Anxi (archaeological site)

Anxi was a town in Guazhou County, Gansu Province, China

History

Historic Anxi was a major town, where the northern and southern Silk Roads around the Taklamakan Desert diverged.

"Emperor Wudi (140-87 BCE) had the Great Wall extended northwestward all the way to the Gate of Jade (Yumen Pass), the westernmost garrison town near Dunhuang. He then set up a system of garrisons all along this part of the Great Wall and put its headquarters in a town called Anxi (“Tranquil West”) ."

A more accurate translation might be "[Garrison to] Pacify the West".

In the 1920s Mildred Cable and Francesca French explored the city walls and surrounding area, which they described as "a place of real importance, though this would never be guessed from its shabby appearance." They recorded that its earlier name was Yüan Chüan ("First Spring").

Little modern archaeological work has taken place at the site.

Also important are:

• the nearby site of Xuanquanzhi, a postal station on the Silk Roads, dated to c 2nd-1st centuries BCE. Its discovery was voted one of the 50 most important archaeological discoveries in China in 1991. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site in August 2006 
• A line of beacon towers along the Shule River to the west, explored by Auriel Stein in 1907.
  

  The ruins of a Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) Chinese watchtower made of rammed earth, Gansu province

Current site

The ruined town (also referred to as Suoyang or Guazhou) lies east of the small modern town of Tashi (also known as Suoyangxiang), about 30 km south of the modern town of Guazhou.

References

• Liu, Xinru (2010). The Silk Road in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533810-2.

External links

• Population