Research of the Silk Road by GISbased Historical Studies, is a recent important approach to studies of the Silk Road. Exemplified with the ancient Gaochang, the present study hopes to remind the geographic information in different historical phases recorded in different documents and relevant summary and synthesis made by the predecessors with the help of unearthed documents based on different historical stages of Gaochang. And with the supplementation of newlyunearthed materials, the study will present the rich implications of geographic information in different historical phases and point out the limitations of relevant opinions and documents. By combining the predecessors’ results, archeological investigation and material exploration based on the abovementioned, it systematically combs the geographic information of the main towns and cities in Gaochang from the times of the Gaochang Prefecture to Qoo the Uigur state of Xizhou(西州) up till the present, hoping to provide another important basis for the system of geographic of the Silk Road with the help of unearthed documents in addition to traditional historical works and explorers’ recordings.

ancient Gaochang; Turpan; the system of prefectures and counties; the system in district and township; the Silk Road