- It was not until the early 20th century that the British explorer Aurel Stein and others excavated wooden slips and sheepskin documents written in Kharosthi—a script used in Gandhara, an ancient region covering present-day northwest Pakistan and southeast Afghanistan—and Chinese at the Niya Ruins, and both mentioned “Jingjue.”
- Archaeological findings confirm that during the Qin and Han dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 220), the Niya River had abundant water that not only reached the Jingjue area but also sustained lush forests.
- The discovery and archaeological studies of Jingjue not only reveal the brief rise and fall of a small city-state in the Western Regions but also profoundly remind us that Xinjiang has been, since ancient times, a place of multiethnic coexistence and cultural convergence, maintaining close political, economic and cultural ties with the Central Plains.
How did the ancient Jingjue Kingdom disappear?
