According to the Chronicle of History, the Loulan people established their own state in the 3rd century BC. At that time, Loulan was ruled by the Yue clan. From 177 BC to 176 BC, the Xiongnu defeated the Yue clan, and Loulan was again under the jurisdiction of the Xiongnu. During the Western Han Dynasty, Loulan had more than 14,000 inhabitants and nearly 3,000 soldiers.
Before the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains people did not know that such a mysterious ancient country existed. Zhang Qian, a great explorer of the Han Dynasty, sent an envoy to the Western Regions and brought Loulan into the sight of the people of the Central Plains for the first time. With the opening of the Silk Road, the ancient city of Loulan has become the only way to pass through the ancient Silk Road, and the prosperous commerce has brought huge profits to Loulan, so that the people of Loulan have lived a rich life. The commodities and culture of the Central Plains were also introduced to Loulan through the Silk Road, bringing a developed material civilization and spiritual civilization to Loulan. At this time, Loulan had become a paradise in the Western Regions and a paradise in the desert.
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However, the Western Han Dynasty inevitably declined, and the Central Plains began to fight endlessly, and there was no time to take care of the Western Regions, and Loulan gradually lost contact with the Central Plains. In 400 A.D., when the high monk Fa Xian traveled west to take the scriptures, passing through this place, this place was already "no birds on the top, no beasts on the bottom, all over the eyes, only the dead bones as the ear." Loulan- this important town on the Silk Road has gradually lost its popularity after nearly 500 years of glory, and has disappeared silently on the stage of history.
What exactly was the force that caused Lou Lan to decline? Loss of internal forces or invasion of irresistible external forces? Where did Lou Lan's people go? For the disappearance of Loulan City, the most prevalent theory is caused by the changes of the Silk Road. After the two Jin Dynasties, the Silk Road was changed to the northern route, and the Central Plains garrison and Tuntian undertaking in Loulan also moved north, so in this case, the ancient city of Loulan was slowly abandoned and eventually disappeared.
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It is also believed that the war destroyed Loulan City. As a majority, in history, the Xiongnu, Tubo, Yueshi and other states once ruled Loulan. It can be seen in the many cemeteries around Loulan City that there are different races of people buried in the same area and in the same period. It is possible that after Loulan was occupied, the occupiers slaughtered the city and then withdrew, so that Loulan was slowly annihilated by the wind and sand. In addition, some people believe that the climate change led to the tragedy, and Loulan was destroyed by drought and water shortage. Loulan was a necessary place for the Silk Road, and the Han, Xiongnu and other nomadic countries often provoked wars on the territory of Loulan, causing serious damage to water conservancy facilities and vegetation, and after the 3rd century AD, the lower riverbed of the Tarim River flowing into Lop Nur was silted by wind and sand. According to the "Notes on water classics", after the Eastern Han Dynasty, Loulan was seriously short of water. Soler of Dunhuang led 1,000 soldiers to Loulan, and then gathered 3,000 soldiers from the three kingdoms of Shanshan, Yanqi and Guizi, and diverted water from the river to Loulan day and night to alleviate the dilemma of water shortage in Loulan.
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Although Loulan people made the greatest efforts and attempts to dredge the river, the ancient city of Loulan eventually broke the water. The lack of water resources worsened people's sanitation and weakened their resistance, so the plague broke out, and the residents of the ancient city of Loulan had to abandon the city and leave a dead city in order to survive. In the raging desert storm, Loulan was finally annihilated by the sand dunes. The basis of this statement is that domestic and foreign explorers have not only found a large number of precious documents and various treasures in the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan, it seems that the ancient city of Loulan was suddenly abandoned, but there is no trace of war here. Perhaps, only the plague can create a scene of ten rooms and nine emptiness, and can make people flee desperately. The opposite speculation is that the ancient city of Loulan was destroyed by floods. Some people believe that before 1600 years ago, there was a large area of forest in and around the Lop Nur Depression, a wide variety of vegetation, birds and beasts of prey, and the ecological environment was very different from the present. During this period, the Tarim River, Peacock River and other rivers have sufficient water sources, the Peacock River is parallel to the ancient city of Loulan and only about 22 kilometers, if Loulan City is short of water, it is completely possible to divert the Peacock River water into the city. The real reason for the disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan is that Loulan is at the crossroads of the Silk Road and is a place where soldiers and families must fight.
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The war led to the deforestation of large areas, and due to the geographical location, the increase in population required a large number of burns to open up the tuntian, and a large number of trees were cut down for handicraft workshops and civilian cooking fires. Excessive logging has caused serious damage to the natural environment, resulting in soil erosion and siltation of rivers and lakes, elevated riverbeds and shallow lakes. The ancient city of Loulan was built on a high platform, and the outside of the city was surrounded by water. The destruction of Loulan City may have been that at that time, Lop Nur raised the lake water, causing the water level to rise and spread to the west of Loulan City, while Loulan City and the surrounding crust sank, and the peacock river and Tarim River and other rivers flowed into Loulan City, resulting in the destruction of Loulan Ancient City. No matter what the reason caused the ancient city of Loulan to become a ruin in the desert, the splendid culture of Loulan will always exist in our memory.