Xinjiang Tarim River | A dreamlike feeling

In the southern part of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, and to the north and west of the Kunlun Mountains and the Altun Mountains, there is a vast area, geographically known as the Tarim Basin, with an area of 530,000 square kilometers, which is the largest inland basin in China. In the northern part of this basin, there is a river more than 2000 kilometers long, called the Tarim River, which is the longest inland river in China. "Ah--Tarim River, the river of my hometown; Tarim River, the river of my mother..." The Tarim River is the largest inland river in China, the mother river of the people of all ethnic groups in southern Xinjiang, and a dissipative river that does not produce surface runoff and relies entirely on source flow replenishment. The main stream of the Tarim River runs from Alar in Aksu region to Taitema Lake in Bazhou, with a total length of 1321 kilometers. With Yingbazha and Chala as the boundary points, people divide the Tarim River into upper, middle and lower reaches. The Tarim Basin is a concept of modern geography, and its name is taken from the great river that traverses this basin--the Tarim River. From the records of ancient documents, the word "Tarim" was first a river name and a small place name near Kucha. In various Chinese classics before the 6th century AD, the word "river" was used to refer to the Tarim River. The ethnic groups living here during this period must have had their own names for this river, but there are no written records to check. The "Wei Shu" written in the middle of the 6th century AD officially named this river "Jishu Water", and the Tang "Ce Fu Yuan Gui" called it "Ji Shu Water". Western Region history expert Li Yinping believes that Jishu and Jishu should be different Chinese translations of the languages of other ethnic groups in this region at that time. In the "Turkic Dictionary" written in the 1070s of the 11th century, the word "Tarim" appeared, which is the earliest record we can see. Since the word "Tarim" appeared in Chinese classics, people have made different interpretations of the meaning of "Tarim". Some believe it is Uighur, meaning "horse without reins"; some believe it is "arable land" or "suitable for farming"; some believe it is the transliteration of Mongolian "Tenggeri" and ancient Hun "Chengli", the original meaning is "heaven" or "god", the extended meaning is "sage", "bright", "precious", "treasure". These confusing statements make people feel at a loss. Those who understand Uighur believe that in Uighur, "horse without reins" is not called "Tarim", and the Uighur word for "arable land" is "Te Ri Mu", which is clearly different from "Tarim". As for saying that "Tarim" is the transliteration of "Tenggeri" and "Chengli", it is also too far-fetched. The "Turkic Dictionary" Annotation for Tarim is: "Branches of river water entering lakes and deserts (tributaries)." At the same time, the following annotation was made for this entry: "A place next to Kucha on the border of Huihe, also known as 'Usme·Tarim'. The river flowing there is also called Tarim." "Tarim" is after all an ancient term with a history of nearly a thousand years, and it is a transliteration from the languages of other ethnic groups in ancient Xinjiang. It seems that to clarify its etymology and true meaning, further research by linguists is needed. The Tarim River Basin is one of the driest and most fragile ecological environments in China. It is the general term for the 9 major water systems and 144 rivers of the Hotan River, Yarkant River, Kashgar River, Aksu River, Kaidu River-Peacock River, etc. around the Tarim Basin. The average annual runoff of the basin is 39.83 billion cubic meters, the total area of the basin is 1.02 million square kilometers, and it provides nourishing water sources for 1.3626 million hectares of cultivated land and more than 8.7 million people of all ethnic groups in the five prefectures of southern Xinjiang. In history, the 9 major water systems in the Tarim River Basin all had water flowing into the main stream. However, since the 1940s, the Kashgar River, Kaidu River and Peacock River, and Weigan River have gradually separated from the flow. After 1976, the Peacock River could only supply 200 million cubic meters of agricultural production water to the downstream area of the Tarim River every year through the lift station from Bosten Lake. Since 1985, the Yarkant River has no water supply to the Tarim River.