|
J
iuquan, or “Wine Spring,” is a major stopover on the
"Silk Road" northwestwards from Lanzhou, capital
of Gansu Province. From the second century B.C., commissioners
and high-ranking officers were dispatched by the rulers of Western Han
Dynasty (306 B.C.- 34 A.D.) to develop the region. As the traffic along
the "Silk Road" became
busier and more important, the prefecture of Jiuquan was established
more than 1,600 years ago to protect this vital artery. On
a triumphant expedition, as legend has it, Huo Qubing, a celebrated
commander of the Western Han army, visited the town with his troops.
Emperor Wudi had decreed that they feast on wine, but there was not
enough to go round.
Commander Huo then
poured his cup of wine into a spring so that it could be shared
with his soldiers. That
was how the city got its name.
The city's Drum tower,
erected in 343, used to be called "Night Watchman's Tower" on
the east city gate. As the city expanded, it was edged into the inner
city and its name was changed to "Drum Tower." It is the only
remaining structure of the many Marco Polo praised in his writings.
A few miles away from
the city stands
the Jiayuguan Pass, the
western end of the Great Wall. The Great Wall used to end at Yumen
(about 50 miles to the west of Jiayuguan) before the pass was abandoned
during the Ming Dynasty. The walls in the northwest region were
originally constructed under the Han, and remains of the Han wall have
been found near Dunhuang, but the portions of the wall standing at
Jiayuguan date from the early Ming, and are about six centuries old. Standing
on the terrace of the gate tower, one can look back at the wall winding
its way along the mountain ridges. To the south are the snow-capped
Qilian Mountains, and to the west, the desert.
In a tomb chamber at
Dingjiazha, Jiuquan, are some of the country's earliest murals, dating
back to the East Jin Dynasty (317-430 A. D.). |
