Ancient city of ulapo

Wulabo ancient city site, also known as "broken city", is the Luntai County in the Tang and Yuan Dynasties, and a prosperous town on the Beixin road of the ancient Silk Road. It is said that the "Luntai" in Cen Shen's "white snow song to send judge Wu back to Beijing" is Wulabo. However, the present ruins of the ancient city are desolate and empty, with rocks everywhere. Only the city wall is well preserved, and the protruding horse face can still be seen on the wall. A large number of ancient pottery, jade and coins more than 1000 years ago have been unearthed here. However, you can only look out from the outside of the ancient city, not walk in.

On the way from Urumqi to the ancient city, you will pass by the beautiful lake Wulabo. The local people call it Wulabo reservoir. There are many water birds in summer, most of them are wild ducks and wild swans. Sometimes you can see one or two wild swans in winter.

Ancient city of ulapo

The ancient city of Wulabo is located on the Bank of Wulabo lake, about 10 kilometers southwest of Urumqi, Xinjiang. It is also known as "Luntai city" (the existing dispute). The site is slightly square.

The ancient city of ulappo is 550 meters long from north to South and 450 meters wide from east to west. The perimeter of the city is more than 2 kilometers long. The wall is tall and wide, with a remnant height of 4 meters and a base width of 5 meters. The four corners of the city wall and the city gate protrude outwards.

Introduction to the ancient city

The ancient city is full of pottery pieces from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and a small number of Yuan Dynasty porcelain pieces have been unearthed. Nearby farmers also found many round square hole copper coins from the ancient city of Qing Dynasty, including those from Qianlong to Guangxu. Through these relics of different times, we can imagine that the ancient city has experienced thousands of years of historical vicissitudes.

The existence of the ancient city of ulappo not only proves the history of Urumqi and the history of commercial and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, but also shows that the central government stationed troops in the ancient city of ulappo more than 1000 years ago. It is the earliest and best preserved ancient city in Urumqi. It is so close to the urban area that it is the origin of Urumqi. Therefore, it is of great value to the study of the development of Urumqi's urban history, and it is also an important historic site for people to visit in Urumqi.

Cultural relics protection

On June 25, 2001, the ancient city of ulapo was selected as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

Architectural features

The city gate is in the central part of each side, and the urban area is divided into three parts: Northeast, northwest and southwest. The city's urn gate, tower, turret, horse face, etc. are extraordinarily grand. There are also looking out channels in the middle of the city wall. From its huge engineering buildings and military facilities, it is obviously a setting of great military significance, a garrison station with military level system (jingsai Army).

The ancient city is more than a thousand years old. Some people think that it is the Luntai city of Tang Dynasty. Cultural relics of Liao and Yuan Dynasties, such as pottery pots, pots, lotus shaped square bricks, ancient coins and jades, were found on the ground of the city. It is now listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in China.

geographical position

Wulabo ancient city, located in the southern suburb of Urumqi about 10 kilometers away, is a physical witness of the ancient history of Urumqi. This is the earliest and best preserved ancient city pool discovered in Urumqi. It is at least 1000 years ago.

The ancient city is of great scale and momentum. Its south back against the Tianshan Mountains, the east to Turpan and southern Xinjiang must pass through the Tianshan Baiyang gully, located in the center. The ancient city is slightly square with a circumference of more than 2 km.

Wulabo ancient city, the city wall rammed for Earth City, is still up to 7 meters high. The square turret remains at the four corners of the city. There are dense horse faces protruding from the wall on each side of the city wall, and there are urn gates in the city wall (the urn gate of the north wall is slightly to the West). All these show the military functions of the ancient city at that time.

Layout structure

In the ancient city, the ancient city is divided into three parts by three rammed walls, which are divided into three sub cities: Northeast, northwest and south. Some sub cities also have urn cities and turrets. In Nanzi City, there is still a damaged ramming platform, which may be an important foundation site in that year. The ancient city is full of pottery pieces from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and a small number of Yuan Dynasty porcelain pieces have been unearthed. Nearby farmers also found many round square hole copper coins from the ancient city of Qing Dynasty, including those from Qianlong to Guangxu. Through these relics of different times, we can imagine that the ancient city has experienced thousands of years of historical vicissitudes.

Some people think that it should be Luntai City, an important town on the North Road of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, but others hold a negative view. But in any case, one thing is certain, that is, the ancient city of ulapo is the earliest and best preserved ancient city within the jurisdiction of Urumqi. It is so close to the urban area that it is the origin of Urumqi. Therefore, it is of great value to the study of the development of Urumqi's urban history, and it is also an important historic site for people to visit in Urumqi.

historical significance

The discovery of the ancient city of Wulabo is certainly an important basis for the study of local history. However, it is far from enough to talk about the development and development history in the suburb of Urumqi.

In recent years, the excavation of ancient tombs in the Wulapo reservoir area near it, with the latest archaeological data, shows that as early as about a thousand years before the activity period of the ancient city, which is equivalent to the Warring States period in China, there were more people living in this area, and there were relatively developed social and economic activities. These people are the earliest ancestors in the suburb of Urumqi according to the existing archaeological data.

Unfortunately, due to the construction of the reservoir, their residential remains have sunk to the bottom of the reservoir and are hard to find. Fortunately, the tombs still preserved on the nearby higher platforms (these platforms could not escape the doom of being destroyed during the peak period of water storage) can still give people historical information, so that we can be sure that there were human settlements, villages and houses in the flat and low-lying area not far from the cemetery.

archaeological discovery

According to the objects excavated by archaeologists, the ancestors here were engaged in animal husbandry, but they also developed grain planting. Pottery is the utensils of people's daily life. At the same time, gold earrings, bronze mirrors and small ironware were also found, which shows that in addition to the pottery industry, there was also a simple handicraft industry of gold, copper and iron. Two bronze mirrors unearthed from the tomb are intact and one remains. The complete one is similar to the bronze mirrors unearthed from ancient tombs in the same period in the Yili River Basin, while the remaining one is likely to be imported from the mainland. These phenomena show that there are economic and cultural ties among Urumqi, the mainland and Ili before 2000.

The discovery of the ancient tombs in Wulabo leads the history in the suburb of Urumqi to the ancient times more than 2000 years ago, and provides people with some new material evidence about the social and economic situation and ideology at that time, which is another important reference for the study of the history of Xinjiang.

The scale

Wulabo ancient city is also known as "Luntai city" (existing dispute). Located in Wulabo village, Dawan Township, Urumqi City, Xinjiang, Wulabo ancient city is one of the oldest and largest ancient architectural sites of Tang and Yuan Dynasties in Urumqi. It can be roughly divided into Luntai County, Beiting Prefecture and jingsai army. It was built around 640 AD and has a history of more than 1300 years. The existence of the ancient city of ulappo not only proves the history of Urumqi and the history of commercial and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, but also shows that the central government stationed troops in the ancient city of ulappo more than 1000 years ago.

"Luntai city" is a county under the jurisdiction of Dadu Prefecture of Beiting in the Tang Dynasty. It is located in the fortress of Tianshan Mountain and the four roads into northern Xinjiang. It is a necessary place for the new North Road of the "Silk Road". Therefore, it has developed into an important transportation and trade town and military defense area in the western regions of the Tang Dynasty.

Folk poetry

CEN Shen, a famous general poet of the Tang Dynasty, lived in the ancient city of ulabo for three years and left a number of poems praising the high style of Luntai, such as white snow song, Luntai song, zoumachuan, etc. with outstanding patriotic theme and heroic momentum, he was regarded as a good product by critics of all ages. The ancient city was used until the Yuan Dynasty.

The ancient city of Wulabo is 550 meters long from north to South and 450 meters wide from east to west. Its walls are basically in good condition. The rammed wall is 2-7 meters high. The layout of the city is divided into three areas. Most of the buildings do not exist. The remains of square turrets are still preserved in some corners of the city. Pottery pots, pottery urns, lotus edge bricks, coins and other objects have been unearthed one after another, mainly pottery. The ancient city of Wulabo is the earliest city site in Urumqi with complete preservation and scale, which is known as the first city in the history of urban construction in Urumqi.

Traffic in ancient city

Take bus No.312 at Urumqi South Railway Station, or take bus No.528 at Riyue Xingguang garden, or take bus No.9 at santunbei to Shuixigou toll station to transfer to bus No.312 or 528, where you can get off the bus directly to the ancient city. You need to spend 20 yuan - 10 yuan for one way plus 10 yuan for vehicle toll. The ancient city is in the south of the management station. You can also take a bus to the scenic spot at Nanchang Road passenger station.

Sometimes there is a CMB at the management station. It costs 2 yuan to go to the reservoir ridge and then walk there. The scenery on the road is very good. You can also walk directly from the management station to the ancient city, which will take more than 1 hour

Chinese PinYin : Wu La Bo Gu Cheng