Site of Guge Kingdom

From the 10th century to the beginning of the 17th century, the Guge Kingdom lived in the west of Tibet. It promoted Buddhism and resisted foreign invasion. It played an important role in the history of Tibet after the Tubo Dynasty. Due to a war in 1630, it disappeared. In Tibet, the society entered a period of separate administration. The most influential and the longest is the 700 year history of Guge, which has left some exquisite religious art works such as murals, sculptures and stone carvings for later generations. "Guge" is a miracle. Over the years, it has attracted many explorers, scholars, artists and journalists to come all the way to investigate, trace and search for treasures.

Site of Guge Kingdom

The site of Guge kingdom is located on an earth mountain 2 kilometers away from zaburang District, Zada County, Ali Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, about 18 kilometers west of Zada County, covering a total area of 720000 square meters

It was built around the 10th century A.D. and its ancestor dezugon was a descendant of zanpulangdama

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The site of Guge kingdom is more than 300 meters high from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. There are more than 600 houses, pagodas and caves. Five temples and halls are well preserved. There are clay Buddha statues and murals in the temple, as well as portraits of Tibetan Zanpu and princes. Iron armor, vest, shield, arrowhead and other relics are scattered around the site

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On March 4, 1961, the site of Guge kingdom was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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Historical evolution

In the middle of the 9th century, after the death of the last Zanpu (King of Tibet) landama, the struggle for the throne was launched within the royal family. Gidni Magun, one of the descendants of landama, failed in the struggle and fled to Ali area to establish a small Dynasty. Later, gidni Magun divided Ali into three parts and granted them to his three sons. Guge Kingdom (the site of Guge Kingdom) was the vassal state of his third son, dezugon. The regime lasted more than 700 years before it was defeated in the war

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In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), an Englishman, Michael hochs young, went up the Xiangquan River from India to investigate the ruins of the Guge kingdom

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In 1979, the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region jointly organized the first thematic cultural relics survey of the Guge Kingdom site

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In 1981, the Tibet Industrial Architecture Survey and Design Institute organized professionals to survey and map the site of Guge kingdom

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In 1985, an investigation team organized by the Cultural Administration Commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region carried out a series of archaeological work at the site of Guge kingdom.

Site features

Scale layout

The site of Guge kingdom is about 600 meters wide from east to west and 1200 meters long from north to south, covering a total area of 720000 square meters. From the foot of the site to the top of the mountain, it is more than 300 meters high, with more than 600 houses, pagodas and caves, forming a huge group of ancient buildings. The buildings are divided into upper, middle and lower floors, followed by royal palace, temples and dwellings

. There are tunnels in the lower part of the complex, stone walls in the periphery and blockhouses in the corner. There are five hall buildings with relatively good murals, namely white hall, red hall, Daweide hall, Tara hall and mandala hall. There are clay Buddha statues and colorful murals, as well as portraits of Tibetan Zanpu and princes

. On the cliff of the top of the mountain is the Royal Palace, including the main hall for gathering and discussion, the Sutra hall for Buddhist activities, the mandala, the temple, and the winter palace and summer palace where the royal family lived

. In addition, there is a 2 km old canal made of stones

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Cultural relics

There are 445 houses, 879 caves, 58 blockhouses, 4 secret roads, 28 pagodas, 1 cave burial, 1 weapon depot, 1 stone pot depot, 11 granaries, 4 cave kilns, 1 wall burial, 1 coffin burial

. Around the site are iron armor, vest, shield, arrow shaft and other relics

There are also pebbles piled up everywhere, which are relics left by the war. Not far from the site, there is a corpse cave, in which there are many headless mummies

. Most of the Guge sculptures are made of gold and silver, and the higher one is called Guge silver eye. The largest and most complete remains are its murals. Guge murals are magnificent and unique in style, which comprehensively reflect all aspects of social life at that time. The characters are outstanding in character, and the plump and dynamic female characters are especially representative. Due to its geographical location and the influence of various foreign cultures, Guge's artistic style has obvious artistic characteristics of Kashmir and Gandhara. Guge is rich in gold and silver. A kind of Scripture written in gold and silver juice was found in Tuolin temple, zhaburang and piyangdongga, and a large number of them were unearthed. This kind of Scripture is written on a kind of black paper which is slightly bluish blue. One row is written in gold juice, and the other row is written in silver juice

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Research value

There are painted murals on the interior panels and four walls of the palaces of the Guge Kingdom site. The painting style is one of its own. It is influenced not only by the Wei Tibet area, but also by the neighboring Nepal, India and Central Asia. It has high artistic and historical value and occupies an important position in the history of Tibetan art. Several buildings in the site are of great value in painting, clay sculpture, carving art and so on. They are the complete works left over from the period of Guge Kingdom and the representatives of Guge architecture and art. In order to resist external invasion, the Guge Kingdom built the capital and some subordinate institutions into military strongholds, especially the military defense facilities of the capital, which provided detailed information for the study of defense facilities in ancient Tibetan buildings

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protective measures

On March 4, 1961, the site of Guge kingdom was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 2016, the State Administration of cultural relics issued the notice of the 13th five year plan for the protection of large sites, and the site of Guge kingdom was listed as a large site in the 13th Five Year Plan period

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History and culture

According to the records of Tibetan ministers, the Guge Kingdom (the site of Guge Kingdom) has 16 kings. The ancient palace and castle in Zada county have been continuously expanded from the 10th century to the 16th century. The Guge Kingdom occupies an important position in the cultural history of Tibet. At that time, on the one hand, ancient Indian Buddhism was introduced into the hinterland of Tibet from here; on the other hand, there were ancient commercial routes passing through here, which was one of the important commercial ports of Tibet's foreign trade; in addition, in the 400 years after the fall of the Tubo Dynasty, the Guge kingdom had been a relatively powerful Dynasty in Tibet. The mysterious GUG Dynasty disappeared in history overnight

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Tourism information

geographical position

The site of Guge kingdom is located on an earth mountain 2 kilometers away from zaburang District, Zada County, Ali Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region

It is about 18 kilometers away from Zhada County in the West

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Opening Hours

Opening hours: 08:00-19:00.

admission ticket

Admission: 50 yuan per person.

traffic

Ali Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region -- Wenhua Road -- National Highway 219 -- National Highway 219 -- site of Guge kingdom.

Address: South Bank of Xiangquan River, northwest of Tuolin Town, zabugang District, arizada County

Longitude: 79.672336995602

Latitude: 31.462663027305

Tel: 0897-2622822

Tour time: 1 day

Traffic information: bus route:

Alikunsha airport is 160 km away from the scenic spot. You can take a coach to the scenic spot.

Self driving route:

① 219 national highway MenShi Township Qulong Yincheng Dongpo Temple Daba site Guge Kingdom site County

② BAL military station of 219 National Highway -- piyang Dongga site -- Zada county (Tuolin Temple) -- Guge Kingdom site

③ Kunsha Airport -- no.219 national highway namuru -- piyang Dongga site -- Zhada county (Tuolin Temple) -- Guge Kingdom site

Ticket information: ticket: 50 yuan

Opening hours: 8:00-19:00

Chinese PinYin : Gu Ge Wang Guo Yi Zhi