Gansu History and Culture No. 17:
Lu Shuihu and the Northern Liang regime
Blue sky and white clouds, Gobi desolate, standing on the city wall, looking out for a few miles at a glance, desolate, once jinge iron horse, once dynastic weather, early ashes and smoke, only boundless loneliness remains. This city is the High Terrace Camel City. It was once the capital of the Northern Liang Kingdom.
Camel City
During the Sixteen Kingdoms of Wei and Jin Dynasties, the northern region was basically caught in an endless scuffle of separatist forces. Among the many separatist forces, one of them was the LuShuihu people, who established a short-lived regime in the Hexi Corridor area, Beiliang.
The name Lu Shuihu sounds like a remnant of Dong Hu, or one of them. In fact, they were a branch of the Huns. In general, in 121 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent Huo to the Xiongnu in the Hexi Corridor on two expeditions, and the main force of the Xiongnu in Hexi was defeated and surrendered to the Han, but there were still many tribes left in the same place, these people were the origin of Lu Shuihu. In fact, the Lushuihu people not only have Xiongnu, but also other ethnic groups such as the Yue clan, the Qiang, the Qiang and even the Han people in Hexi.
Some people have researched that the origin of Lu Shuihu can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. Originated from Lu Fang in the Shang Dynasty. In the Yin Shang Dynasty, Xirong Lufang was a small country centered on the Pingliang Kuntong Mountains. Before and after the Wu Dynasty, the Zhou people were in need of a stable rear, and the tribes close to the merchants in the northwest were suppressed as never before, and the Fang states of Ruan, Gong, and Misu were destroyed, and the main force of the Lu side was tragically attacked. Later, their remnants were attacked by Yiqu Rong. With the unprecedented strength of the Xiongnu and other northern minorities, the remnants of the Lu side were dependent on the Xiongnu and gradually developed and grew. The Book of Later Han records that in addition to occupying Gansu, Lu Shuihu also had their footprints in Shaanxi and other places, and in order to centralize the placement of Lu Shuihu, a Lushui vassal state was set up in Zhangye.
According to historical records, by the Time of the Three Kingdoms of Wei and Jin, Lu Shuihu gradually developed into three branches, namely the Anding Lu Shuihu of the Jingwei River Basin, the Linsong Lu Shuihu of the Hexi Corridor, and the Huangzhong Lu Shuihu of the Hehuang Valley. Lu Shuihu's main activity is in the Zhangye area of the Hexi Corridor. Some people have also examined that the meaning of Lu is the meaning of black, and Lu Shui is also another name of Heihe.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the LuShuihu people in Liangzhou rebelled and set up an ambush of 7,000 people at the Yinkou of Jingyuan to stop Cao Wei's army. However, Zhang Jie, the commander of the Wei army, had another high move, and he attacked the west with his voice, avoiding the mouth of the Quail Yin and heading straight for Liangzhou. Later, Zhang Set up an ambush at night in Xianmei County, defeated Lu Shuihu, beheaded and captured more than 10,000 people, and lu Shuihu's power in Liangzhou gradually declined.
During the Western Jin Dynasty, the Lushuihu people of Linsong (present-day northern Subei County) in the Hexi Corridor became powerful again. They finally established a regime in the western part of the Hexi Corridor, which was Beiliang. The founder of Beiliang is Linsong Lushuihu people depressed canal Mengxun. The establishment of this kingdom was similar to the establishment of the nomadic regime at that time, and was basically established with tribes as the main body.
The name of The Depressed Canal Mengxun is also very interesting, the Depression Canal is an official name of the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu once had the official position of left and right Depressed Canal, Mengxun is his surname, and his ancestors served as the Left Depression Canal of the Xiongnu. His grandparents were known for their martial prowess. They have lived in the Hexi Corridor for a long time, and the degree of Sinicization is very deep, and the depressed Canal Mengxun himself is "knowledgeable in the history of the group and quite familiar with astronomy." Xiong Jie has a heroic strategy, funny and good power change. "At this time, they were already quite powerful military groups, and they were mostly coerced by forces from all sides.
He was first drawn by Lü Guang of Houliang, thus attaching himself to Houliang. Frustrated, MengXun led his troops to Guzang City to guard Lü Guang's palace. At the same time, Meng Xun's uncle Luo Qiu and his brother were sent to garrison remote areas, so as to play a role in dispersing their strength and containing each other. Lü Guang's hand not only did not play a role in enveloping Linsong Lu Shuihu, but on the contrary, it attracted greater suspicion to them.
In March 397, two of His uncles became scapegoats because lü Guang's son was defeated. I could have run away and gathered to save myself. His uncle Luo Qiu, however, said that they were "loyal and filial to Xizhou" and insisted on not leaving, and finally they were killed. Here you can see the degree of their Sinicization. In April, Mengxun and his cousin Nancheng gathered a crowd to rebel in Linchen, and the crowd reached more than 10,000 people, tuned Jinshan (present-day Shandanjing), and pushed Liang Jiankang (present-day Gaotai Camel City) Taishou Duanye to Liangzhou Mu, Jiankang Gong, and Jianyuan Shenxi. Meng Xun was too defensive for Zhangye. This year was the founding year of Northern Liang, and Mengxun was made the general of Zhenxi.
The following year, Mengxun of The Depression Canal gradually captured the western part of the Hexi Corridor, and Duan Ye, the main capital of Northern Liang, also moved from Jiankang to Zhangye, officially known as the King of Liang. It is reasonable to say that at this time, the lord of Northern Liang was Duan Ye, but in fact, Lu Shuihu cavalry became the pillar of Duan Ye's military strength. Strong branches and weak poles, which became the root of the later two sides turning faces.
Duan Ye was a native of Jingbei (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi), who had joined the army of Former Qin Ren and followed Lü Guang to the West, and after Lü Guang's Later Liang was established, he served as a health taishou. Frustrated Qu Mengxun was a man who was good at playing with power, he gave Duan Ye a rumor, and as a result, Duan Ye killed Zhang Ye too shou Ma Quan, and then went to persuade his brother Male Cheng to betray Duan Ye, who knew that Man Cheng did not obey, and he used false accusations to make Duan Ye kill Man Cheng. The general course of events is as follows: Meng Xun asked Nancheng to go to lanmen mountain, but quietly let people inform Duan Ye, saying that man Cheng wanted to rebel, who knew that Duan Ye credulously believed the whistleblower's lies, and when the man became a priest to Lanmen Mountain, he arrested the man and made him commit suicide. This is the Lanmen Mountain Incident in Beiliang.
At that time, Male Cheng had a fairly high prestige among Duan Ye's subordinates and Lu Shuihu. After Duan Ye forced The man to commit suicide, Meng Xun's strategy of killing three birds with one stone was successful, not only Duan Ye's subordinates were dissatisfied with Duan Ye, Lu Shuihu was even more angry, and Meng Xun also had one less opponent, so at his call, Lu Shuihu raised an army to kill Duan Ye, and Meng Xun took the throne.
In the fifth year (401) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty,D.'an Emperor Long'an(401), Mengxun claimed to be the Governor of Dadu, a general, a mu of Liangzhou, and the Duke of Zhangye, and became the king of Northern Liang, with the capital at Zhangye and the era name yong'an. At this time, the Northern Liang regime only had four counties: Zhangye, XiJun, Jiuquan, and Liangning, which were roughly the narrow territory of the western section of the Hexi Corridor. Beginning in 403, Houliang perished, after which they concentrated on unifying the Hexi Corridor. In the eighth year (412) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Emperor Yixi, Meng Xun expelled Nanliang and captured Guzang; unified the Hexi Corridor and the Huangshui River Valley. Meng Xun moved from Zhangye to Guzang, changed his name to Yuan Xuanshi, and proclaimed himself the King of Hexi.
Meng Xun's cultural level was very high, and he knew how to change power, on the one hand, he made full use of the talents of various nationalities in Hexi, and on the other hand, he adopted a large number of han and Wei dynasty management structures in his political structure.
Song Xuan was a famous scholar of Xiliang at that time, and he was knowledgeable about the history of the classics. After Meng Xun conquered Jiuquan, he found thousands of books in Song's home, and later obtained Song Xuan. He was even happier and was immediately appointed as the Northern Liang Shangshu Official. He even said, "I am not happy to have defeated Li Xin (the second generation lord of Xiliang), but I am glad to have Song Xuan." He also appointed the famous scholar Liu Xun as his secretary Lang and honored him as a national teacher. Entrusted to Song Xuan to assist the depressed canal Mu Qian, it is a bit of Liu Beituo's lonely posture. In 408, Meng Xun recaptured Xi Commandery from Nan Liang and captured Yang Tong, the Taishou Yang Tong, who had a talent for literature and martial arts, and later appointed him as The Right Changshi.
Northern Liang is very worshipful of Buddhism, they paid a huge amount of money in the south of Guzang Tianti Mountain, excavated the Buddhist grottoes, this is the Silk Road Tianti Mountain grottoes group, in the East of Buddhism, Liangzhou plays the role of a transit station. They also built caves in Dunhuang, and people can still see the foot-stomping bodhisattvas of Dunhuang in the Northern Liang Period. It is worth mentioning that the craftsmen of Beiliang brought the excavation of grottoes and the sculpture of Buddha statues to the Capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Pingcheng, Datong Yungang Grottoes and Luoyang Longmen Grottoes, most of which were built by Northern Liang craftsmen and their descendants, promoting the eastern transmission of Buddhism.
Northern Liang maintained a fairly close relationship with the Northern Wei Dynasty and was integrated into the trend of the great unification of northern China at that time.
Unfortunately, the inheritance that Monson created was ultimately destroyed by his son. In 430, he claimed the title of northern Wei, and in 433 Meng Xun died, and his son Mu Qian succeeded to the throne, but unfortunately his son was not very good. Northern Wei, in order to envelop Northern Liang, also married the princess to Mu qian of The Depression Canal. Later, due to Mu Qian's adultery with his sister-in-law Li Shi, Li Shi poisoned Princess Wei. In the fifth year (439) of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, Northern Wei destroyed Northern Liang and Mu Qian surrendered. The 30,000 families of The Muqian family and officials in Guzang were relocated by the Northern Wei to Pingcheng (平城, in modern Datong, Shanxi), and Northern Liang perished. Beiliang (397 AD - 439 AD) passed on the three lords for a total of 43 years.
A kingdom vanished, and people can still see the artistic masterpieces left by the craftsmen of Beiliang in Wuwei Tianti Mountain and Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.