Get to know Subashi Ancient City

Posted by ugfanfan on October 31st, 2014

As a magnificent ground temple, Subashi Ancient City is located in the Taklamakan Desert, about 23 kilometers to the northeast of Kuqa. There are halls, pagoda, monastery room and residual walls in the site. The city is divided into two parts by the Kuqa River, including the East Temple and the West Temple. Although weathered in the wind and ran for thousands of years, the magnificent and flourish can still be imagined according to the ruins. It was listed as a national cultural relic protection unit.

History

Known as the famous women’s land in ancient times, Subashi Ancient City was built near mountains and with an area of about 5,000 square meters. Although experienced the vicissitudes of life, the castle pier, beacon tower, city walls can still be seen. When you are there, it’s not difficult to image the grand of the ancient country.

The temple of Subashi was built in Weijin period (220-581) and splendid in the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581-907). The ‘Journey to the Western Regions’s written by the eminent monk Hsuan in Tang Dynasty (608-907) has recorded the flourish of the city. In the middle of the 7th century, many monks are gathered here to preach. The Buddhism was declined in the late of the 9th century, so did the Subashi Ancient City. It was abandoned in the 13th century finally. The city was partly excavated by the Japanese archaeologist Count Otani in 1902. Only three walls were existed incompletely and the west wall has no trace to be found.

Relics Excavated From the Site

Many relics were excavated from this site, such as the stone vessel, bone tools, wuzhuqian and pithos. Among which, the most valuable one is the sutra written in Suoluomi. Most of them are written on the birch bark. When it was found in 1890, it was startled the world. It is of great importance in the study of the culture in the western region. A sarira, a Buddhist relic box of the 6th-7th century drawn with dance pictures were discovered in 1903.

Three pagodas are left in the east temple of Subashi Ancient City. While, in the west temple, a large scale hall and a square pagoda are preserved relatively well. The square hall is about ten meters tall and served as the symbol of Subashi Ancient City. Three is a ladder for people to climb on the top of the pagoda to overlook the panorama of the ancient city. Although the city is abounded, the remains of the city can reflect the brilliance of the temple.

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