No 1200 (Upekha dịch)

Rare ancient monastery moat discovered in Tibet
18 Hours,7 minutes Ago

Lhasa, Oct 25,2006. Chinese archaeologists have discovered a 700-year-old moat surrounding a monastery in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

"The unearthed part of the moat whirled its way about every five metres in a square, a shape rarely found in history both at home and abroad," said Zhang Jianlin, deputy director of the Shaanxi Archeology and Research Institute.

The excavated section of the river way is 8.8 metres deep, 6 metres and 3.3 metres wide on its upside and downside respectively, said Zhang, in-charge of the excavation work. The moat is 17 metres away from the Sagya Monastery in Sagya county, Xigaze city in the southern part of Tibet. The monastery was built in the 13th century when the county was a political and religious centre for the region.

"This kind of moat was recorded in the local historical data and I also heard about it from the elders," said Bandian Toinyu, director with the management committee of the monastery.

"But I have never seen such a moat before."

The whirling moat looked beautiful and might be helpful for defence in wartime, according to Bandian Toinyu.

The Sagya Monastery covers an area of 14,700 square metres. The restoration work on the monastery started in 2002 at a cost of 86 million yuan ($10 million) and is expected to be complete by 2006.

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