Hebei
Chengde, the former imperial summer capital of the Qing dynasty, is central to understanding the Qing policy towards Torghuts and other Mongolian groups. As the site where Ubashi Khan, the Kalmyk/Torghut leader who led the return migration from Russia, had an audience with Qianglong Emperor in late 1771, Chengde has a number of monuments marking the Qing welcome of the Torghuts and conquest of the Jungar Empire. The Mongols here, numbering less than 1,000, are mainly Ööld, an Oirat subgroup, who were resettled in Chengde from Jungaria in the mid-18th century. In the thick of the Chinese population, they have long lost their native language, but they have recently started to revitalise their scattered community through re-establishing their relationship with the Anyuan Monastery in Chengde and the Torghuts and Öölds in Xinjiang and Hulunbuir. This page features photographs and videos about the Qing monumental representations of the Torghuts and the Öölds, as well as the latter’s fading memories of their historical role and tradition.
