One day in 1980, Professor Mu Shunying, an honorary director and researcher of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, unearthed a well-preserved dried female corpse with a history of about 3800 years in Xinjiang, the woman's skin was reddish brown, slightly elastic, the facial contour was very obvious, the eye socket was deep, the nose bridge was high and narrow, the chin was pointed, and it had distinct Europa ethnic characteristics.
After the processing of modern high-tech image technology, a beautiful woman who lives in thousands of years of history appears in front of us vividly, her skin is fair, crystal clear, beautiful beyond measure, and is called "Loulan Beauty" by the world.
The image comes from the Internet
"Loulan Beauty" is the earliest ancient corpse unearthed in Xinjiang so far, with a history of about 4,000 years. She was lonely and nameless before she died, and did not leave too many written records, but after her death, she caused a sensation in the world, leaving unlimited room for future generations to think; she did not have too many historical merits and wrongs, only left a beautiful permanent topic for the world...
Loulan women are as beautiful as heavenly immortals, which is recorded in many historical books, and Loulan beauty can not only make ordinary people move, but also can make the Buddhist monks look sideways; the history books record such a story: it is said that there was once a high monk Tan Wuyu came to Loulan to promote Buddhism, and was warmly received by the ancient country of Loulan, but the monk was deeply attracted by her beauty at the moment he saw Princess Loulan, and he even disregarded the Buddhist ban and had a private affair with Princess Loulan; but the good times were not long. The scandal between the monk and the princess was unfortunately exposed, and in order to avoid being killed, the monk could only abscond to Gansu and did not dare to go to Loulan again. It can be seen that the beauty of Loulan is the posture of the country and the city.
Loulan, a name that has haunted the soul of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, is a dreamlike existence, it is a mysterious symbol in the eyes of the world; it is a sacred place like the unique fanghua of the literati, and it is the target of conquest in the minds of military generals.
It's so fascinating, but it's so mysterious.
In 1900, a private expedition by the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin arrived in the Lop Nur region of eastern Taklamakan, where it encountered the largest sandstorm since its inception, when the winds were strong and the yellow sand was thick, as if the end of the world had come.
Just when Sven Hedin thought that the trip might never go back, the sandstorm suddenly disappeared, and in front of everyone was a huge well-preserved ancient city; but the ancient city was silent, full of desolation; the people were deeply shocked by everything in front of them.
This ancient city is the famous "Loulan Ancient Country." ”
As a result, the ancient country of Loulan, which has disappeared for a thousand years, has once again become the focus of the world's attention.
Loulan has become a cultural symbol in the history of the mainland, it has left a large number of mysterious symbols in the history and culture of the mainland, and it has appeared and disappeared like a mirage, which makes the world particularly fascinated by it.
Thousands of years ago, in this part of the Eastern Continent, the most splendid civilizations from all over the world collided with each other and erupted into a dazzling brilliance.
Nowadays, thousands of years have passed, and the ancient country of Loulan has long disappeared in the long river of history, leaving only the city full of wind, frost, rain and snow, and the ancient buildings destroyed by time are silently telling the brilliant splendor of that year.
So, what kind of prosperity was this mysterious and ancient ancient city once like? Why did it suddenly disappear into the long river of history?
One: Origins
Loulan Ancient Kingdom was founded around 176 BC, located in the west of Lop Nur, its territory is connected to Dunhuang, is a small country on the ancient Silk Road, the land area of about 120,000 square kilometers, is one of the thirty-six kingdoms of the ancient western region, occupies an extremely important position on the ancient Silk Road. Sima Qian once recorded in the "Records of History": "Loulan, Gushiyi has a city of Guo, Linyanze. ”
However, around 630 AD, the ancient kingdom of Loulan mysteriously disappeared overnight, leaving only a ruined remnant.
The ancient kingdom of Loulan belongs to one of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, and according to the "Chronicle of the Great Wanlie", as early as the 2nd century, Loulan was a famous "country of the city" in the western region.
Today, when we go to the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang, all we see is the endless Gobi Desert, only the yellow sand in the sky and the whimpering; however, a long time ago, as long as before the Western Han Dynasty, and even back to the Lop Nur area of the Stone Age, the ancient country of Loulan is a different situation, there is no desert beach, only the water and grass plains of warblers and grasses; there is no charming yellow sand in the sky, only a cute turquoise;
According to historical records, Loulan at that time was the most prosperous city in the west of ancient China, with blue sky and white clouds, green mountains and green water, was a rare place of taoyuan, a paradise for people to live happily, and the forest coverage area reached about 40%.
Moreover, the residents here live happily and live in peace and contentment, they are like the Central Plains people, growing wheat, raising livestock, etc., and their daily necessities do not need to be "imported" from the outside world, and they can be self-sufficient.
Loulan is located near Lop Nur, when Lop Nur was not the current deserted land, but there was a large area of aquatic grass lakes, animal husbandry, fisheries are quite developed, countless living beings inhabit this place.
The people of Loulan, who live here, enjoy the generous gifts of nature through fishing, hunting, planting, etc., as if they are in paradise.
However, as to what ethnic group the Loulan people are, whether they were natives or immigrants who migrated from the local area? These questions are still a historical mystery, and they are also the problems that many historians are puzzled by.
According to legend, before 4000 BC, a nomadic-dominated Oberro people migrated from the west to the Lop Nur region, where the blue sea and blue sky, water and grass are abundant, this foreign population has since settled here, never moved, until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions, it has developed into a powerful nation - the ancient kingdom of Loulan.
As for the ancient country of Loulan, there is a beautiful and moving love legend in history.
Legend has it that around the 3rd century BC, there was a powerful tribe in the northern steppe, the tribal chief had a son named Robnor, Robnol was an extremely intelligent man, studious and handsome man, he did not want to quietly inherit his father's throne, he wanted to become a respected and cultured person, so he came to the ancient country of Loulan alone to learn song and dance.
At that time, the teacher who taught Robnol song and dance was a person who owned a large vineyard, and every year when the grapes were ripe, Robnol would always personally pick the full grapes, put them in clay pots, and add fresh pigeon blood.
And whenever there is a celebration, Robnol's teacher always likes to take the wine he makes to entertain the guests, and over time, Robnol is famous.
One year, Robnol was invited by the king of Loulan to receive envoys from foreign countries, and at the banquet, Robnol fell in love with princess Museles of Loulan at first sight; young men and women fell in love, and the fire of love was very fierce, and they often secretly met privately under the grape racks of the vineyard, telling the pain of lovesickness; every time they met, Robnol would always bring his own hand-brewed wine and drink with the princess, and the two of them, under the influence of fine wine, the feelings were even stronger.
However, not long after, due to political necessity, the king married Princess Musseles to Prince Guizi, and a young man and woman who loved each other were separated.
However, Robnol has always been deeply in love with Princess Muceles, and every year he will make wine by himself, give it to the princess, and engrave a poem of longing on the crock pot, waiting for the princess to return to him one day; and Princess Muceles finally died of illness because of her longing. On her deathbed, the princess specifically instructed her to accompany her to the burial of the crock pot engraved with her lover's verses, as if her lover were nearby.
After the death of the princess, Robnol refused to return to the steppe to inherit the throne, and sat in front of the princess's grave all day drinking and calling the princess's name.
In order to commemorate this touching love story, later generations named this wine Mucelles, which means loyal love.
From this story, we can know that although Loulan was economically developed and culturally prosperous, its strength was weak and it could only survive by relying on the policy of "peace and affinity".
We can also know that at that time, Loulan was a political, cultural and economic country, which passed through Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest, and Ruoqiang and Zhimu in the southwest.
In addition, the south and north roads of the ancient "Silk Road" separated from Loulan; so far, the ancient country of Loulan, which is rich in green mountains and rivers and rich water and grasses, has become the most important international transportation hub at that time, connecting the exchange of Eastern and Western cultures.
At that time, Loulan had a population of only tens of thousands of people, thousands of soldiers, and a weak military, but it was a cultural and economic center; it was in a transportation hub connecting the East and the West, so as long as the envoys of the Han Dynasty at that time sent envoys to other countries, they must pass through the area of Loulan, which also determined the fate of the ancient country of Loulan to a certain extent.
Two: the fate of history
The ancient state of Loulan is not recorded much in Chinese historical documents, and among the many historical documents, mainly the "Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions" of Master Xuanzang and the "Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang", and the history of Loulan is very long.
Thousands of years ago, in the land of the Chinese nation, there were many countries, and for the people of the Central Plains, the western region was an unfamiliar word, but also a distant world.
For the people of the Central Plains, the distant western region is an endless desert with no end in sight; and in that endless desert, you can see a piece of green, and this green, like a special point on the map, stands there quietly but sparklingly, as if silently telling the world that there is life there.
There, it is one of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions, and it is also the most prestigious and mysterious Loulan Ancient Kingdom among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms.
In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, the Ancient State of Loulan was not yet a national power, it was only a weak and small country, sometimes acting as the eyes and ears of the powerful Xiongnu in the north, and sometimes falling to the side of the Han Dynasty, skillfully swinging left and right between the two powerful countries of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, and struggling to maintain political life.
Until the time of Emperor Wu of Han, after Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions, he opened up the Silk Road, so Emperor Wudi of Han often sent emissaries to the Western Regions, and those who were willing to go to the Western Regions at that time were some outlaws, after all, the Western Regions were far away, to pass through the Gobi Desert that could not be seen at a glance, to pass through many countries, the road was far away, and the dangers were heavy, and the average person was certainly not willing to suffer this crime, only those who had great ambitions and no way out, they were willing to take risks, wanted to emulate Zhang Qian, and could leap to the rank of Marquis. From then on, he embarked on the peak of his life.
Such people act as emissaries, the pattern of vision is certainly not good, so they can be said to be a mighty blessing in those small countries in the western region, with their eyes above the top, and even some people rely on the strength of the Han Dynasty to extort or even kill the local people;
At that time, the Han Dynasty was the most powerful country in the world, and even the nomadic Xiongnu in the north were beaten to the point of being unable to raise their heads, which could be described as prestigious; as a result, many small countries in the western region were more resistant to the envoys of the Han Dynasty and did not want to provide them with food.
At that time, the most serious persecution by the Han Dynasty envoys was Lou Lan, who had long been persecuted by the Han Dynasty envoys, and in a fit of anger, began to take the initiative to attack the Han Dynasty envoys, and also sold the whereabouts of the Han Dynasty envoys to the Xiongnu, so that the Xiongnu intercepted and killed them in the middle of the road.
This behavior angered Emperor Wu of Han, so Emperor Wu of Han sent an army to attack Loulan.
In the face of the powerful Han Dynasty army, King Loulan could only surrender, pay tribute to the Han Dynasty, and send Prince Loulan to the Western Han Dynasty as a proton; however, the weak Loulan was sandwiched between the two superpowers of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, and no matter which side, the small Loulan could not offend; therefore, the King of Loulan also sent another proton to the Xiongnu, indicating that he would maintain a neutral state between the Western Han and the Xiongnu.
After that, in order to obtain the sweat and blood BMW, Emperor Wudi of Han ordered the general Li Guang to lead troops to attack the Xiongnu vassal state of Dawan, and at this time, the King of Loulan, in collusion with the Xiongnu, set up an ambush in the city to block the Han army, which once again angered Emperor Wudi of Han, and Emperor Wudi of Han once again sent troops to attack the Xiongnu and captured the King of Loulan.
This time, King Loulan demanded that the state of Loulan be moved into the territory of the Han Dynasty and become part of the Han Dynasty; Emperor Wu of Han did not agree to King Loulan's request, but only agreed to send King Loulan back to China.
The Book of Han and the Biography of the Western Regions records: "Negative water and grain, sent to welcome Han envoys, and counted as officials and pawns, punished Ai for inconvenience with Han Tong." Later, he rebelled against the Xiongnu and killed several Han envoys. ”
For the Northern Xiongnu of the Central Plains Han People, Loulan gave the impression that the first rat was at both ends, wavering, without the slightest loyalty to speak of, and some only had immediate interests; and for the Loulan people, everything was for survival, after all, they were too weak and small, and sandwiched between two superpowers, how to choose is wrong, a bad is the end of the ashes.
The problem of Loulan has not been solved during the period of Emperor Wu of Han, perhaps emperor Wudi of Han did not look up to such a weak country at all, until the period of Emperor Zhao of Han, the problem of Loulan was completely solved.
After the death of the previous King Loulan, the prince who was supposed to be a proton in the Han Dynasty should have returned to inherit the throne, but the prince was distraught and unwilling to return to China, so the throne was inherited by his brother, but the new king died soon after, and the Xiongnu took this opportunity to support the prince who had been a proton in his country to return to the country to succeed to the throne; therefore, the new king of Loulan was more closely related to the Xiongnu.
After the new king of Loulan ascended the throne, the Han courtiers who sent envoys to the western region could not get any food and supplements in Loulan, Loulan regarded the Han Dynasty as a great enemy, and there was the support of the Xiongnu powers behind it, and the relationship between the Loulan Kingdom and the Han Dynasty at this time was very bad.
After Emperor Zhao of Han ascended the throne, he sent Fu Jiezi to send an envoy to Loulan, and at the banquet prepared by King Loulan for Fu Jiezi, Fu Jiezi took advantage of his lack of preparation, suddenly broke out, and directly killed King Loulan, and the prince who was a proton in the Han Dynasty returned to China to inherit the throne of Loulan, and changed the name of the country: Shanshan, the Han Dynasty sent troops to garrison Loulan; since then, Loulan has completely submitted to the Han Dynasty, and the loulan royal city is also regarded as the important place of the Han Dynasty's reclamation and defense, and thus gained the initiative for the crusade against the Xiongnu and the western countries.
After the Han Dynasty completely took over Loulan, the ancient kingdom of Loulan became more prosperous, until the Tang Dynasty, Loulan has always been a border town in China, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Changling has a poem: "Qinghai Changyun Dark Snow Mountain, isolated city looking at Yumen Pass." Huangsha wears golden armor in hundreds of battles, and does not break the Loulan and will not return it. ”
However, after the Tang Dynasty, the ancient kingdom of Loulan gradually disappeared in history.
This is all the records left by the ancient country of Loulan in history, although there are only a few strokes, but after posterity reads it, a magnificent and beautiful picture will naturally appear in front of the eyes: a small country in the western region stationed in the yellow sand, relying on the natural geographical advantages of Lop Nur, quietly and peacefully survived for a long time, not fighting with the world, just living quietly.
However, due to the strength of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, this small country with beautiful beauty in the western region withdrew from the stage of history.
Perhaps, in the minds of the han dynasty subjects, the weak and small country of Loulan can only be slaughtered by others, and when they pass through Loulan, Loulan uses the strength of the entire country to provide them with supplies, which is a matter of course, as for whether the Loulan people are dead or alive after that, and how difficult it is to live, it is not something that the powerful Han Dynasty subjects can consider at all.
But in the end, loulan who struggled to survive still could not escape the fate of history, under the historical trend of dynastic changes, Loulan was gradually forgotten by the people of the Central Plains, did not know when it began, and gradually stopped being mentioned by people, until it became a grain of sand in the long river of history.
Three: the historical legend of the demise of Loulan
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Loulan still occupied an important position on the Silk Road, and in the following hundreds of years, Loulan has also been an important transportation hub from the interior to the western region; later, the ancient kingdom of Loulan gradually faded out of history until the mysterious demise.
The disappearance of the ancient kingdom of Loulan is still a historical mystery, and there is no accurate statement; Ye Shi once said that the disappearance of Loulan was cursed, which seems quite credible, but the strange things that happened in the history of Loulan have to make people recall this legend.
Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a war in the ancient country of Loulan, the king of Loulan ran all the way, and finally got rid of the pursuing soldiers, and when he returned to his senses, he found that he had unconsciously fled to a cemetery, in this cemetery, the king of Loulan met a mysterious and beautiful woman, and the two fell in love at first sight.
Soon after, Lou Lan defeated the enemy, and the king returned to Lou Lan, but he loved the woman deeply, so he returned to the cemetery and prepared to take the woman to his own country, but what awaited him was only a grave, and the woman had already died quietly, leaving only a little girl.
The king did not receive his beloved woman, but only brought back a little girl, and named the little girl Princess Loulan, and was very fond of her.
When the girl grew up, she inherited her mother's perfect genes and looked particularly beautiful and beautiful, so there were many suitors in the kingdom, and even the princes of Khotan in the western region came to Loulan to propose marriage.
However, at this time, Loulan was facing the largest war in history, and the Rouran Iron Horse brazenly invaded Loulan, and in order to save Loulan, the king was forced to give the princess Xu to Rouran Khan. On the night of the princess's date with the prince of Khotan, the princess was trapped in the palace, and the prince of Khotan came to the appointment, but he regarded a veiled woman as the princess of Loulan, after which the two agreed to come here every night to meet.
Later, when the prince and the masked woman met frequently, they finally learned that the woman's name was Lanna, and also saw the unique face hidden under the veil, and the Russian prince was deeply involved in it, deeply in love with the woman named Lanna, but did not know that this woman was not Princess Loulan at all.
Later, the Prince of Khotan assisted king Loulan in repelling the Rouran Iron Horse and won a great victory; the king, in order to honor the British prince, gave him Princess Xu of Loulan.
Unexpectedly, on the wedding night, when the prince unveiled the princess's veil, he found that the woman who met him every night was not Princess Loulan, and he was dumbfounded for a while, and even left the princess alone.
The princess was furious when she learned that the prince had mistaken her and had treated her as another woman, and she decided to take revenge on the prince.
She arrested the prince's beloved woman, Lanna, and lied that she had killed Lanna, and when the prince learned that the beloved woman was dead, he was so heartbroken that he committed suicide.
The princess did not expect that the prince had such deep feelings for Lanna, preferring to be martyred rather than marry her, so she was even more angry, she vented all her resentment on Lanna, she held a sacrifice ceremony in Loulan, let Lanna swear never to love the prince again, Lanna refused, the princess gave the prince's head to Lanna, Lanna held the prince's head, the liver and intestines were broken.
LanNa, in a state of grief, chose to accompany her beloved man forever, so he committed suicide, and on the occasion of suicide, he read out the name of the god of death who ruled Loulan, and imposed a permanent curse on the ancient kingdom of Loulan.
Sure enough, after Lan Na committed suicide, the qi of the ancient country of Loulan seemed to be exhausted overnight, and began to gradually decline, the rivers upstream of Lop Nur began to dry up, the desert oasis full of business began to be gradually covered with yellow sand, trees began to wither, animals died in large quantities, water resources began to be scarce, and the Loulan people had to start to leave their homes and find other places to live.
At this time, Princess Loulan was full of remorse and should not force a pair of lovers to die for her own selfishness, resulting in the decline of the country.
One night the princess had a dream of her own mother, who told her that she had a twin sister named Lanna, who did not look like her, and had been adopted at birth.
Only then did the princess realize that she had actually forced her own sister to die with her own hands, and she was full of remorse and grief, and finally died in pain in remorse.
After that, the ancient kingdom of Loulan gradually disappeared.
Of course, this is just a sad legend story, which was compiled by posterity unable to understand the specific reasons for the disappearance of the ancient kingdom of Loulan.
Four: The mystery of the disappearance of the ancient country of Loulan
The ancient country of Loulan, which survived in the cracks, gradually drowned in the yellow sand of the desert with the change of the times, and became a symbol in history.
It was not until 1901, the Swedish folk explorer Sven Hedin, found the remains of an ancient city in the Taklamakan Desert, but when the ruined ancient city was presented to the world, people suddenly woke up, and the ancient country of Loulan, which had disappeared for a thousand years, finally reappeared, and it turned out that this ancient civilization really existed in the history of this world.
So, what is the real reason for the disappearance of the Loulan Ancient Kingdom? Why did Lop Nur, once rich in water and grass, become a vast desert? What caused the oasis civilization Loulan Ancient Country to become an inaccessible Gobi Desert?
With the change of the times, today's level of science and technology is no longer comparable to thousands of years ago, modern historians and geologists have not stopped the study of the ancient country of Loulan, and the mysterious disappearance of the ancient country of Loulan has also come up with the following statements:
First: the ancient kingdom of Loulan disappeared into war. Around the 5th century AD, the ancient kingdom of Loulan began to decline, and then the northern strong enemy invaded, and the city of Loulan was destroyed and gradually abandoned.
Second: Loulan disappeared from the deterioration of the ecological environment. Loulan Ancient Country is located on the edge of Lop Nur, due to the long-term destruction of the ecological environment of Lop Nur, the upstream river water was cut off and diverted, resulting in a serious shortage of water in Lop Nur and the survival of Lou Lan had to rely on Lop Nur ; therefore, in the case of severe drought and water shortage, the people of Loulan began to leave their hometowns in large numbers and migrate to other places, and Loulan also declined with it, until it completely disappeared.
Third: the north-south migration of Lop Nur . With the rise of the Tibetan Plateau, Lop Nur began to migrate from south to north, eventually causing the entire Lop Nur to dry up; not only that, but the drying up of Lop Nur was also related to the overexploitation of human beings, which eventually led to the oasis becoming a desert.
Fourth: the invasion of nomadic peoples in Central Asia. Some people also believe that the demise of Loulan is related to the invasion of nomadic resources in Central Asia, which led to the disappearance of indigenous culture; the local residents fled elsewhere, and Loulan no longer exists.
Fifth: Lou lan was destroyed by the plague of disease. Rumor has it that a plague came from outside the city, killing most of the people in Loulan City, and the remaining small number of Loulan residents also fled to other places, and Loulan died out.
Finally: Lou Lan was invaded by creatures. There is no basis for this statement, it is said that a skeleton insect introduced to Loulan from the Two Rivers Valley, they live by eating meat, and there are no natural enemies, after entering Loulan, a large number of residents in the city were eaten by insects, the rest fled elsewhere, Loulan became an empty city, and then disappeared.
In fact, there are many theories about the disappearance of Loulan, going through the history books, and saying that it was destroyed by the meteorite fall, but there is no factual basis.
Nowadays, people can only find some clues from scattered historical texts, and in guessing according to the geographical environment of Loulan, I personally prefer the theory of the demise of the ancient country of Loulan caused by the drying up of Lop Nur, because the historical Lop Nur itself has changed from a lake to yellow sand everywhere, but as for how Lop Nur dried up, in fact, there are many opinions, and so far there is no conclusion.
I think that as ordinary people, we don't need to worry about why the ancient country of Loulan disappeared, we just need to know that in the land of China, this splendid civilization once appeared, and it burst out in the long river of history.
postscript:
Loulan Ancient Country is once an ancient country on the Silk Road is extremely prosperous, with the change of history gradually buried in the yellow sand underground, its emergence and demise is like a mirage in the vast desert, mysterious and beautiful but untouchable, close at hand, but far away at the end of the world; the beautiful and kind Loulan beauty has also become an eternal regret in the hearts of future generations, can not be seen.
However, in the land of China, which has experienced thousands of years of wind and frost, rain and snow, there have been too many countries and nations, they are either strong or weak, they all once had a splendid civilization, but with the demise of the race, they were annihilated in the dust of history.
However, our Chinese nation is a nation that is good at recording, no matter how we develop, we do not forget history, do not forget the original intention, from the "History" to the "Zizhi Tongjian", from the "Book of Han" to the "History of Ming", those that once appeared and died, those historical civilizations that once really existed on the land of China, the ancients have recorded it with a piece of bamboo and a simple book, one after another vivid and vivid words, passed on to future generations, and warned future generations.
The most proud place of the Chinese nation is not how brilliant and splendid civilizations have appeared on this land, but these civilizations have been recorded by our ancestors and passed down from generation to generation, so that the essence of today's Chinese culture has emerged.