The Site of Jiaqu Commandant's Office

The Site of Jiaqu Commandant's Office

The Site of Jiaqu Commandant's Office is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Site of Jiaqu Commandant's Office is located 24 kilometers south of Ejin Banner, on the Gobi Desert between the Nalin and Yiken rivers. It served as the headquarters of the Jiaqu Commandant, the head officer of the Jiaqu defense post on the western line of the Juyan Protectorate during the Han Dynasty. Before excavation, most of the site was buried under sand and gravel. About 300 meters to the west, there are “I”-shaped beacon towers aligned from north to south, along with remnants of double-layered barrier walls.

In 1930, the Sino-Swedish Scientific Expedition Team unearthed more than 5,000 Han Dynasty wooden slips. In 1974, the Gansu Juyan Archaeological Team conducted further excavations. The barrier fort is a square earthen structure with a base area of 23.3 square meters, walls 4–4.5 meters thick, and a remaining height of 4.6 meters. Its construction consists of three layers of earthen bricks sandwiching one layer of esparto grass, with a 45 cm gap between each grass layer. The entrance is located at the southeast corner. The interior of the barrier was filled nearly to the top, and both sides had stair-like ramps leading up to the ramparts. The building was destroyed by fire. To the north of the barrier lies the auxiliary enclosure, measuring 47.5 × 45.5 meters, with rammed earth walls 1.8–2 meters thick and a remaining height of about 0.9 meters. The wall surfaces were coated with a mixture of straw and lime plaster. The gate of the enclosure is on the eastern wall, and outside there is a curved wall resembling the layout of a barbican. Within 3 meters around the enclosure, four rows of pointed wooden stakes were buried—referred to in historical texts and bamboo slips as “tiger traps.” The parapet wall atop the enclosure was embedded with “revolving crossbows.” Inside the enclosure were 37 rooms. A total of 3,434 wooden slips were unearthed from the barrier and enclosure. Fifty meters south of the enclosure stands a square rammed earth platform, which served as the dedicated watchtower for the commandant. To the east of the enclosure is a pile of ashes where 3,222 slips and 739 artifacts were found, bringing the total number of slips to 6,865 and artifacts to 881, along with other unearthed objects. These include bows and arrows, bronze chains, revolving crossbows, iron armor, pulleys, currency, iron farming tools, fishing net weights, hunting gear, wooden column capitals, wooden panel paintings, bamboo flutes, and more. The wooden slips are as solid as new, with clear inscriptions. The arrowheads, shafts, and fletching are remarkably well-preserved—an extremely rare find.