Gushi culture

The Gushi (Chinese: 姑師文化; pinyin: Gūshī wénhuà), later known as the Jushi (Chinese: 車師文化; pinyin: Jūshī wénhuà) were a people who pursued a nomadic pastoralist way of life during the 1st millenium BCE in the Turpan basin, including the area of Ayding Lake, in the eastern Tian Shan range. The area later became part of the Xinjiang region of China.

Contemporary Chinese sources suggest that the Gushi were Caucasoid in appearance. They may have been one of the so-called and spoken one of the associated .

During the late 2nd Century BCE and early 1st Century BCE, the area was increasingly dominated by the Han Dynasty and the northern neighbours of the Gushi, the Xiongnu.

According to J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair, the earliest accounts of the Gushi report them to have "lived in tents, followed the grasses and waters, and had considerable knowledge of agriculture. They owned cattle, horses, camels, sheep and goats. They were proficient with bows and arrows".

The Gushi and the kingdom of Kröran were linked in the account of Zhang Qian (d. 113 BCE), in part because both were under the control of the Xiongnu.

In or about 60 BCE, the Han defeated Xiongnu forces at the Battle of Jushi (which was part of the Han-Xiongnu War). Afterwards the Gushi lands were divided, in effect, into two states: a southern area controlled by the Han, who referred to it as “Nearer Jushi” (or "Anterior Jushi") and a northern area (known to the Han as “Further Jushi" or "Posterior Jushi") was dominated by the Xiongnu. “Nearer Jushi” was administered by the Han from a capital at Jiaohe (16 kilometres west of the site of modern Turpan). The capital of "Further Jushi" appears to have been called Yuli or Yulai, and was located about 10 km north of Jimasa, 200 km north of Jiaohe. The Gushi never regained their independence.

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