Shuiding (), formerly Suiding (Suiting) () is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in the
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ( kk, Іле Қазақ автономиялық облысы) (also as Yili) is an autonomous prefecture for Kazakh people in Northern Xinjiang, China, one of five autonomous prefectures in Xinjiang. Yining City ...
,
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
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
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and the county seat of
Huocheng County
Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locate ...
. It is located some to the northwest of
Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh ...
, the main city of the prefecture, and some north of the
Ili River
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...
.
, Shuiding had a population of 29,277.
History
Qing dynasty
Suiding () was built in 1762 during the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
after the
Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas
The Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas () was an uprising against the Qing dynasty of China, which broke out in 1757 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. The rebels were led by (also known as Hojijan, Huojizhan; nickname: "Younger Khoja" 小 ...
was pacified. From 1762 to 1765 Suiding was the seat of the Governor General of
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 ...
, the
General of Ili
The General of Ili ( Officially ), also known in western sources as the Kuldya Military Governor, was a position created during the reign of the Qing Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1799) to "pacify" Dzungaria (now part of Xinjiang) and suppress uprising ...
. In 1765 the General of Ili moved to the larger fortress of
Huiyuan ().
Huiyuan suffered severe damage during the
Dungan Revolt of 1862–77 when the besieged General of Ili,
Mingsioi Mingsioi ( Manchu: ) or Mingxu () was the Qing General of Ili in 1864-66, charged with the overall command of the Chinese troops in Xinjiang.
Mingsioi's predecessor, Cangcing () was sacked after the defeat of Qing troops at Wusu during the Dung ...
, blew himself up in his palace rather than surrender to the rebels, and during the Russian occupation that followed between 1871-81. The Russians left pursuant to the 1881
Treaty of Saint Petersburg. From 1882 to 1894 the General of Ili resided at Suiding, while a new Huiyuan fortress was being rebuilt.
In 1888 Suiding County (now
Huocheng County
Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locate ...
and
Khorgas
Khorgas, officially known as KorgasThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); ( zh, s=霍尔果斯, t=霍爾果斯, p=Huò'ěrguǒsī; kk, قورعاس, Qorǵas), also known as ''Chorgos'', ''Gorgos'', ''Horgos' ...
) was established. Suiding was the county seat.
The town's name was commonly transcribed in the West as Suidun. The 1911
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
described "Suidun" as "a military town, with provision stores, an arsenal and an arms workshop. Its walls are armed with steel guns."
Unlike the city of
Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh ...
, originally known as Ningyuan (), which has always remained the commercial center of the region, the 19th century Huiyuan/Suiding was mostly a fortress and an administrative town. It was known to the Russians as the ''New Kuldja'', ''Chinese Kuldja'', or ''Manchu Kuldja'', to distinguish it from
Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh ...
(the ''Old Kuldja'' or the ''
Taranchi
Taranchi () is a term denoting the Muslim sedentary population living in oases around the Tarim Basin in today's Xinjiang, China, whose native language is Turkic Karluk and whose ancestral heritages include Tocharians, Iranic peoples such as ...
Kuldja''). This usage is no longer current.
People's Republic
With the creation of the Ili Prefecture () in 1950, the then existing
Suiding County
Shuiding (), formerly Suiding (Suiting) () is a town in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China and the county seat of Huocheng County. It is located some to the northwest of Yining, the main city of the pre ...
was included into the Area, as was
the neighboring
Huocheng County
Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locate ...
; in 1955, the Ili Special Area became
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ( kk, Іле Қазақ автономиялық облысы) (also as Yili) is an autonomous prefecture for Kazakh people in Northern Xinjiang, China, one of five autonomous prefectures in Xinjiang. Yining City ...
. In 1965, the name Suiding () was replaced with more politically correct Shuiding (), with 'shui' ('water') replacing 'sui' ("to pacify"). The next year (1966), Shuiding County was merged into Huocheng County, and the Huocheng County county seat was transferred to Shuiding town.
Present
The original Huiyuan site is now a separate town of
Huiyuan () within the same
Huocheng County
Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locate ...
as Shuiding. Huiyuan's population was reported as 20,564 by the Year 2000 Census.
Some of the Qing period buildings, including a bell tower and a "Governor General's Pavilion", have been rebuilt at the Huiyuan site as a tourist attraction, often referred to as the "Huiyuan Old Town" ().
/ref>
Further reading
Huocheng County information
at the China Administrative Division info site
in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...
*
伊犁惠远城
(Ili's Huiyuan City)
* Henry Lansdell, "Russian Central Asia: Including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva and Merv"
Full text
available at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
; there is also a 2001 facsimile reprint of the 1885 edition, . (Chapters XIV-XVII describe Lansdell visit to the area in the early 1880s, soon after the Russian withdrawal. He visited "Suidun" (Suiding), mentioned already ruined "Ili or Manchu Kuldja" (Huiyancheng), and then went to "Taranchi Kuldja" (Yining))
References
{{Reflist
Populated places in Xinjiang