The mystery of the ancient Loulan ruins

From the prosperity 2 centuries ago, to the empty city in Xuanzang’s eyes, to today’s Loulan fever, everything about Loulan seems to be a mystery that is difficult to crack. In the itinerary of the "New Journey to the West" interview team, Loulan is the first and most important stop. After driving for four days in the inaccessible desert, the reporter finally saw the ancient city of Loulan shrouded in fog.

The rise and fall of ancient Loulan

When the ancient city of Loulan was built and when the Kingdom of Loulan was formed, there is currently no historical record. However, prehistoric stone tools have been found around Lop Nur and on the edge of Loulan City. , such as stone axes, stone hoes, stone shovels, stone knives, stone spears, stone arrowheads, jade axes, jade shovels, jade knives, jade pendants, etc. This shows that there were human activities in and around the Lop Nur Depression in prehistoric times, and it is obvious that there are stone city ruins in the Altun Mountains and Kunlun Mountains. Most of the Neolithic artifacts found in Lop Nur and its surrounding areas are about 6,000 years old.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Loulan was one of the 36 city-states in the northwest region. "Historical Records" and other records include: Loulan "had a city wall and was adjacent to the salt lake", with a population of more than 14,000 and more than 2,900 holy soldiers. At that time, Guloulan was the first stop on the ancient Silk Road heading west out of Yangguan. At that time, "messengers faced each other on the road" on this transportation line, with busy traffic and prosperous urban economy. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the court was in turmoil. The Xiongnu took advantage of the situation and colluded with the local rulers, causing the communication in the Western Regions to be cut off. "Book of the Later Han·Biography of the Western Regions" in the Hexi area said: "The city gates are closed during the day." From Wang Mang's usurpation to the Eastern Han Dynasty, transportation in the Western Regions was three-way. Three unique skills, and finally tend to stabilize and develop. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of the Western Regions" says: "The travels of the post office are endless; the merchants and merchants, the daily payment is stuffed away." By the Cao Wei Dynasty, the Silk Road left Yumen Pass to the Western Regions, and Loulan began to prosper again.

What is strange is that after the famous Loulan Kingdom flourished for five or six hundred years, it suddenly disappeared from the 4th century, without being recorded in history or listed in legends. In the 7th century, Tang Xuanzang returned from his westward journey to Tianzhu and saw that Loulan Kingdom had "a solid city outline and no human habitation." In Xuanzang's eyes, Loulan became an empty city.

Loulan once again attracted the attention of the world because of a Swedish adventure at the beginning of the last century. On March 28, 1900, Swede Sven Hedin, led by his guide Eldik, entered the western part of Lop Nur for exploration. While crossing a desert, they found that their shovel had been left behind at the camp last night. Eldik went back to look for it. He not only brought back the shovel but also several fragments of wood carvings. When he saw the fragments, he was so polite. ·Hedin was very excited and hired migrant workers to dig out the land. The ancient city of Loulan was rediscovered, and Sven Hedin called it the "Pompeii of the East".

The arrival of Sven Hedin caused the ancient city of Loulan to be excavated by more people. The large number of cultural relics unearthed subsequently shocked the world and formed a Loulan school around the world.

The Long Road to Loulan

Today, more than 1,000 years later, an interview team organized by the National Evening News Alliance set out for Loulan. There are many ways to enter Lop Nur. The guides for the interview group were Peng Gexia and Liu Heping, the "two heroes" among the so-called "Three Heroes of Lop Nur" (the other one was Yu Chunshun who died in Lop Nur). We crossed Kuruk from Turpan to the south. Tag Mountain and enter the Lop Nur area. We camped in Kaner on the night of October 8th, crossed over to Kuruktag on the 9th, and continued on the road on the 10th. Although there were two heroes to guide us, we still went in the wrong direction. In order to get back to the right road, we walked back and forth. After traveling more than 80 kilometers, two of the left steel plates of the No. 20 car "Barefoot Daxian" that the reporter was riding in were broken. It took about three hours to repair the car. In order to ensure safety, the entire convoy was waiting at the fork in the road. It was already around three o'clock in the morning on the 11th when the car arrived at the originally scheduled Camp No. 2 Longcheng Yadan Group. After soliciting the opinions of all the group members, the caravan continued on its way. The destination was 18 kilometers away from the ancient city of Loulan. Who knew I didn’t expect that the more than 40 kilometers from Longcheng to the 18th kilometer took more than 3 hours to walk. When we arrived at the 18th kilometer, it was already 7 o’clock in the morning. The wind was so strong and the sand was so strong that it was almost difficult to set up tents. Many people We simply crowded in the car and waited until the sun peeked out from the horizon at 8:30. The wind and sand became even stronger, and we couldn't see anything in the vast wasteland. Afterwards, Peng Gexia still had lingering fears when talking about this night trip. Lao Peng told reporters: "Although I have been to Loulan nearly 10 times, I was still nervous and sweating all the time. I didn't have any distinctive reference points. I was completely I'm walking from memory."

Breakfast was eaten amidst the whistling sound of wind and sand. The rice was full of sand, so I couldn't chew it carefully, so I had to swallow it whole. Because the wind and sand were too strong, the interview team temporarily changed their itinerary and first returned to Loulan Protection Station and entered Lop Nur. After bumping on the hard salt crust for more than an hour, we got into the shelter of the protection station. As soon as we entered the warm nest from the windy and sandy wilderness, everyone felt like they were in heaven. That day’s lunch was the first meal without sand in the wild. On the 12th, the weather was fine, and the convoy continued to march 18 kilometers away. When the car passed the campsite yesterday morning, the reporter discovered that it was a tiny piece of the infinitely vast Xiaoyadan.

After 18 kilometers, Yadan is getting higher and higher. The so-called road runs through Yadan. The sand pit became deeper and deeper, the sand became thicker and thicker, and cars began to sink in. In order to reduce the weight, everyone in the car got out and walked. On that day, five or six wire ropes were broken. A famous photojournalist from the Urumqi Evening News Li Xueliang's eyebrow was swept by the broken wire, almost hurting his eye.

About 6 kilometers away from the ancient city of Loulan, three cars got stuck in a sand pit. The pagoda in Loulan was already in sight, so the reporter and more than 10 group members decided to walk there.

At around 6:30, we arrived at the foot of Loulan City, and the tall pagoda was right in front of us. But the convoy was still crawling in the sandpit. When the night grew darker and the temperature plummeted to below zero degrees Celsius, the convoy had not come over yet. We got out of the shelter from the wind and climbed up a tall red willow bag outside the ancient city. Yang Daming, the team leader who arrived, was extremely anxious and kept using the walkie-talkie to communicate with the convoy. However, in the mysterious array of Yadan Group, the convoy still went in the wrong direction and went all the way to the northwest of the ancient city. Where we are It is at the south gate of the ancient city. The intercom was out of battery, only the ignition was on. The red willow bag is covered with dry red willow, which is just used for lighting fires and signaling. The fire started, and the convoy in the distance finally noticed the fire, but close at hand, the convoy still walked for more than two hours. By the time everyone gathered, it was already about 10:30 pm.

Huddled up in the tent, it was so cold that I couldn’t sleep no matter what. Listening to the sand blowing against the tent, I sighed in my heart, how did the ancient Loulan people live and multiply here? How did Xuanzang stay here and return to China? It's really cold at night in Loulan.

Getting close to the ancient Loulan

The next morning, the wind and sand stopped. Before the sun came out, everyone got out of the tents and cars. They didn’t bother to clean up, and just stayed under the protection of Loulan. Accompanied by station staff, we walked through the iron railings and walked into the ancient city of Loulan.

Although I had first appreciated the mystery and beauty of Loulan in the afternoon of the previous day in the company of the setting sun, Loulan in the morning looked completely different.

The ancient city of Loulan is submerged in the vast group of Yadans. The sun peeks out from the horizon and puts an orange-red roof on the tops of the surrounding Yadans. The mysterious Loulan Pagoda is no exception. Photographers rushed to take advantage of the favorable terrain, waiting for the best moment of light.

The pagoda, which has experienced thousands of years of wind and sand erosion, is the tallest building in the ancient city of Loulan and the most beautiful "Yadan". It sits quietly in the east and north of the ancient city, looking down at us. This group of pilgrims. On its northwest side, there are protectors supporting it with planks of wood and thick tree trunks. About 300 meters to the west of it are three rooms that may have served as government offices. At that time, Sven Hedin excavated a large number of cultural relics under these walls. Of the three rooms in front of me, only four tall adobe walls remain. The middle area is slightly larger, about 15 square meters, and the houses on both sides are smaller, about 10 square meters. There are a lot of wooden piles scattered on the ground in front of the house. , there are obvious rivet holes on it, and the longest square wooden stake is more than 4 meters long. Further west from the three rooms, there are the remains of several private houses. The scale of the houses is still clearly visible. The poplar boards and red willow branches originally used to build the walls still stand upright in the sand. On the ground, there are reeds or thin red willow branches used to build the houses. , more than 1,000 years have passed, and they are still intact. All the buildings are built on high platforms. In the low-lying areas, black or red pottery shards are scattered everywhere. The pottery shards are a little rough. So many pottery shards seem to tell us the prosperity and glory of the ancient city of Loulan. To the north of the houses, there are two mounds about 3 meters high similar to Yadan. The staff of the conservation station said that these are the ruins of the ancient city wall.

Avoiding the lens of the photographer and the cultural relics at his feet, the reporter strolled through the ancient city of Loulan. Sven Hedin in 1901 and Stein in 1906 successively unearthed wooden statues (Buddha statues) and Buddha statues here. The base is decorated with lotus flowers and other types of patterns and shapes. Many refined white wool fabrics have also been excavated. The most important thing was the discovery of wooden slips and paper documents in Chinese and Khalur script (a script spread in North India in the fourth and fifth centuries BC).

This seemingly desolate place is the best evidence of vitality.

The Mystery of Ancient Loulan

At the Loulan site, a large number of letters, coins and other objects from the Han, Jin, Tang and other dynasties were unearthed, as well as many male and female mummies. A female mummy was successfully restored, and the world called it the "Beauty of Loulan". After testing, it was found that the female mummy was more than 3,800 years old. She was about 40 years old when she died and was about 1.55 meters tall. Through the mummy, you can still find the typical beauty features of the deceased: big eyes, low cheekbones...

Experts later determined that she had Europa ancestry. Bi Yading, an accompanying tourism expert, said that this ancient Loulan woman was over 40 years old and could not be called a beauty.

Among all the mysteries about the ancient city of Loulan, the most controversial one is the mystery of the disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan.

The reasons for the disappearance of Loulan include war theory, climate change theory, glacier theory, desert storm theory, etc.

The Lop Nur Scientific Drilling Scientific Expedition Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered after an on-site inspection of the ancient city of Loulan that its disappearance is closely related to changes in the climate and environment.

It is reported that 3,000 years ago, the area of ??Lop Nur Lake once reached 12,000 square kilometers, and the water source of the ancient Kongque River was sufficient. On the one hand, Loulan built the city close to the water source, and on the other hand, they were afraid of floods, so they chose to have The highlands crossed by tributaries of the Kongque River.

Scientists found after measurement that this highland is nearly 30 meters higher than the bottom of the now dry Lop Nur Lake, and more than ten meters higher than the current Kongque River Basin.

According to experts from the scientific expedition team, with the change of climate, Lop Nur gradually retreats, the height difference between the river and Lop Nur entering the lake increases, the flow speed of the river speeds up, the river cuts down, and the process of cutting down is Make the high ground higher and higher. Experts explained that as the highlands rose, it became difficult for people to obtain water, and the tributaries of the ancient Kongque River that passed through the city gradually dried up. Eventually, the ancient Kongque River changed its course, and the water in Lop Nur Lake shrank significantly, and people had to move farther from the nearest water source. After walking several kilometers, scientists said that in this environment, the social system is already quite fragile and cannot withstand any major human and natural fluctuations such as disasters, wars, and economic recessions.

Experts therefore believe that the demise of the ancient city of Loulan is closely related to climate change, or it can be said to be one of the main reasons. Others, such as wars, (Silk Road) diversions and other political, economic and social structural changes, are only secondary reasons for the disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan.

Recently, some scholars have used space remote sensing technology to analyze and study the changes of ancient river channels in the Loulan area from the perspective of environmental geology through the interpretation of a large number of images. They believe that the real reason for the decline of the ancient city of Loulan is due to the ancient location of the ancient city. Two landslides collapsed in the upper reaches of the Kongque River, blocking the river and forming a barrier lake, thus cutting off the water supply source of the ancient city of Loulan. The ancient Kongque River was the only river flowing through the Loulan area at that time, and it was also the only source of fresh water for the ancient city of Loulan. Loulan was eventually abandoned and even perished due to lack of water.

Some people also suggest that the demise of the ancient city of Loulan was caused by human beings' disrespect for nature. For example, the indiscriminate felling of Populus euphratica has caused ecological deterioration and made it uninhabitable. One of the evidences for this view is the wooden burial that was prevalent here at that time. Near the ancient city of Loulan, the mysterious Tomb of the Sun was discovered. This kind of tomb has a strange appearance. There are layers of logs ranging from thin to thick buried deep around the tomb. Outside the circle, there are rows of logs buried in a radial pattern, just like the rays of the sun. It is precisely because of the appearance of this kind of tomb. It resembles the sun and is called the Tomb of the Sun. Among the seven tombs that have been discovered, the largest one used more than 10,000 logs.

Some people believe that the flood destroyed this ancient city located on the main transportation road.

Judging from the current situation, this debate will continue, and the mystery of Loulan may never be revealed