Loulan (Shanshan), 36 countries in the Western Regions.

Loulan is an important ancient country on the Silk Road in the Western Regions. First seen in historical records, it is located in the north of Ruoqiang County, Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, at the northwest corner of Lop Nur, 7 kilometers south of Peacock River. "Records of the Western Regions" records: "Shanshan Kingdom, whose real name is Loulan, Wang Zhi Qianni City, goes to Yangguan for 1,600 miles and Chang 'an for 6,100 miles. 1570 households, 1.4 1 10,000 people. "Hanshu" further introduced the ecological environment of Loulan: "Sand and brine are few fields, and land is sent to Tianyang Valley to divide the country. The whole country is rich in jade, and there are many reeds (reeds), branches and willows (red willows), Hutong Populus euphratica) and white grass (white grass). People follow animal husbandry and chase water plants. There are donkeys, horses and many camels. You can be a soldier and follow the Qiang people. "

Loulan, who has been living between the two powerful forces of the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, is always indecisive and plays an vacillating role. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to Dayue's family, and the alliance against Xiongnu failed. Later, he sent troops to crusade against the distant kingdom of Dawan and sent envoys to western countries many times. When these messengers passed Loulan, Loulan could not bear the pressure of Xiongnu and even killed the messengers. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty finally sent troops to crusade against Loulan. After Loulan surrendered, he sent a prince to the Han Dynasty as a hostage. In order to keep the balance, he also sent another prince to the Huns as a hostage, strictly neutral.

During the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han Dynasty, An Gui, who made a vow in Xiongnu, returned to Loulan to be king. An Guiyi, who lived in Xiongnu for a long time, fell to Xiongnu, which once again became a big worry for Han families in the western regions. This betrayal offended the Han family. In 77 BC, General Huo Guang immediately dispatched Fu Zijie, the first killer in the Central Plains, to Loulan. During the banquet, Fu Jiezi assassinated King Loulan, and then helped Tu Jian, the governor who was taken hostage in the Han Dynasty, become the new king. The new king was afraid of being assassinated by Huns. In the name of protecting the king, the Han Dynasty sent troops to Tunloulan, thus gaining the initiative to crusade against Xiongnu and other countries in the western regions. In order to facilitate the assistance of the Han Dynasty, the capital was moved near Puchanghai, and Loulan was changed to Shanshan.

During the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Zhao set up a captain in Yixun City to set up fields. Since then, Loulan has become the strategic fulcrum for the central government to control the western regions. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Loulan still occupied an important position on the Silk Road. The eastern Han government reclaimed land from the sea in Loulan on a large scale to develop Loulan.

Due to the diversion of Peacock River, the water in Lop Nur has shrunk and the living environment is getting worse. After about 422 AD, the people of Loulan City abandoned Loulan City due to severe drought and gradually moved south. Shanshan country (Loulan country) has successively annexed Qiang, Xiaowan, Jingjue and Qiemo countries, becoming one of the top seven western regions.

For hundreds of years, Loulan has been an important transportation hub from the mainland to the western regions until the Wei and Jin Dynasties. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains became independent, and wars continued, and Loulan gradually lost contact with the Central Plains. By 400 AD, Loulan had become barren, with no animals and birds and no one left, leaving only gray bones buried in the desert. In 499 AD, the Northern Wei Dynasty sent troops to the Western Regions, and Loulan was completely destroyed. When the Silk Road flourished again in the Tang Dynasty, Loulan had become a name in the history books. However, even though it has long been extinct, in the eyes of the poets in the Tang Dynasty, Loulan will still be remembered first in the crusade against the western countries. Tang Dynasty and Tubo fought many wars in Loulan. "Qinghai Yunchang Snow Mountain is dark, and the lonely city looks at Yumenguan. The yellow sand wears golden armor in hundreds of battles, and the loulan is not returned. " (Wang Changling's Joining the Army) It can be seen that Loulan was still a border town in the Tang Dynasty. However, I don't know when this bustling town mysteriously disappeared.

archaeological finds

At first, the archaeological discovery of Loulan was made by western capitalist countries and Japanese explorers. At the end of Qing Dynasty, the political situation was turbulent, and expeditions from various countries began to steal culture in China. National cultural relics such as Liuma in Zhaoling/Mogao Grottoes were stolen from the country. Swede Sven Hedin discovered the ancient city of Loulan on his way to Lop Nur. Since then, his name is as famous as the ancient city of Loulan. Then he took away a large number of wooden slips scattered on the ground and brought them to Europe. After textual research, a name, Loulan, appeared on it many times. Since then, explorers, archaeologists and careerists from all over the world have come to Loulan and taken away countless related cultural relics. Later, by deciphering the characters of the ancient Loulan, the true face of Loulan attracted worldwide attention.

Subsequently, the cultural relics excavated by American, British and Japanese expeditions in Loulan ancient city and Lop Nur area shocked the world with their great value and countless quantities. 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. Another important discovery was that Japanese explorer Ju Ruichao discovered 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". The most important document unearthed is Li Bo's document. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Li Bo represented Liang Qian as a long history of the Western Regions and was stationed in Loulan. He wrote Li Bo's letter to Yanqi King, hoping to keep in touch with Yanqi. According to Li Bo's documentary records, Haitou ancient city was discovered, and a large number of ancient cultural relics were taken away for Loulan in the later period of research, and a series of monographs on Loulan in Lop Nur were written and published, praising Loulan as "Pompeii City in the East".

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 was the only archaeologist in China who had been to Lop Nur before liberation.

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.

& Loulan site

During the period of 1988, the cultural relics team of Lop Nur organized by the cultural relics department of the autonomous region, with the cooperation and assistance of the troops, discovered two ancient cities, such as Haitou (Stan number lk), in the southwest of Loulan ancient city, drew the first topographic map of these two ancient cities in China, and collected a number of precious cultural relics specimens, which further filled the archaeological gap in Lop Nur area. 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 passes through the city, and the remaining main houses in the city are still well preserved. Except for the missing roof, other parts, such as doors and windows, are clearly identifiable. The courtyard walls of residential areas are made of mud that binds reeds into bundles or weaves wickers. All the wooden houses, the pillars of Hu Yangmu; There is a unique tulou in the city center, with a wall thickness of 1. 1 m and a residual height of 2 m, which faces south and seems to be the residence of the ruler of Guloulan. The mound in the east of the city turned out to be a pagoda for residents to worship Buddha.

& Xiaohe cemetery

1934, Dangheding came to Loulan again. They found the cemetery of Loulan people, the cemetery of Xiaohe and some well-preserved mummies. In 2003, the national archaeological team conducted an archaeological excavation in Xiaohe cemetery and found a well-preserved female corpse named Princess Xiaohe, which is now in the Xinjiang Museum.

This river may be an ancient site of Loulan-a public cemetery for residents of the ancient city. After nearly a hundred years of busy explorers and archaeologists, many large tombs and funerary objects have been discovered in the Rob Desert.

& Sun Tomb

Located on the north bank of the ancient Peacock River. It was discovered by northeast archaeologists Hou Can and Wang Binghua in 1979. There are dozens of ancient tombs, each of which is a tomb of the dead surrounded by a circular stake in the middle, and the outside is surrounded by a stake more than one foot high for seven times, forming several rays, like the rays of the sun. According to the determination of carbon 14, the Sun Tomb has a history of 3800 years.

The "Loulan Beauty" of Indo-European race was unearthed here. Nearly 65,438+00 ancient human sites have been discovered, and some human relics, such as stone balls, hand-made Gaza pottery fragments, bronze fragments, triangular wing bronze cymbals, animal bones, beads, etc., are exposed on the surface of yellow land that is not completely covered by sand dunes. There are also some stone knives, Shi Mao, stone arrows, tiny stone leaves and stone cores. From 5000 to 6000 years ago. This clearly shows that Loulan, which is still barren, did grow green grass from the late Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age to the early Han Dynasty, and the forest coverage rate reached 40%.

The reason of Loulan's demise

Loulan City was discovered from under the sand dunes, but a bigger mystery puzzled the explorers: Why did Loulan City disappear for a long time, the oasis became a desert and Gobi, and the sand was buried in the city? At present, there are several reasons, and the specific detailed reasons need to be further determined.

1. Loulan declined due to drought and water shortage and ecological deterioration, and the upstream river was cut off and diverted, so people had to leave Loulan.

Loulan disappeared in the war. After the 5th century AD, the kingdom of Loulan began to weaken, the northern Xianbei people invaded, and Loulan City was broken and then abandoned.

3. The disappearance of Loulan is related to the opening of the Northern Silk Road. After the opening of the Northern Silk Road in Hami and Turpan, the ancient Silk Road and Desert Road passing through Loulan were abandoned, and Loulan lost its former glory.

4. Died of the plague. From the ruins of the ancient city, there are many mousetraps. It can be guessed that nine of the ten residents in Loulan City died of a plague, and those who survived by luck fled Loulan and other places.

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.

The disappearance of Loulan is also related to people destroying the ecological balance of nature. Loulan is located at the crossroads of the Silk Road, where nomadic peoples such as Han and Xiongnu often provoke wars. Over-cultivation for the benefit of the country has seriously damaged water conservancy facilities and good plants: "After the 3rd century, the riverbed of the lower reaches of Tarim River, which flowed into Lop Nur, was silted by wind and sand, and now it is diverted to the south in the southeast of Yuli", resulting in Loulan being "desolate" and "the country has been deserted for a long time, and the city is deserted."

Today, the local Uighurs in Shanshan are called Piqiang, and a local weed, Malan grass, is rare at present.

The origin of this name may be due to the establishment of two counties in Shanshan area in Tang Dynasty, one is Puchang County and the other is Liu Zhong County. Puchang is close to the dermal cavity and has been circulated for many years to become a dermal cavity.

Loulan people, Aryans in the strict sense, migrated and settled here, and merged with the local Han/Qiang people, forming a new look at that time. The descendants of Loulan people now live in the village next to the ancient city of Milan, and Loulan culture also affects the lives of Xinjiang people today. Today, there are three dialects in Uygur language, and the Luobu language family is one of them. Although Loulan people and Loulan civilization have passed away, he left us with unsolved mysteries and the inheritance of those cultures. From the pearl of the Silk Road to being gradually submerged by dust, the glorious centuries were not peaceful, with prosperity, wars and natural disasters. A generation does what a generation does, and a city crosses the memory of a city.