"General History of China" Episode 68 Subtitles The Rise and Fall of Western Xia (Part II)

Aunt Pauler is preparing a dangerous journey, because of her age, she is about to end the life of a herdsman, this is the last grazing, she is going to cross the Black Water River, through the poplar forest, to the mysterious ancient city more than ten kilometers away, Black Water City, in 1226 AD, Genghis Khan's army also marched along this road to Black Water City, when Black Water City had been besieged for several months, the water source was cut off, but the soldiers defending the city were still not afraid of strong enemies and stubbornly resisted, The Mongol army was determined to launch a decisive battle against Heishui City with more powerful forces. Perhaps, the ancestor's warning, there is still divine power in the underworld, just when the camel caravan is about to reach Blackwater City, the wind and sand suddenly blow, and Aunt Paule's journey can no longer continue. However, more than 700 years ago, in the same wind and sand, the strong Mongol army did not stop, and Blackwater City experienced the most tragic war. The Mongol army encountered the most stubborn resistance in Heishui City, due to the disparity in strength, Heishui City was finally broken by the Mongol army, in the fierce fight, the defenders of Heishui City and the people in the city were killed and injured, for a time, Heishui City had countless undead and unjust souls, and the vicious curse made the city gloomy. Perhaps it was from that time that the local Mongols passed down an ancient doctrine that they should not enter Blackwater City. The story of Blackwater City did not end, and many years later, another story about Heishui City began to circulate mysteriously, a general during the Ming Dynasty, who suffered a crushing defeat in a battle with the enemy army, killed his wife and children before dying, and buried them in a deep well in the city with huge treasures, since then, Blackwater City has gradually been covered in wind and sand, and many people call it a dead city. However, mysterious legends, the temptation of treasures, have been circulating for hundreds of years, this desolate and fearful castle, arousing the reverie and desire of countless people. More than 100 years ago, at dusk in April 1908, a mysterious camel caravan appeared in the depths of the Badain Jaran desert, and the Russian explorer Kozlov came to Blackwater, an explorer commissioned by the Royal Russian Geographical Society to conduct a geographical expedition, when he opened the heart chamber of a stupa in the city, the landscape in front of him suddenly surprised him, because he saw a treasure more precious than treasure.

Shirahama: When I opened this stupa, I probably used 14 camels in Guang, and the camel caravans were returned to the camels box by box, and there were not only documents, but also a large number of Buddhist paintings, thangkas, and woodblock prints of sackcloth, which was very exciting.

Shi Jinbo: Koslov took these things from Heishui City in China, and the value is very high, it can be said that it is immeasurable, because what he took away is the historical and cultural heritage of a dynasty, because there are too many things in it, some physical objects, not only to fill the gap in Western Xia, but at that time, the Song, Liao, and Jin, did not leave these things.

Kozlov showed the cultural relics he brought from Blackwater City in St. Petersburg, Blackwater City, which has since attracted great attention and attracted the British explorer Stein, who also took a large number of cultural relics from Blackwater City, and a large number of cultural relics in Blackwater City were unearthed, allowing the ancient Western Xia civilization to reappear in front of the world. A new discipline, Western Xia Studies, was also born, and before that, there was no complete record of this dynasty that had existed for nearly two hundred years in the history books. What is the reason that makes such a splendid Western Xia civilization unknown for seven hundred years. Just after the opening of the portal of Heishui City, the Western Xia Dynasty was directly in danger of extinction, in 1227 AD, the Mongol army besieged Zhongxing Fu, the capital of Western Xia, and the two sides launched a final decisive battle, Emperor Li Dewang died of fear, and his nephew Li Xian succeeded to the throne, fierce war continued, Zhongxing Fu was besieged for half a year, and the Western Xia army and people were determined to fight to the death. However, natural disasters and man-made disasters followed, in June, a strong earthquake suddenly broke out in Zhongxing Province, followed by the spread of disease, a terrifying atmosphere shrouded the entire capital of Western Xia, and the emperor was forced to surrender at the end of the summer, but he made a request, the surrender time was given a grace of one month, and to see Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan agreed to the request of the emperor at the end of summer. However, a month later, when the gate of Zhongxing Mansion opened, the late summer emperor was directly killed, and the scene of slaughtering the city was staged again in Zhongxing Mansion, and the late summer emperor did not understand why Genghis Khan broke his word, and he sacrificed the city in exchange for such a cruel killing of the Mongol army, and the subsequent historical records gave the answer. It turned out that shortly after the emperor at the end of the summer invited to surrender, Genghis Khan died of illness in the military tent, and before he died, he also ordered that he would not be mourned after his death, waiting for the emperor to go out of the city and surrender at the end of the summer. The death of Genghis Khan made the Mongol army full of hatred for Western Xia, and after the gate of Zhongxingfu was opened, the scene of slaughtering the city was repeated again, and Western Xia perished. However, the demise of the regime was not the end, after the capture of Western Xia, the Mongols established power and ordered that no history of Western Xia be written into the history books, which made it impossible for people to fully understand the Western Xia civilization that existed for nearly 200 years for a long time. Not revising the history for Western Xia may be the most cruel revenge given by the Mongols to Western Xia, and Western Xia has mysteriously disappeared since then.

Shi Jinbo: The reason is that when Genghis Khan came over, he destroyed a lot of Western Xia culture, which is one of the reasons, and the other main reason, that is, when the Yuan Dynasty revised the history of the former dynasty, it revised the history of the Song, the history of Jin, the history of Liao, and did not repair the history of Western Xia, it was for the Song, for Liao, or for the later Jin, it was the state of Shu.

The 190 years since the founding of the Western Xia Dynasty made indelible contributions to the unification of the western region of the mainland and the economic and cultural development of the western region, and laid the foundation for the great unification of the Yuan Dynasty. It has created a rich and unique culture, and when we get closer and dig deeper, we will find that this is an inexhaustible magical treasure, which contains too much history, too many stories, too many mysteries, too much wisdom. This is the Western Xia Museum, displaying a large number of Western Xia cultural relics, this is the magnificent ruins of Tongwan City, this is the magnificent Mogao Grottoes, among which there are 82 Western Xia caves, this is the Yulin Caves, the murals inside are exquisite, depicting the life scenes of all classes of Western Xia. This hundred and eight pagoda located on the bank of the Yellow River, built in the Western Xia period, and later expanded and improved by the monks of the Yuan Dynasty, the stupa is magnificent and magnificent, still retains the style of the year, the vast northwest desert, a brilliant civilization has disappeared. However, the silent royal tombs, the murals of the Mogao Grottoes, the treasures of Heishui City, and the mysterious Western Xia Library will forever become the precious heritage of Chinese civilization.