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 ...
of the
People's Republic of 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 ...
, bordering the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
to the south. Its area is and, according to the 2002 census, it has a population of 60,000. The county seat is at
Qiemo Town
The oasis town of Qiemo or Cherchen ( ug, چەرچەن, Чәрчән}, ; 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 o ...
.
Name
"Qiemo (W-G: Ch'ieh-mo) 且末 = modern Cherchen or Charchan (Uyghur: ''Qarqan''). There has been uncertainty about this name as Chavannes (1907), p. 156, and then Stein (1921a), Vol. I, 296 ff., gave an incorrect romanization for the first character. Chavannes, using the French EFEO romanization system, gave ''tsiu'', and Stein used the Wade-Giles equivalent, ''chü''. In fact, the character is correctly rendered ''k’ie'' in EFEO, ch’ieh in Wade-Giles and qie in pinyin. Nevertheless, there has never been any serious dispute about its identification with modern Cherchen."
It has been suggested that the name "Cherchen" may have been derived from
Shanshan
Shanshan (; ug, پىچان, Pichan, Piqan) was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur.
The kingdom was originally an independent city-state, known in ...
, the kingdom that once ruled the area. A number of different names have been used for the town,
Lionel Giles
Lionel Giles (29 December 1875 – 22 January 1958) was a British sinologist, writer, and philosopher. Lionel Giles served as assistant curator at the British Museum and Keeper of the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books. He is ...
has recorded the following names for Ruoqiang Town (with his Wade-Giles forms of the Chinese names converted to
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
):
:''Jumo''
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
:Zuomo ()
Song Yun
Song Yun () was a Chinese Buddhist monk who was sent by the pious Buddhist Empress Dowager Hu (Northern Wei), Empress Hu (, ?-528 CE) of the Northern Wei, Northern Wei Dynasty with other monastic companions including Hui Zheng, Fa Li and Zheng (o ...
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
were found in Cherchen including the
Cherchen Man Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man or Ur-David is the modern name given to a mummy found in the town Cherchen, located in current Xinjiang region of China. The mummy is a member of the group known as Tarim mummies. His naturally-mummified remains were ...
.
The modern county is based on the ancient kingdom of Qiemo () mentioned in the ''
Hanshu
The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...
'' and the '' Hou Hanshu''. According to the ''Hanshu'', Qiemo/Cherchen had "230 households, 1,610 individuals and 320 persons able to bear arms."
The ancient Qiemo may have been located on the east of the Cherchen (Charchan / Qarqan) river, across from the modern Cherchen. Qiemo became part of
Loulan Kingdom
Loulan, also called Krorän or Kroraina ( zh, s=, t=, p=Lóulán <
''lo-lɑn'' < after it was under Chinese control during the Han dynasty and renamed
Shanshan
Shanshan (; ug, پىچان, Pichan, Piqan) was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur.
The kingdom was originally an independent city-state, known in ...
. Later in 442 CE, after an attack by
Juqu Anzhou
Juqu Anzhou (; died 460) is viewed by some historians as a ruler of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Northern Liang dynasty, as after the state's territory was largely seized by the Northern Wei in 439, and his older brother Juqu Mujian (Prince Ai) was ca ...
, King Bilong of Shanshan fled to Qiemo together with half of his countrymen so Shanshan came to be ruled by Qiemo.
The Buddhist pilgrim
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo (, thought to be Charklik) of Krořän (Loulan), and wrote of Ziemo (Qiemo), "A fortress exists, but not a trace of man".
Marco Polo who passed through Cherchen mentioned it as a province with a town of the same name as its chief city. Its inhabitants were described as Muslims.
In August 2014, local authorities in Cherchen County (Qiemo County) announced, " Incentive Measures Encouraging Uighur-Chinese Intermarriage," including a 10,000 CNY (1,450 USD) cash reward per annum for the first five years to such intermarried couples as well as preferential treatment in employment and housing plus free education for the couples, their parents and offspring. County CCP Secretary Zhu Xin remarked:
Geography
From the south to the north, the lands of the county run from the main range of the Kunlun Mountains (which forms the border with the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
) to the middle of the
Taklamakan
The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...
Desert. The southernmost area of the county includes the northern side of part of the Ulugh Muztagh range (the main range of the Kunlun), and a section of the
Altyn-Tagh
Altyn-Tagh (also Altun Mountains, Altun Shan; , Pinyin: ''A'erjin Shan'', Wade–Giles: ''A-erh-chin Shan;'' Uyghur'':ئالتۇن تاغ'') is a mountain range in Northwestern China that separates the Eastern Tarim Basin from the Tibetan P ...
range which runs roughly parallel to the main range of the Kunlun. Most of the county population lives in the northern foothills of the mountains, in the oases watered by snow-fed rivers.
The Qiemo River (Qarqan River) near the town of Ziemo (Qiemo) is frozen for two to three months in the winter. From the foot of the mountains to the oasis of Ziemo (Qiemo), it has a faIl of nearly 4000 feet.
Climate
Typically for Xinjiang, Qiemo has a harsh
cool arid climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BWk''). It is one of the very driest places in this dry autonomous region, receiving an average of less than of rainfall equivalent every year. Summer days are hot, although nights are fairly pleasant, whilst winters are chilly although less severe than in more northerly parts of Xinjiang, with average maxima above freezing except in January.
Administrative divisions
Qiemo (Qarqan) County includes five
towns
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 ...
, eight
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
and other areas:
Towns (镇)
*
Qiemo Town
The oasis town of Qiemo or Cherchen ( ug, چەرچەن, Чәрчән}, ; 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 o ...
Ak Tikandong Township
AK and A.K. (but not Ak) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''A.K.'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Chris Marker
* AK (radio program), a weekly program produced by Alaska Public Radio Network from 2003 to 2008, later a segment on ''Alaska N ...
The economy of the county is primarily based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural products of the county include wheat, corn, cotton and rapeseed. Lynx and fox hunting in the county produces valuable animal skins. Mining in the county includes coal, jade and asbestos. Industries in the county include mining, leather making, and grain and oil processing.
Demographics
As of 2015, 50,754 (73.06%) of the 69,464 residents of the county were Uyghur, 18,365 (26.44%) were
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
and 345 were from other ethnic groups.
As of 1999, 77.5% of the population of the county was Uyghur and 22.31% of the population was Han Chinese.
Transportation
*
Qiemo Yudu Airport
Qiemo Yudu Airport is an airport that serves Qiemo Town in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Located roughly northwest of the town, the airport has a terminal and a runway that measures . It replaced another airport serving the town, ...
Cherchen Man Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man or Ur-David is the modern name given to a mummy found in the town Cherchen, located in current Xinjiang region of China. The mummy is a member of the group known as Tarim mummies. His naturally-mummified remains were ...
, one of the Tarim mummies
Historical maps
File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-45-3rd-ed.jpg, Map of Qiemo (labeled as Ch'ieh-mo) and surrounding area (1975)
File:Operational Navigation Chart G-7, 6th edition.jpg, Map including Qiemo (labeled as QIEMO (CH'IEH-MO)) and surrounding region ( DMA, 1980)
File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-45-2nd-ed.jpg, Map including Qarqan (labeled as CH'IEH-MO (CHERCHEN) (CH'E-ERH-CH'ENG)) ( USATC, 1971)
Notes
References
* Giles, Lionel (1930–1932). "A Chinese Geographical Text of the Ninth Century." ''BSOS'' VI, pp. 825–846.
* Hill, John E. (2015). ''Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. Second Edition. Vols. I-II. CreateSpace.'' North Charleston, South Carolina.
*
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