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Ancient Jiaohe City
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The Ancient City of Jiaohe is located
in the Yarnaz Valley thirteen kilometers west of Turpan.
It was first the capital of the State of South Cheshi, which
was one of the thirty-six states in the Western Region.
As described in the dynastic states in the Western Region.
As described in the dynastic history book The Notes on the
Western Region, A History of the Han dynasty, "The
State of South Cheshi made the city of Jiaohe its capital,
which was circled by rivers flowing by the city, hence the
name of 'Jiaohe' (the city of joining rivers)." Built
on a loess plateau 30 meters high, the ancient city is 1,650
meters long and 300 meters wide. The city has no walls and
is protected by the natural fortification of the precipitous
cliffs. During the Western Han dynasty, the central government
established "Jiaohebi" (an administrative division)
and appointed and dispatched a commanding general officer
to the Turpan area. During the period from the Northern
Wei to the beginning of the Tang dynasty, Jiaohebi was Jiaohe
Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Gaochang Kingdom. The
Anxi Military Viceroy's Office ,the highest civil and military
administrative organ set up by the Tang government in the
Western Region, was first established in the city. Between
the middle of the eighth century and the middle of the ninth
century, the city was occupied by Tibetans. After that,
it was called Jiaohe Prefecture and fell under the jurisdiction
of the Huigu Gaochang Kingdom. At the end of the thirteenth
century, it was destroyed in Mongolian aristocratic rebellions.
The size of the existing ruins indicates its great prosperity
during the Tang dynasty. There are two city gates.The main
southern gate is in ruins. The eastern gate is relatively
well-preserved, with visible gateways and mortise openings
for mounting the gate lintels. There are hideouts built
in the gate for soldiers to defend the city. The ruins of
the buildings, divided basically into temples, civilian
dwellings and government offices, have an area of 220,000
square meters. Entering the southern gate, one can see a
10 meter-wide and 350-meter-long main street leading to
the biggest Buddhist temple located in the north-central
part of the city. The tower in front of the temple gate
is still intact, and standing on top of the tower one can
enjoy the panorama of the whole city. There are still some
more temples in the city. In the southeastern area of the
city are located administrative office buildings and official
residences which are the only big buildings built of bricks
and tiles. According to researchers, the magnificent, half-underground,
two-story building is probably the seat of Anxi's Military
Viceroy's Office during the Tang dynasty.The architectural
style of the ancient city of Jiaohe differs from that of
the city of Gaochang. Here in Jiaohe, courtyards are pits
dug in the ground, dwellings are caves opened into the earth
and walls are built of tamped earth. Houses are two-storied
without windows and doors on the side facing streets and
courtyard gates are hidden in deep lanes. The architectural
style also features some typical elements of the Tang dynasty.
Visitors to the city can still walk along the streets and
go through the halls into the charming inner rooms.The ancient
city of Jiaohe was classified as an important cultural unit
protected by the state in 1961.
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