In 1901, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, in the name of archaeology, explored the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang in China, and inadvertently found a ruin, where there are many remnants of ancient beacons, broken walls, huge abandoned beams, and broken pottery pieces, copper coins, Buddha beads and other objects everywhere.
Sven Hedin excavated in the local area and obtained a large number of cultural relics, including ancient coins from the Han and Wei dynasties, various exquisite silk fabrics, Fragments of Wei and Jin wood, and architectural ornaments of the Buddhist temple, and Sven Hedin packed all the found cultural relics into boxes and took them away, resulting in the loss of a large number of Chinese cultural relics.
After the news of Sven Hedin's discovery of cultural relics in Lop Nur in Xinjiang spread internationally, in the following ten years, explorers from Britain, Japan, the United States, Sweden and other countries have carried out theft in the name of archaeology, excavating and stealing Chinese cultural relics, and countless precious Chinese cultural relics have been stolen.
Ruins of the Ancient Kingdom of Loulan
According to the text on the bamboo slip of the cultural relics stolen by Sven Hedin, the German Chinese and lexicographers determined that this was the cultural relics of the famous Loulan Ancient Kingdom in Chinese history, and determined that the ruins were the ruins of the Loulan Ancient Kingdom.
The specific location of the ancient kingdom of Loulan is in the north of Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, located in the northwest corner of Lop Nur and 7 kilometers south of the Peacock River, the Silk Road is divided into two roads, north and south, Loulan is the traffic artery of the south of the Silk Road, and the starting point of the Silk Road is the capital of the Han Dynasty, Chang'an.
From Chang'an to the west, through the entire Hexi Corridor, after exiting the Dunhuang Yumen Pass, you enter Loulan, Loulan is the southern route of the Silk Road must pass through, from Loulan along the Tarim River to the west, is Shache, and then go west over the Onion Ridge to reach the Great Moon Clan and Rest (present-day Iran).
Lou Lan's location
When the State of Loulan was established, the history books do not record, the First Time the Central Plains Dynasty knew about the State of Loulan, or in the letter of the Xiongnu Mo Dun Shan Yu to Emperor Wen of Han, from the "History of the Xiongnu Column Biography", Mo Dun Shan Yu said in the letter:
With the blessings of heaven, the officials are good, and the horses are strong, to destroy the Moon Clan, and to kill and kill them. Dingloulan, Wusun, Hujie, and the twenty-six kingdoms beside them all thought they were Xiongnu.
The translation means: Trusting in the blessings of heaven, the officials and soldiers are very sophisticated, and the war horses are strong and powerful, so they have pacified and destroyed the Yue clan, killed all the enemies who resisted, and surrendered the people. The twenty-six countries that pacified Loulan, Wusun, Hujie, and the twenty-six countries next to them all became subjects of the Xiongnu.
This year is 176 BC, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty people first heard the name Loulan, which had been conquered by the Xiongnu at that time, so the establishment of the Loulan State must have been earlier than 176 BC.
Restoration map of the ancient country of Loulan
By the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu began to fight, Emperor Wudi of han learned from the Xiongnu captives that the Xiongnu's enemy Yueshi was in the Western Regions, so he sent an envoy group headed by Zhang Qian to the Western Regions to contact the Yueshi people to attack the Xiongnu together, but Zhang Qian was captured by the Xiongnu after the envoy, and ten years later Zhang Qian found an opportunity to escape and reach the Yueshi from the north of the Silk Road, and a few years later, when Zhang Qian returned to the Han Dynasty, he took the Southern Silk Road, passed through Loulan, and returned to the Han Dynasty from Qinghai.
In the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the westernmost part of the Han Dynasty's ruling area only reached Longxi and Liangzhou, in 121 BC, the Han Dynasty launched the Battle of Hexi against the Xiongnu, after two battles of Hexi, Huo Wentai opened the entire Hexi Corridor, so that the westernmost control area of the Han Dynasty until the Yumen Pass, and opened the gate to the Western Regions, the connection between the Central Plains and the Western Regions began to be frequent.
Beginning in 104 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Li Guangli to march on Dawan (present-day Uzbekistan) for two miles, and successfully conquered Dawan and returned to the Han Dynasty with good horses, making the Han Dynasty temporarily threaten the Western Regions, and from then on, the Han Dynasty began to operate in the Western Regions, until the Han Xuan Emperor set up the Capital Protectorate in the Western Regions, and the Han Dynasty began to formally operate the Western Regions.
Zhang Qian went on a mission to the Western Regions
According to the "Book of Han" records: The capital of Loulan was in The City of Qini (present-day Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang), with 1570 households, a total population of 14100 people, and an army of 2912 people, which was not as large as the population of a county for the Han Dynasty.
But this did not affect the prosperity of the ancient country of Loulan at that time, as a strategic place in the south of the Silk Road, merchants and emissaries from the East and the West continued to meet here, from the Han Chinese bamboo Jane and Luwen (Indian Peacock Dynasty Ashoka period text) bamboo Jane unearthed in Loulan, Loulan was influenced by the dual influence of Eastern and Western cultures.
Loulan soon developed and grew, from the later archaeological sites, Loulan ancient city covers an area of 120,000 square meters, in its heyday, Loulan also controlled the surrounding Ruoqiang, Jingjie, Zhimu, Xiaowan and other countries, becoming one of the seven major powers in the western region, Loulan with an army of less than 3,000 people, becoming one of the seven major powers in the western region, Loulan is small, but very strong.
Han Dynasty and Western Regions
So what did the ancient country of Loulan rely on to become stronger?
In simple terms, there is one reason: a unique geographical location, on the one hand, a unique natural environment, on the other hand, a unique strategic location.
Loulan Ancient Kingdom is located in the eastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, in the northwest corner of Lop Nur, Lop Nur was once the second largest saltwater lake in China, Tarim River, Peacock River, Chelchen River, Shule River are all tributaries of Lop Nur River, numerous rivers make Loulan an oasis in the desert.
Water is the source of life, after Loulan has water, there are trees, there are green plants, in the heyday, Loulan near the trees are very many. With water, the residents of Loulan can cultivate crops and breed cattle and sheep, and the Book of Han says that Loulan is rich in jade, with many reeds, weeping willows, poplar trees, and white grass. Produces donkeys and horses, there are many camels.
An oasis in the desert
The unique natural environment allows the economic development of Loulan, which can also carry more people, and the strategic location located in the south of the Silk Road allows more people to pass through Loulan, bringing commercial prosperity, people of different cultures, different languages, and different faces exchange goods here, supplement resources, and make Loulan richer, which is the reason why Loulan is strong.
Any regime has a strong and weak, Loulan's strong period in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, that is, shortly after the opening of the Silk Road, from the late Western Han Dynasty, Loulan began to weaken, until 448 AD, that is, during the Central Plains Southern and Northern Dynasties, Loulan was destroyed by the Northern Wei Xianbei regime, and then the Northern Wei administered Loulan with a county system.
From 176 BC to 448 AD, Loulan existed for 624 years, the actual existence of the time is even longer, from 448 years was destroyed to the present, Loulan perished in 1573, then what is the reason for Loulan's weakness and destruction?
1. The political helplessness of small countries.
As an important small country in the western region, Loulan was sandwiched between the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty, and practiced a strategy of no offense on both sides. The Han Dynasty demanded that Lou Lan submit, and the Xiongnu also demanded that Lou Lan submit, and Lou Lan had no way to send one son to the Han Dynasty as a proton, and another son to the Xiongnu as a proton.
King Loulan and the Envoy of Han
But in fact, both sides were offended, because it could not be done at all, the Han Dynasty asked Lou Lan to send troops to attack the Xiongnu, what did Lou Lan do? There is no way to do it, only not to send troops, which offends the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu side is the same, according to the historical records, the Han Dynasty repeatedly captured The King of Loulan Xingshi to ask for guilt, once Wang Hui took seven hundred people to capture the King of Loulan, and the other time Ren Wen set out from Yumen Pass to capture the King of Loulan.
But this did not allow Lou Lan to always be pro-Han, under the pressure of the Xiongnu, Lou Lan once attacked and killed the envoys of the Han Dynasty, so the Han Dynasty sent Fu Jiezi to Lou Lanxing's division to ask for the guilt, Fu Jiezi deceived the King of Lou Lan into drinking in the name of rewarding money, and then sent two people to kill king Lou Lan on the spot, and said a paragraph to the officials and soldiers of the State of Lou Lan:
King Loulan was guilty of the Han Dynasty, and the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty sent me to kill him, and the prince who had remained in the Han Dynasty as a hostage should be replaced as king. When the Han army arrived, you should not act rashly, for as soon as you make a move, you will wipe out your country.
Then the people of Loulan Kingdom did not dare to move, so Fu Jiezi returned to the Han Dynasty with the head of the King of Loulan, and changed the name of Loulan to Shanshan, since then, the Chinese history books have called Loulan as Shanshan, in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty lost control of the Western Regions, until the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Chao made the Western Regions, killed the Xiongnu envoys in loulan territory, Loulan once again submitted to the Han Dynasty, Ban Chao single-handedly reopened the Western Regions Capital Protectorate.
Creek Cemetery
As long as Loulan betrayed the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty will be punished, and the same is true of the Xiongnu, and Loulan is thus sandwiched between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, which is the sadness of being a small country, and finally leads to the division of its country into two factions, one faction is pro-Han and the other is Xiongnu, Loulan is already weak, and it is split into two forces, not to be weaker, and eventually to perish.
2, strength.
As mentioned above, the total population of Loulan is only more than 14,000 people, the total strength is less than 3,000 people, although it is known as one of the seven great powers in the western region, it is impossible to confront the Central Plains Dynasty, this strength, as long as the first war is lost, it will be destroyed, when the Han Dynasty controls the western region, it can also determine the political ecology and stability of the western region, after the weakening of the Han Dynasty, the western region is also fighting for itself, and Loulan is constantly consumed in continuous wars.
After the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Pi set up a lieutenant in the Western Regions, Lou Lan submitted, after the fall of Cao Wei, Lou Lan submitted to the Western Jin Dynasty, when the Central Plains Five Hu Chaos, the Western Regions were independent, after which Lou Lan also submitted to Former Qin and Northern Liang, after the northern Wei fell northern Liang, casually destroyed Lou Lan, Lou Lan eventually fell to the Northern Wei.
3. Caused by the natural environment.
In 1972, the famous meteorologist Zhu Kezhen published a paper entitled "Preliminary Research on Climate Change in China in the Past Five Thousand Years", which divided China's 5,000-year history into four warm periods and four cold periods, of which the second cold period was during the Eastern Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, which lasted for about 600 years until the end of the 6th century AD.
Loulan was invaded by the desert
What happened during the second cold season? According to the historical records, the Huai River froze, cao Pi in the winter of October 225 to march south to Sun Quan, the result is because the Huai River is frozen can not start a war, there are similar records, such as 334, the Bohai Sea coast also frozen, but also for three consecutive years.
The abnormal cold causes the entire Chinese region to be relatively cold, so it has a huge change in meteorology, and also affects Loulan, Loulan is an oasis on the edge of the desert, it can prosper by water, cold weather will affect the water use of Lop Nur, especially where the temperature difference is very large, it will also lead to a decrease in water, a small amount of water, it will affect normal life.
Lop Nur has dried up to this day, although Loulan did not dry when it existed, but it is enough to affect the survival of Loulan, in addition, according to some historical records, the main rivers of Lop Nur, the Peacock River and the Tarim River, were once diverted, farther away from Loulan, there is no water, The Loulan people can only migrate, plus they are on the edge of the desert, and they must guard against the attack of the Taklamakan Desert Storm at any time, which will also affect the national fortunes of Loulan.
Lop Nur dried up
When the Loulan ruins were discovered, it was already a piece of wind and sand and ruins, which confirmed the demise caused by the harshness of the natural environment, when the natural environment of the Location of Loulan became more and more harsh, the local people would continue to flee there and live in a more suitable place for survival, and Loulan would be abandoned by the times and become a ruin.
So where do the Loulan people come from?
In 1934, Sven Hedin discovered a small river cemetery with more than a thousand coffins 175 kilometers west of the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan, and also unearthed the dried corpse of a Loulan woman known as the "Little River Princess".
In 1980, Chinese archaeologist Mu Shunying excavated a female dry corpse in the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang, and the study showed that the body was 3800 years old, and this ancient corpse was called "Loulan Beauty".
Lou Lan beauty with restoration drawing
Princess Xiaohe and Loulan Beauty both have a distinct Europa style, that is, white people, after DNA testing of other dry corpses in the same cemetery, it is found that these dry corpses have both European and Asian DNA, that is to say, the Loulan people represented by Princess Xiaohe and Loulan Beauty should be mixed race.
Loulan is already at the intersection of the East and the West, this study shows that 3800 years ago, equivalent to China's Xia Dynasty, there were People from the East and the West meeting here, and the Central Plains knew that Loulan was more than 2000 years ago, and Loulan had human habitation before 1800 years ago, and there were intermarriages and mixed breeding offspring between the East and the West.
Since there is no historical record, it is impossible to figure out where the Loulan people came from, according to the study, the Asian genes of the Loulan people probably come from the Asian people living in the area from northern China to Lake Berga, almost the people in Siberia, as for what exactly it is, because there is no written record, it is not clear at all. The Europe of the Loulan people basically came from the Eastward Migration of Europa people from Central Asia and West Asia.