"Qiemo (W-G: Ch'ieh-mo) 且末 = modern Cherchen (Chinese: 车尔臣) or Charchan (Uyghur: Qarqan). There has been uncertainty about this name as Chavannes (1907), p. 156, and then Stein (1921a), Vol. I, 296 ff., gave an incorrect romanization for the first character. Chavannes, using the French EFEO romanization system, gave tsiu, and Stein used the Wade-Giles equivalent, chü. In fact, the character is correctly rendered k’ie in EFEO, ch’ieh in Wade-Giles and qie in pinyin. Nevertheless, there has never been any serious dispute about its identification with modern Cherchen."[8]
It has been suggested that the name "Cherchen" may have been derived from Shanshan, the kingdom that once ruled the area.[9] A number of different names have been used for the town, Lionel Giles has recorded the following names for Ruoqiang Town (with his Wade-Giles forms of the Chinese names converted to pinyin):
The modern county is based on the ancient kingdom of Qiemo (且末) mentioned in the Hanshu and the Hou Hanshu. According to the Hanshu, Qiemo/Cherchen had "230 households, 1,610 individuals and 320 persons able to bear arms."[11]
The ancient Qiemo may have been located on the east of the Cherchen (Charchan / Qarqan[12]) river, across from the modern Cherchen.[13] Qiemo became part of Loulan Kingdom after it was under Chinese control during the Han dynasty and renamed Shanshan.[14] Later in 442 CE, after an attack by Juqu Anzhou, King Bilong of Shanshan fled to Qiemo together with half of his countrymen so Shanshan came to be ruled by Qiemo.[15]
The Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo (納縛波, thought to be Charklik) of Krořän (Loulan), and wrote of Ziemo (Qiemo), "A fortress exists, but not a trace of man".[16]
Marco Polo who passed through Cherchen mentioned it as a province with a town of the same name as its chief city. Its inhabitants were described as Muslims.[17]
In August 2014, local authorities in Cherchen County (Qiemo County) announced, "Incentive Measures Encouraging Uighur-Chinese Intermarriage," including a 10,000 CNY (1,450 USD) cash reward per annum for the first five years to such intermarried couples as well as preferential treatment in employment and housing plus free education for the couples, their parents and offspring. County CCP Secretary Zhu Xin remarked:[18]
Our advocacy of intermarriage is promoting positive energy ... Only by promoting the establishment of a social structure and community environment in which all ethnic groups are embedded in each other ... can we boost the great unity, ethnic fusion and development of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and finally realize our China dream of great rejuvenation of our Chinese nation
From the south to the north, the lands of the county run from the main range of the Kunlun Mountains (which forms the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region) to the middle of the Taklamakan Desert. The southernmost area of the county includes the northern side of part of the Ulugh Muztagh range (the main range of the Kunlun), and a section of the Altyn-Tagh range which runs roughly parallel to the main range of the Kunlun. Most of the county population lives in the northern foothills of the mountains, in the oases watered by snow-fed rivers.
The Qiemo River (Qarqan River) near the town of Ziemo (Qiemo) is frozen for two to three months in the winter. From the foot of the mountains to the oasis of Ziemo (Qiemo), it has a faIl of nearly 4000 feet.[19]
Climate
Typically for Xinjiang, Qiemo has a harsh cool arid climate (KöppenBWk). It is one of the very driest places in this dry autonomous region, receiving an average of less than 25 millimetres or 1 inch of rainfall equivalent every year. Summer days are hot, although nights are fairly pleasant, whilst winters are chilly although less severe than in more northerly parts of Xinjiang, with average maxima above freezing except in January.
Climate data for Qiemo (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2000)
The economy of the county is primarily based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Agricultural products of the county include wheat, corn, cotton and rapeseed. Lynx and fox hunting in the county produces valuable animal skins. Mining in the county includes coal, jade and asbestos. Industries in the county include mining, leather making, and grain and oil processing.[4]
Demographics
As of 2015, 50,754 (73.06%) of the 69,464 residents of the county were Uyghur, 18,365 (26.44%) were Han Chinese and 345 were from other ethnic groups.[27]
As of 1999, 77.5% of the population of the county was Uyghur and 22.31% of the population was Han Chinese.[28]
The proportion of nationalities in Qiemo (Qarqan) County, 2018
^From map: "The representation of international boundaries is not necessarily authoritative."
References
^ ab且末县历史沿革 [Ruoqiang County Historical Development] (in Simplified Chinese). XZQH.org. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2019. 2003年，且末县总面积138680平方千米，{...}2010年第六次人口普查，且末县常住总人口65572人，其中：且末镇18893人，阿热勒乡2304人，琼库勒乡5455人，托格拉克勒克乡8011人，巴格艾日克乡4235人，英吾斯塘乡6233人，阿克提坎墩乡4081人，阔什萨特玛乡2982人，塔提让乡4226人，阿羌乡2064人，库拉木勒克乡2008人，奥依亚依拉克乡1853人，兵团农二师且末工程支队1715人，兵团三十八团1512人。 2013年1月9日，自治区政府（新政函[2013]8号）批复同意撤销奥依亚依拉克乡，设立奥依亚依拉克镇。2014年10月20日，自治区政府（新政函[2014]178号）批复同意撤销塔提让乡，设立塔提让镇，并将县直辖的26848平方公里划归塔提让镇管辖。调整后，全县辖3个镇、9个乡：且末镇、奥依亚依拉克镇、塔提让镇、阿热勒乡、琼库勒乡、托格拉克勒克乡、巴格艾日克乡、英吾斯塘乡、阿克提坎墩乡、阔什萨特玛乡、阿羌乡、库拉木勒克乡。
^Ivan Watson; Ben Westcott (21 January 2019). "Uyghur refugee tells of death and fear inside China's Xinjiang camps". CNN. Retrieved 8 April 2020. In April 2017, while in her parents' home county of Qarqan, 1,184 kilometers (735 miles) away from Urumqi, she says she was taken away from her two remaining children and placed in detention by Chinese authorities.
^Weishu Original text: 真君三年，鄯善王比龍避沮渠安周之難，率國人之半奔且末，後役屬鄯善。 Translation: In the third year of Zhenjun, the Loulan king Bilong, so as to avoid troubles from Juqu Anzhou, led half his countrymen and fled to Qiemo, which later controlled Shanshan.
^Da Tang Xiyu Ji Original text: 从此东行六百余里至折摩驮那故国。即涅末地也。城郭岿然人烟断绝。复此东北行千余里至纳缚波故国。即楼兰地也。
^3-7 各地、州、市、县(市)分民族人口数 (in Simplified Chinese). شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى新疆维吾尔自治区统计局 Statistic Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
^3-7 各地、州、市、县(市)分民族人口数 [3-7 Population by Nationality by Prefecture, State, City and County (City)]. tjj.xinjiang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Statistical Bureau of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 2020-06-10. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
Giles, Lionel (1930–1932). "A Chinese Geographical Text of the Ninth Century." BSOS VI, pp. 825–846.
Hill, John E. (2015). Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. Second Edition. Vols. I-II. CreateSpace. North Charleston, South Carolina.
.png)
![Map including Qiemo (labeled as QIEMO (CH'IEH-MO)) and surrounding region (DMA, 1980)[b]](/en/File:Operational_Navigation_Chart_G-7,_6th_edition.jpg)
