The site of Loulan Ancient City is located on the wasteland on the west bank of Lop Nur in the east of Tarim Basin, Ruoqiang County, Bazhou. The total area is 100000 square meters, approximately square. In 1988, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.
Loulan was one of the thirty-six cities in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. It served as the gateway to the Western Regions through the Hexi Corridor and the throat of the north-south Silk Road. It was a place of communication, exchange, and integration among various ethnic groups in history. The central government of the Western Han Dynasty stationed farmland here; The Wei, Jin, and Former Liang regimes established the Western Regions Grand Historian here to manage the Xinjiang region.
Since the Western Han Dynasty unified the Western Regions in 60 BC, Chinese has been widely used as the official language of the Western Regions. A large number of Chinese documents were unearthed from the ruins of Loulan Ancient City, mainly including various official documents and public and private correspondence of local administrative agencies and stationed troops. The discovery of a copy of the “Strategies of the Warring States: Chu Strategy” is clear evidence of the local residents’ learning and use of Chinese classics. The unearthed “Li Bai Documents” with the words “Long History of the Western Regions” and “Li Bai” directly prove that during the Wei, Jin, and early Liang dynasties, the administrative institution of the Central Plains Dynasty for governing the Western Regions, the Western Regions Long History Office, was established in Loulan. A large number of farming sites have been discovered around the site, and unearthed Chinese documents show that among the farming personnel, there were both a large number of soldiers from the Central Plains and local ethnic minorities, confirming the historical fact of communication, exchange, and integration among the people of various ethnic groups in the Loulan area.
To the northeast of Loulan City is a Buddhist pagoda, where Buddhist relics have been unearthed. The Han Jin box shaped colored coffin unearthed from the tomb west of the site is decorated with jade bi, eight petal lotus flower, winged white tiger, auspicious cloud grass and other patterns reflecting Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian thoughts. It also features a camel bite diagram reflecting the nomadic culture of fighting, indicating the profound influence of Central Plains culture and the spread of Taoism in Xinjiang 2000 years ago.
The site of Loulan Ancient City confirms the historical fact that the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang jointly created the great motherland, the historical fact that the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang are an integral part of the Chinese nation, the historical fact that the cultures of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang are an integral part of Chinese culture, and the historical fact that Xinjiang has always been a region where multiple religions coexist.
