Turpan Prefecture
Turpan is an administrative district in the center of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the west of the People 's Republic of China. It lies in a valley ( Turpan Depression ) of the eastern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and extends from approximately 41 ° 12 ' to 43 ° 40' north latitude and 87 ° 16 ' to 91 ° 55' east longitude. The Turpan Depression is at its lowest point, on the shores of Lake Aydingkol, 154.50 m below sea level. This makes it, after the Dead Sea and the Lake Assal, the third deepest valley on earth. The county of Turpan has an area of 69,324 km ² and around 570,000 inhabitants ( 2004). Its capital is Turpan.
Administrative Divisions
The county of Turpan is made up of an independent city and two circles:
- Turpan city (吐鲁番 市Tǔlǔfān Shì ), 13,650 km ², 250,000 inhabitants (2004);
- Circle Piqan ( Shanshan Shanshan鄯善县Xiàn ), capital: greater community Shanshan (鄯善 镇), 39,548 km ², approximately 210,000 inhabitants (2004);
- Circle Toksun (托克逊 县Tuōkèxùn Xiàn ), capital: greater community Toksun (托克逊 镇), 16,126 km ², approximately 110,000 inhabitants ( 2004).
Ethnic structure of the population of the district of Turpan (2000)
At the census in the year 2000 550.731 inhabitants were counted in the district of Turpan ( population density 7.94 inhabitants / km ²).
Climate
In Turpan prevails continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters, the annual precipitation is only 16 mm. Often a result of the boiler location to blow very strong winds.
Attractions
As attractions Turpans the ruined cities of Jiaohe and Gaochang, the ancient cave monastery Bazaklik with wall paintings dating from the 9th century and the Flaming Mountains are.
History
In the oasis of Turpan, some cemeteries have been discovered from the first millennium BC, including Aidingju and Subashi. The centered in Turpan kingdom Jushi (车 师, Jushi ) is first mentioned in Chinese sources, shortly before the birth of Christ. 67 BC it was conquered by China temporarily, until it came back 10 AD under the rule of the Xiongnu, however, it gained its independence back soon. In the first centuries AD the people of Turpan spoke mostly Tocharian, but there were also Chinese and Sogdians. From the 5th to the 7th century Turpan was under Turkish rule, 640 it was occupied by China, which was replaced by the Tibetans 790. 843 Turpan was part of the second Uighur Empire. During this time spread next to the birth of Christ for about prevailing Buddhism and Christianity and Manichaeism in Turpan from.
The first millennium AD, the heyday of the Silk Road, has left significant archaeological traces in Turpan. The ancient capital was Chotscho, today Gaochang (高昌, Gaochang ). Its metropolitan area covers 2.3 km ² and is bounded by a rectangular, up to 20 m high, sometimes twice, a wall. Inside, there were almost exclusively graves and religious buildings, however, very few secular buildings. From these originate numerous documents of different languages, including in particular, administrative texts from the Tang Dynasty, when Turpan was under Chinese rule. They allow valuable conclusions on the economy and society. Another ancient city, today's Yarxoto located on a high plateau surrounded by cliffs, arguably the center of the han -temporal Jushi and later temporarily capital of Uigurenreiches. Also Yarxoto was mainly a temple town. Also be found in the vicinity of these two places innumerable Buddhist temples, including some cave temples.
Turfanfragmente
Some of these paintings and other art treasures were taken away at the beginning of the 20th century by German expeditions, the so-called Turfanexpeditionen, the Museum of Indian Art in Berlin, including the so-called Turfanfragmente, a collection of over 40,000 manuscripts and manuscript fragments in 16 different languages and 26 different fonts in different book forms, for their library development and conservation work, the State Library is responsible to Berlin today.
These documents deal with Buddhist and Christian- Nestorian, Manichaean and secular content. The bulk of this account for the approximately 8,000 Old Turkic, Buddhist texts.
In Turpan (and Dunhuang ) were found quite a few Sogdian Buddhist scriptures, they come but only from the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and are translations from the Chinese. Earlier Sogdian Buddhist texts were not to be found.
Christian texts, there are mainly in Syriac and Sogdian, as well as Syrian- Sogdian bilinguals (bilingual texts), as well as some Turkish Nestorian fragments.
Manichaean texts are available on Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian and Uighur; the Sogdian and Uighur documents show a remarkable adaptation to Buddhism, but there are also indications of an opposite influence.
The Buddhist texts are largely preserved fragmentary. There are several Indian Sanskrit texts of various schools of Mahayana and Hinayana, Uighur texts, translations from Sanskrit and Tocharian and from the 9th century are reinforced for the most part from the Chinese.
Many of the previously edited Uighur documents and fragments of Buddhist writings include treatises ( sutras ) and theological- philosophical works ( Abhidharma works ). The medal breeding ( Vinaya ) seems not to have been translated in contrast to the other Buddhist content but taught in Sanskrit and studied. Among the Tocharian templates can be found, among others, two major works:
- A 27 chapter comprehensive drama about Maitreya ( the future Buddha ) and the Maitrisimit ( the encounter with Maitreya ) and
- A collection of Buddhist tales ( Dasakarmapathadanamala ) and
- Comments
- Catechisms
- Jataka works ( stories about previous lives of the Buddha) are preserved in the Turkish block printing, even if only a few have survived.