Beshbalik City Ruins Proves to be Built in the Tang dynasty—Evidence Unearthed by the Institute of Archeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Beshbalik City Ruins Proves to be Built in the Tang dynasty—Evidence Unearthed by the Institute of Archeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

On July 25, according to wall construction, unearthed cultural relics, laminated cultural layers and the contained relics fragments of Beshbalik City Ruins, the Xinjiang archaeological team of the Institute of Archeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences makes professional judgement after their archaeological excavation: this is the first academic physical evidence from archaeological discovery to confirm that the outer city of Beshbalik was built during the Tang dynasty. So far, a cultural and academic debate that lasted for almost a century on whether the outer city of Beshbalik was built during the Tang dynasty or the Qocho Uighur period of the Song dynasty is finally settled.

An aerial picture map of the Beshbalik City Ruins

The archaeological site

Beshbalik City Ruins is located  12 km north of Jimsar County, Xinjiang, China. According to historical records, its former site was Jinmancheng garrisoned by Genggu, the field officer of Wusi in the Han dynasty. In the second year of Chang’an (702 AC), in order to further consolidate the Northwestern frontier, Empress Wu Zetian established the Protectorate General (or Beshbalik Duhu Fu) in Tingzhou (Ting state), with the Hanhai Army quartered here under the jurisdiction of it. The Protectorate General had control over the vast areas north of Tianshan Mountains including Altai Mountains and areas west of Lake Balkhash, making Tingzhou a significant state in the west of the country during the Tang dynasty. In the Yuan dynasty, the government established a Branch Secretariats (a branch office of the department of state affairs known as Xing Shangshu Sheng ) and the Marshal Office of Beshbalik. The city was abandoned in the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty.

Archaeological site

“There has always been controversy over the construction period of the city of Beshbalik in the academia, some state that it was built in the Tang dynasty, while some state that it was built in Qocho Uighur period after the Tang dynasty (Song dynasty). A highlight of this archaeological fieldwork is to achieve scientific evidence from the perspective of archaeological stratigraphy to determine the construction period of the city.” Said Wu Xinhua, the lead researcher and leader of the Xinjiang archaeological team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Senior archaeologist Tan Dahai, explaining the excavation and verification process at the archaeological site.

In the afternoon of July 23, our reporters visited the archaeological excavation site. Walking into the south gate of the ruins park of Beshbalik, there were three prominent mounds in sight, and below the mound in the west, there was a nearly 50-meter-long archaeological exploration ditch. Working in there was the archaeologist Tan Dahai—every inch of his uncovered skin was tanned due to year-round exposure to sun and wind, he carefully explained to us the excavation and verification process.

Senior archaeologist Tan Dahai, explaining the excavation and verification process at the archaeological site.

Archaeological site, the south outer walls of Beshbalik City Ruins.

“According to observation of these large rammed earth construction remains-the mounds and the retained ruins of ancient constructions around here, this site used to be the south outer walls of Beshbalik. This archaeological exploration ditch is excavated along the slope extending from the top of the existing city wall. Judging from the results of soil layers processing of the wall, all materials used to ram the wall were obtained locally. This indicates that the wall was rammed layer by layer with available soil obtained nearby. According to archaeological stratigraphy analysis, the left traces and unearthed relics on the site, this construction mode was completely in consistence with the mode employed in ancient cities from central China.” Tan Dahai said. He was a senior archaeologist in Xinjiang.

Jun kiln porcelain pieces of the Song dynasty found in the archaeological excavation site

Potsherds and tile pieces of the Tang dynasty found in the archaeological excavation site.

To look beyond from a mound, one can clearly see the continuity of the city walls. Though in ruins, the scale of the walls still shocks the viewers. Extending from the top of the wall to several meters deep in the exploration ditch, the changes of soil layers is clearly visible on the soil section. Tan Dahai explained to the reporters about the wall layer by layer—these are the lower layers of the outer wall: the top layer is modern, it has plastic fragments, weed and so on; the second layer was built after the Song dynasty, Jun Kiln porcelain pieces were found in this layer; the third layer beneath was build in the Tang dynasty, where a lot of potsherds and tile pieces with prominent Tang features were unearthed, and most importantly, a Tang dynasty Kai Yuan Tong Bao coin was discovered in this layer.

The Kai Yuan Tong Bao coin excavated in the archaeological Site

The Kai Yuan Tong Bao Coin Excavated in the Archaeological Site

The style of the South Gate of the outer city of Beshbalik resembles the ancient city wall of Xi’an that we see today, it has mamian and wengcheng. The urban construction form and the construction technology feature the characteristics of cities of central China of the Tang dynasty. Walking on the soil layer of the Tang dynasty, it feels like traveling back to more than 1000 years ago.

The wall section, photos by correspondents Wang Yujie, Chen Daiming

Jiang Zhongyi, 78-year-old senior archeology expert from the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who has been doing archaeological fieldworks and researches for a lifetime, arrives at the site to guide the excavation works. He says: “Judging from the present evidences, we can safely draw the conclusion that the construction period of the city of Beshbalik was the Tang dynasty. Historical materials, although have records about the city, were neither clear nor definite. Therefore, scholars from various disciplines argued for almost a century about the construction period of the city based on different historical materials and the surrounding environment. Now, we finally have the evidence to draw a conclusion. We will further study on a series of excavations, and spend a few years to gradually unveil the construction form and layout of the ruins through archaeological excavations and research, and present the historical status and realistic values of the glorious Protectorate General  of the Tang dynasty.

Archaeological site

When you open the satellite map and scan the land of China westward from Xi’an, go through Lanzhou, Gansu corridor, Hami, and swagger at the foot of Tianshan Mountains, you will suddenly find that the oasis on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains is well watered and lushly planted. People have been farming there for over a thousand years. Divided by Tianshan Mountains, now the south and north plains are together referred to as Xinjiang. The world famous city of Turpan, due to its extremely long and hot summer, produces grapes and cantaloupes sweet as honey. It is also famous because it has two world famous ancient cities--Yar City Site of Bashbaliq City (Jiaohe Ruins) and Qocho (Gaochang) City Ruins, it is only 200 km away from Beshbalik City Ruins. People from Gaochang—the land of extreme heat, used to ride on their “heavenly horses” along the ancient Jushi Road, go across Tianshan Mountains to come to Beshbalik to enjoy the cool air. If you open a map and put a pin on Beshbalik, and carefully view around this coordinate point, you will find how brilliant were the ancients to have chosen this location to set up Beshbalik—located north of the Tianshan mountains, it connects vast areas: Lake Balkhash to the west, Altay Mountains to the north and Jiayu Pass to the east.

Tan Dahai, Senior archaeologist of Xinjiang, at the archaeological site.

Tan Dahai, Senior archaeologist of Xinjiang, at the archaeological site.

“Rising from the ground, Beshbalik City Ruins was a land near central China to station troops; connecting the east and west, it was also an important trading place in the west of the country during the Tang dynasty; the scale of the city is comparable to some of the large cities of the Tang dynasty, and it is safe to say that it was an important city in the ancient Silk Road, presenting the dignity and prosperity of the glorious age of the Tang dynasty.” Said Tan Dahai.

Tan Dahai, Senior archaeologist of Xinjiang, at the archaeological site.

 Wu Xinhua, the host of this archaeological excavation, indicates that this excavation of the Beshbalik City Ruins initially confirms these findings: the walls of the south city, the city gate, and the wengcheng were all planned and constructed during the Tang dynasty. Mamian, the width of the walls, the ramming technologies, the wall base, cultural layers and other evidences prove that the existing outer wall of the ancient city are relics from the glorious age of the Tang dynasty. During the reign of Qocho, the construction remained unchanged.

Tan Dahai, Senior archaeologist of Xinjiang, at the archaeological site.

Enlarged on a satellite map, you can see how grand the scale of the city was. However, pitifully, after over 1000 years of erosion by wind and rain, and years on human encroachment, it is now hard to feel its grandness standing on the ground.  According to the experts, in 1988, Beshbalik City Ruins was listed as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level （MHCSPNL）by the State Council of China. In 2013, it was listed as a national archaeological park.

Archaeological site: south outer wall of Beshbalik City Ruins,

Wu Xinhua says: “The discovery of the Beshbalik City Ruins and other ruins around it proves that buddhist culture has existed in Xinjiang for over 1000 years. Abundant unearthed cultural relics not only show that Xinjiang is an inseparable part of China since ancient times, but also show that Xinjiang is a land where multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic people lived and developed together.

Background Information:

Protectorate General (Duhu Fu, or Supervision Office) is the highest administrative and military institution set up in the western regions in the Tang dynasty, it enables the central government to effectively exercise its political and military rights. With this supervision office, appointment of officials at all levels, command of border garrison, executing central policies, political and economic system of the Tang dynasty can all be implemented in the western regions. The set-up of this institution had great significance in maintaining the unity of the country, consolidating the northwest frontier, developing east and west traffic, and promoting cultural and economic communication of the western region with central China and even foreign countries.