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Home> China City Guide> Korla
Detailed travelling information about Korla in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tarim Basin, Lop Nur, Ruins Loulan City, Bosten Lake and more...
Introduction
Korla is the capital of the Bayangol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, which occupies an area of 478,700 square kilometers in the southern part of Xinjiang. Situated on the northern fringe of the Tarim Basin and the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, between latitude 41
4
and 42
Dominated by a continental climate, the prefecture is dry with light rainfall, a high evaporation rate, lots of sun and a huge temperature disparity between day and night. The city of Korla has an annual mean temperature of 11.4
and an annual precipitation of 50 millimeters. The prefecture has 186,667 hectares of forested land.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, this prefecture was the place where eleven kingdoms (Ruoqiang, Loulan, Quli, Shanshan, Qiemo, Xiaowan, Shanguo, Wuli, Luntou, Weili, Yanqi and Weixu) of the thirty-six in the Western Region were located. During the Sui and the Tang Dynasties, the Yanqi Superintendent's Office and the Quli Superintendent's Office were established here. From the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty it was under the jurisdiction of Xizhou Huigu. During the Yuan Dynasty it was under the administration of Bieshibali Executive Chancery. During the reign of Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong, it was administered by Zhuledusi after the Mongolian Torgut Tribe conceded to the central government. In 1884, in the tenth year of the reign of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu, when the province of Xinjiang was founded, first Karashar Prefecture directly under the administration of the central government was established in the Korla area, then was upgraded to Yanqi Prefecture. Under the People's Republic of China, the prefecture of Yanqi and Yanqi Administrative Area were set up.
During the Western Han Dynasty Korla was the territory of the Quli Kingdom, then was annexed by the Yanqi Kingdom after the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty it was administered by a third-rank Uygur governor appointed by the Qing court, and under the Karashar executive minister. In 1917, the sixth year of the Republic of China, an office of the assistant magistrate of Yanqi was set up here and it was under the jurisdiction of Yanqi Prefecture. In 1930, the nineteenth year of the Republic of China, it was changed to an administrative Area. In 1939, the twenty-eighth year of the Republic of China, a county government was established here and it was under the administration of the Yanqi Administrative Supervisor's Office. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was first under the administration of the Yanqi Prefectural Commissioner's Office, then under the administration of the Korla Prefectural Commissioner's Office and now it is under the administration of the Bayangol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture.
Fifty-seven kilometers north of Korla city and under the jurisdiction of Bohu County, Bosten is the biggest freshwater lake in Xinjiang, covering an area of 960 square kilometers. On the banks of the lake grow luxuriant and dense reeds, and a great variety of fish, such as bighead, blunt-snout bream, crab and shrimp, live in its waters. Bosten Lake is the summer resort of Korla area people, since the temperature here in summer is much lower than that of the urban area.
Under the administration of Hejing County and 270 kilometers from Korla, this is a summer-season grassland. In summer, the Mongolian herdsmen drive their animal herds to this plush carpet, and every year in the beginning of August, a grand commodities fair is held here on the grassland. During the fair, the grassland comes alive with all kinds of activities and excitement. Besides business, the herdsmen take part in horseracing, wrestling, singing and dancing, and take the opportunity to pay a visit to their relatives and friends. A visitor during this season can truly appreciate not only the beauty of the grassland, but also the customs and habits of the Mongolian herdsmen in Xinjiang.
Occupying a strategic position at the mouth of a fourteen kilometer long precipitous gorge on the upper reaches of the Peacock River in the north of Korla City, the pass was an important point along the route into the Tarim Basin in the ancient times. A checkpoint was set up in the Kin Dynasty and it was called Tiemen Pass (The Iron Gate) because it was situated on a strategic point and difficult to access. The gorge where the pass is located was called Tieguan Gorge (The Iron Pass Gorge) and now is popularly known as Haman Gully. Here the cliffs are steep and high and the terrain makes climbing difficult. On the cliff beside the checkpoint there is an inscription which means "The Strategic Mountain and the Dangerous River". On nearby Princess Peak there are two graves in which, legend has it, are buried a couple who died for freedom and love, Princess Tzuohla of Yanqi Kingdom and Tayi, the son of the premier of the kingdom.
In Mongolian, Lop Nur means "The Lake Converging Many Water Sources." This great lake was in ancient times called "Puchang Sea", "Salt Lake", "Luopu Pond" and "Youze Lake". Located in the northern part of Ruoqiang County and in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin, it occupies an area of 3,066 square kilometers, the biggest salt migration lake in China. Strategically located on the south route of the ancient Silk Road, it was the only way to go in the ancient communications between east and west. There are still many historic sites along its bank.
Originally located only in the Lop Nur area of Ruoqiang County, Yadan, which means "The steep Earthen Mound" in Uygur, has now become a world to indicate a special topography in dry areas. Because of strong water corrosion and fierce wind erosion, a series of parallel ditches and ditch ridges have formed in the clayrock area. These ditches and ridges, following the direction of the prevailing winds, are usually up to twenty meters long, with the longest several hundred meters long. They can be all sorts of shapes, and present a splendid sight. The "Dragon City" in the northeast part of Lop Nur is most magnificent.
The ancient State of Loulan was a small state established in the Western Regions in ancient times. It was in the western bank of Lop Nur, an only route by which to pass the Ancient Silk Road. In those days, around Loulan City there were criss-cross networks of waterways, shades of green tress, row upon row of houses, crowds of merchants and travelers doing brisk trades. But what makes people at a loss to account for is that such a city once with a population of thousands, its business economy fully developed, suddenly disappeared from the history after several prosperous centuries. The rise and fall of the ancient State of Loulan has all along presented a baffling mystery to us. The ancient State of Loulan was completely submerged by the desert. It was in the early part of this century that Sven Anders Hedin, a Swedish explorer, had found this ancient city of Loulan during his desert exploration to Lop Nur in Xinjiang. Immediately after the news was spread out, the world academic circles were greatly surprised and so people could see the historical relics of the ancient Loulan for the first time. At the beginning of 80's in this century, the archaeological team of China formally carried on archaeological investigations and unearthing work at the ancient city of Loulan. They found a great number of historical relics in the ancient city of Loulan and also some historical remains of ancient waterways, farmlands, Buddhist pagodas and graves. The culture of the ancient Loulan has reappeared in the world.
The ancient Loulan city on the western bank of Lop Nur is located at 40° 9' 5'' north and 89° 5' 2'' east. This city is about 300 square meters, covering the space of 108,240 square meters. Now from the surface of the ground you can still see the remains of the city walls clearly, and especially the city wall on the south has been better preserved. Inside the city, all the buildings are collapsed, the roofs and wood posts of the buildings fallen apart on the ruins with one up on the other. On the ground there are broken potsherds, wood plates and wooden bowls everywhere. You can also find a number of the ancient "Wuzhu" coins of the Han Dynasty here.
The distribution of construction inside the ancient city is like this: the central part of the city composes the main buildings in the city. In the center of the ruins of many large-sized buildings, there are still kept several rows of the "three-roomed houses" which were built by adobe, and on both sides of them there are two larger foundation sites of the houses which are shaped. On these ruins there are piles of large-sized timber, among which there are thick round woods, round plinths and some spiral-shaped wood rails. Some pieces of timber are five or six meters long. From the foundations of the houses we can still see the traces of red paint on the square wood, this is probably the rulers' yaman. At the eastern part of the ancient city, there is a Buddhist pagoda more than ten meters in height. In the western and southern parts of the city are the residential quarters of the common people. All these houses were coated with straw and mud, a special method which was often used in the Central Asian arid areas. The walls of the houses were made in the form of wattle walls by using reeds or Hongliu tree branches in criss-cross lines, then reinforced with straw or leather ropes, and then plastered with straw and mud outside. The roofs of the houses were also made of tree branches and reeds, coated with straw and mud on them. Beside these, the door frames of the houses were made of wood. As compared with the buildings in the center of the city, these houses looked apparently more simple and crude. The discovery of the ancient Loulan city confirmed that the ancient State of Loulan once had a historical period of flourishing and development, but later it became a desert.
A large number of exquisite silk and woolen fabrics are found from the ancient graves in the city and in the suburbs. Using natural silk to be woven into superb silk clothes was a great invention of ancient China. These silk clothes discovered in the Loulan area all belonged to the products of the inland provinces during the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, and it shows that the silk fabrics made in China had been the staple commodity on the ancient Silk Road in the very early years.
Among these Eastern Han silk fabrics discovered in the ancient Loulan area are the spun, fine silk, damask, brocade and embroidery. As for the spun silk, it is a kind of silk with one color and of plain weave; fine silk is a kind of plain weave which is finer and closer; damask is a kind of spun silk with one color silk lines woven into a kind of silk fabrics with figures and patterns; brocade is a kind of high level silk fabrics with various color lines woven into many kinds of beautiful patterns by the method of repetition of warp and weft. As a very high-level skill was needed in the use of the materials, color and designs and weaving of the brocades, etc. needed very high-level skill. People mentioned brocade in the same treat with the gold. As the saying goes, "brocade is the same as gold". There are various kinds of the Eastern Han silk fabrics discovered in the ancient Loulan area. The color of these Eastern Han brocade weaves was blended well, and its figures and patterns were characteristic of Eastern Han period. Its main style was auspicious patterns such as floating clouds with branches and rolling leaves, lucky birds and beasts pattern, and among these were woven some propitious words.
The Eastern Han woolen fabrics discovered at the same time are also a great number of precious historical relics. These woolen fabrics were the special goods for the nomadic tribes in the northwest part of China. Both of the high-level silk and woolen fabrics were enjoyed by rich and powerful families and merchants. The woolen fabrics discovered here are beautifully colored and look like new ones, and among them the colored felt is exceptionally rare.
Among the large number of historical relics of the ancient Loulan, some have very high academic value. There are a great number of inscribed wooden slips and documents with words on them. From the beginning of this century to the 80's, people have one after another discovered inscribed wooden slips and documents written in words for four times. Among these slips there are two kinds of words written on them. One kind is written in Kharosthi scripts, and another in Han characters. The time of them may be traced back to approximately the third or fourth century.
Kharosthi script appeared early in the third century B.C. in the period of the Indian Maurya Dynasty during the region of King Asoka. It was written in the northwest dialect of the Indian language, and first prevailed in northwest part of India and the present Pakistan area, then spread out to Afghanistan, Uzbek and Jajik regions, and it was also used in the ancient Yutian and ancient Loulan -- the State of Shanshan of Xinjiang in China, but now it has already died out.
According to the records of historical documents, in 77 B.C., because of creating another new king, the ancient State of Loulan had once changed its state's name into Shanshan. Those inscribed wooden slips written in Kharosthi scripts discovered in the ancient Loulan-Shanshan State look like the government official documents, the contents of which include the king's edict, various kinds of contracts, account books and records, documents, official letters and private letters, some regional official documents, religious books in the temples. These script materials have great academic value in studying and finding out the aspects of society, politics, economy and culture, etc. in the ancient Loulan-Shanshan State.
On some of the inscribed wooden slips written in Han characters were written down the exact annual titles of the kings, the majority of which belonged to the reigns of the Wei and Jin Dynasties of China. From the contents of the slips we can see that they mainly recorded some correspondences and documents of the generals and soldiers who garrisoned the region and of the office of the Governor of the Western Regions which was set up there in the Wei and Jin Dynasties of China, and also some other materials of opening up wastelands, building up irrigation ditches and dams, planting crops. One of the slips also recorded a fact that in those days generals who garrisoned the region spread advanced agricultural technology -- farming with plough and oxen.
The discovery of a great number of recorded inscribed wooden slips and documents provides an important basis in studying the early social history of the ancient State of Loulan.
Other artifacts were also unearthed at the same time, such as a number of "Wuzhu" coins of the Han Dynasty, a coin in the Kushan period, and some articles of lacquerware, bronze mirrors, pottery, some articles for daily use for the residents in the ancient Loulan city, and ornaments. All these show the wide social aspects of the ancient Loulan.
The culture of ancient Loulan has been submerged by the desert for many years, and at last it has reappeared in the world. In order to answer this historical "mystery", many historians, archaeologists and explorers have explored for several decades, but it is only from the ancient Loulan ruins that people can find the answer.
But when was the ancient Loulan city abandoned at all Nobody can tell the exact date, but from the historical documents we can see that in 399, when the eminent monk Faxian passed here, he described it as the desert without any people, so the last half of this century should be the period when the ancient Loulan became extinct after flourishing for some time. One slip in Kharosthi script discovered from the ancient Loulan city almost shows the same historical situation. The contents of this slip is: "In the reign of Fa Ser Mona Kingon July the eleventh, many people had left far away from the state". Fa Ser Mona was the last king of the ancient State of Loulan-Shanshan, and he ruled from 321-234. From the records of the slips in kharosthid scripts we find that in the period of his reign, many people had left their state, among whom there were taxpayers, people who lost their land and had no houses of their own, etc. This record is basically the same year as the slip in Han characters, so from this we know that the ancient Loulan city was abandoned probably in the year after the 30's of the 4th century. Obviously, the residents' leaving from the ancient Loulan city, the withdrawing of the generals and soldiers who had garrisoned and reclaimed the region here made the farmland become desert, and their rigatoni canals were blocked up because they had long been out of repair. Aridity and desert covered these oases. This ancient city ruined at last.
Although the ancient Loulan city became the historical relics, the discovery of its historical culture provides new magnificence to the history, and it will be kept in the people's mind forever.
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