Qonggyai County or Chongye (, zh, s=琼结县) is a county under jurisdiction of Shannan in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

, China.

History

Qonggyai contains the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

, a series of graveyard

tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

, approximately south of

Tsetang Tsetang () or Zedang (), is the fourth largest city in Tibet and is located in the Yarlung Valley, southeast of Lhasa in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It is the capital of Shannan Prefecture (which ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, near the town of Chongye or Qonggyai on Mure Mountain. The site possesses eight large mounds of earth resembling natural hills that are believed to contain eight to ten buried Tibetan kings. Other sources, however, have indicated that there are actually nine mounds rather than eight or ten. The kings believed to be buried at the site include

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (Classical , pronounced ) (; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tib ...

(the founder of the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

Mangsong Mangtsen Mangsong Mangtsen (), Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan (r. 655–676 CE) succeeded to the Tibetan throne either after the death of his father Gungsong Gungtsen, or of his grandfather the 33rd Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. He became the 35t ...

Tridu Songtsen Tridu Songtsen (), Tridu Songtsen or Dusong Mangban, (b.668 – 704d.; r. 676–704 CE) was the 36th king of Tibet and reigned during the Tibetan Empire period. Ascent to throne 'Dus-rong ascended the Tibetan throne after the death of his father, ...

, Gyangtsa Laban,

Me Agtsom Me most often refers to: * Me (pronoun), the first-person singular pronoun, referring to the speaker Me, M.E. or ME may also refer to: Language * Me (cuneiform), a sign in cuneiform writing * Me (kana), a letter in Japanese script * Middle En ...

Trisong Detsen Trisong Detsen () was the son of Me Agtsom, the 37th king of Tibet. As the 38th king, he ruled from AD 755 until 797. Trisong Detsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet — Songsten Gampo, Trisong Detsen, Rapalchen — honored f ...

Muné Tsenpo Muné Tsenpo () also known as ''Murub Tsenpo'' was the second son of King Trisong Detsen and the de-facto King of Tibet (r.797-799), from the Yarlung dynasty. Since his older brother died at a young age, Muné Tsenpo was enthroned when his fa ...

and

Ralpacan Tritsuk Detsen (), better known by his nickname Ralpachen () (c. 802 CE–838), was the 40th king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. He reigned after the death of his father, Sadnalegs, in c. 815, and grew the empire to its largest extent. He wa ...

.Stein (1972), pp. 201-202. Qonggyai Dzong was established in mid-14th century under Phagmodrupa rule. Under the

Ganden Podrang The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan system of government established by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642, when the Oirat lord Güshi Khan who founded the Khoshut Khanate conferred all spiritual and political power in Tibet t ...

, the county was part of Lhoka Governor's () jurisdiction. Since 1960, Qonggyai county is part of

Lhoka (Shannan) prefecture ShannanThe official spelling according to ( zh, c=山南, p=Shānnán, l=south of the mountains), also known as Lhoka (; zh, c=洛卡, p=Luò kǎ), is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shannan includes ...

Geography and climate

Qonggyai County is located in the middle of the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

valley and covers an area of 1030 square km, with of arable land, an area of of grassland, with a forest area of . The county had a total population of 20,000 people in 2003. Qonggyai County is located in southern Tibet and is surrounded by mountains. It has an average elevation of about 3900 meters, with a maximum altitude of 6450 meters. It is in a temperate semi-arid plateau monsoon climate zone, with an annual frost-free period of about 125~53 days. The annual rainfall is 345 millimeters and natural disasters, mainly droughts, floods, hail and pests are common. Mineral resources include mainly crystal stone,

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...

and

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

Antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

black-necked crane The black-necked crane (''Grus nigricollis'') is a medium-sized crane (bird), crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is long with a wingspan, and it weighs . It is whitish-gray, with a black h ...

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

and river deer are common.

Economy

Qonggyai is dominated by agriculture, and is one of the grain based counties in Shannan. Crops grown are mainly

highland barley Highland barley, Tibetan barley or Himalayan barley ( Tibetan: ནས་; Wylie: nas; Chinese: ; qīngkē, or 藏青稞; zàng qīngkē) is the principal cereal cultivated on the Tibetan Plateau, used mainly to make tsampa and liquor ( chang). ...

, winter wheat, spring wheat, peas, radish, potatoes and so on. Livestock include yak, pianniu, cattle, sheep, goats, mainly. A forested area of contains some apple, pear and peach orchards. Ethnic handicrafts forms most of the industrial sector and products include buckets, kettles, Tibetan cabinets, bowls, bracelets, necklaces, incense, butter lamps, etc. The capital,

Qonggyai Town Qonggyai County or Chongye (, zh, s=琼结县) is a county under jurisdiction of Shannan, Tibet, Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. History Qonggyai contains the Valley of the Kings (Tibet), Valley of the Kings, a series of graveyar ...

(Qonggyai, Chongye) contains an ancient castle, and covers , with a population of nearly 500 people. Commercial, financial, telecommunications, hospitals, schools and other public facilities are located in this small political, economic, and cultural center.

Administrative divisions

Qonggyai County contains 1

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and 3

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

References

External links

Qonggyai County Annals
{{Authority control Counties of Tibet Shannan, Tibet