The Ancient City Hotan

Hotan, named Yutian in ancient times, means a place, which produces jade and stone in Tibetan language. It was a strategically important place among the south way of Silk Road. Hotan City, which we still can see nowadays, had come into being since the Ming (1368—1644) and Qing (1616—1911) dynasties. In early Qing Dynasty, Yutian was changed to Hotan which the same name as today’s. In 1983, the government was established in Hotan, which became the center of Hotan area.

Hotan area is divided into one city and 7 counties. It occupies an area of 24.55 square kilometers and has a population of 1,553,700, which nearly 96.9% of them are Uygur people. Being bounded on the south by Kunlun Mountains, the physical features of Hotan area is high on the relief map in the south but low in the north. Starting from Kunlun Mountains, Yurungkax River and Karakax River meet and gather into Hotan River in the deep desert, which flows to Tarim River in a northern direction. Hotan River is a shortcut to pass through Taklimakan Desert from south to north, and it is also an ideal route for tour exploration in desert.

A distinctive temperate continental desert climate dominates most area of Hotan. It is not very cold in winter and very hot in summer. The annual precipitation of the area is thin and it prevails southwest wind with the strongest speed of 26 meters per second. With too much dust and sand, Hotan is seriously eroded area by the sand. It is also the area, which gives the earliest sign of spring in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During March and April, spring is in the air here, blooming with peach and apricot flowers.

In 1st century B.C., Buddhism was introduced to Yutian. This is the earliest record about Buddhism in China. Till 11th century AD, Hotan came to the world of Islamism after Islamism was brought in by the force.

During the reign of Han Dynasty, Yutian was the closest Vassal State in Tibet. After the dynasties of the Wei, the Jin (220—581), the scope of Yutian had developed almost the same as nowadays. Pisha government was set up in Yutian in Tang dynasty. Since then Yutian had been an important place on the way of Silk Road, which was Four Towns of An’xi area together with Shule, Qiuci, Yanqi. Hotan has been famous of great production of crops and fruits since ancient time and also well known of jade, silk and carpet, which is the famous hometown of jade, silk, carpet and fruit. Rich in natural resources such as gold and jade, etc. and suitable for farm and pasture, it is really a fertile land.

More than 1,000 years ago, Yutian’s music became all the fashion in China and made Chinese people intoxicated and stupefied. Music and dance of Hotan still have the unique artistic charm till now.

The transportation in Hotan mainly depends on civil aviation and high way. It opened up airlines to Urumqi and Aksu and long-distance bus to Urumqi, Kashi and Yecheng City.

Written by www.travel-silkroad.com
Translated by Beijing Star-light Translation Center
2002/10/22