Urumqi - Information from of an Exiled Chinese Official - Archimandrite Palladius, 1872
Translation of an intelligence report on the capital of Chinese Turkestan
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Below is a translation of a report by Archimandrite Palladius on the city of Urumqi, capital of Chinese Central Asia, known today as the province of Xinjiang. This report was published in the journal “News of the Russian Imperial Geographic Society”, Volume VIII, Saint Petersburg, 1872. Archimandrite Palladius was stationed in Beijing with the Russian Orthodox mission, and he likely wrote this report there. I was unable to find any information on who this exiled Chinese official was, but based on the text it seems he orally conveyed this information to Palladius who then wrote it down. The source for this translation can be found here.
This text very much reads like an intelligence report, as it details the local military forces based at Urumqi, in addition to its geography, agriculture, mining, commerce, and social life. It is surprising that Russia would collect such information on Urumqi. The Russians had long standing ambitions to seize the region of Chinese Turkestan, and Urumqi represented the key to taking this region, not only because it is the capital, but also due to its geography.
Urumqi is located at the feet of the Tianshan Mountains in the Zungarian Basin, the steppe region that makes up northern Xinjiang. To the west and east along the northern face of the mountains are excellent grazing lands feed by rivers, which can easily be managed and turned into irrigation for agriculture. This means that the region historically could host both a large nomadic population of cavalry warriors, as well as urban settlements. Even more importantly, Urumqi lies at the top of the Dabancheng Pass that leads to Turfan, and from there either further east to China or south to the oasis city states of the Tarim Basin. The Dabancheng Pass carves a path through the Tianshan Mountains very similar to the Daryal Pass in the Caucasus Mountains. Both passes effectively served as a funnel for nomadic forces to invade the lands to the south, and both hold the same strategic value today for mobile ground forces. Thus, control of Urumqi allows for the easy domination of the Tarim Basin and the historical Silk Road trade routes.
Additionally, when looking as the wider region, it can be seen that Urumqi acts as a central node on the lines of communication that link China to Central Asia, Russia to China, and Mongolia to Central Asia.
In 1872 the Russians had a particularly strong interest in Urumqi, as Chinese Turkestan was at the time under the control of Yakub Beg, a warlord who managed to seize control of the region during massive rebellion by Chinese Muslims that began in the 1860’s and caused the Qing Dynasty to lose control of the entire northwestern portion of its empire. In 1871 Russia intervened and occupied the Ili Valley (east of Zharkent on map above), and prepared its forces to continue south to seize Kashgar, Yakub Beg’s capital. Russian Cossacks could easily have swept into Zungaria as well to seize Urumqi, and with both Ili and Urumqi in Russian hands the whole of Chinese Turkestan would have been theirs.
In the end, Russia withdrew from Ili due to Chinese pressure, but later during the Stalin era Moscow succeeded in turning the regional Xinjiang government into a satellite state during the 1930’s. The USSR gained economic concessions throughout region, stationed military advisors and political officials in Urumqi and even based an NKVD unit as far east as Hami.
The author of this text is also quite significant in the history of Russian sinology. Born as Petr Ivanovich Kafarov in 1817 near Kazan, he took the name Palladius after graduating from an ecclesiastical academy and becoming a monk. Palladius then signed up to join the Russian Orthodox mission in Beijing, before first studying Chinese under Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin (Iakinf), who is considered to be the father of Russian sinology. Palladius would spend most of his life in China, where he wrote numerous texts on Chinese affairs, including a Russian-Chinese dictionary.
Before normal diplomatic contact was established, much of Russia’s official communications with China was done through the Orthodox Church mission based in Beijing, similar to how Western Europe’s earliest contacts with China ran through the Jesuits. Russian & Soviet sinology has remained at a very high quality ever since. One notable Soviet sinologist is the current Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who served in the Soviet diplomatic mission to Beijing in the 1980’s and is a fluent Chinese speaker. For an excellent book on the history of Sino-Russian relations, and how Russia has perceived China historically, I would recommend “The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia's Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations Since the Eighteenth Century” by Alexander Lukin, who is was also a China specialist graduate from Moscow State Institute of International Relations alongside Tokayev.
A few additional notes. As Palladius mentions, the Chinese colonized the region with soldier-farmers. Ever sine the Han Dynasty, when China first expanded into Central Asia, it created military-agricultural settlements so its forces could be self sufficient for food supplies. This was done because the distances from China proper to the its outposts beyond the Great Wall were simply too far and the routes too dangerous for food supplies to be physically transported. And this practice continues today with the Bingtuan, which was created under Mao. Since the market liberalization reforms, the Bingtuan as expanded into other sectors of Xinjiang’s economy, including oil, telecommunications and more. The Bingtuan also holds jurisdiction over several cities in Xinjiang, the largest being Shihezi, west of Urumqi.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Urumqi region hosted the Chinese city of Beiting (located in modern day Jimsar county, 150km east of Urumqi), headquarters of the Beiting Protectorate, the Tang’s military commander zone the covered the steppes from the Tianshan Mountains to the Altai Mountains. After 840, Uyghurs fleeing from their collapsed empire on the Mongolian steppes seized Beiting, and renamed it as Beshbaliq (Five Cities). Beshbaliq became the Uyghur’s summer capital of their Qocho Idiqut state, with Turfan hosting their winter capital.
Lastly, Xinjiang often served as a destination for exiles. Possibly the most notable exile to Urumqi was Lin Zexu, the official who famously destroyed the British East India Company’s opium in Canton, which provoked the First Opium War. Today there is a monument to Lin in Hongshan (Red Mountain) Park in Urumqi.
Urumqi (Urumchi) – Information from of an Exiled Chinese Official, 1872
Urumqi is one of the points of Central Asia, which, thanks to its beneficial position has managed to survive all the of the political upheavals in the regions, and after the pogroms ended, followed by a period of clam, again its political and commercial activities were resurrected. Ever since China first exerted its influence over its north-western region during the Han Dynasty and created military-agriculture settlements near present day Urumqi, this place has had different names but has never disappeared from history. After the Mongols were forced to flee from China, along with all other neighboring countries, Urumqi soon came under the rule of the Olots1 and served the nomadic Khoshot Khanate.2 Half way through the past last century this country was conquered by the Manchus, and Urumqi was made the center of a military district, which included the land from Barkol3 to Khurkharaus.4
Urumqi, or Urumchi, has a Zungar name which they say means, “a place convenient for raids”. As an administrative center for the Chinese colonies, it has the official name of Dihua-zhou.5 In the trading world it is better known by the name Hong Miao Tzu, or the Red Idol, as there is a temple just outside the city that is painted red.6 Urumqi is located at the foothills of the western Bogdo-Ola,7 whose three peaks can be seen from the city, and annually a sacrifice is made to the mountains on the hill nearest to the city.8
Urumqi is made up of two cities: an older commercial town, located on the right bank of the river, along the slopes of the mountain, and a newer town, built by the Manchus on the left bank, on the low ground, near the source of the river.
The climate in Urumqi is quite harsh, although before, when there was no sedentary population, it was even harsher. According to the author of the note, which the information here is taken from, rain rarely occurs over Urumqi, not more than once or twice a year, and in some years it does not rain at all. However, it snows in such abundance that lines of communication are often severed. The residents use water from the mountain streams that come from the melting snows, and from wells, which are easily dug due to the vertical nature of the soil (as noted by the author). Fields are irrigated by aqueducts.
Nearby Urumqi are hot sulfuric waters.
The Urumqi district extends to the west along a lowland irrigated by rivers, which flow down from the Tianshan Mountains. All of the rivers flow into one body of water, named Weihu, or Weitan (Reedy Lake). This lake, or swamp, is overgrown with reeds that stretch from the west to the east for several hundred li and constitutes the northern border of the distrinct. What is north of this lake – no one knows, because no one has set foot there according to the native residents, says the author. The region serves as a breeding ground for locusts, although they have not appeared in Urumqi itself. The physical particularities of this country lead towards the assumption that the northern side of the Tianshan Mountains is a depression, similar to Lop Nor on the southern side of the mountains.
Along the borders of the Urumqi district one can come across traces of ancient fortified settlements and agriculture, evidence that this region has long been populated. Particularly significant is the settlement near the postal station of Gimus, which is presumably from the time of the Tang Dynasty. Inside it, a large stone statue of the Buddha survived, half covered the earth. Its other items charred and half buried in the earth demonstrate, in the words of the author, that this ancient city was destroyed by fire.
The current population of Urumqi is made up of colonists resettled here from China, although considering how long ago they were resettled they can be considered tp be natives of this region. The Manchurians, having conquered Zungaria, sought to strengthen their hold over the region by first creating a sedentary population and colonized this deserted country with a large number of people. They transferred Qing Dynastic forces (Manchus, Xibo, Daurs, Solons, Chakhars, and Olots)9 and their families to this country, as well as Chinese. This was considered to be insufficient, so the Qing invited migrants from China to resettle, and offered them monetary incentives, provisions, farming tools, and were allocated arable land. They increased the sedentary population by other means as well, in a place which formerly was inhabited by nomads (at the same time colonies of Turkis were resettled near Ili, which the Olots called Taranchis10).
Located in Urumqi is a force of Manchus and native Chinese. From among the first, there are those obligated to farm, which are called qihu, or bannerman, while among the Chinese there are free farmers, who are called bing-hu.
The common people are divided among a few classes: 1) voluntary settlers from China, who were invited by the local authorities, the min-hu. 2) Merchants, who showed interest in cultivating land and signed up for permanent residence in Urumqi, shan-hu. 3) Homeless11 Chinese, those who do not have permanent residence and were sent to Urumqi to be settled, anchahu (they do not have any military obligations). 4) Those exiled to Urumqi, who after completing their term of exile service can join the agricultural class, qian-hu (these are homeless exiled settlers to the west of Manas). Each class is a special community and has its own leader, called tou-mu or xin-you. Officials usually contact the leaders for official purposes, thus they are very significant.
Along with these classes, there are also gardeners, yuan-hu, who rent lands from the treasury for a small fee. But as they are not a permanent population, they are not considered natives.
Artisans and craftsman, in large part, are exiles. They are also servants in the homes of the city’s residents.
Colonists do not usually live in villages, and are instead scattered across separated estates, each on their own plot of land. They do not use fertilizers, and instead plow alternating fields across the year. As a consequence of the intense cold the soil freezes deeply and the land does not produce a winter crop, and thus they only sow grain in the spring. At the end of the autumn harvest the exiled colonists crowd into Urumqi to work in other trades, and with the coming of the spring plowing season they return back to their fields. Urumqi merchants often buy the unharvested grain from the farmers once it emerges from the ground, paying them immediately before harvesting it themselves for a profit.
Among grains, mainly wheat and oats are grown. In Gao-tai rice is also grown, but whether grown in water or dry – the author did not say. Oats are used to feed horses and to distill alcohol. Oatmeal is also used for food. Among garden vegetables the author especially liked Urumqi’s cabbages and radishes. Two types of poppies are grown there.12 In terms of fruit plantations, and as in all other fields of agricultural production, this country is far worse than neighboring Turkestan.13 The tobacco that is cultivated here is said to be very good by the author. Assa foetide14 and Rubia tinctorum15 are found here also. The latter is the best type found in China, but it is little used. Its root when grounded into a powder serves as an antidote to spider bites.
There exists a great natural wealth in the region around Urumqi. In the southern mountains from Manas there are gold deposits everywhere. Near Urumqi there is an iron factory that is held by the treasury,16 but its ores are extremely heavy, from 100 pieces it only received 13 parts of iron. In the area around Yan-Balgasun saltpeter is mined, annually up to a few thousand pounds are collected, and sent either to Ili or Tarbagatai17 for the gunpowder factories. Also located here are deposits of high quality mica,18 which is used by the local residents in the place of glass. In the mountains nearest to Urumqi stone coal can be found of various qualities. The coal from the northern mountains is considered the best, as it does not give off any smoke or smell, it burns easily and for a long time, and afterwards the ash is as white as snow. Coal from the western mountains is used for cooking, the ash from this coal is reddish in colour. There are two other types of lower quality rock coal. The best charcoal is made from the tree “soso”: kindled in the evening, it burns all night, and the tree that it is made from is very sturdy, but its roots do not go deep into the ground.
Salt is collected from the lakes, and they have a dark colour.19 People from Turfan bring red salt to Urumqi.
Urumqi is mainly a place for trading, for transit and for its warehouses, similar to Hami. It has lines of communication between northwestern China (through Hami), and with Turfan, Ili, and Tarbagatai. Additionally, merchants from Kukukhoton20 travel to Urumqi across the steppe. These merchants live in the suburbs of the old city, in communities. There is also a community of merchants from Suzhou and Lanzhou (both in Gansu province), as well as from Kukukhoton. The latter are called guests from the Ordos (Bei tao ke), and they are richest merchants found here. These are people from Shanxi, who control much of the trade with Central Asia, both its eastern and western regions. There are also communities of Mongolian merchants and merchants from Turfan who travel to Urumqi freely.
On what things are traded, the author did not specify. He only noted the large sales of alcohol and tobacco.
For the sake brevity, we have left out information from the author concerning various particularities of the region of Urumqi, notes about the monstrous boars, snakes with stumped tails (as if they were cut off) and more. We also omitted information on the customs and morals of the people of Urumqi and details on the rowdy lives of those commercial guests. He says that Chinese merchants become so accustomed to the cheerful life in Urumqi that they forget to return back to their homeland. It is often the case that their families who remain in China request the local authorities to return their relatives back to them. In such cases, the local authorities will unceremoniously arrest the sons of the Middle Empire21 after they go on a spree and ship them back to China.
Peking, 10/2222 July, 1872
For further reading on these topics, see: “China Marches West” by Peter Purdue for how the Qing conquered Urumqi from the Zungars, “Holy War in China” by Kim Ho-dong on the Dungan revolt, “The Desert Road to Turkestan” by Owen Lattimore for a travel account to Urumqi, “Xinjaing and Modern Chinese State” by Justin M. Jacobs. For an explanation on the ethnonym “Taranchi”, see “Uyghur Nation” by David Brody.
To read another Russian intelligence report on Xinjiang that I translated, see Andrei Putinstev’s notes on Chuguchak.
Source for photos of Beshbaliq - https://humus.livejournal.com/7096223.html
A Mongolian sub group of the Oirats, also known as the western Mongols
The Khoshots were one of the four main tribal groupings of the Oirat Mongols
Located east of Urumchi, north of the Tianshan Mountains from Hami
I am unsure of where this is. This appears to be an archaic name for a city west of Urumchi that is also north of the Tianshan Mountains, possibly around Shihezi
Dihua means “"to enlighten/to civilize", and zhou refers to a territorial-administrative unit – many Chinese cities end with the character zhou
This likely corresponds with Hongshan (Red Mountain) and its temple. This site is a large hill in the middle of modern day Urumqi, and is a part of a large park
This is the eastern continuation of the Tianshan Mountains
I think this hill is Hongshan
The Qing Dynasty was founded by the semi-nomadic, semi-Sinified Manchus, and their military forces mostly consisted of Manchurian and Mongolian tribes. Xibo and Solons are Manchurian (or Tungusic), while Daurs, Chakhars and Olots are Mongolian.
The Ili Valley is large region within the Tianshan Mountains to the west of Urumqi. This Qing took farmers from the Tarim Basin and relocated them for agricultural purposes. Also should be noted that the Zungars, the previous rulers of this region, did similar. They created many agricultural settlements with “Taranchis”, who are known today as Uyghurs
Not homeless in the literal sense, but likely in reference to their registration status
“Разводят также мак двух родов.”
This could refer to both Russian Central Asia to the west, or to the oases of the Tarim Basin to the south
A herb that is used for cooking and other purposes
A herb used for medicinal purposes
In other words, a state owned factory
Likely referring to the town of Chuguchak, known today as Tacheng. Located near the Tarbagatai Mountains, a range located north of Ili and runs along the modern Chinese-Kazakh border
A type of salt crystal
Salt lakes were a very common source of salt across the Eurasian steppe zone, and controlling these salt lakes was an imperative
Somewhere in the Ordos region, in Shanxi province
Reference to what Chinese call China (Zhongguo – “The Middle State”, as historically China was the center of the world from their perspective)
Old/New styles
This was fascinating. Thank you for translating and writing the great intro.
Also had no idea about this: “One notable Soviet sinologist is the current Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who served in the Soviet diplomatic mission to Beijing in the 1980’s and is a fluent Chinese speaker.”
This reminded me of how Xi spent time in Iowa as a young man!
interesting to discover the world with your help. Thx, Paul