Qiongtimu Post Station and Beacon Tower Ruins

The Qiongtimu Post Station and Beacon Tower Ruins are located approximately 18 kilometers northeast of Beshi’aqia’er Village, 51st Regiment, Tumushuke City. Time period: Tang and Song dynasties. It was announced as an autonomous region-level cultural relics protection unit on July 29, 1999. The current name “Qiongtimu” is in Uyghur, meaning “large beacon tower.” This site was...

Qiongtimu Post Station and Beacon Tower Ruins

Qiongtimu Post Station and Beacon Tower Ruins

The Qiongtimu Post Station and Beacon Tower Ruins are located approximately 18 kilometers northeast of Beshi’aqia’er Village, 51st Regiment, Tumushuke City. Time period: Tang and Song dynasties. It was announced as an autonomous region-level cultural relics protection unit on July 29, 1999.

The current name “Qiongtimu” is in Uyghur, meaning “large beacon tower.” This was the “Envoy’s Hostel” of the ancient Yutou Prefecture during the Tang Dynasty. Originally, it was a large guesthouse or post station on the northern route of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, used to accommodate international envoys, soldiers, merchants, and monks, hence the name “Envoy’s Hostel.” Tang Dynasty Chancellor Jia Dan recorded its exact mileage in his work “Record of Routes and Distances.” This site covers a large area. To its east lies the ruins of a pottery firing workshop, to its southeast are the ruins of a copper smelting workshop, and to its north once stood a small Buddhist temple. Beside the large beacon tower is a small irregular castle. In the 1980s, some wooden structures still existed here, but they have since been looted and stripped bare. Inside and around the castle, there is a wealth of Tang Dynasty artifacts, including large quantities of pottery, bronze arrowheads, Kaiyuan and Qianyuan Tongbao coins, Kucha coins, bone products, smelting slag, ornaments, grapes, walnuts, apricot pits, pottery shards inscribed with Kucha script, and more. To its south lies Xiaotimu (also known as Asatimu). These four “Timu” sites together form a cluster of ruins from the Tang Dynasty related to agriculture, religion, and military functions. Later, due to the diversion and drying up of the Kashgar River, this site was buried by the desert, becoming a place long sought after by explorers.

This beacon tower was first discovered and excavated in 1985 by the Cultural Relics Team of the Autonomous Region Museum, with archaeological survey reports subsequently published. “Qiong” in Uyghur means “large.” Indeed, this is a relatively large post station ruin, covering an area of about one square kilometer. The site can be roughly divided into eastern and western sections. In the eastern section, there remains a soil mound, about 20 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 0.5–1 meter high. Adjacent to the southeast of the mound is a stone pile, 2–2.5 meters in diameter at the top, 4–5 meters at the base, and about 1 meter high. The stone pile is covered with smelting slag and iron chunks, resembling the site of a kiln and a handicraft workshop, covering an area of about 6,000 square meters. About 200 meters southwest of this kiln site, pottery shards, beads, bronze ornaments, coins, and even human bone fragments have been found, suggesting possible tomb remains.

About 400–500 meters west of the eastern section lies the western section, where the Qiongtimu Beacon Tower is located. The beacon body is damaged, with the upper part being cylindrical, having a lower circumference of 68.8 meters and a total height of about 12 meters. The upper 2 meters of the beacon body are built with earthen blocks, while the lower part is rammed earth. To the east, west, and north of the beacon tower are rectangular soil mounds (identified in a 2004 survey as actually being walls). In 1988, the Cultural Relics Team of the Autonomous Region Museum excavated the eastern part of the mound, revealing parts of semi-subterranean house ruins, with chimneys visible protruding from the roofs. The houses were built with earthen blocks and constructed against the walls. The distribution area of the houses spans 117.5 meters from north to south and 101.5 meters from east to west. About two kilometers west of Qiongtimu, a kiln site has been discovered.

A variety of artifacts have been collected from the site, including pottery shards, bronze ornaments, buckles, coins, and glass shards. Among the pottery shards, red and gray pottery each account for nearly half. The pottery is very fine and well-fired, mostly handmade, though some show wheel-thrown marks at the rims. Five rim samples were collected, including three types: long-necked straight rim, short-necked straight rim, and open rim. Handles include ear-shaped handles and semi-circular columnar handles, with some columnar handles featuring ridges and diagonal incised lines. The pottery shards are decorated with two types of patterns: stamped impressions and applied reliefs. Stamped patterns mainly consist of dots, circles, and stripes forming decorative motifs, while applied reliefs are mainly cone-stitched and incised patterns located at the shoulder and neck junctions of the vessels.

Some scholars believe this beacon tower corresponds to the location of the Envoy’s Hostel mentioned in “Jia Dan’s Record of Routes and Distances.”

South or southwest of Qiongtimu toward the ancient city of Tukuzsaray, there are also beacon tower ruins such as Yumulaktimu, Kuoxitimu, and Zetimu. In the southwestern part of Kezilesu County, remnants of beacon towers and ancient city ruins such as Yayiditimu, Duaicitimu, and Aksianertimu still exist. These beacon towers and ancient city ruins date from similar periods, are spaced at roughly regular intervals, and are believed to be transportation facilities along the route from Baihuan westward to Jueshide City during the Tang and Song dynasties. “Jia Dan’s Record of Routes and Distances” details this route as follows: “From Baihuan and Suyab, crossing the Si hun River southwestward, 180 li to Jizhuo Hostel (formerly Hepingpu), then passing through the former Dagan City, 120 li to the Envoy’s Hostel, and another 60 li to Jueshide City.”