The Queen Valley in the Trans-Himalayas
- Gold River (Jinchuan) basin in Southwestern China -

The Queen Valley is in the Trans-Himalayas. It is the ancient name of the upper reaches of the Daduhe River (one of the source of the Changjiang River) such as the Big Gold River and the Small Gold River in the western part of Sichuan Province, China. The queen valley where is in the about 5000m-hight mountains forms, deeply eroded by the glacier and the water flows. The river what flows through the valley is about 2000m above the sea level, and surrounded by the steep cliffs.
Now this area is generally called "Jiarong"*1 in Chinese, "rGyalmorong" in ancient Tibetan that means the valley of the queen. A lot of peoples moved in to this area from the ancient times and were blended with aboriginal peoples. A clan, with the Bon Sect's doctrines, called the Queendom*2 in Sui-Shu (a history book of the Sui period 581-618 in China) moved to this area around the birth of Christ. This clan had the excellent technology in extracting gold, and was prosperous in the Queen Valley, and was named the Eastern Queendom in Tang-Shu (a history book of the Tang period 618-907 in China). The ancient cultural legacies still have been inherited in the Queen Valley now. Especially, the stone-piled house and the tower and the folk clothing have peculiar beauty.
According to the legend, the Queen Valley is protected by many of the mountain gods. Among them, holy Mount Moerduo 4820m where is in Damba is the top one and many eminent monks practiced asceticism there from the ancient times. And Four Girls Mountains 6250m famous in it's beauty is one of the mountain gods what is at the source of some rivers in the southeastern part of the Queen Valley.
Very interesting historical story in this area is presenting at "The historical story which filled with romantic adventures in the Queen Valley".
Also several local customs and nature are carried at "A topic as it changes from season to season", too.
Explanatory note
*1: This area is called "rGyal-rong" in the foreign country.
*2: The Queendom means the Shanshun, the Zhang Zhung, or the Xiang Xiong.
*3: There are more photographs and comments in the following booklet:
The Queen Valley in the Trans-Himalayas - Trace of the Eastern Queendom -
*4: *5: The house and the culture on the queen valley are introducing inthe following books.
Frederique Darragon "Secret Towers of the Himalayas" Shenzhen Media Group
Publishing House, September 2005 ISBN7-80709-043-X
Amusing Link
China Tibet Information Center

Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University

Windows of the Jiarong : Topics and reference

Changdusi Temple :
The temple of the Bon Sect which prospered until modern times and inherited the ancient history

Read aloud the world of Chinese Literature : Original record of the ancient history

The Zhang Zhung Preservation Project

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) :
The private organization to preserve cultural sites around the world

Ligmincha Institute : The private organization to preserve Tibetan Bon culture

Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library :
An international community to integrate diverse knowledge about Tibet and Himalayas

Unicorn Foundation :
The protection of stone-piled towers and the aid of education in southeast Tibet

Treasury of happy view of Bon : The commentary of the ancient history and so on

The society for the study of Trans-Himalayas

The meeting for the exchanges between Japan and China "Wanli" :
The records of travel in China and another countries 

                         TOP      Touching sight in the world
Duplication without the author's permission is forbidden.
Produced by Kenzo Okawa
Particular adviser of Four Girls Mountains Nature Reserve Management Bureau