Everything about Yecheng totally explained
Yecheng (modern
Chinese name 叶城),
pinyin:
Yèchéng, also known as
Kargilik,
Karghilik, and
Chokkuka. During the
Han Dynasty it was known as 西夜 Xiye.
Yecheng is the name of both the
oasis and the town, and is situated on the southern rim of the
Taklamakan desert is about halfway between
Pishan and
Yarkand on the southern route around the
Tarim Basin. The rich loess terraces of the oasis are watered by the
Tiznaf river and several smaller streams. They are joined to the north by a belt of cultivated land stretching about 40 km from the town of Yecheng to the
Yarkand River.
In earlier times it was important as the usual starting-point for caravans to India, through the
Pamirs, via
Tashkurghan, or through
Ladakh by the
Karakoram passes.
Today there's a small town with a market, some shops and a bank. The Yecheng oasis is one of 11 counties, known as the
Kargilik County, included in the
Kashgar Prefecture.
During the
Former Han period it was described as having 350 households, 4,000 people, and 1,000 men able to bear arms, while in the
Later Han period it's recorded (in the
Hou Hanshu - circa 125
CE) as having 2,500 households, more than 10,000 people, and 3,000 men able to bear arms. The people were said to make an arrow poison from a local bush (probably a species of
aconite).
The Chinese pilgrim monk,
Song Yun, passed through the kingdom ("Zhujuban") on his way from Khotan in 519 CE. He described it as being 5 days' journey around, and that it produced lots of cereals, which they made into cakes. The inhabitants didn't allow the slaughter of animals and only ate those which had died a natural death. Many of them lived in the mountains. They resembled the people of Khotan in their language and customs while their writing was like that of the
Brahmans from India.
Xuanzang, travelling through the country in 644 CE, described it as being very fertile, with abundant grapes, pears and plums. He said it was more than 1,000
li in circuit, with a capital city measuring more than 10 li around. The writing was like that of Khotan but the spoken language was different. Although he says the people were sincere Buddhists, they'd little culture or education and he found them rude and deceitful. Many monasteries were in ruins and the 100 or so monks left were of the
Mahayana school. He added that the Mahayana canonical texts were more numerous here than in any other country Buddhism had reached.
It apparently sent an embassy to China at the beginning of the Taiyan period (435-439 CE) and tribute was sent regularly after that. It later fell under the power of the
Hephthalites and then the
Western Turks. In 639 the ruler sent an embassy to the Chinese court and by 659 was included as part of the region called the "Four Garrisons" by the Chinese after their defeat of the Turkish chief,
Duman.
The population were presumably converted to
Islam soon after the new religion arrived in the Tarim Basin about 1006 CE.
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Yecheng'.
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