The mysterious guloulan - the sixth of Zheng Shiji's documentary essay collection "Walking Horse Border Pass"

Original Zheng Shiji

After several days of long bumps, we finally reached the county seat of Ruoqiang, the southernmost edge of the Taklamakan Desert. With an area of 202,000 square kilometers, Ruoqiang County is the largest county in mainland China. There are 17 provinces (districts) in the country that are not as large as this county.

Not much is known about Ruoqiang County, which is located deep in the desert. But when it comes to Lou Lan, it is famous and almost everyone knows it. In fact, Ruoqiang is the ancient Loulan Kingdom. As early as 2,000 years ago, Loulan was one of the most famous countries in the thirty-six countries in the western region of the mainland.

The state of Loulan, from its establishment in 176 BC to the renaming of the country in 77 BC, existed for only a hundred years. At its peak, the vast territory stretched from Guyang pass in the east to the Niya River (present-day Minfeng County) at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains in the west, to the Arjin Mountains in the south, and to Hami in the north. After the opening of the famous Silk Road, from Dunhuang to the west of Guyang Pass, whether taking the southern road in the northern foothills of the Kunlun Mountains or the northern roads in the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, it was necessary to first pass through Loulan, the throat of the waters that controlled the Lop Nur waters, in order to continue to the countries of the western region, to the European countries along the coasts of South Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean. As an insurmountable strategic point in the middle of the Silk Road, Loulan naturally became an important transportation hub for controlling exchanges between the East and the West, an important transit station for international commerce and trade, and once had the prosperity and prosperity of "envoys looking at each other on the road, and merchants and traveling endlessly". At that time, Loulan City was lined with shops, merchants, people, and traffic. Envoys, business travelers and tourists from all over the world flock all year round, and many languages from all over the world are exchanged here, and a wide variety of goods from all over the world are traded here. It is like a diamond clasp in a golden bond, which closely links the economy and culture of the East and the West. Chinese silk, tea, gunpowder, papermaking, printing and various cultural works of art continued to spread to Western countries through here; jewelry, good horses, vegetables, melons and fruits in the Western Regions, and Western Buddhism, Islam and their culture and art also spread to the Chinese mainland through here.

However, it is such a "Loulan Country" that was famous in the past and only existed for a hundred years, such a "Loulan Ancient City" that was bustling and prosperous and existed for hundreds of years, but later it disappeared silently from the desert and disappeared from history. In the various historical books after the Han Dynasty on the mainland, there is no longer any record of "Loulan Kingdom" and "Loulan Ancient City", as if it had never appeared in this world.

Although this short-lived "Loulan Country" has long ceased to exist, from ancient times to the present, the name of "Loulan" has always been heard. In people's minds, it is still one of the most famous countries in the thirty-six kingdoms of the ancient Western Regions.

This trip to Ruoqiang made me have a great interest in this vast and mysterious land, and in this "Loulan Country" that has only existed for a hundred years. I was a layman in archaeology and literary and historical research, and out of curiosity and interest, I went through the history books and related materials in an attempt to find out why. I believe that the reason why "Loulan" has been able to gain fame for thousands of years is that in addition to the important strategic position that "Loulan Guo" was in at that time, there are four other reasons:

First, the records of the ancient history of the mainland.

The "Book of Han and The Biography of the Western Regions" records: "Shan Shanguo, whose real name is Lou Lan. Wang Zhi cut the mud city, went to Yangguan 1600 miles, and went to Chang'an 6,100 miles." After Zhang Qian returned to Chang'an on his mission to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty "wanted to pass through the kingdoms of Dawan", preferring that "Loulan and Gushi were in charge, bitter, attacking and robbing the Han envoy Wang Hui, etc., and counting them as the eyes and ears of the Xiongnu, so that their soldiers covered the Han envoys". Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han sent the general Zhao Baonu to lead tens of thousands of troops to attack, "the king of Loulan, then broke the gushi", and the state of Loulan was returned to the Han Dynasty from then on. The "Biography of Fu Jiezi of the Book of Han" also records that during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han, the state of Loulan was repeatedly repeated under the soft and hard treatment of the Xiongnu. He dared to brave the world's great disobedience and brazenly kill the envoys sent by the Han Dynasty to the Loulan Kingdom. After the great general Huo Guang sent Fu Jiezi to assassinate king Loulan with a plot, he not only hung his head for public display, but also renamed the state of Loulan as "Shan shan". Since then, the countries of the Western Regions have been completely subdued. As a synonym for "enemy chieftain", Loulan has been "infamous" in history and has become the target of everyone.

Second, literary works, especially poetry throughout the ages, were widely disseminated.

Because of the rebellion of the Loulan Kingdom and its "infamous reputation", poets of all generations have taken it as a synonym for "robbery", gritting their teeth and "chopping" it to "chop".

The Tang dynasty has the most poems about "Lou Lan". The most famous is Wang Changling's "March from the Army": "Qinghai Changyun Dark Snow Mountain, isolated city looking at the Yumen Pass." Huangsha wears golden armor in a hundred battles, does not break the Loulan and will not return it" and the verses of "Ming Ming Xing Chi sealed the sword, and cijun took Loulan overnight". Li Bai's "Plugged Down Song" is also very famous: "Xiao Zhan follows the golden drum, and sleeps and hugs the jade saddle." May the sword be lowered from the waist straight to the slashing of Lou Lan." Du Fu's "Miscellaneous Poems of Qinzhou" is also a superior work: "How to return to the country is late, lou lan has not been returned." The smoke and dust look long, and the decay is destroying the face." Zhang Zhongsu's "Plugged Down Song" is also not bad: "Shuo Xue fluttered open the wild goose gate, and the Pingsha calendar rolled up the roots." Meritorious shame counts the number of lives, and directly cuts Lou Lan to repay the favor of the country."

In the Song dynasty, there are also many borrowings for Lou Lan. For example, Xin abandoned the disease: "And hung up the empty fast as a piano companion, and did not need to take it to chop Lou Lan"; Liu Guo's "Qinyuan Chun Zhang Lu Fen Qiu Reading" has: "The dust and sand are out of the plug, the marquis is thousands of miles, the printing gold is like a bucket, and the life is not comfortable." Brush the waist, blow the hair sword in, do not cut Lou Lan's heart is uneven." Zhang Yuangan's "He Groom Sends Li Boji To Xiangxiang" has: "Spread the high cold, worry about the homeland, and swallow arrogance." He wants to slash Lou Lan's three-foot sword and hate the old words of the pipa. ”

Xu Zhenqing of the Ming Dynasty: "Tianzi's velvet clothes are far away from the sword, and the general is directly chopped Loulan"; "Yao Maoliang's "Jingzhongji Yingzhao" also has: "The blood of the dragon spring has not dried out, and the ambition of ordinary life has beheaded Loulan".

The Qing Dynasty poet Gao Shuming's poem "Saiwai" also has it: "Righteousness and courage can be one, and dignity is not uproaring." Lou Lan was still not chopped, who dared to take care of his family. ”

Even in modern times, Marshal Chen Yi in the "First Battle of Weigang", there is still a good sentence of "Zhenjiang City under the first encounter, out of hand to cut off Xiao Loulan"!

These poems recited through the generations have made "free advertisements" for this Loulan Kingdom, which has only been short-lived in the long river of history, generation after generation, making it famous and "famous for eternity".

Third, the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan have been rediscovered, which has once again attracted the attention of the world.

At the beginning of the last century, Erdik, a Uyghur on the mainland, stumbled upon the ruins of Loulan on the dry Lop Nur wasteland, and the Swede Sven Hedin wrote an article to make it public, so that the ancient city of Loulan, which had been sleeping in the desert for more than 2,000 years, "came back to life", which caused a sensation in the archaeological community for a time. For many years, people have been arguing about the reasons for the demise of the "Loulan Ancient City". Some believe that it was destroyed by the cut off of water, some believe that it was destroyed by the wind and sand, and some think that it was destroyed by war... This ancient mystery, after the reappearance of the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan, has fascinated many explorers, archaeologists and tourists. People flocked to archaeology, exploration, tourism, and books and lectures, further increasing its popularity.

Fourthly, the continental nuclear test site was built in Lop Nur to make it once again a place of global attention.

In the 1950s, after the establishment of the Continental Nuclear Test Site in Lop Nur, it once again became the focus of the world's attention. When people mention China's nuclear tests, they often think of Lop Nur and Guloulan, which makes Loulan appear frequently in various media and in people's vision, becoming a familiar and household name.

In the evening, we strolled with great interest through the wide, straight streets of this frontier town. In the past, I heard that Ruoqiang County was "a road with three lights, and a horn for the whole county to listen." As long as one stir-fry meat dish, the smell is all over the city." And now it's long gone into history. I saw shops on both sides of the street next to each other, and colorful billboards in front of the door were accompanied by beautiful music, attracting and attracting customers. The bazaar, located next to the cinema, is crowded and bustling, with a variety of goods, various stalls and businesses, and people's fashionable clothes! We clearly feel that with the rapid development of our socialist construction, this small frontier town in a remote corner has also been filled with new vitality and vigor.

(To be continued)