Gansu's Fourth City: A Historical Witness to Tibet's Administrative Affiliation with the Central Government

Outside Liangzhou City, at Huahua Temple (now Baita Temple), an important meeting regarding Tibet's submission to Mongolia was held. The participants were Köten (a prince of the Mongol Empire and commander of the Western Expedition) and Sakya Pandita (the religious leader of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism). After the Liangzhou talks, Sakya Pandita issued the famous 'Letter to the Tibetans' to various Tibetan factions. This alliance, which took place over seven hundred years ago in the Hexi Corridor, holds a very special significance in Chinese history. It not only ended over four hundred years of fragmentation in Tibet but also laid a solid foundation for the incorporation of the Tibetan Plateau into the Yuan Dynasty's territory.