In modern times, Our country has been characterized by many disasters and difficulties, and the most intuitive embodiment is the loss of sovereign territory. You know, as the world's largest country at that time, China's lost land area also ranked first in the world. According to statistics, a total of 6,034,600 square kilometers. Today, China's total area is 9.6 million square kilometers, which can be said to have lost most of China.
The Western powers plundered a lot of land from the Qing government through various well-established wars and unequal treaties. There are also some territories that originally belonged to our country, but were stirred up by Western countries and eventually became independent countries. Tajikistan and Mongolia in present-day Central and Western Asia were obstructed by the Soviets and eventually split.
However, also in Central and Western Asia, there is such a magical country. In history, it has been divided and merged with our country many times, and even separated from the imperial power. However, in a period when the Qing Dynasty was weakened and should have been completely broken, it returned to the embrace of China and is now a county in China. So the question is, which country is this, and for what purpose?
This country is called Khotan, which is a Buddhist kingdom in the ancient western region of China. As early as 232 BC, it existed as an independent country in the Western Regions, and the people belonged to the Indo-European Tocharians, which were different from the Han Chinese.
Since Khotan was an important stronghold on the Silk Road, trade enriched this land. At one time, it became the most powerful country in the Western Regions, and its territory even extended to the south side of China's Tarim Basin.
However, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the rise of the Shache state, the Khotanese state was annexed by it. Later, Emperor Ming of Han sent troops to destroy Shache, and the state of Khotan also submitted to the Han Dynasty. Later, Emperor Ming of Han set up the Western Regions Protectorate to strengthen the management, and when the Eastern Han Dynasty launched a counterattack against the Xiongnu, the famous general Ban Chao used Khotan as a base to carry out a series of Xiongnu wars.
Unfortunately, after the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Khotan was attacked by other Western States, and finally annexed by the Western Turks, which ruled until the Tang Dynasty. Later, when it came to the Tang Dynasty, because China destroyed the surrounding Gaochang state, the Western Turks were very afraid. They thought of making peace with the Tang Dynasty, and in order to show their sincerity, the Turks ceded the regions of Guizi and Khotan to the Tang Dynasty as a dowry. It was also at this time that Khotan returned to the embrace of China.
It is also because of admiration for the strength of the Li dynasty, sheng Tang Nahui, the two monarchs of the Khotanese kingdom have changed their surnames to Li surnames. The Tang Emperor also established the Anxi Capital Protectorate here, and unified jurisdiction over the Guizi, Khotanese, Shanye and Shule ceded by the Western Turks, which is also the famous "Four Towns of Anxi" in China's history.
It was during the Tang Dynasty that the land of Khotan was coveted by the Tubo people in the southwest, who constantly harassed Khotan and even invaded Khotan. The Tang Dynasty army also fought with Tubo many times, and the two sides also came and went, and the Khotanese state divided and merged with the Tang In such a tug-of-war.
Although turbulent, the emotional belonging of the Khotanese people is still on the side of the Tang Dynasty, after all, the Tang Dynasty is the world's first power, and the people of Khotan are also proud of their status as the people of the Tang Dynasty. Even if they were occupied by Tibet, they would spontaneously revolt and want to return to China.
However, in this tug-of-war, in the end, Tibet won the victory. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was full of mud and sand, and Tubo also took advantage of the situation to take all the "four towns of Anxi" into their pockets. However, the flowers were not red, and Tubo also began to decline after the 9th century AD. Khotan also saw the opportunity, quietly became independent, and became a free country again, still following the living customs of the Tang Dynasty.
However, in 1006 AD, Khotan was annexed by the Qarakhanids. Since then, it has been under the jurisdiction of the Qarakhanid State, never been independent, and its culture and folklore have gradually been Islamized, and the traces left by the Tang Dynasty in Khotan, which were completely erased, and the Khotanese State has also gone to the real sense of extinction.
After that, hundreds of years of ups and downs passed, until the late Qing Dynasty, Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang. The region where Khotan was located once again returned to our country, and ironically, this country that was divided and merged with our country in history finally returned in the late Qing Dynasty, when China's national strength was the weakest.
After the return, the Qing government immediately established Khotan county in the region, which also officially became the administrative plan of our country. Today, it has been renamed Yutian County, which belongs to the Hotan region of Xinjiang. This land, which has been weathered for more than 2,000 years, has finally returned to its hometown.