introduction
Wang Changling in "From the Army"
"Huangsha wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and does not break the Loulan and will not return it in the end"
The two poems express the arduous combat life and broad hearts of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. In the desolate desert, the soldiers fought bravely, vowing to break the enemy on the frontier.
Lou Lan Ancient Kingdom Hypothetical
However, whether it was the Han Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, the fierce enemies on the frontier successively changed from the Xiongnu to the Tubo and Turkic, but
"Loulan", as a land of bullets on the Silk Road, has a small land and weak national strength.
He is neither qualified nor has the strength to become the number one enemy of the rulers of the Central Plains, so why should he "not break the Loulan and never return it"? What is the deep hatred between Lou Lan and the Central Plains Dynasty? Why did the blueprint for the rule of the Han Dynasty not tolerate the existence of Lou Lan?
Awkward geographical location: big country bag clip
1. Silk Road throat
Although the location of Loulan today is difficult to find, according to historical books and archaeological findings,
The geographical extent of Loulan state can basically be determined to be located in the western and southern regions of Lop Nur and this area is today known as the Robe Region and the Loulan Region. The "Chronicle of The Chronicle of Dawan Lie" records that when Zhang Qian passed through the Western Regions, he learned from all sides that the Loulan Kingdom was a place "close to Yanze and YiyouChengguo", and the "Biography of the Western Regions of Han" contains its "Wang Zhi Lyrical City", "There is Yixun City in the Country, and its land is fertile", and the "Zhou Shu Exotic Biography" contains its city "Fang Yili", which is quite mysterious.
Ruins of Loulan Ancient City
According to records,
At that time, there were only about 1,500 households and more than 14,000 people in Loulanguo.
Although the territory is small, it has abundant water, self-sufficiency in products, and has built well-built walls as a defense. At this time, Loulan was an important oasis city-state on the silk road. It is located at the western entrance of the Han Dynasty,
Connecting Xiao Wan, Zhi Mo, Che Shi, Yan Qi, Gui Zi, Jing Ji and Yu
Khotan
And the western region of the country, and the east is connected to the Han Dynasty's stronghold of Dunhuang.
These places were all important passing city-states of the Silk Road, and as a connection point, the geographically advantageous Loulan gained huge benefits from the Silk Road trade, and the envoys from the Great Moon Clan, The Sabbath, the Great Wan, the Wusun, and the Kangju traveled a long journey to Loulan to do the final rest before reaching the Han Dynasty, and the frequent merchants needed to stay here to replenish.
The Loulan people "carried water and grain and sent to welcome Han envoys" and gained great benefits from trade and reception.
It can be imagined that the Loulan country at that time could be described as a bustling and lively country.
Greet the mission
2. Strategic locations
Lou Lansheng was born in the throat, which was Lou Lan's luck and Lou Lan's misfortune. The Loulan region belongs to the east of the Tarim Basin, with the Kuruktag Mountains and the North Mountains, the Argin Anding Mountains in the south, and the Rob Wasteland and the Taklamakan Desert in the west forming a closed terrain. The 70-kilometer-wide exit to the east exits the Hexi Corridor and becomes the only exit. So naturally here too
It became the main channel connecting the East and the West of the Han Dynasty.
"From Yumen Pass or Yangguan in the west of Dunhuang, Yuesan Longsha, through the Achik Valley and Bailongdui, through tuyan or Loulan ancient city, along the bank of the Peacock River to the hinterland of the Western Regions",
Entering and exiting the western region from this road must pass through Loulan, so it is also called Loulan Road.
Before the Han Dynasty, Lou Lan was naturally at peace, and after the Han Dynasty, out of the strategic consideration of attacking and expelling the Xiongnu, a series of measures were taken to manage the Western Regions and control the Silk Road.
Loulan Dao became a strategic point for the Central Plains Dynasty to control the western region.
Lou Lan Dao
The core area on the Loulan Road, located in the Silk Road, east of Dunhuang and Hexi Corridor, west of the Western Regions of Loulan, naturally became a place of contention between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. Lou Lan due to such a location
suddenly given important geostrategic significance,
At the same time, it also determines Loulan's repeated national fortunes.
As a matter of fact
"Broken Loulan" did not benefit the Han Dynasty.
Loulan's territory is small, the land is barren, there is neither wealth nor population, there is no temptation for the Han Dynasty, and military action against Loulan is obviously not worth the loss, and "breaking the Loulan" is a strategic deterrent for the Han Dynasty.
With the Xiongnu occupying a geographical advantage, if the Han Dynasty wanted to open up its influence in the western regions, it had to take out the deterrence of the Han Dynasty on the front line of confrontation. Lou Lan, whether from a natural position or a strategic position, is in the front line of the confrontation between Han and Hungary.
Most of the small countries in the Western Regions are resigned to their ways and rely on the strong, and in the case of increasingly tense relations between the two countries and the imminent outbreak of struggle, whoever has great influence in the Western Regions will have a greater advantage.
The Silk Road from the Han Dynasty to the world was also connected here, and if the Silk Road was to provide stable trade and exchange opportunities, it was necessary to maintain control in the western region.
Huns
Loulan, although it is the land of bullets, but its unique geographical location,
The ability to supply the Han Dynasty's operations in the Western Regions was unmatched by all the countries in the Western Regions.
If the Xiongnu wanted to counter the Han Dynasty, they also needed to suppress the momentum of the Han Dynasty's westward expansion and choke the throat of the Han Dynasty in the western region. Under such conditions, Lou Lan's strategic position became extremely important.
Political dilemma: repeated jumps
1. Forced to resist the Han Dynasty, the land was destroyed
Loulan was a vassal state of the Xiongnu before the Western Han Dynasty. After the Xiongnu settled on Loulan, Loulan had only the status of a vassal state, and was under the command of the servants of the Xiongnu Western Japanese King, and paid taxes to the Xiongnu. With the exploration of the Western Han Dynasty to the Western Regions, Loulan became an outpost area for the Western Han Dynasty to confront the Xiongnu. But the Han Dynasty, as a great power,
The rulers always valued the rows of countries in the Western Regions, and would send a large number of emissaries every year, and these Han envoys could not pass because the Xiongnu occupied the Tianshan area, so they could only go to the Western Regions through Loulan.
A large Han Dynasty mission
The Great Han "envoys look at each other in the Tao, more than ten generations in one year old", "hundreds of foreign generations of foreign generations, less than a hundred people", this road is short of supplies, the journey is long, and Loulan is the only place with the ability to supply. The envoys who came and went had to therefore obtain subsistence supplies in Loulan. Although this has brought certain benefits to Lou Lan,
The long-term reception has also brought a great burden to the transit station Loulan.
However, Loulan is a small country, it is not a rich land itself, the population is small, the economy is weak, the support capacity is limited, and the frequent passage of missions has increasingly become an unbearable burden for Loulan. So much so that the Book of Han says that a large number of envoys let "Lou Lan and Gu Shi take the lead and suffer." ”
Although Lou Lan bore the heavy burden of the envoys of the Han Dynasty, he did not dare to openly oppose the Han Dynasty. But the Huns did not want Loulan to fall to the Han Dynasty.
So he repeatedly lured Lou Lan from behind to act as the eyes and ears of the Xiongnu against the Western Han Dynasty.
He forced Lou Lan to refuse to provide grain and grass supplies for the Han envoys, and helped the Xiongnu indirectly attack and even plunder the Han envoys. This made the relationship between the Han and Loulan tense, coupled with the contradiction between Loulan and some unscrupulous Western Han envoys, Loulan began to directly oppose the Han Dynasty.
The confrontation of Loulan made Han realize the importance of Loulan, and in order to solve the problem of supply and management in the future attack of the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty decided to solve the rebellion of Loulan.
In the third year of Feng (108 BC), Emperor Wu of Han launched an attack, repulsing the Xiongnu from the Horse Marquis Zhao Punu yu Cheshi, while the auxiliary general Wang Hui broke through Loulan with seven hundred horses and captured the king of Loulan, and the territory of Loulan was destroyed and fell into chaos.
2, both ends of the favor, difficult to survive
After the Han Dynasty army attacked Loulan, it also attacked the Cheshi Division, and the King of Loulan saw that the general trend had gone, and decided to surrender to the Han Dynasty from then on. However, the Xiongnu were not willing to withdraw from the western region and sent troops to attack Loulan.
The dilemma king of Loulan did not dare to offend the Xiongnu, and could only send one son to the Xiongnu and the other to the Han Dynasty.
It is said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "a small country is between large countries, and there is no way for two subordinates to be at ease, and it is willing to migrate to the Han Dynasty." Emperor Wu of Han felt that what King Loulan had said was true, so he forgave him for his "two-sided" behavior and sent emissaries to send him back to China.
Stills of King Lou Lan
Loulan became a vassal state of both the Han and Xiongnu.
In the early period, Loulan was more partial to the Han Dynasty, helping the Han Dynasty to send troops and vehicle divisions to provide military supplies against the Xiongnu, but after the death of King Loulan, the situation changed.
In the Han Dynasty, protons broke the law and were sentenced to "lower Jamsil Palace Punishment", losing the conditions for succession to the throne, while the new king maintained the "two genus" form, and also sent one son to the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu respectively.
After the death of the new king, the Xiongnu seized the opportunity to send the protons of the Huns back to become the new king. He became a puppet of the Xiongnu, refused to be ordered to enter the Han Dynasty, interrupted communication with the Han, and pursued and killed the Han envoys many times. This makes Loulan civil unrest,
taste
Gui's younger brother, Tu Qi (尉屠耆), surrendered to the Han Dynasty, fled to Chang'an, and reported what had happened in Loulan.
In 77 BC, the Han Dynasty took decisive measures, sending Fu Jiezi and several warriors to Loulan to assassinate the King of Loulan, and the Prince of Loulan who had submitted to the Han Dynasty, Tu Qi, was made king.
Emperor
3. The national chaos is difficult to continue, and the name of the Returned Han dynasty is changed
King Lou lan was stabbed,
The new king Tu Qi succeeded to the throne, and Lou Lan was also changed to Yan Shanguo. The Han Dynasty carved a seal symbolizing the royal power of King Shanshan, gave his palace daughter a lady, prepared a car and a heavy ride, and very solemnly sent him back to the throne.
At this time, the Han Dynasty had become the suzerainty of Shanshan. At the time of the Western Han Dynasty, this relationship became more stable as the Xiongnu weakened due to internal strife.
In the second year of Emperor Xuan's reign, the Xiongnu emperor surrendered to the Han Dynasty one by one, and the servants were deposed, and the Han put the Western Regions Capital Protectorate to rule the Western Regions, beginning the era of Han rule over the Western Regions. During the two Han Dynasties, Shanshan vigorously maintained a subordinate relationship with the Han and maintained a state of hostility with the Xiongnu. Only briefly subordinated to the Xiongnu and Shache states.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, although the Central Plains and the Western Regions were in three separate ways, and the Xinmangshi betrayed the Western Regions due to improper handling, the Xiongnu regained control of the Western Regions, but Shan Shan still maintained loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
western regions
summary
Loulan, as the main road of the Silk Road, in the Period of the Two Han Dynasties,
Because it is in the center of transportation in the western region, it has an important strategic position,
It became the focus of contention between the Xiongnu and the two Han Dynasties. With the dissipation of the xiongnu and the two Han forces, Loulan Shanshan changed from a Xiongnu vassal state to a Xiongnu and Western Han dynasty, and then completely became a vassal state of the two Han Dynasties.
In fact, Loulan was not the "eye nail" of the Han Dynasty's management of the western region, nor was it the "thorn in the flesh" that the Xiongnu had to conquer, but when the two great powers of Han and Hungary confronted each other, because of their geographical location
The innocent who are embarrassed to be in the middle and on the front lines
。 For the Han Dynasty, "Broken Loulan" is not only the guarantee of the smooth flow of the Silk Road and the promotion of foreign trade, but also an important node in the blueprint for hegemony in the Western Regions, which makes the Han Dynasty have to "break the Loulan", and also becomes the hope of later generations to recover the frontier and control the Western Regions.
bibliography:
1. "Analysis of the Residents of Gulou Languo and Their Social Life"
2. "Study on the Chronology of Lou Lan Shan Shan Shan Jian Mu"
3. "A Historical Discussion on the Relationship between Lou Lan Shanshan and neighboring ethnic groups"