What is Loulan like now?

Overlooking the ancient city of Loulan, there is a beacon tower in the northeast corner of the city. Although it has been repaired in different periods, we can still see the earliest architectural style in Han Dynasty. Southwest of beacon tower is the site of "Three Rooms". This 100 square meter house is built on a high platform, and the middle of the three rooms is wider than the east and west rooms. At the beginning of the 20th century, Sven Hedin excavated a large number of documents in a room in the east. Judging from the big wooden frame left by the west wing of the three rooms, it was once the location of the reclamation office in the city. Continue to the west, it is a big house. In the yard, there are three horizontally arranged houses in the north and south. In the ancient city, this kind of quadrangle building is also relatively ostentatious. In contrast, most of the houses in the south of the mansion are single rooms, short, scattered and shabby. According to the unearthed documents, it is speculated that the frame structure houses adjacent to the three rooms are the official relics of Loulan ancient city.

Loulan was a powerful tribe in the Western Regions in Han Dynasty. They live in the eastern part of Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang, on the northwest edge of Lop Nur. The capital of Loulan people is the famous ancient city of Loulan. According to records, Loulan was a prosperous country at that time, with a prosperous economy, rich products and majestic walls. It was a prosperous country on the Silk Road. Silk, tea, horses from the western regions, grapes and jewels from Chinese mainland were all originally traded through Loulan. Many caravans stopped to have a rest when they passed by. In BC 108, Loulan surrendered to the Han Dynasty and paid tribute to Korea year after year, becoming the confidant of the Han Dynasty at that time. There is also a sentence in ancient poetry, "I won't pay back if I don't chop Loulan."

The ancient city of Loulan was once a paradise for people to live and multiply. It was founded before 176 BC and died in 630 AD, with a history of more than 800 years. It starts near Guyangguan in the east, reaches the ancient city of Niya in the west, reaches Altun Mountain in the south and Hami in the north. It is surrounded by a vast Lop Nur, in front of which is a clear river and people.

Loulan ancient city relics

Boating and fishing on the blue waves, hunting in the dense Populus euphratica forest, people are bathed in the gifts of nature. According to Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, Loulan was seriously short of water because of the diversion of water injection along the middle reaches of Tarim River. Soller of Dunhuang led 65,438+10,000 soldiers to Loulan, and summoned 3,000 soldiers from Shanshan, Yanqi and Qiuci to cross the river day and night to divert water into Loulan, thus alleviating the water shortage in Loulan. However, after that, despite Loulan people's best efforts and attempts to dredge the river, the ancient city of Loulan was eventually abandoned because of lack of water. The disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan is a great loss!

At present, some writers have published a book about Loulan, titled Loulan, Loulan. There are also original cartoons of China painted by Ding Bing, and Dream of Loulan written by Lao Zi and Mohan. Later, he published his play, written by Lao Zi and Mohan, illustrated by Ding Bing, and an illustrated novel "Dream of Loulan".

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The mystery of loulan's disappearance

Loulan Ancient Country (1) 1900 In March, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin went east along the Tarim River and reached the lower reaches of the Peacock River in search of the elusive Lop Nur. On March 27th, the expedition arrived at a mound. At this time, something bad happened. Sven Hedin found that the water they brought was leaking a lot. In the arid desert, no water equals death. They went to find water, and an incredible scene happened. An ancient city appeared in front of them: there were walls, streets, houses and even beacon towers.

Sven Hedin excavated a large number of cultural relics here, including coins, silk, grains, pottery, 36 pieces of Chinese character paper, 120 pieces of bamboo slips and several writing brushes. ...

After Sven Hedin returned to China, he handed the cultural relics to Himmler for identification. After identification, this ancient city is the famous ancient country Loulan that shocked the whole world. Subsequently, expeditions from many countries followed ... With the long-term unremitting efforts of historians and cultural relics experts, the mysterious veil of Loulan ancient country was unveiled.

From 65438 to 0979, Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology organized the Loulan Archaeological Team and began to investigate the Loulan Ancient Road. In the lower reaches of Peacock River leading to Loulan Road, the archaeological team found a large number of ancient tombs. Several of the tombs have strange and spectacular shapes: the tombs are surrounded by seven layers of thin and thick logs, and rows of trees spread radially in all directions outside the circle. The whole shape is like a big sun, which makes people have all kinds of mysterious associations. What does it mean? It's still an unsolved mystery.

Statement 1: Loulan disappeared in the war. After the 5th century A.D., the kingdom of Loulan began to weaken, the northern powers invaded, the city of Loulan was broken and then abandoned.

Statement 2: Loulan declined due to drought and water shortage and ecological deterioration, and the upper reaches of the river were cut off and diverted, so people had to leave Loulan. Loulan promulgated the world's earliest environmental protection law discovered so far.

Statement 3: The disappearance of Loulan is related to the north-south migration of Lop Nur. Sven Hedin thinks that the time of the north-south migration of Lop Nur is about 1500 years. More than 3,000 years ago, there lived a European ethnic tribe in Loulan area. Loulan once again entered a prosperous era more than 1500 years ago, which was directly related to the wandering of Lop Nur.

Statement 4: The disappearance of Loulan is related to the opening of the North Road of the Silk Road. After the opening of the Silk Road North Road through Hami (Yiwu) and Turpan, the ancient Silk Road Desert Road through Loulan was abandoned, and Loulan lost its former glory.

Statement 5: Loulan was destroyed by the plague. A plague from other places claimed the lives of nine of the ten residents in Loulan City. Those who survived by luck fled Loulan and fled other places.

Statement 6: Loulan was defeated by biological invasion. An insect introduced from the two river basins has no natural enemies in Loulan, lives in the soil, can live in the albic soil in Loulan area, and enters the houses in droves. People can't destroy them and have to give up the city.

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Loulan Ancient Country in History

According to Biography of Dawan in Historical Records and Biography of the Western Regions in Hanshu, as early as the 2nd century AD, Loulan was a famous "walled country" in the western regions. Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest, Ruoqiang and Qiemo in the southwest. The north-south road of the ancient Silk Road diverged from Loulan.

Mystery of Loulan Ancient City

Xinjiang is an attractive place for adventure tourists. This mysterious ancient city, known as "Pompeii in the desert", is Loulan, an ancient country in the western regions.

Guloulan is located in the west bank of Lop Nur, Ruoqiang County, Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, and is one of the most desolate areas in Xinjiang. How fascinating the long history and fables here are; It mysteriously disappeared on the earth and unexpectedly appeared, which aroused the interest of many people-many Chinese and foreign tourists and explorers took pains to travel westward along the Silk Road to witness this famous historical and cultural city-Guloulan. From June 65438 to1October 65438, 979, the late scientist Peng of China set out from the north bank of Peacock River and walked across the desert to visit the Loulan site.

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Where did Loulan people come from?

Who once thrived in the mysterious land of Loulan? Whose wisdom created the splendid oasis civilization? The research on this issue has always been fascinating and confusing.

Lin Haicun, a professor of archaeology in Peking University, said: "Loulan people use Quluwen in Central Asia as the official language, while Loulan's mother tongue is Indo-European, which is called' Northeast Language' in academic circles." "The conclusion of anthropological research on Loulan and the result of linguistic research on Loulan remind us once again that in ancient times, there was an Indo-European tribe living in Loulan, far away from Europe." So this book thinks that Loulan people are "ancient Indo-European tribes wandering in the East".

However, there is no consensus on the question of "where Loulan people come from". . There is a view that Loulan people belong to Aryans. Yang Lian, an archaeologist at Loulan, China Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that he had been to Loulan in 1980s and met a man in his thirties, who was tall and about 2 meters tall. He specially took a picture for him, and the boy standing with him didn't see his chest.

According to a recent study by an anthropologist in China from the perspective of genetics and artifacts, Loulan people are closer to ancient Afghans, which is another brand-new argument.

This well-preserved female corpse, with light hair, developed eyebrow arch and straight nose bone, obviously has the characteristics of Caucasian race. This is completely consistent with anthropologists' anthropological measurement of human bones unearthed in cemeteries. By the time of Loulan State in Han Dynasty, the ethnic composition of Loulan residents had a new development. They were born with Caucasians, including Mongolians. The ancient inhabitants of ancient Eurasia took this not-lush land as their foothold, hoping to build a beautiful home here!

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Exploration history of Loulan ancient country

190 1 year, with the help of local guides, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered the "Ancient City of Loulan" in the north of Lop Nur, claiming that it was "the reappearance of Pompeii in the desert" and caused a sensation in the world. Chinese and foreign scholars believe that the ancient city of Loulan is the most important historical relic discovered by the prosperous ancient Loulan country on the Silk Road. It plays a vital role in studying the ancient history of Xinjiang and even Central Asia, the historical changes of the Silk Road, and the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western cultures.

A large number of archaeologists, geographers and geologists followed. They are:

Huntington Expedition1905;

1906 British Stan expedition;

1908- 1909 Japan's mitsuo otani expedition;

1910-1911Japan's second expedition.

The cultural relics excavated by these expeditions in Loulan ancient city and Lop Nur area have shocked the world with their great value, and the number is countless. In addition, there are stone axes, wood products, pottery, bronzes, glass products, ancient coins and so on. In the Neolithic Age, there were many kinds of cultural relics. Among them, Jin Dynasty Warring States policy and Han Jin manuscripts are the most precious. This kind of handwritten paper is only one or two hundred years later than the paper invented by Cai Lun 105, and six or seven hundred years earlier than the oldest China paper in Europe. The unearthed Han brocade is colorful and exquisite. Some embroidered "Han embroidery (10,000) has infinite descendants (that is, full house descendants)". Some embroidered "longevity", "happiness" or "longevity". The production date is1-2nd century. Another major excavation was the discovery of the letter from Li Bo, the long history of the Western Regions in the Western Jin Dynasty, to King Yan Qi, the so-called "Li Bo Document", and the "Haitou" ancient city discovered according to Li Bo's document. This led Loulan to take away a large number of ancient cultural relics in the later period of research, and wrote and published a series of monographs on Loulan in Lop Nur, praising Loulan as a treasure buried in the desert and a historical heritage.

Scientists from China visited Loulan on 1927. Huang Wenbi, a famous archaeologist and Chen Zongqi, a geographer who came to Loulan with the Sino-Swiss (Canon) Northwest Scientific Delegation, visited the northern shore of Lop Nur many times and excavated the site. More than 70 dated wooden slips of the Western Han Dynasty were unearthed, and the beacon tower site of the Han Dynasty was excavated. A considerable number of bronzes, ironware, lacquerware, woodwork, bones, stones, pottery and silk and linen fragments have also been unearthed. Huang Wenbi published a monograph "Archaeology of Lop Nur" on his archaeological work in Lop Nur area, and the ancient civilization in Loulan area turned a new page in the hands of China scholars. Huang Wenbi was the only archaeologist in China who had been to Lop Nur before liberation.

The Loulan adventure craze in New China once again caused a sensation in the world. The most positive response is Japan. The book Loulan Kingdom written by the famous Japanese historian Mr. Zehejun has been published in two editions. In Japanese elementary school books, there is an introduction about the ancient city of Loulan, which is a household name in Japan.

In the late 1970s, Japan's nhk TV and CCTV jointly produced the TV series Silk Road. At that time, the Institute of Archaeology of Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences was invited to assist in filming TV series. They organized teams, overcame many difficulties, and went deep into Lop Nur area for three times, and once again obtained China's wooden slips and documents (including a small amount of fallow) and a large number of precious cultural relics such as ancient money, woolen goods, silk goods, leather products and lacquerware in Wei and Jin Dynasties. The Surveying and Mapping Brigade of the Military Region cooperated with the investigation team to go deep into Loulan to survey and map the topographic map of Loulan ancient city. After accurate measurement, it is determined that Guloulan City is located at 89 degrees 55 minutes 12 seconds east longitude and 40 degrees 30 minutes 57 seconds north latitude. The ancient city covers an area of 6.5438+0.2 million square meters, slightly square, with a side length of about 330 meters. The walls made of mud, reeds and branches are still discernible. A northwest-southeast ancient river runs through the city. The remaining main houses in the city are still well preserved, except for the missing roof, other parts such as doors and windows can be clearly distinguished. In the ancient city, wooden beams, purlins and rafters used for building houses can be seen everywhere. Some of these building materials in Hu Yangmu are carved with patterns, which show a considerable level of craftsmanship and are particularly eye-catching, providing valuable information for the study of ancient architecture. In addition, there are ancient beacon towers, granaries and other architectural relics. As for pottery pieces, felt pieces, ancient copper coins, silk fragments and other cultural relics, only a little excavation on the surface and underground can make "antiques" see the light of day again.

The Japanese called 1988 "the Year of Loulan", and carried out commemorative activities centered on Loulan exploration, such as organizing a 100-member investigation group, holding a large-scale exhibition of Dangheding and Loulan Kingdom, holding a report meeting, and taking photos of Loulan. It can be seen that Loulan's research has already gone global.

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Reasons for the disappearance of Loulan ancient country

Lop Nur was once the largest lake in the arid area of northwest China, with a water surface area of10.2 million square kilometers, which still reached 500 square kilometers at the beginning of last century. At that time, Loulan people built an ancient city of Loulan with 65,438+10,000 square meters beside Lop Nur, but it finally dried up at 1972. What caused Lop Nur, once rich in water and fish, to become a vast desert? What caused the ancient city of Loulan, the crossroads of the Silk Road, to become a deserted desert Gobi? This has always been a scientific mystery.

Recently, the scientific investigation team of environmental drilling in Lop Nur, China Academy of Sciences conducted a comprehensive and systematic environmental scientific investigation in Lop Nur. According to preliminary inference, with the rapid uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 70,000 to 80,000 years ago, Lop Nur moved from south to north, and the drought gradually intensified, eventually leading to the drying up of the whole lake. This explanation is obviously unsatisfactory. Professor Zhou Kunshu from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, China Academy of Sciences thinks that the reasons for Lop Nur's drying up are very complicated. This is not only a global issue, but also a regional issue. Besides natural reasons, there are also human factors.

Global climate drought is the background.

About 10 thousand years ago, the earth's environment changed unprecedentedly, that is, from the dry and cold environment in the last glacial period to the humid environment in the post-glacial period. Taking this as an opportunity, human culture also entered the Neolithic Age from the Paleolithic Age. Ten thousand years later, the geological environment has undergone three major stages of change. The warming period is about 10000 to 8000 years ago, the high temperature period is about 8000 to 3000 years ago, and the cooling period is about 3000 years ago. These three environmental pattern changes have been confirmed by paleoenvironmental studies of geology, biology, chemistry and physics, but the time of dividing the three phases is slightly different due to different methods, places or research objects. This change of environment and climate has planned the scope and mode of human activities.

Take Loulan as an example. Humans set foot here in the Neolithic Age, and the population here was prosperous in the Bronze Age. At this time, it is just in the high temperature period, and the lake in Lop Nur is vast and the environment is suitable. However, after entering the cooling zone, the water and soil environment becomes worse, rivers decrease, lakes decrease and deserts expand. About 2000 years ago, the drought intensified, which was manifested by glacier transgression, loess accumulation, lake swamp disappearance and regression in the vast area of northern China.

The ancient city of Loulan disappeared from around A.D. to the 4th century (from Han Dynasty to Northern Wei Dynasty in the Central Plains), which was a period of intensified drought. In fact, during this drought, not only the ancient city of Loulan died, but also Niya, Karadun, Milan, Nyrang, Khan and Wantong cities died successively due to the expansion of the desert.

The disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan occurred in the north of China, even in the context of the world drought. It is not an isolated space, but because Loulan is located in the arid inland, the changes of humanities and natural environment here are more significant.

The uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a regional factor.

Besides global climate change, the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most important reason in the region. 70,000-80,000 years ago, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rose rapidly. This uplift plays a decisive role in the climate of northwest China. Lop Nur is located in the northwest inland of East Asia. Warm and humid air currents from the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean rarely arrive here every year.

When the global climate changes, drought, desertification and Gobi have begun to appear in the whole western East Asia. During this period, Lop Nur began to move from south to north. About 70 thousand years ago, the lake dropped sharply to the bottom. Due to the rugged terrain at the bottom of the lake, the ancient Lop Nur, which was originally huge and unified, was divided into taitema lake, Kara Heshun Lake and the larger northern Lop Nur.

Among regional factors, another point must be pointed out. It is said that from the recent remote sensing data, a landslide occurred in the upper reaches of the Peacock River. Landslides blocked the entire channel of Peacock River, resulting in water cut-off in Lop Nur. The problem now is that we don't know the exact time of this landslide, and whether it happened before Lop Nur dried up remains to be studied.

Over-exploitation of human beings accelerated the demise of Lop Nur.

Recently, human activities have had an increasing impact on the drying up of Lop Nur. Water and trees are the key to the survival of wasteland oasis. The ancient city of Loulan was built in the downstream delta of Peacock River, where the water system was developed at that time, and the prosperous Hu Yangshu was once its capital. At that time, Loulan people built Loulan ancient city with an area of 6,543,800 square meters near Lop Nur. They cut down many trees and reeds, which will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the environment.

During this period, the intensification of human activities, the change of water system and the destruction of war have further deteriorated the fragile ecological environment. The dense "male roots and residual limbs" on the cemetery of Xiaohe No.5 show that Loulan people had already felt the crisis of tribal survival and had to pray for reproductive worship to protect their children and grandchildren. However, they cut down a large number of already scarce trees, which worsened the local environment.

The final drying up of Lop Nur is related to the over-exploitation of the upper reaches of Tarim River after our liberation. When we transferred a lot of water in the upper reaches of Tarim River, the water in Tarim River could not make ends meet, and the water in the lower reaches was cut off. This can be confirmed by the interruption of the Yellow River in recent years. Lop Nur also began to shrink rapidly and eventually died out because there was no water source.

The disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan has become a great regret.

When the ancient city of Loulan is mentioned, people will think of the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, because he first announced the existence of the ancient city of Loulan in 190 1.

On March 28th, 1900, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin was inspecting the Rob Desert. He hired Eldik, a donkey worker and guide, as a Uighur farmer, who lost his tools. On his way to Lop Nur, he came across an ancient site. When Sven Hedin heard about it, he immediately followed Eldik to this place and found that this ancient place was littered with beautiful wood carvings, fabrics and coins.

Sven Hedin had to return for lack of drinking water. After a year's preparation, Sven Hedin made a special trip to this site on March 3, 2008, and conducted a week-long excavation. After sorting out and analyzing, He Ding named this relic Loulan according to the word Loulan in the unearthed documents. This great discovery shocked the world and won great honor for Sven Hedin.

Later, Stein in Britain and Orange Ruichao in Japan found the Loulan site along the road map of Heding. Their excavation work is more thorough and meticulous, but it is also destructive and predatory. These works have become an important geographical basis for Loulan's future exploration.

Although it is difficult to recognize Loulan City from the landforms of Gobi and Ya Dan, scientists have found from a large number of data and investigations that Loulan City, as an important town on the Silk Road, was abandoned for 1500 years and was once brilliant. According to experts' analysis, Loulan remains have a history of 1800 years. After being looted by the wind and sand, only the broken Populus euphratica wooden frame and several reed walls are left. Judging from the size and building materials of the house, the housing conditions of ordinary people were relatively simple at that time, but a large number of exquisite wooden products and ancient coins left in the ruins reminded people that there were also many wealthy families in Loulan City. Experts believe that there has been a polarization between the rich and the poor in Loulan City. At the same time, these wooden products showed us the exquisite craftsmanship of carpentry at that time and the prosperity of Loulan economy. Experts found that there are dozens of houses like this, and they are concentrated in the west of the city to form residential areas, while the east of the city has administrative areas and military areas respectively. The city has complete functions, clear layout and obvious awareness of urban planning and development.

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The mystery of Loulan's body was discovered.

The famous "Beauty of Loulan" was unearthed in 1980. At that time, archaeologists found a well-preserved female body in Tiepan River, Lop Nur. Female skin is reddish brown, slightly elastic, with obvious facial contour, large and deep eyes, high and narrow nose and pointed chin. After image processing, a beautiful woman who lived thousands of years ago appeared vividly in front of people. Because this female corpse was found near the mysterious ancient city of Loulan, it was named "Loulan Beauty".

A cemetery was found in Tiepan River Delta in the lower reaches of Peacock River, in which the mummy of a middle-aged woman was unearthed. Her skin and nails were well preserved. She has a thin face, a pointed nose, sunken eyes and long brown shawl. She was wrapped in a sheepskin and wool blanket, pinned to the edge of the blanket on her chest with sharpened branches, wrapped in a sheepskin, wearing a pair of shoes made of suede on her feet, wearing a felt hat with two geese on her head, which was called "Loulan Beauty" by the world. The identification of carbon 14 and the sheepskin residue on her body shows that this is a corpse found 3800 years ago. Who is she? Why are you in this deserted place? This has become a mystery in archaeology.

"Loulan Beauty" is the earliest corpse found in Xinjiang so far, about 4000 years ago. The "Loulan Beauty" with big eyes and deep nests, narrow nose and pointed chin has distinct characteristics of Europa race. However, there are still many questions about the specific ethnic types of the people represented by this body, and whether they were local aborigines or migrated from other places before their death.

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Related scenic spots

Kazakh cemetery

The site is located 25 kilometers southwest of Ishekpati, Altun Mountain Nature Reserve in the south of Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang. There are five adobe tombs that stand like castles on the Gobi Desert. How long is the history of Kazak tombs? Opinions vary, and there is no conclusion. But judging from the degree of erosion and weathering, it is estimated that it has been a long time. 1June, 984, according to Tuhti, a 70-year-old herdsman born in Isekpa, this Kazakh tomb was built long before he was born.

Swan Lake in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region