Gaochang old city

Gaochang ancient city is the largest ancient city site in Xinjiang. It was built in the first century B.C. and became the political, economic and cultural center of Turpan Basin in 450 A.D. it became the capital of Gaochang Uighur Kingdom after the ninth century and the largest international chamber of Commerce and religious center in western regions. Even today, when the ancient city turns into a mound of earth, you will still have a sense of awe for it. When you think about the ups and downs of this place, you can't help but have mixed feelings.

Gaochang old city

Gaochang's old city is located in mumugou River Delta at the southern foot of Huoyan mountain in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Sanbao Township, more than 40 kilometers to the east of Turpan City, with a total area of 2 million square meters

It is the central town of Turpan Basin from the Western Han Dynasty to the yuan and Ming Dynasties (1st century bc-14th century AD)

It went through the periods of gaochangbi, gaochangjun, gaochangguo, Xizhou and Gaochang Uighur in the Western Han Dynasty, with a time span of about 1400 years

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Gaochang old city includes three important cities: outer city, inner city and palace city (Khan Fort). There are a large number of religious architecture sites and palace sites in the city

. There are Manichaeism murals, Buddhist murals and statues in the temple. There are many relics in the city, including documents and classics with different characters. The palace city is in the northernmost part, and two temple sites are well preserved in the southwest and Southeast corners of the outer city. There is an irregular square palace city in the middle of the north of the inner city, commonly known as "Khan fort". The old city of Gaochang was abandoned in the war at the end of the 13th century, and most of the buildings disappeared

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

. In January 2013, the State Administration of cultural heritage officially listed Gaochang as one of the world cultural heritage sites declared by the silk road

.

Historical evolution

Gaochang ancient city was founded in the Western Han Dynasty (the first century BC), which was built by the garrison troops of the Western Han Dynasty in the territory of Cheshi former state. In the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, Wuji Xiaowei was sent to manage the garrison, so it is also known as "Wuji Xiaowei city".

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In the second year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (327 A.D.), Zhang Jun of Qianliang "set up Gaochang county and established Tiandi county" in the old city of Gaochang, and then was under the jurisdiction of qianqin, Houliang, Xiliang and Beiliang in Hexi corridor

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In the 19th year of Yuanjia (442 A.D.) of the Southern Song Dynasty, the remnant forces of Beiliang established an exile regime in the old city of Gaochang in Juqu

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In the 11th year of Taiping Zhenjun (AD 450) of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Juqu Anzhou conquered Jiaohe City and destroyed the former state of Cheshi. Therefore, the political, economic and cultural center of Turpan Basin was completely transferred from Jiaohe City to Gaochang city

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In the fourth year of Daming (460 A.D.) in the Southern Song Dynasty, Rouran people killed King Anzhou of Beiliang. After that, Zhang, Ma and Qu became kings in Gaochang one after another. Among them, Qu's reign lasted for more than 140 years

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In the 14th year of Zhenguan (640 AD), Hou Junji, the Minister of the Tang Dynasty, led the army to unify Gaochang (the old city of Gaochang), where Xizhou was set up and five counties, Gaochang, Jiaohe, Liuzhong, Puchang and Tianshan, were under the jurisdiction. The statistics of the registered residence of Gao Chang were collected by Hou Jun Ji. At that time, the population was 37 thousand.

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After the Tang Dynasty (the end of the 8th century AD), the Tubo once occupied Gaochang

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After the end of the Tang Dynasty (the middle of the 9th century AD), after the decline of the Uighur Khanate in the grassland of Mobei, some of the remaining people who moved westward conquered Gaochang and established the Uighur Gaochang state here. The most prosperous time of its territory included Xizhou, Yizhou, Tingzhou of the former Tang Dynasty, and the two dudufu of Yanqi and Qiuci. In addition, there are many other nationalities or tribes in luobunao

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In the first year of Jin Da'an (1209 AD), Gaochang Uighur officials attached to Mongolia. The ancient city of Genghis Khan gave the Uighur King Gaochang his fifth son and married a princess

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After the Southern Song Dynasty (13th century A.D.), the nomadic nobles of Northwest Mongolia in the vast area north of Tianshan Mountain, led by Haidu and DUWA, launched a rebellion and invaded Gaochang of Uighur in Yuan Dynasty many times

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In the first year of Deyou in Southern Song Dynasty (1275 AD), the nomadic nobles of Northwest Mongolia in the vast area north of Tianshan Mountains, led by Haidu and DUWA, launched a rebellion. They once sent 120000 troops to besiege Huozhou (the old city of Gaochang) for half a year. Later, huochihar's Jin, who was also the king of Gaochang, died in the war with Haidu and DUWA. The war lasted for more than 40 years, and gaochangcheng was destroyed in the war.

In the third to the fifth year of Yuan Yanyou (1316-1318), Xinlin, the son of huochihar's Jin, who was canonized by Emperor Renzong of Yuan Dynasty and inherited the high throne, led the army to recapture the city with the support of Yuan Dynasty. Because Gaochang city was destroyed in the war, the Huozhou city rebuilt this time is not in the old site of Gaochang, but in the west of the original Gaochang city (near Astana Village). After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the division of Huozhou was called "ground"

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In the spring of 1955, archaeologists found 10 Sassanian silver coins in the old city of Gaochang

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In May 2005, Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology conducted a local archaeological exploration on the moat ruins of Gaochang old city. The excavation results confirmed that there were moats and moats outside Gaochang old city

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In 2006, the Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology carried out the first archaeological excavation of the old city of Gaochang. The excavation sites include the west gate of the outer city and the Dafosi temple

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From March to June 2007, Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology conducted the second archaeological excavation of the old city of Gaochang. The excavation sites include the Northeast row house of Dafosi temple and the 200 meter wall on the South and north sides of the west gate of the outer city

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From April to May 2008, the Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology conducted the third excavation of Gaochang ancient city. The excavation sites include the southeast small Buddhist temple, moat and kiln site

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From November to December 2008, the Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology conducted the fourth excavation of Gaochang old city. The excavation sites include the southeast row house of Dafo temple, the North pagoda of Dafo temple and the west wall of inner city

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From February to April 2009, Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology conducted the fifth excavation of Gaochang old city. The excavation sites include the south gate section of the south wall of the inner city, No.1, No.2 and No.3 dwellings, the south 2 section of the west gate of the west wall of the outer city, important relics and the 200 square meter trial excavation of the Khan Fort site

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Site features

The internal and external architectural types of Gaochang old city are based on the shape and layout of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty. The plan is rectangular, with a perimeter of 5.4 km and a total area of about 2 million square meters. The layout is divided into three parts: outer city, inner city and palace city. The outer wall base is 12 meters wide and 11.5 meters high. It is made of rammers. The ramming layer is 8 cm-12 cm thick, with a small amount of adobe, clear holes for sticks, and a well preserved protruding horse surface. There are nine gates in the city, three in the South and two in the other three. The gate on the north side of the west is the best preserved, with a zigzag urn; the inner city is in the middle of the outer city, the plane is square, the wall is rammed earth City, the West and south sides are well preserved, and its construction age is earlier than that of the outer city; the palace city is in the north side, with outer city wall, inner city wall, palace wall, Khan fort, beacon tower, pagoda and other buildings. The north wall of the outer city is the north wall of the palace city, and the north wall of the inner city is the south wall of the palace city

. In the southwest corner of the outer city, there is a Buddhist temple site, covering an area of 10000 square meters. In the center of the courtyard, there are still Bodhisattvas and walls

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Cultural relics

The relics unearthed in the old city of Gaochang mainly include pottery, copper, iron, wood and stone tools. According to the characteristics of the mouth, it can be divided into urn, jar, pot, basin, bowl, bowl and cup, and the proportion of basin, jar and urn is larger. The mural fragment unearthed in the F1 room of No.1 residential building is a Thousand Buddhas. The Buddha has a round face, a fat body, a towering bun, a shoulder garment and a rosette under his body. The body is straight, less curvilinear, and the image is plump, which is close to the characteristics of the Buddhist statues in the Tang Dynasty, and conforms to the aesthetic concept of plump beauty in the Tang Dynasty. The painting style is light and mellow, which is obviously the artistic style of the Tang Dynasty. A piece of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" was unearthed from the stratum on the south side of No. 1 residence. The west part of No.3 residential building overlaps the east part of the building, and there is a relationship between them sooner or later. The Tang Dynasty "Jianzhong Tongbao" coins were unearthed near one of the Buddhist temples in the eastern part of the building, and the Song Dynasty "Huangsong Tongbao" coins were unearthed in the upper collapsed soil

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Research value

Gaochang's old city, also known as "capital protection city" in Uighur, means "King City". It was once the capital of Gaochang Kingdom, one of the treasures of religious culture in the world, and also an important political, economic, cultural, religious and military center in the ancient western regions. It provides a reference for the study of urban culture, architectural technology, multi religion and multi-ethnic culture exchange and dissemination in Turpan Basin Information was provided

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protective measures

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

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On August 16, 1999, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region established the four boundaries of Gaochang's old city: extending 150 meters from the baseline of the north wall of the outer city in the north; extending to the west edge of erbu township highway in the East; extending 800 meters to the South Gate in the South; extending 100 meters to the west gate of the outer city in the west, parallel to the existing road. It covers a total area of 459.97 square meters; the four boundaries of the buffer zone are: North to the foot line of the north side of Huoyan mountain; East to the east side of tuyugou, 2000 meters; South to the north side of tuyugou township; West to the crossing reservoir

Chinese PinYin : Gao Chang Gu Cheng