Travel Notes in Northwest China: Xining Story

I haven't traveled with a group for a long time.

I still remember when I was in graduate school, six boys made an appointment to go on a self-help tour in Europe. They are nervous. In fact, it is not difficult to find it in Italy and Switzerland. Things were stolen, the car stalled, expressway was fined ... All kinds of troubles encountered during the trip became the best memories in the future.

From then on, Al fell in love with the self-help tour, prepared in advance and recalled afterwards, as if a holiday had been extended indefinitely.

However, do you want to help yourself in this activity of challenging the Great Northwest Link in China? Is the choice we faced from the beginning.

Considering that Qinghai and Gansu are vast after all, the distance between towns is too far, and we are strangers, once something happens, there is really no way to ask for help. So I decided to travel with a group in the future. There are always four boys in the same trade, and they are also members who ventured to Europe together that year. In fact, at first, they were always worried about whether they could not integrate into the group. Fortunately, the travel experience exceeded expectations and the members became good friends, so I decided to write down my travel notes.

Al has always been used to recording all his feelings and happiness in his travel notes. However, this trip is closely related to the theme of "Silk Road", so I want to challenge it, add more knowledge about history, geography and geology, and fill the whole northwest link into a more complete knowledge chain.

When I came up with this idea in the last few days of my trip, I began to look up the information constantly. Maybe some content is inevitably boring, but I try to sort out these historical stories in a way that ordinary people can understand.

For the integrity of the story, each article will be very long. I want to know Xining, Qilian, Zhangye, Dunhuang, Delingha and Qinghai Lake. What shaped them into what we see now? Welcome to browse to help you sleep.

As a gift for the new captain Aonio.

The first story begins in Xining.

Living on an island, I have never been to the western region. Before signing up for this trip, I was full of all kinds of imaginations about the northwest. What is the desert like? What's the feeling of plateau? I can only extend from the "seaside beach" and "alpine grassland" I have seen.

"Probably multiplied by 1000 times? This is my psychological expectation. Of course, I was worried about the local conditions, so I brought a lot of dry food and snacks, so that the tour leader was shocked to see my heavy luggage.

Fly to Caojiabao Airport in Xining, with an altitude of 2184m. The runway of the airport is close to the mountain wall, and the scenery is still magnificent.

Caojiabao Airport is located in Haidong City, about 40 minutes' drive from downtown Xining. I took a taxi and didn't see any special scenery all the way because it was getting late.

After putting the luggage in the hotel, we hurried to the nearby Mojia Street for dinner.

For a tourist, Mojia Street is just a night market, where there are all kinds of delicious food. All kinds of healthy mutton, yogurt, fermented glutinous rice and yak bone soup are full of the characteristics of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

However, apart from eating and visiting, if you carefully observe the scenic spots you have visited, you will find that many obscure place names in China actually have historical allusions.

For example, Mojia Street in front of you.

There are two theories about its origin.

The first argument is that Yan Song and Yan Shifan, the great traitor in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, were father and son.

According to legend, Mo Huaigu, an official of the Ministry of Rites, has a "cold and warm lamp" in his home, which is a jade wine glass. When you hold wine in this cup, it is warm in winter and cool in summer, and the wine tastes mellow.

Yan Song's son Yan Shifan heard that Mo Huaigu had this treasure, so he took the opportunity to let him hand it over. Mo Huaigu refused to hand it over, but Yan Song and his son framed him and sent Mo Huaigu to Xining. After arriving in Xining, Mo Huaigu built a temple in the local area to worship the ancestral tablets. The road in front of the temple is called Mojia Street.

This statement is very dramatic, and it also conforms to Yan Shifan's image of "cunning and greedy for money".

After all, Emperor Jiajing was superstitious about Taoism, and Yan Shifan was good at writing Taoist eulogy Qing Ci. It is said that Yan Song won the favor of the emperor with his son's skill. Yan Shifan also divided his father into Zuo Assistant Minister of Xiaohong, who advised Chaogang.

Besides, Yan Shifan also likes to collect rare antiques.

Gu Gongxie wrote a story in "Excerpts from Summer" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty: "Wang Huan in Taicang has a collection of the famous painting" The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival "by Zhang Zeduan in the Northern Song Dynasty. When Yan Shifan found out, he forced him to ask for it, and Wang Huan gave the copy to Yan Song. Tomson, the framer, recognized the painting as a fake and testified that it could only be confirmed if the horned bird stepped on two tiles. Yan Song was so angry that he tried to kill Wang Tuan. 」

Gu Gongxie is a native of Taicang, Jiangsu, and Wang You is also a native of Taicang, Jiangsu. It is reasonable for Gu Gongxie to write stories for his fellow villagers 200 years ago.

In fact, Yan Song did put Wang You, who was in charge of state affairs, in prison and killed him because the tidal river burst its banks. However, is it because of the dramatic factors in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival?

We don't know.

The story of Mo Huaigu's demotion to Xining is just too dramatic, which is similar to the content of a handful of snow in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The protagonist of A Grab of Snow is called Mo Huaigu (only one word apart from the above-mentioned Mo Huaigu), and the prototype character is considered to be the above-mentioned Wang Ying.

It is worth mentioning that Yan Shifan also has a famous "lascivious" image. Ximen Qing in Jin Ping Mei, one of China's four fantastic books, is said to be Yan Shifan.

Then Lan Ling, the author of Jin Ping Mei, gave birth with a smile. There is a saying that his real identity is Wang Shizhen, a great scholar in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and the minister of Nanjing punishments.

Wang Shizhen's father is Wang You.

Therefore, the first statement about Mojia Street probably only depends on the unjust case of the legendary Jin Ping Mei and The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival.

The second statement is based on the preface of the Ancient Yellow Mohist Family Tree written by Zhang Sixian, a poet in the late Qing Dynasty.

In this version, the ancestor of the Mohs family is Maud, who followed Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and was named hereditary commander of Xining Wei (equivalent to the captain of the Public Security Bureau) for his meritorious service, and was later appointed by Geng Bingwen to be responsible for the fortification project of Xining.

Please note that the word "hereditary" is added to this command post.

Does it feel awesome?

In fact, it is because Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, had an extremely conservative desire for control when designing the system, and wanted to firmly tie the hukou, occupation and land together.

-that is to say, what is the father's occupation, and the son can only do this occupation.

-if the father is a butcher, the son can only be a butcher no matter how weak. And you can only stay in your hometown forever, and you are not allowed to work in the city with your skill!

Militarily, the Ming Dynasty adopted the "garrison system". The health center is a military unit. For example, Xining Health Center is a health center. According to Lao Zhu's design, the soldiers and grass-roots officers in the unit are hereditary.

So, after Momo died, his son Moyun inherited him! Later, Mo Yun was named Tongzhi Commander (equivalent to the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau) and was allowed to build the Mo House in the city.

So the road in front of Mojia ancestral hall is called Mojia Street.

This statement is in line with historical facts. According to Records of the Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to build a city in Xining in A.D. 1386, which was built by Pu Ying, but it was not completed at that time. Why didn't you finish it? Because the next year, Pu Ying was transferred to Mongolia to follow Shengfeng's Northern Expedition.

Please remember the name Shengfeng. When this series of stories talk about Jiayuguan, we will introduce him in great length.

Although Puying has been transferred, the unfinished business has to continue. 1387, Geng Bingwen, who had just finished fighting in Yunnan, was transferred to Xining to take over the fortification project.

Just ask Geng Bingwen for the job of building a city. His military reputation is "good defense". When fighting Zhang Shicheng, he was responsible for defending Changxing, Zhejiang. Facing Zhang Shicheng across Taihu Lake 10 year!

He was also one of the few survivors of Zhu Yuanzhang's heroes who killed the enemy in his later years, so after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Judy, the prince of Yan, launched the Jingnan Revolution, and there were only a few veterans who participated in the war! At the age of 66, Geng Bingwen was ordered to guard Hebei in danger, and Judy could not break it. Unfortunately, Wen Jian later replaced the veteran Geng Bingwen with Li Jinglong, the son of Tsao Gong Li Wenzhong ... Finally, Judy became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Incidentally, it is said that the North Temple in Xining Scenic Area was also built by Geng Bingwen.

The story background of the above two statements differs by more than 150 years.

Geng Bingwen and Maud were figures in the early Ming Dynasty.

Yan Song, Yan Shifan and Mo Huaigu (assuming such people really exist) all entered the late Ming Dynasty.

In these two stories, there is a historical information about Xining. Xining, a city, seems to be isolated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and alienated from the Central Plains Dynasty? Is that really the case?

I'll sell it first, and I'll reveal it to you later.

In the afternoon 10, the team leader called everyone to have a meeting in the hotel room.

Everyone introduced themselves, and after a round of introductions, I only think that everyone is a little brother and sister between the ages of 20 and early 30.

Why did you sign up for this group? It is precisely because it has an upper age limit that you can't participate when you are over 40, so we quickly caught the tail of youth on the eve of the upper age limit.

I only remember the names of the team leader and deputy team leader that night. After briefly introducing the itinerary, the team leader asked if there were any questions. I immediately raised my hand and said, "Which days are the coldest? 」

The tour leader said, "It will be coldest to enter Qilian Mountain tomorrow. 」

It was the end of August, and I arrived in Xining that night. I feel the climate is very dry and pleasant, which is different from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau I imagined. In fact, the climate in Xining is really good. The average monthly temperature of the whole year will not drop below zero at least during the day, and it will be around 25 degrees in summer. However, this is a special case of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Because Xining is located in Huangshui Valley, the valley and river water regulate the local climate.

There are not many warm valleys in the whole Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with one in Xining and one in Lhasa.

If you look down from the sky, the downtown area of Xining is cross-shaped. Along the river bank, the horizontal direction is Huang Shuihe, and the vertical direction is its tributaries Nanchuan River and Beichuan River.

As for Huangshui, a tributary of the Yellow River, Xining can go downstream to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu.

This geographical factor has greatly changed my understanding of the route of "the starting point of the Silk Road".

Speaking of the Silk Road, we all know that it is a trans-Eurasian trade route. The eastern starting point of the Silk Road can generally be located in Xi 'an.

From Xi 'an along the Weihe River Valley, you can go to Tianshui. From Tianshui to Taohe Valley, you can reach Lanzhou. Lanzhou is already in Gansu province, and then from the northwest to Hexi Corridor, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, until Yumenguan in the west. From the map, this is logical. ..... This is what most people know as the "starting point of the Silk Road".

Unfortunately, there is an immature little problem in the middle.

This little problem happened in the section "from Lanzhou to Hexi Corridor".

Besides Lamian Noodles, Lanzhou is also important because it is the intersection of Loess Plateau, Guanzhong Plain, Hexi Corridor and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with convenient transportation. However, there is a mountain range in the northwest of Lanzhou. Everyone must have heard of it. It's called Wushaoling.

Wushaoling is the dividing line of monsoon Asia in geography textbooks. In other words, the water vapor in the Pacific Ocean can only blow here.

South of Wushaoling is a temperate monsoon climate zone, with annual rainfall exceeding 400 mm, which is still suitable for agriculture.

North of Wushaoling is a temperate continental climate zone, with annual rainfall less than 400 mm, and basically only grazing can be done.

Although the north-south width is only about 10 km, the average elevation of Wushaoling is over 3,000 meters, which is located between Lanzhou and Hexi Corridor, making business travelers who take this road miserable.

What is the hard part?

The description of Wushaoling in history books uses eight very vivid words: "It snows in midsummer, and it's freezing cold".

For example, during the Opium War, Lin Zexu was dismissed by Daoguang and sent to Xinjiang. He recorded his journey through Wushaoling in the summer of 1842 (please note that it was summer): "Wuli Wushaoling is not steep, but its atmosphere is very cold. The mountain on the other side of the west mountain is a snow-capped mountain. This is crazy. Although I wear fur coat, I can't stand the cold. 」

Why is Wushaoling so cold?

Because the Maya Snow Mountain and Leigong Mountain next to Wushaoling Mountain are all about 4400 meters high, with snow all year round. The attack of cold air caused the annual average temperature in Wushaoling to be only -2.2 degrees.

Gannan and Longbei have convenient modern transportation, because the Lanzhou-Xinjiang double-track railway project started in 2003, and it took three years to open the longest Wushaoling railway tunnel in Asia at that time. Five "Wushaoling Highway Tunnels" with a total length of 43.84 kilometers were opened in 20 13.

However, back to the ancient Silk Road, if you want to go from Lanzhou to Zhangye via Wuwei, it is undoubtedly a chore to take Wushaoling.

Fortunately, you still have a second choice, that is, from Lanzhou directly along the Huangshui River Valley to the west and enter Xining. From Xining to the north, cross the mountain pass and reach Zhangye. It won't be much farther than crossing Wushaoling.

The first half of this route is navigable, and even agriculture can be carried out in warm valleys, which was called "Hehuang area" in ancient times.

The second half of the route is an ancient road named "Border Ferry".

So, we can get to know the city of Xining again.

Although it is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xining is not as far away from Lanzhou, Tianshui and Xi 'an as expected because of the existence of Huangshui River.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Xining had been incorporated into the territory, and it was named Xiping at that time, belonging to Liangzhou.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Xiping belonged to the territory of Wei. Zhuge Liang made five northern expeditions, two from Qishan. The front lines are in Baoji and Tianshui. After Kong Ming's death, Jiang Wei's northern expedition route further advanced westward, and his strategic purpose tended to contact the Qiang people and cut off the connection between Wei and Liangzhou. Thus, in 249 AD, Jiang Wei sent troops to Xiping, but eventually failed.

So we know that in history, Xining was a prominent part of the Han Dynasty on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (although it was sometimes occupied by other nationalities).

The value of Xining depends largely on the Silk Road, because it belongs to the southern line from Lanzhou to Zhangye.

The Silk Road flourished and Xining flourished.

If the Silk Road declines, the importance of Xining is a chicken rib to the Han Dynasty.

Now, do you remember two stories about Mojia Street?

In that more reliable story, Zhu Yuanzhang and Geng Bingwen, who built Xining City, were both from Bozhou, Anhui Province. Pu Ying, from Bozhou, Anhui; Maud is from Shouzhou, Anhui. These places belong to Huaixi, and most of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty came from here, which is called "Huaixi following the rules".

In other words, they are all Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown.

If it is not important, Lao Zhu will inexplicably send his fellow villagers to build a city? And let the fellow villagers inherit the post of the health center? Are villagers allowed to build houses in the city?

That's because the national military was still very strong in the early Ming Dynasty, and it also controlled the western regions. A series of health centers have been established from Dunhuang to Hami, and the Silk Road is still unimpeded.

At that time, Xining City was still prosperous.

But at that time, after 150 years, the Ming Dynasty had many drawbacks and could no longer maintain the glory of the Silk Road. 152 1 year, Emperor Jiajing even ordered the closure of Jiayuguan. It means that there is no legal channel for business travelers to enter China from Hexi Corridor, so how can a series of cities relying on this Silk Road live a good life?

As a result, the legendary official of the Ministry of Rites, Mo Huaigu, was framed and "demoted" to Xining.

It is conceivable that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Mongolian Tusi crossed Qinghai and invaded the city several times. Xining Wei lost the economic and trade interests of the Silk Road, was short of money and food, and had to struggle to support it. Which normal official in this place wants to stay?

However, Xining people have his pride!

During the Chongzhen period, bandits were everywhere and the world was in chaos. The local frontier nationalities in Qinghai rebelled. Li Zicheng once went west, but Shaanxi and Gansu all fell, except Xining, a plateau island.

Xining people held on for several months before they were captured by Xin Enzhong of Li Zicheng Department.

Two months later, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Jingshan Park and died in the Ming Dynasty.

Regarding a series of domino effects around the closure of Jiayuguan in the late Ming Dynasty, I will tell the story clearly in the following article, hoping that everyone will have the patience to read it.

Before going to bed, I took a bunch of grapes from the group leader. Although the fruit is small but sweet, even my friends laugh that the leader is very kind to me. Little did I know that this little friend later did such an indescribable thing with the tour leader (just as a travel notice)!

I didn't sleep well in Xining tonight because of a mosquito.

The poor quality of sleep made me really miserable the next day. Because the Great Northwest Link will start tomorrow, the journey we have to take is the Zhangye South Line mentioned earlier, and we will enter the name that all China people have read and yearned for in history textbooks-

-Qilian Mountain.