Preface
Loulan, a country that has long disappeared in the long river of history, has a very poetic name, but it carries too much blood and fire. The ancients once wrote in their poems: "Yellow sand wears gold armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned if it is not broken", "Ming Xingchi sealed the sword, and the resignee took Loulan overnight", "I am willing to put the sword down my waist and cut Loulan directly".
From these poems, it can be seen that the ancients had a very strong hostility towards Loulan. Loulan, for Chinese history, is only a flash in the pan, as if it is a dream.
What kind of country is Loulan, and why has it disappeared? Today, I would like to tell you the mystery of this ancient country of Loulan that has disappeared.
First acquaintance with Loulan
In 1901, Sven Heding, an explorer from Sweden, went on an expedition in the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang on the mainland, and accidentally discovered a piece of ruins during the expedition. In addition to tall stupas and Buddhist halls, there are also luxurious official residences and a large number of civilian residences.
What's even more incredible is that there are also a large number of precious cultural relics buried underground, such as ancient coins from the Han and Wei dynasties, fragments of Wei and Jin wooden tablets, and so on. Sven Hedin found that the climate here was extremely dry, so the corpses buried in the graves were not dried and became "mummies", so people carried out archaeological research on these dried corpses.
According to the research, these buried in the ground are the cultural relics of the ancient country of Loulan, this ancient city swallowed by the wind and sand is the site of the ancient country of Loulan, the ruins of Loulan were finally discovered by the world, and its mysterious veil was also revealed.
The earliest record of Loulan can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian's "Historical Records: The Biography of Dawan Lie", Sima Qian wrote: "Loulan, Gushiyi has a city, near Yanze. ”
Founded in 176 BC, Loulan is one of the 36 states in the Western Regions, with more than 14,000 inhabitants and nearly 3,000 soldiers. Because the military force is not strong enough, in order to survive, it has to rely on the stronger Yue clan, which is considered a subject country of the Yue clan.
Before the Han Dynasty, people didn't know about the existence of Loulan at all. It wasn't until Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions that he found that about 6,100 miles away from Chang'an, there was a small country called Loulan. Although Loulan has a small population, it is located in a very special location, located on the main road of the Silk Road, and is a necessary place for the southern Silk Road.
Due to its proximity to Lop Nur and the many merchants and monks who came and went here, Loulan was not only a paradise in the Western Regions, but also a paradise in the desert, and the thriving commercial trade also brought huge economic profits to the ancient kingdom of Loulan.
Its superior geographical location not only brought it economic and cultural development, but also made it a place of contention between the two major forces of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, as a small country, Loulan naturally could not compete with the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, so between the two forces, Loulan could only act as a "wall grass", doing everything possible to maintain the existence of its regime.
In order to curry favor with the powerful Han Dynasty, the king of Loulan offered to take on the task of providing guides and drinking water to the Han envoys. But the good times didn't last long, and many Han Dynasty officials who came to Loulan were arrogant, looked down on the people of Loulan, bullied the Loulan people at will, and even abused the Loulan people.
At this point, the relationship between Loulan and the Han Dynasty gradually ossified. It was also at this time that the relationship between the Xiongnu and Loulan became close, after all, Loulan is the gateway to the Western Regions, and only when Loulan is safe, can the Western Regions be safe.
Now according to this development, then soon the strength of the Xiongnu will be improved, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty will send envoys to the countries of the Western Regions to make diplomatic relations. At this time, the Xiongnu began to instruct the Loulan people to rob and kill the envoys of the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was furious when he learned that the envoy had been killed in Loulan and immediately sent troops to recruit Loulan.
In order to avoid the destruction of the country, Loulan had to choose to send the prince to the Han Dynasty as a proton, and at the same time sent a proton to the Xiongnu.
Bet on both ends, laying hidden dangers for the destruction of the country
In 104 B.C., Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, on an expedition to Dawan, and the king of Loulan decided to rest assured after seeing the army of the Han Dynasty, after all, his son was still in the hands of the king of the Han Dynasty! After a while, news came from the Xiongnu, asking the Xiongnu to refuse to let the Han army pass, which made the king of Loulan very embarrassed! What should he do?
Ren Wen, the Han general of Yumen Pass, reported the incident to Emperor Wu of Han, who ordered Ren Wen to capture King Loulan and escort him to Chang'an for interrogation. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked the king of Loulan what his attitude was, and the king of Loulan had no choice but to tell the truth: "A small country is in a big country, and there is no peace between the two countries." I am willing to migrate to the Han land. ”
Hearing King Loulan's helpless words, Emperor Wu of Han didn't say anything, but just told him: "If there is any news from the Xiongnu, you must tell me as soon as possible." “
The relationship between the Xiongnu and Loulan is gradually estranged, in 92 BC, the king of Loulan died of illness, Loulan sent people to take the prince who was a proton in the Han Dynasty back to succeed to the throne, but he did not expect to be refused, in fact, at this time Loulan proton has become a eunuch.
The Xiongnu saw this as a good opportunity to control Loulan, so they put their own prince of Loulan on the throne. The new king of Loulan ascended the throne, and seeing that the relationship between the Xiongnu and the king of Loulan was so close, the Han Dynasty also had a sense of crisis, so he invited the new king of Loulan to join the dynasty. Queen Loulan thought it was a ploy, and after listening to the queen's analysis, the new king of Loulan rejected the "good intentions" of the Han Dynasty.
It was also from this time that Loulan no longer remained neutral and began to fall towards the Xiongnu. This decision of the new king of Loulan worried the people of Loulan, and his younger brother Wei Tuqi surrendered to the Han Dynasty in order to avoid trouble.
In 77 BC, the general Huo Guang sent Fu Jiezi to envoy to the countries of the Western Regions, and when he came to Loulan, Fu Jiezi severely reprimanded the new king of Loulan and his queen, and after returning to Chang'an, Fu Jiezi suggested that the king of Loulan and the king of Qiuci should be eliminated.
Fu Jiezi entered Loulan again, and he knew that the new king of Loulan saw the money, so he deliberately said: "Since the king of Loulan does not accept the reward of gold and splendid beauty from the Han Dynasty, then I will leave." ”
The new king of Loulan naturally couldn't give up the duck with a beak to fly, so he set up a banquet to entertain Fu Jiezi, but he didn't expect Fu Jiezi to kill the new king of Loulan directly in the tent at night. Afterwards, the Western Han Dynasty supported the surrender of Wei Tuqi as the new king of Loulan, Loulan changed the name of the country to Shanshan, the Han Dynasty garrisoned in the territory of Loulan in the name of protecting the king, and Loulan completely became the strategic fulcrum of the Han Dynasty to control the countries of the Western Regions.
Soon after, Loulan perished, and there is no clear record of the reasons for Loulan's demise. But historians believe there are three reasons.
The reason for the demise of Loulan
The first is the disaster of war. As a small country, its geostrategic location is so special, and its strength is not as strong as that of the Xiongnu and Han dynasties, so it can only be suppressed. In addition to being sandwiched between the big powers, it is also necessary to beware of other countries in the Western Regions around it, and Loulan is struggling. After the fall of the Han Dynasty, Loulan often fell into a state of war, in which Loulan continued to consume and eventually perished.
Then there is the plague. Among the artifacts unearthed, the archaeological team found utensils similar to rat traps, apparently to catch rats, and the plague was extremely lethal in that era, a rare plague that claimed the lives of most of the people of Loulan.
And the last reason, and the most critical reason. As mentioned above, the climatic conditions of Loulan are not good, in addition to dry, it is also very cold, Loulan is an oasis on the edge of the desert, and has always relied on water for survival, but in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a second cold period.
After entering the cold period, the amount of water in Loulan decreased, affecting people's normal life. Therefore, when the ruins of Loulan were discovered, there was wind and sand all around, which also confirmed that the environment of Loulan was very harsh.
epilogue
The reason for the disappearance of the ancient kingdom of Loulan has always been a mysterious event that historians have not explored successfully, no matter which reason is verified as the real reason, it will not affect the endless reverie of future generations about Loulan, after all, it is so mysterious.
So beautiful, Loulan not only belongs to China, but also belongs to mankind.