Snow on the Vast Plateau·Travel to Xining·Xining·Xiqiang Ancient City Tangbo Ancient Road

Snow on the Vast Plateau·Tour of Xining·Xining·Xiqiang Ancient City Tangfan Ancient Road

Xining is located in the Huangshui Valley in the east of Qinghai Province and is the capital of Qinghai Province. There have been human activities in the Xining area in ancient times. Judging from written records and archaeological excavations, the earliest residents here were the Qiang people. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, they were called "Qiang Rong". "Qiang" refers to the Qiang people engaged in animal husbandry, and "Rong" refers to the Qiang people engaged in agriculture. The Qiang people later became part of the Han ancestors. The Kayo culture, named after its first discovery in 1923 in Kayo Village, Huangzhong County, Qinghai, is the cultural relics of the ancient Qiang people. It has been determined that the Kayo culture dates back about three thousand years, which is equivalent to the Western Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains. The Kayu culture is distributed in the vast area from the Yellow River and the Huangshui River at the junction of Gansu and Qinghai in the east, around Qinghai Lake in the west, to the foothills of the Qilian Mountains in the north, to the north of Animaqing Mountain in the south, and to the Xining Basin in the upper reaches of the Huangshui River. The densest concentration of cultural sites is obviously the center of their distribution. At that time, the Qiang people generally lived a life based on settled agriculture, with animal husbandry accounting for a large proportion, and hunting and gathering as well. Judging from the gender differences in the burial objects, a clear social division of labor has emerged between men and women. The Cayo culture widely used stone tools, but it has entered the Bronze Age, and many bronze tools have been unearthed from the site.

Xining is an ancient city with a history of more than 2,000 years. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the "Xiping Pavilion" was set up here. In the third year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty (1104), it was changed to "Xining Prefecture", and the name of Xining began from then on. The name Xining probably means peace in the west. This place has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It can guard Xining, control Qinghai on the right, lead Ganliang to the left, screen the Central Plains on the inside, and limit the Qiang and Rong on the outside. Xining not only has an important strategic position, but also an important channel for transportation between the East and the West in ancient times. The famous "Southern Silk Road" and "Tang-Tibo Ancient Road" both passed through here.

Xining is located inland with high altitude and cool and pleasant weather in midsummer, making it an ideal summer resort. Xining is also a multi-ethnic area where you can enjoy beautiful natural scenery and cultural relics and monuments with ethnic characteristics.

Southern Silk Road Qinghai Road

The Silk Road has two routes, the north and the south. Since ancient times, there has been the Qinghai South Road leading to the Western Regions. When the Hexi Corridor was unblocked, the Qinghai Road existed as a auxiliary road; when the Hexi Corridor was blocked, Qinghai became the main east-west route.

Around the fourth century, the Hexi Corridor saw the emergence of Qianliang, Houliang, Beiliang, Xiliang and other local separatist regimes, fighting with each other and dominating one side. Frequent wars made Qinghai temporarily become the main route of the Silk Road. In the third year of Emperor Long'an of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (399), the famous eminent monk Faxian traveled to India via Xining to seek Dharma. This is the first well-documented historical fact of traveling to the Western Regions via Qinghai. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty, Qinghai Road was the main channel for east-west traffic.

The main line of the Silk Road Qinghai Road is the Hehuang Ancient Road from Linxia to Minhe, Xining to Qinghai Lake, and the Qiangzhong Road from Qinghai Lake to Xinjiang via Qaidam. The route starts from Linxia (Hezhou) in Gansu Province, enters Qinghai from Gushan in Minhe County, passes through the ancient city of Ledu, passes through Huangxia to Xining, reaches Duoba in the west, turns north to Xiamen, and enters the north shore of Qinghai Lake. On the banks of the Buha River that flows into Qinghai Lake, there is the ruins of the Tuyuhun Royal City, which was a relay station on the Silk Road in the past. The caravans stopped here for a while before heading west into the Qaidam Basin and crossing the basin into Xinjiang. The direction of most routes of the Silk Road Qinghai Road is basically the same as the current Gansu-Qinghai Highway and Qingxin Highway.

Tang Monk is in danger at Tongtian River

In "Journey to the West", Tang Monk and his disciples went to the Western Regions via Qinghai to go to the Western Regions by detouring around Yushu. There is a Tongtian River in the east of Yushu, which means the river leading to the sky. There is a saying that "Tongtian River is said to be the lower reaches of Tianhe". The mountains on both sides of the Tongtian River are steep, the valleys are winding, and the water is fast. It is a large natural moat in the "Haizang thoroughfare". In the past, there was only a small ferry on the Tongtian River. A song sang: "The water in the Tongtian River is surging. If you want to cross the river, wait for the ice bridge." Crossing the river on a cowhide raft in summer is very dangerous due to strong water and strong waves, and the boat is often destroyed and people die. When Tang Monk and his disciples came to the Tongtian River, the goldfish monster in the Guanyin Lotus Pond was occupying Bai Laoyu's water turtle mansion at the bottom of the river, causing trouble and causing harm to the people. The goldfish monster used a trick to freeze the river. When Tang Seng and his disciples were crossing the river on the ice, the ice suddenly broke and caught Tang Seng. Sun Wukong invited Guanyin to take away the goldfish monster and rescue Tang Monk. Lao Liu was grateful to Sun Wukong for helping him take back the Water Turtle Mansion and carried them across the river. In less than a day, they crossed the 800-mile Tongtian River. Later, the old turtle asked Tang Monk to ask the Buddha when it would shed its original shell and obtain a human body. Tang Monk and his party came back from Buddhist scriptures and met Bai Laoyu again by the river. The old turtle carried them near the east bank and asked about when the Buddha would be able to shed his original shell. Tang Monk was so focused on studying scriptures that he forgot to help the old turtle ask the Buddha. In a fit of anger, Lao Yuan swayed his body, causing the four masters and disciples to fall into the water together with their horses and scriptures. After landing, Tang Monk dried the wet scriptures on a nearby large stone slab. Later generations called this stone slab the "Sutra Drying Platform". Unexpectedly, several volumes of "Buddha's Prayer Sutra" were stuck on the stone, and the ends of the sutra were torn. Therefore, the "Ben Xing Sutra" is still incomplete, and the sutra text is left on the sutra drying table.

Marriage leads to the opening of ancient roads

The passage between the Central Plains and Tibet may have existed before the Tang Dynasty, but it was only seen in historical records during the Tang Dynasty. Qinghai is the only way to get to Tibet. The transportation highway between Tang and Tibet crosses Qinghai and reaches Lhasa.

At the same time as the rise of the Li and Tang dynasties, the Tubo dynasty rose on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Starting from the thirty-second Zanpu abandoning Zong Nong Zan (ie Songtsen Gampo), it became increasingly powerful.

Songtsan Gampo, the talented and strategist of Tubo Zanpu, admired the culture of the Central Plains and was very envious of the marriage between the neighboring Tuyuhun and the Tang Dynasty. He also sent an envoy to Chang'an to request intermarriage. In the eighth year of Emperor Taizong's reign (634), Tubo sent envoys to Chang'an for the first time. In the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty married Princess Wencheng to Songtsen Gampo, Zanpu of Tubo. Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet opened a new chapter in the relationship between Tang and Tibet and opened up the road between Tang and Tibet. In the next two hundred years, the mainstream of Tang-Tibetan relations has always been harmonious coexistence and friendly exchanges. There have been as many as 191 documented envoy exchanges. The Tang-Tibet Ancient Road became an important bridge and link between Tang-Tibet and Tibet.

Tangfan Avenue roughly starts from Chang'an, passes through Jinshui and Lanzhou, turns to Qinghai, passes through Minhe, Ledu, Xiping (Shancheng), Linfan City (today's Zhenhaibao) to Huangyuan, and then Qiang water (potion) reaches Kushan and Chiling (Riyue Mountain), and passes through Yuchichuan (Daotang River), Kubahai, Wangxiaojiemizha, Moliyi, Princess Buddhist Hall (Qiabuqia), and Dafeichuan , Naluyi (Ola Mountain), Nuanquan, Liemohai (Kala Sea) and other places, then go west from the north bank of the Yellow River to Zhaling and Eling Lakes, cross the Yellow River, pass Yushu, and then go southwest , passing by the Heihe River in what is now northern Tibet, headed for Lhasa. Tangfan Avenue and Qinghai Road are about 1,000 kilometers long, which is roughly the same as today's Qingkang Highway. The climate is cold and sparsely populated, making the journey extremely difficult.

The string songs along the way are still heard today

In the early seventh century, after the Tubo leader Songtsen Gampo unified the tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, he admired the culture of the Tang Dynasty and sent envoys to Chang'an many times to request Intermarriage. In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan (640), Songtsen Gampo sent Prime Minister Ludong Zanbu to propose again with 5,000 taels of gold and hundreds of treasures. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty agreed to marry Princess Wencheng to Tubo. In 641, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sent Li Daozong, King of Jiangxia, to escort Princess Wencheng to Tubo. Songtsan Gampo personally greeted him at Baihai (now Eling Lake and Zhaling Lake in Qinghai) on the east side. Princess Wencheng left many relics and legends along her journey to Tibet. Among them, the Princess Wencheng Temple in Bainagou south of Yushujie Ancient Town in Qinghai is the most famous. Princess Wencheng passed through Yushu when she entered Tibet and was grandly welcomed by local Tibetan leaders and people. In order to repay and thank the local Tibetan people, the princess lived here for a period of time, taught by words and deeds, and helped the local people learn farming and weaving. On the hillside opposite Bainagou, there is also a field ridge where it is said that the princess taught people to open up wasteland and farm. According to legend, after Princess Wencheng met Songtsen Gampo at Zhaling Lake, she climbed over the Bayan Har Mountains, crossed the Tongtian River, and came to Bainagou in Yushu. The princess, who has believed in Buddhism since childhood, believed that the safe passage of the group of people through the natural barrier Bayan Har Mountain and the ancient natural moat leading to the Tianhe River was the result of the Buddha's help. In order to express her gratitude to the Buddha, the princess personally led the craftsmen to carve on the rock wall of Bainagou. Dozens of Buddha statues and many pagodas. After Princess Wencheng left, monks and faithful men and women from far and near came to Bainagou to worship. Many people also imitated the princess and carved Buddha statues and scriptures on the cliffs. Over time, almost all the rock walls and stones in Bainagou were engraved with Buddhist statues and scriptures. It is said that one year, several eminent monks from Lhasa passed by and wanted to build a pot here with stones. They searched the entire ravine and found that every stone was engraved with Buddha statues and scriptures, so they finally gave up. After they returned to Tibet, they spread the word so much that many Tibetans traveled thousands of miles to come to worship.

In the fourth year of Jinglong's reign (710), Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, Princess Jincheng married the Tibetan king's abandoned servant Shuozan Zampu. Passing by Bainagou, she paid homage to the nine Buddha statues left by Princess Wencheng. At that time, the Buddha statue was in the open air. In order to protect Princess Wencheng's merits from wind and rain, she sent people to build the "Princess Wencheng Temple" on the stone Buddha statue to protect it. This is the only Princess Wencheng temple in the country, but the one worshiping is not Princess Wencheng. The temple faces south and is an independent Tibetan-style flat-roofed building. The temple is not large in scale. On the rock wall inside the temple, there are nine huge Buddha statues carried by two snow lions in relief. The main Buddha in the middle is 7.3 meters high, and the eight attendant Buddhas on both sides are about 4 meters high. The whole group of relief sculptures is based on the mountain. The figures are simple and honest, with a quiet and generous expression. They have both form and spirit, showing superb carving skills. Lamas and tourists from far and near often come here to worship.