Dang Zhihao: All protect the Western Regions, but where are they looking for them now?
Urumqi, China News Service, September 30 Title: All protect the western region, and where to find it now?
Author Dang Zhihao, associate researcher of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
The Western Regions Capital Protectorate was the jurisdiction set up by the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions, and the Western Regions Capital Protector was the supreme military and political governor who governed the Western Regions. Its establishment marked the formal incorporation of Xinjiang into China's territory and played a leading role in the social stability, economic development and cultural progress of the western region. Chinese and foreign experts and scholars have been examining the location of the Western Regions Capital Protectorate. After years of efforts, the appearance of the Western Regions Metropolitan Protectorate Ruins Group has become clearer and clearer, providing more clues for finding the specific location of the Western Regions Metropolitan Protectorate Sites.
The ruins of ancient cities in Luntai County are distributed. Photo courtesy of Dang Zhihao
Where is the Western Protectorate?
According to the "Book of Han and the Biography of the Western Regions", in 60 BC (the second year of the Divine Lord), the Western Han Dynasty set up the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, and the first Western Regions Capital Protector was Zheng Ji. This marks the official inclusion of Xinjiang in China's territory and is an important event in Chinese history. Since then, a total of nearly 20 Western Regions have been in charge of the Western Regions.
Where is the Han Western Regions Protectorate now? Are there any relics? What is the specific shape? They have become the focus of discussion among scholars of all generations.
The Book of Han and the Biography of the Western Regions records that the Capital Protectorate of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty was located in a place called Wulei City, "to Yangguan for 2,738 miles." The book also records the location relationship between Wulei City and Guizi State (near present-day Kuqa City, Xinjiang), "(Guizi) is three hundred and fifty miles east to Wulei City, the capital of the capital. According to the Han Dynasty's 415.8 meters, Wulei City is about 1100 kilometers west of Yangguan, about 140 kilometers east of Guizi, and about 130 kilometers north of Quli. Compared with the current administrative divisions, it can be roughly deduced that Wulei City should be in Luntai County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang.
Aerial photography of the ancient city of Yuqicat. Photo courtesy of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Lock up Luntai County
Luntai County is located in the northwest of present-day Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. In recent years, archaeological excavations have found that there are more than 20 Han and Tang City sites in the county, which city site is the site of the Western Han Dynasty Capital Protectorate?
Since the light years of the Qing Dynasty, Xu Song, Wang Xianqian, Li Guangting, Ding Qian, Cen Zhongmian and other historical geographers have all examined the location of the Western Regions Capital Based on the records of the Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions. In particular, Xu Song, through visiting ancient sites in Xinjiang, speculated that "the present-day Kuqa City belongs to the Cetel Military Platform and its East Che'er chu Juntai, both of which are Wulei City", that is, the area from Cedaya to Kurchu in the eastern part of present-day Luntai County.
Since entering the new era, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the School of Archaeology and Literature of Peking University, the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Comprehensive Archaeology of the National Museum of China and other scientific research institutions have conducted multidisciplinary comprehensive investigation and research on some ancient cities in Luntai County, further narrowing the scope of the Western Regions Protectorate set up in Wulei City, when it is in the southeast of present-day Luntai County.
Han GuiYi Qiang Long Seal and Li Chong's Copper Seal. Photo courtesy of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Demystifying the "Other Key" of the Western Regions
The Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions (Part 2) records that around 16 AD, the Western Regions Capital Protectorate had been moved from the then Wulei City to its Qiancheng.
In recent years, the ancient city of Yuqikat, located 22 kilometers southwest of the county seat of Xinhe in Xinjiang's Aksu region, has attracted the attention of archaeologists. In 2013, the School of Archaeology and Archaeology of Peking University and the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology formed a joint archaeological team to conduct archaeological exploration of the ancient city of Yuqikat.
As early as 1928, during the archaeological investigation and excavation of this area by Professor Huang Wenbi of Peking University, in addition to collecting a large number of Relics of the Han Dynasty, he also found the private seal of Li Chong, the last western capital of the Western Han Dynasty. In 1953, people found the "Han Gui Yi Qiang Long Seal" here. The discovery of these seals provides an important cultural relics basis for determining the nature of the ancient city of Yuqikat.
From the current surface remnants, it can be seen that the ancient city of Yuqicat has a triple circle, and the outermost city has an east-west length of 1500 meters, which is the longest ancient city known to be in Xinjiang. There are many high-rise buildings in the second city circle, which are large in size, and the exploration has found that they are the ruins of large houses, which may be the buildings of the Ya Bureau. A large road around the city was also found in the second circle of the city.
Based on the excavated seals, the size of the city, and the quality of the building, archaeologists have preliminarily assumed that this may be the qiancheng city, that is, the location of the Western Regions Protectorate after the relocation around 16 AD.
Overlooking the ruins of the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehair. Photo courtesy of Dang Zhihao
Dig deep into the "seed players"
After the relocation of the Western Regions Capital Protectorate around 16 AD was basically determined, archaeologists focused their main efforts on the southeast of Luntai County, where there are five ancient ruins of the ancient city of Kona Xiehaier, the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier, the ancient city of Sevier, the ancient city of Zhuorkut and the ancient city of Chak Pailaik.
Since 2018, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the School of Archaeology of Peking University jointly declared the research project of "The Protectorate of the Western Regions - Archaeology of the Establishment of the Military and Political System of the Two Han Dynasties in the Western Regions" approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and included in the major project of "Archaeology in China", and the research group conducted key archaeological excavations on two "seed players" in the five city sites in the southeast of Luntai County, Kuiyuke Xiehaier Ancient City and Zhuoerkut Ancient City.
The ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier is about 20 kilometers north of the county seat of Luntai County, and the surface of the earth has a wall with irregular rounded corners and rectangles. In 1928, Professor Huang Wenbi investigated the city and thought it "may be the former site of the Hanlun Head State". In 2011, after an inspection by Lin Meicun, a professor at the School of Archaeology and Archaeology of Peking University, he wrote an article arguing that the ancient city of Kuiyuke Xiehaier was the Wulei City where the Western Regions Capital Protectorate was located, which attracted the attention of many scholars.
The excavated ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier. Photo courtesy of Dang Zhihao
Recent archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier have shown that as early as the early spring and autumn period of 770-550 BC, there were already people in the area and a certain scale of settlements were formed. By the mid-to-late Spring and Autumn period from 550 BC to 400 BC, with the increase of population and social development, people began to pile mud on the low walls of the settlement form to build tall walls. From the late Spring and Autumn Period from 400 BC to the early Western Han Dynasty, it was the main period of use and development of the city site, which was reflected in the continuous expansion and reconstruction of the core buildings in the city. After 150 BC, although there was still crowd activity, the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier was no longer used as a city until it was completely abandoned after 80 AD.
At the same time as the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehair, in-depth archaeological excavations were carried out in the ancient city of Drkut. The ruins of the ancient city are about 24 kilometers northwest of the county seat of Luntai County, and 9 kilometers northeast of the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier. The ancient city has two urban circles, inner and outer.
The site of the ancient city of Zorkut. Photo courtesy of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Archaeological results in the past three years show that the ancient city of Zhuorkut is a three-fold structure of inner, outer and high platforms, with a special shape, which is rare in Xinjiang and Central Asia. The scale of the housing sites in the city is large, which is the largest single relic among the ancient city ruins in Xinjiang at present. Among them, the relics of the Han Dynasty unearthed have the typical characteristics of the Chang'an region, and the artifacts of the Wei and Jin dynasties are obviously influenced by the Guizi culture. Combined with the results of carbon 14 dating, it is confirmed that the city site was built in the late Warring States period and was used until the Wei and Jin dynasties were abandoned, and the main body was used in the Two Han Dynasties.
"Whose house the flowers fall to" is still a foot away
Studies have shown that the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier is undoubtedly an important city site on the early Silk Road on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, while the ancient city of Zhuorkut is the highest-ranking central city site along the northern edge of the Tarim Basin during the Han and Jin Dynasties. These clues are of key significance in determining the site of the Western Han Dynasty's Western Regions Capital Protectorate.
Through remote sensing and digital means to restore the original appearance of the ancient city of Kuiyuk Xiehaier. Photo courtesy of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Although there is still no direct evidence to determine the specific location of the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, archaeological excavations for many years have gradually unveiled the mystery of the two ancient cities, laying a good foundation for the final identification of the ruins of the Western Regions.
No matter who the flowers end up in, the existence of the Western Regions Protectorate shows that Xinjiang has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times. (End)
About the Author:
Dang Zhihao, graduated from the Department of Archaeology, College of History and Culture, Sichuan University, with a master's degree. In September 2010, he entered the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and is now an associate researcher. Since joining the work, he has been in the frontline of field archaeology work in Xinjiang for a long time, successively presiding over the excavation of Ruoqiang Milan Ruins, BoleDalet Ancient City Ruins, Luntai Kuiyuke Xiehaier Ancient City Ruins and other archaeological projects, and participated in the excavation of Hejing Xiaoshankou Cemetery, Hami Aix-Xia'er South Necropolis, and Kucha Weijin Sixteen Kingdom Tombs. He presided over, participated in the collation and publication of reports and papers such as "Briefing on the Excavation of the Sixteen Kingdoms Of Kucha Wei and Jin In 2010", "2010 Annual Excavation Report of Fukang Xigou Cemetery and Site", "Tang Qifu Ling and Couple Joint Burial Tomb Excavation of Small Five Baht Examination" and so on.
Source: China News Network