Where is Loulan City in China?

Loulan Ancient City is located in the north of Ruoqiang County, Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, 220km southwest of Ruoqiang County and 28km east of the west bank of Lop Nur. The ancient city is located at 89 55' 22 "east longitude and 40 29' 55" north latitude. Ruins are scattered on the Ya Dan terrain on the west bank of Lop Nur. It used to be an important town on the Silk Road.

According to archaeologists, human activities in the Tarim Basin have a history of more than 10,000 years. Although many scholars have made great efforts, the rise and fall of the ancient city of Loulan is still a mystery, and the site of Loulan has also become the focus of world attention.

Loulan was originally a small tribe with water as its companion. The discovery of a large number of microliths in Loulan Tomb and Lop Nur shows that Loulan was originally a nomadic people. After the opening of the Silk Road, the commercial exchanges between the East and the West increased day by day, which brought unprecedented prosperity to Loulan economy. The introduction of foreign civilization, especially Han civilization, accelerated the development of Loulan urban civilization.

Loulan Kingdom was founded in BC 176 and died in AD 630, with a history of more than 800 years. The range starts from the vicinity of Guyangguan in the east, the ancient city of Niya in the west, Altun Mountain in the south and Hami in the north. Loulan City was an important political and economic center in the early days of Loulan State, which flourished on the ancient Silk Road. Here, the terrain is flat, the water is abundant, and the vegetation is lush. There are fish, shrimp, cattail, wild hemp, jade, donkey, horse, red deer, camel and other products. Rich in products and prosperous people. Residents make a living by fishing, hunting and animal husbandry. On the ancient Silk Road, Loulan Road is the main passage, starting from Yumenguan and Yangguan in Dunhuang, passing through Sanlongsha, Aqike Valley and Bailongdui, arriving at Loulan Ancient City via Tuyin, and then reaching the hinterland of the western regions along Peacock River. Loulan is the crossroads in the east of Tarim Basin, which leads to the whole western region from east to west, forming a traffic network. Loulan is the transportation hub of the ancient western regions.

Historically, Loulan was one of the 36 countries in the Western Regions, bordering Dunhuang and closely related to the Han Dynasty around A.D. The records of Loulan in ancient times were based on the Records of Hanshu Biography of the Western Regions, Faxian and Xuanzang. Hanshu Biography 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, 4.4 1 10,000 people. Fa Xian said: "This land is rugged and barren. The layman's clothes are the same as those of Han, but the carpet is different in brown. Its king obeys the law. There are more than 4,000 monks who know Hinayana Buddhism. " At the end of the trip, Genjyo Sanzo made a simple explanation: "Since then, he has traveled more than 1,000 miles to the northeast, and came to the old country, that is, the land of Loulan. "

Loulan City is the early political, economic and cultural center of Loulan Kingdom. Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest, Ruoqiang and Qiemo in the southwest. The ancient Silk Road diverged from Loulan in the north and south, and Loulan City was surrounded by mountains and waters. As a transportation hub in the hinterland of Asia, it has played an important role in cultural exchanges between the East and the West. As early as 77 BC, Loulan area was an oasis with developed agriculture in the western regions. In the Tang Dynasty, "Loulan" almost became synonymous with remoteness. In Li Bai's Song of Xia Sai, there is a poem "I would like to bend my sword around my waist to make it a temporary Loulan". Why the once-prosperous western region town quickly withdrew from the historical stage after the 3rd century A.D. is a mystery that has not been really solved so far ... The cultural relics unearthed at Loulan site shocked the world, including the precious manuscripts of the Warring States policy of the Jin Dynasty. Archaeologists also unearthed a female mummy in Loulan's tomb. According to the determination, this mummy has been found for 3000 years. It was named "Loulan Beauty", with complete clothes and delicate face. Other cultural relics include Han brocade with fine workmanship, five baht coins of Han Dynasty, coins of Guangxi and Shuangguo, coins of Tang Dynasty and coins of Chinese language.

How prosperous the ancient city of Loulan used to be, and the walls were as thick as eight meters, but now? But why did Loulan City suddenly abandon the city? In addition to lack of water and food, historians have two conjectures. One is the plague, because some bodies were found, but if so, why did the bodies die tragically without hands and legs? If it's war, there are too few bodies. For a hundred years, no one can solve the mystery of the ancient city of Loulan.

190 1 year, Swede Sven Hedin accidentally discovered this ancient city while exploring Lop Nur. In the past century, people have walked into this ancient city again and again with admiration and yearning, defying hardships and dangers. The distance from the north shore of Lop Nur to the ancient city of Loulan is 30 kilometers. During this period, Yadantai, which is nearly 10 kilometers, can only be walked. If the weather is fine, you can see the beacon tower standing in the ancient city of Loulan when you stand 5 kilometers away, but it takes 3 hours to walk 5 kilometers.

The largest existing ancient city in Loulan is an irregular square with an area of about 108000 square meters. The walls of the ancient city have already collapsed due to wind erosion, and the original scale can be vaguely distinguished from the existing rubble, and the wall foundation between the rubble has been leveled by desert wind. Around the beacon tower, there used to be a large number of beams and columns. Now all we can see is a few damaged houses in the southeast of the beacon tower. Scattered wood is piled up on the roof and walls, woven with tamarisk and reed, and covered with grass mud. Seen from the beacon tower, this area is the military zone of the city. In the past, there was a river in the north and south outside the ancient city, which was the water source for the garrison in the city.