| The History Recorded in the Inscription
on the Demo Stone Board
|
Nyingchi County, named in ancient
times as Gongbo, has a long history that can be traced
to Tibet's prehistoric period. In the 1970s, human bones
and a tomb group from the Neolithic period were unearthed
near the Nyang River. Archeological studies show that,
as early as over 4,000 years ago, what is now the Nyingchi
area was a settlement of humans who farmed by the slash-and-burn
method and were relatively settled. The weights of fishnets
and arrowheads among the unearthed relics suggest that
these people engaged in fishery as well as agriculture
by the Nyang and Yarlung Zangbo rivers, and the ancient
lakes in their valleys, which are now dry. Archeologists'
research identified these people as a clan of a large
tribe or a tribal alliance, and called them Nyingchi Man,
whose culture was one representative of southeastern Tibet.
The earliest record of the history of Nyingchi can be
found in the inscription on the Demo Stone Board in Gongbo,
which is near Guanqug Yumzoinzin of the Moinri area in
Nyingchi County, facing southwest. With a 1,200-year history,
the inscription is still clear. The history it records
is as follows:
The first chieftain of the Yarlung Tribe, Nyitri Tsampo,
came from Bome to the Qamtog Mountain in Gongbo, where
he became the chieftain of Yarlung. The seven successive
chieftains of Yarlung all lived in the Qenwa Dagze Palace.
Around the first century AD, the seventh chieftain Zhigung
Tsampo was killed during power struggles among the tribe
leaders. His sons, Nyitri and Shatri, fled to Gongbo.
Later Shatri, the younger, returned to Yarlung and became
its eighth chieftain, Bodgungyi, while Nyitri stayed in
Gongbo and became the king of the people there. The hereditary
succession to the throne began with him. The inscription
says:
"The royal family of Gongbo started from a prince"
and "no one but descendants of the king of Gongbo
shall succeed to the throne." This record was originally
a treaty of alliance bestowed by the Tibetan king Tride
Songtsan (?-815) to the king of Gongbo in the eighth century,
and was inscribed on a slab to be commemorated. The king
of Gongbo ruled over the area for many years since then.
In the Sagya and Pagmo Zhuba regimes (13th to 16th century),
the Nyingchi area became the sphere of influence of the
Garma Gagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 17th century,
when the Gandain Phodrang regime was founded, Nyingchi
was divided by several local chieftains such as Ngapoi,
Gyangzoin and Gyailha, and later redivided into Zelha,
Jormo, Xoika and Gyainda. Bome remained under the predomination
of Garnam Deba, a local chieftain, for a long time. In
1931, the Tibetan government divided Bome into Bodui and
Bome clans, and Medog Prefecture was renamed Medog Clan.
Tibet was liberated in 1951, and underwent a democratic
reform in 1959. In January 1960, Tagung Prefectural Commissioner's
Office was set up, and was renamed Nyingchi Prefectural
Commissioner's Office in February 1960. In October 1963
was abolished and Bome County was incorporated into Qamdo
Prefecture, while the four counties of Nyingchi, Gongbo'gyamda,
Mainling and Medog were put under the jurisdiction of
Lhasa. On February 1, 1986, the administrative office
of Nyingchi Prefecture was officially resumed, governing
seven counties -- Nyingchi, Mainling, Gongbo'gyamda, Medog,
Bome, Zaya and Nang, including 55 towns and 614 villages. |
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