Gaochang

Coordinates: 42°51′10″N 89°31′45″E / 42.85278°N 89.52917°E / 42.85278; 89.52917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the historical kingdom. For the district in Turpan City, see Gaochang, Turpan. For the Uyghur kingdom, see Qocho. For other uses, see Gaochang (disambiguation).

Gaochang
高昌
قۇچۇ
The Buddhist stupa of Gaochang ruins
Gaochang is located in Xinjiang
Gaochang
Shown within Xinjiang
Gaochang is located in China
Gaochang
Gaochang (China)
LocationXinjiang, China
Coordinates42°51′10″N 89°31′45″E / 42.85278°N 89.52917°E / 42.85278; 89.52917
TypeSettlement
Site notes
ConditionIn ruins

Gaochang[1] (Chinese: 高昌; pinyin: Gāochāng; Old Uyghur: Qocho), also called Khocho,[2] Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was a ruined ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Xinjiang, China. The site is also known in published reports as Chotscho, Khocho, Qocho or Qočo. During the Yuan dynasty and Ming dynasty, Gaochang was referred to as "Halahezhuo" (哈拉和卓) (Qara-khoja) and Huozhou.

The ruins are located 30 km southeast of modern Turpan,[3] at a place called Idykut-schari or Idikutschari by local residents. (see the work of Albert Grünwedel in the external links below). Artistic depictions of the city have been published by Albert von Le Coq. Gaochang is considered in some sources to have been a "Chinese colony",[4][5] that is, it was located in a region otherwise occupied at the time by West Eurasian peoples.

A busy trading center, it was a stopping point for merchant traders traveling on the

World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site.[6]

Near Gaochang is another major archeological site: the

Astana tombs
.

History

Subeshi culture (1100-100 BCE)

Main article: Subeshi culture
Gaochang's location (close to Turpan) on the Silk Road

One of the earliest cultures of the region was the

Tarim Mummies. The culture is probably associated with the Cheshi state (車師, Chü-shih, Jushi Kingdom) known from Chinese historical sources.[8][7] The Subeshi culture is documented by three closely related cemeteries the Subeshi cemetery, the Shengjindian cemetery,[7] and the Yanghai cemetery.[9]

Jushi Kingdom and early Han Chinese rule

Main article: Jushi Kingdom

The region around

Turfan was described during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) as being occupied by the Jūshī (Jushi Kingdom), while control over the region swayed between the Han Chinese and the Xiongnu
.

Yanghai
tomb, Gaochang Prefecture period, 327-460 CE

Gaochang was built in the 1st century BC, it was an important site along the Silk Road. It played a key role as a transportation hub in Western China. The Jushi leaders later pledged their allegiance to the Han dynasty. In 327, the Gaochang Commandery (jùn) was created by the Former Liang under the Han Chinese ruler Zhang Jun. The Chinese set up a military colony/garrison and organized the land into multiple divisions. Han Chinese colonists from the Hexi region and the central plains also settled in the region.[10]

After the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, Northern China split into multiple states, including the Central Asian oases.[11] Gaochang was ruled by the Former Liang, Former Qin and Northern Liang as part of a commandery. In 383 the general Lu Guang of the Former Qin seized control of the region.[12]

In 439, remnants of the

Göktürk Khaganate[14]

Six Dynasties Turfan tombs contained dumplings.[15][16]

Gaochang Kingdom

Mummy of the Qushi Kingdom (麹氏王国) general Zhangxiong (583-633 CE, 左卫大将军张雄). Xinjiang Museum
Manichaean priests, writing at their desks. Manuscript from Qocho. 8th/9th century

From the mid-5th century until the mid-7th century, the Gaochang Kingdom was successively controlled by the Kan, Zhang, Ma and Qu clans.

At the time of its conquest by the Rouran Khaganate, there were more than ten thousand Han Chinese households in Gaochang.[17] The Rouran Khaganate, which was based in Mongolia, appointed a Han Chinese named Kan Bozhou to rule as King of Gaochang in 460, and it became a separate vassal kingdom of the Khaganate.[18] Kan was dependent on Rouran backing.[19] Yicheng and Shougui were the last two kings of the Chinese Kan family to rule Gaochang.

At this time the

Gaoche (高車) was rising to challenge power of the Rouran in the Tarim Basin. The Gaoche king Afuzhiluo (阿伏至羅) killed King Kan Shougui, who was the nephew of Kan Bozhou.[4][20] and appointed a Han from Dunhuang, named Zhang Mengming (張孟明), as his own vassal King of Gaochang.[21][22]
Gaochang thus passed under Gaoche rule.

Later, Zhang Mengming was killed in an uprising by the people of Gaochang and replaced by Ma Ru (馬儒). In 501, Ma Ru himself was overthrown and killed, and the people of Gaochang appointed Qu Jia (麴嘉) of Jincheng (in Gansu) as their king, forming the Qushi Kingdom (麹氏王国, 501-640 CE). Qu Jia hailed from the Zhong district of Jincheng commandery (金城, roughly corresponding to modern day Lanzhou, Gansu)[20] Qu Jia at first pledged allegiance to the Rouran, but the Rouran khaghan was soon killed by the Gaoche and he had to submit to Gaoche overlordship. During Qu rule, powerful families established marriage ties with each other and dominated the kingdom, they included the Zhang, Fan, Yin, Ma, Shi and Xin families. Later, when the Göktürks emerged as the supreme power in the region, the Qu dynasty of Gaochang became vassals of the Göktürks.[23]

While the material civilization of Kucha to its west in this period remained chiefly Indo-Iranian in character, in Gaochang it gradually merged into the Tang aesthetics.[24] In 607 the ruler of Gaochang Qu Boya paid tribute to the Sui dynasty, but his attempt at sinicization provoked a coup which overthrew the Qu ruler.[25] The Qu family was restored six years later and the successor Qu Wentai welcomed the Tang pilgrim Xuanzang with great enthusiasm in 629 AD.[24]

Wall painting from a Christian church, Qocho 683–770 CE

The Kingdom of Gaochang was made out of Han Chinese migrants and ruled by the Han Chinese[26][27] Qu family which originated from Gansu.[28] Jincheng commandery 金城 (Lanzhou), district of Yuzhong 榆中 was the home of the Qu Jia.[29] The Qu family was linked by marriage alliances to the Turks,[30] with a Turk being the grandmother of King Qu Boya's.[31][32] During this period, Gaochang's administration, language, city planning, and Confucian society was so heavily dominated by Chinese models that it was known in Sogdian as "Chinatown", a usage which continued as late as the tenth-century Persian geography Ḥudūd al-‘Ālam.[33]

Tang rule

Main articles:
the oasis states

However, fearing Tang expansion, Qu Wentai later formed an alliance with the Western Turks and rebelled against Tang suzerainty. Emperor Taizong sent an army led by General Hou Junji against the kingdom in 640 and Qu Wentai apparently died of shock at news of the approaching army.[24] Gaochang was annexed by the Chinese Tang dynasty and turned into a sub-prefecture of Xizhou (西州)[34][35] and the seat of government of Anxi (安西).[23][24] Before the Chinese conquered Gaochang, it was an impediment to Chinese access to Tarim and Transoxiania.[36]

Gaochang was populated by Han people and Shanxi (Hedong) was the original home of the royal family at the time of the Tang dynasty's annexation. The Tang dynasty accepted arguments at court who said that because Gaochang was Han populated that they needed to annex it.[37]

Under Tang rule, Gaochang was inhabited by Chinese,

Sogdians and Tocharians.[citation needed
]

7th or 8th century old

Turfan.[38]

The Tang dynasty became greatly weakened due to the

An Lushan Rebellion and in 755, the Chinese were forced to pull back their soldiers from the region. The area was first taken by the Tibetans, then finally by the Uyghurs[39][40][41][42]
in 803, who called the area Kocho (Qocho).

Uyghur princesses, cave 9, wall painting from Bezeklik caves
Turfan) in 番客入朝圖
(937-976 CE)

Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho

Main article: Qocho

After 840 Gaochang became

Urumchi in the summer.[44]

Qocho later became a

Barchuq offered Genghis Khan the suzerainty of his kingdom, and went personally to Genghis Khan with a sizeable tribute when demanded in 1211.[45] The Uyghurs thus went into the service of the Mongols,[46] who later formed the Yuan dynasty in the territories of what is now China. The Uyghurs became bureaucrats (semu) of the Mongol Empire and their Uyghur script was modified for Mongolian. As far south as Quanzhou, preponderance of Gaochang Uyghur in Church of the East inscriptions of the Yuan period attests to their importance in the Christian community there.[47]

The Gaochang area was

conquered by the Mongols of the Chagatai Khanate (not part of the Yuan dynasty
) from 1275 to 1318 by as many as 120,000 troops.

Buddhism

Bezeklik grottos.[3]

Gaochang ruling families

Armoured soldier from Gaochang, 8-9th century

Rulers of the Kan Family

Name Pinyin Durations of reigns Era names and their according durations
Chinese convention: use family name and given name
闞伯周 Kàn Bózhōu 460–477 Did not exist
闞義成 Kàn Yìchéng 477–478 Did not exist
闞首歸 Kàn Shǒugūi 478–488?
or
478–491?		 Did not exist

Rulers of the Zhang Family

Name Pinyin Durations of reigns Era names and their according durations
Chinese convention: use family name and given name
張孟明 Zhāng Mèngmíng 488?–496
or
491?–496		 Did not exist

Rulers of the Ma Family

Name Pinyin Durations of reigns Era names and their according durations
Chinese convention: use family name and given name
馬儒 Mǎ Rú 496–501 Did not exist

Rulers of the Qu Family

Name Pinyin Durations of reigns Era names and their according durations
Chinese convention: use family name and given name
麴嘉 Qú Jiā 501–525
麴光 Qú Guāng 525–530 Ganlu (甘露 Gānlù) 525–530
麴堅 Qú Jiān 530–548 Zhanghe (章和 Zhānghé) 531–548
麴玄喜 Qú Xuánxǐ 549–550 Yongping (永平 Yǒngpíng) 549–550
Unnamed son of Qu Xuanxi 551–554 Heping (和平 Hépíng) 551–554
麴寶茂 Qú Bǎomào 555–560 Jianchang (建昌 Jiànchāng) 555–560
麴乾固 Qú Qiángù 560–601 Yanchang (延昌 Yánchāng) 561–601
麴伯雅 Qú Bóyǎ[49] 601–613
619–623		 Yanhe (延和 Yánhé) 602–613

Zhongguang (重光 Zhòngguāng) 620–623
Unnamed usurper 613–619 Yihe (Yìhé 義和) 614–619
麴文泰 Qú Wéntài 623–640 Yanshou (延壽 Yánshòu) 624–640
麴智盛 Qú Zhìshèng 640 did not exist

Gallery

  • The road leading in.
    The road leading in.
  • The ruins.
    The ruins.
  • "Main prayer hall[50]".
    "Main prayer hall[50]".
  • "Main storage building".
    "Main storage building".
  • Manichaean wall painting.
    Manichaean wall painting.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Charles Eliot (January 4, 2016). Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch. Sai ePublications & Sai Shop. pp. 1075–. GGKEY:4TQAY7XLN48.
  2. ^ "Virtual Art Exhibit - The Uighurs". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "The Silk Road". ess.uci.edu. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Louis-Frédéric (1977). Encyclopaedia of Asian civilizations, Volume 3. the University of Michigan: L. Frédéric. p. 16. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  5. ISBN 0-521-49781-7
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  6. ^ "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  7. ^
    S2CID 234007445. In the late Neolithic period and the early Bronze age, pottery, ornamentation and bronze culture with the characteristics of West Asia and Central Asia were introduced into Xinjiang, including Qijia culture (2500-1500 BC), Siba culture
    (about 2000-1600 BC), Chawuhugoukou culture (around 800-100 BC), Turpan Subeixi culture (1100 bc-100 BC) and other cultures.
  8. ISSN 1040-6182
    . The Yanghai graveyard is assigned to the Subeixi (Subeshi) culture (e.g. Jiang et al., 2006, 2009), conventionally dated to the first millennium BC (Chen, 2002; Han, 2007; Xinjiang, 2011). The culture is associated with the Cheshi (Chü-shih) state known from Chinese historical sources (Sinor, 1990).
  9. ISSN 2158-2440
    .
  10. ISBN 81-208-1540-8
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  11. ISBN 0-521-49781-7
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  12. ^ Society for the Study of Chinese Religions (U.S.), Indiana University, Bloomington. East Asian Studies Center (2002). Journal of Chinese religions, Issues 30-31. the University of California: Society for the Study of Chinese Religions. p. 24. Retrieved May 17, 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2
    .
  14. ^ Christian, History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, page 449, citing 'Sui annals' and Baumer, History of Central Asia, vol 2, page 174
  15. ^ "Archaeologists Discover Ancient Dumplings in China". February 16, 2016.
  16. ^ "YUM! Archaeologists discover that people in Xinjiang were snacking on dumplings 1,700 years ago". February 15, 2016.
  17. ISBN 81-208-1540-8
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  18. ^ Tatsurō Yamamoto, ed. (1984). Proceedings of the Thirty-First International Congress of Human Sciences in Asia and North Africa, Tokyo-Kyoto, 31st August-7th September 1983, Volume 2. Indiana University: Tōhō Gakkai. p. 997. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  19. ISBN 0-917956-54-0
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  20. ^ a b ROY ANDREW MILLER, ed. (1959). Accounts of Western Nations in the History of the Northern Chou Dynasty. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS. p. 5. Retrieved May 17, 2011.East Asia Studies Institute of International Studies University of California CHINESE DYNASTIC HISTORIES TRANSLATIONS No. 6
  21. ISBN 81-208-1540-8
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  22. ^ Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1974). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Volumes 32-34. the University of Michigan: The Toyo Bunko. p. 107. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  23. ^
    ISBN 92-3-103211-9
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  24. ^
    ISBN 0813513049
    .
  25. ISBN 0-521-49781-7
    . Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  26. ISBN 978-81-208-0372-5
    .
  27. ISBN 978-0-7007-0679-2
    .
  28. ISBN 978-0-8122-0101-7
    .
  29. ^ Roy Andrew Miller (1959). Accounts of Western Nations in the History of the Northern Chou Dynasty [Chou Shu 50. 10b-17b]: Translated and Annotated by Roy Andrew Miller. University of California Press. pp. 5–. GGKEY:SXHP29BAXQY.
  30. ISBN 978-0-19-515931-8
    .
  31. ISBN 9780599084643
    .
  32. ^ Asia Major. Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica. 1998. p. 87.
  33. ^ Hansen, Valerie (2005). "The Impact of the Silk Road trade on a local community: The Turfan Oasis, 500-800". Les Sogdiens en Chine. 17: 283–310.
  34. ^ E. Bretschneider (1876). Notices of the Mediæval Geography and History of Central and Western Asia. Trübner & Company. pp. 122–.
  35. ^ Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The Branch. 1876. pp. 196–.
  36. ISBN 0-521-49781-7
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  37. ISBN 978-0812201017
    .
  38. ^ Hansen 2012, p. 11.
  39. ISBN 978-90-474-2119-1
    .
  40. ^ Chen (2014).
  41. ISBN 978-90-04-25233-2
    .
  42. ISBN 978-0-8108-6258-6
    .
  43. ISBN 1-932476-13-X
    . Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  44. ISBN 0-521-65704-0
    .
  45. ISBN 0-521-84226-3
    .
  46. ISBN 0-521-65704-0
    .
  47. ^ The Stones of Zayton speak Archived 2013-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, China Heritage Newsletter, No. 5, March 2006
  48. ^ 北凉且渠安周造寺碑 Archived 2011-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  49. ISBN 978-0-7914-8268-1
    .
  50. ^ "Buddhist Channel | Travel".

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaochang ruins.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaochang&oldid=1217739926"