The ruins of the Beiting Ancient City

　　   The ancient city ruins are locally known as "Pochengzi." It was built on the foundation of the Tang Dynasty’s Tingzhou City and belonged to the Western Xia Uyghurs after the ninth century. In the early 13th century, it came under Mongol rule, and during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, an administrative office was established here. In the Yuan Dynasty, the "Beshbalik Marshal's Office" was set up here, and it remained an important stronghold in northern Xinjiang at that time. The ancient city fell into disuse only in the early Ming Dynasty.

　　   In the 25th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1820), Chinese scholar Xu Song first conducted a survey here and discovered precious relics such as the remnant stele of the Tang Dynasty’s Jinman County. In 1908 and 1914, expeditions led by Japanese explorer Otani Kozui and British explorer Aurel Stein respectively carried out illegal surveys and excavations at the site. In 1928, the Northwest Scientific Expedition Team also excavated the ruins, with Chinese scholar Yuan Fuli responsible for mapping. From 1979 to 1980, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted two more surveys and mappings. At a Buddhist temple site from the Gaochang Uyghur period, over 700 meters west of the city, a large number of clay sculptures and exquisite murals were discovered.

　　   The ancient city was of a grand scale, with an irregular rectangular layout divided into inner and outer cities. The inner city is located slightly northeast of the center of the outer city. The outer city wall stretches 4,596 meters in circumference, while the inner city wall is 3,003 meters long. The walls are over 10 meters high, built from rammed earth, 8–12 meters thick, and equipped with military defensive structures such as battlements and a moat. Most of the original buildings within the city have been destroyed, with only three sections of ruined wall bases and nine base ruins remaining, two of which are foundations of Buddhist temples.

　　   Based on existing data, the outer city is believed to have been built during the Zhenguan era (627–649) of the Tang Dynasty, with multiple repairs or expansions carried out during the Xianqing (656–661) and Kaiyuan (712–756) eras, as well as during the Gaochang Uyghur period. The inner city was constructed during the Gaochang Uyghur period. Numerous Tang Dynasty roof tiles, cylindrical tiles, and lotus-patterned square bricks have been unearthed within the city, along with various other artifacts such as a Tang Dynasty bronze official seal inscribed “Seal of Puleizhou,” exquisitely crafted bronze lions, stone lions, grape-patterned bronze mirrors, Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, carved stone balls, drainage pipes, and pottery, found at the northwest corner of the city. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)