from
Du Halde's 1736
Description of China, based on reports from
Jesuit missionaries Zhangye lies in the centre of the
Hexi Corridor. The area is on the frontier of
China proper, protecting it from the nomads of the northwest and permitting its armies access to the
Tarim Basin. During the
Western Han dynasty, Han armies were often engaged against the
Xiongnu in this area. It was also an important outpost on the
Silk Road. Before being over-run by the
Mongols, it was dominated by the
Western Xia dynasty, and before by the
Uyghurs from at least the early 10th century. Its relation to the larger Uyghur state of
Qocho is obscure, but it may have been a vassal. The
Yuan dynasty founding emperor
Kublai is said to have been born in the
Dafo Temple, Zhangye, now the site of the longest wooden
reclining Buddha in China.
Marco Polo's journal states that he spent a year in the town during his journey to China. The pine forests of the
Babao Mountains (part of the
Qilian range) formerly regulated the flow of the
Ruo or Hei Shui, Ganzhou's primary river. By ensuring that the melt-waters lasted throughout the summer, they avoided both early flood and later drought for the valley's farmers. Despite recommendations that they should thus be protected in perpetuity, a
Qing dynasty imperial official in charge of erecting the
poles for China's
telegraph network ordered them cleared in the 1880s. Almost immediately, the region became prone to flooding in the summer and draught in the autumn, arousing local resentment.
Christian missionaries arrived in 1879, after
Suzhou (modern-day Jiuquan) was found to be too hostile for their settlement. ==Administration==