Qing dynasty Suiding () was built in 1762 during the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor after the
Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas was pacified. From 1762 to 1765 Suiding was the seat of the Governor General of
Xinjiang, the
General of Ili. In 1765 the General of Ili moved to the larger fortress of
Huiyuan (). Huiyuan suffered severe damage during the
Dungan Revolt of 1862–77 when the besieged General of Ili,
Mingsioi, blew himself up in his palace rather than surrender to the rebels, and during the Russian occupation that followed between 1871-81. The Russians left pursuant to the 1881
Treaty of Saint Petersburg. From 1882 to 1894 the General of Ili resided at Suiding, while a new Huiyuan fortress was being rebuilt. In 1888 Suiding County (now
Huocheng County and
Khorgas) was established. Suiding was the county seat. The town's name was commonly transcribed in the West as
Suidun. The 1911
Encyclopædia Britannica described "Suidun" as "a
military town, with provision stores, an arsenal and an arms workshop. Its walls are armed with steel guns." Unlike the city of
Yining, originally known as Ningyuan (), which has always remained the commercial center of the region, the 19th century Huiyuan/Suiding was mostly a fortress and an administrative town. It was known to the Russians as the
New Kuldja,
Chinese Kuldja, or
Manchu Kuldja, to distinguish it from
Yining (the
Old Kuldja or the
Taranchi Kuldja). This usage is no longer current.
People's Republic With the creation of the Ili Prefecture () in 1950, the then existing
Suiding County was included into the Area, as was the neighboring
Huocheng County; in 1955, the Ili Special Area became
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. In 1965, the name Suiding () was replaced with more politically correct Shuiding (), with 'shui' ('water') replacing 'sui' ("to pacify"). The next year (1966), Shuiding County was merged into Huocheng County, and the Huocheng County county seat was transferred to Shuiding town.
Modern period The original Huiyuan site is now a separate town of
Huiyuan () within the same
Huocheng County as Shuiding. Huiyuan's population was reported as 20,564 by the Year 2000 Census. Some of the Qing period buildings, including a bell tower and a "Governor General's Pavilion", have been rebuilt at the Huiyuan site as a tourist attraction, often referred to as the "Huiyuan Old Town" (). == Further reading ==