One is that "Tibet has been a part of China since ancient times"; the other is that "Tibet has been a part of China since the Yuan Dynasty when it was incorporated into the Chinese territory". The two statements seem to be similar, because the Yuan Dynasty was more than 700 years ago, and can be called since ancient times, but they are fundamentally different, and the latter statement is equivalent to saying that Tibet was not within China before the Yuan Dynasty, which is not in line with Chinese historical facts.

"China" is a concept of unification, and historically China includes not only the Chinese dynasties, but also the regimes established by ethnic minorities, such as the Western Xia established by the Dangxiang, the Liao established by the Khitan, and the Jin established by the Jin. The Tubo dynasty, founded by the Tibetan ancestors of the Tubo people, was also part of China.

Ethnographically speaking, the Tibetans are closely related to the ancient Qiang, and are even homogeneous in origin. According to the accepted theory, the starting date of the Tupan Wangchao should be after B.C., that is, the turn of the Western and Eastern Han dynasties. According to Chinese historical records, at this time in the heart of the Tibetan plateau near the ancient Qiang tribes, such as women's country, attached to the country, Yang with, party Xiang Qiang, etc., have merged with the Tufan dynasty, gradually integrated into one. In other words, as early as two thousand years ago, the indigenous inhabitants of Tibet merged with the ancient Qiang people and became the ancestors of the present-day Tibetans.

Geographically speaking, the main direction of Tibet's external interaction is the interior of China. The entire Tibetan plateau is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with the arc-shaped Himalayas to the south and southwest, the Kunlun Mountains to the north, the Tanggula Mountains to the northeast, and the Hengduan Mountains to the southeast.

From the southern edge of the plateau of Mount Everest to the South Asian subcontinent of the Ganges plain although the linear distance of only a hundred kilometers, but the relative drop between the two places to more than 6,000 meters, so the road is impassable.

The Kunlun Mountains in the northern part of the plateau with a height difference of more than 4,000 meters, as well as the Taklamakan Desert, known as the Desert of Death, make it almost impossible for the Tibetan plateau to transport to the north and northwest.

The east Tibetan region of the Hengduan Mountain range between the peaks and valleys also falls, east-west direction traffic barrier role is obvious. Only the Tanggula Mountain in the northeast of the plateau is the more convenient export of the Tibetan plateau to the outside world, although the Tanggula Mountain also has an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, but the drop between Tibet and Qinghai is only a few hundred meters, the slope is more gentle, and this is the birthplace of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, so the Qinghai area has become the main channel of interaction and contact with the outside world since ancient times.

The Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng entered Tibet through this channel, and the Tibetan monk Sakya Panchda left Tibet through this channel to see Gautam, and the Tang-Fan Road of the Tubo period and the subsequent tribute route were also formed through this channel.

It is the existence of this channel that has brought the Tibetans into close contact with all other ethnic groups in China, making them an East Asian-group of the Mongolians, like all the other heritage-dwelling ethnic groups in China.

That is why Tibet has been a part of China since ancient times.

Let's discuss the six people who contributed the most to the return of Tibet to the motherland!

In the early 7th century A.D., Songtsen Gampo, the Tubo Trampa, established the Tubo Dynasty, the first ever regime to unify the tribes of the Tibetan Plateau. He admired the Chinese civilization so much that he proposed marriage to the Tang Dynasty several times. In the 15th year of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin married Princess Wencheng to Songtsen Gampo.

Songtsen Gampo was so fond of Princess Wencheng that he built the Potala Palace especially for her, with a total of 1,000 palace rooms, which is magnificent and rich. Because of her knowledge and ability, Princess Wencheng had a great influence on the enlightenment of Tubo, not only consolidating the western frontier defense of the Tang Dynasty, but also spreading the culture of the Han people to Tibet. After Songtsen Gampo's death, Princess Wencheng continued to live in Tubo for 30 years. She loved her fellow Tibetans and was well loved by the people. Her achievements in advancing Tibetan culture with Songtsen Gampo are still celebrated by the Chinese and Tibetan people today.

The entry of Princess Wencheng into Tubo brought about close economic and cultural exchanges between Tang and Tibet, and enhanced friendly relations between China and Tibet. And since she began, the Tubo Zangpu has a tradition of welcoming the Tang Princess, the Tang Emperor, the Princess Jincheng married the Tubo Zangpu ruler with Jutan; Tang Emperor Xuanzong, ruler with Jutan on the table, and the Tang "and the same family"; Tang Mu Zong, the Tang-Fan alliance, the Tang Dynasty and the Tubo both sent envoys to each other, first in Chang'an alliance, and the following year in the Tubo Logos ( Lhasa) to re-alliance, and will be the text of the alliance carved stone monument, with Chinese and Tibetan characters, the tree in front of Lhasa Dazhao Temple. In the following three to four centuries, the Tibetans had close ties with the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, the Western Xia, Liao and Jin.

Second place: Marco Polo Curtis

Gautam, the second son of the Mongolian Empire's Khan Voguatai. After succeeding to the throne, he ordered Gwatuan to lead an army to conquer the Southern Song Dynasty, and in 1236, the Yuan army captured Chengdu. Kua Duan sent his general Daulda to lead an expedition to Tubo, which penetrated deep into Tubo territory and reached as far as Nepal. Under the intimidation of the Mongolian army, the Tufan ministries submitted to Mongolia.

Thereafter, Gautam recruited Sakya Banzidar, the most powerful Sakya monastery master in post-Tibet, and appointed him as the chief administrator of Tibetan affairs in the Great Mongolian Empire, fully responsible for the operation of Tubo matters. In 1246, Sakya Banzidar came to Liangzhou to make an alliance with Gautam, marking the formal incorporation of the Tubo region into the territory of Mongolia.

During the Kublai period, the Yuan dynasty established the General Academy of Sakyamuni in Tibet and appointed Bathsheba as the State Master in charge of military and political affairs. Later on, Kublai also checked people's households, set up post stations, levied taxes, stationed troops, appointed officials, and promulgated Yuan dynasty criminal laws and calendars in Tibet. By now, Tibet became an administrative region under the central government of the Yuan Dynasty.

Later, especially since the Ming Dynasty, Tibetan affairs were gradually held by the Tibetan religious upper class and Mongolian princes who practiced Tibetan Buddhism, as well as by the great nobles of Tibet. The control of the Chinese emperors over Tibet gradually weakened. It was only in the Qing Dynasty that the central government again strengthened its direct control over Tibet.

During the Shunzhi and Kangxi periods, the Fifth Dalai and the Fifth Panchen were enthroned, and since then the political and religious status of the successive Dalai and Panchen has become customary only after they have been enthroned by the central government.

During the Yongzheng period, he also chose administrators from the central government and sent them to Tibet as ministers in Tibet to manage Tibet together with the Panchen and Dalai.

During the Qianlong period, the "Golden Vase" system was established to strengthen the jurisdiction over Tibet. Since then, the reincarnation of the Dalai and Panchen living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism has to be recognized by the Golden Vase under the supervision of the central representative. In essence, the central government of the Qing dynasty to maintain and keep the power to identify the reincarnation of the great lamas Kubilhan, further emphasizing the authority of the central government on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Erdeni and other living Buddhas.

In the 56th year of the Qianlong reign, the Gorkha state (now Nepal) was instigated to invade Tibet by the fugitive Karma Kagyu Red Hat Department's 10th Living Buddha, Chogyam Gyatso. Qianlong sent Fukangan to lead troops into Tibet, expelled the Gorkha soldiers out of Tibet, and held military might, sweeping all the way, and finally soldiers under the Gorkha capital of Kathmandu. The Gurkha king surrendered and sent the bones of Chogyamtso and his wife and children to Fokangan's army, saying that he would never dare to violate the border and promising to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty once every five years.

After Fokangan left Tibet, he rectified Tibetan affairs according to the decree of the Qianlong Emperor and formulated the "Twenty-nine Articles of Qin Dynasty Regulations", which made the Qing Dynasty's system of governing Tibet more perfect.

Meng Bao, a member of the Chinese army with the Panghuang Banner, was promoted to the position of Minister in Tibet in the following year after he had been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Mongolia in the Red Banner in the 18th year of the Daoguang era.

During his term of office, Meng Bao strictly enforced the "golden vase" system and was meticulous in his dedication to the ministry outside of Tibet. At the same time, he also strengthened military equipment, personally to the school field to review the drill, strict order of generals, guards and diligent family training, to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Hanban officers and soldiers.

In the twenty-first year of Daoguang, the British-backed Dogras started the Samba War (the Tibetan name for the Dogras living in the Jammu region of northern India) and invaded Tibet, China.

When Daugla's leader, Onshel, gathered 3,000 people and invaded the Ali region of Tibet, Mengbao reacted quickly and reached a consensus with the Tibetan Kashgar government to unite and defend the country, and organized the Tibetan army and people to resist the invasion.

With the deployment of Mengbao and the concerted efforts of Tibetan soldiers and people, the main force of Samba was wiped out in one fell swoop, and the leader, Umseer Singh, was killed and all the occupied lands were recovered. The following year, Samba's army invaded again on a large scale, and Mengbao sent Hanban troops to meet them again.

Tibetan soldiers and people in Tibet heroically resisted the Samba invasion at the same time, but also by the Dajinchuan Tusi Amuqiu and Washi Tusi guard Hakri and other 2,000 Tibetan soldiers led to participate in the anti-British counterattack in Zhendong, more than 600 people died in battle for the country, blood on the frontier.

Samba war is a major victory in the history of Ali and even Tibet anti-invasion war, the impact and significance is far-reaching.

Thubten Gyatso, is the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

In the late 18th century, the British East India Company made several attempts to use the Panchen Dalai to deal directly with the Tibetan localities in an attempt to split Tibet, but they were all rejected by the Panchen and the Dalai.

In 1899, 1900 and 1901, the British and Indian governor-general Korsong wrote to the Dalai three more times in an attempt to get rid of the Qing government's "direct dealings" with Tibetan localities, but the 13th Dalai Lama refused to accept the letters and made it clear that "he could not communicate with any foreign government without discussing with the minister in Tibet and the Kashag. He also made it clear that "he could not communicate with any foreign government without discussing with the minister in Tibet and the Kashag. After that, the British made wild statements about attacking Lhasa, but Thubten Gyatso was unmoved and made it clear that he would lead the Tibetan monks and lay people in a second war against the British.

In 1903 (the twenty-ninth year of Qing Guangxu), the British invaded Tibet for the second time. In the following year, the British army captured Chunpi and Pali. When the British army reached Gyantse, they were forcefully blocked by the Tibetan army, and there was a fierce battle between the two sides, and the British were killed and injured, which is the famous battle of Gyantse defense in Tibetan history. Later, the British army sent reinforcements, namely to Lhasa, and occupied Lhasa on August 3 of that year.

On the eve of the arrival of British troops in Lhasa, the 13th Dalai departed from the Potala Palace and attempted to flee to Russia. He was dissuaded from doing so by the Qing minister in Outer Mongolia and the minister sent from Beijing as a minister of the Qin dynasty.

In any case, in the face of the British and Russian imperialists' plot to divide China through the so-called "Tibetan independence," it is a great contribution to the Chinese nation that Thubten Gyatso never defected to foreigners as vassals and never turned his back on the motherland to claim independence.

And later, he also explained the reason for this exodus, in 1920, when he sent off for Li Zhonglian, Zhu Xiu and other representatives of the Republic of China to Tibet, he clearly expressed his position: "because of the Chinaman forced too much, had no choice but to do so, this time your representatives to Tibet, Yu very grateful, but hope that the President from the speed of sending plenipotentiary, to solve the pending case Yu vowed to devote their hearts inward, and work together for the happiness of the five tribes. "

Zhao Erfeng, a minister of the Qing Dynasty, served as governor of Jingle and Yongji counties and was appreciated by Xiliang, the governor of Shanxi, who then went to serve in Sichuan after Xiliang was transferred to the Governor of Sichuan.

In 1905, Feng Quan, who was the Qing minister in Tibet, was killed in Batang and Tibet was in danger of splitting from China. The Qing court sent Zhao Erfeng into Tibet to quell the rebellion, and Zhao Erfeng, who advocated the use of force, became known as "Zhao Butcher" in the process of quelling the rebellion.

In 1908, the Qing government appointed Zhao Erfeng as the minister in Tibet. As soon as he took office, he quickly put down the rebellion planned by the upper nobles in Tibet, and also implemented the policy of "migrating people to the south of Tibet", which promoted the economic development of the Tibetan region and consolidated the border defense in the southwest.