Keriya Town or Mugala Town is a town in
Yutian (Keriya) County,
Hotan Prefecture
Hotan PrefectureThe official spelling is "Hotan" according to (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is located in the Tarim Basin region of southwestern Xinjiang, China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region ...
,
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, China, on the old Southern
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. As the commercial and administrative centre of Keriya County, it is about 166 km east of
Hotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
, 80 km east of Qira, and 120 km west of
Niya. Yutian County has a population of about 160,000.
History
The small modern town of Keriya is situated on the western bank of the
Keriya River
The Keriya River is a river in the province of Xinjiang in China. It flows for from the Kunlun Shan mountain range north into the endorheic Tarim Basin, but is lost in the desert several hundred kilometers south of the Tarim River. The only majo ...
. Approximately 180 km north along the Keriya River is the ancient fortified site of
Karadong, where the world's oldest Buddhist murals have been found. It was abandoned in the 4th century CE. Another site, Yuan Sha, some 40 km north of Karadong, dates from the Iron Age but was abandoned by about 130 BCE.
There is a village about 75 km south of Keriya called Pulu. There are a number of peaks over 6,000 metres to the south of the oasis, including Qong Muztag at 6,962 m (22,841 ft) in the upper Keriya River Valley. About 100 families of the distinctive Keriya
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
, who are said to be quite distinct from other Uyghurs, live at Tangzubasti Village, about 170 km north of the town of Yutian. It is said to be on the ruins of the ancient city of Keladun where artifacts from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 222 CE) have been found.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
visited the oasis in the late 13th century. He described it as being five days' journey in extent, but with sandy deserts to both east and west. Both the province and the capital city were called Pem or Peyn. He noted that the people were Muslims, and that there were many towns and villages. He indicated that there were plenty of products there, including cotton. He also mentions that "jasper" (probably
nephrite jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
) and
chalcedony
Chalcedony ( , or ) is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic. ...
were found in the rivers and the people "live by manufacture and trade". He also wrote of their custom: "...if a married man goes to a distance from home to be absent twenty days, his wife has a right, if she is inclined, to take another husband; and the men, on the same principle, marry wherever they happen to reside."
Gold mines were reported near Keriya in the 19th century.
[Hill (2015) Vol. I, p. 196.]
In 2013, Xingfu and Hexie were listed as
residential communities in the town.
In 2017, eight residential communities and seven villages were added to those listed as part of the town.
Administrative divisions
![Mao meets Uighur farmer, Yutian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Mao_meets_Uighur_farmer%2C_Yutian.jpg)
As of 2018, the town was made up of eighteen
residential communities and twenty-four
villages
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
.
Residential communities (''
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
Hanyu Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
-derived names''):
*Kunlun (), Jiande (), Tuanjie (), Yucheng (), Wusitangbeixi/Wusitangbashi (), Aitika (), Tanaibeixi/Tanaiyibeixi (), Dunbage (), Xingfu (), Hexie (), Tianmei (), Tianyuan (), Chaoyang (), Guangming (), Kuaile (), Guzai (), Meigui (), Kutazibeixi ()
Villages:
*Guzai (), Aremukamu (), Mugakulebeixi/Mugakulebashi (), Kaga (), Ale (), Tugemankuoqia (), Andaikulebeixi/Andaikulebashi (), Mugala (), Bashikaqun (), Ayagekaqun/Ayakekaqun (), Yingqikai'airike/Yingqige'aireke (), Kariman (), Asiting'aoyi/Asitingwuyi (), Wusitangwuqi (), Kongkamazha (), Kukairen (), Bositan (), Lüzhou (), Taoyuan (), Youyi (), Akeyilaike (), Maidiniyeti (), Yitipake (), Keliya ()
In 2009, residential communities and villages in the town were:
Residential communities (''
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
Hanyu Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
-derived names''):
* Kunlun (), Jiande (), Tuanjie (), Yucheng (), Wusitangbeixi (), Aitika (), Tanaibeixi (), Dunbage ()
Villages:
* Guzai (), Aremukamu (), Mugakulebeixi (), Kaga (), Ale (), Tugemankuoqia (), Andaikulebeixi (), Mugala (), Bashikaqun (), Ayagekaqun (), Yingqikai'airike (), Kariman (), Asiting'aoyi (), Wusitangwuqi (), Kongkamazha (), Kukairen (), Bositan ()
Transportation
*
China National Highway 315
References
Further reading
* Baumer, Christoph. 2000. ''Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin''. White Orchid Books. Bangkok.
* Bonavia, Judy 2004. ''The Silk Road From Xi’an to Kashgar''. Revised by Chrisoph Baumer. 2004. Odyssey Publications.
* 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.
*
Latham, Ronald. 1958. ''The Travels of Marco Polo''. Translated and Introduced by Ronald Latham. Reprint 1982 by Abaris Books, New York.
* Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. (2000). ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. Thames & Hudson. London.
* Skrine, C. P. 1926. ''Chinese Central Asia''. Methuen, London. Reprint: Barnes & Noble, New York. 1971.
* Stein, M. Aurel 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Oxford. Clarendon Press.
* Stein, M. Aurel 1912. ''Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal narrative of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 2 vols''. Reprint: Delhi. Low Price Publications. 1990.
* Stein, M. Aurel 1921. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London. Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980.
* Yu, Taishan. 2004. ''A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March, 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
External links
* 3000-year-old archaeological finds at Liushui Village, Yutian Count
* Archaeological GIS and Oasis Geography in the Tarim Basi
{{Authority control
Populated places along the Silk Road
Central Asian Buddhist sites
Populated places in Xinjiang
Ancient peoples of China
Former countries in Chinese history
Oases of China
Township-level divisions of Xinjiang