Qianlong and the Towers of Jinchuan
Chinese art of the siege
Kublai Khan converted to Tibetan Buddhism for political reasons, but direct control over the plateau was not established until 1621. Political unity was untenable in a rugged land where aristocratic families contested power so closely. Food insecurity also led to incessant raiding warfare in the border region between Szechuan and Kham, a downslope…
