Tongwancheng

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Tongwan ruins 2013, with people for size comparison.
Ruins 2013.

Tongwancheng also Tongwan City ( Chinese  統 萬 城 , Pinyin Tǒngwànchéng , also: Xia Zhou, Baichengzi Chinese  白城 子 , Pinyin Bai Cheng Zi , W.-G. Pai-cheng-tzu , Bai Cheng) was the capital of the Southern Xiongnu , the only city of the Xiongnu that has been discovered so far. The city is well preserved and is located in Jingbian County in Shaanxi Province in China, near the Inner Mongolia border . The town lies on the southern border of Maowusu sands ofOrdos Plateau , formerly a strategic point in the center of the plateau. The city has been surveyed and some elements have been restored but no excavation has been carried out.

The city was built by approximately one hundred thousand Xiongnu of the Xia Kingdom under the command of Helian Bobo in 419 after the Xiongnu established their steppe empire in the 3rd century. Helian Bobo died in 425, and Helian Chang succeeded him as ruler of the city.

The Great Wall of China was built to contain the Xiongnu threat, and Tongwancheng was the Xiongnu capital across that wall. The city consisted mostly of wooden buildings and had very thick walls made of white clay and rice flour. Contemporary sources report that the city looked like a giant ship from a distance. There was a lake in the center. The Jin Shu (130) narrates an eyewitness account:

“The mountain is beautiful, in front of it the plain extends, and around there extends a lake with pure water. I have visited many places, but I have not seen a country that can compare in beauty with this place. "

At weddings the city had about ten thousand inhabitants and probably as many members of nomadic tribal groups who had set up camp in the vicinity of the city came again seasonally . White cities were generally built for ceremonial purposes and to show power after conquests rather than to secure a military position. White was a sacred color for the Xiongnu. The strength of the ramparts was certainly necessary as the people were constantly at war at the time. The danger, however, came from within as well as from the Chinese. For example, Helian Bobo was attacked in 424 by an army of his deputy Helian Gui after dynastic clashes had broken out.

In 426, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei led a surprise attack on Tongwancheng. Although a brief foray into the city only resulted in the main temple being burned down, the surrounding area was devastated. The city was located on the fertile tributaries of the Wuding , but the river and lake dried up, possibly due to deforestation associated with Taiwu's campaign, among other things. The city was then gradually buried by the sands of the desert. These wandering sands (wuding) gave the river its current name.

The Xiongnu continued to live in the region until the 7th or 8th centuries. The city was besieged by Tibetans in 786 and conquered by the Jurchen in 1206 . From the 15th century, there are no more references in Chinese sources.

The city was not measured by the Chinese until the early 2000s. The Yong'an platform , a terrace for mustering the troops for the dignitaries, was restored and there are considerations to include it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

literature

  • Borbála Obrusánszky: Tongwancheng, the city of Southern Huns . In: Journal of Eurasian Studies . tape 1 , no. 1 , March 2009, p. 70–83 (English, online [PDF]).
  • Hou Yong-jian: Ruins of Tong Wan Cheng. In: Journal of Asian Cultures. 7, 2005 (Japanese).
  • Rong Xinjiang: Tongwancheng in the History of Relations between China and The West in Medieval Times. In: General Research on the Site of Tongwancheng. 2004 (Chinese).
  • Deng Hui: Restudy of Tongwan-cheng City in the Light of Color Infrared Aerophotographic Films. In: Archeology. 1, 2003 (Chinese).
  • Xue Zheng-chang: He Lian Bo Bo and Tong Wan Cheng. In: Journal of Tianshui Normal University. 2003 (Chinese).

Web links

Commons : Tongwancheng  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Jin Shu  - Sources and full texts (Chinese)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Southern Huns. transoxiana.org.
  2. ↑ From the story of the court of Tsin. From the history of the Yuen-khang period from Tsin. The rulers Hoan-wen and Hoan-hiuen. About some of China's miracles. Gerold, Vienna 1876–1877 (translations by August Pfizmaier ).
  3. ^ Description of the City. transoxiana.org.
  4. ↑ a b https://cn.hujiang.com/new/p552926/

Coordinates: 37 ° 59 ′ 51.1 ″  N , 108 ° 51 ′ 46.2 ″  E