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246 | At the funeral of the tenor Adolphe Nourrit in Paris in 1839, Chopin made a rare appearance at the organ, playing a transcription of Franz Schubert's lied Die Gestirne. On 26 July 1840 Chopin and Sand were present at the dress rehearsal of Berlioz's Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale, composed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the July Revolution. Chopin was reportedly unimpressed with the composition. | [
{
"answer": "Berlioz's Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale",
"question": "What event were Chopin and Sand at on 26 July 1840?"
},
{
"answer": "tenth",
"question": "What anniversary was the July Revolution that Sand and Chopin were present at a dress rehearsal for?"
},
{
"answer": "Ado... |
247 | During the summers at Nohant, particularly in the years 1839–43, Chopin found quiet, productive days during which he composed many works, including his Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53. Among the visitors to Nohant were Delacroix and the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, whom Chopin had advised on piano technique and composition. Delacroix gives an account of staying at Nohant in a letter of 7 June 1842: | [
{
"answer": "Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53",
"question": "What is the example given of a work produced by Frédéric during calm summers at Nohant?"
},
{
"answer": "Pauline Viardot",
"question": "Which of the two people that visited Chopin were tutored by him on piano?"
},
{
"answer": ... |
248 | From 1842 onwards, Chopin showed signs of serious illness. After a solo recital in Paris on 21 February 1842, he wrote to Grzymała: "I have to lie in bed all day long, my mouth and tonsils are aching so much." He was forced by illness to decline a written invitation from Alkan to participate in a repeat performance of the Beethoven Seventh Symphony arrangement at Erard's on 1 March 1843. Late in 1844, Charles Hallé visited Chopin and found him "hardly able to move, bent like a half-opened penknife and evidently in great pain", although his spirits returned when he started to play the piano for his visitor. Chopin's health continued to deteriorate, particularly from this time onwards. Modern research suggests that apart from any other illnesses, he may also have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. | [
{
"answer": "1842",
"question": "In which year did Chopin begin experiencing a serious decline in health?"
},
{
"answer": "Grzymała",
"question": "To whom did Chopin write a letter on 21 February 1842 about his agonizing pain?"
},
{
"answer": "Beethoven Seventh Symphony arrangement at Er... |
250 | Chopin's output as a composer throughout this period declined in quantity year by year. Whereas in 1841 he had written a dozen works, only six were written in 1842 and six shorter pieces in 1843. In 1844 he wrote only the Op. 58 sonata. 1845 saw the completion of three mazurkas (Op. 59). Although these works were more refined than many of his earlier compositions, Zamoyski opines that "his powers of concentration were failing and his inspiration was beset by anguish, both emotional and intellectual." | [
{
"answer": "Op. 58 sonata",
"question": "What was the name of the single piece of work he wrote in 1844?"
},
{
"answer": "more refined than many of his earlier compositions",
"question": "What can be said of these works compared to his work in other years even though the quantity was less?"
}... |
251 | Chopin's public popularity as a virtuoso began to wane, as did the number of his pupils, and this, together with the political strife and instability of the time, caused him to struggle financially. In February 1848, with the cellist Auguste Franchomme, he gave his last Paris concert, which included three movements of the Cello Sonata Op. 65. | [
{
"answer": "February 1848",
"question": "In what month and year did Chopin give his final performance?"
},
{
"answer": "Auguste Franchomme",
"question": "With whom did Chopin perform his final concert?"
},
{
"answer": "February 1848",
"question": "When did Chopin last perform?"
},... |
252 | Chopin's life was covered in a BBC TV documentary Chopin – The Women Behind The Music (2010), and in a 2010 documentary realised by Angelo Bozzolini and Roberto Prosseda for Italian television. | [
{
"answer": "BBC",
"question": "What television station made a documentary on Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Angelo Bozzolini and Roberto Prosseda",
"question": "What two people created a documentary on Chopin for Italian tv?"
},
{
"answer": "The Women Behind The Music",
"question": "What ... |
253 | Chopin's life and his relations with George Sand have been fictionalized in numerous films. The 1945 biographical film A Song to Remember earned Cornel Wilde an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor for his portrayal of the composer. Other film treatments have included: La valse de l'adieu (France, 1928) by Henry Roussel, with Pierre Blanchar as Chopin; Impromptu (1991), starring Hugh Grant as Chopin; La note bleue (1991); and Chopin: Desire for Love (2002). | [
{
"answer": "A Song to Remember",
"question": "What was the name of the 1945 movie released about Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Cornel Wilde",
"question": "What is the name of the actor who received and Oscar nomination for his role as Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "1928",
"question": "What yea... |
254 | Possibly the first venture into fictional treatments of Chopin's life was a fanciful operatic version of some of its events. Chopin was written by Giacomo Orefice and produced in Milan in 1901. All the music is derived from that of Chopin. | [
{
"answer": "1901",
"question": "When was the first fictionalized account of Chopin's life?"
},
{
"answer": "Milan",
"question": "Where was the first fictionalized account of Chopin's life created?"
},
{
"answer": "Giacomo Orefice",
"question": "Who is responsible for the first ficti... |
255 | Chopin has figured extensively in Polish literature, both in serious critical studies of his life and music and in fictional treatments. The earliest manifestation was probably an 1830 sonnet on Chopin by Leon Ulrich. French writers on Chopin (apart from Sand) have included Marcel Proust and André Gide; and he has also featured in works of Gottfried Benn and Boris Pasternak. There are numerous biographies of Chopin in English (see bibliography for some of these). | [
{
"answer": "Leon Ulrich",
"question": "An 1830 sonnet was written about Chopin by what man?"
},
{
"answer": "Marcel Proust and André Gide",
"question": "Aside from George Sands what two French authors have written about Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "sonnet",
"question": "Leon Ulrich wrot... |
256 | Numerous recordings of Chopin's works are available. On the occasion of the composer's bicentenary, the critics of The New York Times recommended performances by the following contemporary pianists (among many others): Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emanuel Ax, Evgeny Kissin, Murray Perahia, Maurizio Pollini and Krystian Zimerman. The Warsaw Chopin Society organizes the Grand prix du disque de F. Chopin for notable Chopin recordings, held every five years. | [
{
"answer": "every five years.",
"question": "The Warsaw Chopin Society holds the Grand prix du disque de F. Chopin how often?"
},
{
"answer": "Grand prix du disque de F. Chopin",
"question": "What is the name of the event that The Warsaw Chopin Society holds?"
},
{
"answer": "The New Yo... |
257 | The British Library notes that "Chopin's works have been recorded by all the great pianists of the recording era." The earliest recording was an 1895 performance by Paul Pabst of the Nocturne in E major Op. 62 No. 2. The British Library site makes available a number of historic recordings, including some by Alfred Cortot, Ignaz Friedman, Vladimir Horowitz, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Paderewski, Arthur Rubinstein, Xaver Scharwenka and many others. A select discography of recordings of Chopin works by pianists representing the various pedagogic traditions stemming from Chopin is given by Methuen-Campbell in his work tracing the lineage and character of those traditions. | [
{
"answer": "1895",
"question": "What year was the earliest Chopin recording created?"
},
{
"answer": "Nocturne in E major Op. 62 No. 2",
"question": "What is the title of the earliest known recording of Chopin's work?"
},
{
"answer": "Paul Pabst",
"question": "Who played the earlier... |
258 | Chopin's music remains very popular and is regularly performed, recorded and broadcast worldwide. The world's oldest monographic music competition, the International Chopin Piano Competition, founded in 1927, is held every five years in Warsaw. The Fryderyk Chopin Institute of Poland lists on its website over eighty societies world-wide devoted to the composer and his music. The Institute site also lists nearly 1,500 performances of Chopin works on YouTube as of January 2014. | [
{
"answer": "International Chopin Piano Competition",
"question": "What is the name of the oldest music essay competition?"
},
{
"answer": "1927",
"question": "What year was the International Chopin Piano Competition founded?"
},
{
"answer": "Warsaw",
"question": "Where is the Intern... |
259 | Chopin's music was used in the 1909 ballet Chopiniana, choreographed by Michel Fokine and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Sergei Diaghilev commissioned additional orchestrations—from Stravinsky, Anatoly Lyadov, Sergei Taneyev and Nikolai Tcherepnin—for later productions, which used the title Les Sylphides. | [
{
"answer": "Chopiniana",
"question": "What is the name of the ballet that included Chopin's work?"
},
{
"answer": "Michel Fokine",
"question": "Who choreographed a ballet which included Chopin's work?"
},
{
"answer": "Les Sylphides",
"question": "Chopiniana later went by a different... |
260 | In April, during the Revolution of 1848 in Paris, he left for London, where he performed at several concerts and at numerous receptions in great houses. This tour was suggested to him by his Scottish pupil Jane Stirling and her elder sister. Stirling also made all the logistical arrangements and provided much of the necessary funding. | [
{
"answer": "London",
"question": "Where did Chopin head to during the Revolution of 1848?"
},
{
"answer": "Jane Stirling",
"question": "Who provided the majority of funds for his concert tour in London?"
},
{
"answer": "London",
"question": "Where did Chopin go in the spring of 1848... |
261 | In London Chopin took lodgings at Dover Street, where the firm of Broadwood provided him with a grand piano. At his first engagement, on 15 May at Stafford House, the audience included Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Prince, who was himself a talented musician, moved close to the keyboard to view Chopin's technique. Broadwood also arranged concerts for him; among those attending were Thackeray and the singer Jenny Lind. Chopin was also sought after for piano lessons, for which he charged the high fee of one guinea (£1.05 in present British currency) per hour, and for private recitals for which the fee was 20 guineas. At a concert on 7 July he shared the platform with Viardot, who sang arrangements of some of his mazurkas to Spanish texts. | [
{
"answer": "Dover Street",
"question": "Where did Chopin stay while in London?"
},
{
"answer": "Broadwood",
"question": "What company provided Chopin with a piano while in London?"
},
{
"answer": "Stafford House",
"question": "Where was Chopin's initial performance?"
},
{
"a... |
262 | In late summer he was invited by Jane Stirling to visit Scotland, where he stayed at Calder House near Edinburgh and at Johnstone Castle in Renfrewshire, both owned by members of Stirling's family. She clearly had a notion of going beyond mere friendship, and Chopin was obliged to make it clear to her that this could not be so. He wrote at this time to Grzymała "My Scottish ladies are kind, but such bores", and responding to a rumour about his involvement, answered that he was "closer to the grave than the nuptial bed." He gave a public concert in Glasgow on 27 September, and another in Edinburgh, at the Hopetoun Rooms on Queen Street (now Erskine House) on 4 October. In late October 1848, while staying at 10 Warriston Crescent in Edinburgh with the Polish physician Adam Łyszczyński, he wrote out his last will and testament—"a kind of disposition to be made of my stuff in the future, if I should drop dead somewhere", he wrote to Grzymała. | [
{
"answer": "Scotland",
"question": "Where did Jane Stirling invite Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Adam Łyszczyński",
"question": "What doctor was with Chopin when he wrote out his will?"
},
{
"answer": "Scotland",
"question": "Where was Chopin invited to in late summer?"
},
{
"ans... |
263 | Chopin made his last public appearance on a concert platform at London's Guildhall on 16 November 1848, when, in a final patriotic gesture, he played for the benefit of Polish refugees. By this time he was very seriously ill, weighing under 99 pounds (i.e. less than 45 kg), and his doctors were aware that his sickness was at a terminal stage. | [
{
"answer": "16 November 1848",
"question": "When did Chopin last appear in public?"
},
{
"answer": "Guildhall",
"question": "Where was Chopin's last public performance?"
},
{
"answer": "Polish refugees.",
"question": "Who were the beneficiaries of his last public concert?"
},
{
... |
264 | At the end of November, Chopin returned to Paris. He passed the winter in unremitting illness, but gave occasional lessons and was visited by friends, including Delacroix and Franchomme. Occasionally he played, or accompanied the singing of Delfina Potocka, for his friends. During the summer of 1849, his friends found him an apartment in Chaillot, out of the centre of the city, for which the rent was secretly subsidised by an admirer, Princess Obreskoff. Here in June 1849 he was visited by Jenny Lind. | [
{
"answer": "Delfina Potocka",
"question": "Who did Chopin play for while she sang?"
},
{
"answer": "Chaillot",
"question": "In 1849 where did Chopin live?"
},
{
"answer": "Princess Obreskoff",
"question": "Who was anonymously paying for Chopin's apartment?"
},
{
"answer": "N... |
265 | With his health further deteriorating, Chopin desired to have a family member with him. In June 1849 his sister Ludwika came to Paris with her husband and daughter, and in September, supported by a loan from Jane Stirling, he took an apartment at Place Vendôme 12. After 15 October, when his condition took a marked turn for the worse, only a handful of his closest friends remained with him, although Viardot remarked sardonically that "all the grand Parisian ladies considered it de rigueur to faint in his room." | [
{
"answer": "June 1849",
"question": "When did his sister come to stay with Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Place Vendôme 12",
"question": "In September 1849 where did Chopin take up residence?"
},
{
"answer": "his sister",
"question": "Which family member came to Paris in June 1849?"
},
... |
266 | Some of his friends provided music at his request; among them, Potocka sang and Franchomme played the cello. Chopin requested that his body be opened after death (for fear of being buried alive) and his heart returned to Warsaw where it rests at the Church of the Holy Cross. He also bequeathed his unfinished notes on a piano tuition method, Projet de méthode, to Alkan for completion. On 17 October, after midnight, the physician leaned over him and asked whether he was suffering greatly. "No longer", he replied. He died a few minutes before two o'clock in the morning. Those present at the deathbed appear to have included his sister Ludwika, Princess Marcelina Czartoryska, Sand's daughter Solange, and his close friend Thomas Albrecht. Later that morning, Solange's husband Clésinger made Chopin's death mask and a cast of his left hand. | [
{
"answer": "fear of being buried alive",
"question": "Why did Chopin request being cut open after his death?"
},
{
"answer": "\"No longer\"",
"question": "What did Chopin reply to the doctor when asked is he was suffering?"
},
{
"answer": "Clésinger",
"question": "Who made Chopin's ... |
267 | Chopin's disease and the cause of his death have since been a matter of discussion. His death certificate gave the cause as tuberculosis, and his physician, Jean Cruveilhier, was then the leading French authority on this disease. Other possibilities have been advanced including cystic fibrosis, cirrhosis and alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. However, the attribution of tuberculosis as principal cause of death has not been disproved. Permission for DNA testing, which could put the matter to rest, has been denied by the Polish government. | [
{
"answer": "tuberculosis",
"question": "What is listed as Chopin's official cause of death?"
},
{
"answer": "Jean Cruveilhier",
"question": "What was the name of Chopin's doctor?"
},
{
"answer": "DNA testing",
"question": "What has the Polish government not allowed to find true caus... |
268 | The funeral, held at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, was delayed almost two weeks, until 30 October. Entrance was restricted to ticket holders as many people were expected to attend. Over 3,000 people arrived without invitations, from as far as London, Berlin and Vienna, and were excluded. | [
{
"answer": "Church of the Madeleine",
"question": "Where was Chopin's funeral held?"
},
{
"answer": "two weeks",
"question": "How long was Chopin's funeral delayed?"
},
{
"answer": "Over 3,000",
"question": "How many people arrived for Chopin's funeral?"
},
{
"answer": "the ... |
269 | Mozart's Requiem was sung at the funeral; the soloists were the soprano Jeanne-Anais Castellan, the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, the tenor Alexis Dupont, and the bass Luigi Lablache; Chopin's Preludes No. 4 in E minor and No. 6 in B minor were also played. The organist at the funeral was Louis Lefébure-Wély. The funeral procession to Père Lachaise Cemetery, which included Chopin's sister Ludwika, was led by the aged Prince Adam Czartoryski. The pallbearers included Delacroix, Franchomme, and Camille Pleyel. At the graveside, the Funeral March from Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 was played, in Reber's instrumentation. | [
{
"answer": "Mozart's Requiem",
"question": "What song was sung at Chopin's funeral?"
},
{
"answer": "Louis Lefébure-Wély",
"question": "Who was the organist at Chopin's funeral?"
},
{
"answer": "Prince Adam Czartoryski",
"question": "Who led Chopin's funeral procession?"
},
{
... |
270 | Chopin's tombstone, featuring the muse of music, Euterpe, weeping over a broken lyre, was designed and sculpted by Clésinger. The expenses of the funeral and monument, amounting to 5,000 francs, were covered by Jane Stirling, who also paid for the return of the composer's sister Ludwika to Warsaw. Ludwika took Chopin's heart in an urn, preserved in alcohol, back to Poland in 1850.[n 9] She also took a collection of two hundred letters from Sand to Chopin; after 1851 these were returned to Sand, who seems to have destroyed them. | [
{
"answer": "Clésinger",
"question": "Who sculpted Chopin's tombstone?"
},
{
"answer": "Euterpe",
"question": "What is the name of the muse carved on Chopin's tombstone?"
},
{
"answer": "5,000 francs",
"question": "How much did Chopin's funeral cost?"
},
{
"answer": "Jane Sti... |
271 | Over 230 works of Chopin survive; some compositions from early childhood have been lost. All his known works involve the piano, and only a few range beyond solo piano music, as either piano concertos, songs or chamber music. | [
{
"answer": "Over 230",
"question": "How many of Chopin's works still exist?"
},
{
"answer": "piano",
"question": "All of his pieces include what instrument?"
},
{
"answer": "Over 230",
"question": "How many Chopin pieces are known to have survived?"
},
{
"answer": "chamber m... |
272 | Chopin was educated in the tradition of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Clementi; he used Clementi's piano method with his own students. He was also influenced by Hummel's development of virtuoso, yet Mozartian, piano technique. He cited Bach and Mozart as the two most important composers in shaping his musical outlook. Chopin's early works are in the style of the "brilliant" keyboard pieces of his era as exemplified by the works of Ignaz Moscheles, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and others. Less direct in the earlier period are the influences of Polish folk music and of Italian opera. Much of what became his typical style of ornamentation (for example, his fioriture) is taken from singing. His melodic lines were increasingly reminiscent of the modes and features of the music of his native country, such as drones. | [
{
"answer": "Clementi",
"question": "Whose piano method did Chopin teach his students?"
},
{
"answer": "Clementi",
"question": "Whose piano method did Chopin use with his students?"
},
{
"answer": "Bach and Mozart",
"question": "Who did Chopin say were the two most important composer... |
273 | Chopin took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by the Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication. He was the first to write ballades and scherzi as individual concert pieces. He essentially established a new genre with his own set of free-standing preludes (Op. 28, published 1839). He exploited the poetic potential of the concept of the concert étude, already being developed in the 1820s and 1830s by Liszt, Clementi and Moscheles, in his two sets of studies (Op. 10 published in 1833, Op. 25 in 1837). | [
{
"answer": "John Field",
"question": "Who is credited with creating the nocturne?"
},
{
"answer": "ballades and scherzi",
"question": "Chopin was the first person to create what as singular concert pieces?"
},
{
"answer": "nocturne",
"question": "What new genre di John Field invent?... |
274 | Chopin also endowed popular dance forms with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin's mazurkas, while originating in the traditional Polish dance (the mazurek), differed from the traditional variety in that they were written for the concert hall rather than the dance hall; "it was Chopin who put the mazurka on the European musical map." The series of seven polonaises published in his lifetime (another nine were published posthumously), beginning with the Op. 26 pair (published 1836), set a new standard for music in the form. His waltzes were also written specifically for the salon recital rather than the ballroom and are frequently at rather faster tempos than their dance-floor equivalents. | [
{
"answer": "seven",
"question": "How many polonaises were published while Chopin lived?"
},
{
"answer": "nine",
"question": "How many polonaises were published after Chopin died?"
},
{
"answer": "mazurkas",
"question": "Chopin was credited for making what more internationally known?... |
275 | Some of Chopin's well-known pieces have acquired descriptive titles, such as the Revolutionary Étude (Op. 10, No. 12), and the Minute Waltz (Op. 64, No. 1). However, with the exception of his Funeral March, the composer never named an instrumental work beyond genre and number, leaving all potential extramusical associations to the listener; the names by which many of his pieces are known were invented by others. There is no evidence to suggest that the Revolutionary Étude was written with the failed Polish uprising against Russia in mind; it merely appeared at that time. The Funeral March, the third movement of his Sonata No. 2 (Op. 35), the one case where he did give a title, was written before the rest of the sonata, but no specific event or death is known to have inspired it. | [
{
"answer": "the Revolutionary Étude",
"question": "What is another title Op. 10, No. 12 has garnered? "
},
{
"answer": "Funeral March",
"question": "What is the only piece Chopin gave an actual title to?"
},
{
"answer": "Sonata No. 2",
"question": "The Funeral March was written as p... |
276 | The last opus number that Chopin himself used was 65, allocated to the Cello Sonata in G minor. He expressed a deathbed wish that all his unpublished manuscripts be destroyed. At the request of the composer's mother and sisters, however, his musical executor Julian Fontana selected 23 unpublished piano pieces and grouped them into eight further opus numbers (Opp. 66–73), published in 1855. In 1857, 17 Polish songs that Chopin wrote at various stages of his life were collected and published as Op. 74, though their order within the opus did not reflect the order of composition. | [
{
"answer": "65",
"question": "What was the last number Chopin gave to an opus?"
},
{
"answer": "Julian Fontana",
"question": "Who was Chopin's musical executor?"
},
{
"answer": "23",
"question": "How many unfinished pieces did Julian Fontana make into eight more opus numbers?"
},
... |
277 | Works published since 1857 have received alternative catalogue designations instead of opus numbers. The present standard musicological reference for Chopin's works is the Kobylańska Catalogue (usually represented by the initials 'KK'), named for its compiler, the Polish musicologist Krystyna Kobylańska. | [
{
"answer": "Krystyna Kobylańska",
"question": "The Kobylańska Catalogue was named for who?"
},
{
"answer": "1857",
"question": "Pieces published after what year stopped receiving opus numbers?"
},
{
"answer": "alternative catalogue designations",
"question": "What have pieces publis... |
278 | Chopin's original publishers included Maurice Schlesinger and Camille Pleyel. His works soon began to appear in popular 19th-century piano anthologies. The first collected edition was by Breitkopf & Härtel (1878–1902). Among modern scholarly editions of Chopin's works are the version under the name of Paderewski published between 1937 and 1966 and the more recent Polish "National Edition", edited by Jan Ekier, both of which contain detailed explanations and discussions regarding choices and sources. | [
{
"answer": "Breitkopf & Härtel",
"question": "Who released the first collection of Chopin's works?"
},
{
"answer": "Jan Ekier",
"question": "Who edited the Polish \"National Edition\" of Chopin's works?"
},
{
"answer": "original publishers",
"question": "Maurice Schlesinger and Cami... |
279 | Improvisation stands at the centre of Chopin's creative processes. However, this does not imply impulsive rambling: Nicholas Temperley writes that "improvisation is designed for an audience, and its starting-point is that audience's expectations, which include the current conventions of musical form." The works for piano and orchestra, including the two concertos, are held by Temperley to be "merely vehicles for brilliant piano playing ... formally longwinded and extremely conservative". After the piano concertos (which are both early, dating from 1830), Chopin made no attempts at large-scale multi-movement forms, save for his late sonatas for piano and for cello; "instead he achieved near-perfection in pieces of simple general design but subtle and complex cell-structure." Rosen suggests that an important aspect of Chopin's individuality is his flexible handling of the four-bar phrase as a structural unit. | [
{
"answer": "Improvisation",
"question": "What is central to Chopin's process?"
},
{
"answer": "the four-bar phrase",
"question": "Rosen suggests that a central part of Chopin's uniqueness is how he handles what?"
},
{
"answer": "Improvisation",
"question": "What is central to Chopin... |
280 | J. Barrie Jones suggests that "amongst the works that Chopin intended for concert use, the four ballades and four scherzos stand supreme", and adds that "the Barcarolle Op. 60 stands apart as an example of Chopin's rich harmonic palette coupled with an Italianate warmth of melody." Temperley opines that these works, which contain "immense variety of mood, thematic material and structural detail", are based on an extended "departure and return" form; "the more the middle section is extended, and the further it departs in key, mood and theme, from the opening idea, the more important and dramatic is the reprise when it at last comes." | [
{
"answer": "the Barcarolle Op. 60",
"question": "What piece does J. Barrie Jones pinpoint as a great example of Chopin's palette?"
},
{
"answer": "the four ballades and four scherzos",
"question": "What does J. Barrie Jones feel stands supreme of Chopin's concert pieces?"
},
{
"answer":... |
281 | Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes are all in straightforward ternary or episodic form, sometimes with a coda. The mazurkas often show more folk features than many of his other works, sometimes including modal scales and harmonies and the use of drone basses. However, some also show unusual sophistication, for example Op. 63 No. 3, which includes a canon at one beat's distance, a great rarity in music. | [
{
"answer": "folk features",
"question": "Chopin's mazurkas contain more of what than his other compositions? "
},
{
"answer": "straightforward ternary or episodic form, sometimes with a coda.",
"question": "What form are Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes in?"
},
{
"answer": "mazurkas",
... |
282 | Chopin's polonaises show a marked advance on those of his Polish predecessors in the form (who included his teachers Zywny and Elsner). As with the traditional polonaise, Chopin's works are in triple time and typically display a martial rhythm in their melodies, accompaniments and cadences. Unlike most of their precursors, they also require a formidable playing technique. | [
{
"answer": "triple time",
"question": "What time are Chopin's polonaises written in?"
},
{
"answer": "Elsner",
"question": "Chopin's ability to create an advanced polonasises surpassed even two of his teachers, Zywny and who?"
},
{
"answer": "martial",
"question": "Chopin's polonais... |
283 | The 21 nocturnes are more structured, and of greater emotional depth, than those of Field (whom Chopin met in 1833). Many of the Chopin nocturnes have middle sections marked by agitated expression (and often making very difficult demands on the performer) which heightens their dramatic character. | [
{
"answer": "21",
"question": "How many nocturnes did Chopin compose?"
},
{
"answer": "agitated expression",
"question": "What is it about the middle of Chopin's nocturnes that increases their drama?"
},
{
"answer": "Field",
"question": "Chopin's nocturnes were more structured than w... |
284 | Chopin's études are largely in straightforward ternary form. He used them to teach his own technique of piano playing—for instance playing double thirds (Op. 25, No. 6), playing in octaves (Op. 25, No. 10), and playing repeated notes (Op. 10, No. 7). | [
{
"answer": "études",
"question": "What pieces of his did Chopin use to teach his technique?"
},
{
"answer": "straightforward ternary",
"question": "What form are most of Chopin's études in?"
},
{
"answer": "études",
"question": "Chopin often taught his piano technique using what for... |
285 | The preludes, many of which are very brief (some consisting of simple statements and developments of a single theme or figure), were described by Schumann as "the beginnings of studies". Inspired by J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Chopin's preludes move up the circle of fifths (rather than Bach's chromatic scale sequence) to create a prelude in each major and minor tonality. The preludes were perhaps not intended to be played as a group, and may even have been used by him and later pianists as generic preludes to others of his pieces, or even to music by other composers, as Kenneth Hamilton suggests: he has noted a recording by Ferruccio Busoni of 1922, in which the Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 is followed by the Étude Op. 10 No. 5. | [
{
"answer": "The Well-Tempered Clavier",
"question": "What piece of Bach's did Chopin take inspiration for his preludes?"
},
{
"answer": "Kenneth Hamilton",
"question": "Who suggested that Chopin's preludes were not intended to be played as a group?"
},
{
"answer": "The preludes",
"q... |
286 | The two mature piano sonatas (No. 2, Op. 35, written in 1839 and No. 3, Op. 58, written in 1844) are in four movements. In Op. 35, Chopin was able to combine within a formal large musical structure many elements of his virtuosic piano technique—"a kind of dialogue between the public pianism of the brilliant style and the German sonata principle". The last movement, a brief (75-bar) perpetuum mobile in which the hands play in unmodified octave unison throughout, was found shocking and unmusical by contemporaries, including Schumann. The Op. 58 sonata is closer to the German tradition, including many passages of complex counterpoint, "worthy of Brahms" according to the music historians Kornel Michałowski and Jim Samson. | [
{
"answer": "four",
"question": "How many movements are No. 2, Op. 35 and No. 3, Op 58 in?"
},
{
"answer": "Kornel Michałowski and Jim Samson",
"question": "What two people claimed that Op 58 was \"worthy of Brahms\"?"
},
{
"answer": "four",
"question": "How many movements are in No.... |
287 | Chopin's harmonic innovations may have arisen partly from his keyboard improvisation technique. Temperley says that in his works "novel harmonic effects frequently result from the combination of ordinary appoggiaturas or passing notes with melodic figures of accompaniment", and cadences are delayed by the use of chords outside the home key (neapolitan sixths and diminished sevenths), or by sudden shifts to remote keys. Chord progressions sometimes anticipate the shifting tonality of later composers such as Claude Debussy, as does Chopin's use of modal harmony. | [
{
"answer": "Claude Debussy",
"question": "Chopin's chord progressions are similar in style to what other composer?"
},
{
"answer": "harmonic innovations",
"question": "What likely arose due to Chopin's technique with keyboards?"
},
{
"answer": "Temperley",
"question": "Who wrote abo... |
289 | Polish composers of the following generation included virtuosi such as Moritz Moszkowski, but, in the opinion of J. Barrie Jones, his "one worthy successor" among his compatriots was Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937). Edvard Grieg, Antonín Dvořák, Isaac Albéniz, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff, among others, are regarded by critics as having been influenced by Chopin's use of national modes and idioms. Alexander Scriabin was devoted to the music of Chopin, and his early published works include nineteen mazurkas, as well as numerous études and preludes; his teacher Nikolai Zverev drilled him in Chopin's works to improve his virtuosity as a performer. In the 20th century, composers who paid homage to (or in some cases parodied) the music of Chopin included George Crumb, Bohuslav Martinů, Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky and Heitor Villa-Lobos. | [
{
"answer": "Karol Szymanowski",
"question": "According to J. Barrie Jones who was the only true successor to Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "national modes and idioms",
"question": "Many people were considered influenced by Chopin's what?"
},
{
"answer": "Nikolai Zverev",
"question": "Who ... |
290 | Jonathan Bellman writes that modern concert performance style—set in the "conservatory" tradition of late 19th- and 20th-century music schools, and suitable for large auditoria or recordings—militates against what is known of Chopin's more intimate performance technique. The composer himself said to a pupil that "concerts are never real music, you have to give up the idea of hearing in them all the most beautiful things of art." Contemporary accounts indicate that in performance, Chopin avoided rigid procedures sometimes incorrectly attributed to him, such as "always crescendo to a high note", but that he was concerned with expressive phrasing, rhythmic consistency and sensitive colouring. Berlioz wrote in 1853 that Chopin "has created a kind of chromatic embroidery ... whose effect is so strange and piquant as to be impossible to describe ... virtually nobody but Chopin himself can play this music and give it this unusual turn". Hiller wrote that "What in the hands of others was elegant embellishment, in his hands became a colourful wreath of flowers." | [
{
"answer": "Jonathan Bellman",
"question": "Who wrote that the current large concert style conflicts with Chopin's preference of intimate performances?"
},
{
"answer": "rigid procedures",
"question": "What did Chopin tend to avoid?"
},
{
"answer": "\"always crescendo to a high note\"",
... |
291 | Chopin's music is frequently played with rubato, "the practice in performance of disregarding strict time, 'robbing' some note-values for expressive effect". There are differing opinions as to how much, and what type, of rubato is appropriate for his works. Charles Rosen comments that "most of the written-out indications of rubato in Chopin are to be found in his mazurkas ... It is probable that Chopin used the older form of rubato so important to Mozart ... [where] the melody note in the right hand is delayed until after the note in the bass ... An allied form of this rubato is the arpeggiation of the chords thereby delaying the melody note; according to Chopin's pupil, Karol Mikuli, Chopin was firmly opposed to this practice." | [
{
"answer": "rubato",
"question": "Chopin's compositions are often played with what?"
},
{
"answer": "the practice in performance of disregarding strict time",
"question": "What does rubato mean?"
},
{
"answer": "rubato",
"question": "In Chopin's music where strict timing is disregar... |
292 | Friederike Müller, a pupil of Chopin, wrote: "[His] playing was always noble and beautiful; his tones sang, whether in full forte or softest piano. He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato, cantabile style of playing. His most severe criticism was 'He—or she—does not know how to join two notes together.' He also demanded the strictest adherence to rhythm. He hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos ... and it is precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works." | [
{
"answer": "Friederike Müller",
"question": "According to who did Chopin demand strictly sticking with rhythm?"
},
{
"answer": "Friederike Müller",
"question": "Which student said Chopin made sure his students knew his legato, cantabile style of playing?"
},
{
"answer": "rhythm.",
"... |
293 | With his mazurkas and polonaises, Chopin has been credited with introducing to music a new sense of nationalism. Schumann, in his 1836 review of the piano concertos, highlighted the composer's strong feelings for his native Poland, writing that "Now that the Poles are in deep mourning [after the failure of the November 1830 rising], their appeal to us artists is even stronger ... If the mighty autocrat in the north [i.e. Nicholas I of Russia] could know that in Chopin's works, in the simple strains of his mazurkas, there lurks a dangerous enemy, he would place a ban on his music. Chopin's works are cannon buried in flowers!" The biography of Chopin published in 1863 under the name of Franz Liszt (but probably written by Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein) claims that Chopin "must be ranked first among the first musicians ... individualizing in themselves the poetic sense of an entire nation." | [
{
"answer": "sense of nationalism",
"question": "Chopin was noted as introducing music to what?"
},
{
"answer": "1836",
"question": "What year did Schumann review Chopin's piano concertos?"
},
{
"answer": "Poland",
"question": "In his review Schumann made note of Chopin's emotions fo... |
294 | Some modern commentators have argued against exaggerating Chopin's primacy as a "nationalist" or "patriotic" composer. George Golos refers to earlier "nationalist" composers in Central Europe, including Poland's Michał Kleofas Ogiński and Franciszek Lessel, who utilised polonaise and mazurka forms. Barbara Milewski suggests that Chopin's experience of Polish music came more from "urbanised" Warsaw versions than from folk music, and that attempts (by Jachimecki and others) to demonstrate genuine folk music in his works are without basis. Richard Taruskin impugns Schumann's attitude toward Chopin's works as patronizing and comments that Chopin "felt his Polish patriotism deeply and sincerely" but consciously modelled his works on the tradition of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Field. | [
{
"answer": "Barbara Milewski",
"question": "Who said that Chopin's familiarity with Polish music was more \"urbanised\" than true folk music?"
},
{
"answer": "Michał Kleofas Ogiński and Franciszek Lessel",
"question": "George Golos references what two musicians when claiming Chopin's nationali... |
295 | A reconciliation of these views is suggested by William Atwood: "Undoubtedly [Chopin's] use of traditional musical forms like the polonaise and mazurka roused nationalistic sentiments and a sense of cohesiveness amongst those Poles scattered across Europe and the New World ... While some sought solace in [them], others found them a source of strength in their continuing struggle for freedom. Although Chopin's music undoubtedly came to him intuitively rather than through any conscious patriotic design, it served all the same to symbolize the will of the Polish people ..." | [
{
"answer": "intuitive",
"question": "William Atwood suggested that Chopin's music wasn't purposely patriotic but what?"
},
{
"answer": "freedom",
"question": "A modern commentator, William Atwood, feels Poles not only sought solace in Chopin's music but also found them a source of strength as t... |
296 | Jones comments that "Chopin's unique position as a composer, despite the fact that virtually everything he wrote was for the piano, has rarely been questioned." He also notes that Chopin was fortunate to arrive in Paris in 1831—"the artistic environment, the publishers who were willing to print his music, the wealthy and aristocratic who paid what Chopin asked for their lessons"—and these factors, as well as his musical genius, also fuelled his contemporary and later reputation. While his illness and his love-affairs conform to some of the stereotypes of romanticism, the rarity of his public recitals (as opposed to performances at fashionable Paris soirées) led Arthur Hutchings to suggest that "his lack of Byronic flamboyance [and] his aristocratic reclusiveness make him exceptional" among his romantic contemporaries, such as Liszt and Henri Herz. | [
{
"answer": "Byronic flamboyance",
"question": "Arthur Hutchings stated that Chopin's lack of what made him special?"
},
{
"answer": "Liszt and Henri Herz",
"question": "Who were two of Chopin's contemporaries?"
},
{
"answer": "Paris",
"question": "What place was considered lucky for... |
297 | Chopin's qualities as a pianist and composer were recognized by many of his fellow musicians. Schumann named a piece for him in his suite Carnaval, and Chopin later dedicated his Ballade No. 2 in F major to Schumann. Elements of Chopin's music can be traced in many of Liszt's later works. Liszt later transcribed for piano six of Chopin's Polish songs. A less fraught friendship was with Alkan, with whom he discussed elements of folk music, and who was deeply affected by Chopin's death. | [
{
"answer": "Carnaval",
"question": "In what suite did Schumann name a work for Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Ballade No. 2 in F major",
"question": "What piece of Chopin's work was dedicated to Schumann? "
},
{
"answer": "six",
"question": "How many of Chopin's Polish songs did Liszt tra... |
298 | Two of Chopin's long-standing pupils, Karol Mikuli (1821–1897) and Georges Mathias, were themselves piano teachers and passed on details of his playing to their own students, some of whom (such as Raoul Koczalski) were to make recordings of his music. Other pianists and composers influenced by Chopin's style include Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Édouard Wolff (1816–1880) and Pierre Zimmermann. Debussy dedicated his own 1915 piano Études to the memory of Chopin; he frequently played Chopin's music during his studies at the Paris Conservatoire, and undertook the editing of Chopin's piano music for the publisher Jacques Durand. | [
{
"answer": "Debussy",
"question": "Who dedicated his 1915 piano Études to Chopin?"
},
{
"answer": "Jacques Durand",
"question": "For what publisher to Debussy edit Chopin's music for?"
},
{
"answer": "Raoul Koczalski",
"question": "Who was a student of Chopin's former students and a... |
299 | The exact nature of relations between Tibet and the Ming dynasty of China (1368–1644) is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. Some Mainland Chinese scholars, such as Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain, assert that the Ming dynasty had unquestioned sovereignty over Tibet, pointing to the Ming court's issuing of various titles to Tibetan leaders, Tibetans' full acceptance of these titles, and a renewal process for successors of these titles that involved traveling to the Ming capital. Scholars within China also argue that Tibet has been an integral part of China since the 13th century and that it was thus a part of the Ming Empire. But most scholars outside China, such as Turrell V. Wylie, Melvin C. Goldstein, and Helmut Hoffman, say that the relationship was one of suzerainty, that Ming titles were only nominal, that Tibet remained an independent region outside Ming control, and that it simply paid tribute until the Jiajing Emperor (1521–1566), who ceased relations with Tibet. | [
{
"answer": "Mainland Chinese scholars",
"question": "Who were Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain?"
}
] |
300 | Some scholars note that Tibetan leaders during the Ming frequently engaged in civil war and conducted their own foreign diplomacy with neighboring states such as Nepal. Some scholars underscore the commercial aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship, noting the Ming dynasty's shortage of horses for warfare and thus the importance of the horse trade with Tibet. Others argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship. In hopes of reviving the unique relationship of the earlier Mongol leader Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) and his spiritual superior Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) made a concerted effort to build a secular and religious alliance with Deshin Shekpa (1384–1415), the Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu school. However, the Yongle Emperor's attempts were unsuccessful. | [
{
"answer": "horse trade",
"question": "What important trade did the Ming Dynasty have with Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1402–1424",
"question": "During what years did the Mongol leader Kublai Khan rule?"
},
{
"answer": "Deshin Shekpa",
"question": "Who did the Yongle Emperor try to build... |
301 | The Ming initiated sporadic armed intervention in Tibet during the 14th century, but did not garrison permanent troops there. At times the Tibetans also used armed resistance against Ming forays. The Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) made attempts to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations after the Mongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644–1912) of China in their support for the Dalai Lama of the Gelug school. By the late 16th century, the Mongols were successful armed protectors of the Gelug Dalai Lama, after increasing their presence in the Amdo region. This culminated in Güshi Khan's (1582–1655) conquest of Tibet from 1637–1642 and the establishment of the Ganden Phodrang regime by the 5th Dalai Lama with his help. | [
{
"answer": "armed resistance",
"question": "What did the Tibetans use against Ming forays?"
},
{
"answer": "the Mongols",
"question": "Who were the armed protectors for the Gelug Dalai Lama?"
},
{
"answer": "the Ganden Phodrang",
"question": "Which regime did Güshi Khan help establi... |
302 | Tibet was once a strong power contemporaneous with Tang China (618–907). Until the Tibetan Empire's collapse in the 9th century, it was the Tang's major rival in dominating Inner Asia. The Yarlung rulers of Tibet also signed various peace treaties with the Tang, culminating in a treaty in 821 that fixed the borders between Tibet and China. | [
{
"answer": "the 9th century",
"question": "In what century did the Tibetan Empire fall?"
},
{
"answer": "The Yarlung rulers of Tibet",
"question": "Who signed multiple peace treaties with the Tang? "
},
{
"answer": "the borders between Tibet and China",
"question": "What did one of ... |
303 | During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China (907–960), while the fractured political realm of China saw no threat in a Tibet which was in just as much political disarray, there was little in the way of Sino-Tibetan relations. Few documents involving Sino-Tibetan contacts survive from the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Song were far more concerned with countering northern enemy states of the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty (907–1125) and Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty (1115–1234). | [
{
"answer": "907–960",
"question": "When did the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China take place?"
},
{
"answer": "960–1279",
"question": "When did the Song dynasty take place?"
},
{
"answer": "Song dynasty",
"question": "What dynasty was concerned with countering northern... |
304 | In 1207, the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan (r. 1206–1227) conquered and subjugated the ethnic Tangut state of the Western Xia (1038–1227). In the same year, he established diplomatic relations with Tibet by sending envoys there. The conquest of the Western Xia alarmed Tibetan rulers, who decided to pay tribute to the Mongols. However, when they ceased to pay tribute after Genghis Khan's death, his successor Ögedei Khan (r. 1229–1241) launched an invasion into Tibet. | [
{
"answer": "Genghis Khan",
"question": "Which ruler took Western Xia under their control?"
},
{
"answer": "Ögedei Khan",
"question": "Who was Genghis Khan's successor? "
},
{
"answer": "1229–1241",
"question": "What years did Ögedei Khan rule?"
},
{
"answer": "Ögedei Khan",
... |
305 | The Mongol prince Godan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, raided as far as Lhasa. During his attack in 1240, Prince Godan summoned Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, to his court in what is now Gansu in Western China. With Sakya Pandita's submission to Godan in 1247, Tibet was officially incorporated into the Mongol Empire during the regency of Töregene Khatun (1241–1246). Michael C. van Walt van Praag writes that Godan granted Sakya Pandita temporal authority over a still politically fragmented Tibet, stating that "this investiture had little real impact" but it was significant in that it established the unique "Priest-Patron" relationship between the Mongols and the Sakya lamas. | [
{
"answer": "Godan",
"question": "Who was the Mongol prince?"
},
{
"answer": "Sakya Pandita",
"question": "Who was the leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism?"
},
{
"answer": "Töregene Khatun",
"question": "Who was the regent of the Mongol Empire?"
},
{
"answer": "124... |
306 | Starting in 1236, the Mongol prince Kublai, who later ruled as Khagan from 1260–1294, was granted a large appanage in North China by his superior, Ögedei Khan. Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama (1203–1283)—the head lama of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism—rejected Kublai's invitation, so instead Kublai invited Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280), successor and nephew of Sakya Pandita, who came to his court in 1253. Kublai instituted a unique relationship with the Phagpa lama, which recognized Kublai as a superior sovereign in political affairs and the Phagpa lama as the senior instructor to Kublai in religious affairs. Kublai also made Drogön Chögyal Phagpa the director of the government agency known as the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs and the ruling priest-king of Tibet, which comprised thirteen different states ruled by myriarchies. | [
{
"answer": "thirteen",
"question": "How many states were ruled by myriarchies?"
},
{
"answer": "Khagan",
"question": "What title did prince Kublai rule as from 1260 to 1294?"
},
{
"answer": "Ögedei Khan",
"question": "Who was the superior of prince Kublai?"
},
{
"answer": "K... |
307 | Kublai Khan did not conquer the Song dynasty in South China until 1279, so Tibet was a component of the early Mongol Empire before it was combined into one of its descendant empires with the whole of China under the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Van Praag writes that this conquest "marked the end of independent China," which was then incorporated into the Yuan dynasty that ruled China, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, parts of Siberia and Upper Burma. Morris Rossabi, a professor of Asian history at Queens College, City University of New York, writes that "Khubilai wished to be perceived both as the legitimate Khan of Khans of the Mongols and as the Emperor of China. Though he had, by the early 1260s, become closely identified with China, he still, for a time, claimed universal rule", and yet "despite his successes in China and Korea, Khubilai was unable to have himself accepted as the Great Khan". Thus, with such limited acceptance of his position as Great Khan, Kublai Khan increasingly became identified with China and sought support as Emperor of China. | [
{
"answer": "1279",
"question": "When did Kublai Khan conquer the song dynasty? "
},
{
"answer": "1271–1368",
"question": "When did the Yuan dynasty rule?"
},
{
"answer": "the Yuan dynasty",
"question": "Which dynasty ruled all of china? "
},
{
"answer": "universal rule",
... |
308 | In 1358, the Sakya viceregal regime installed by the Mongols in Tibet was overthrown in a rebellion by the Phagmodru myriarch Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (1302–1364). The Mongol Yuan court was forced to accept him as the new viceroy, and Changchub Gyaltsen and his successors, the Phagmodrupa Dynasty, gained de facto rule over Tibet. | [
{
"answer": "1358",
"question": "What year was the Sakya viceregal regime eradicated? "
},
{
"answer": "the Mongols in Tibet",
"question": "Who placed the Sakya viceregal regime position of authority?"
},
{
"answer": "the Phagmodru myriarch Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen",
"question": "... |
309 | In 1368, a Han Chinese revolt known as the Red Turban Rebellion toppled the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China. Zhu Yuanzhang then established the Ming dynasty, ruling as the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398). It is not clear how much the early Ming court understood the civil war going on in Tibet between rival religious sects, but the first emperor was anxious to avoid the same trouble that Tibet had caused for the Tang dynasty. Instead of recognizing the Phagmodru ruler, the Hongwu Emperor sided with the Karmapa of the nearer Kham region and southeastern Tibet, sending envoys out in the winter of 1372–1373 to ask the Yuan officeholders to renew their titles for the new Ming court. | [
{
"answer": "Zhu Yuanzhang",
"question": "Who created the Ming Dynasty? "
},
{
"answer": "the Red Turban Rebellion",
"question": "Who caused the Yuan dynasty to fall?"
},
{
"answer": "Zhu Yuanzhang",
"question": "Who ruled as the the Hongwu Emperor?"
},
{
"answer": "1368–1398... |
310 | As evident in his imperial edicts, the Hongwu Emperor was well aware of the Buddhist link between Tibet and China and wanted to foster it. Rolpe Dorje, 4th Karmapa Lama (1340–1383) rejected the Hongwu Emperor's invitation, although he did send some disciples as envoys to the court in Nanjing. The Hongwu Emperor also entrusted his guru Zongluo, one of many Buddhist monks at court, to head a religious mission into Tibet in 1378–1382 in order to obtain Buddhist texts. | [
{
"answer": "Rolpe Dorje",
"question": "Who was the fourth Karmapa Lama?"
},
{
"answer": "Rolpe Dorje",
"question": "Who rejected an invitation by the Hongwu Emperor?"
},
{
"answer": "the Buddhist link between Tibet and China",
"question": "What did the the Hongwu Emperor want to con... |
311 | However, the early Ming government enacted a law, later rescinded, which forbade Han Chinese to learn the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. There is little detailed evidence of Chinese—especially lay Chinese—studying Tibetan Buddhism until the Republican era (1912–1949). Despite these missions on behalf of the Hongwu Emperor, Morris Rossabi writes that the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) "was the first Ming ruler actively to seek an extension of relations with Tibet." | [
{
"answer": "Ming government",
"question": "Who created a law that did not allow Han Chinese to learn the beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism?"
},
{
"answer": "1402–1424",
"question": "What years did the Yongle Emperor reign? "
},
{
"answer": "the Yongle Emperor",
"question": "Who worked tow... |
312 | According to the official Twenty-Four Histories, the History of Ming compiled in 1739 by the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the Ming dynasty established the "É-Lì-Sī Army-Civilian Marshal Office" (Chinese: 俄力思軍民元帥府) in western Tibet and installed the "Ü-Tsang Itinerant High Commandery" and "Amdo-Kham Itinerant High Commandery" to administer Kham. The Mingshi states that administrative offices were set up under these high commanderies, including one Itinerant Commandery, three Pacification Commissioner's Offices, six Expedition Commissioner's Offices, four Wanhu offices (myriarchies, in command of 10,000 households each) and seventeen Qianhu offices (chiliarchies, each in command of 1,000 households). | [
{
"answer": "1644–1912",
"question": "What years did the Qing dynasty rule?"
},
{
"answer": "1739",
"question": "what year was the history of Ming produced? "
},
{
"answer": "É-Lì-Sī Army-Civilian Marshal Office",
"question": "What did the Ming dynasty create?"
},
{
"answer":... |
313 | The Ming court appointed three Princes of Dharma (法王) and five Princes (王), and granted many other titles, such as Grand State Tutors (大國師) and State Tutors (國師), to the important schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Karma Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug. According to Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain, leading officials of these organs were all appointed by the central government and were subject to the rule of law. Yet Van Praag describes the distinct and long-lasting Tibetan law code established by the Phagmodru ruler Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen as one of many reforms to revive old Imperial Tibetan traditions. | [
{
"answer": "three",
"question": "How many princes of Dharma were assigned by the Ming court?"
},
{
"answer": "Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen",
"question": "Who established the Tibetan law code?"
},
{
"answer": "Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen",
"question": "Who was the Phagmodru ruler?"
... |
314 | The late Turrell V. Wylie, a former professor of the University of Washington, and Li Tieh-tseng argue that the reliability of the heavily censored History of Ming as a credible source on Sino-Tibetan relations is questionable, in the light of modern scholarship. Other historians also assert that these Ming titles were nominal and did not actually confer the authority that the earlier Yuan titles had. Van Praag writes that the "numerous economically motivated Tibetan missions to the Ming Court are referred to as 'tributary missions' in the Ming Shih." Van Praag writes that these "tributary missions" were simply prompted by China's need for horses from Tibet, since a viable horse market in Mongol lands was closed as a result of incessant conflict. Morris Rossabi also writes that "Tibet, which had extensive contacts with China during the Yuan, scarcely had diplomatic relations with the Ming." | [
{
"answer": "Turrell V. Wylie",
"question": "who was a professor of the University of Washington?"
},
{
"answer": "Tibet",
"question": "Who had a large amount of contacts with china during Yuan?"
},
{
"answer": "Morris Rossabi",
"question": "Who believed that Tibet barely had any dip... |
315 | Historians disagree on what the relationship was between the Ming court and Tibet and whether or not Ming China had sovereignty over Tibet. Van Praag writes that Chinese court historians viewed Tibet as an independent foreign tributary and had little interest in Tibet besides a lama-patron relationship. The historian Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa supports van Praag's position. However, Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain state that these assertions by van Praag and Shakabpa are "fallacies". | [
{
"answer": "historian Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa",
"question": "Who supported van Praag's beliefs? "
},
{
"answer": "Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain",
"question": "Who did not agree with van Praag and Shakabpa?"
}
] |
316 | Wang and Nyima argue that the Ming emperor sent edicts to Tibet twice in the second year of the Ming dynasty, and demonstrated that he viewed Tibet as a significant region to pacify by urging various Tibetan tribes to submit to the authority of the Ming court. They note that at the same time, the Mongol Prince Punala, who had inherited his position as ruler of areas of Tibet, went to Nanjing in 1371 to pay tribute and show his allegiance to the Ming court, bringing with him the seal of authority issued by the Yuan court. They also state that since successors of lamas granted the title of "prince" had to travel to the Ming court to renew this title, and since lamas called themselves princes, the Ming court therefore had "full sovereignty over Tibet." They state that the Ming dynasty, by issuing imperial edicts to invite ex-Yuan officials to the court for official positions in the early years of its founding, won submission from ex-Yuan religious and administrative leaders in the Tibetan areas, and thereby incorporated Tibetan areas into the rule of the Ming court. Thus, they conclude, the Ming court won the power to rule Tibetan areas formerly under the rule of the Yuan dynasty. | [
{
"answer": "Wang and Nyima",
"question": "Who believed that the Ming court had full sovereignty over Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1371",
"question": "What year did Wang and Nyima believe that the Mongol Prince Punala went to Nanjing?"
},
{
"answer": "princes",
"question": "What did the l... |
317 | Journalist and author Thomas Laird, in his book The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, writes that Wang and Nyima present the government viewpoint of the People's Republic of China in their Historical Status of China's Tibet, and fail to realize that China was "absorbed into a larger, non-Chinese political unit" during the Mongol Yuan dynasty, which Wang and Nyima paint as a characteristic Chinese dynasty succeeded by the Ming. Laird asserts that the ruling Mongol khans never administered Tibet as part of China and instead ruled them as separate territories, comparing the Mongols with the British who colonized India and New Zealand, yet stating this does not make India part of New Zealand as a consequence. Of later Mongol and Tibetan accounts interpreting the Mongol conquest of Tibet, Laird asserts that "they, like all non-Chinese historical narratives, never portray the Mongol subjugation of Tibet as a Chinese one." | [
{
"answer": "Journalist and author Thomas Laird",
"question": "Who wrote the book The Story of Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "the British",
"question": "who colonized India and New Zealand?"
},
{
"answer": "the government viewpoint of the People's Republic of China",
"question": "Who's view... |
320 | The official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is that the Ming implemented a policy of managing Tibet according to conventions and customs, granting titles and setting up administrative organs over Tibet. The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic states that the Ming dynasty's Ü-Tsang Commanding Office governed most areas of Tibet. It also states that while the Ming abolished the policy council set up by the Mongol Yuan to manage local affairs in Tibet and the Mongol system of Imperial Tutors to govern religious affairs, the Ming adopted a policy of bestowing titles upon religious leaders who had submitted to the Ming dynasty. For example, an edict of the Hongwu Emperor in 1373 appointed the Tibetan leader Choskunskyabs as the General of the Ngari Military and Civil Wanhu Office, stating: | [
{
"answer": "the Ming",
"question": "Who abolished the policy council?"
},
{
"answer": "the General of the Ngari Military and Civil Wanhu Office",
"question": "What was the Tibetan leader Choskunskyabs appointed as? "
},
{
"answer": "Ming dynasty's Ü-Tsang Commanding Office",
"ques... |
321 | Chen Qingying, Professor of History and Director of the History Studies Institute under the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, writes that the Ming court conferred new official positions on ex-Yuan Tibetan leaders of the Phachu Kargyu and granted them lower-ranking positions. Of the county (zong or dzong) leaders of Neiwo Zong and Renbam Zong, Chen states that when "the Emperor learned the actual situation of the Phachu Kargyu, the Ming court then appointed the main Zong leaders to be senior officers of the Senior Command of Dbus and Gtsang." The official posts that the Ming court established in Tibet, such as senior and junior commanders, offices of Qianhu (in charge of 1,000 households), and offices of Wanhu (in charge of 10,000 households), were all hereditary positions according to Chen, but he asserts that "the succession of some important posts still had to be approved by the emperor," while old imperial mandates had to be returned to the Ming court for renewal. | [
{
"answer": "Beijing",
"question": "Where is the China Tibetology Research Center located?"
},
{
"answer": "Chen Qingying",
"question": "Who was the Director of the History Studies Institute?"
},
{
"answer": "1,000 households",
"question": "How many households were the offices of Qia... |
322 | According to Tibetologist John Powers, Tibetan sources counter this narrative of titles granted by the Chinese to Tibetans with various titles which the Tibetans gave to the Chinese emperors and their officials. Tribute missions from Tibetan monasteries to the Chinese court brought back not only titles, but large, commercially valuable gifts which could subsequently be sold. The Ming emperors sent invitations to ruling lamas, but the lamas sent subordinates rather than coming themselves, and no Tibetan ruler ever explicitly accepted the role of being a vassal of the Ming. | [
{
"answer": "John Powers",
"question": "What was the name of the Tibetologist?"
},
{
"answer": "ruling lamas",
"question": "Who did the Ming emperors send invitations to?"
},
{
"answer": "subordinates",
"question": "When the lamas received an invite from the emperors, who did they se... |
323 | Hans Bielenstein writes that as far back as the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE), the Han Chinese government "maintained the fiction" that the foreign officials administering the various "Dependent States" and oasis city-states of the Western Regions (composed of the Tarim Basin and oasis of Turpan) were true Han representatives due to the Han government's conferral of Chinese seals and seal cords to them. | [
{
"answer": "the Tarim Basin and oasis of Turpan",
"question": "What was the western regions composed of?"
},
{
"answer": "foreign officials",
"question": "Who believed that they were the true Han Western representatives? "
}
] |
324 | Wang and Nyima state that after the official title "Education Minister" was granted to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (1302–1364) by the Yuan court, this title appeared frequently with his name in various Tibetan texts, while his Tibetan title "Degsi" (sic properly sde-srid or desi) is seldom mentioned. Wang and Nyima take this to mean that "even in the later period of the Yuan dynasty, the Yuan imperial court and the Phagmodrupa Dynasty maintained a Central-local government relation." The Tai Situpa is even supposed to have written in his will: "In the past I received loving care from the emperor in the east. If the emperor continues to care for us, please follow his edicts and the imperial envoy should be well received." | [
{
"answer": "Education Minister",
"question": "What title was given by the Yuan court to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen ?"
},
{
"answer": "Degsi",
"question": "What Tibetan title was hardly ever mentioned when referring to Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen?"
},
{
"answer": "Phagmodrupa Dynasty",
... |
326 | According to Chen, the Ming officer of Hezhou (modern day Linxia) informed the Hongwu Emperor that the general situation in Dbus and Gtsang "was under control," and so he suggested to the emperor that he offer the second Phagmodru ruler, Jamyang Shakya Gyaltsen, an official title. According to the Records of the Founding Emperor, the Hongwu Emperor issued an edict granting the title "Initiation State Master" to Sagya Gyaincain, while the latter sent envoys to the Ming court to hand over his jade seal of authority along with tribute of colored silk and satin, statues of the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures, and sarira. | [
{
"answer": "Sagya Gyaincain",
"question": "Who did the Hongwu Emperor grant the title Initiation State Master to?"
},
{
"answer": "the Ming officer of Hezhou",
"question": "Who suggested to the emperor that an official title be granted to second Phagmodru ruler?"
},
{
"answer": "Jamyang... |
327 | Dreyfus writes that after the Phagmodrupa lost its centralizing power over Tibet in 1434, several attempts by other families to establish hegemonies failed over the next two centuries until 1642 with the 5th Dalai Lama's effective hegemony over Tibet. | [
{
"answer": "the Phagmodrupa",
"question": "Who lost their power over Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1434",
"question": "What year did the Phagmodrupa lose their power over Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1642",
"question": "What year did the 5th Dalai lama start to dominate over Tibet?"
},
{
... |
328 | The Ming dynasty granted titles to lamas of schools such as the Karmapa Kargyu, but the latter had previously declined Mongol invitations to receive titles. When the Ming Yongle Emperor invited Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), founder of the Gelug school, to come to the Ming court and pay tribute, the latter declined. Wang and Nyima write that this was due to old age and physical weakness, and also because of efforts being made to build three major monasteries. Chen Qingying states that Tsongkhapa wrote a letter to decline the Emperor's invitation, and in this reply, Tsongkhapa wrote: | [
{
"answer": "the Karmapa Kargyu",
"question": "The Ming Dynasty granted what titles to lamas of schools?"
},
{
"answer": "Mongol",
"question": "Who did the Ming Dynasty decline titles from after receiving invitations?"
},
{
"answer": "Je Tsongkhapa",
"question": "Who was the founder ... |
330 | Dawa Norbu argues that modern Chinese Communist historians tend to be in favor of the view that the Ming simply reappointed old Yuan dynasty officials in Tibet and perpetuated their rule of Tibet in this manner. Norbu writes that, although this would have been true for the eastern Tibetan regions of Amdo and Kham's "tribute-cum-trade" relations with the Ming, it was untrue if applied to the western Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang and Ngari. After the Phagmodrupa Changchub Gyaltsen, these were ruled by "three successive nationalistic regimes," which Norbu writes "Communist historians prefer to ignore." | [
{
"answer": "Dawa Norbu",
"question": "Who believed the Ming reappointed old Yuan dynasty officials in Tibet?"
}
] |
331 | Laird writes that the Ming appointed titles to eastern Tibetan princes, and that "these alliances with eastern Tibetan principalities are the evidence China now produces for its assertion that the Ming ruled Tibet," despite the fact that the Ming did not send an army to replace the Mongols after they left Tibet. Yiu Yung-chin states that the furthest western extent of the Ming dynasty's territory was Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan while "the Ming did not possess Tibet." | [
{
"answer": "eastern Tibetan princes",
"question": "Who did the Ming appoint titles to?"
},
{
"answer": "an army",
"question": "What didn't the Ming send to replace the Mongols when they left Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "Tibet",
"question": "What does Yiu Yung-chin claim the Ming did not ... |
332 | Shih-Shan Henry Tsai writes that the Yongle Emperor sent his eunuch Yang Sanbao into Tibet in 1413 to gain the allegiance of various Tibetan princes, while the Yongle Emperor paid a small fortune in return gifts for tributes in order to maintain the loyalty of neighboring vassal states such as Nepal and Tibet. However, Van Praag states that Tibetan rulers upheld their own separate relations with the kingdoms of Nepal and Kashmir, and at times "engaged in armed confrontation with them." | [
{
"answer": "Yang Sanbao",
"question": "What was the name of the eunuch?"
},
{
"answer": "Tibet",
"question": "Where did the Yongle Emperor send Yang Sanbao?"
},
{
"answer": "1413",
"question": "When did Yongle Emperor send Yang Sanbao into Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "the allegi... |
333 | Even though the Gelug exchanged gifts with and sent missions to the Ming court up until the 1430s, the Gelug was not mentioned in the Mingshi or the Mingshi Lu. On this, historian Li Tieh-tseng says of Tsongkhapa's refusal of Ming invitations to visit the Yongle Emperor's court: | [
{
"answer": "the Ming court",
"question": "Who did the Gelug exchange gifts with?"
},
{
"answer": "1430s",
"question": "Until what year frame did the Gelug exchange gifts with the the Ming?"
},
{
"answer": "the Mingshi or the Mingshi Lu",
"question": "What was the Gelug not mentioned... |
334 | Wylie asserts that this type of censorship of the History of Ming distorts the true picture of the history of Sino-Tibetan relations, while the Ming court granted titles to various lamas regardless of their sectarian affiliations in an ongoing civil war in Tibet between competing Buddhist factions. Wylie argues that Ming titles of "King" granted indiscriminately to various Tibetan lamas or even their disciples should not be viewed as reappointments to earlier Yuan dynasty offices, since the viceregal Sakya regime established by the Mongols in Tibet was overthrown by the Phagmodru myriarchy before the Ming existed. | [
{
"answer": "various lamas",
"question": "Regardless of their sectarian affiliations, who did the Ming grant titles to?"
},
{
"answer": "the Phagmodru myriarchy",
"question": "Who was the viceregal Sakya regime overthrown by?"
}
] |
335 | Helmut Hoffman states that the Ming upheld the facade of rule over Tibet through periodic missions of "tribute emissaries" to the Ming court and by granting nominal titles to ruling lamas, but did not actually interfere in Tibetan governance. Melvyn C. Goldstein writes that the Ming had no real administrative authority over Tibet, as the various titles given to Tibetan leaders did not confer authority as the earlier Mongol Yuan titles had. He asserts that "by conferring titles on Tibetans already in power, the Ming emperors merely recognized political reality." Hugh Edward Richardson writes that the Ming dynasty exercised no authority over the succession of Tibetan ruling families, the Phagmodru (1354–1435), Rinpungpa (1435–1565), and Tsangpa (1565–1642). | [
{
"answer": "Melvyn C. Goldstein",
"question": "Who believed that the Ming had no real authority over Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1435–1565",
"question": "What years did the Rinpungpa regime start and end?"
},
{
"answer": "Melvyn C. Goldstein",
"question": "Who believed that the titles g... |
336 | In his usurpation of the throne from the Jianwen Emperor (r. 1398–1402), the Yongle Emperor was aided by the Buddhist monk Yao Guangxiao, and like his father, the Hongwu Emperor, the Yongle Emperor was "well-disposed towards Buddhism", claims Rossabi. On March 10, 1403, the Yongle Emperor invited Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama (1384–1415), to his court, even though the fourth Karmapa had rejected the invitation of the Hongwu Emperor. A Tibetan translation in the 16th century preserves the letter of the Yongle Emperor, which the Association for Asian Studies notes is polite and complimentary towards the Karmapa. The letter of invitation reads, | [
{
"answer": "1398–1402",
"question": "What year did the Jianwen Emperor reign start and end?"
},
{
"answer": "the Buddhist monk Yao Guangxiao",
"question": "Who aided the Yongle Emperor?"
},
{
"answer": "the Hongwu Emperor",
"question": "Who was Yongle Emperor's father?"
},
{
... |
337 | In order to seek out the Karmapa, the Yongle Emperor dispatched his eunuch Hou Xian and the Buddhist monk Zhi Guang (d. 1435) to Tibet. Traveling to Lhasa either through Qinghai or via the Silk Road to Khotan, Hou Xian and Zhi Guang did not return to Nanjing until 1407. | [
{
"answer": "Hou Xian and the Buddhist monk Zhi Guang",
"question": "Who did the Yongle Emperor send to Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "to seek out the Karmapa",
"question": "Why did the Yongle Emperor send Hou Xian and Zhi Guang to Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1407",
"question": "When did Hou Xi... |
338 | During his travels beginning in 1403, Deshin Shekpa was induced by further exhortations by the Ming court to visit Nanjing by April 10, 1407. Norbu writes that the Yongle Emperor, following the tradition of Mongol emperors and their reverence for the Sakya lamas, showed an enormous amount of deference towards Deshin Shekpa. The Yongle Emperor came out of the palace in Nanjing to greet the Karmapa and did not require him to kowtow like a tributary vassal. According to Karma Thinley, the emperor gave the Karmapa the place of honor at his left, and on a higher throne than his own. Rossabi and others describe a similar arrangement made by Kublai Khan and the Sakya Phagpa lama, writing that Kublai would "sit on a lower platform than the Tibetan cleric" when receiving religious instructions from him. | [
{
"answer": "1403",
"question": "When did Deshin Shekpa travels start?"
},
{
"answer": "Nanjing",
"question": "Where did the Yongle Emperor greet the Karmapa?"
},
{
"answer": "the Karmapa",
"question": "Who did the Emperor give the place of honor at his left to?"
},
{
"answer... |
339 | Throughout the following month, the Yongle Emperor and his court showered the Karmapa with presents. At Linggu Temple in Nanjing, he presided over the religious ceremonies for the Yongle Emperor's deceased parents, while twenty-two days of his stay were marked by religious miracles that were recorded in five languages on a gigantic scroll that bore the Emperor's seal. During his stay in Nanjing, Deshin Shekpa was bestowed the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma" by the Yongle Emperor. Elliot Sperling asserts that the Yongle Emperor, in bestowing Deshin Shekpa with the title of "King" and praising his mystical abilities and miracles, was trying to build an alliance with the Karmapa as the Mongols had with the Sakya lamas, but Deshin Shekpa rejected the Yongle Emperor's offer. In fact, this was the same title that Kublai Khan had offered the Sakya Phagpa lama, but Deshin Shekpa persuaded the Yongle Emperor to grant the title to religious leaders of other Tibetan Buddhist sects. | [
{
"answer": "Linggu Temple",
"question": "At what temple did the ceremonies for the Yongle Emperor's deceased parents take place?"
},
{
"answer": "Nanjing",
"question": "Where was the Linggu Temple located?"
},
{
"answer": "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma",
"question": "What title wa... |
340 | Tibetan sources say Deshin Shekpa also persuaded the Yongle Emperor not to impose his military might on Tibet as the Mongols had previously done. Thinley writes that before the Karmapa returned to Tibet, the Yongle Emperor began planning to send a military force into Tibet to forcibly give the Karmapa authority over all the Tibetan Buddhist schools but Deshin Shekpa dissuaded him. However, Hok-Lam Chan states that "there is little evidence that this was ever the emperor's intention" and that evidence indicates that Deshin Skekpa was invited strictly for religious purposes. | [
{
"answer": "the Mongols",
"question": "Who imposed on the military might on Tibet in the past? "
},
{
"answer": "religious purposes",
"question": "Hok-Lam Chan states that Deshin Skekpa was only invited for what purpose? "
},
{
"answer": "to send a military force into Tibet",
"quest... |
341 | Marsha Weidner states that Deshin Shekpa's miracles "testified to the power of both the emperor and his guru and served as a legitimizing tool for the emperor's problematic succession to the throne," referring to the Yongle Emperor's conflict with the previous Jianwen Emperor. Tsai writes that Deshin Shekpa aided the legitimacy of the Yongle Emperor's rule by providing him with portents and omens which demonstrated Heaven's favor of the Yongle Emperor on the Ming throne. | [
{
"answer": "Jianwen Emperor",
"question": "Who did the Yongle Emperor have a conflict with?"
},
{
"answer": "Deshin Shekpa",
"question": "Who aided the legitimacy of the Yongle Emperor's rule?"
},
{
"answer": "Deshin Shekpa's miracles",
"question": "What served as a legitimizing too... |
342 | With the example of the Ming court's relationship with the fifth Karmapa and other Tibetan leaders, Norbu states that Chinese Communist historians have failed to realize the significance of the religious aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship. He writes that the meetings of lamas with the Emperor of China were exchanges of tribute between "the patron and the priest" and were not merely instances of a political subordinate paying tribute to a superior. He also notes that the items of tribute were Buddhist artifacts which symbolized "the religious nature of the relationship." Josef Kolmaš writes that the Ming dynasty did not exercise any direct political control over Tibet, content with their tribute relations that were "almost entirely of a religious character." Patricia Ann Berger writes that the Yongle Emperor's courting and granting of titles to lamas was his attempt to "resurrect the relationship between China and Tibet established earlier by the Yuan dynastic founder Khubilai Khan and his guru Phagpa." She also writes that the later Qing emperors and their Mongol associates viewed the Yongle Emperor's relationship with Tibet as "part of a chain of reincarnation that saw this Han Chinese emperor as yet another emanation of Manjusri." | [
{
"answer": "Chinese Communist historians",
"question": "According to Norbu who failed to realize the significance of the religious aspect of the Ming-Tibetan relationship?"
},
{
"answer": "Buddhist artifacts",
"question": "What were the items of tribute?"
},
{
"answer": "Josef Kolmaš",
... |
343 | The Information Office of the State Council of the PRC preserves an edict of the Zhengtong Emperor (r. 1435–1449) addressed to the Karmapa in 1445, written after the latter's agent had brought holy relics to the Ming court. Zhengtong had the following message delivered to the Great Treasure Prince of Dharma, the Karmapa: | [
{
"answer": "1435–1449",
"question": "What years did the Zhengtong Emperor reign?"
},
{
"answer": "The Information Office of the State Council of the PRC",
"question": "Who maintains an edict of the Zhengtong Emperor?"
},
{
"answer": "the Karmapa",
"question": "Who was the edict addr... |
344 | Despite this glowing message by the Emperor, Chan writes that a year later in 1446, the Ming court cut off all relations with the Karmapa hierarchs. Until then, the court was unaware that Deshin Shekpa had died in 1415. The Ming court had believed that the representatives of the Karma Kagyu who continued to visit the Ming capital were sent by the Karmapa. | [
{
"answer": "the Karmapa hierarchs",
"question": "Who did the Ming cut off all relations with?"
},
{
"answer": "1446",
"question": "What year did the Ming cut off the Karmapa hierarchs?"
},
{
"answer": "1415",
"question": "When did Deshin Shekpa die?"
},
{
"answer": "the Ka... |
347 | While the Ming dynasty traded horses with Tibet, it upheld a policy of outlawing border markets in the north, which Laird sees as an effort to punish the Mongols for their raids and to "drive them from the frontiers of China." However, after Altan Khan (1507–1582)—leader of the Tümed Mongols who overthrew the Oirat Mongol confederation's hegemony over the steppes—made peace with the Ming dynasty in 1571, he persuaded the Ming to reopen their border markets in 1573. This provided the Chinese with a new supply of horses that the Mongols had in excess; it was also a relief to the Ming, since they were unable to stop the Mongols from periodic raiding. Laird says that despite the fact that later Mongols believed Altan forced the Ming to view him as an equal, Chinese historians argue that he was simply a loyal Chinese citizen. By 1578, Altan Khan formed a formidable Mongol-Tibetan alliance with the Gelug that the Ming viewed from afar without intervention. | [
{
"answer": "Tibet",
"question": "Who did the Ming trade horses with?"
},
{
"answer": "Altan Khan",
"question": "Who was the leader of the Tümed Mongols?"
},
{
"answer": "the Oirat Mongol confederation's hegemony",
"question": "Who did Altan Khan overthrow?"
},
{
"answer": "t... |
349 | Discussions of strategy in the mid Ming dynasty focused primarily on recovery of the Ordos region, which the Mongols used as a rallying base to stage raids into Ming China. Norbu states that the Ming dynasty, preoccupied with the Mongol threat to the north, could not spare additional armed forces to enforce or back up their claim of sovereignty over Tibet; instead, they relied on "Confucian instruments of tribute relations" of heaping unlimited number of titles and gifts on Tibetan lamas through acts of diplomacy. Sperling states that the delicate relationship between the Ming and Tibet was "the last time a united China had to deal with an independent Tibet," that there was a potential for armed conflict at their borders, and that the ultimate goal of Ming foreign policy with Tibet was not subjugation but "avoidance of any kind of Tibetan threat." P. Christiaan Klieger argues that the Ming court's patronage of high Tibetan lamas "was designed to help stabilize border regions and protect trade routes." | [
{
"answer": "recovery of the Ordos region",
"question": "What did the mid Ming dynasty discussion focus mainly on?"
},
{
"answer": "the Mongols",
"question": "Who used the the Ordos region as a place to stage raids? "
},
{
"answer": "Ming China",
"question": "Where were the Mongols t... |
350 | Historians Luciano Petech and Sato Hisashi argue that the Ming upheld a "divide-and-rule" policy towards a weak and politically fragmented Tibet after the Sakya regime had fallen. Chan writes that this was perhaps the calculated strategy of the Yongle Emperor, as exclusive patronage to one Tibetan sect would have given it too much regional power. Sperling finds no textual evidence in either Chinese or Tibetan sources to support this thesis of Petech and Hisashi. Norbu asserts that their thesis is largely based on the list of Ming titles conferred on Tibetan lamas rather than "comparative analysis of developments in China and Tibet." Rossabi states that this theory "attributes too much influence to the Chinese," pointing out that Tibet was already politically divided when the Ming dynasty began. Rossabi also discounts the "divide-and-rule" theory on the grounds of the Yongle Emperor's failed attempt to build a strong relationship with the fifth Karmapa—one which he hoped would parallel Kublai Khan's earlier relationship with the Sakya Phagpa lama. Instead, the Yongle Emperor followed the Karmapa's advice of giving patronage to many different Tibetan lamas. | [
{
"answer": "divide-and-rule",
"question": "What policy does Luciano Petech and Sato Hisashi claim the Ming held towards the Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "after the Sakya regime had fallen",
"question": "When did the Ming hold the divide and rule policy?"
},
{
"answer": "fifth Karmapa",
"q... |
354 | Josef Kolmaš, a sinologist, Tibetologist, and Professor of Oriental Studies at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, writes that it was during the Qing dynasty "that developments took place on the basis of which Tibet came to be considered an organic part of China, both practically and theoretically subject to the Chinese central government." Yet he states that this was a radical change in regards to all previous eras of Sino-Tibetan relations. | [
{
"answer": "the Qing dynasty",
"question": "During Which dynasty does Josef Kolmaš claim Tibet was considered an organic part of China?"
},
{
"answer": "the Chinese central government",
"question": "Josef Kolmaš states that Tibet became subject to what government? "
}
] |
355 | P. Christiaan Klieger, an anthropologist and scholar of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, writes that the vice royalty of the Sakya regime installed by the Mongols established a patron and priest relationship between Tibetans and Mongol converts to Tibetan Buddhism. According to him, the Tibetan lamas and Mongol khans upheld a "mutual role of religious prelate and secular patron," respectively. He adds that "Although agreements were made between Tibetan leaders and Mongol khans, Ming and Qing emperors, it was the Republic of China and its Communist successors that assumed the former imperial tributaries and subject states as integral parts of the Chinese nation-state." | [
{
"answer": "the Tibetan lamas and Mongol khans",
"question": "Who does P. Christiaan Klieger claim to have had a mutual role of religious prelate?"
},
{
"answer": "the Republic of China and its Communist successors",
"question": "Who does P. Christiaan Klieger believe undertook the former imper... |
356 | China Daily, a CCP-controlled news organization since 1981, states in a 2008 article that although there were dynastic changes after Tibet was incorporated into the territory of Yuan dynasty's China in the 13th century, "Tibet has remained under the jurisdiction of the central government of China." It also states that the Ming dynasty "inherited the right to rule Tibet" from the Yuan dynasty, and repeats the claims in the Mingshi about the Ming establishing two itinerant high commands over Tibet. China Daily states that the Ming handled Tibet's civil administration, appointed all leading officials of these administrative organs, and punished Tibetans who broke the law. The party-controlled People's Daily, the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency, and the state-controlled national television network China Central Television posted the same article that China Daily had, the only difference being their headlines and some additional text. | [
{
"answer": "the 13th century",
"question": "When was Tibet included into the territory of Yuan dynasty's China?"
},
{
"answer": "the Ming dynasty",
"question": "Who was said to have gained the right to rule Tibet?"
},
{
"answer": "1981",
"question": "When was China Daily started?"
... |
357 | During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567), the native Chinese ideology of Daoism was fully sponsored at the Ming court, while Tibetan Vajrayana and even Chinese Buddhism were ignored or suppressed. Even the History of Ming states that the Tibetan lamas discontinued their trips to Ming China and its court at this point. Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe under Jiajing was determined to break the eunuch influence at court which typified the Zhengde era, an example being the costly escort of the eunuch Liu Yun as described above in his failed mission to Tibet. The court eunuchs were in favor of expanding and building new commercial ties with foreign countries such as Portugal, which Zhengde deemed permissible since he had an affinity for foreign and exotic people. | [
{
"answer": "1521–1567",
"question": "When did the Jiajing Emperor reign? "
},
{
"answer": "the native Chinese ideology of Daoism",
"question": "What ideology was sponsored at the Ming court?"
},
{
"answer": "the Tibetan lamas",
"question": "Who stopped their trips to Ming China?"
... |
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