Shāzhōu

Shazhou, the old name of Dunhuang, occupies an oasis at the western end of the Hexi Corridor. Here the roads across Central Asia converged before entering the long passage eastward through Gansu. Water from the Dang River sustained fields amid the desert, and merchants, pilgrims and envoys passed through the oasis. Southeast of the town, the Mogao Caves were cut into a long cliff above the Daquan River. Their painted walls and sculpted Buddhas bear witness to centuries of artistic exchange across Asia.

Under the Yuan, Shazhou became the seat of a circuit, but in 1292 inhabitants of Shazhou and Guazhou were moved eastward toward Ganzhou. The Ming later established Shazhou Garrison, whose people were moved east in the fifteenth century amid struggles over the frontier. As control of the lands beyond Jiayuguan changed hands, the old city declined. The caves, decorated and maintained over many dynasties through the Yuan, remained a record of the oasis's earlier wealth and religious life.

In the 1720s the Qing established a post and then a garrison at Shazhou, and a new walled settlement arose east of the old town. Settlers from elsewhere in Gansu cultivated the oasis and contributed to the repair of its Buddhist caves. In 1760 the garrison became Dunhuang County, reviving a name from the town's ancient past.