When the tall Qilian Mountains gradually disappeared into the wilderness, the Hexi Corridor also quickly lost vitality and color, more and more open to the field of vision, but let people more and more tired.
Suddenly, a golden sand dunes take over the black mountains to the far stretch, under the sand dunes green, we know, Dunhuang to.
Dunhuang (Photo: Lone City)
Dunhuang, also known as Sand Island in ancient times, the name is very appropriate, it is indeed like a boat stranded on the sea of sand in the vast, waiting for discovery, to be written, and waiting to start an extraordinary voyage.
In 121 BC, this long wait was finally answered. In the spring of this year, the Xiongnu people who lost the battle in the Western Corridor hastily withdrew to the west, and the spirited Huo Zaiwei chased them all the way to Dunhuang before stopping his horse.
This is the sign of the Han Dynasty's full-scale counterattack against the Xiongnu, and the beginning of the legendary voyage of this sandy oasis. Ten years later, it was given a meaningful name - Grand Splendor, which is Dunhuang.
Location of Dunhuang (Photo by Lone City)
After expelling the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to rapidly re-establish the ruling order of the Western Corridor by building the Great Wall, setting up passes, deploying troops, and immigrating people to reclaim the land....... When the wars had subsided and the people's hearts had settled a bit, Zhang Qian and his The mission set off from Chang'an again in great numbers.
This is the second time that Zhang Qian traveled to the West as an envoy, and this time he brought with him the majesty of the Han Dynasty and conveyed the will of peace and commerce with generous gifts.
A trade route through the Hexi Corridor connecting the Western Regions with the Central Plains began to take shape, and Dunhuang, which was both a bifurcation and an intersection point, came to life.
Three Roads to the West (Photo by Lone City)
The merchants and missions from the West entered the Hexi Corridor through Dunhuang with horses, jade and spices, and returned to Dunhuang laden with silk, tea and ceramics, and then stepped into the desert from Dunhuang.
The flourishing trade, so that Dunhuang's reputation spread far and wide, to the Eastern Han Dynasty here has been a "Hua Rong by the cross" metropolis.
Travelers in Dunhuang Mural (Mogao Grotto 296)
Of all the commodities exported to the West, silk was the hottest and most sought-after. When this brilliantly colored, smooth and soft fabric crossed the Pamir Plateau into West Asia and even the Mediterranean coast, it caused screams all the way.
One day in 47 BC, Caesar, the life-long dictator of the Roman **** and state, appeared in a newly refurbished theater, clad in a magnificent robe, and at once the attention of the entire audience was attracted by Caesar's radiant dress. The knowledgeable elders told everyone that it was silk, from the far east.
Silk, overnight became the new favorite of the Roman aristocracy, and even seen as a symbol of wealth and status. In the oral tradition of the Romans, silk is a material that grows from the tree, and this magical tree is only in a country called "Ceres" (meaning silk country) in the East.
The aristocracy went wild, and the price of silk skyrocketed. In Rome at the time, people had to pay 12 taels of gold for a pound of silk (1 pound 9 taels). The huge profits prompted waves of caravans to embark on the journey to the East, they came from different corners of the world, and eventually converged on Dunhuang.
Camel caravan in the desert (from photo)
Silk production in China did not reach the West until the mid-6th century, when the Western world's desire and need for silk could only be satisfied in China.
In addition to silk, Chinese tea and porcelain also became the world's most sought-after "hard currency". Profit-seeking merchants came to China one after another, they crossed the snowy mountains, through the desert, across the grasslands, floating across the sea, all the difficulties and dangers can not stop their footsteps. So a road between China and the world by generations of merchants stepped out, these trade routes are uniformly known as the Silk Road .
In ancient times, whether coming from the east or going west, starting out for Dunhuang was a very deliberate decision. Those who traveled west would leave the shelter and nourishment of the Qilian Mountains, and those who traveled east would bid farewell to a string of head-to-tail oases under the Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains.
So when people arrive at Dunhuang after all the hard work, it is inevitable to stop here for a few days to replenish the water and sustenance, for the next trip to make sufficient preparations.
Isolated Dunhuang (Photo by Lone City)
As more and more merchants and goods were stranded in Dunhuang, some simply stopped moving forward and started doing business in the bazaars of Dunhuang. As the transportation hub of the Silk Road, Dunhuang also further assumed the role of trade town.
Along with the trade, in addition to a wide variety of goods, there are different religions, languages, music, dance, painting, sculpture and production technology, Dunhuang has become the East and West civilizations collide and blend, harmonious **** birth of the happy land.
Skillful painters to the life of the year in the form of Buddhist stories depicted on the walls of the Dunhuang Grottoes. Today, through the colorful murals, we can still feel the prosperity of that distant era.
Hu Xuan Dance (Cave 220, Mogao Grottoes)
In March 1986, Ji Xianlin, a master of the national academy, published a paper on "Dunhuang Tulufan Studies" in Red Flag Magazine. In the paper, he wrote, "There are only four cultural systems in the world with a long history, vast territory, self-contained system, and far-reaching influence: China, India, Greece, and Islam, and there is no fifth, and there is only one place where these four cultural systems converge, that is, the Dunhuang and Xinjiang regions of China, and there is no second one."
Mr. Ji's conclusion has since become a quote that has been quoted over and over again when people talk about Dunhuang, and Dunhuang's historical position as the center of the convergence of the four major civilizations has been universally accepted. However, it is only when you have been there yourself that you can truly understand what a resilient and fragile cultural center it is.
The Dunhuang Oasis (Photo Lone City)
Despite its reputation, Dunhuang remains essentially a small oasis surrounded by the Gobi Desert, with no outward expansion.
The annual precipitation here is less than 50 millimeters, but the evaporation is more than 2,500 millimeters, one of the most arid zones in China.
It is in places like this that Dunhuang, relying on the Dang River, which does not have a large runoff, has traveled for thousands of years.
Dunhuang's ecosystem (Photo by Lone City)
The Dang River, which originates in the Qilian Mountains, was originally the first major tributary of the Shule River, and the place where the two rivers converge used to be the 70-square-meter Lake Haranor.
However, from the mid to late Qing Dynasty, people reclaimed wetlands on a large scale, diverting water for irrigation, the water volume of the Party River decreased dramatically. In the 1970s, people also built a dam on the west side of the Mingsha Mountain to store water, and the lower reaches of the Dang River were basically cut off. The Shule River is in the same situation as the Party River, which led directly to the complete drying up of Lake Halanol ......
The Shule River outside the Yumen Pass (Photo by Lone City)
In ancient times, the Party River and the Shule River filled Lake Halanol and then spilled over to the west. and eventually into Lop Nor.
Such as the sea as wide as Lop Nur, when the lake is full, the achievement of the mysterious Loulan ancient country. But its rate of depletion must also be in the overnight, Loulan will be annihilated again without a word so dry.
We drove through the Gobi in Dunhuang, the roadside signs often jumped out of the "South Lake", "West Lake", you can imagine that this thirsty land must have been lakes and marshes in the sky, rippling water.
I was wide-eyed, thinking that there would be a lake immediately. However, after waiting for a long time, I waited for a row of large banners: Don't let Dunhuang become the second Loulan!
In Dunhuang's Mingshan Road, a look up can be seen such as porcelain molding like polished hard huge sand dunes lying at the end of the road, eyeing the foot of this oasis.
The strong west wind wrapped with Kumutag yellow sand all the way to the east, until it meets the three dangerous mountains and the black stone peaks of the obstacles, the sand only a grain of precipitation down, day after day, gathered to become a mountain, which is Dunhuang's landmark - Mingsha Mountain .
Dunhuang Mingshan Road (Photo Lone City)
Come to Dunhuang, you'll be amazed at how close the city and the desert can be, and how openly the people who live underneath the sandy mountains can be.
Nearly 800 square kilometers in circumference of the Mingsha Mountain is also seen only as a large playground, where the desert does not let a person fear, you can put down all the concerns, jump into the gentle sea of sand, wanton carnival.
Ming Sha Shan (Photo: Lone City)
Since ancient times, it has been rumored that Ming Sha Shan will emit a whimpering sound, which some people say is like the magnificent bells and drums playing in unison, and others say it is like the sound of horses and men on the battlefield. Unfortunately, we have used all the tricks of the trade in the mountain, just do not hear anything.
Walking in the desert, if it is flat, if the uphill is to go three back two, does not seem to be towering dunes can make people feel that probably want to climb to the end of the world.
Stepping on the blades to climb up (Photo Lone City)
The truly magical place of the Mingsha Mountain is also here, it is reasonable to say that every day there are tens of thousands of tourists stepping on the slopes of the sandy mountain to step on the sand, the quicksand continues to roll down, over the years, the sandy mountain will be pushed forward, and gradually shorter.
But Ming Sha Mountain but can not move, and "through the night blowing wind, always back as the old", every day can be as bright as the sharp edge of the ridgeline.
The ridgeline of the Mingsha Mountain (Photo Lone City)
In fact, the Mingsha Mountain isn't always stationary, but it's just that it's moving so slowly that it's hard to notice.
Geologists inferred after stratigraphic exploration that the expansion of the Mingsha Mountains had forced the Danghe River to divert to the north, and wonderfully, the sandy mountains engulfed the Danghe River's old course, leaving a small section out on purpose, which is now the Crescent Spring.
Lunar Spring (photo Lone City)
Although the Spring has been isolated from the Danghe River, the two are still closely linked through the underground water system, so the Danghe River's water level has dropped, which has also made the surface of the Spring shrink by half. In order to avoid a complete drying out of the spring, people now have to spend a lot of money every year to replenish its water through various means.
Many people like to sit on the ridge on the east side of the Mingsha Mountain, quietly waiting for the sun to set, to see the sun and the moon reflecting the moment. Year after year, the sun every day on time to go to the appointment, but if one day the crescent moon on the ground suddenly disappeared, this picture should be how sad ......
The crescent moon springs at sunset (Photo Lone City)
If the golden desert can be said to be approachable, then the real let a person chill is the black Gobi. The black Gobi is the most frightening.
Leave the city of Dunhuang, about 100 kilometers northwest of the car, unknowingly the earth has been a layer of black sand and gravel shrouded, continue to go forward in depth, there is a stretch of more than ten kilometers of the mysterious "ancient city", the city of the ancient fortresses, the streets are well, but there is not the slightest bit of life.
Devil City on the Black Gobi (Photo Lone City)
Wind erosion of the ancient fortress (Photo Lone City)
This piece of geologic landscape known as the "Devil City," in fact, is a kind of Yardan landforms (Photo Lone City).
This geological landscape, known as Devil City, is actually a Yardan landform, where the neatly aligned castles are actually sedimentary deposits from ancient lake basins or riverbeds.
Crustal movement of these solidification is not high degree of rock layers exposed to the surface, strong and persistent directional wind along the rock fissures continue to erode, and ultimately the formation of this and the wind direction is roughly parallel to the ridge-shaped mound.
Mechanisms of Yardang Landforms (Photo Lone City)
Where wind erosion is strong, there is also the formation of an isolated sculpture, which has a variety of shapes and forms, including birds and beasts, and even many of the world's most famous buildings.
The Sphinx (photo Lonely City)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (photo Lonely City)
When We are about to enter the core of the Devil's Town "city", the road in front of the sudden appearance of two huge "city gates", the narrator said, this door is called the hero door, because in the scenic area before the construction of the Devil's Town, the road is dangerous and unpredictable, to enter the door will mean Life and death is uncertain, can go in from the door, and successfully come out of the people are heroes.
"Hero Gate" (Photo Lone City)
The Black Gobi and Devil's Castle, this is a cold combination of ah, they categorically rejected all vitality, but also extremely intimidating to the pedestrians.
However, this area is the Silk Road west out of Yumen Pass , into the Turpan must pass through the place, how much courage to come up with the ancient merchants to resist this boundless depression.
Returning from the Devil's Castle, passing through the Yumen Pass again, only to truly realize what is the "spring wind not to Yumen Pass".
This in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty has been set up in the customs city, although it has long been annihilated invisible, but archaeologists are still with the Han Jane on the traces in the West Lake wetlands next to the small square disk city found a number of related remains.
Yumenguan Xiaofangpancheng (Photo: Lone City)
50 kilometers south from Yumenguan, is the slender South Lake oasis, the oasis on the west side of the antique beach, towering a broken beacon flint, scholars deduced that the flint is near the West out of the Yangguan no old man, the West out of the Yangguan no old man. " Yangguan.
Yangguan Beacon Flint (Photo Lone City)
In the Gobi Desert, guarding the water source, guarding the life channel. So whether it's Yangguan or Yumen Pass, they are guarding the most important water supply point west of Dunhuang.
In and out of Dunhuang merchants, post, messenger, whether it is to go to the northern foot of the Kunlun, or go to the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountain, must pass through the two passes. They not only guard the safety of the western gate of the Hexi Corridor, but also responsible for the passers-by to issue "passports". During the Han and Tang dynasties, these two majestic passes stood opposite each other in the wilderness and were once bustling with activity for hundreds of years.
However, all this prosperity came to an abrupt end in the middle of the eighth century.
The Tang dynasty broke out Anshi Rebellion, the emperor conscripted the garrison of the border back to the Central Plains of the King to quell the rebellion, the entire Northwest region of the defense of the empty, Tubo [bō] forces to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the Western Corridor from the hands of the Tang Dynasty slipped.
Yangguan and Yumen Pass, from now on began a long wait. They do not know why, from a certain day onwards, those sent out letters were never replied to, and there were no more camels and crowds on the distant horizon, and those women who could sing and dance, jingling jades, and fragrant wines all disappeared ......
And at this time, the soldiers far away from the pass, because of the The fall of the Hexi Corridor, cut off from the connection with the Central Plains, when they are hanging alone in the Western Region, waiting for assistance, but also only Yangguan and Yumen Pass in the pale yellow edge of the Kumutag Desert, quietly looking at them, is the last echo, but also the deepest despair.
Kumutag Desert (from Photo Gallery)
In 766 AD, the Tubo had already conquered Liangzhou, Ganzhou, and Suzhou (i.e. Wuwei, Zhangye, and Jiuquan), and Dunhuang (Shazhou) was reduced to an isolated city. After 20 years of hard work, the soldiers and civilians defending the city also ended up with no help from the outside and no food and equipment inside, and negotiated peace and surrender.
In 786, the west of the river and the Longyi area of the county has been captured by the Tubo, the Tubo commander in the occupied area of the mandatory implementation of the "tomato", requiring the Han people to speak the Tomato language, learning the Tomato customs, "left obeisance [rèn] and clothing, braided hair and texture body
However, high-pressure policy can not tame the people's hearts, Dunhuang in the fall, the state people, although the "Hu suit submissive," but every time to worship ancestors, are to "clothing China's clothes", eastward and worship. After bawling for a while, then take off the Chinese clothes and hide them secretly.
"The court still remembers it? The first time I've seen this, I've seen it in the past, and I've seen it in the present.
The vast ocean of thoughts eventually set off a huge wave in Dunhuang. In 848 AD, led by Zhang Zhichao, an insurgent army holding the banner of "return to the Great Tang" took advantage of the internal turmoil of the Tubo, recaptured Dunhuang, and then Dunhuang as a base camp, step by step, to recover the Hexi Corridor.
They call themselves "Return to righteousness army", with the idea of "character style, together with the mainland", to restore order, soothe the people, and sent ten messengers to Dunhuang restoration of the good news to the court. The first is to be a good example of this.
Zhang Zhichao's army travel map (Mogao Grottoes Cave 156)
In 851, Zhang Zhichao entrusted his brother to go to Chang'an and present the map of the eleven states of the river and the long to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty to re-establish the relationship with the Tang Dynasty.
However, the Tang dynasty was unable to regain its former glory, and although the Western Corridor was nominally returned to Tang, the emperor of the Central Plains was unable to provide practical support for the operation of the Western Corridor, and the army could only survive on its own, surrounded by powerful enemies.
From the time they drove out the Tubo in 848 to the time they were destroyed by the Xixia in 1036, the Dunhuang army never gave up trying to establish a connection with the center.
Cao Zhijin, the late leader of the army, in his official uniform (Cave 16, Yulin Cave)
Dunhuang, as a nodal city on the ancient Silk Road, seems to have been destined to flourish when the road was open, and to decline when the road was blocked.
The Song Dynasty, due to the West and the Central Plains between a Xixia , the Hexi Corridor is not good, the Maritime Silk Road gradually replaced the land-based Silk Road; when the territory of the boundless Mongol Empire came, the North and the rise of the Prairie Silk Road; and finally waited until it can be compared to Han and Tang When the Da Ming Dynasty finally came to power, the Chinese regime had basically lost interest in exploring the West, and the Jiajing Emperor even took the initiative to move the border eastward, closing the door at the Jiayuguan Pass, 300 kilometers away; Dunhuang was thus reduced to an abandoned city ......
Jiayuguan Pass
Jiayuguan Pass
The western border of the mid- to late-Ming Dynasty was the most important part of the Ming Dynasty. The Western Border in the Mid- to Late Ming Dynasty (Photo Lone City)
The unguarded Yangguan and Yumen Passes both collapsed one after the other. When they fell to the earth, no one saw the process, no one knew whether it happened during the day or at night, no one heard the sound of the gravel blowing away with the wind, no one knew which way the wind was blowing that day.
All the chapters were sealed in the cliffs of the eastern foot of the Mingsha Mountain, and when they are once again known to the world, push open the prologue is an unforgettable past.
Mention of Dunhuang, many people will immediately think of Mogao Grottoes , and the mention of Mogao Grottoes can not help but talk about the sad history.
From 366 years, Le Taru monk chiseled the first break up the yellow earth, to 1897, Wang Yuandu Taoist priest Mogao Grottoes, 1600 years, Mogao Grottoes rise and fall has always been synchronized with Dunhuang.
The turnaround occurred on June 22, 1900 (May 26, 26th, Guangxu), the night of which was sweeping the quicksand of Taoist priest Wang inadvertently through a crack in the wall of the cave, opened a secret cave filled with scrolls.
Writing Scriptures in the Cave of Sutras
Wang Daoshi, who was not very knowledgeable, probably had no way of knowing what value these ancient books, which had been sealed for nearly 900 years, had, but he still felt that this was a big thing he could not handle. So, he first invited the local gentry for advice, and then walked all the way to Dunhuang County Yamen to report to the magistrate, and finally drove a donkey more than 800 miles to Suzhou to see the Taoist great man.
Wang Daoshi, helpless to the distant capital of the Empress Dowager Cixi wrote a letter, holding the last ray of hope, waiting.
The controversial Taoist monk Wang Yuandu
How does he know that at the moment he pushed down the secret door of the Cave of Sutras, the Eight-Power Allied Forces were assembling in Tianjin, ready to attack Beijing; two months later, Cixi will be dressed up as a peasant woman and fled to Shanxi; a year later, Li Hongzhang will be signed in the Treaty of Simchung; and the power to take the reins of power is not only a matter of time, but also of the future. The Empress Dowager, who has regained power, will also shout on the imperial edict of guilt: "Measure the material strength of China, and make a happy relationship with the country."......
For seven years, no one paid any attention to the secrets submitted by Wang Taoist, and faced with the cultural treasures in the cave of the scriptures, Wang Yuan-tu must have felt a sense of isolation and helplessness. Wang Yuandu also must have felt an indescribable heaviness and confusion.
But after all, he has done everything that an ordinary person can do, and in the face of the three dangerous mountain under the abbot's tower, he can feel a little peace of mind.
The Monk's Pagoda at the foot of Three Dangerous Mountains (Photo Lonely City)
The news of the ancient scriptures at Dunhuang had already spread, and the small number of volumes that Wang Daoshi had dispersed in order to raise funds to send them with him for sale began to circulate in the community.
In 1907, the British Stein followed the clues to the Mogao Caves, and the following year, the French Burghier and entered the cave of the hidden scriptures. One after another, a large number of Mogao Grottoes scriptures and cultural relics were coaxed and cheated to roll away at a very low price. In addition, the U.S., Japan and Russia's expedition also wind to ......
Paul Birch and in the Cave of Tibetan scriptures to rummage through the scrolls
More than 40,000 pieces of the Cave of Tibetan scriptures, a large number of exquisite statues, and even the wall murals are these so-called explorers cut down and packed into boxes and pulled away in horse-drawn carriages with a great deal of strutting.
For the Mogao Grottoes, this is undoubtedly a miserable plunder, and for the whole of China at that time, this is just the most peaceful and least noticeable one of the countless plunder.
Tang statue stolen by American Landon Wahlner
Because the artifacts were lost in the hands of Wang Daoshi, he naturally had to take the blame for it. But, in an era when entire nations are expected to be slavishly beholden to the West, what nerve do we have to pour out our anger at him?
We can only hate the time of poverty and weakness, and we can only turn this hate into internal strength, so that our country and nation will not suffer the same humiliation.
Dunhuang, since the Han Dynasty, has become a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural ****rong **** birth of the front line, began to cut in the Wei and Jin Dynasties Dunhuang Grottoes is adhering to the spirit of openness and tolerance.
From the princes and dignitaries to the common people, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of class, can become a grotto excavator and provider, so the content of the grottoes are also all-encompassing.
Siddhartha Gautama's Nirvana (Mogao Caves Cave 158)
In addition to the aesthetic and religious value of the grottoes and murals, but also encompasses different periods of politics, military, diplomacy, songs and dances, acrobatics, cultivation, hunting, business, traveling and other historical events and scenes of life. The vast Dunhuang books cover a wider range and are more informative.
These invaluable historical legacies are the most rare and reliable first-hand information for the study of history, religion, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and the history of literature, art, science and technology, and ethnicity in the Middle Ages in China and throughout Eurasia.
Musical Dance Bouncing Pipa (Mogao Grottoes 112)
In fact, Dunhuang is not only the Mogao Grottoes, there are also the West Thousand Buddha Caves, East Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Grottoes and the five temple grottoes, most of which are located in remote areas, it is not easy to get to, so from the late Ming Dynasty, it is basically in the lack of people to ask for, the state of their own life.
Until the Mogao Grottoes Cave artifacts in the West caused a sensation, the scholars in Beijing only as an afterthought to cast their eyes on this long-forgotten land.
In 1944, the national government set up the Dunhuang Art Institute at the behest of all sectors of society, and for the first time, the Dunhuang caves were placed under the umbrella of a national institution. By now, tens of thousands of Dunhuang relics have been in exile for more than 30 years, and scholars from all over the world have been researching and exploring Dunhuang culture for a long time.
Of course, the theft of cultural heritage is heartbreaking, but perhaps that is why the rise and development of Dunhuang Studies has been so powerful.
Many talented young people traveled thousands of miles to Dunhuang, and in the face of the dilapidated grottoes, instead of immersing themselves in sorrow, they worked hard on the loess cliffs with great enthusiasm and a sense of urgency.
They know that instead of hating, it is better to strive to no longer lag behind, and instead of fighting, it is better to let that treasure reflect a more brilliant luster.
Mrs. Dudu ritual Buddha Figure (Duan Wenjie copy) (Mogao Grottoes 130 caves)
On those cultural relics that have been lost, so we are pleased that they at least have been carefully stored, foreign scholars and institutions are also trying to different perspectives on the interpretation of the information they contain, and in the form of *** enjoy the open world! *** with the study of Dunhuang.
At one time, Dunhuang was the confluence of four ancient civilizations, so today it is even more important for people around the world to participate in the discussion of Dunhuang studies.
As Mr. Ji Xianlin said, "Dunhuang is in China, and Dunhuang studies is in the world."
Through the Hexi Corridor, a serialized series