Qiemo County
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Qiemo County
چەرچەن ناھىيىسى
且末县 Qarqan, Charchan, Chiehmo, Chü-mo, Jumo
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Main entrance of a bazaar in the county seat of Qiemo
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Location of Qiemo County (pink) in Bayingolin Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang
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 Qiemo
Location of the county seat in Xinjiang
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| Coordinates (Qiemo County government): 38°08′46″N 85°31′48″ECoordinates: 38°08′46″N 85°31′48″E | |
| Country | People’s Republic of China |
| Autonomous region | Xinjiang |
| Autonomous prefecture | Bayingolin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 138,680 km2 (53,540 sq mi) |
| Population
(2010)[1]
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| • Total | 65,572 |
| • Density | 0.47/km2 (1.2/sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | |
| • Major ethnic groups | Uyghur, Han Chinese[2] |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code |
841900
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| Website | www |
| Qiemo County | |||
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| Uyghur name | |||
| Uyghur | چەرچەن ناھىيىسى | ||
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| Chinese name | |||
| Simplified Chinese | 且末县 | ||
| Traditional Chinese | 且末縣 | ||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||
| Simplified Chinese | 恰尔羌县 | ||
| Traditional Chinese | 恰爾羌縣 | ||
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Qiemo County (Chinese: 且末县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Qarqan County[4][5][6] (Uyghur: چەرچەن ناھىيىسى; Chinese: 恰尔羌县), is a county under the administration of the Bayin’gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south. Its area is 138,645 square kilometers (53,531 sq mi) and, according to the 2002 census, it has a population of 60,000. The county seat is at Qiemo Town.
Name[edit]
“Qiemo (W-G: Ch’ieh-mo) 且末 = modern Cherchen or Charchan (Uyghur: Qarqan). There has been uncertainty about this name as Chavannes (1907), p. 156, and then Stein (1921a), Vol. I, 296 ff., gave an incorrect romanization for the first character. Chavannes, using the French EFEO romanization system, gave tsiu, and Stein used the Wade-Giles equivalent, chü. In fact, the character is correctly rendered k’ie in EFEO, ch’ieh in Wade-Giles and qie in pinyin. Nevertheless, there has never been any serious dispute about its identification with modern Cherchen.”[7]
It has been suggested that the name “Cherchen” may have been derived from Shanshan, the kingdom that once ruled the area.[8] A number of different names have been used for the town, Lionel Giles has recorded the following names for Ruoqiang Town (with his Wade-Giles forms of the Chinese names converted to pinyin):
- Jumo Han
- Zuomo (左末) Song Yun
- Jumo Jun [Sui]
- Zhemotuona (折摩馱那) Xuanzang
- Boxian Zhen (播仙鎭) [Tang, after A.D. 674]
- Jurjān [Mīrzā Haidar, sixteenth century]
- Charchan [modern name][9]
It was called Calmadana in Kharoshthi documents found in the region.
History[edit]
The Tarim Basin in the 3rd century CE, showing the Indo-European oasis kingdoms of Kašgar (Kashgar) [violet], Kotan/Hutan [green], Krążania (Krořän/Loulan/Shanshan) [pink], Kuša (Kucha/Ququa) [orange], Ārśi (Agni/Yanqui/Karaxahr) [olive] and Yarkoto/Guśi (Jushi/Turfan) [blue]. Ziemo (Quiemo) lies in the western part of Krořän/Loulan bordering Zhangzhung (Tibet) to the south, and which was since the 1st century CE known under its Chinese name Shanshan.
Several mummies were found in Cherchen including the Cherchen Man.
The modern county is based on the ancient kingdom of Qiemo (且末) mentioned in the Hanshu and the Hou Hanshu. According to the Hanshu, Qiemo/Cherchen had “230 households, 1,610 individuals and 320 persons able to bear arms.”[10]
The ancient Qiemo may have been located on the east of the Cherchen (Charchan / Qarqan[11]) river, across from the modern Cherchen.[12] Qiemo became part of Loulan Kingdom after it was under Chinese control during the Han dynasty and renamed Shanshan.[13] Later in 442 CE, after an attack by Juqu Anzhou, King Bilong of Shanshan fled to Qiemo together with half of his countrymen so Shanshan came to be ruled by Qiemo.[14]
The Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo (納縛波, thought to be Charklik) of Krořän (Loulan), and wrote of Ziemo (Qiemo), “A fortress exists, but not a trace of man”.[15]
Marco Polo who passed through Cherchen mentioned it as a province with a town of the same name as its chief city. Its inhabitants were described as Muslims.[16]
In August 2014, local authorities in Cherchen County (Qiemo County) announced, “Incentive Measures Encouraging Uighur-Chinese Intermarriage,” including a 10,000 CNY (1,450 USD) cash reward per annum for the first five years to such intermarried couples as well as preferential treatment in employment and housing plus free education for the couples, their parents and offspring. County CCP Secretary Zhu Xin remarked:[17]
Our advocacy of intermarriage is promoting positive energy … Only by promoting the establishment of a social structure and community environment in which all ethnic groups are embedded in each other … can we boost the great unity, ethnic fusion and development of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and finally realize our China dream of great rejuvenation of our Chinese nation
Geography[edit]
A view from the space of an alluvial fan in the foothills of the Altyn-Tagh in the western part of the county (37°26′55″N 84°16′53″E)
From the south to the north, the lands of the county run from the main range of the Kunlun Mountains (which forms the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region) to the middle of the Taklamakan Desert. The southernmost area of the county includes the northern side of part of the Ulugh Muztagh range (the main range of the Kunlun), and a section of the Altyn-Tagh range which runs roughly parallel to the main range of the Kunlun. Most of the county population lives in the northern foothills of the mountains, in the oases watered by snow-fed rivers.
The Qiemo River (Qarqan River) near the town of Ziemo (Qiemo) is frozen for two to three months in the winter. From the foot of the mountains to the oasis of Ziemo (Qiemo), it has a faIl of nearly 4000 feet.
Climate[edit]
| hideClimate data for Qiemo (1971−2000) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) |
5.3 (41.5) |
14.0 (57.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
28.0 (82.4) |
31.1 (88.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
32.2 (90.0) |
27.4 (81.3) |
19.6 (67.3) |
9.8 (49.6) |
1.3 (34.3) |
18.7 (65.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −13.8 (7.2) |
−9.3 (15.3) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
6.3 (43.3) |
11.7 (53.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
17.4 (63.3) |
15.5 (59.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
1.5 (34.7) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
3.0 (37.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.5 (0.02) |
0.4 (0.02) |
0.7 (0.03) |
1.1 (0.04) |
1.7 (0.07) |
7.1 (0.28) |
7.3 (0.29) |
4.2 (0.17) |
0.7 (0.03) |
0.1 (0.00) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.4 (0.02) |
24.2 (0.97) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 13.4 |
| Source: Weather China | |||||||||||||
Administrative divisions[edit]
Qiemo County includes five towns, eight townships and other areas:[18][19][1]
Towns (镇)
- Qiemo Town (且末镇), Tatrang (Tatirang; 塔提让镇, formerly 塔提让乡), Aqqan[20] (Aqiang, A-ch’iang; 阿羌镇, formerly 阿羌乡), Aoyiya Yilake (奥依亚依拉克镇, formerly 奥依亚依拉克乡), Tazhong (塔中镇), Aral (Arele; 阿热勒镇, formerly 阿热勒乡)
Townships (乡)
- Qiongkule Township (琼库勒乡), Tuogela Keleke Township (托格拉克勒克乡), Bage Airike Township (Bage’airike; 巴格艾日克乡), Yengiostang Township (Yingwusitang; 英吾斯塘乡), Aketi Kandun Township (Aketikandun; 阿克提坎墩乡), Kuoshi Satema Township (Kuoshisatema; 阔什萨特玛乡), Koramlik Township[20][21] (Kula Muleke, Ku-la-mu-le-k’o; 库拉木勒克乡)
County Autonomous Regions (县辖区)
- Aqiang District (阿羌区)
Others
- 农二师且末工程支队
Economy[edit]
The economy of the county is primarily based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural products of the county include wheat, corn, cotton and rapeseed. Lynx and fox hunting in the county produces valuable animal skins. Mining in the county includes coal, jade and asbestos. Industries in the county include mining, leather making, and grain and oil processing.[3]
Demographics[edit]
As of 2015, 50,754 (73.06%) of the 69,464 residents of the county were Uyghur, 18,365 (26.44%) were Han Chinese and 345 were from other ethnic groups.[22]
As of 1999, 77.5% of the population of the county was Uyghur and 22.31% of the population was Han Chinese.[23]
Transportation[edit]
Notable persons[edit]
- Mihrigul Tursun, Xinjiang re-education camp detainee
- Cherchen Man, one of the Tarim mummies
Historical maps[edit]
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Map of Qiemo (labeled as Ch’ieh-mo) and surrounding area (1975)
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Map including Qarqan (labeled as CH’IEH-MO (CHERCHEN) (CH’E-ERH-CH’ENG)) (USATC, 1971)
