Historical Records of Kubuqi Desert

In the ancient literature of Qin and Han dynasties, there is no record of Kubuqi Desert detected so far. The earliest record of Kubuqi Desert appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. According to Shu Wei's records, in the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun in the Northern Wei Dynasty (446), Diao Yong, the general of Baogulu Town, talked about the water transport channel from Baogulu Town to Woye Town and the early Kubuqi Desert in his recitation to Wei Ting. At that time, Bo Gu Luzhen was located near Gucheng Bay in the northwest of wuzhong, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on the central mainland of the ancient Yellow River. Woye Town is located in the north of Wuliangsuhai in the north of Urad Qianqi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, just south of Genzichang Village in Sudulun Township. The land transportation line between the two towns runs from southwest to northeast. Diao Yong wrote at the recitation: "It is 800 miles from Chenzhen (the author refers to Bo Gu Law Town) to Woye Town. The road is deep and sandy, and it is still difficult to travel light. Now there are twenty-five lakes in the valley, and when they reach deep sand, they will stagnate. Also, the valley is in Hexi, turn to Woye and cross the river ... ".

The Water Classic Annotation written in the Northern Wei Dynasty also preserved the data of the early Kubuqi Desert. Li Daoyuan wrote in "Notes on Water Classics and Rivers III": "Yu Yi, south of Nanhe, Beihe and Anyang County, is close to Shafuer, which is like a mountain. Therefore, "Guang Zhi" said, "In the north of Shuofang County, there are seven places to move sand, and there are no mountains to imitate". It is the seclusion of "sound and meaning". Li Daoyuan was born in the fourth year of Huangxing in the Northern Wei Dynasty (470) and died in the third year of Xiaochang (527). Water Mirror Zhu was written naturally before his death, slightly later than the first year of Jingming to the third year of Xiaochang (500~527). (Jin's Introduction to Historical and Geographical Documents of China, p. 1 13, Shanxi People's Publishing House, p. 1987. In other words, the mobile sand dunes (seven quicksands) recorded in this book are the status and position of Kubuqi Desert in the early 6th century. Li Daoyuan's so-called "South River" refers to the general location of the Yellow River today (in fact, it is in the south of the current river, which will be detailed later), and Anyang County is ruled in the south of Wulashan Mountain in Wulate Qianqi, Inner Mongolia today. This shows that the quicksand landscape is located in the south of the "South River" (now the Yellow River), which is the Kubuqi desert area in the northern part of Hangjinqi. In his treatise, Mr. Wang Beichen said: "According to the notes, there were sand dunes south of the South River at that time, which Li Daoyuan saw with his own eyes, but he didn't know its scope."

At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the early Kubuqi Desert was still mentioned by people at that time, calling it "Shasai". "Zhou Shu Wendy Ji" contains: In the second year of Xiaoxi in the Northern Wei Dynasty (533), when Yu Wentai (Black Otter) and He Bayue discussed the situation in Lingzhou and Zhou Xia in Kansai, they once said: "If the public leads troops to Gansu ... to collect Qiang people in the west, help Sasai in the north, return to Chang 'an and restore the Wei family, it will be Huan Wen's move. "It is worth noting that He Bayue was stationed in Pingliang and took control of the Kansai States such as Lingling and Qin. The so-called "sand plug" here refers to Lingling in the north of Hangjinqi today and the quicksand zone on the northern edge of Zhou Xia-Kubuqi Desert. Because it runs east-west, it is no exaggeration to call it the "sand plug" of Pinghu Ridge and Zhou Xia. However, some scholars believe that "he called the Xia Ling area' Shasai', which proved that there was accumulated sand between Xia Ling and Xia in 533, which may be a frontier fortress. In this picture, several pieces of quicksand are painted outside the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty and the southern edge of Zhou Xia, which is just a sign. "This view is not in line with historical reality. If Sasaki lies between spirit and summer, or on the southern edge of Zhou Xia, won't spirit and summer be placed outside Sasaki? This is obviously contrary to the political situation at that time.

By the end of the 8th century, Kubuqi Desert was recorded by the Tang Dynasty and named as "Kujiesha" (or Punasha, or Bonesha). During the Zhenyuan period of Tang Dezong (785-805), Prime Minister Jia Dan described the southern edge position, local distribution width and its relationship with the Yellow River and lake springs in his book From Bianzhou to Siwaiqi Road, which provided us with clues about the distribution range of the early Kubuqi desert. The original text is as follows: Zhou Xia crossed Wushui in the north, crossed Lin Ze and Bali Ganze, crossed the sand, and crossed the shovel, Woyebo, Changze and Baicheng for the second time, and reached the source of Zhuke muddy water in 120. ..... Tread through Zhuoquan Ancient Town, cross Wuna Water in 88 miles, cross Luo Hu Yanchi, fugan Spring, and settle sand in 48 miles, which is called Punasha. 28 miles across the water; Fifty-nine miles to Shibencheng, ten miles to Ningyuan Town, involving root water (according to the author, this is the south branch of the Yellow River), and fifty miles to Anle Tree. The troops are stationed on the west bank of the Yellow River, and there are ancient big cities on its east bank. Today is a big city, so Yongjimen is also. The highway from Zhou Xia to Datong passes through Una Water (downstream of Tao Le Gully, a seasonal river near Hangjinqi's residence, called Rabbit River in Qing Dynasty), then passes through Luo Hu Yanchi (now Bayanwusu Salt Sea in Hangjinqi, also called Hari Mangnainao, and called Guodi Pool in Qing Dynasty) and Gefu Ganquan (now north of Wudingbula Village and Menen Village in Bayanwusu Town of Hangjinqi), from which it crosses the reservoir to form sand, and walks about 2 hours from Hengshui to, Li Tang. Ningyuan Town is a military town, located on the south bank of Tanggenshui (a tributary of the Yellow River in Tang Dynasty). Based on this, it can be inferred that the north-south width of Tang Dezong Zhenyuan Kujiesha (early Kubuqi Desert) is about 97 tonli. According to Tang Dali's calculation of about 540 meters, 97 Tang Rio is equivalent to 52380 meters, that is, 104.76 Li, that is, 52.38 kilometers. It is located between Gefuganquan (now north of Dimbla Village and Mengen Village) and Ningyuan Town (now southwest of Naoer Village in Shage). However, the place names around "Kujiesha" have yet to be verified, including "Hengshui" and "Stone City", and the work has yet to be carried out. Wang Beichen believes that Hengshui is a tributary on the west side of Kunduigou, Maobulage, so it can be prepared. Therefore, the river should be in the south of Saiyin Wusu, Mailegou and Daolao Wusu in Kubuqisha area in the north of Hanggin Banner. The former site of Shibencheng is located in the southwest of Sharizhao (Wulan Aodu), about 5.4 kilometers south of Shagenaoer village, according to its north distance from Ningyuan Town 10 Li Tang (5.4 kilometers, that is, 10.8 Li). It takes about 365,438+0,860 meters, that is, 365,438+0.860 kilometers (63.720 miles), from 5 9 Tangli in Hengshui northbound to Shiben City. Hangjinqi cultural relics workers found a Han Dynasty site in the desert north of Saiyin Wusu Village and east of Nalin Horaho Village (temporarily called "Nalin Horaho Site"), just southwest of Sharizhao (Wulan Aodu), but due to quicksand, the appearance of the site has not been ascertained. Therefore, the site of Nalin Horaho in Han Dynasty is probably the old stone city (Shuofang County, Han Dynasty) recorded in the Tang Dynasty literature. If this judgment is correct, the road from Zhouxia North to Tian Tong Decheng in the Tang Dynasty will pass through here. To sum up, according to the relevant documents recorded in the seventh year of Taiping Town in the Northern Wei Dynasty (446), the third year of Xiaochang (527), the second year of Yongxi (533) and the first year of Tang Dezong Town (785-805), the distribution pattern of Kubuqi Desert at the beginning of the ninth century can be briefly summarized as follows: it starts from the Yellow River in the west, reaches a tributary of the South Yellow River in the north, and reaches MaoPrague in the north of Hangjinqi in the east. The description of Kubuqi Desert in Tang poetry was two years after the founding of Tang Dezong (78 1). Most of the poems written by Li Yi during the "Hequ" are about Kujiesha area. He described the marginal landscape of Kujiesha (the early Kubuqi Desert) in Poem of Drinking Horses and Grinding Sword and Stone in Six Hubei Provinces during the Military Night. This excerpt is as follows: I walked in the air and saw the power of phosphorus and grass in the sand, and there was no Hu Er grinding the sword stone. At that time, the sword was washed with blood, and the grass and sand are red to this day. I ask because of the stone, and the water whimpers at the grass roots. ..... Play the sword for mourning, and the wind and sand will fall. The horses were full of hissing, but there was no sign of Hu in Bi Yuntian. ..... The holy king divided Hu into six countries, all of which were. Han Gong's three cities cut off Hu Road, and Han Jia's million villages are in autumn. ..... Today, I draw a sword and draw a stone, telling you that I will always be Tang Xiu. I also smell the spirits and spirits, pour wine for me and wish the east flow. If you are a soul, you can go back to your hometown; The battlefield is barren and can't stay long. The "drinking horses and sharpening swords" recorded in the poem is the place where the poet stopped to drink horses on his way north, which is located in the north of Liuhuzhou. The area of Liuhuzhou is roughly equivalent to the eastern half of Otog Banner in Inner Mongolia, the western edge of Uxin Banner and the northern edge of Dingbian County in Shaanxi and Yanchi County in Ningxia. Accordingly, the place of "drinking horses and grinding swords" should be between Zhaoshao on the northern border of Otog Banner and Yatu (or Yaodu) on the southern border of Hangjinqi Banner. In the Tang Dynasty, there should be an inland Koizumi Creek flowing from west to east, which became a place where pedestrians from south to north stopped to drink horses. However, in the second year of Zhong Jian (78 1), the surface of this place has shown a trend of desertification. "I walked in the air and saw the phosphorus in the sand, the power of the grass, and there was no Hu Er grinding the sword stone." "Play a sword for it, and the wind and sand will sink everywhere." "The battlefield is deserted, and I can't stay long." Quicksand is timely. The poem's "empty moraine" and "the battlefield is desolate and uninhabited, and you can't stay alone for a long time" just reflect that it is located on the southern edge of the reservoir, with extremely sparse population and few people settling down. It is worth noting that the sand in Kubuqi Desert is red and yellow, which coincides with the phrase "grass and sand are red so far" in the article. The so-called "sand pool" by the poet is a documentary work. The Maowusu desert in the south of the plateau is pale yellow, which is obviously different from it. Another article by Yi Lee, Breaking Shana in the North for the Second Time, directly describes the desert scene in the sand-restricted area of the reservoir. "Seeing the wind and sand flow, the grass can't be saved in the end." This is a long and lifeless image of quicksand. However, his "Breaking Shana Early" sang: "Breaking the sand head geese fly, and the ostrich spring returns from the war. Tomorrow, I will go out to the southeast and put on cold iron clothes. " He recited the early landforms in the hinterland of Kubuqi desert, which should be distributed in the northern area from Wudingbula Village, Mengen Village, Bayanwusu Town, Hanggin Banner to the lower reaches of Moren River.