Historical overview of Hexi Corridor

The earliest Hexi Corridor in history is the settlement of Tuholo, Yueshi, Han, Tibetan and Qiang people in the primitive Indo-European language family. Tuhuoluo people set off from North Road and South Road to the east until they were stopped by Xiongnu. Part of the North Road settled in Qiuci and Yanqi, established Qiuci and Yanqi, and developed Qiuci and Yanqi respectively.

Another Tuhuoluo people, distributed in the south road, was founded in Khotan, Shanshan and other countries, adjacent to the Hexi Corridor in the east. During the civil revolution at the end of Qin Dynasty, the Yue clan was powerful, and the East Lake tribe in the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau threatened the Xiongnu nomads in the Gobi Desert and Yinshan Mountain in the south from two aspects. Xiongnu once sent hostages to Yueshi.

At the end of Qin dynasty, Xiongnu proton fled back from Yue family and killed his father to stand on his own feet. In the Moduhan era about 205-202 years ago, the Huns defeated the Yue nationality several times, and the Yue nationality began to move westward and left the Hexi Corridor. 162 years ago, Lao Shangdan defeated the Vietnamese again and occupied the Hexi Corridor. Yue tribe moved westward on a large scale, defeated Daxia, and established Wang Ting, which was called Yue in history. People who stay in their original place of residence are called abortion.

The Xiaoyue family merged with the local Qiang people and belonged to Xiongnu Right Wang Xian. Hexi Corridor became the territory of Xiutu King and Xiongnu Evil King. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the main non-Han residents in Hexi Corridor were called Lushuihu.

Mainly composed of Xiao Yueshi. In addition, there is a small Yueshi tribe in Huangzhong, called Yueshi Hu in Huangzhong; In Zhangye's small tribe, they are called the Boxer Rebellion. Some scholars believe that the ancestors of the Jie nationality may be a branch of Xiaoyue.

brief introduction

Hexi Corridor, located to the west of the Yellow River in China, is a long and narrow plain with northwest-southeast trend, which looks like a corridor, hence the name, the only way for the Silk Road.

Its range starts from Wushaoling in the east, reaches Yumenguan in the west, and reaches between Nanshan (Qilian Mountain and Altun Mountain) and Beishan (Mazong Mountain, Heli Mountain and Longshou Mountain) in the north. It can enter Mobei along the grassland Silk Road through Juyanhai, with a length of about 900 kilometers and a width ranging from several kilometers to nearly 100 kilometers. The whole territory governs Gansu Province, Haidong City of Qinghai Province, Xining City and some Ejina Banner of Inner Mongolia. Because most of them are in Gansu Province, it is also called "Gansu Corridor".

After the earliest, it was the territory of Yue and Xiongnu. Since the opening of Hexi and Leisi counties by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it has been an important channel connecting the Central Plains with Xinjiang in the western regions, a part of the eastern end of the ancient Silk Road, and an important international channel for political, economic and cultural exchanges between ancient China and the western world. For most of China's history, Hexi Corridor has been the northwest end of China's unified dynasty. Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty all controlled Hexi Corridor.

Extended data:

climate

The climate is dry and little rain (because it is far from the sea), which belongs to temperate desert climate, but the snow water in Qilian Mountain can be used for oasis agriculture in summer.

administrative division

Geographically, it includes Lanzhou, Gansu (Jincheng County), Xining, Qinghai, Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia and the "Four Counties of Hexi": Wuwei (formerly known as Liangzhou), Zhangye (Ganzhou), Jiuquan (Suzhou) and Dunhuang (Shazhou), while Guazhou and Shanshan are not included in the "Four Counties of Hexi".

During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up Hexi, and the "four counties" were Wuwei County, Zhangye County, Jiuquan County and Dunhuang County. The Western Han Dynasty once set up Xihai County in Qinghai, and the Eastern Han Dynasty set up Xihai County in Juyanhai.

culture

Hexi Corridor has a long history and culture, and places of interest are like the Milky Way. The four archaeological wonders of China in the 20th century: the archives of the Forbidden City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Anyang, the suicide note in Dunhuang and the bamboo slips in Juyan, are all related to the Hexi Corridor. Mata Yan Fei, a tourist symbol of China, was also unearthed here, and the farming civilization of the Chinese nation is still preserved here.

Starting from Jincheng (Lanzhou), it crossed Wushaoling, the boundary between Loess Plateau and Hexi Plain, and officially entered Hexi Corridor. Hexi Corridor runs from southeast to northwest, passing through Liangzhou (Wuwei), Ganzhou (Zhangye), Jiayuguan, Suzhou (Jiuquan), Guazhou and Shazhou (Dunhuang) at the eastern end, and extending to the vicinity of Yumenguan.

Hexi Corridor is extremely rich in cultural relics, with high artistic achievements and excellent cultural relics. Bamboo slips, painted pottery, murals, rock paintings, sculptures, ancient city ruins, etc. Each has its own characteristics and complements each other. It is simply a brilliant "cultural corridor".

Because it is the main road of Buddhism spreading eastward, there are still a large number of grottoes here: Tiantai Mountain Grottoes in Wuwei, Horseshoe Grottoes in Zhangye, Yulin Grottoes in Guazhou and Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang ... Grottoes are scattered along the corridor, so Hexi Corridor is also called "Grottoes Art Corridor".

The ancient Silk Road started from Xi 'an, crossed the Hexi Corridor, and entered Xinjiang from Yangguan and Yumenguan respectively. Therefore, Hexi Corridor has become the hub section of the ancient Silk Road, connecting the material trade and cultural exchanges between Asia, Africa and Europe. Here, the eastern and western cultures are stirring with each other, accumulating spectacular historical civilization.

Regarding this advantage of the Hexi Corridor, Ji Xianlin commented: "There are only four cultural systems with a long history, vast territory, self-contained system and far-reaching influence in the world, including China, Indian, Greek and Islamic, and there is no fifth one; There is only one place where these four cultural systems meet, that is, Hexi Corridor in China and Dunhuang in Xinjiang, and there is no second one. "

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-Hexi corridor