Turpan (Turfan or historically also Tulufan) is a remote yet legendary silk road town, Kingdom and Oasis stop-over along one of the main routes of the Silk Road in what has been known since the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 221 AD) as the western regions. Ever since its first contact with (Han) Chinese civilization, now well over 2000 years ago, the modestly sized oasis town has made a huge imprint on Chinese history.
The earliest inhabitants of the area where the current day city of Turpan is situated may well have been the Tocharian's, an early Indo-European race of tall white people, often with blue eyes. The Tocharian's have long gone and for many centuries no one, accept for the locals were aware of their very historic presence. However, among things through archeological finds and excavations done in the Turpan Prefecture, evidence of their being, culture and achievements have slowly been uncovered.
Today, the Tocharian's are a still legendary but well known race of early humans who somehow managed to migrate across the Eurasian continent and so ended up in these (East) Central Asian regions. The now-extinct language called Tocharian apparently was similar to Celtic an ancient European language.
In the period pre-dating the first written Chinese records dealing with Turpan and the western regions, Turpan was clearly already inhabited and the civilizations existing among the various Oasis and the length of the Tarim River had already achieved a fairly high amount of sophistication. Far from being savages wrapped in animal skins, the inhabitants of the Tarim River Basin and the road leading along Turpan are proven to have had knowledge of waving, medicine, stone cutting, the extraction and use of copper and various other technologies.
Interestingly, one unexpected archeological find in Turpan Prefecture (and published on in March of 2008) turned up the world’s oldest stash of marijuana known to date. The ″stash″ was found in a tomb excavated at Yanghai Tombs, which are situated very near Turpan and was identified as to be around 2,700 years old. The stash and tomb contents can now be found at the Turpan Museum in town.
(For more information see: ″Landmarks & Monuments of Turpan″).
To be exact, according to the source article in the Journal of Experimental Botany; ″researchers found all 789 grams of dried cannabis buried beside, what they believe, to be a shaman of the Gushi culture″. The man was an individual aged about 45 with blue-eyes and some sort of Caucasian descent. The marihuana stash itself was found lightly pounded in a wooden bowl in a leather basket placed near the head of the dead man. Additional items found included a make-up bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a so called ″kongou″ harp.
Dry conditions and the alkaline soil (of the arid Turpan Basin) preserved the stash, which enabled scientists to study it. Naturally, the amazing find made International Headlines as the topic of marihuana was involved.
Although, judging from the contents of history books and travel guides alike the last half millenium has seemingly been far less exciting or at least historically noteworthy for the world, there is plenty more to tell about the history of Turpan. Among things, as can be seen today, the town once more reverted back to Islam and stayed that way while remaining a bullwark of Uyghur Culture right up to and somewhat beyond the advent of the Peoples Republic of China.
In the late 19th and in the 20th century Turpan was much visited by western explorers among whom famous names such as Sven Hedin, Sir Marcus Aurel Stein and various less renowned travelers and adventurours while the regions were traversed by Russian geographic missions, Cossack armies and Russian stragglers and refugees.
The Chinese Armies had returned to the west as early as 1946 AD, among things fighting aborder war with Mongolian armed forces someways due north of
Schematic depiction of the main route of the Silk Road between Central Asia on the left and China on the right. As can be seen, the Turpan Oasis lay along the so called northern branch of the Silk Road.
ash clouds blackened out the sunlight and rained ash and radio active dust from the skies for days. As an illustration, On November 17 in the year 1976, China tested an atomic bomb by dropping it from an aircraft. It was reportedly 320 times more powerful than the bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima. Nightmarish tales exists about the nuclear waste, the fall out, the cleaning methods used and the dead, dying and deformed, all locals and military personal who were there to witness the blasts and live the aftermath. However, as details of the entire nuclear program and especially the ill effects on public health are still considered crucial National Military secrets, one will not find these subjects discussed locally and especially not related to Foreigners or outsiders.
Although the actual Malan Nuclear testing Facility (there are more bases than this officially recognized base!) lies some 165 miles due south of Turpan in the Baiyin-Gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Turpan is close enough to have felt the full brunt of the testing and many of the victims of this silent disaster can be found living (hidden away) in town and the surrounding countryside.
Whether or not the nuclear explosions and resulting miseries are mentioned, Chinese and International Travel agencies clearly consider that in any case, with so many historical persons passing through it and so many historic events occurring there the name of the Turpan Oasis is forever enshrined as among the great mystical places found along the pathways of the ancient Silk Road. Within China its name has been commonplace among
YouTube Video: 6Th Chinese Nuclear Test (CHIC-6) - Atmospheric Blast of a Hydrogen Bomb yield 3300 Kilotons of TNT (vs 16 Kilotons at Hiroshima).
the educated for centuries and among international travelers, explorers, historians and archeologists the mentioning of Turfan ellicits numerous romantic idea′s, memories and thoughts.
Today the city of Turpan, not withstanding it being the hottest place in China, is a well visited tourist destination and a layed back, yet thriving provincial city in the north of the Tarim River Basin.
Throughout history theTurpan Oasis occupied a crucial strategic location and was literally at a crossroads of Civilizations and cultures. Among things, in the 7Th and 8Th Century, Sogdians and Turks from Central Asia met the Han Chinese but also Tibetans and Mongolians in the town and regions, all vying for economic influence and often ultimate political and military control.
During their early rise the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD), the Chinese were again able to dominate the town and affairs along the Silk Road in the regions among things, allowing the Chinese to ply their lucrative trades with the Sogdians and Turks from Central Asia and serving as a bae for military campaigns reaching far beyond into Central Asia. It was in this period that the now famous Buddhist Monk Xuanzang (Life:602 AD - 664 AD) was able to slip out of China (629 AD), on his further journey passing through Turpan where he met the Buddhist King and famously encountered several obstacles on his journey to India. That the Monk later became the court expert on Buddhism in the Chinese Imperial Capital and would be recognized as a founding father of this faith within the Chinese Nation ensured that the name of the town of Turpan would be passed along with his powerful legend.
Map of the Han Dynasty Empire at an early Stage in the 2nd Century BC. Clearly the Chinese have taken control of the Hexi Corridor, the neck of China today a part of Gansu Province. Beyond the Han Dynasty Great Wall of China near Dunhuang (Gansu) in the West, two routes lead into Central Asia. Turpan is found along the northern route and is already marked on the Chinese Maps.
Later, during a period of decline of its Central Powers at the end of the 8th Century the outlying territories of the Empire again fell prey to the longstanding competitions between the rivaling powers in the regions. In the year 792 AD, the Tibetan Empire established under King Songtsan Gampo (Life: Est. 617 - 649 AD) swept northward into the Taklamakan Desert and Tarim River Basin taking the town of Turfan and so taking control of the Silk Road trading routes in that area.
Only a decade later the town changed hands again and became an important city under a Uyghur Moslim Rule known as the Uyghur Khanate. It was at this time that the Buddhist Religion in the Town was exchanged for the Islamic Religion that still holds sway there today. Although this Uyghur Khanate was immediatly assualted by the neighboring Kyrgyz Tribes, the Uyghurs did established a Kingdom in the Turpan region which has its capital in Gaochang or Kara-Khoja very near the current day city of Turpan. Its ruins are one of the cultural treasures found preserved in the arid regions.
Notably, the Uyghur Kingdom of Turpan survived many centuries. It survived through the rule of the Mongolian Empire as a vasal state only finding its demise in the year
Turpan, a prelude to new sweeping changes to come.
READ MORE IN: ″HISTORY OF XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION″.
After a period of relative independence as well as chaos, the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 would prove to be a new turning point for Turpan and in fact the entire East Turkestan or Xinjiang Region. To begin with, as soon as this New Nation had been declared as existing, the cycle of Chinese encroachment arriving from the East via the Hexi Corridor started again. As it did with other disputable ″border regions″, having fictionally claimed the ″Xinjiang Regions″ (New Territories) of the Manchu Empire as now being a part of the newly arisen greater Communist Chinese Empire, the Chinese side made all possible efforts to reinforce its claims to the various ethnic states that factually existed within the Xinjiang Regions. Apart from sending its armies into the West, killing among things some 16 thousand ″rebellious″ (I.e. non-cooperative) Kazakhs in one Battle in the Altai Regions in 1946 alone and eliminating the highest ranking members of the Cabinet of the (2nd) East Turkestan Republic (1944 AD - 1949 AD), the Chinese Communist Party also sent down an army of poor and prisoners to occupy the land and eventually settle the regions. Although a few of these people were idealists who would offer their mind and body as a tool for the Communist Party in the euphoria of Liberation, in reality the far majority of these people were assigned Peoples Liberation Army personel (who dreaded the regions,
Cultural Revolution Era (1966 - 1976 AD) Poster: Uphold the Revolution, increase productivity. Promote preparation for war. Do even better on all fronts !
the less than basic facilities and its primitive people, retired soldiers, and most of all; the newly condemned of the mass terror campaigns that had immediatly been unleashed on the Chinese populace itself by the completely ruthless Communist Party.
A never mentioned fact about Xinjiang was that it was a favorite place to send politically
condemned prisoners, who -considered useless for their minds, but still usefull for their body and labor- did the rough work of constructing roads, dams and irrigation works that would enable to further colonization of the territories in the West, up to then virtually uniquely inhabited by ethnic groups other than the Han Chinese. The first such prisoner groups and colonist arrived in the year 1950, but in consecutive decades, various waves of migrants would flood the region of Xinjiang, being sent voluntarily or involuntarily there to do both the dirty work for the larger Nation and be out of the way for the Central leadership.
Although most westerners mistakenly think that the first migrants and political repression arrived with the students who were sent down to countryside in the Cultural Revolution, in fact the colonization plans were unfolded for Xinjiang and other disputed regions such as Korea, Mongolia, Manchuria (which is not Chinese) and Tibet much earlier.
As a result, over the years many Chinese arrived in Xinjiang, gradually phasing out the native population from the best positions. The only reasons why Ethnic Minorities still dominate street life (albeit not society) in Turpan is that it is the hottest location in the entire Peoples Republic, whereas in addition there is nothing much to find there other than a limited opportunity for agriculture. And, indeed, there is another reason for the relative impopularity of supposedly scenic Turpan among Chinese immigrants.
Although an unpopular subject among Chinese tour operators, it may be noted that in the 1960s and 70s the town of Turpan lay near ground zero of all Chinese nuclear test, a total of 46 in all, many of whom were athmospheric detonations. The magnitude of later explosions was so great the shook the earth as had quakes for many millenia and the
TURPAN DURING THE HAN DYNASTY ERA (206 B.C. - 221 AD):
In the earliest years of its contacts with Chinese Civilization, it was the center of an independent Buddhist Kingdom of considerable influence in the regions. Later, after having outsmarted the Xiong Nu Tribes in competition the Han Chinese were able to turn Turpan into an allied Nation and a base for further explorations along the Silk Road. As this allowed the first opening of what was later to become known as the great Silk Road (out of China), Turpan became a window on the outside world for the Chinese, and its culture, including Buddhism was passed on and spread in the wider regions and along the roads towards the Chinese Capital of Chang′An (Xi′An). Eventually this allowed for Buddhism to spread into China where, over many centuries, it became one of the three accepted religions of the Chinese Realm.
Publically released photo of the the Tomb Contents including the Marihuana Stash and the bleached bones of the deceased, presumably am imfluential Shaman.
“To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent,” says Dr. Ethan B. Russo, a neurologist.
However, initially scientists -cautious as ever- said to be unable to determine if the cannabis used by Gushi holy men (or women) at the time was to being ingested or smoked, or altogether there for a different reason and purpose. Perhaps, since no pipes or other clues were discovered inside the tomb grave, the hennep or marihuana had been incorporated in the grave for symbolic reasons perhaps implying the use of the plants fibers for the making of clothing and other useful items.
The scientistst involved claimed not to know if the marihuana was high in active ingredients. Although one might think they could have smoked some, this would not have yielded a a result since over the past 2700 years the active components (THC) would have decomposed into other substances.
As has become known today, after a barrage of laboratory tests, the Turpan marihuana stash proved
to be highly potent. Thus, clearly possesing psychoactive properties the lab test have casts severe doubt on the theory that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp in order to make clothing, rope and other objects. As revealed by other historians previously already, other cultures in the area used hemp to make various goods as early as 7,000 years ago. However, no such hemp clothing was found among the Gushi and the cloth found at Yanghai indicate the Gushi fabricated their clothing from wool and made their rope out of reed fibers.
In addition, as was shown by the research team, the size of seeds mixed in with the leaves, along with their color and other characteristics, indicate the marijuana came from a cultivated strain. Before the burial, someone had carefully picked out all of the male plant parts, which are less psychoactive, so the researcher team believe there is little doubt as to why the cannabis was grown.
It is know well accepted that the Shaman must have used the marihuana to get high or stoned, probably in order to induce a trance.
The researchers also speculated that the large cache was meant for afterlife use since in the Gushi Culture, and other similar cultures living in the region at the same time, it was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. As no actual hemp was found interred in the Tomb, nor any seeds the scientists have decided that the hemp in this tomb was not intended to serve a purpose as fabric for clothing, or as food item. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied.”
Turpan during the Tang Dynasty Era (618 AD - 907 AD):
Route Map of Xuanzang's 7th Century "Journey to The West" (India). Xuanzang did not only travel to India and back. He collected an immense library of Buddhist scriptures which he brought home to China and translated. He so became the Arch Father of Chinese Buddhism.
Turpan, by now an Islamic Town in Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region but at the time a Buddhist Kingdom, was an important target of Han Chinese Military Campaigns emerging from the ″Mouth of China″ and the garrisons posted behind the defenses of the Han Dynasty Era Great Wall of China, remnants of which can still be found due north and south of Dunhuang (Yumen Guan = Jade Gate and Yang Guan = Sun Gate respectively).
Using Dunhuang as a base area and armed with intelligence gathered by Court Emissaries, the Chinese Armies flocked out of Chinese held territory along the only available roads, provided by life giving Oasis, hence reaching Turpan with relative ease.
As it is known today, after seeing the front shift back and forth a few times, Turpan had fully fallen under Han Chinese Control by the year 90 AD, at the very latest. Although after that date incursions by vengeful Nomadic Tribes would threaten and conquer Kashgar and Turpan several times over, Turpan and various other natural strongpoints in the eastern and central parts of the current day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region would return to Chinese Rule or Dominance again, remaining there until decline set in for the Chinese Han Dynasty.
1389 AD during the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD - 1644 AD) in China). As a result, its Moslim Kingdom and Culture were visited by Marco Polo the Traveler in the 13th century and the name and culture of Turpan became part of the traveling notes published in Marco Polo′s world famous book.
Yet later on, the Turpan Oasis reverted back to the Buddhist Faith and in the 15th century Turpan is not only noted for its grand Buddhist Temple but is also mentioned as a location of ″the Cross″ in other words a home of Christian believers along the Silk Road. This attracted yet more international interest in the town and regions of Turpan, and eventually, its name would resounds further west than Rome itself. In the 16th Century another western envoy and traveler, one Bentos de Gois (1562 AD - 1607 AD), would pass through time adding further to the already rich tales available about the town. Unfortunately for him, De Gois would was exposed as a western spie after his arrival in China, dying some months after his arrival in Jiuquan (Gansu) from exhaustion and starvation.
