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Shuiding (Chinese: 水定镇; pinyin: Shuǐdìng Zhèn), formerly Suiding (Chinese: 绥定; pinyin: Suídìng) is a town in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China and the county seat of Huocheng County. It is located some 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the northwest of Yining, the main city of the prefecture, and some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the Ili River.
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Map of Shuidingzhen, Huocheng, Ili, Xinjiang, China
As of the 200 census, Shuiding had a population of 29,277.
Qing dynasty
The origins of Shuiding are tied to a site on the northern bank of the Ili River, some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the south of the town's current location. It was there in 1762 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor and at the time of one of the rebellions of the local Muslim population that the fortress of Huiyuan (惠远城; Huìyuǎn Chéng) was built as the center of the Chinese military power and civilian administration in Xinjiang. It was the seat of the Governor General of the region, the General of Ili.
Huiyuan suffered severe damage during the Dungan Revolt of 1862-77 when the besieged General of Ili, Mingsioi, blew himself up in his palace rather than surrender to the rebels. The fort fell into disuse during the Russian occupation that followed between 1871-81. The Russians left pursuant to the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, and two years later, in 1883 the fortress and the military-administrative town that accompanied it were rebuilt at Shuiding's present location, several miles north of the river. The town's then name, Suiding (绥定城; Suídìng Chéng), was commonly transcribed in the West as Suidun. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica described "Suidun" as "a military town, with provision stores, an arsenal and an arms workshop. Its walls are armed with steel guns."
Until 1898, Suiding remained the residence of the General of Ili; during the later days of the Qing Empire, he remained only in charge of the local banner troops and the nomadic tribes in the area. After the Xinhai Revolution, the post was abolished.
Unlike the city of Yining, originally known as Ningyuan (宁远城; Níngyuǎn Chéng), which has always remained the commercial center of the region, the 19th century Huiyuan/Suiding was mostly a fortress and an administrative town. It was known to the Russians as the New Kuldja, Chinese Kuldja, or Manchu Kuldja, to distinguish it from Yining (the Old Kuldja or the Taranchi Kuldja). This usage is no longer current.
People's Republic
With the creation of the Ili Special Area (Chinese: 伊犁专区; pinyin: Yīlí Zhuānqū) in 1950, the then existing Suiding County was included into the Area, as was the neighboring Huocheng County; in 1955, the Ili Special Area became Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. In 1965, the name Suiding (Chinese: 绥定; pinyin: Suídìng) was replaced with more politically correct Shuiding (Chinese: 水定; pinyin: Shuǐdìng), with 'shui' ('water') replacing 'sui' ("to pacify"). The next year (1966), Shuiding County was merged into Huocheng County, and the Huocheng County county seat was transferred to Shuiding town.
Present
The original Huiyuan site is now a separate town of Huiyuan (Chinese: 惠远镇; pinyin: Huìyuǎn Zhèn) within the same Huocheng County as Shuiding. Huiyuan's population was reported as 20,564 by the Year 2000 Census.
Some of the Qing period buildings, including a bell tower and a "Governor General's Pavilion", have been rebuilt at the Huiyuan site as a tourist attraction, often referred to as the "Huiyuan Old Town" (Chinese: 惠远古城; pinyin: Huìyuǎn Gǔchéng).