Kizilgaha Beacon Tower

The Kizilgaha Beacon Tower stands beside the Salt Water Valley on the southern slope of the Quelitag Mountain, 12 kilometres northwest of downtown Kuqa. This towering ancient military structure has endured more than 2,000 years of wind and rain and still stands firm today.

The beacon tower was first built during the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, shortly after the Western Regions Protectorate moved its seat to Wulei. It was an important military installation of the Han Dynasty. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court dispatched troops to station in Kucha to open up wasteland and guard the frontier, incorporating Kucha into the territory of the central government. In the second year of the Shenjue reign of Emperor Xuan (60 BC), the Han court established the Western Regions Protectorate with its administrative centre at Wulei City (present-day Cedayar northeast of Luntai County). From then on, Kucha came under the formal administration of the Central Plains dynasty. Archaeologists once unearthed a seal inscribed with "Seal of Lord Chang" in the desert west of Kuqa. Lord Chang referred to Chang Hui, an outstanding Protector of the Western Regions in the Western Han Dynasty. To safeguard commercial and military transportation routes, the Western Han central government constructed numerous beacon towers along the Silk Road. Many ruins have been found along the route from Yanqi to Kuqa on the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, among which Kizilgaha Beacon Tower is one of the best-preserved examples.

The beacon tower is rectangular in plan, tapering upward from a broad base into a trapezoid. Its remaining height reaches 16 metres. The main body was built of rammed earth with compacted layers of roughly 15 centimetres each. The base is 6 metres long from east to west and 4.5 metres wide from north to south. Wooden posts formed the framework of the upper section with one-metre vertical spacing between layers, and the top was laid with adobe bricks. A watchtower was erected on the summit, with remnants of wooden railings still visible. Long-term weathering has created a large hollow groove on the upper part. Collapsed ruins to the north mark the original stairway leading up to the top of the tower.

According to Uyghur folklore, this tall tower was built by an ancient king as a residence for his daughter. The name Kizilgaha derives from the Uyghur language: Kiz means maiden, and gaha means dwelling. Legend has it that right after the princess was born, a sorcerer foretold she would be stung to death by a scorpion. Terrified of losing his daughter, the king asked his ministers for a solution. One minister suggested building a high tower for the princess to live in. Soon a towering structure rose beside the Salt Water Valley road leading to the Kizilgaha Caves. The princess moved from the palace into the tower, yet she could not escape her fate. A scorpion crawled out of an apple bestowed by the king and stung her fatally.

The practice of sending military signals with beacon fire dates back more than 3,000 years to the Shang Dynasty. In ancient times, deliveries by carriage were called zang, while horseback couriers were known as yi. Beacon signalling was well established in the Zhou Dynasty. The law stipulated that once the emperor lit beacons, regional nobles must march troops immediately to fend off invaders. Historical records note that flames lit at night were called feng, and smoke raised in daytime was called sui. To make the smoke rise straight upward without dispersion, people burned wolf dung instead of ordinary firewood, hence the alternative name "wolf smoke". A strict signalling code was enforced: one plume of fire or smoke indicated an enemy force of 500 soldiers, while two plumes signalled more than 500 troops. Horse couriers, carriage messengers and beacon signals worked in tandem, and this system remained in use until the Qing Dynasty.

The beacon tower was managed by a petty officer named the Beacon Chief, who led a squad to keep watch day and night and relay military orders. The chief had to obtain higher approval before taking leave due to illness.

Beacon towers were spaced every ten li, forming an uninterrupted chain stretching for thousands of li. Messages could travel thousands of li from one tower to the next within a single day, even faster than modern trains and automobiles.

First erected in the Han Dynasty, Kizilgaha Beacon Tower remained in service through the Wei and Jin dynasties. To the east, it linked with the Layisu Beacon Tower in Luntai (within the territory of the Western Regions Protectorate), the Peacock River beacon group and the Lop Nur beacon sites, extending all the way west to Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass in Dunhuang, and finally reaching Chang’an City. In 2000, the State Council designated Kizilgaha Beacon Tower as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.