More than ten kilometers west of Yanqi County, Xinjiang, there is a deserted ancient city: Bogdaqin Ancient City
Bogdaqin means a magnificent and tall city wall in Uighur
The ancient city is nearly square, with a circumference of more than three kilometers, and the existing city wall is about four to five meters high.
The outline of the whole city is complete, and relics such as the city gate and the city axis are clearly visible
A sandstorm passed by in the distance
According to textual research, this is the seat of the ancient Yanqi Kingdom, one of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. The ancient Silk Road met the Taklamakan Desert and divided into two lines, north and south. Yanqi is the only place to pass through the northern line.
In the Tang Dynasty, Master Xuanzang once passed by here on his westward journey, and it was called the Agni Kingdom in "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Yi, obeying India", although it is still far away from India, it was an area influenced by Indian culture in the Tang Dynasty.
Master Xuanzang did not have a good impression of the king of the Agni Kingdom: "The king, the people of his country, are brave but few, and he likes to call himself a conqueror. The country has no rules and regulations, and the law is not cleared up."
More than ten years after Master Xuanzang left, Hou Junji attacked Gaochang, the Tang Dynasty began to move westward, and established the Anxi Protectorate. Yanqi became one of the four towns in Anxi, and the four towns began to build city walls. Now the ancient city of Bogdaqin The city wall of the city is probably left by the Tang Dynasty.
In the following decades, the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty once reached Central Asia. In the first year of Tiaolu (679) during the Emperor Gaozong's period, Pei Xingjian pacified the Western Turks, and the scope of the Anxi Protectorate was further expanded. Suiyecheng replaced Yanqi, and the new Anxi The four towns are Qiucha, Khotan, Shule, Suiye
Today's ancient city of Bogdaqin is deserted, only shepherds and sheep occasionally pass by
20 kilometers east of the ancient city of Bogdaqin is the huge Bosten Lake. Perhaps in the past, the water surface of the lake was larger and could reach the edge of the city. With the shrinking of the lake, Bogdaqin lost its water source and was eventually abandoned.
A gold belt buckle was unearthed in the ancient city, which was dated to the Han Dynasty.
2017.05, Bogdaqin Ancient City
The friends of "Drunken Beauty Ancient China" came to the ancient city of Bogdaqin
