Liu Manqing

Liu (or Yudhona) was born in Lhasa, Tibet, the daughter of a Tibetan or Chinese father, Liu Rongguang, and a Tibetan mother.^[1] She spoke Tibetan as her first language, and her family was Muslim. She lived in Darjeeling for a time in childhood, when her parents were expelled from Tibet. She was later educated in Beijing,^[2] where she learned Mandarin, and may have trained as a nurse at a missionary hospital.^[3][4]

Liu returned to Tibet as a young woman, despite the travel difficulties of reaching Lhasa. She proceeded by water, on horseback, and on foot over rugged land,^[5] "successfully paving the way for a reconciliation between China and the Tibetan Government", predicted a 1930 news report.^[6] She conducted negotiations during visits with the 13th Dalai Lama,^[7][8] held a civil service appointment in China under Chiang Kai-shek,^[9][10] and was an envoy, interpreter and messenger between Chinese and Tibetan leaders in the 1920s and 1930s.^[11][12] She wrote three books, two about Tibet and one about education.^[4] In 1938, she reported to the Kuomintang in Chongqing about conditions in Xikang province.^[13]

In 1931, Liu was a founding member of the Association of the Border Areas of China, or Frontier Club.^[3] She spoke about her experiences to the Frontier Club at the University of Shanghai in 1932.^[12]

Liu used several names. She was also known as Yongjin and De Meixi.^[1]

• Expedition in a Carriage to Xikang and Tibet (1933)
• Tibet (1934)
• Education in the Chinese Border Areas (1937)

Liu was married and soon divorced as a young woman in Beijing. She died in 1941, aged 35 years, in Chongqing. She is "remembered as a heroine by the Tibetan people", among whom the story of her arduous journeys to Lhasa is well known.^[4]