A seminar outlining the progress that has been made in locating the historic Protectorate of the Western Regions was held in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region's Luntai county from Friday to Sunday, chinanews.com reported on Monday.
Experts from research institutions including Peking University, the National Museum of China and the Xinjiang Institution of Archaeology attended the seminar.
The Protectorate of the Western Regions was an imperial administration during the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 220) that oversaw what China called the "Western Regions," an area comprised of vassal states in what is now Xinjiang.
In either 59BC or 60BC, Han Dynasty General Zheng Ji established the Protectorate's headquarters in what is today Wulei, Xinjiang. At the time, it was the largest military base under control of the central imperial government.
During his time there, Zheng served as the Protectorate's Protector-General, the highest Han military officer in the region.
"Since the Qing Dynasty [1644-1911], scholars have carried out considerable research in order to pin down the location of the Protectorate of the Western Regions," Chen Ling, a professor at Peking University's School of Archaeology and Museology, told the Global Times, noting that the use of modern technology such as remote sensing equipment, has enabled archeologists to more accurately determine the possible location of the Protectorate's headquarters.
