one of many Buddhist monks at court, to head a religious mission into Tibet in 1378–1382 in order to obtain Buddhist texts. | Question: What did the the Hongwu Emperor want to continue to promote? Question: Who was the fourth Karmapa Lama? Question: Who rejected an invitation by the Hongwu Emperor? Question: Who did Rolpe Dorje send as envoys to court in Nanjing? |
gq: However, the early Ming government enacted a law, later rescinded, which forbade Han Chinese to learn the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. There is little detailed evidence of Chinese—especially lay Chinese—studying Tibetan Buddhism until the Republican era (1912–1949). Despite these missions on behalf of the Hongwu Emperor, Morris Rossabi writes that the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) "was the first Ming ruler actively to seek an extension of relations with Tibet." | Question: Who created a law that did not allow Han Chinese to learn the beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism? Question: Who worked towards obtaining a extension of relations with Tibet? Question: What years did the Yongle Emperor reign? |
gq: According to the official Twenty-Four Histories, the History of Ming compiled in 1739 by the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the Ming dynasty established the "É-Lì-Sī Army-Civilian Marshal Office" (Chinese: 俄力思軍民元帥府) in western Tibet and installed the "Ü-Tsang Itinerant High Commandery" and "Amdo-Kham Itinerant High Commandery" to administer Kham. The Mingshi states that administrative offices were set up under these high commanderies, including one Itinerant Commandery, three Pacification Commissioner's Offices, six Expedition Commissioner's Offices, four Wanhu offices (myriarchies, in command of 10,000 households each) and seventeen Qianhu offices (chiliarchies, each in command of 1,000 households). | Question: what year was the history of Ming produced? Question: What years did the Qing dynasty rule? Question: What did the Ming dynasty create? Question: where was the É-Lì-Sī Army-Civilian Marshal Office established? Question: How many Qianhu offices were there? |
gq: The Ming court appointed three Princes of Dharma (法王) and five Princes (王), and granted many other titles, such as Grand State Tutors (大國師) and State Tutors (國師), to the important schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Karma Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug. According to Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain, leading officials of these organs were all appointed by the central government and were subject to the rule of law. Yet Van Praag describes the distinct and long-lasting Tibetan law code established by the Phagmodru ruler Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen as one of many reforms to revive old Imperial Tibetan traditions. | Question: How many princes of Dharma were assigned by the Ming court? Question: Who established the Tibetan law code? Question: Who was the Phagmodru ruler? |
gq: The late Turrell V. Wylie, a former professor of the University of Washington, and Li Tieh-tseng argue that the reliability of the heavily censored History of Ming as a credible source on Sino-Tibetan relations is questionable, in the light of modern scholarship. Other historians also assert that these Ming titles were nominal and did not actually confer the authority that the earlier Yuan titles had. Van Praag writes that the "numerous economically motivated Tibetan missions to the Ming Court are referred to as 'tributary missions' in the Ming Shih." Van Praag writes that these "tributary missions" were simply prompted by China's need for horses from Tibet, since a viable horse market in Mongol lands was closed as a result of incessant conflict. Morris Rossabi also writes that "Tibet, which had extensive contacts with China during the Yuan, scarcely had diplomatic relations with the Ming." | Question: who was a professor of the University of Washington? Question: Who had a large amount of contacts with china during Yuan? Question: Who believed that Tibet barely had any diplomatic relations with the Ming? |
gq: Historians disagree on what the relationship was between the Ming court and Tibet and whether or not Ming China had sovereignty over Tibet. Van Praag writes that Chinese court historians viewed Tibet as an independent foreign tributary and had little interest in Tibet besides a lama-patron relationship. The historian Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa supports van Praag's position. However, Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain state that these assertions by van Praag and Shakabpa are "fallacies". | Question: Who supported van Praag's beliefs? Question: Who did not agree with van Praag and Shakabpa? |
gq: Wang and Nyima argue that the Ming emperor sent edicts to Tibet twice in the second year of the Ming dynasty, and demonstrated that he viewed Tibet as a significant region to pacify by urging various Tibetan tribes to submit to the authority of the Ming court. They note that at the same time, the Mongol Prince Punala, who had inherited his position as ruler of areas of Tibet, went to Nanjing in 1371 to pay tribute and show his allegiance to the Ming court, bringing with him the seal of authority issued by the Yuan court. They also state that since successors of lamas granted the title of "prince" had to travel to the Ming court to renew this title, and since lamas called themselves princes, the Ming court therefore had "full sovereignty over Tibet." They state that the Ming dynasty, by issuing imperial edicts to invite ex-Yuan officials to the court for official positions in the early years of its founding, won submission from ex-Yuan religious and administrative leaders in the Tibetan areas, and thereby incorporated Tibetan areas into the rule of the Ming court. Thus, they conclude, the Ming court won the power to rule Tibetan areas formerly under the rule of the Yuan dynasty. | Question: Who believed that the Ming court had full sovereignty over Tibet? Question: What year did Wang and Nyima believe that the Mongol Prince Punala went to Nanjing? Question: What did the lamas called themselves? Question: What edicts did the Ming issue? |
gq: Journalist and author Thomas Laird, in his book The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, writes that Wang and Nyima present the government viewpoint of the People's Republic of China in their Historical Status of China's Tibet, and fail to realize that China was "absorbed into a larger, non-Chinese political unit" during the Mongol Yuan dynasty, which Wang and Nyima paint as a characteristic Chinese dynasty succeeded by the Ming. Laird asserts that the ruling Mongol khans never administered Tibet as part of China and instead ruled them as separate territories, comparing the Mongols with the British who colonized India and New Zealand, yet stating this does not make India part of New Zealand as a consequence. Of later Mongol and Tibetan accounts interpreting the Mongol conquest of Tibet, Laird asserts that "they, like all non-Chinese historical narratives, never portray the Mongol subjugation of Tibet as a Chinese one." | Question: Who wrote the book The Story of Tibet? Question: Who's viewpoint does Thomas Laird believe Wang and Nyima present? Question: who colonized India and New Zealand? |
gq: The Columbia Encyclopedia distinguishes between the Yuan dynasty and the other Mongol Empire khanates of Ilkhanate, Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde. It describes the Yuan dynasty as "A Mongol dynasty of China that ruled from 1271 to 1368, and a division of the great empire conquered by the Mongols. Founded by Kublai Khan, who adopted the Chinese dynastic name of Yüan in 1271." The Encyclopedia Americana describes the Yuan dynasty as "the line of Mongol rulers in China" and adds that the Mongols "proclaimed a Chinese-style Yüan dynasty at Khanbaliq (Beijing)." The Metropolitan Museum of Art writes that the Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty "adopted Chinese political and cultural models; ruling from their capitals in Dadu, they assumed the role of Chinese emperors," although Tibetologist Thomas Laird dismissed the Yuan dynasty as a non-Chinese polity and plays down its Chinese characteristics. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also noted that in spite of the gradual assimilation of Yuan monarchs, the Mongol rulers largely ignored the literati and imposed harsh policies discriminating against southern Chinese. In his Kublai Khan: His Life and Times, Rossabi explains that Kublai "created government institutions that either resembled or were the same as the traditional Chinese ones", and he "wished to signal to the Chinese that he intended to adopt the trappings and style of a Chinese ruler". | Question: How did the The Columbia Encyclopedia describe the Yuan dynasty? Question: When did the yuan dynasty start and end? Question: How did the Encyclopedia Americana describe the Yuan Dynasty? Question: What did Thomas Laird dismiss the Yuan dynasty as? Question: Who wrote the book Khubilai Khan? |
gq: Nevertheless, the ethno-geographic caste hierarchy favoring the Mongols and other ethnicities were accorded higher status than the Han Chinese majority. Although Han Chinese who were recruited as advisers were often actually more influential than high officials, their status was not as well defined. Kublai also abolished the imperial examinations of China's civil service legacy, which was not reinstated until Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan's reign (1311–1320). Rossabi writes that Kublai recognized that in order to rule China, "he had to employ Chinese advisors and officials, yet he could not rely totally on Chinese advisers because he had to maintain a delicate balancing act between ruling the sedentary civilization of China and preserving the cultural identity and values of the Mongols." And "in governing China, he was concerned with the interests of his Chinese subjects, but also with exploiting the resources of the empire for his own aggrandizement. His motivations and objectives alternated from one to the other throughout his reign," according to Rossabi. Van Praag writes in The Status of Tibet that the Tibetans and Mongols, on the other hand, upheld a dual system of rule and an interdependent relationship that legitimated the succession of Mongol khans as universal Buddhist rulers, or chakravartin. Van Praag writes that "Tibet remained a unique part of the Empire and was never fully integrated into it," citing examples such as a licensed border market that existed between China and Tibet during the Yuan. | Question: Who was granted higher status than the Han Chinese majority? Question: When did Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan reign? Question: During the Yuan what existed between China and Tibet? |
gq: The official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is that the Ming implemented a policy of managing Tibet according to conventions and customs, granting titles and setting up administrative organs over Tibet. The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic states that the Ming dynasty's Ü-Tsang Commanding Office governed most areas of Tibet. It also states that while the Ming abolished the policy council set up by the Mongol Yuan to manage local affairs in Tibet and the Mongol system of Imperial Tutors to govern religious affairs, the Ming adopted a policy of bestowing titles upon religious leaders who had submitted to the Ming dynasty. For example, an edict of the Hongwu Emperor in 1373 appointed the Tibetan leader Choskunskyabs as the General of the Ngari Military and Civil Wanhu Office, stating: | Question: Who abolished the policy council? Question: Who governed most areas of Tibet? Question: What was the Tibetan leader Choskunskyabs appointed as? |
gq: Chen Qingying, Professor of History and Director of the History Studies Institute under the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, writes that the Ming court conferred new official positions on ex-Yuan Tibetan leaders of the Phachu Kargyu and granted them lower-ranking positions. Of the county (zong or dzong) leaders of Neiwo Zong and Renbam Zong, Chen states that when "the Emperor learned the actual situation of the Phachu Kargyu, the Ming court then appointed the main Zong leaders to be senior officers of the Senior Command of Dbus and Gtsang." The official posts that the Ming court established in Tibet, such as senior and junior commanders, offices of Qianhu (in charge of 1,000 households), and offices of Wanhu (in charge of 10,000 households), were all hereditary positions according to Chen, but he asserts that "the succession of some important posts still had to be approved by the emperor," while old imperial mandates had to be returned to the Ming court for renewal. | Question: Who was the Director of the History Studies Institute? Question: Where is the China Tibetology Research Center located? Question: How many households were the offices of Qianhu in charge of? Question: How many households were the offices of Wanhu in charge of? |
gq: According to Tibetologist John Powers, Tibetan sources counter this narrative of titles granted by the Chinese to Tibetans with various titles which the Tibetans gave to the Chinese emperors and their officials. Tribute missions from Tibetan monasteries to the Chinese court brought back not only titles, but large, commercially valuable gifts which could subsequently be sold. The Ming emperors sent invitations to ruling lamas, but the lamas sent subordinates rather than coming themselves, and no Tibetan ruler ever explicitly accepted the role of being a vassal of the Ming. | Question: What was the name of the Tibetologist? Question: Who did the Ming emperors send invitations to? Question: When the lamas received an invite from the emperors, who did they send instead? |
gq: Hans Bielenstein writes that as far back as the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE), the Han Chinese government "maintained the fiction" that the foreign officials administering the various "Dependent States" and oasis city-states of the Western Regions (composed of the Tarim Basin and oasis of Turpan) were true Han representatives due to the Han government's conferral of Chinese seals and seal cords to them. | Question: Who believed that they were the true Han Western representatives? Question: What was the western regions composed of? |
gq: Wang and Nyima state that after the official title "Education Minister" was granted to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (1302–1364) by the Yuan court, this title appeared frequently with his name in various Tibetan texts, while his Tibetan title "Degsi" (sic properly sde-srid or desi) is seldom mentioned. Wang and Nyima take this to mean that "even in the later period of the Yuan dynasty, the Yuan imperial court and the Phagmodrupa Dynasty maintained a Central-local government relation." The Tai Situpa is even supposed to have written in his will: "In the past I received loving care from the emperor in the east. If the emperor continues to care for us, please follow his edicts and the imperial envoy should be well received." | Question: What two people claim the title of Education Minister was often seen next to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen's name in Tibetan texts? Question: What title was given by the Yuan court to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen ? Question: What Tibetan title was hardly ever mentioned when referring to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen? Question: What dynasty kept a Central-local government relation with the Yuan imperial court? Question: Who wrote in their will that they received loving care from the emperor in the east? |
gq: However, Lok-Ham Chan, a professor of history at the University of Washington, writes that Changchub Gyaltsen's aims were to recreate the old Tibetan Kingdom that existed during the Chinese Tang dynasty, to build "nationalist sentiment" amongst Tibetans, and to "remove all traces of Mongol suzerainty." Georges Dreyfus, a professor of religion at Williams College, writes that it was Changchub Gyaltsen who adopted the old administrative system of Songtsän Gampo (c. 605–649)—the first leader of the Tibetan Empire to establish Tibet as a strong power—by reinstating its legal code of punishments and administrative units. For example, instead of the 13 governorships established by the Mongol Sakya viceroy, Changchub Gyaltsen divided Central Tibet into districts (dzong) with district heads (dzong dpon) who had to conform to old rituals and wear clothing styles of old Imperial Tibet. Van Praag asserts that Changchub Gyaltsen's ambitions were to "restore to Tibet the glories of its Imperial Age" by reinstating secular administration, promoting "national culture and traditions," and installing a law code that survived into the 20th century. | Question: What university was Lok-Ham Chan a professor at? Question: Who divided Central Tibet into districts? Question: What did Lok-Ham Chan claim Changchub Gyaltsen wanted to remove? Question: Who strongly believed Changchub Gyaltsen wanted to restore the glories of its Imperial age to Tibet? |
gq: According to Chen, the Ming officer of Hezhou (modern day Linxia) informed the Hongwu Emperor that the general situation in Dbus and Gtsang "was under control," and so he suggested to the emperor that he offer the second Phagmodru ruler, Jamyang Shakya Gyaltsen, an official title. According to the Records of the Founding Emperor, the Hongwu Emperor issued an edict granting the title "Initiation State Master" to Sagya Gyaincain, while the latter sent envoys to the Ming court to hand over his jade seal of authority along with tribute of colored silk and satin, statues of the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures, and sarira. | Question: Who suggested to the emperor that an official title be granted to second Phagmodru ruler? Question: Who told the emperor that the situation in Dbus and Gtsang were under control? Question: Who was the second Phagmodru ruler? Question: Who did the Hongwu Emperor grant the title Initiation State Master to? Question: Where were the envoys sent? |
gq: Dreyfus writes that after the Phagmodrupa lost its centralizing power over Tibet in 1434, several attempts by other families to establish hegemonies failed over the next two centuries until 1642 with the 5th Dalai Lama's effective hegemony over Tibet. | Question: Who lost their power over Tibet? Question: What year did the Phagmodrupa lose their power over Tibet? Question: What did the other families fail to establish? Question: What year did the 5th Dalai lama start to dominate over Tibet? |
gq: The Ming dynasty granted titles to lamas of schools such as the Karmapa Kargyu, but the latter had previously declined Mongol invitations to receive titles. When the Ming Yongle Emperor invited Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), founder of the Gelug school, to come to the Ming court and pay tribute, the latter declined. Wang and Nyima write that this was due to old age and physical weakness, and also because of efforts being made to build three major monasteries. Chen Qingying states that Tsongkhapa wrote a letter to decline the Emperor's invitation, and in this reply, Tsongkhapa wrote: | Question: The Ming Dynasty granted what titles to lamas of schools? Question: Who did the Ming Dynasty decline titles from after receiving invitations? Question: Who invited Je Tsongkhapa to come pay tribute? Question: Who was the founder of the Gelug school? Question: Who wrote the letter declining the Emperor's invitation? |
gq: A. Tom Grunfeld says that Tsongkhapa claimed ill health in his refusal to appear at the Ming court, while Rossabi adds that Tsongkhapa cited the "length and arduousness of the journey" to China as another reason not to make an appearance. This first request by the Ming was made in 1407, but the Ming court sent another embassy in 1413, this one led by the eunuch Hou Xian (候顯; fl. 1403–1427), which was again refused by Tsongkhapa. Rossabi writes that Tsongkhapa did not want to entirely alienate the Ming court, so he sent his disciple Chosrje Shākya Yeshes to Nanjing in 1414 on his behalf, and upon his arrival in 1415 the Yongle Emperor bestowed upon him the title of "State Teacher"—the same title earlier awarded the Phagmodrupa ruler of Tibet. The Xuande Emperor (r. 1425–1435) even granted this disciple Chosrje Shākya Yeshes the title of a "King" (王). This title does not appear to have held any practical meaning, or to have given its holder any power, at Tsongkhapa's Ganden Monastery. Wylie notes that this—like the Karma Kargyu—cannot be seen as a reappointment of Mongol Yuan offices, since the Gelug school was created after the fall of the Yuan dynasty. | Question: When did the Ming first request Tsongkhapa to come to court? Question: When did the Ming court send a second request to Tsongkhapa? Question: Who did Tsongkhapa send in his place to Nanjing? Question: When was Chosrje Shākya Yeshes sent to Nanjing? |
gq: Dawa Norbu argues that modern Chinese Communist historians tend to be in favor of the view that the Ming simply reappointed old Yuan dynasty officials in Tibet and perpetuated their rule of Tibet in this manner. Norbu writes that, although this would have been true for the eastern Tibetan regions of Amdo and Kham's "tribute-cum-trade" relations with the Ming, it was untrue if applied to the western Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang and Ngari. After the Phagmodrupa Changchub Gyaltsen, these were ruled by "three successive nationalistic regimes," which Norbu writes "Communist historians prefer to ignore." | Question: Who believed the Ming reappointed old Yuan dynasty officials in Tibet? |
gq: Laird writes that the Ming appointed titles to eastern Tibetan princes, and that "these alliances with eastern Tibetan principalities are the evidence China now produces for its assertion that the Ming ruled Tibet," despite the fact that the Ming did not send an army to replace the Mongols after they left Tibet. Yiu Yung-chin states that the furthest western extent of the Ming dynasty's territory was Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan while "the Ming did not possess Tibet." | Question: Who did the Ming appoint titles to? Question: What does Yiu Yung-chin claim the Ming did not possess? Question: What didn't the Ming send to replace the Mongols when they left Tibet? |
gq: Shih-Shan Henry Tsai writes that the Yongle Emperor sent his eunuch Yang Sanbao into Tibet in 1413 to gain the allegiance of various Tibetan princes, while the Yongle Emperor paid a small fortune in return gifts for tributes in order to maintain the loyalty of neighboring vassal states such as Nepal and Tibet. However, Van Praag states that Tibetan rulers upheld their own separate relations with the kingdoms of Nepal and Kashmir, and at times "engaged in armed confrontation with them." | Question: What was the name of the eunuch? Question: Where did the Yongle Emperor send Yang Sanbao? Question: When did Yongle Emperor send Yang Sanbao into Tibet? Question: Why did Yongle Emperor send Yang Sanbao into Tibet? Question: Why did the emperor pay a small fortune in gifts? |
gq: Even though the Gelug exchanged gifts with and sent missions to the Ming court up until the 1430s, the Gelug was not mentioned in the Mingshi or the Mingshi Lu. On this, historian Li Tieh-tseng says of Tsongkhapa's refusal of Ming invitations to visit the Yongle Emperor's court: | Question: Who did the Gelug exchange gifts with? Question: Until what year frame did the Gelug exchange gifts with the the Ming? Question: What was the Gelug not mentioned in? |
gq: Wylie asserts that this type of censorship of the History of Ming distorts the true picture of the history of Sino-Tibetan relations, while the Ming court granted titles to various lamas regardless of their sectarian affiliations in an ongoing civil war in Tibet between competing Buddhist factions. Wylie argues that Ming titles of "King" granted indiscriminately to various Tibetan lamas or even their disciples should not be viewed as reappointments to earlier Yuan dynasty offices, since the viceregal Sakya regime established by the Mongols in Tibet was overthrown by the Phagmodru myriarchy before the Ming existed. | Question: Regardless of their sectarian affiliations, who did the Ming grant titles to? Question: Who was the viceregal Sakya regime overthrown by? |
gq: Helmut Hoffman states that the Ming upheld the facade of rule over Tibet through periodic missions of "tribute emissaries" to the Ming court and by granting nominal titles to ruling lamas, but did not actually interfere in Tibetan governance. Melvyn C. Goldstein writes that the Ming had no real administrative authority over Tibet, as the various titles given to Tibetan leaders did not confer authority as the earlier Mongol Yuan titles had. He asserts that "by conferring titles on Tibetans already in power, the Ming emperors merely recognized political reality." Hugh Edward Richardson writes that the Ming dynasty exercised no authority over the succession of Tibetan ruling families, the Phagmodru (1354–1435), Rinpungpa (1435–1565), and Tsangpa (1565–1642). | Question: Who believed that the Ming had no real authority over Tibet? Question: Who believed that the titles given to Tibetan leaders did not confer authority? Question: What years did the Rinpungpa regime start and end? Question: What years did the Tsangpa start and end? |
gq: In his usurpation of the throne from the Jianwen Emperor (r. 1398–1402), the Yongle Emperor was aided by the Buddhist monk Yao Guangxiao, and like his father, the Hongwu Emperor, the Yongle Emperor was "well-disposed towards Buddhism", claims Rossabi. On March 10, 1403, the Yongle Emperor invited Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama (1384–1415), to his court, even though the fourth Karmapa had rejected the invitation of the Hongwu Emperor. A Tibetan translation in the 16th century preserves the letter of the Yongle Emperor, which the Association for Asian Studies notes is polite and complimentary towards the Karmapa. The letter of invitation reads, | Question: What year did the Jianwen Emperor reign start and end? Question: Who aided the Yongle Emperor? Question: Who was Yongle Emperor's father? Question: When did the Yongle Emperor invite Deshin Shekpa to his court? |
gq: In order to seek out the Karmapa, the Yongle Emperor dispatched his eunuch Hou Xian and the Buddhist monk Zhi Guang (d. 1435) to Tibet. Traveling to Lhasa either through Qinghai or via the Silk Road to Khotan, Hou Xian and Zhi Guang did not return to Nanjing until 1407. | Question: Why did the Yongle Emperor send Hou Xian and Zhi Guang to Tibet? Question: Who did the Yongle Emperor send to Tibet? Question: Where did Hou Xian and Zhi Guang travel through on their way to the Karmapa? Question: When did Hou Xian and Zhi Guang return to Nanjing? |
gq: During his travels beginning in 1403, Deshin Shekpa was induced by further exhortations by the Ming court to visit Nanjing by April 10, 1407. Norbu writes that the Yongle Emperor, following the tradition of Mongol emperors and their reverence for the Sakya lamas, showed an enormous amount of deference towards Deshin Shekpa. The Yongle Emperor came out of the palace in Nanjing to greet the Karmapa and did not require him to kowtow like a tributary vassal. According to Karma Thinley, the emperor gave the Karmapa the place of honor at his left, and on a higher throne than his own. Rossabi and others describe a similar arrangement made by Kublai Khan and the Sakya Phagpa lama, writing that Kublai would "sit on a lower platform than the Tibetan cleric" when receiving religious instructions from him. | Question: When did Deshin Shekpa travels start? Question: Where did the Yongle Emperor greet the Karmapa? Question: Who showed a great amount of respect to Deshin Shekpa? Question: Who did the Emperor give the place of honor at his left to? Question: Who sat on a lower platform than the Tibetan cleric? |
gq: Throughout the following month, the Yongle Emperor and his court showered the Karmapa with presents. At Linggu Temple in Nanjing, he presided over the religious ceremonies for the Yongle Emperor's deceased parents, while twenty-two days of his stay were marked by religious miracles that were recorded in five languages on a gigantic scroll that bore the Emperor's seal. During his stay in Nanjing, Deshin Shekpa was bestowed the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma" by the Yongle Emperor. Elliot Sperling asserts that the Yongle Emperor, in bestowing Deshin Shekpa with the title of "King" and praising his mystical abilities and miracles, was trying to build an alliance with the Karmapa as the Mongols had with the Sakya lamas, but Deshin Shekpa rejected the Yongle Emperor's offer. In fact, this was the same title that Kublai Khan had offered the Sakya Phagpa lama, but Deshin Shekpa persuaded the Yongle Emperor to grant the title to religious leaders of other Tibetan Buddhist sects. | Question: At what temple did the ceremonies for the Yongle Emperor's deceased parents take place? Question: Where was the Linggu Temple located? Question: What title was Deshin Shekpa given at Nanjing? Question: Who did Deshin Shekpa persuade the Yongle Emperor to give the title to? |
gq: Tibetan sources say Deshin Shekpa also persuaded the Yongle Emperor not to impose his military might on Tibet as the Mongols had previously done. Thinley writes that before the Karmapa returned to Tibet, the Yongle Emperor began planning to send a military force into Tibet to forcibly give the Karmapa authority over all the Tibetan Buddhist schools but Deshin Shekpa dissuaded him. However, Hok-Lam Chan states that "there is little evidence that this was ever the emperor's intention" and that evidence indicates that Deshin Skekpa was invited strictly for religious purposes. | Question: Who convinced the Yongle emperor not to send military forces into Tibet? Question: Who imposed on the military might on Tibet in the past? Question: What was said to be the Yongle Emperor plans? Question: Why was the Yongle Emperor said to have been planning to send military forces into Tibet? Question: Hok-Lam Chan states that Deshin Skekpa was only invited for what purpose? |
gq: Marsha Weidner states that Deshin Shekpa's miracles "testified to the power of both the emperor and his guru and served as a legitimizing tool for the emperor's problematic succession to the throne," referring to the Yongle Emperor's conflict with the previous Jianwen Emperor. Tsai writes that Deshin Shekpa aided the legitimacy of the Yongle Emperor's rule by providing him with portents and omens which demonstrated Heaven's favor of the Yongle Emperor on the Ming throne. | Question: Who aided the legitimacy of the Yongle Emperor's rule? Question: What served as a legitimizing tool for the emperor's succession to the throne? Question: Who did the Yongle Emperor have a conflict with? |
gq: With the example of the Ming court's relationship with the fifth Karmapa and other Tibetan leaders, Norbu states that Chinese Communist historians have failed to realize the significance of the religious aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship. He writes that the meetings of lamas with the Emperor of China were exchanges of tribute between "the patron and the priest" and were not merely instances of a political subordinate paying tribute to a superior. He also notes that the items of tribute were Buddhist artifacts which symbolized "the religious nature of the relationship." Josef Kolmaš writes that the Ming dynasty did not exercise any direct political control over Tibet, content with their tribute relations that were "almost entirely of a religious character." Patricia Ann Berger writes that the Yongle Emperor's courting and granting of titles to lamas was his attempt to "resurrect the relationship between China and Tibet established earlier by the Yuan dynastic founder Khubilai Khan and his guru Phagpa." She also writes that the later Qing emperors and their Mongol associates viewed the Yongle Emperor's relationship with Tibet as "part of a chain of reincarnation that saw this Han Chinese emperor as yet another emanation of Manjusri." | Question: According to Norbu who failed to realize the significance of the religious aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship? Question: What were the items of tribute? Question: Who believe that the Ming dynasty did not exercise any direct political control over Tibet? |
gq: The Information Office of the State Council of the PRC preserves an edict of the Zhengtong Emperor (r. 1435–1449) addressed to the Karmapa in 1445, written after the latter's agent had brought holy relics to the Ming court. Zhengtong had the following message delivered to the Great Treasure Prince of Dharma, the Karmapa: | Question: Who maintains an edict of the Zhengtong Emperor? Question: What years did the Zhengtong Emperor reign? Question: Who was the edict addressed to? Question: When was the edict written? Question: Who had a message delivered to them by Zhengtong? |
gq: Despite this glowing message by the Emperor, Chan writes that a year later in 1446, the Ming court cut off all relations with the Karmapa hierarchs. Until then, the court was unaware that Deshin Shekpa had died in 1415. The Ming court had believed that the representatives of the Karma Kagyu who continued to visit the Ming capital were sent by the Karmapa. | Question: What year did the Ming cut off the Karmapa hierarchs? Question: Who did the Ming cut off all relations with? Question: Who did the Ming court think the representatives were sent by? Question: When did Deshin Shekpa die? |
gq: Tsai writes that shortly after the visit by Deshin Shekpa, the Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of a road and of trading posts in the upper reaches of the Yangzi and Mekong Rivers in order to facilitate trade with Tibet in tea, horses, and salt. The trade route passed through Sichuan and crossed Shangri-La County in Yunnan. Wang and Nyima assert that this "tribute-related trade" of the Ming exchanging Chinese tea for Tibetan horses—while granting Tibetan envoys and Tibetan merchants explicit permission to trade with Han Chinese merchants—"furthered the rule of the Ming dynasty court over Tibet". Rossabi and Sperling note that this trade in Tibetan horses for Chinese tea existed long before the Ming. Peter C. Perdue says that Wang Anshi (1021–1086), realizing that China could not produce enough militarily capable steeds, had also aimed to obtain horses from Inner Asia in exchange for Chinese tea. The Chinese needed horses not only for cavalry but also as draft animals for the army's supply wagons. The Tibetans required Chinese tea not only as a common beverage but also as a religious ceremonial supplement. The Ming government imposed a monopoly on tea production and attempted to regulate this trade with state-supervised markets, but these collapsed in 1449 due to military failures and internal ecological and commercial pressures on the tea-producing regions. | Question: Why did Yongle order the construction? Question: What did Yongle want to trade with Tibet? Question: where did the trade route pass through? |
gq: Van Praag states that the Ming court established diplomatic delegations with Tibet merely to secure urgently needed horses. Wang and Nyima argue that these were not diplomatic delegations at all, that Tibetan areas were ruled by the Ming since Tibetan leaders were granted positions as Ming officials, that horses were collected from Tibet as a mandatory "corvée" tax, and therefore Tibetans were "undertaking domestic affairs, not foreign diplomacy". Sperling writes that the Ming simultaneously bought horses in the Kham region while fighting Tibetan tribes in Amdo and receiving Tibetan embassies in Nanjing. He also argues that the embassies of Tibetan lamas visiting the Ming court were for the most part efforts to promote commercial transactions between the lamas' large, wealthy entourage and Ming Chinese merchants and officials. Kolmaš writes that while the Ming maintained a laissez-faire policy towards Tibet and limited the numbers of the Tibetan retinues, the Tibetans sought to maintain a tributary relationship with the Ming because imperial patronage provided them with wealth and power. Laird writes that Tibetans eagerly sought Ming court invitations since the gifts the Tibetans received for bringing tribute were much greater in value than the latter. As for the Yongle Emperor's gifts to his Tibetan and Nepalese vassals such as silver wares, Buddha relics, utensils for Buddhist temples and religious ceremonies, and gowns and robes for monks, Tsai writes "in his effort to draw neighboring states to the Ming orbit so that he could bask in glory, the Yongle Emperor was quite willing to pay a small price". The Information Office of the State Council of the PRC lists the Tibetan tribute items as oxen, horses, camels, sheep, fur products, medical herbs, Tibetan incenses, thangkas (painted scrolls), and handicrafts; while the Ming awarded Tibetan tribute-bearers an equal value of gold, silver, satin and brocade, bolts of cloth, grains, and tea leaves. Silk workshops during the Ming also catered specifically to the Tibetan market with silk clothes and furnishings featuring Tibetan Buddhist iconography. | Question: who were the Tibetan areas were ruled by? Question: Why does Van Praag believe the Ming court set up a diplomatic delegation with Tibet? Question: Wang and Nyima believed horses were collected from Tibet as what kind of tax? Question: What shops were catered to the Tibetan market? Question: What visual images and symbols were on furnishings from the silk workshops? |
gq: While the Ming dynasty traded horses with Tibet, it upheld a policy of outlawing border markets in the north, which Laird sees as an effort to punish the Mongols for their raids and to "drive them from the frontiers of China." However, after Altan Khan (1507–1582)—leader of the Tümed Mongols who overthrew the Oirat Mongol confederation's hegemony over the steppes—made peace with the Ming dynasty in 1571, he persuaded the Ming to reopen their border markets in 1573. This provided the Chinese with a new supply of horses that the Mongols had in excess; it was also a relief to the Ming, since they were unable to stop the Mongols from periodic raiding. Laird says that despite the fact that later Mongols believed Altan forced the Ming to view him as an equal, Chinese historians argue that he was simply a loyal Chinese citizen. By 1578, Altan Khan formed a formidable Mongol-Tibetan alliance with the Gelug that the Ming viewed from afar without intervention. | Question: Who did Altan Khan make peace with? Question: Who did the Ming trade horses with? Question: Who was the leader of the Tümed Mongols? Question: Who convinced the Ming to reopen their border markets in 1573? Question: Who did Altan Khan overthrow? |
gq: Patricia Ebrey writes that Tibet, like Joseon Korea and other neighboring states to the Ming, settled for its tributary status while there were no troops or governors of Ming China stationed in its territory. Laird writes that "after the Mongol troops left Tibet, no Ming troops replaced them." Wang and Nyima state that, despite the fact that the Ming refrained from sending troops to subdue Tibet and refrained from garrisoning Ming troops there, these measures were unnecessary so long as the Ming court upheld close ties with Tibetan vassals and their forces. However, there were instances in the 14th century when the Hongwu Emperor did use military force to quell unrest in Tibet. John D. Langlois writes that there was unrest in Tibet and western Sichuan, which the Marquis Mu Ying (沐英) was commissioned to quell in November 1378 after he established a Taozhou garrison in Gansu. Langlois notes that by October 1379, Mu Ying had allegedly captured 30,000 Tibetan prisoners and 200,000 domesticated animals. Yet invasion went both ways; the Ming general Qu Neng, under the command of Lan Yu, was ordered to repel a Tibetan assault into Sichuan in 1390. | Question: When did the Hongwu Emperor use military force in Tibet? Question: When was the Marquis Mu Ying commissioned to quell? Question: How many Tibetan prisoners did Mu Ying capture? Question: How many animals did Mu Ying capture? Question: Who was ordered to force a Tibetan assault into Sichuan? |
gq: Discussions of strategy in the mid Ming dynasty focused primarily on recovery of the Ordos region, which the Mongols used as a rallying base to stage raids into Ming China. Norbu states that the Ming dynasty, preoccupied with the Mongol threat to the north, could not spare additional armed forces to enforce or back up their claim of sovereignty over Tibet; instead, they relied on "Confucian instruments of tribute relations" of heaping unlimited number of titles and gifts on Tibetan lamas through acts of diplomacy. Sperling states that the delicate relationship between the Ming and Tibet was "the last time a united China had to deal with an independent Tibet," that there was a potential for armed conflict at their borders, and that the ultimate goal of Ming foreign policy with Tibet was not subjugation but "avoidance of any kind of Tibetan threat." P. Christiaan Klieger argues that the Ming court's patronage of high Tibetan lamas "was designed to help stabilize border regions and protect trade routes." | Question: What did the mid Ming dynasty discussion focus mainly on? Question: Who used the the Ordos region as a place to stage raids? Question: Where were the Mongols trying to raise? Question: Why did P. Christiaan Klieger believe that the Ming court supported high Tibetan lamas? |
gq: Historians Luciano Petech and Sato Hisashi argue that the Ming upheld a "divide-and-rule" policy towards a weak and politically fragmented Tibet after the Sakya regime had fallen. Chan writes that this was perhaps the calculated strategy of the Yongle Emperor, as exclusive patronage to one Tibetan sect would have given it too much regional power. Sperling finds no textual evidence in either Chinese or Tibetan sources to support this thesis of Petech and Hisashi. Norbu asserts that their thesis is largely based on the list of Ming titles conferred on Tibetan lamas rather than "comparative analysis of developments in China and Tibet." Rossabi states that this theory "attributes too much influence to the Chinese," pointing out that Tibet was already politically divided when the Ming dynasty began. Rossabi also discounts the "divide-and-rule" theory on the grounds of the Yongle Emperor's failed attempt to build a strong relationship with the fifth Karmapa—one which he hoped would parallel Kublai Khan's earlier relationship with the Sakya Phagpa lama. Instead, the Yongle Emperor followed the Karmapa's advice of giving patronage to many different Tibetan lamas. | Question: What policy does Luciano Petech and Sato Hisashi claim the Ming held towards the Tibet? Question: When did the Ming hold the divide and rule policy? Question: Who did Yongle Emperor fail to build a solid relationship with? Question: Who did the Yongle Emperor give patronage to? |
gq: The Association for Asian Studies states that there is no known written evidence to suggest that later leaders of the Gelug—Gendün Drup (1391–1474) and Gendün Gyatso (1475–1571)—had any contacts with Ming China. These two religious leaders were preoccupied with an overriding concern for dealing with the powerful secular Rinpungpa princes, who were patrons and protectors of the Karma Kargyu lamas. The Rinpungpa leaders were relatives of the Phagmodrupa, yet their authority shifted over time from simple governors to rulers in their own right over large areas of Ü-Tsang. The prince of Rinbung occupied Lhasa in 1498 and excluded the Gelug from attending New Years ceremonies and prayers, the most important event in the Gelug. While the task of New Years prayers in Lhasa was granted to the Karmapa and others, Gendün Gyatso traveled in exile looking for allies. However, it was not until 1518 that the secular Phagmodru ruler captured Lhasa from the Rinbung, and thereafter the Gelug was given rights to conduct the New Years prayer. When the Drikung Kagyu abbot of Drigung Monastery threatened Lhasa in 1537, Gendün Gyatso was forced to abandon the Drepung Monastery, although he eventually returned. | Question: Who were the Rinpungpa leaders related to? Question: When did the the prince of Rinbung occupy Lhasa? Question: What was the most important event to the Gelug? Question: When was Gelug was given the right to conduct the New Years prayer? |
gq: The Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521), who enjoyed the company of lamas at court despite protests from the censorate, had heard tales of a "living Buddha" which he desired to host at the Ming capital; this was none other than the Rinpung-supported Mikyö Dorje, 8th Karmapa Lama then occupying Lhasa. Zhengde's top advisors made every attempt to dissuade him from inviting this lama to court, arguing that Tibetan Buddhism was wildly heterodox and unorthodox. Despite protests by the Grand Secretary Liang Chu, in 1515 the Zhengde Emperor sent his eunuch official Liu Yun of the Palace Chancellery on a mission to invite this Karmapa to Beijing. Liu commanded a fleet of hundreds of ships requisitioned along the Yangtze, consuming 2,835 g (100 oz) of silver a day in food expenses while stationed for a year in Chengdu of Sichuan. After procurring necessary gifts for the mission, he departed with a cavalry force of about 1,000 troops. When the request was delivered, the Karmapa lama refused to leave Tibet despite the Ming force brought to coerce him. The Karmapa launched a surprise ambush on Liu Yun's camp, seizing all the goods and valuables while killing or wounding half of Liu Yun's entire escort. After this fiasco, Liu fled for his life, but only returned to Chengdu several years later to find that the Zhengde Emperor had died. | Question: When did the Zhengde Emperor rule? Question: Who's company did the Zhengde Emperor enjoy? Question: Who was the 8th Karmapa Lama? |
gq: Elliot Sperling, a specialist of Indian studies and the director of the Tibetan Studies program at Indiana University’s Department of Central Eurasia Studies, writes that "the idea that Tibet became part of China in the 13th century is a very recent construction." He writes that Chinese writers of the early 20th century were of the view that Tibet was not annexed by China until the Manchu Qing dynasty invasion during the 18th century. He also states that Chinese writers of the early 20th century described Tibet as a feudal dependency of China, not an integral part of it. Sperling states that this is because "Tibet was ruled as such, within the empires of the Mongols and the Manchus" and also that "China's intervening Ming dynasty ... had no control over Tibet." He writes that the Ming relationship with Tibet is problematic for China’s insistence of its unbroken sovereignty over Tibet since the 13th century. As for the Tibetan view that Tibet was never subject to the rule of the Yuan or Qing emperors of China, Sperling also discounts this by stating that Tibet was "subject to rules, laws and decisions made by the Yuan and Qing rulers" and that even Tibetans described themselves as subjects of these emperors. | Question: Since what century has Sperling described Ming and Tibet's relation being problematic for China? Question: Who said Tibet wasn't an integral part of of China? Question: When was the Manchu Qing dynasty invasion? Question: What does Sperling claim did not have any control over Tibet? |
gq: Josef Kolmaš, a sinologist, Tibetologist, and Professor of Oriental Studies at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, writes that it was during the Qing dynasty "that developments took place on the basis of which Tibet came to be considered an organic part of China, both practically and theoretically subject to the Chinese central government." Yet he states that this was a radical change in regards to all previous eras of Sino-Tibetan relations. | Question: During Which dynasty does Josef Kolmaš claim Tibet was considered an organic part of China? Question: Josef Kolmaš states that Tibet became subject to what government? |
gq: P. Christiaan Klieger, an anthropologist and scholar of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, writes that the vice royalty of the Sakya regime installed by the Mongols established a patron and priest relationship between Tibetans and Mongol converts to Tibetan Buddhism. According to him, the Tibetan lamas and Mongol khans upheld a "mutual role of religious prelate and secular patron," respectively. He adds that "Although agreements were made between Tibetan leaders and Mongol khans, Ming and Qing emperors, it was the Republic of China and its Communist successors that assumed the former imperial tributaries and subject states as integral parts of the Chinese nation-state." | Question: Where does P. Christiaan Klieger work? Question: Who was the vice royalty of the Sakya regime established by? Question: The Sakya regime established what kind of relationship between the Tibetans and Mongol converts? Question: Who does P. Christiaan Klieger claim to have had a mutual role of religious prelate? Question: Who does P. Christiaan Klieger believe undertook the former imperial tributaries? |
gq: China Daily, a CCP-controlled news organization since 1981, states in a 2008 article that although there were dynastic changes after Tibet was incorporated into the territory of Yuan dynasty's China in the 13th century, "Tibet has remained under the jurisdiction of the central government of China." It also states that the Ming dynasty "inherited the right to rule Tibet" from the Yuan dynasty, and repeats the claims in the Mingshi about the Ming establishing two itinerant high commands over Tibet. China Daily states that the Ming handled Tibet's civil administration, appointed all leading officials of these administrative organs, and punished Tibetans who broke the law. The party-controlled People's Daily, the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency, and the state-controlled national television network China Central Television posted the same article that China Daily had, the only difference being their headlines and some additional text. | Question: When was China Daily started? Question: When was Tibet included into the territory of Yuan dynasty's China? Question: According to article Tibet has remained under what jurisdiction? Question: Who was said to have gained the right to rule Tibet? Question: Who does the article claim had two itinerant high commands over Tibet? |
gq: During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567), the native Chinese ideology of Daoism was fully sponsored at the Ming court, while Tibetan Vajrayana and even Chinese Buddhism were ignored or suppressed. Even the History of Ming states that the Tibetan lamas discontinued their trips to Ming China and its court at this point. Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe under Jiajing was determined to break the eunuch influence at court which typified the Zhengde era, an example being the costly escort of the eunuch Liu Yun as described above in his failed mission to Tibet. The court eunuchs were in favor of expanding and building new commercial ties with foreign countries such as Portugal, which Zhengde deemed permissible since he had an affinity for foreign and exotic people. | Question: When did the Jiajing Emperor reign? Question: What ideology was sponsored at the Ming court? Question: Who stopped their trips to Ming China? Question: Who was the Grand Secretary under Jiajing? Question: Who broke the eunuch influence at court? |
gq: With the death of Zhengde and ascension of Jiajing, the politics at court shifted in favor of the Neo-Confucian establishment which not only rejected the Portuguese embassy of Fernão Pires de Andrade (d. 1523), but had a predisposed animosity towards Tibetan Buddhism and lamas. Evelyn S. Rawski, a professor in the Department of History of the University of Pittsburgh, writes that the Ming's unique relationship with Tibetan prelates essentially ended with Jiajing's reign while Ming influence in the Amdo region was supplanted by the Mongols. | Question: Who was Zhengde's successor? Question: Evelyn S. Rawski claims that Ming's relationship with Tibetan prelates ended during who's reign? Question: What establishment did the politics at court shift in favor of? Question: Which embassy did the Neo-Confucian establishment reject? Question: Who did the Neo-Confucian establishment have animosity towards? |
gq: Meanwhile, the Tumed Mongols began moving into the Kokonor region (modern Qinghai), raiding the Ming Chinese frontier and even as far as the suburbs of Beijing under Altan Khan (1507–1582). Klieger writes that Altan Khan's presence in the west effectively reduced Ming influence and contact with Tibet. After Altan Khan made peace with the Ming dynasty in 1571, he invited the third hierarch of the Gelug—Sönam Gyatso (1543–1588)—to meet him in Amdo (modern Qinghai) in 1578, where he accidentally bestowed him and his two predecessors with the title of Dalai Lama—"Ocean Teacher". The full title was "Dalai Lama Vajradhara", "Vajradhara" meaning "Holder of the Thunderbolt" in Sanskrit. Victoria Huckenpahler notes that Vajradhara is considered by Buddhists to be the primordial Buddha of limitless and all-pervasive beneficial qualities, a being that "represents the ultimate aspect of enlightenment." Goldstein writes that Sönam Gyatso also enhanced Altan Khan's standing by granting him the title "king of religion, majestic purity". Rawski writes that the Dalai Lama officially recognized Altan Khan as the "Protector of the Faith". | Question: What region did the Tumed Mongols move into? Question: Which frontier did the Tumed Mongols raid? Question: The presence of the Altan Khan in the west reduced whos influence? Question: When did Altan Khan make peace with the Ming dynasty? Question: Who did Altan Khan invite to meet him in Amdo? |
gq: Laird writes that Altan Khan abolished the native Mongol practices of shamanism and blood sacrifice, while the Mongol princes and subjects were coerced by Altan to convert to Gelug Buddhism—or face execution if they persisted in their shamanistic ways. Committed to their religious leader, Mongol princes began requesting the Dalai Lama to bestow titles on them, which demonstrated "the unique fusion of religious and political power" wielded by the Dalai Lama, as Laird writes. Kolmaš states that the spiritual and secular Mongol-Tibetan alliance of the 13th century was renewed by this alliance constructed by Altan Khan and Sönam Gyatso. Van Praag writes that this restored the original Mongol patronage of a Tibetan lama and "to this day, Mongolians are among the most devout followers of the Gelugpa and the Dalai Lama." Angela F. Howard writes that this unique relationship not only provided the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama with religious and political authority in Tibet, but that Altan Khan gained "enormous power among the entire Mongol population." | Question: What practice did Altan Khan put to an end? Question: Who did Altan Khan persuade to convert to Gelug Buddhism? Question: What did Altan Khan threaten the Mongol princes and subjects with if they did not convert? Question: Why did the Mongol princes ask for titles? Question: Who did the Mongol princes ask to grant them titles? |
gq: Rawski writes that Altan Khan's conversion to the Gelug "can be interpreted as an attempt to expand his authority in his conflict with his nominal superior, Tümen Khan." To further cement the Mongol-Tibetan alliance, the great-grandson of Altan Khan—the 4th Dalai Lama (1589–1616)—was made the fourth Dalai Lama. In 1642, the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) became the first to wield effective political control over Tibet. | Question: Who was Altan Khan's nominal superior? Question: To make the Mongol-Tibetan alliance stronger who became the 4th Dalai Lama? Question: When did the 5th Dalai Lama gain political control over Tibet? Question: Who was the first Dalai Lama to have political control over Tibet? |
gq: Sonam Gyatso, after being granted the grandiose title by Altan Khan, departed for Tibet. Before he left, he sent a letter and gifts to the Ming Chinese official Zhang Juzheng (1525–1582), which arrived on March 12, 1579. Sometime in August or September of that year, Sonam Gyatso's representative stationed with Altan Khan received a return letter and gift from the Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620), who also conferred upon Sonam Gyatso a title; this was the first official contact between a Dalai Lama and a government of China. However, Laird states that when Wanli invited him to Beijing, the Dalai Lama declined the offer due to a prior commitment, even though he was only 400 km (250 mi) from Beijing. Laird adds that "the power of the Ming emperor did not reach very far at the time." Although not recorded in any official Chinese records, Sonam Gyatso's biography states that Wanli again conferred titles on Sonam Gyatso in 1588, and invited him to Beijing for a second time, but Sonam Gyatso was unable to visit China as he died the same year in Mongolia working with Altan Khan's son to further the spread of Buddhism. | Question: Who was given the grandiose title? Question: Who granted Sonam Gyatso the title of grandiose? Question: Who did Sonam Gyatso send gifts to? Question: Who was the Ming Chinese official? Question: Where did Sonam Gyatso die? |
gq: Of the third Dalai Lama, China Daily states that the "Ming dynasty showed him special favor by allowing him to pay tribute." China Daily then says that Sonam Gyatso was granted the title Dorjichang or Vajradhara Dalai Lama in 1587 [sic!], but China Daily does not mention who granted him the title. Without mentioning the role of the Mongols, China Daily states that it was the successive Qing dynasty which established the title of Dalai Lama and his power in Tibet: "In 1653, the Qing emperor granted an honorific title to the fifth Dalai Lama and then did the same for the fifth Panchen Lama in 1713, officially establishing the titles of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni, and their political and religious status in Tibet." | Question: Who did the Ming dynasty showed favors to? Question: What was the the third Dalai Lama allowed to do? Question: What title was Sonam Gyatso granted in 1587? Question: In 1653 who did the Qing emperor grant a title to? Question: In 1713 who did the Qing emperor grant a title to? |
gq: Chen states that the fourth Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso was granted the title "Master of Vajradhara" and an official seal by the Wanli Emperor in 1616. This was noted in the Biography of the Fourth Dalai Lama, which stated that one Soinam Lozui delivered the seal of the Emperor to the Dalai Lama. The Wanli Emperor had invited Yonten Gyatso to Beijing in 1616, but just like his predecessor he died before being able to make the journey. | Question: Who was the fourth Dalai Lama? Question: Who did the Wanli Emperor invite to Beijing in 1616? Question: What title was the fourth Dalai Lama granted? Question: When did the Wanli Emperor grant the title Master of Vajradhara to Yonten Gyatso? Question: Why didn't Yonten Gyatso make it to Beijing? |
gq: Kolmaš writes that, as the Mongol presence in Tibet increased, culminating in the conquest of Tibet by a Mongol leader in 1642, the Ming emperors "viewed with apparent unconcern these developments in Tibet." He adds that the Ming court's lack of concern for Tibet was one of the reasons why the Mongols pounced on the chance to reclaim their old vassal of Tibet and "fill once more the political vacuum in that country." On the mass Mongol conversion to Tibetan Buddhism under Altan Khan, Laird writes that "the Chinese watched these developments with interest, though few Chinese ever became devout Tibetan Buddhists." | Question: When did the conquest of Tibet reach its peak? Question: Who's lack of concern helped the Mongols jump at a chance to reclaim their old vassal of Tibet? Question: Who's presence increased in Tibet? Question: What were the Mongols trying to reclaim? |
gq: In 1565, the powerful Rinbung princes were overthrown by one of their own ministers, Karma Tseten who styled himself as the Tsangpa, "the one of Tsang", and established his base of power at Shigatse. The second successor of this first Tsang king, Karma Phuntsok Namgyal, took control of the whole of Central Tibet (Ü-Tsang), reigning from 1611–1621. Despite this, the leaders of Lhasa still claimed their allegiance to the Phagmodru as well as the Gelug, while the Ü-Tsang king allied with the Karmapa. Tensions rose between the nationalistic Ü-Tsang ruler and the Mongols who safeguarded their Mongol Dalai Lama in Lhasa. The fourth Dalai Lama refused to give an audience to the Ü-Tsang king, which sparked a conflict as the latter began assaulting Gelug monasteries. Chen writes of the speculation over the fourth Dalai Lama's mysterious death and the plot of the Ü-Tsang king to have him murdered for "cursing" him with illness, although Chen writes that the murder was most likely the result of a feudal power struggle. In 1618, only two years after Yonten Gyatso died, the Gelug and the Karma Kargyu went to war, the Karma Kargyu supported by the secular Ü-Tsang king. The Ü-Tsang ruler had a large number of Gelugpa lamas killed, occupied their monasteries at Drepung and Sera, and outlawed any attempts to find another Dalai Lama. In 1621, the Ü-Tsang king died and was succeeded by his young son Karma Tenkyong, an event which stymied the war effort as the latter accepted the six-year-old Lozang Gyatso as the new Dalai Lama. Despite the new Dalai Lama's diplomatic efforts to maintain friendly relations with the new Ü-Tsang ruler, Sonam Rapten (1595–1657), the Dalai Lama's chief steward and treasurer at Drepung, made efforts to overthrow the Ü-Tsang king, which led to another conflict. In 1633, the Gelugpas and several thousand Mongol adherents defeated the Ü-Tsang king's troops near Lhasa before a peaceful negotiation was settled. Goldstein writes that in this the "Mongols were again playing a significant role in Tibetan affairs, this time as the military arm of the Dalai Lama." | Question: When were the Rinbung princes overthrown? Question: Who took control of the whole of Central Tibet? Question: When did Karma Phuntsok Namgyal reign? Question: Who did Ü-Tsang king have an alliance with? Question: Who refused an audience with the Ü-Tsang king? |
gq: When an ally of the Ü-Tsang ruler threatened destruction of the Gelugpas again, the fifth Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso pleaded for help from the Mongol prince Güshi Khan (1582–1655), leader of the Khoshut (Qoshot) tribe of the Oirat Mongols, who was then on a pilgrimage to Lhasa. Güshi Khan accepted his role as protector, and from 1637–1640 he not only defeated the Gelugpas' enemies in the Amdo and Kham regions, but also resettled his entire tribe into Amdo. Sonam Chöpel urged Güshi Khan to assault the Ü-Tsang king's homebase of Shigatse, which Güshi Khan agreed upon, enlisting the aid of Gelug monks and supporters. In 1642, after a year's siege of Shigatse, the Ü-Tsang forces surrendered. Güshi Khan then captured and summarily executed Karma Tenkyong, the ruler of Ü-Tsang, King of Tibet. | Question: Which enemies did Güshi Khan defeat? Question: Who did the 5th Dalai Lama beg for help from? Question: What role did Güshi Khan take on? Question: Where did Güshi Khan resettle his tribe? Question: When did the Ü-Tsang forces surrender? |
gq: Soon after the victory in Ü-Tsang, Güshi Khan organized a welcoming ceremony for Lozang Gyatso once he arrived a day's ride from Shigatse, presenting his conquest of Tibet as a gift to the Dalai Lama. In a second ceremony held within the main hall of the Shigatse fortress, Güshi Khan enthroned the Dalai Lama as the ruler of Tibet, but conferred the actual governing authority to the regent Sonam Chöpel. Although Güshi Khan had granted the Dalai Lama "supreme authority" as Goldstein writes, the title of 'King of Tibet' was conferred upon Güshi Khan, spending his summers in pastures north of Lhasa and occupying Lhasa each winter. Van Praag writes that at this point Güshi Khan maintained control over the armed forces, but accepted his inferior status towards the Dalai Lama. Rawski writes that the Dalai Lama shared power with his regent and Güshi Khan during his early secular and religious reign. However, Rawski states that he eventually "expanded his own authority by presenting himself as Avalokiteśvara through the performance of rituals," by building the Potala Palace and other structures on traditional religious sites, and by emphasizing lineage reincarnation through written biographies. Goldstein states that the government of Güshi Khan and the Dalai Lama persecuted the Karma Kagyu sect, confiscated their wealth and property, and even converted their monasteries into Gelug monasteries. Rawski writes that this Mongol patronage allowed the Gelugpas to dominate the rival religious sects in Tibet. | Question: The title of 'King of Tibet belonged to whom? Question: Who did Güshi Khan organize a welcome ceremony for? Question: What did Güshi Khan present as a gift to the Dalai Lama? Question: Who did Güshi Khan enthrone the ruler of Tibet? Question: Who did Güshi Khan grant the governing authority to? |
gq: Meanwhile, the Chinese Ming dynasty fell to the rebellion of Li Zicheng (1606–1645) in 1644, yet his short-lived Shun dynasty was crushed by the Manchu invasion and the Han Chinese general Wu Sangui (1612–1678). China Daily states that when the following Qing dynasty replaced the Ming dynasty, it merely "strengthened administration of Tibet." However, Kolmaš states that the Dalai Lama was very observant of what was going on in China and accepted a Manchu invitation in 1640 to send envoys to their capital at Mukden in 1642, before the Ming collapsed. Dawa Norbu, William Rockhill, and George N. Patterson write that when the Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1644–1661) of the subsequent Qing dynasty invited the fifth Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso to Beijing in 1652, Shunzhi treated the Dalai Lama as an independent sovereign of Tibet. Patterson writes that this was an effort of Shunzhi to secure an alliance with Tibet that would ultimately lead to the establishment of Manchu rule over Mongolia. In this meeting with the Qing emperor, Goldstein asserts that the Dalai Lama was not someone to be trifled with due to his alliance with Mongol tribes, some of which were declared enemies of the Qing. Van Praag states that Tibet and the Dalai Lama's power was recognized by the "Manchu Emperor, the Mongolian Khans and Princes, and the rulers of Ladakh, Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Sikkim." | Question: Who did the the Chinese Ming dynasty fall to? Question: According to Kolmaš who accepted an invite from a Manchu to send envoys to the capital at Mukden? Question: Who was said to have treated the Dalai Lama as an independent sovereign of Tibet? |
gq: When the Dzungar Mongols attempted to spread their territory from what is now Xinjiang into Tibet, the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722) responded to Tibetan pleas for aid with his own expedition to Tibet, occupying Lhasa in 1720. By 1751, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796), a protectorate and permanent Qing dynasty garrison was established in Tibet. As of 1751, Albert Kolb writes that "Chinese claims to suzerainty over Tibet date from this time." | Question: Who tried to spread their territory into Tibet? Question: Who helped the Tibetan? Question: When did the Kangxi Emperor occupy Lhasa? Question: When was The Qing dynasty garrison established in Tibet? Question: When did the Qianlong Emperor reign? |
gq: The iPod is a line of portable media players and multi-purpose pocket computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first line was released on October 23, 2001, about 8½ months after iTunes (Macintosh version) was released. The most recent iPod redesigns were announced on July 15, 2015. There are three current versions of the iPod: the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle, the compact iPod Nano and the touchscreen iPod Touch. | Question: What kind of device is the iPod? Question: Which company produces the iPod? Question: What company manufactures the iPod? Question: When was the original iPod released? Question: How many versions of the iPod currently exist? Question: In what year was the first iPod released? Question: In what year was the iPod most recently redesigned? Question: How many different types of iPod are currently available? Question: Which is the smallest version of the iPod? Question: The iPod Touch uses what kind of interface? |
gq: Like other digital music players, iPods can serve as external data storage devices. Storage capacity varies by model, ranging from 2 GB for the iPod Shuffle to 128 GB for the iPod Touch (previously 160 GB for the iPod Classic, which is now discontinued). | Question: In addition to playing music, what other function can the iPod perform? Question: What is the smallest data capacity for an iPod product? Question: What's the storage capacity of the iPod Shuffle? Question: Which iPod product features the smallest data storage capacity? Question: What is the largest data capacity for an iPod product? Question: What's the storage capacity for the iPod Touch? Question: Which current iPod product features the largest data storage capacity? |
gq: Apple's iTunes software (and other alternative software) can be used to transfer music, photos, videos, games, contact information, e-mail settings, Web bookmarks, and calendars, to the devices supporting these features from computers using certain versions of Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems. | Question: What Apple program is used to communicate between computers and portable devices? Question: What's the name of the software used to manage music and other media on Apple devices? Question: Which operating systems are compatible with iTunes? |
gq: Before the release of iOS 5, the iPod branding was used for the media player included with the iPhone and iPad, a combination of the Music and Videos apps on the iPod Touch. As of iOS 5, separate apps named "Music" and "Videos" are standardized across all iOS-powered products. While the iPhone and iPad have essentially the same media player capabilities as the iPod line, they are generally treated as separate products. During the middle of 2010, iPhone sales overtook those of the iPod. | Question: With what iOS release did Apple standardize media apps on all their products? Question: In mid-2010, which Apple device had higher sales than iPod? Question: Prior to iOS 5, how many apps were required to play music and videos on iPhone and iPad? Question: What are the titles of the standard media apps on current Apple devices? Question: In what year did iPhone sales surpass those of iPods? |
gq: In mid-2015, a new model of the iPod Touch was announced by Apple, and was officially released on the Apple store on July 15, 2015. The sixth generation iPod Touch includes a wide variety of spec improvements such as the upgraded A8 processor and higher-quality screen. The core is over 5 times faster than previous models and is built to be roughly on par with the iPhone 5S. It is available in 5 different colors: Space grey, pink, gold, silver and Product (red). | Question: In what year was the most recent iPod Touch released? Question: In how many colors is the current iPod Touch available? Question: Which generation of iPod Touch was made availalbe in July of 2015? Question: What's the most recent generation of iPod Touch? Question: What processor model is used in the iPod Touch? Question: What type of processor does the current iPod Touch use? |
gq: Though the iPod was released in 2001, its price and Mac-only compatibility caused sales to be relatively slow until 2004. The iPod line came from Apple's "digital hub" category, when the company began creating software for the growing market of personal digital devices. Digital cameras, camcorders and organizers had well-established mainstream markets, but the company found existing digital music players "big and clunky or small and useless" with user interfaces that were "unbelievably awful," so Apple decided to develop its own. As ordered by CEO Steve Jobs, Apple's hardware engineering chief Jon Rubinstein assembled a team of engineers to design the iPod line, including hardware engineers Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey, and design engineer Sir Jonathan Ive. Rubinstein had already discovered the Toshiba disk drive when meeting with an Apple supplier in Japan, and purchased the rights to it for Apple, and had also already worked out how the screen, battery, and other key elements would work. The aesthetic was inspired by the 1958 Braun T3 transistor radio designed by Dieter Rams, while the wheel based user interface was prompted by Bang & Olufsen's BeoCom 6000 telephone. The product ("the Walkman of the twenty-first century" ) was developed in less than one year and unveiled on October 23, 2001. Jobs announced it as a Mac-compatible product with a 5 GB hard drive that put "1,000 songs in your pocket." | Question: In what year was the iPod first introduced? Question: in what year was the original iPod released? Question: In what year did iPod sales show improvement? Question: Which Apple engineer led original iPod design group? Question: What is the name of Apple's hardware engineering chief who helped design the iPod? Question: Who manufactured the hard drives for the first iPods? Question: What radio was the primary inspiration for the look of the iPod? Question: What other popular music player did Apple compare their new product to? Question: What was the storage capacity of the first iPod? Question: How large was the hard drive on the original iPod? |
gq: Apple did not develop the iPod software entirely in-house, instead using PortalPlayer's reference platform based on two ARM cores. The platform had rudimentary software running on a commercial microkernel embedded operating system. PortalPlayer had previously been working on an IBM-branded MP3 player with Bluetooth headphones. Apple contracted another company, Pixo, to help design and implement the user interface under the direct supervision of Steve Jobs. As development progressed, Apple continued to refine the software's look and feel. Starting with the iPod Mini, the Chicago font was replaced with Espy Sans. Later iPods switched fonts again to Podium Sans—a font similar to Apple's corporate font, Myriad. iPods with color displays then adopted some Mac OS X themes like Aqua progress bars, and brushed metal meant to evoke a combination lock. In 2007, Apple modified the iPod interface again with the introduction of the sixth-generation iPod Classic and third-generation iPod Nano by changing the font to Helvetica and, in most cases, splitting the screen in half by displaying the menus on the left and album artwork, photos, or videos on the right (whichever was appropriate for the selected item). | Question: What software did Apple use as the basis for their iPod software? Question: Which company worked with Apple in creating the user interface for the iPod? Question: Who supervised the design and implementation of the iPod user interface? Question: What was the name of the font used prior to the release of the iPod Mini? Question: In what year was the 6th gen iPod Classic released? Question: The 6th gen iPod Classic and 3rd gen iPod nano featured which font? Question: What typeface does the current iPod use? |
gq: In 2006 Apple presented a special edition for iPod 5G of Irish rock band U2. Like its predecessor, this iPod has engraved the signatures of the four members of the band on its back, but this one was the first time the company changed the colour of the metal (not silver but black). This iPod was only available with 30GB of storage capacity. The special edition entitled purchasers to an exclusive video with 33 minutes of interviews and performance by U2, downloadable from the iTunes Store. | Question: In what year was a special edition of the iPod produced? Question: In what year did apple release the special U2 model of the iPod? Question: For what musical group was a special edition of the iPod first made? Question: Of what band did Apple present a special edition iPod 5G? Question: What color was the metal on the U2 version of the iPod? Question: What color was the special U2 iPod model? Question: What type of media was included with purchase of the U2 version of the iPod? |
gq: In September 2007, during a lawsuit with patent holding company Burst.com, Apple drew attention to a patent for a similar device that was developed in 1979. Kane Kramer applied for a UK patent for his design of a "plastic music box" in 1981, which he called the IXI. He was unable to secure funding to renew the US$120,000 worldwide patent, so it lapsed and Kramer never profited from his idea. | Question: Apple was involved in a lawsuit with which company in 2007? Question: What patent holding company sued Apple in 2007? Question: Who previously applied for a patent for an iPod-like device? Question: Who was the holder of the previous patent for the "plastic music box"? Question: In what country did Kane Kramer apply for his patent? Question: In what year did Kane Kramer apply for his patent? Question: What did Kane Kramer call the device for which he wanted a patent? Question: What was the name of the previously-patented music player from 1981? |
gq: The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who (with others) was called by Apple to figure out how to introduce the new player to the public. After Chieco saw a prototype, he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase "Open the pod bay door, Hal!", which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. Chieco saw an analogy to the relationship between the spaceship and the smaller independent pods in the relationship between a personal computer and the music player. Apple researched the trademark and found that it was already in use. Joseph N. Grasso of New Jersey had originally listed an "iPod" trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in July 2000 for Internet kiosks. The first iPod kiosks had been demonstrated to the public in New Jersey in March 1998, and commercial use began in January 2000, but had apparently been discontinued by 2001. The trademark was registered by the USPTO in November 2003, and Grasso assigned it to Apple Computer, Inc. in 2005. | Question: Who came up with the name for Apple's portable mp3 player? Question: What was the name of the copywriter that proposed the name "iPod"? Question: What was Vinnie Chieco's profession? Question: What film inspired the name of the iPod? Question: What movie inspired the iPod name? Question: Who first trademarked the iPod name? Question: Who held the original trademark for the iPod name? Question: In what year was Apple given rights to the iPod name? |
gq: In mid-2015, several new color schemes for all of the current iPod models were spotted in the latest version of iTunes, 12.2. Belgian website Belgium iPhone originally found the images when plugging in an iPod for the first time, and subsequent leaked photos were found by Pierre Dandumont. | Question: When were images of new iPod colors leaked? Question: What version of iTunes contained the leaked photos of new iPod colors? Question: What was the latest version of iTunes as of mid-2015? Question: Who leaked the photos of new iPod colors? Question: Who first leaked the photos of the new iPod color scheme? |
gq: The third-generation iPod had a weak bass response, as shown in audio tests. The combination of the undersized DC-blocking capacitors and the typical low-impedance of most consumer headphones form a high-pass filter, which attenuates the low-frequency bass output. Similar capacitors were used in the fourth-generation iPods. The problem is reduced when using high-impedance headphones and is completely masked when driving high-impedance (line level) loads, such as an external headphone amplifier. The first-generation iPod Shuffle uses a dual-transistor output stage, rather than a single capacitor-coupled output, and does not exhibit reduced bass response for any load. | Question: What audio deficiency was found in the 3rd gen iPods? Question: What part of audio output was substandard on 3rd generation iPods? Question: What component was to blame for the weak bass of the 3rd generation iPod? Question: What kind of headphones could partially mitigate the bass response issues of the 3rd gen iPods? Question: What is an example of a device that could entirely mitigate the bass response issues of the 3rd gen iPods? |
gq: For all iPods released in 2006 and earlier, some equalizer (EQ) sound settings would distort the bass sound far too easily, even on undemanding songs. This would happen for EQ settings like R&B, Rock, Acoustic, and Bass Booster, because the equalizer amplified the digital audio level beyond the software's limit, causing distortion (clipping) on bass instruments. | Question: iPods released before what year had issues with distorted bass? Question: Name four sound profiles that would result in bass distortion on pre-2007 iPods. Question: What EQ settings were known to have issues with bass distortion? Question: What acoustic element could be distorted by different audio settings in iPods prior to 2007? Question: What specific problem caused the issue with bass distortion? |
gq: From the fifth-generation iPod on, Apple introduced a user-configurable volume limit in response to concerns about hearing loss. Users report that in the sixth-generation iPod, the maximum volume output level is limited to 100 dB in EU markets. Apple previously had to remove iPods from shelves in France for exceeding this legal limit. However, users that have bought a new sixth-generation iPod in late 2013 have reported a new option that allowed them to disable the EU volume limit. It has been said that these new iPods came with an updated software that allowed this change. Older sixth-generation iPods, however, are unable to update to this software version. | Question: What type of sensory issue was a concern prior to the release of 5th gen iPods? Question: What was the limit imposed on how loud the iPod could play sounds in the EU? Question: What is the highest volume output level of European 6th-generation iPods? Question: In what markets did 6th gen iPods limit the highest volume of the player? Question: In what country did Apple have to recall iPods? Question: What country originally pulled iPods due to higher-than-allowed volume levels? |
gq: Originally, a FireWire connection to the host computer was used to update songs or recharge the battery. The battery could also be charged with a power adapter that was included with the first four generations. | Question: What was the first type of connection used by the iPod to charge and transfer files? Question: What type of connector was originally required to upload songs or recharge the iPod? Question: What was an alternate method of charging the iPod? |
gq: The third generation began including a 30-pin dock connector, allowing for FireWire or USB connectivity. This provided better compatibility with non-Apple machines, as most of them did not have FireWire ports at the time. Eventually Apple began shipping iPods with USB cables instead of FireWire, although the latter was available separately. As of the first-generation iPod Nano and the fifth-generation iPod Classic, Apple discontinued using FireWire for data transfer (while still allowing for use of FireWire to charge the device) in an attempt to reduce cost and form factor. As of the second-generation iPod Touch and the fourth-generation iPod Nano, FireWire charging ability has been removed. The second-, third-, and fourth-generation iPod Shuffle uses a single 3.5 mm minijack phone connector which acts as both a headphone jack and a data port for the dock. | Question: In which generation did iPod start providing compatibility with USB? Question: Which generation iPod was the first to include the 30-pin dock connector? Question: What iPod feature allowed for USB connections with the device? Question: What interface was gradually phased out for both charging and data transfer? Question: What interface replaced FireWire in later iterations of the iPod? Question: Which generation of iPod Classic was the first to abandon use of FireWire in transferring files? Question: Starting with which generation of iPod Nano was FireWire charging functionality no longer available? Question: Which model of iPod combined the headphone jack and data port? Question: What kind of connection is provided on the iPod Shuffle for both audio output and file transfer? |
gq: The dock connector also allowed the iPod to connect to accessories, which often supplement the iPod's music, video, and photo playback. Apple sells a few accessories, such as the now-discontinued iPod Hi-Fi, but most are manufactured by third parties such as Belkin and Griffin. Some peripherals use their own interface, while others use the iPod's own screen. Because the dock connector is a proprietary interface, the implementation of the interface requires paying royalties to Apple. | Question: What part of the iPod is needed to communicate with peripherals? Question: Which iPod accessory was made by Apple but is no longer produced? Question: What's the name of the now-discontinued accessory manufactured by Apple, that connected via the iPod's dock connector? Question: The majority of peripherals for iPod are produced by what kinds of companies? Question: What are two companies that make iPod accessories? Question: What is the condition for third parties using the dock connector? |
gq: Apple introduced a new 8-pin dock connector, named Lightning, on September 12, 2012 with their announcement of the iPhone 5, the fifth generation iPod Touch, and the seventh generation iPod Nano, which all feature it. The new connector replaces the older 30-pin dock connector used by older iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Apple Lightning cables have pins on both sides of the plug so it can be inserted with either side facing up. | Question: How many pins did the Lightning connector have? Question: What new connector did Apple unveil on September 12, 2012? Question: What's Apple's code name for the newer 8-pin dock connector? Question: What was the first iPod Touch generation to feature the Lightning connector? Question: What other Apple product was unveiled on September 12, 2012? Question: How man pins did the pre-Lightning dock connecter use? Question: On how many sides of the Lightning connector are the pins located? |
gq: Many accessories have been made for the iPod line. A large number are made by third party companies, although many, such as the iPod Hi-Fi, are made by Apple. Some accessories add extra features that other music players have, such as sound recorders, FM radio tuners, wired remote controls, and audio/visual cables for TV connections. Other accessories offer unique features like the Nike+iPod pedometer and the iPod Camera Connector. Other notable accessories include external speakers, wireless remote controls, protective case, screen films, and wireless earphones. Among the first accessory manufacturers were Griffin Technology, Belkin, JBL, Bose, Monster Cable, and SendStation. | Question: What is the name of an Apple-produced iPod accessory? Question: Which company manufactures the iPod Hi-Fi accessory? Question: What can A/V cables be used to connect the iPod to? Question: What is an example of an iPod accessory made work exercise? Question: Who manufactures a pedometer accessory for the iPod? Question: What are six companies that made some of the first peripherals for the iPod? |
gq: BMW released the first iPod automobile interface, allowing drivers of newer BMW vehicles to control an iPod using either the built-in steering wheel controls or the radio head-unit buttons. Apple announced in 2005 that similar systems would be available for other vehicle brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Acura, Audi, Honda, Renault, Infiniti and Volkswagen. Scion offers standard iPod connectivity on all their cars. | Question: What company was first to create a means of connecting the iPod to an automobile? Question: Which car company released the first automobile interface for the iPod? Question: In what year did Apple reveal that it would provide compatibility with a wide range of auto manufacturers? Question: Which company provides the ability to connect to iPods as a standard feature in their automobiles? Question: Which car company first offered iPod connectivity as a standard feature on their whole product line? |
gq: Some independent stereo manufacturers including JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Sony, and Harman Kardon also have iPod-specific integration solutions. Alternative connection methods include adapter kits (that use the cassette deck or the CD changer port), audio input jacks, and FM transmitters such as the iTrip—although personal FM transmitters are illegal in some countries. Many car manufacturers have added audio input jacks as standard. | Question: What companies have developed iPod interfacing for their stereo systems? Question: What has become a standard inclusion in cars for several different auto companies? Question: What audio integration feature has become standard on many car models? Question: What type of transmitter is used in the iTrip? Question: Which type of iPod car integration product is illegal in certain countries? |
gq: Beginning in mid-2007, four major airlines, United, Continental, Delta, and Emirates, reached agreements to install iPod seat connections. The free service will allow passengers to power and charge an iPod, and view video and music libraries on individual seat-back displays. Originally KLM and Air France were reported to be part of the deal with Apple, but they later released statements explaining that they were only contemplating the possibility of incorporating such systems. | Question: In what year did airlines first start to accommodate the iPod? Question: In 2007, which airlines made deals to include iPod connections on their planes? Question: Which airlines first agreed to install seat connections for iPods? Question: Where can people using iPods on planes view the device's interface? Question: What are two airlines that considered implementing iPod connections but did not join the 2007 agreement? |
gq: The iPod line can play several audio file formats including MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless. The iPod photo introduced the ability to display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG image file formats. Fifth and sixth generation iPod Classics, as well as third generation iPod Nanos, can additionally play MPEG-4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) and QuickTime video formats, with restrictions on video dimensions, encoding techniques and data-rates. Originally, iPod software only worked with Mac OS; iPod software for Microsoft Windows was launched with the second generation model. Unlike most other media players, Apple does not support Microsoft's WMA audio format—but a converter for WMA files without Digital Rights Management (DRM) is provided with the Windows version of iTunes. MIDI files also cannot be played, but can be converted to audio files using the "Advanced" menu in iTunes. Alternative open-source audio formats, such as Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, are not supported without installing custom firmware onto an iPod (e.g., Rockbox). | Question: What are some examples of audio formats supported by the iPod? Question: What is the name of an audio format developed by Apple? Question: Which product enabled users to view images on the device? Question: What was the first model to support JPEG and other still image formats? Question: What computer OS did iPod software exclusively work with at launch? Question: What Microsoft media format is not natively supported by Apple devices? Question: What does DRM stand for? |
gq: During installation, an iPod is associated with one host computer. Each time an iPod connects to its host computer, iTunes can synchronize entire music libraries or music playlists either automatically or manually. Song ratings can be set on an iPod and synchronized later to the iTunes library, and vice versa. A user can access, play, and add music on a second computer if an iPod is set to manual and not automatic sync, but anything added or edited will be reversed upon connecting and syncing with the main computer and its library. If a user wishes to automatically sync music with another computer, an iPod's library will be entirely wiped and replaced with the other computer's library. | Question: How many hosts are recognized by an iPod the first time they're used? Question: What must an iPod be connected to before iTunes can synchronize? Question: What will be erased if an iPod is set to sync with a different computer? |
gq: iPods with color displays use anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. All iPods (except the 3rd-generation iPod Shuffle, the 6th & 7th generation iPod Nano, and iPod Touch) have five buttons and the later generations have the buttons integrated into the click wheel – an innovation that gives an uncluttered, minimalist interface. The buttons perform basic functions such as menu, play, pause, next track, and previous track. Other operations, such as scrolling through menu items and controlling the volume, are performed by using the click wheel in a rotational manner. The 3rd-generation iPod Shuffle does not have any controls on the actual player; instead it has a small control on the earphone cable, with volume-up and -down buttons and a single button for play and pause, next track, etc. The iPod Touch has no click-wheel; instead it uses a 3.5" touch screen along with a home button, sleep/wake button and (on the second and third generations of the iPod Touch) volume-up and -down buttons. The user interface for the iPod Touch is identical to that of the iPhone. Differences include a lack of a phone application. Both devices use iOS. | Question: The 3rd generation of which iPod model had its controls only on the earphone cable? Question: How many buttons do most iPods use? Question: Most iPods feature how many buttons? Question: On what part of newer iPods can you find the buttons? Question: Where are the controls located on the 3rd gen iPod Shuffle? Question: What kind of interface does the iPod touch use instead of the click wheel? Question: What other device shares the interface used by the iPod Touch? Question: Which other Apple product does the iPod Touch share an interface and OS with? |
gq: The iTunes Store (introduced April 29, 2003) is an online media store run by Apple and accessed through iTunes. The store became the market leader soon after its launch and Apple announced the sale of videos through the store on October 12, 2005. Full-length movies became available on September 12, 2006. | Question: What program is required to access the iTunes Store? Question: When was the Apple iTunes Store launched? Question: In what year was the iTunes store established? Question: When were videos made available through the iTunes store? Question: In what year did videos first become available on iTunes? Question: When did Apple begin selling entire films through the iTunes store? Question: When were full-length moved added to the iTunes store? |
gq: At the time the store was introduced, purchased audio files used the AAC format with added encryption, based on the FairPlay DRM system. Up to five authorized computers and an unlimited number of iPods could play the files. Burning the files with iTunes as an audio CD, then re-importing would create music files without the DRM. The DRM could also be removed using third-party software. However, in a deal with Apple, EMI began selling DRM-free, higher-quality songs on the iTunes Stores, in a category called "iTunes Plus." While individual songs were made available at a cost of US$1.29, 30¢ more than the cost of a regular DRM song, entire albums were available for the same price, US$9.99, as DRM encoded albums. On October 17, 2007, Apple lowered the cost of individual iTunes Plus songs to US$0.99 per song, the same as DRM encoded tracks. On January 6, 2009, Apple announced that DRM has been removed from 80% of the music catalog, and that it would be removed from all music by April 2009. | Question: When the iTunes store was launched, what type of file format was used? Question: What was the original format for purchased audio files on iTunes? Question: What was the name of the DRM system originally used by Apple and iTunes? Question: How many computers were allowed to play files that used the FairPlay DRM system? Question: In what category could files without digital rights management be found on the iTunes store? Question: What was the name of the premium service that offered higher quality and DRM-free songs? Question: When did Apple reveal that most of the iTunes selection was free from DRM? Question: In what year was DRM completely eliminated from the iTunes offerings? Question: By what time did Apple project its entire catalog would be free of DRM? |
gq: iPods cannot play music files from competing music stores that use rival-DRM technologies like Microsoft's protected WMA or RealNetworks' Helix DRM. Example stores include Napster and MSN Music. RealNetworks claims that Apple is creating problems for itself by using FairPlay to lock users into using the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs stated that Apple makes little profit from song sales, although Apple uses the store to promote iPod sales. However, iPods can also play music files from online stores that do not use DRM, such as eMusic or Amie Street. | Question: For what device's sales does Apple leverage the iTunes store? Question: The iPod can play music from other online stores as long as they don't contain what feature? Question: What are two stores which sell files with DRM not compatible with iPods? |
gq: Universal Music Group decided not to renew their contract with the iTunes Store on July 3, 2007. Universal will now supply iTunes in an 'at will' capacity. | Question: What company ended its deal with Apple's music store in July of 2007? Question: What entity did Universal have a contract with prior to July of 2007? Question: In what year did Universal Music Group let their contract with iTunes lapse? |