The Soul of Grassland National Culture - Exploration of Xinjiang Grassland Cultural Relics

Author: Zhang Ping / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: According to incomplete statistics, there are approximately 200 grassland cultural sites and relics discovered in the six counties and one city of Altay. Among them, there are over 70 rock art relics, accounting for about one-third of the total. These ancient rock paintings, which are widely distributed, numerous, and rich in style and content, span the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age of primitive society, as well as historical periods such as the Han, Tang, and Song-Yuan dynasties. They comprehensively reflect the continuity of the Altay grassland culture and the pulse of its human and historical evolution. Each rock art site is like a natural history museum, serving as a vivid and compelling example for the study of history, archaeology, ethnology, environmental ecology, and other fields. Qing County is an important area in the Altay region for ancient tombs and rock art, with 58 sites surveyed, accounting for one-fourth of the total in the Altay region. Famous sites include the Qagan Gol Reservoir Rock Art and the Lama Bulak Rock Art Complex.
Qagan Gol Township is located in the eastern part of Qing County. The eastern and northern parts of the township border Mongolia, with a boundary line stretching 180 kilometers. The township is abundant in water resources, with two of Qing County's five major rivers flowing through its fertile oases. One is the Qagan Gol River, originating from the northern foothills of the Altai Mountains at Naoqanla II Heye. The other is the Bureng River, originating from the northern foothills of Mongolia. Qagan Gol is named after the Qagan Gol River, which means "white river" in Mongolian. Before the 18th century, it was a nomadic settlement of the Mongolian people, but now it has become a home for the Kazakh majority.
The discovery of the "Zhong'an Temple" site was accidental, and we also learned that there was once a Tibetan Buddhist "Zhong'an Temple" site in this area during the Qing Dynasty, which can also be considered a gain. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, also known as Lamasar, are located where the newly completed second-floor office building of the Qagan Gol Township Government stands. In the courtyard of the township government, we found some fragments of blue bricks. These blue bricks were clearly buried underground for many years and differed in size and thickness from the red bricks used in the newly built office building. Behind the building, there were still fragments of blue bricks and a section of long but low earthen wall, with vast wheat fields on the outside. The township party secretary told us that before the 18th century, specifically in the 36th year of the Qianlong reign (1774), under the support of Sheleng, the chief of the Khoton, Qinghe, and Fuyun banners, the famous living Buddha Losang Dan led the construction of a monastery named "Zhong'an Temple" here, promoting the "Yellow Religion" to "pacify the masses."
Zhong'an Temple faces east and west. The monastery consists of three parts: the front hall, the middle hall, and the rear hall. The roofs of the halls were covered with blue tiles, and the floors were paved with blue bricks. The main deity worshipped there was "Zongkaba" and other deities. By 1901, the temple had about 3,000 acres of farmland and grassland, as well as tens of thousands of livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, and camels, with assets comparable to those of nobles and aristocrats. The temple spread ethnic and historical cultural knowledge, Buddhism, philosophy, astronomy, calendar, medicine, and production techniques in the local area and played a certain charitable and relief role, gaining local influence.
Zhong'an Temple suffered multiple destructions from wars and turmoil over the years. Notably, in 1933, the temple was burned down by the forces of Ma Zhongying, turning it into a ruin of broken walls and collapsed structures. It is said that in 1964, copper bowls, copper rings, copper seals, copper coins, and fragments of the lotus base of a broken Buddha statue, as well as broken bricks and tiles, were unearthed from the site. After the investigation, we checked the introduction of cultural relics and historical sites in the "Qing County Geographical Gazetteer" and found it referred to as the "Kokuyir Lamasar Site." The "Qing County Annals" also recorded an article titled "Talking about Kokuyir Zhong'an Temple." After reading it, the exact location of the site we had unexpectedly discovered was confirmed and supplemented. P6-9