A report on Gaochang, Tang dynasty and Xinjiang

The empire during the reign of Wu Zetian, circa 700

Gaochang's location (close to Turpan) on the Silk Road

Portrait painting of Emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan, 566–635), the first Tang Emperor.

Dzungaria (Red) and the Tarim Basin or Altishahr (Blue)

Manichaean priests, writing at their desks. Manuscript from Qocho. 8th/9th century

Empress Wu (Wu Zetian), the sole officially recognized empress regnant of China in more than two millennia. She first ruled through her husband and sons for almost three decades, then became emperor herself and ruled in her own right for another fifteen years.

Northern Xinjiang (Junggar Basin) (Yellow), Eastern Xinjiang- Turpan Depression (Turpan Prefecture and Hami Prefecture) (Red) and Altishahr/the Tarim Basin (Blue)

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

Physical map showing the separation of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (Altishahr) by the Tien Shan Mountains

Uyghur princesses, cave 9, wall painting from Bezeklik caves

The Leshan Giant Buddha, 71 m high; begun in 713, completed in 803

Map of Han Dynasty in 2 CE. Light blue is the Tarim Basin protectorate.

Man of Gaochang (高昌國, Turfan) in 番客入朝圖 (937-976 CE)

Nanchan Temple (Wutai), built during the late 8th century

Old Uyghur/Yugur art from the Bezeklik murals

Armoured soldier from Gaochang, 8-9th century

A late Tang mural commemorating the victory of General Zhang Yichao over the Tibetans in 848 AD, from Mogao cave 156

A Sogdian man on a Bactrian camel. Sancai ceramic statuette, Tang dynasty

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang wearing the robes and hat of a scholar

Mongol states from the 14th to the 17th centuries: the Northern Yuan dynasty, Four Oirat, Moghulistan and Kara Del

"Main prayer hall<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=18,4145,0,0,1,0|title = Buddhist Channel | Travel}}</ref>".

Tang tomb figure of an official dressed in Hanfu, with a tall hat, wide-sleeved belted outer garment, and rectangular "kerchief" in front. A white inner gown hangs over his square shoes. He holds a tablet to his chest, a report to his superiors.

The Dzungar–Qing Wars, between the Qing Dynasty and the Dzungar Khanate

Civil service exam candidates gather around the wall where results had been posted. Artwork by Qiu Ying.

The Battle of Oroi-Jalatu in 1756, between the Manchu and Oirat armies

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang giving audience to Zhang Guo, by Ren Renfa (1254–1327)

Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649) receives Gar Tongtsen Yülsung, ambassador of the Tibetan Empire, at his court; later copy of an original painted in 641 by Yan Liben (600–673)

Scene from the 1828 Qing campaign against rebels in Altishahr

The Chinese Tang dynasty during its greatest extension, controlling large parts of Central Asia.

Chinese officer of the Guard of Honour. Tomb of Princess Chang-le (长乐公主墓), Zhao Mausoleum, Shaanxi province. Tang Zhenguan year 17, i.e. 644 CE

19th-century Khotan Uyghurs in Yettishar

A 10th-century mural painting in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang showing monastic architecture from Mount Wutai, Tang dynasty; Japanese architecture of this period was influenced by Tang Chinese architecture

Tomb figure of mounted warrior similar to the one unearthed from the tomb of Crown Prince Li Chongrun

Governor Sheng Shicai ruled from 1933 to 1944.

Tomb guardian (wushi yong), early 8th century

The Soviet-backed Second East Turkestan Republic encompassed Xinjiang's Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay districts.

A bas relief of a soldier and the emperor's horse, Autumn Dew, with elaborate saddle and stirrups, designed by Yan Liben, from the tomb of Emperor Taizong c. 650

Illustration of Byzantine embassy to Tang Taizong 643 CE

Tang dynasty Kai Yuan Tong Bao (開元通寳) coin, first minted in 621 in Chang'an, a model for the Japanese 8th-century Wadōkaichin

Tomb figure of a horse with a carefully sculpted saddle, decorated with leather straps and ornamental fastenings featuring eight-petalled flowers and apricot leaves.

Black Irtysh river in Burqin County is a famous spot for sightseeing.

A contract from the Tang dynasty that records the purchase of a 15-year-old slave for six bolts of plain silk and five Chinese coins. Found in the Astana Cemetery in Turfan.

Tomb Figure of a Sogdian merchant, 7th-century

A mural depicting a corner tower, most likely one of Chang'an, from the tomb of Prince Yide (d. 701) at the Qianling Mausoleum, dated 706

Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Government between 2007 and 2015

The bronze Jingyun Bell cast 711, height 247 cm high, weight 6,500 kg, now in the Xi'an Bell Tower

The distribution map of Xinjiang's GDP per person (2011)

A Tang dynasty era copy of the preface to the Lantingji Xu poems composed at the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, originally attributed to Wang Xizhi (303–361 AD) of the Jin dynasty

Ürümqi is a major industrial center within Xinjiang.

A poem by Li Bai (701–762 AD), the only surviving example of Li Bai's calligraphy, housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Calligraphy of Emperor Taizong on a Tang stele

A Tang dynasty sculpture of a Bodhisattva

An 8th-century silk wall scroll from Dunhuang, showing the paradise of Amitabha

A timber hall built in 857, located at the Buddhist Foguang Temple of Mount Wutai, Shanxi

This flag (Kök Bayraq) has become a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement.

A Tang sancai-glazed carved relief showing horseback riders playing polo

"Heroic Gesture of Bodhisattvathe Bodhisattva", example of 6th-7th-century terracotta Greco-Buddhist art (local populations were Buddhist) from Tumxuk, Xinjiang

A late Tang or early Five Dynasties era silk painting on a banner depicting Guanyin and a female attendant in silk robes, from the Dunhuang caves, now in the British Museum

Sogdian donors to the Buddha, 8th century fresco (with detail), Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin

Palace ladies in a garden from a mural of Prince Li Xian's tomb in the Qianling Mausoleum, where Wu Zetian was also buried in 706

Tang era gilt-gold bowl with lotus and animal motifs

People engaging in snow sports by a statue of bodhisattva Guanyin in Wujiaqu

A Tang sancai-glazed lobed dish with incised decorations, 8th century

Tomb figure of a lady attendant, 7th- to 8th-century; during the Tang era, female hosts prepared feasts, tea parties, and played drinking games with their guests.

A rounded "offering plate" with design in "three colors" (sancai) glaze, 8th-century

Temple of the Great Buddha in Midong, Ürümqi

Taoist Temple of Fortune and Longevity at the Heavenly Lake of Tianshan in Fukang, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture

A square bronze mirror with a phoenix motif of gold and silver inlaid with lacquer, 8th-century

The Diamond Sutra, printed in 868, is the world's first widely printed book to include a specific date of printing.

Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, largest mosque in China

The Dunhuang map, a star map showing the North Polar region. c. 700. The whole set of star maps contains over 1,300 stars.

Erkin Tuniyaz, the incumbent Chairman of the Xinjiang Government

"Great Tang" (Dà Táng) in seal characters.

A Tang Dynasty sancai statuette of Sogdian musicians riding on a Bactrian camel, 723 AD, Xi'an.

Gaochang (Old Uyghur: Qocho), also called 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.

- Gaochang

The Western Regions during the Tang era were known as Qixi (磧西).

- Xinjiang

While the material civilization of Kucha to its west in this period remained chiefly Indo-Iranian in character, in Goachang it gradually merged into the Tang aesthetics.

- Gaochang

Under Emperor Taizong, campaigns were dispatched in the Western Regions against Gaochang in 640, Karasahr in 644 and 648, and Kucha in 648.

- Tang dynasty

Local states such as Shule, Yutian, Guizi and Qiemo controlled the western region, while the central region around Turpan was controlled by Gaochang, remnants of a state (Northern Liang) that once ruled part of what is now Gansu province in northwestern China.

- Xinjiang

In fact, it was during this rebellion that the Tang withdrew its western garrisons stationed in what is now Gansu and Qinghai, which the Tibetans then occupied along with the territory of what is now Xinjiang.

- Tang dynasty

6 related topics with Alpha

Tarim Basin

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Endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about 888,000 km2 and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.

Physical map showing the separation of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (Taklamakan) by the Tien Shan Mountains

Tarim basin ancient boats; they were used for burials

Tarim mummies, found in westernmost Xinjiang, within the Tarim Basin.

Fragmentary painting on silk of a woman playing the go boardgame, from the Astana Cemetery, Gaochang, c. 744 AD, during the late period of Tang Chinese rule (just before the An Lushan Rebellion)

Map of Taizong's campaigns against the Tarim Basin oasis states, allies of the Western Turks.

A document from Khotan written in Khotanese Saka, part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, listing the animals of the Chinese zodiac in the cycle of predictions for people born in that year; ink on paper, early 9th century

Uyghur princes from the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves near Turpan, Kingdom of Qocho, 8th-9th centuries

An Islamic cemetery outside the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar

Northern Xinjiang (Dzungar Basin) (yellow), Eastern Xinjiang - Turpan Depression (Turpan Prefecture and Hami Prefecture) (red), and the Tarim Basin (blue)

Fresco, with Hellenistic influences, from a stupa shrine, Miran

Painting of a Christian woman, Khocho (Gaochang), early period of Chinese Tang rule, 602–654 AD

Located in China's Xinjiang region, it is sometimes used synonymously to refer to the southern half of the province, or Nanjiang, as opposed to the northern half of the province known as Dzungaria or Beijiang.

The northern Tarim route ran from Kashgar over Aksu, Kucha, Korla, through the Iron Gate Pass, over Karasahr, Jiaohe, Turpan, Gaochang and Kumul to Anxi.

During the Tang Dynasty, a series of military expeditions were conducted against the oasis states of the Tarim Basin, then vassals of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

Emperor Taizong of Tang

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A portrait of Emperor Yang of Sui, by the Tang court artist Yan Liben (600–673)

Portrait painting of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, father of Li Shimin

Emperor Taizong depicted giving an audience to Gar Tongtsen Yulsung, the ambassador of the Tibetan Empire, in a later copy of a painting by court artist Yan Liben (600–673 AD)

Detail of Yan Liben's painting on the reception of the Tibetan envoy, showing Tang Taizong

Fountain Memory, calligraphy of Emperor Taizong on a Tang stele.

Emperor Taizong's campaign against the oasis states

Fanciful modern representation of the Byzantine embassy to Tang Taizong in 643 CE.

According to the Xi'an Stele, Emperor Taizong recognized the Nestorian Church of the East, due to efforts of the Christian missionary Alopen in 635 CE.

The Sui dynasty tried to invade Goguryeo in 598, 612, 613 & 614. Taizong campaign (map) was in 645. Gaozong's campaigns were in 661, 667 & 668.

A bas-relief of a soldier and horse with elaborate saddle and stirrups, from the tomb of Emperor Taizong, c. 650. The relief shown here depicts "Autumn Dew," also known as "Whirlwind Victory" and is housed at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, PA.

Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 598 – 10July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649.

In territorial extent, it covered most of the territories previously held by the Han dynasty and parts of modern Korea, Vietnam, Xinjiang, and Central Asian regions.

Qu Wentai (麴文泰), the king of Gaochang, who had previously been submissive to Tang, had become increasingly hostile to Tang, allying with the Western Turks.

Western Turkic Khaganate

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Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century after the split of the Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century on the Mongolian Plateau by the Ashina clan) into a western and an eastern Khaganate.

Western Turk officer attending the reception of ambassadors by king Varkhuman of Samarkand. Afrasiab murals, 7th century CE. The Turks had a Mongoloid appearance.

An early Turk Shahi ruler named Sri Ranasrikari "The Lord who brings excellence through war" (Brahmi script). In this realistic portrait, he wears the Turkic double-lapel caftan. Late 7th to early 8th century CE.

Map of the six major protectorates during Tang dynasty.

Turkic officers during a audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand. They are recognizable by their long plaits.

A Turkic nobleman with long plaited hair, from Tashkent. Coin of the Turkic dynasties of Chach. Circa 605-630 CE.

Tang dynasty military campaigns against the Western Turks

Federal symbol of the Western Turks circa 650 CE. Eleven poles symbolizing the five Dulu tribes, the five Nushibi tribes, with the central pole symbolizing the rulership of a Yabghu-Qaghan. Afrasiab murals.

Western Turk attendants and officers, all recognizable by their long plaits, at the court of Samarkand. Afrasiab murals, 7th century CE.

Seated Turkic attendants, at the court of Samarkand. Afrasiab murals, 7th century CE.

A Turk (center) mourning the Buddha, Maya Cave (Cave 224), Kizil Caves. He is cutting his forehead with a knife, a practice of self-mutilation also known among the Scythians.

The Western Turkic Khaganate was subjugated by the Tang dynasty in 657 and continued as its vassal until their collapse.

Under Emperor Taizong, campaigns were dispatched in the Western Regions against Gaochang in 640, Karasahr in 644 and 648, and Kucha in 648.

Indo-European prevalence in Central Asia declined as the expeditions accelerated Turkic migration into what is now Xinjiang.

Tocharians

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The geographical spread of the Indo-European languages, with Tocharian in the east.

Female donor with label in Tocharian, Kizil Caves.

The Tocharian script is very similar to the Indian Brahmi script from the Kushan period, with only slight variations in calligraphy. Tocharian language inscription: Se pañäkte saṅketavattse ṣarsa papaiykau "This Buddha was painted by the hand of Sanketava", on a painting carbon dated to 245-340 AD.

Tocharian Prince mourning the Cremation of the Buddha, in [[:File:Maya Cave 224, mural 3.jpg|a mural]] from Maya Cave (224) in Kizil. He is cutting his forehead with a knife, a practice of self-mutilation also known among the Scythians.

Major oasis states of the ancient Tarim Basin

Tocharian kneeling devotees circa 300 AD, in the paintings of the Cave of the Hippocampi (Cave 118), Kizil Caves.

The Buddhist Cave with the Ring-Bearing Doves (Cave 123) at the Kizil Caves near Kucha, built circa 430-530 CE.

Monks from the Cave of the Painters circa 500 AD, Kizil Caves.

Ambassador from Kucha (龜茲國 Qiuci-guo), one of the main Tocharian cities, visiting the Chinese Southern Liang court in Jingzhou circa 516–520 AD at the time of Hephthalite domination over the region, with explanatory text. Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang, 11th century Song copy.

King Suvarnapushpa of Kucha is historically known and ruled 600–625 AD. Cave 69, Kizil Caves.

Tocharian knights from Kizilgaha caves (Cave 30). Circa 600 CE

The Tocharians, or Tokharians ( US : or ; UK : ), were speakers of Tocharian languages, Indo-European languages known from around 7600 documents from around 400 to 1200 AD, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China).

For several centuries, the Tarim basin was ruled by the Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty, the Tibetan Empire and the Tang Dynasty.

Tocharian A (Agnean or East Tocharian) was found in the northeastern oases known to the Tocharians as Ārśi, later Agni (i.e. Chinese Yanqi; modern Karasahr) and Turpan (including Khocho or Qočo; known in Chinese as Gaochang).

Xiongnu

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The Xiongnu were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Chinese sources report that Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire.

Asia in 200 BC, showing the early Xiongnu state and its neighbors

Plaque in the shape of a grazing kulan (wild ass), 2nd–1st century BC, Northwest China, Xiongnu culture.

A traveling nomad family led by a man in belted jacket and trousers, pulling a nomadic cart. Belt Buckle, Mongolia or southern Siberia, dated to 2nd-1st century BC (Xiongnu period).

Xiongnu among other people in Asia around 1 AD.

Bronze seal of a Xiongnu chief, conferred by the Eastern Han government. Inscribed 漢匈奴/歸義親/漢長 ("The Chief of the Han Xiongnu, who have returned to righteousness and embraced the Han"). Seal, impression, and transcription in standard characters.

Belt hook depicting an animal fight, Xiongnu, 200-100 BC, bronze. Östasiatiska museet, Stockholm.

Southern and Northern Xiongnu in 200 AD, before the collapse of the Han Dynasty.

Location of Xiongnu and other steppe nations in 300 AD.

An embroidered rug from the Xiongnu Noin-Ula burial site. This luxury item was imported from Bactria, and is thought to represent Yuezhi figures.

Belt plaque in the shape of a kneeling horse, 3rd-1st century BCE, gilded silver, made in North China for Xiongnu patrons.

Belt Buckle, 2nd-1st century BCE, Xiongnu. Another naturalistic belt buckle made to the Xiongnu taste, showing a mounted warrior frontally, holding a dagger and grabbing the hair of a demon who is also attacked by a dog. Also appears a nomadic cart pulled by reindeers, and another dog on top of the cart.

Xiongnu Leather Robe, Han period, Henan Provincial Museum, Zhengzhou

Belt plaque with design of wrestling men, Ordos region and western part of North China, 2nd century BC, bronze - Ethnological Museum, Berlin.

Belt buckle with three Ibexes, 2nd-1st century BC, Xiongnu. Chinese foundries made bronze belt plaques to the taste of the Xiongnu, who preferred designs of real animals in naturalistic settings. These plaques have typically been excavated in Xiongnu tombs of the 1st century BC.

Belt buckle with animal combat scene, 2nd-1st century BCE, made in North China for the Xiongnu. These plates were inspired by the art of the steppes, but the design was flattened and compressed within the frame.

Belt Buckle with nomadic-inspired zoomorphic design, manufactured in China for the Xiongnu. Mercury-gilded bronze (a Chinese technique). North China, 3rd-2nd century BC.

2nd century BC – 2nd century AD characters of Xiongnu-Xianbei script (Mongolia and Inner Mongolia).{{sfn|Ishjamts|1996|p=166, Fig 5}}

"Pastoralist expansion into Mongolia ca. 3000 BCE, and by the Late Bronze Age, Mongolian populations were biogeographically structured into three distinct groups, all practicing dairy pastoralism regardless of ancestry. The Xiongnu emerged from the mixing of these populations and those from surrounding regions".

Uniparental haplogroup assignments by group and sex-bias "z" scores of Xiongnu.

The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang.

Following his death, the power of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions increased again, and the emperors of subsequent dynasties did not reach as far west until the Tang dynasty.

Their remnants were then settled in the city of Gaochang before being destroyed by the Rouran.

Manichaean priests, writing at their desks. Eighth or ninth century manuscript from Gaochang, Tarim Basin, China.

Manichaeism

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Manichaeism (

Yuan Chinese silk painting Mani's Birth.

A 14th-century illustration of the execution of Mani

Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation, 13th-century Chinese Manichaean silk painting.

Manichaean Painting of the Buddha Jesus depicts Jesus Christ as a Manichaean prophet. The figure can be identified as a representation of Jesus Christ by the small gold cross that sits on the red lotus pedestal in His left hand.

10th century Manichaean Electae in Gaochang (Khocho), China.

Akshobhya in the Abhirati with the Cross of Light, a symbol of Manichaeism.

A map of the spread of Manichaeism (300–500). World History Atlas, Dorling Kindersly.

Augustine of Hippo was once a Manichaean.

A 13th-century manuscript from Augustine's book VII of Confessions criticizing Manichaeism.

Amitābha in his Western Paradise with Indians, Tibetans, and Central Asians, with two symbols of Manichaeism: Sun and Cross.

The four primary prophets of Manichaeism in the Manichaean Diagram of the Universe, from left to right: Mani, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus.

Uyghur Manichaean clergymen, wall painting from the Khocho ruins, 10th/11th century AD. Located in the Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin-Dahlem.

Worship of the Tree of Life in the World of Light; a Manichaean picture from the Bezeklik Caves

Manichaean Diagram of the Universe depicts the Manichaean cosmology.

An image of the Buddha as one of the primary prophets on a Manichaean pictorial roll fragment from Chotscho, 10th century.

Statue of prophet Mani as the "Buddha of Light" in Cao'an Temple in Jinjiang, Fujian, "a Manichaean temple in Buddhist disguise", which is considered "the only extant Manichean temple in China"

摩尼教文獻 The Chinese Manichaean "Compendium"

Two female musicians depicted in a Manichaean text

In the east it spread along trade routes as far as Chang'an, the capital of Tang China.

Some sites are preserved in Xinjiang and Fujian in China.

In the early 1900s, original Manichaean writings started to come to light when German scholars led by Albert Grünwedel, and then by Albert von Le Coq, began excavating at Gaochang, the ancient site of the Manichaean Uyghur Kingdom near Turpan, in Chinese Turkestan (destroyed around AD 1300).