Datong, because of its special geographical location at the southern end of the Mongolian Plateau and the northeastern edge of the Loess Plateau and the 400 mm annual precipitation isoline of the northern hemisphere, naturally becomes a tug-of-war zone for the collision and friction between agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization in the range of 38 degrees north latitude to 43 degrees north latitude, and has also become the border defense of the dynasty built by the Han people in the Central Plains and the pass of the northern nomadic peoples to the south of the Central Plains, and it is also a transition and link between ethnic exchanges and integration, including the highlights of the integration of many ethnic groups in China.
"Datong" means "great integration"
From a geopolitical point of view, the Datong area is the historical place where the Han peoples and the grassland peoples in the Central Plains have fought and thrashed, so it is also a zone where farming culture and grassland nomadic culture coexist and coexist, and dozens of Han and Hu ethnic groups are mixed. In the past 2500 years, although there are too many golden horses and even if there is a history of more than 700 years of rule by ethnic minorities, "Datong" has still become a major trend of historical development and evolution. In the more than 2,000 years from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, more than 60 large offensive and defensive wars occurred here, which was the place with the highest density of wars in Shanxi and even the whole country in ancient history. As a result, the rulers of the Han Dynasty named this place of conquest after years of conquest as the "Pingcheng" that symbolizes harmony, harmony and harmony, hoping that "there is no conquest in the quiet place of the end of the world, and the morale of the soldiers will be sold to the sun and moon". Of course, the datong sandwiched between the Taihang Mountains and the remnants of the Yin Mountains, the basin characteristics of itself are also a natural factor in the original naming.
The name "Datong" gradually evolved from "Pingcheng". According to the budget, it is called "Pingcheng" for at least 1500 years, and "Datong" is called 976 years. Although the name of "Datong" is not derived from the ideal of Datong put forward by Confucius more than 2400 years ago, it certainly contains the simple concept of human beings bidding farewell to fighting and staying away from war. In the Tang Dynasty, the Datong Army Jiedushi was set up in the northern border defense, and this military name was used as the place name "Datong River" by later generations. Datong Chuan was in the tang Dynasty "descended to the west of the city", that is, the Ao Tao kiln in present-day Baotou City, Inner Mongolia. After that, the Datong Army emissaries moved to Yunzhou, one of the "Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun". Until the Liao Dynasty established by the Khitans, the rulers still wanted to unify the world, so in 1044, they used this as a "bridgehead" for the conquest of the whole country from north to south, and officially changed its name to "Datong", which objectively conformed to the wishes of the people of all ethnic groups for generations to pray for peace and great integration.
It is the norm when the Hanmin Hu people interact with each other
The Hu people are the collective name of the Han peoples in the Central Plains of China in ancient China for the ethnic groups north of the Great Wall or the western regions, and later refer to the foreign peoples. The foods we eat daily, such as flax, parsley, walnuts, carrots, peppers, pomegranates, grapes, tomatoes, etc., are all products of "Huhua" in the context of ethnic integration.
The Book of Wei once recorded a total of 109 tributes from 46 countries in Central Asia, West Asia, and the Western Regions at that time, and in addition to diplomatic envoys from various countries, there were also Hu people from the Western Regions, including bureaucrats, in-laws, merchants, monks, craftsmen, and various people who settled in Pingcheng. These Hu people in the western region are mainly the ethnic groups of the present-day northwest region including Khotan, Guizi, Shule, shanshan and other countries in the Tarim River Valley, as well as the Sogdians of Zhaowu in Central Asia, the Persians of West Asia, and the Tianzhu people of South Asia. Among the air-sounding instruments, string-chiming instruments, and membrane-sounding instruments carved in the Yungang Grottoes, there are not only the old Han and Wei musical instruments, zithers, and shengs, but also guizi, Indian and Persian baskets, pipas, combined with fingers, clapping (clapping), blowing fingers, etc. In 1965 and 2000, the Hu figurines from the Northern Wei Pingcheng period excavated at the Yanbei Normal College (now Datong University) in the East of datong Yuhe are likely to be portraits of foreigners from that time.
In the history of Datong, cultivated land and grassland were alternate, and cave dwellings and felt tents stood side by side. This is not only the place where the Han people traditionally farmed, but also the place where the Northern Di and later Xiongnu and Eastern Hu tribes lived and lived. As a historical stage, Tuoba Xianbei established the Northern Wei, the Khitan established the Liao, the Jurchens established the Jin, the Mongols established the Yuan, as well as the Xiongnu, Ruoran, Turkic, Wuhuan, Murong Xianbei, Tatars, Shatuo, Walabu and other ethnic groups, all staged a scene of war and peace here, and left many traces of civilization. It can be said that the Hu people are Sinicized, the Han people are Hu, you have me, I have you, and the unification of Han and Hu has become the norm of the life of the government and the people at that time.
There is a saying that "Datang came from the Northern Wei Dynasty"
War and peace are two inseparable states in the process of national exchanges, among which there are many leading figures in national integration, such as two representative figures remembered in the history of Datong for thousands of years: King Wuling of Zhao and Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei.
King Wuling of Zhao was an open-minded and studious generation of the Zhao state during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, and in order to change the backward appearance of the country and the combat strength of the army, he was not afraid of resistance, resolutely gave up the chariots and costumes of the Han people, recruited Hu people's cavalry, forced the Chinese to wear Hu costumes, practiced Hu people's riding and shooting, and greatly improved the cavalry combat strength of Zhao guo's generals. He also discarded national prejudices, selected talents and abilities, boldly used Hu people, and reused talents from ethnic minorities such as Lou Fu and Xiongnu, so that the rongdi foreign ministers of the Zhao state became his right-hand men. At the same time, the hanchen and rongdi ministers were exchanged in different places to accelerate the integration process of central plains culture and grassland culture. As a result, a large number of Hu people from lowly backgrounds and RongDi backgrounds stood out, and for a time made nomadic culture dominate in the Zhao kingdom.
Emperor Xiaowen was the greatest and greatest contributor to learning from the Han people. Empress Feng of northern Wei and Emperor Xiaowen, as outstanding politicians of ethnic minorities, vigorously promoted sinicization reforms, advocated the study of The Han way of life and the canonical system, and encouraged the wearing of Han costumes, the speaking of Chinese, and the change of Han surnames. Emperor Xiaowen took the lead in changing his name to YuanHong, while at the same time using talents in an eclectic manner, reusing Han Chinese, and encouraging xianbei nobles to intermarry with Han Chinese. In view of the living customs of nomadic people and Han people, The Northern Wei Pingcheng Implemented the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, and set up the Southern Shangshu and the Northern Shangshu to manage the relevant affairs of the states and counties on the north and south sides, which also greatly promoted ethnic integration.
The reason why Emperor Xiaowen did not pride himself on the superiority of Tuoba's own tribe and did not overemphasize the purity of the so-called Tuoba royal bloodline was because he saw clearly the general trend of ethnic integration from the han people with a high degree of civilization, and firmly established the concept of "Datong" in his heart and decided to "Sinicize". After that, Datang inherited the distinct national character of Emperor Xiaowendi, who was confident, enlightened, open, fraternal, tolerant and sassy, and consciously integrated into the fresh and powerful blood of the Chinese nation, making Chinese culture more international in the process of civilization. It is in this sense that the cultural scholar Yu Qiuyu put forward the thesis that "the Tang Dynasty came from the Northern Wei Dynasty".
Continue the sense of historical identity of national integration
Of the 5 land routes between the Tang Dynasty and the outer regions, 2 passed through Datong. Unimpeded trade with or without mutual communication has always been an important symbol of national integration. Datong was the eastern starting point of the Silk Road in the 5th century AD, and the ethnic integration that occurred in Datong was particularly reflected in the intersection of the Northern Wei Silk Road, the Sui and Tang Tea Horse Ancient Road, the Ming and Qing Merchant Gangs and camel caravans. Datong was also once a major transportation route connecting the Central Plains and the grasslands and a border plug commercial port, and it was also the first post station after the camel caravans entered the Central Plains after a long trek, and it has been a bustling commercial capital since ancient times. The Yungang Grottoes record the northern Wei Pingcheng's interaction with Central Asia and West Asia through the Silk Road is a powerful empirical evidence. A lacquer painting in Datong Museum, "Pingcheng Shengjing", is based on the street scene of Pingcheng in Northern Wei, reflecting the grand situation of "tribute envoys flocking and caravans following".
Today's unity is created by the integration of history. This is the "living soul" of national cultural memory, and it is also the spiritual resonance that activates the common memory of all ethnic groups inside and outside the Great Wall.
Source: Taiyuan Road
Original title: Datong There are many bright spots in national integration