At the beginning of the 20th century, explorers from Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan and other countries found some ancient tomb groups near Astana, about 40 kilometers southeast of Turpan city in The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, who stole a large number of precious cultural relics under the banner of archaeology, and it was verified that these ancient tomb groups existed from the 2nd century AD to the 7th century AD.
In 1928, archaeologist Huang Wenbi found an ancient coin of "Gaochang Jili" in Turpan, Xinjiang, which is extremely precious and rare, and the "Gaochang Jili" ancient coin is not a coin circulating in the market, but a commemorative coin issued by the Gaochang Ancient Kingdom, and the word "Gaochang" under the coin is immediately reminiscent of the Gaochang Ancient Kingdom in the Western Regions.
Gaochang Jili ancient coins
In 1959, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum and the Institute of Archaeology of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences successively carried out a long archaeological excavation in the Astana tomb group, cleaning up and excavating nearly 400 ancient tombs, although most of the ancient tombs were stolen and excavated, but still excavated a large number of precious cultural relics.
These cultural relics include documents from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, silk fabrics, murals, pottery, coins and a large number of dried corpses, etc. According to the written records of the epitaph, the dry corpse of Zhang Xiong, a famous Han general in the Western Regions, was excavated, and many silk paintings and murals of Fuxi Nuwatu were excavated, and Fuxi Nuwa was recognized as one of the ancestors of the Han people.
Through a series of archaeological studies, it was finally confirmed that the Astana Tomb belongs to the public cemetery of Gaochang Ancient Kingdom, one of the ancient kingdoms in the Western Regions, the location of Gaochang Ancient Kingdom is in the southeast of Gaochang District, Turpan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, close to the famous Flame Mountain, the Flame Mountain is the hottest place on the surface of China, the maximum temperature in summer can reach more than 70 degrees, and the mysterious Gaochang Ancient Kingdom is not far from the Flame Mountain.
A map of the Fuxi Nuwa excavated from the Astana Tomb Group
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, fighting with the Xiongnu for years in the Western Regions, Emperor Wudi of han followed Zhao Chongguo's advice and began to work in Tuntian in the Western Regions, which was initially located from Dunhuang County in the Han Dynasty to yanze (Lop Nur) to the west, including Luntai and Quli, and deployed hundreds of Han troops to Protect the Smooth Silk Road, receive Han envoys and Han troops passing by, and at the same time provide food for themselves.
During the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, he began to send people to Tuntian in the front of cheshi (southeast of Turpan, close to Gaochang), and the first Protector of the Western Regions, Zheng Ji, was initially in Luntai Tuntian as a lieutenant, and was later appointed by Emperor Xuan of Han as the Protector of the Western Regions, actually managing the entire Western Regions, and by the time of emperor Yuan of Han, the Han Dynasty set up a lieutenant in Gaochang to be in charge of Tuntian and the military, and Gaochang at that time was known as Gaochangbi because it was a military barrier.
Gaochang's location in the Western Regions
The Western Han Dynasty fell to the Wang Mang period, the Western Regions were in chaos, the Han Dynasty set up the capital protectorate was also destroyed in the war, until the Eastern Han Ming Emperor period, began to continue to operate the Western Regions, in 74 AD, the Han Ming Emperor sent Dou Gu, Geng Bing, Ban Chao, Geng Gong, Guan Yu and other generals to the Western Regions, defeated the Northern Xiongnu, conquered the Western Regions, and reopened the Capital Protectorate in the Western Regions, and set up a lieutenant in Guizi (present-day Kucha, Xinjiang) and Cheshi (present-day Turfan, Xinjiang) to manage, at this time Gaochangbi still did not establish a political power, but some people lived in the local areas, Because the Cheshi Kingdom still exists.
From the Western Jin Dynasty to the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms period, Gao Changbi and Shanshan County belonged to Dunhuang County, Liangzhou, and during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Western Regions were once under the jurisdiction of the Former Liang Regime, and the former Liang founding monarch Zhang Jun merged the three battalions of Gaochang County, Dunhuang County, Jinchang County, and the Western Regions Capital Protector, Pengji Lieutenant, and Yumen Grand Protector to form Shazhou.
In 376 AD, Former Liang was destroyed by Former Qin Fu Jian, Former Qin collapsed after the Battle of Shuishui, in 386, Lü Guang established the Later Liang regime, roughly inheriting the territory of Former Liang, Gaochang belonged to Hou Liang at that time, in 403, after the fall of Later Liang, Li Xuan established the rise of Xi Liang, in 421, Xi Liang was destroyed by Northern Liang, and the remnants of Xi Liang fled to Gaochang.
Gaochang was in the area controlled by the Houliang and Northern Liang regimes
Northern Liang was originally founded by the Han Duan Ye, and then attacked by the Xiongnu descendant Lu Shuihu leader Frustrated Canal Mengxun, in 441, Northern Wei attacked the capital of Northern Liang, northern Liang remnants defected to Rouran, preparing to move west to the western region, and war with the remnants of Western Liang, Northern Liang won the victory with the support of Rouran, northern Liang ruler Frustrated Qu Muqian's younger brother Frustrated Qu Wu fled to the western region to surrender to his brother Frustrated Canal Anzhou, the brothers attacked the Cheshi state in the western region, and occupied Gaochang County and the state of Yanshan (Loulan).
1. Kan's Gaochang
At that time, there was a Han man named Kan Shuang in Gaochang County, Kan Shuang was a famous and prestigious family living in Gaochang, calling himself Gaochang Taishou, when the remnants of Western Liang attacked Gaochang, Kan Shuang also asked For Help from Northern Liang, and later when Northern Liang wanted to attack Gaochang, Kan Shuang led his people to flee to the north and surrendered to Rouran, and later Rouran sent troops to attack the remnants of Northern Liang, and supported Kan Bozhou, a descendant of Kan Shuang, to establish the State of Gaochang.
The Gaochang state established by Kan Bozhou was called Gaochang of the Kan clan, although it was established with the support of Rouran, it was considered to be a vassal state of Rouran, but the founding monarch Kan Bozhou was indeed Han Chinese, this year was 460 AD, which was the beginning of the establishment of the Gaochang regime, and Gaochangguo was also the only Han regime in the western region at that time.
The ancient city of Gaochang
The Gaochang regime of the Kan clan existed for only 28 years, and by 488 A.D., the King of Gaoche, Afu Zhiluo, had killed the last King of Gaochang of the Kan clan, Kan Shougui, and the Kan clan of Gaochang had perished.
2. Zhang's Gaochang
In 488, after the fall of Gaochang of the Kan clan, Afu zhiluo established the Han Chinese Zhang Mengming as the King of Gaochang and re-established the state of Gaochang, a regime known as Gaochang of the Zhang clan.
In 496, the people of Gaochang expressed their dissatisfaction with Zhang Mengming, who was supported by King Gaoche, and killed Zhang Mengming, the king of Gaochang, and the Zhang regime of Gaochang only existed for 8 years before it collapsed.
3. Ma's Gaochang
After the Gaochang people killed Zhang Mengming, they proclaimed the Han Ma Ru as the King of Gaochang, Gong Guli as the Left Changshi, and Koji Jia as the Right Changshi. Gaochangguo was a very small regime that had to be dependent on a powerful country to survive, so Ma Ru, the king of Gaochang, decided to defect to the Northern Wei regime established by the Xianbei people who had entered the Central Plains, and put forward a bold idea to relocate the whole country and move the entire people of Gaochang to live in the interior.
Gaochang Han people
Northern Wei actually agreed, but this idea was too bold, and most of the natives of Gaochangguo did not agree to relocate, so taking advantage of Ma Ru's contact with Northern Wei, Gao Changguo killed Ma Ru and made the right changshi Shi Koji jia the king of Gaochang, and Ma's Gaochang only existed for 5 years.
4. Koji Gaochang
Ma Ru was killed, and Koji Became king of Gaochang, a period known as Koji Gaochang, Koji followed the political system of the Central Plains regime to establish Gaochangguo, and set up 4 counties and 18 counties in Gaochangguo, due to the weakness of the state, in order to survive, Koji Gaochang submitted to Rouran, Gaoche, and Northern Wei successively.
After the fall of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Koji Gaochang once submitted to the Turks, after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Koji Gaochang began to submit to the Sui Dynasty, in 609 AD, koji Gaochang monarch Koji Boya and the monarchs of the 27 western regions knelt in Zhangye County to greet the Sui Emperor who was inspecting the western region, and the Sui Emperor was happy, he gave Princess Huarong to Koji Boya, who got rid of Turkic control and submitted to the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty also set up a Xirong school in Gaochang to oversee the affairs of the western region.
Ruins of the ancient city of Gaochang
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Gaochang of the Koji clan submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and later the King of Gaochang, Koji Wentai, colluded with the Western Turks to oppose the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Taizong sent Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun to lead an army to attack Gaochangguo, the year was 640 AD, and The Koji gaochang was also destroyed in this year, the Tang Dynasty changed Gaochangguo to Gaochang County, and set up an Anxi Capital Protectorate in the Western Regions to administer the Western Regions, and gaochangguo did not exist ever since.
There were four Han regimes in the ancient kingdom of Gaochang, namely Gaochang of the Kan clan, Gaochang of the Zhang clan, Gaochang of the Ma clan, and Gaochang of the Koji clan, all of which were established by the Han people, from 460 AD to their demise in 640 AD, from the 5th century AD to the middle of the 7th century AD, the four regimes existed for a total of 180 years.
The rulers of Gaochang, Kan, Zhang, Ma, and Koji, were all Han Chinese, so where did they come from? This is actually a process of historical development, before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were basically no Han people in the Western Regions, and the first large-scale entry of the Han people into the Western Regions was in 104 BC when the general Li Guangli of the Second Division expeditioned to Dawan, and there were many teenagers of bad character, prisoners who committed crimes, merchants and private individuals who followed the troops with Li Guangli.
After the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions, it began to be in the Western Regions
Li Guangli conquered Dawan twice, the second time succeeded, the whole western region was shaken, the Han people were also the first time to set foot on this land on a large scale, and by the time of Emperor Xuan of Han, they began to send soldiers and soldiers and their families in the western region of Tuntian, mainly in the Gaochang and Luntai areas, including the Han army generals and their families in the Western Regions, and the Western Regions began to have Han people living.
After Wang Mang's han dynasty, the Central Plains fell into chaos, the Western Regions also began to riot, the Western Regions Capital Protectorate was also destroyed, but obviously the Han generals and their families were not all killed, these people will definitely gather together, live in the Western Regions, plus the Han Dynasty also perished, the Central Plains are in turmoil, there is no way to go back, and you can only find a place to live in the local area, this place should be Gaochang.
Things are clustered, people are divided into groups, the same Han people live in the western region, it is natural to gather together to warm up, after the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, reopened the capital, the Han people living in Gaochang began to increase, the Western Jin Dynasty put Gaochang into the jurisdiction of Dunhuang County, to the Five Hu Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Central Plains fell into turmoil again, the Han people established the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Jiangnan, the entire northern Han people died after the Hu people.
The Han Dynasty set up the capital protectorate in the western region
In the Liangzhou region, the Han Zhang Jun established the Former Liang regime, the main body of the Former Liang was the Han people and the people in the northern Liangzhou region, many of the northern Han people defected to the Former Liang regime, its power reached the Turpan region of Xinjiang, and ruled Gaochang, former Liang was later destroyed by the Former Qin established by the Qiang people, after the fall of Former Liang, its remnants could only flee to the Western Regions, there was no other way out, and the only thing that the Western Regions could accommodate was Gaochang, because they were also Han Chinese.
Li Bao, a descendant of the Han Dynasty general Li Guang, established the Xiliang regime, which was also a Han regime, and was later destroyed by Beiliang, and Li Bao, the grandson of Li Kuang, a descendant of the royal family of Xiliang, fled to the Turpan Basin in the western region with a large number of Han chinese, and brought a lot of Han people to Gaochang, so there were more and more Han people in Gaochang, most of them because of the Han people who fled the arrival of war.
Therefore, the Han people in Gaochang are partly descendants of the Tuntian Han people, and part of them are Han people and their descendants who came to Gaochang to escape the chaos of war, which is the source of the rulers and people of Gaochang.
Murals unearthed in Gaochang
Kan Shuang, the founder of Gaochang of the Kan clan, is a local Han Wang clan in Gaochang, and calls himself Gaochang Taishou, this is a Han official, Kan Shuang must have moved from the Central Plains or Liangzhou, there can be no Han Wang clan in the western region, zhang Mengming, the founder of Zhang Gaochang, is a Dunhuang person, of course, also moved from Dunhuang, the founder of Koji Gaochang is a Native of Yuzhong, Jincheng County, a native of present-day Gansu, who also migrated from Liangzhou, which is a route for Han people to move west, and Gaochang is located on the main road of the Silk Road.
However, Gaochang is not only Han, there are also Hu people, from the perspective of the astana ancient tomb group, there are also some Hu tombs and cultural relics, and there are also Hu and Han languages in the country, so it can be seen that Gaochangguo is hu people and Han people coexist, dominated by Han people.
Many plots in the ancient long magic novel "Journey to the West" can be found in Gao Changguo, such as the Flame Mountain in the Journey to the West, in reality, near Gao Changguo, and then in the vicinity of Tang Monk, there are also in reality, the Tang Dynasty Monk Xuanzang came to the West to study, he went from Chang'an through the Hexi Corridor, to the Western Regions, through Gao Changguo, and then to India.
Xuanzang's westward route map
Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West" is based on Xuanzang, "Journey to the West" also has Gao Changguo, the protagonist, location, route are roughly the same, here do not say "Journey to the West", just talk about the history of Gao Changguo and Xuanzang's story.
Because Gaochangguo is at the intersection of the East and the West, Buddhism has been introduced very early, and there is also a preserved ancient city of Gaochang in Sanbao Township, more than 40 kilometers east of the present-day Flame Mountain in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is the site of the Gaochangguo period, and its existence spans about 1400 years, two thousand years ago.
According to archaeological research, a large number of Buddhist buildings are distributed in the ancient city of Gaochang, including the Great Buddha Temple, the Small Buddha Temple, the Buddhist murals, Buddhist statues, etc., as well as some Buddhist classics, it can be seen that the Buddhist culture in the Gaochangguo period was very prosperous, Buddhism can be regarded as the state religion, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was the most popular period of Gaochangguo Buddhist culture, the Sui Emperor sent senior monks to Gaochangguo to explain the "Golden Bright Sutra", to the Tang Dynasty, the arrival of the high monk Xuanzang also made the Buddhist culture of Gaochangguo reach its peak.
Xuanzang sculpture
The historical Xuanzang was a native of Luoyang, formerly known as Chen Yi, a 13-year-old family, ordained at the age of 21, and read Buddhist classics, and later wanted to study in India, in 629 AD, Xuanzang came to Gaochangguo through the Western Regions, was warmly welcomed by the King of Gaochang, Qi Wentai, and once invited Xuanzang to stay in Gaochangguo, forcing Xuanzang to go on hunger strike for a few days before being approved to leave, but on the condition that he preached in Gaochangguo for a month.
Therefore, Xuanzang stayed in Gaochang for a month, preaching the scriptures every day, and a month later, the king of Gaochang gave Xuanzang a lot of treasures, equipped him with horses and retinues, and wrote a letter of introduction to other countries in the western region, asking for his protection of Xuanzang, from these records, it shows that Gao Changguo attaches great importance to Buddhism, from the king to the people, they all believe in Buddhism, and the story of Xuanzang and Gaochangguo is real in history.