There are many very well-known mountains in Henan Province, the most famous of which is naturally Song Mountain. In addition to Songshan, do you know what are the famous mountains in Henan? Do you have an impression of Bears Ears Mountain, which has a slightly strange name? Today we will talk about Bears Ears Mountain.
The topography of Henan Province is generally low in the east and high in the west. The eastern part is the endless North China Plain, and the western terrain is more complicated. The Yellow River is the boundary river between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, but it has taken a big turn in Fenglingdu. The north bank of the Yellow River is the Zhongtiao Mountains in the south of Shanxi Province, the south bank is the southwest-northeast direction of the Kun Mountains, and the southeast of the KunShan is bears ears mountains.
Bears Ears Mountain is one of the Qinling Mountains, roughly starting from Lushi County in Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, and extending northeast to Yichuan County in Luoyang City, with a length of about 150 kilometers. The highest peak is Quanbao Mountain in Luoning County, at an altitude of about 2103 meters. Bears Ears Mountain got its name because the mountain has twin peaks and faces, which look like the two ears of a big bear from a distance.
To the south of Bears Ears Mountain is Funiu Mountain, and to the east of Funiu Mountain is Waifang Mountain. These mountains form the ascendancy of western Henan Province, and with the Yellow River passing through the Zhongtiao Mountains and the KunShan Mountains, the strategic position here is very important. Before the Yuan Dynasty, China's great unified dynasty and the large northern dynasty either had its capital chang'an (Xi'an), or its capital Luoyang, or Kaifeng, east of Luoyang. The Kunshan and Zhongtiao Mountains, sandwiched between the rivers and the two capitals, seem to receive some more strategic attention than Bears Ears Mountain. Even so, though, Bears Ears still has significant strategic value.
Xi'an and Luoyang are the two major capitals of the Central Plains, from a defensive point of view, Xi'an has the barrier of Qinling, and the enemy in Shuzhong wants to take Chang'an, the difficulty is very large, can refer to Zhuge Liang's refusal of Wei Yan's troops out of the Meridian Valley. Bears Ears Mountain's defensive effect on Chang'an was not very large, and the focus was on serving as a barrier to Luoyang. There are three mountains in western Henan, from north to south are Kunshan Mountain, Bears Ears Mountain, and Funiu Mountain, and Bears Ears Mountain is stuck in the middle.
More importantly, there are two famous rivers in history that surround Bears Ears Mountain. Luoyang is also called Yiluo, which is actually two rivers. The Luo River originates from the Weinan section south of the Qinling Mountains, and then flows from west to east in the midst of mountains, through the northern foothills of Bears Ears Mountain to Luoyang. The Yi River originates in the southern foothills of Bears Ears Mountain, meets the Luo River at Yanshi, called the Yiluo River, and then flows into the Yellow River through Gongyi. The Qin Dynasty had a famous Sanchuan County, and the name of Sanchuan came from the (Huang) River, Yi River, and Luo River.
To a considerable extent, the Luohe and Yi rivers can be said to be the mother rivers of Luoyang, which is of great significance to Luoyang. Erhe not only provides Luoyang with a large amount of production and domestic water, but also plays a very important role in the safety of Luoyang. In the same way, Bears Ears Mountain, sandwiched between the two rivers, controls the Luo River in the north and the Yi River in the south. If Bears Ears Mountain was held by the enemies of Luoyang, it could easily cut off the Luo river and the Yi river, bringing great trouble to Luoyang.
Take Shu Han as an example. When the Shu Han Dynasty was at its strongest, it conquered the Shiyan region (known as Shangyong Counties in ancient times) at the junction of shaanxi, Henan, and Hubei provinces. The Shu army controlled Shangyong, and to attack the Central Plains, it could avoid taking dangerous roads such as the Meridian Valley of the Qinling Mountains, go directly out of the Nanyang Basin, and advance north along the plains east of Bears Ears Mountain, Funiu Mountain, and Waifang Mountain. If the Shu army could kill the foot of Mount Song, the north would be Luoyang City.
Luoyang is known as Xiao guanzhong, with its back to the (Yellow River) and the face (Zhushan), facing the Shu army that is fighting in the north, there is still a lot of room for maneuver. The premise is that Bears Ears Mountain must be in the hands of the Wei army, at least to ensure the safety of the Luo river and the Yi river. If the Wei army defended Mount Kun, Bears Ears Mountain, and Funiu Mountain, it was able to maintain unimpeded traffic with Guanzhong and become each other's horns. As long as the Wei army held the Three Mountains, it could pose a threat to the flanks of the Shu army at the foot of mount Song. If the Shu army conquered bears ears, not to mention that it could cut off the water of Yiluo and march directly eastward from the valley of the Erhe River, the western line of Luoyang would have no danger to defend.
In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, it was rumored that the surname Of Li would sit in Jiangshan, and the most recognized surname of Li at that time was not Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, but Li Mi, the King of Wei. However, Li Mizhi was very talented, and he blew up the king with one hand, and finally fled into Guanzhong to surrender to Li Yuan, and Quan made a foothold. Li Mi was not willing to surrender, and planned to return to the east to fight again. Li Yuan wanted to summon Li Mi back to Chang'an, Li Mi fled east in women's clothes, and The Tang general Sheng Yanshi was ordered to pursue and kill Li Mi.
Bears Ears Mountain was not the most convenient passage to escape from Guanzhong to Luoyang, but Li Mi often deceived him, and Sheng Yanshi guessed his thoughts and ambushed the main road south of Bears Ears Mountain. Archers lay on either side of the mountain road, and the array of swords and guns lay in ambush on both sides of the valley. Li Mi did indeed take this mountain road, but was attacked by Sheng Yan's division and killed Huang quan, and a generation of tyrants Li Mi and a generation of famous generals Wang Bodang came to an end.