Hexi Corridor

Banded ridges of red, orange and yellow sandstone ripple across the Hexi Corridor at Zhangye, among the most vividly colored danxia hills, like a rainbow laid on the earth.

Legend says General Huo Qubing poured imperial wine into this spring to share with his troops, and Jiuquan is also credited as the home of Qilian luminous jade cups.

From this Jiuquan camp, Zuo Zongtang marshaled troops and supplies for the Qing campaign to retake Xinjiang, and his famed willows, praised in verse, spread from here.

This large Han-era brick tomb of a Liangzhou military noble yielded the Bronze Galloping Horse, the steed now used as the emblem of Chinese tourism.

A huge clay reclining Buddha lies inside one of China's largest surviving Western Xia-era timber halls, a Silk Road landmark where many peoples and cultures met.

Baita Temple marks the 1247 Liangzhou meeting between Sakya Pandita and Prince Godan, a pivotal moment in relations between Tibet and the Mongol court.

Kumarajiva, translator of the Diamond and Lotus Sutras, spent seventeen years in Liangzhou, and this temple with its tongue relic stupa honors his stay.

Over twenty thousand soldiers of the Red Army's Western Route Army fought their way across the Hexi Corridor, and this memorial in Gaotai honors their battles.

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Buddhism Spreading East. Founder of the Liang who reigned for nearly fifty years, four times gave himself to the Tongtai monastery, and died confined in Jiankang after Hou Jing's rebels took the palace city

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Buddhism Spreading East. Eminent Indian Buddhist master who arrived at Luoyang upon Emperor Ming's invitation, co-founding White Horse Temple.

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Buddhism Spreading East. Indian Buddhist monk who accompanied Kasyapa Matanga to Luoyang and co-translated the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters.

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing commander and governor-general who founded the Mawei shipyard and, as imperial commissioner, recovered Xinjiang outside Ili and proposed making it a province

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing diplomat and son of Zeng Guofan who, as minister to Britain, France and Russia, renegotiated the Ili treaty at St Petersburg in 1881

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing military commander in Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang and the inaugural Governor of Xinjiang Province.

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Zhang Qian's Mission. Western Han envoy who crossed Xiongnu territory to reach the Yuezhi and Bactria, was held captive for over ten years and opened Han contact with Central Asia

Part of Hexi Corridor's history: Zhang Qian's Mission. Western Han emperor for fifty-four years who began the use of reign titles, sent armies against the Xiongnu and envoys to Central Asia, and weakened the princes

Zhang Qian's Mission

Zhang Qian's missions brought Central Asian geography and politics to the Han court, enabling sustained engagement along the emerging Silk Roads.

In 138 BCE, Zhang Qian was commissioned by Emperor Wu of Han to seek the Yuezhi, beginning a new phase of Han engagement with the Western Regions.

In 121 BCE, Huo Qubing led two deep Han incursions into Hexi, defeating Xiongnu forces and opening the corridor's military route.

Buddhism Spreading East

Buddhist monks and texts reached Han lands through Central Asia; translation and monasteries gradually embedded the new religion in local society.

From 383 to 401 CE, Kumarajiva remained in Liangzhou and studied Chinese before later translation work in Chang'an.

In 609 CE, Emperor Yang visited Zhangye, meeting Western-Region envoys and rulers at a formal gathering.

In 737 CE, Wang Wei traveled to Liangzhou on an official mission and wrote his frontier poem On Reaching the Frontier.

From 848 to 851 CE, Zhang Yichao's uprising recovered Shazhou, Guazhou, and other Hexi territories before the Tang established the Guiyijun command.

In 1098, during the reign of Western Xia Chongzong, Dafo Temple was established at Zhangye and became an important Buddhist site in Hexi.

In 1247, Sakya Pandita met the Mongol prince Koden at Liangzhou, an important stage in Mongol–Tibetan political negotiations.

Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang

In 1876–77 Qing forces defeated Yaqub Beg's regime and recovered most of Xinjiang; Liu Jintang commanded in the field while Zuo Zongtang directed strategy, finance, and supply.

In his memorial on Xinjiang strategy, Zuo Zongtang asked that earlier Xinjiang administrative and military records be sent to Suzhou so he could plan the campaign and recovery.

In 2014, the 33-component Chang'an–Tianshan Corridor, jointly nominated by China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, was inscribed on the World Heritage List.