Gaochang
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox ancient site
Gaochang<ref name="Eliot2016">Template:Cite book</ref> (Template:Zh; Old Uyghur: Qocho), also called Khocho,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was an ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Sanbu Township, Xinjiang, China.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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" (Template:Linktext) (Qara-khoja) and Huozhou. 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",<ref name="louis"/><ref name="Jacques Gernet 1996 253">Template:Cite book</ref> 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 Silk Road. It was destroyed in wars during the 14th century and old palace ruins and inside and outside cities can still be seen today. Along with other sites along the historic Silk Road, Gaocheng was inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Near Gaochang is another major archeological site: the Astana tombs.
History
Subeshi culture (1100-100 BCE)
One of the earliest cultures of the region was the Iron Age Subeshi culture (1100-100 BCE).<ref name="ZK">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Subeshi culture contributes some of the later period Tarim Mummies. The culture is probably associated with the Cheshi state (車師, Chü-shih, Jushi Kingdom) known from Chinese historical sources.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="ZK"/> The Subeshi culture is documented by three closely related cemeteries the Subeshi cemetery, the Shengjindian cemetery,<ref name="ZK"/> and the Yanghai cemetery.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Jushi Kingdom and early Han Chinese rule
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.Template:Citation needed
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
After the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, Northern China split into multiple states, including the Central Asian oases.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 439, remnants of the Northern Liang,<ref name="WhitfieldLibrary2004">Template:Cite book</ref> led by Juqu Wuhui and Juqu Anzhou, fled to Gaochang where they would hold onto power until 460 when they were conquered by the Rouran Khaganate. Another version of this story says that in 439 a man named Ashina led 500 families from Gansu to Gaochang. In 460, the Rouran forced them to move to the Altai. They became the Ashina clan that formed the Göktürk Khaganate<ref>Christian, History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, page 449, citing 'Sui annals' and Baumer, History of Central Asia, vol 2, page 174</ref>
Six Dynasties Turfan tombs contained dumplings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gaochang Kingdom
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kan was dependent on Rouran backing.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Yicheng and Shougui were the last two kings of the Chinese Kan family to rule Gaochang.
At this time the Gaoche (Template:Linktext) was rising to challenge power of the Rouran in the Tarim Basin. The Gaoche king Afuzhiluo (Template:Linktext) killed King Kan Shougui, who was the nephew of Kan Bozhou.<ref name="louis">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS">Template:Cite bookEast Asia Studies Institute of International Studies University of California CHINESE DYNASTIC HISTORIES TRANSLATIONS No. 6</ref> and appointed a Han from Dunhuang, named Zhang Mengming (張孟明), as his own vassal King of Gaochang.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Gaochang thus passed under Gaoche rule.
Later, Zhang Mengming was killed in an uprising by the people of Gaochang and replaced by Ma Ru (Template:Linktext). In 501, Ma Ru himself was overthrown and killed, and the people of Gaochang appointed Qu Jia (Template:Linktext) 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)<ref name="UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS"/> 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.<ref name="chang">Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="Rene">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Qu family was restored six years later and the successor Qu Wentai welcomed the Tang pilgrim Xuanzang with great enthusiasm in 629 AD.<ref name="Rene"/>
,_Khocho,_Nestorian_Temple,_683-770_AD,_wall_painting_-_Ethnological_Museum,_Berlin_-_DSC01741.JPG){kind=link}
The Kingdom of Gaochang was made out of Han Chinese migrants and ruled by the Han Chinese<ref name="Puri1987">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="EliotEliot1998">Template:Cite book</ref> Qu family which originated from Gansu.<ref name="Abramson2011">Template:Cite book</ref> Jincheng commandery 金城 (Lanzhou), district of Yuzhong 榆中 was the home of the Qu Jia.<ref name="Miller1959">Template:Cite book</ref> The Qu family was linked by marriage alliances to the Turks,<ref name="Hansen2012">Template:Cite book</ref> with a Turk being the grandmother of King Qu Boya's.<ref name="Skaff1998">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Tang rule
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.<ref name="Rene"/> Gaochang was annexed by the Chinese Tang dynasty and turned into a sub-prefecture of Xizhou (西州)<ref name="Bretschneider1876">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the seat of government of Anxi (安西).<ref name="chang"/><ref name="Rene"/> Before the Chinese conquered Gaochang, it was an impediment to Chinese access to Tarim and Transoxiania.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Under Tang rule, Gaochang was inhabited by Chinese, Sogdians and Tocharians.Template:Citation needed
7th or 8th century old dumplings and wontons were found in Turfan.<ref>Hansen 2012, p. 11.</ref>
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<ref name="KapsteinDotson2007">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="SwartzCampany2013">Template:Harvp.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Xiong2008">Template:Cite book</ref> in 803, who called the area Kocho (Qocho).
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Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho
After 840 Gaochang became occupied by remnants of the Uyghur Khaganate fleeing Yenisei Kirghiz invasion of their land.<ref name="Susan Whitfield, British Library 2004 309">Template:Cite book</ref> The Uyghurs established the Kingdom of Qocho (Kara-Khoja) in 850. The inhabitants of Qocho practiced Buddhism, Manichaeism and Christianity. The Uyghurs converted to Buddhism and sponsored building of temple caves in the nearby Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves where depictions of Uyghur sponsors may be seen. The Buddhist Uyghur kings, who called themselves idiquts, retained their nomadic lifestyle, residing in Qocho during the winter, but moved to the cooler Bishbalik near Urumchi in the summer.<ref name="svat">Template:Cite book</ref>
Qocho later became a vassal state of the Kara-Khitans. However, In 1209, the idiqut Barchuq offered Genghis Khan the suzerainty of his kingdom, and went personally to Genghis Khan with a sizeable tribute when demanded in 1211.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Uyghurs thus went into the service of the Mongols,<ref name="svat 1">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>The Stones of Zayton speak Template:Webarchive, China Heritage Newsletter, No. 5, March 2006</ref>
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
Buddhism spread to China from India along the northern branch of the Silk Road predominantly in the 4th and 5th centuries as the Liang rulers were Buddhists.<ref>北凉且渠安周造寺碑 Template:Webarchive</ref> The building of Buddhist grottos probably began during this period. There are clusters close to Gaochang, the largest being the Bezeklik grottos.<ref name="oliver">Template:Cite web </ref>
Gaochang ruling families
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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<ref name="Xiong2012">Template:Cite book</ref> | 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
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The road leading in.
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The ruins.
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"Main prayer hall<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>".
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"Main storage building".
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Manichaean wall painting.
See also
References
Citations
Sources
- Bericht über archäologische Arbeiten in Idikutschari und Umgebung im Winter 1902-1903 : vol.1
- Template:Citation.
External links
- Along the ancient silk routes: Central Asian art from the West Berlin State Museums, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material from Gaochang
- Online version of Albert Grünwedel's initial work in the area
- Online version of Grünwedel's further work in the area
- Online version of Le Coq's work on monuments of Gaochang
Template:Historical polities in Xinjiang Template:Xinjiang topics