Tea, Cloth, Gold, and Religion: Manchu Sources on Trade Missions From Mongolia to Tibet

Abstract

Based on Manchu archival sources, this paper discusses three trade missions which traveled from Mongolia through Qinghai to Tibet in the early eighteenth century, during a time of truce between the Qing emperor and the leaders of the Zunghar Mongol confederation. Qing officials scrutinized intensively and carefully supervised the progress of these missions, which the Zunghar envoys used to establish commercial and religious links with the Buddhist lamas of Tibet. Both sides took advantage of this time of peaceful relations to gather information about each other and wider Central Eurasian connections. This short period of trade contact adds depth to our understanding of the multiple forms of Qing relations with its neighbors and Qing knowledge of the world beyond China.