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Qiemo Town

(Redirected from Cherchen)

The oasis town of Qiemo or Cherchen (Uyghur: چەرچەن, Чәрчән, Chinese: 且末; pinyin: Qiěmò; Uighur: Qarqan, also spelled Charchan) is the capital of Qiemo County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It is on the Qiemo River and at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, on the Southern Silk Route. In ancient times, the town and the kingdom it controlled were jointly known as Shanshan.

Qiemo
چەرچەن
且末
Qarqan
County-level town
Qiemo is located in Xinjiang
Qiemo
Qiemo
Location in Xinjiang
Coordinates: 38°08′04″N 85°31′49″E / 38.13444°N 85.53028°E / 38.13444; 85.53028
CountryChina
ProvinceXinjiang
PrefectureBayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture
CountyQiemo
Elevation
1,252 m (4,108 ft)
Population
 • Total
18,893
Ethnic groups
 • Major ethnic groupsUyghur[1]
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code841900

History

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Location of Qiemo county (pink), in Bayin'gholin prefecture (yellow), in Xinjiang autonomous region of China

Settlement in the Qiemo area dates back to the Bronze Age. The town is located along the ancient Jade Road that traded with the earliest Chinese dynasties, and Bronze Age rock carvings were found south of town along another ancient trade route to what is now Tibet.[2] Mummies dated to 1,000 BCE were discovered at the Zaghunluq site less than six km southwest of the city center. A particularly well-preserved one is known as the Cherchen Man.[3][4]

Qiemo existed as an independent kingdom during the Former Han dynasty (123 BCE to 23 CE). It was described in the Hanshu, chapter 96A thus:

The seat of the government is the town of Ch'ieh-mo, and it is distant by 6820 li from Chang'an. There are 230 households, 1610 individuals with 320 persons able to bear arms. [There are the following officials:] the noble of Fu-kuo (support of the state), the leaders of the left and the right and one interpreter-in-chief ... There are grapes and various types of fruit. To the west there is communication with Ching-chüeh at a distance of 2000 li."

— Hanshu, chapter 96a, translation from Hulsewé 1979.[5]

Although the town is described in documents from the 1st century BCE to the 9th century CE, the ancient site has not yet been discovered, even though four major expeditions have searched for it.[6]

The area was ruled as the kingdom of Calmadana during the earliest heyday of the Silk Road. Its fortunes have since ebbed and flowed, mainly with the popularity of the southern trade route. The Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian left a brief account of the country after his visit c. 399 CE, recording that there were probably more than 4,000 monks in the country, all Hinayana. Song Yun passed through around 519, and wrote that the country had just been defeated by the Tuyuhun. It was sometimes abandoned, as when Buddhist monk Xuanzang passed through in the year 644, and when Marco Polo came by in 1273.

In 2018, Jiayuan was newly listed as a residential community.[7][8]

Geography

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Qiemo was strategically located at the junction of the main route from Dunhuang to Khotan via Jingjue and the mountain route to Xining via Qinghai Lake.[9] Qiemo is 315 km east of Minfeng, 605 km east of Hotan, and 351 km west of Charklik/Ruoqiang Town along Highway 315.[2]

Administrative divisions

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Map including Qiemo (labeled as Ch'ieh-mo) from the International Map of the World (DMA, 1975)

The town is made up of six residential communities and one village:[10][7][8][11][12]

Residential Communities (Mandarin Chinese Hanyu Pinyin-derived names):

  • Quegelimaya (却格里买亚社区), Gulukawuruke (古路卡吾入克社区, formerly Gulekeruike (古勒科瑞克社区)), Jiahabage (加哈巴格社区), Ketaimai (科台买社区, formerly Ketaiman (科台满社区)), Dianshi Xincun (Dianshixincun; 电视新村社区), Jiayuan (佳园社区)

Village:

  • Caidui (菜队村)

Transportation

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ 1997年且末县行政区划. XZQH.org (in Simplified Chinese). 10 December 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2020. 且末镇 县政府驻地。民国37年（1948）为且末镇，1949年为县第一区的巴扎乡，1958年改镇，1981年更名且末镇。面积4平方千米，人口1万，其中维吾尔族占67％。
  2. ^ a b A Tourism Guide to Cherchen / Qiemo, Xinjiang, China. Centralasiatraveler.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-12.
  3. ^ Dolkun Kamberi (January 1994). "The Three Thousand Year Old Charchan Man Preserved at Zaghunluq :Abstract Account of a Tomb Excavation in Charchan County of Uyghuristan" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers. 44.
  4. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Mair, Victor H. (2000), The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West, London: Thames & Hudson
  5. ^ Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. Brill, Leiden. pp. 92–93. ISBN 90-04-05884-2.
  6. ^ Bonavia (2004), p. 330.
  7. ^ a b 2018年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：且末镇 [2018 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Qiemo Town] (in Simplified Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2020. 统计用区划代码 城乡分类代码 名称 652825100001 121 却格里买亚社区 652825100002 121 古路卡吾入克社区 652825100003 121 加哈巴格社区 652825100004 121 科台买社区 652825100005 121 电视新村社区 652825100006 121 佳园社区 652825100200 122 菜队村民委员会
  8. ^ a b 2017年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：且末镇 [2017 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Qiemo Town] (in Simplified Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2020. 统计用区划代码 城乡分类代码 名称 652825100001 121 却格里买亚社区 652825100002 121 古勒科瑞克社区 652825100003 121 加哈巴格社区 652825100004 121 科台满社区 652825100005 121 电视新村社区 652825100200 122 菜队村民委员会
  9. ^ Hill (2009), note 1.13, pp. 83–85.
  10. ^ 关于印发《且末县常态化开展环境卫生工作实施方案》的通知. 新疆且末县人民政府 (in Simplified Chinese). 10 September 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020. 为精细化开展环境卫生治理工作，且末镇履行县城区域环境卫生治理工作的监管责任，部门单位具体落实责任片区环境卫生治理工作主体责任（含下属单位）。具体划分电视新村社区、加哈巴格社区、却格里买亚社区、古路卡吾入克社区、科台买社区、佳苑社区6个片区15个网格，由县住建局、市监局、且末镇分别抽调1名工作人员常态化监督各责任主体落实整治工作。
  11. ^ 2009年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：且末镇 [2009 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Qiemo Town] (in Simplified Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2020. 代码 城乡分类 名称 652825100001 121 却格里买亚社区 652825100002 121 古勒科瑞克社区 652825100003 121 加哈巴格社区 652825100004 121 科台满社区 652825100005 121 电视新村社区
  12. ^ 2009年且末县行政区划 [2009 Qiemo County Administrative Divisions] (in Simplified Chinese). XZQH.org. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2020. 行政区划代码及城乡划分代码 652825 且末县 652825100 且末镇 652825100001 121 却格里买亚社区 652825100002 121 古勒科瑞克社区 652825100003 121 加哈巴格社区 652825100004 121 科台满社区 652825100005 121 电视新村社区

Further reading

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  • Bonavia, Judy. (2004). The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar. Revised by Christoph Baumer. Odyssey Publications.. ISBN 962-217-741-7.
  • Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
  • Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
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