A Study Of The Nepalese Tribute Quinquennial Mission To China In Late Qing Dynasty(1852-1906)

The system of the Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission to China which was formed during the second Tibet-Nepal war in 1792 is an important part of China-Nepal relation in 17,18 century. 1792-1906 Nepal dispatched 18 missions to China. In the first 60 years (1792-1852) Nepal dispatched 12 missions, which had well performed the tradition. While during the following 60 years, Nepal just dispatched 6 missions, which made the tradition badly performed. The thesis aims to study the Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission to China in the Nepalese Rana Family Rule Times (1852-1906).After 1852, with the Hero Prime minister Jang Bahadur who was support by British assumed the reins of government, China-Nepal relation had some delicate change. The Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission became more commercial and less political, and smuggled the opium duty free with the diplomatic privilege.Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal is so far away from Beijing, and the journey is dangerous and difficult. The Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission went to Lhasa along the tea-horse old way and the Tibet-Nepal old way which stand for traditional friendship. Then they departed from Lhasa to Beijing by two ways: One is the Sichuan- Shanxi-Shanxi-Zhili-Beijing. Which is a convention way of The Nepalese tribute quinquennial missions, and they cross the Yellow-river at Tong Kuan. Another way is the Sichuan -Shanxi–Henan-Zhili-Beijing, which distinguish the two is that the latter takes the way of Henan rather than Shanxi. There are two reasons for this: one is that they choose to cross the Yellow River at Mengjin for natural factor, the other is the construction of the railway in Henan.Whenever the tribute missions went, The Qing government would be escorted along all the way. And reward with food and drink, silk clothing, vehicle and horse, as well as the person who was proficient in the translation of the Gorkha language. Governors of all these places would welcome and send off the mission cordially and provide them with warm service. In Beijing, the emperors receive them in person and reward them feast and high-ranking Dingdai and court dress. Because of the Shaanxi-Gansu Moslem insurgency and Ding wu famine, and the Qing government's guard against the Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission, two missions were blocked in the Tachienlu in 1866 and 1877.Founder of the Nepalese Rana family, Prime Minister Jang Bahadur export the opium to China by road. A remarkable feature of Rana's opium smuggling is the use of the diplomatic exemption owned by the Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission. Here I try to analysis the opium smuggling system and sales of opium of the Nepalese Rana family.Although the Qing Dynasty was going to collapse, The Nepalese tribute quinquennial mission in the last 60 years (1852-1906) still kept the tradition of paying tribute to the Qing Dynasty. Despite the Rana family's abuse of the right particular to a tribute mission to smuggle goods and opium, which made the mission from a political one convert to a commercial one, its role as a messenger of peace and friendship still remained unchanged, was playing an important effect.