LOCATION AND AREA

Kashi Prefecture, 141,600 square kilometers in total area and between latitude 35°20'to 40° 18'north and longitude 73°20'to 79°57'east in the southern part of Xinjiang, is contiguous with the Taklimakan Desert on its east and borders the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to its west and southwest respectively. The city of Kashi, a place of fifteen square kilometers with an average elevation of 1289.5 meters. The city is located between latitude 39°25'to 39°35'north and longitude 75°56'to 76°04'east and lies 1,473 kilometers from the city of Urumqi.

HISTORY

Kashi, short for Kashgar, was called Shule in ancient times and has a history of more than two thousand years. According to the record of the Persian Epic, Afulabudeyav, an ancient Tulan hero, established the capital of his kingdom here. In the beginning of the Han Dynasty, it belonged to the Zhuangpu Prefectural General’s Office of the Hun. In the latter half of the second century B.C, after the Han Dynasty Emperor Wudi sent Zhang Qian as his special envoy to the Western Region, Kashi submitted to the authorities of the western Han Dynasty. During the first century, Kashi was the supreme headquarters of Ban Chao, an imperial general who administered the Western Region. But at the end of the Sui Dynasty and at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Kashi had to pay taxes and levies frequently to the Western Turkish Khanate. During the reign of the Tang Dynasty Emperor Taizong and afterwards, it was an important military stronghold of the Tang government. Kashgar was one of the four important towns in Anxi at the time, thus it was made the seat of the Shule Superintendent’s Office. The Karakhanid Dynasty also established its capital in Kashgar. Before Genghis Khan went on his western expedition. Kashgar was the south capital of the Western Liao Regime established by Khitans. After Khan’s western expedition was over, Kashgar became the fief of the crown prince of Chagatai. During the reign of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong, Kashi became the seat of government of the Kashgar Councillor of the Qing government.

SCENIC SPOTS AND PLACES OF INTEREST

The I d Kah Mosque

The Id Kah Mosque, a grand Islamic structure located in the center of the city of Kashi, has a history of more than five hundred years. Shakesimirzha, the ruler of Kashgar, had the mosque built here first in 1442, where he would say prayers to the souls of his deceased relatives. Extended and renovated time and again through the ages, it has finally reached its present shape and size.

The mosque, 140 meters long from south to north and 120 meters from east to west, covers an area of 16,800 square meters and consists of the Hall of Prayer, the Doctrine-Teaching Hall, the gate tower, a pond and some other auxiliary structures. The gate of the mosque, built of yellow bricks with the joints of the brick work pointed with gypsum, has distinct lines. On both sides of the gate are eighteen-meter high round brick columns half embedded in the wall. On top of the columns stands a tower where the imam would call out loudly at dawn every day to wake up the Muslims and summon them to attend service in the mosque. In the tree-graced courtyard, there is a pond, and on its bank many pottery pots are placed, which are to be used by the Islam believers to clean their bodies. The main hall with wide eaves is 160 meters long and sixteen meters wide. The hall’s ceiling, with fine wooden carvings and colorful flower-and-plant painting patterns, is supported by one hundred carved wooden columns. In the middle part of the wall in the main hall, there is a deep shrine in which a stepped throne is placed. During service, the First Maola stands in the shrine to lead the prayer. And on Fridays or Corban, the First Maola conducts “wa’z,” standing on the steps of the throne. After entering the main hall, the followers would seat themselves facing west both inside and out, in proper lines.

On Lesser Bairam and Corban, the biggest Islam festivals, the Uygur people gather on the squre in front of the mosque to celebrate the festivals with jubilation. Yong people of the Uygur nationality, dressed in their holiday best, dance “Sama,” overflowing with enthusiasm, to the cheerful drum beats and music.

The Apak Hoja Tomb

The Apak Hoja Tomb, five kilometers northeast of the city of Kashi, is an important cultural unit protected by the Autonomous Region. As a tomb of the descendants of an Islamic sage, it was built around 1640. The legend has it that seventy-two persons in all of five generations of the same family were buried in the tomb. The first generation buried here was Yusuf Hoja, a celebrated Islam missionary. After he died, his eldest son Apapk Hoja carried on the missionary work and became the leader of the famous Islamic faction of Baishan during the seventeenth century which seized the power of the Yarkant Court for a time. Apak Hoja died in 1693 and was buried in the tomb was renamed “The Apak Hoja Tomb.”

The tomb is a group of beautiful and magnificent buildings including the Tombs Hall, the Doctrine teaching Hall, the Great Hall of Prayer, the gate tower, a pond and orchard. The Tombs Hall, with a dome shaped top of seventeen meters in diameter and covered with green glazed tiles outside,, is twenty-six meters high, spacious and columnless. Inside the hall, there is a high terrace on which the tombs are arranged. All the tombs are built of glazed bricks with very beautiful patterns of blue flowers on a white background, glittering, simple and elegant. The Great Hall of Prayer in the west part of the tomb, Ayitijiiayi by name, is the place where the Muslim believers conduct service on big days. The Lesser Hall of Prayer and the gate tower are outmost buildings decorated with colorful paintings and elegant brick carvings. Outside the tomb there is crystal-clear pond lined by tall trees making the place pleasantly quiet and beautiful.

The legend goes that among the Hoja descendants buried here, there was a lady, Yiparhan by name, who was one of the concubines of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong. She was called Xiangfei (Fragrant Imperial Concubine) because of the rich delicate fragrance of flower sent forth by her body. After she died, her remains was escorted back to Kashi by her sister-in-law Sudexiang and was buried in the Apak Hoja Tomb. So, some people call the tomb “the Tomb of Xiangfei.” But according to textual research, Xiangfei was none other than Rongfei, a concubine of Emperor Qianlong, and she was actually buried in the East Tombs of the Qing Dynasty in Zunhua County, Hebei Province after she died.