Karez of Turpan
Turpan Kanerjing · Turpan Qanat System · Turpan Karez
Han dynasty 142 BCE to Qing·Han, Uyghur, Hui oasis communities·🇨🇳 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Turpan Depression, China
About
About Karez of Turpan
Underground qanat-karez system at Turpan Depression (-30 m to +150 m elevation gradient) covering 5,000 km of tunnels with 1,100 karez lines feeding Turpan oasis from Tian Shan snowmelt: the longest continuous qanat province globally at 40 N, predating and exceeding Persian Zarch and Gonabad by scale. Turpan karez are 10-30 m deep vertical shafts every 20-30 m linking to 2-m high horizontal galleries by tunnelling past buried alluvial fans, dated to 142 BCE (Han Yangling era) per Han shu reference to Turfan wells and OSL on spoil heaps 200 CE.
The depression's -30 m sump allows gravity flow without lifting over 10 km from Tian Shan piedmont. Unlike Persian single-strand qanats, Turpan lines form dendritic fans converging to open kanerjing ponds, supporting the famed Turpan grape monoculture and 3,000 unga of oasis vineyard. UNESCO tentative since 2002.
Why it mattersLongest continuous karez province globally (5,000 km) and only gravity system feeding a -30 m depression vineyard oasis; UNESCO tentative.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01142 BCE vs 200 CE OSL basal age debate
Theories
- 01Han import vs indigenous Tocharian invention
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.142 BCE to 19th c. CE with peak Song-Yuan
- Period
- Han dynasty 142 BCE to Qing
- Culture
- Han, Uyghur, Hui oasis communities
- Builders
- Turpan oasis tunnel engineers (kanerjingshi)
- Purpose
- Gravity groundwater capture for vineyard irrigation in -30 m depression
- Abandoned
- Continuous use - 1,100 lines still active
- Rediscovered
- 1845 Lin Zexu exile study; UNESCO tentative 2002
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
142 BCE
Han shu reference to Turfan karez
200 CE
OSL on earliest spoil heap
2002
UNESCO tentative nomination 1474
On the ground
Structures & features
42.9600° N · 89.1600° E · -30 m · 2 mapped features
Grape Valley Kanerjing Fan
hydraulicDendritic karez fan converging to open pond feeding vineyards
42.9580° N · 89.1620° EVertical Shaft Line Kz-412
earthwork30-m deep shaft line with spoil heaps dated 200 CE OSL
42.9620° N · 89.1580° E
Gallery