On the arid plain between the Qilian and Mazong mountain ranges stands JiaYu Guan, the western terminus of China’s 6400km (4000 miles) Great Wall. 2200 years ago when the Qin emperor unified China, one of his major projects was connecting the fortifications along China’s northern frontier into one more or less continuous wall. The wall as it existed then only extended as far west as eastern Gansu province. About 75 years later, the Han emperor Wudi embarked on a series of aggressive military campaigns and diplomatic maneuvers to combat the nomadic XiongNu empire, China’s great rival to the north, and expand Chinese influence on the Silk Road into Central Asia. As a result, a series of fortified garrison towns were established along the Hexi corridor in Gansu and well into modern day Xinjiang. The most remote of these garrisons were eventually abandon to sink into the oblivion of the region’s vast deserts and throughout much of Chinese history the actual border of the empire remained somewhat ambiguous, shifting with the rise and fall of the each successive dynasty’s fortunes. The current imposing structure at JiaYu Guan was not built until 1372 after the Ming Dynasty had driven the Mongols out of China proper.
Even before the fort’s construction, its location at the mouth of the Hexi corridor was of vital strategic importance for whomever controlled it controlled the flow of wealth along the Silk Road in and out of China. In the ancient Chinese mind, the Jade Gate Pass (YuMen Guan) near modern JiaYu Guan, represented the last outpost of civilization. Beyond lie the infinite wastes of the Taklamakan desert, inhabited by bloodthirsty bandits and mythical beasts of a most terrifying nature. It is said that every traveler proceeding west from here followed a custom of throwing a stone at the wall of the gate. If the stone bounced back, it was an auspicious sign that they would return safely from their journey. If the stone did not bounce back, it was an ill omen that the traveler was doomed. This famous poem by Wang Zhihuan captures the desolate beauty at the edge of the Chinese world:
Far off the Yellow River ascends into white clouds
And the solitary Great Wall is lost amidst the mountains
What need have the barbarian flutes lament the willow
For beyond the Jade Pass never do spring winds blow
15km (9 miles) northeast of JiaYu Guan are 13 large mounds about 2m high that house the entrance to tombs dating back to the Wei (220-265CE) and Jin (265-316) Dynasties. These tombs are in fact only a slight fraction of a larger regional grouping of graves numbering over 1,400, although almost none of them have been excavated. Inside the few that have, subterranean burial chambers have been found adored with marvelous frescoes depicting scenes of domestic life, religious iconography and natural scenery. Markedly different in terms of style than the later Mogao Grotto paintings, the Wei-Jin tomb frescoes illustrates a society strongly influenced by not only traditional Chinese culture but also elements of the nomadic tribes of the region and the oasis dwelling peoples to the west. These discoveries have been invaluable to modern historians in reconstructing the political, cultural and scientific developments of this still enigmatic period of Chinese history.
