The Sangan River Basin is an ancient and magical region. In the past hundred years, Chinese and foreign experts and scholars have achieved world-renowned results in the study of ancient humans in the Sanggan River Basin. The archaeological community has repeatedly proved to the world that in the vast ancient times, the Sanggan River Basin, which is full of "Nihe Bay Layer", due to its unique natural geographical conditions, not only provided superior living conditions for ancient humans, but also became the main area for the evolution and formation of the yellow race, but also made this area the birthplace of Chinese culture and Chinese civilization.
Sangganhe Wetland Park
Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Sanggan River was known as "㶟" water. "㶟" is a special word made by the ancients for the Sangan River. When the ancient man-made characters were made, according to the history and landform of the Sanggan River Basin, the word "㶟" was created, and this water system life was called "㶟" water, which means that a water system will tie the three basins of the vicissitudes into mulberry fields together. For this special word, the author has looked at hundreds of rivers in China, and so far I have not found that the ancients made special words for the second river.
So, why did the ancients just create a special word for the Sangan River? This is determined by the historical status of the Sangan River. This fact clearly tells us that the ancient humans came from here, and that they were in the Sangan River Valley when they were written. Since the Sangan River Basin is their homeland, they have a special affection for the Sangan River, so they created a special character for it.
On this point, it has been paid attention to and proved by the world archaeological community. In 1921, after the French Catholic priest Vincent discovered the oldest fossil bison skull in China in the village of Nihewan in Yangyuan in the Sanggan River Valley, the humble name of Nihewan quickly went beyond the borders of the country and attracted the attention of experts in paleogeography, paleontology, paleoanthropology, paleoenvironmentalology and paleolithic archaeology in the world.
Mud River Bay
Although systematic excavation studies have not yet been carried out in the Sanggan River Basin, in the past hundred years, 111 early human cultural sites have been discovered and excavated in the Yangyuan Basin alone. From the geological point of view, there are early Pleistocene, Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene; from the perspective of cultural age, from 2 million to 10,000 years ago, it has been found. The density of cultural relics is so high and so old that it is unique not only in China, but also extremely rare in the world.
The discovery provides evidence of the oldest human survival on the East Asian continent. As a rare and huge scientific treasure house in the world, the classic area of Quaternary geology, mammals, paleo-humans and Paleolithic archaeological research in China and even the world has sent such a message to the world, and for 2 million years, humans have multiplied here and completed the evolution of Homo erectus to Homo sapiens and modern humans. Due to the solid and clear archaeological evidence and historical trajectory, Mud River Bay, like the Oduvee Gorge in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, is known as the cradle of ancient human beings.
The Great Rift Valley of East Africa
Speaking of Nihewan, people naturally think of Nihewan Village in Yangyuan County. Many people believe that Nihe Bay is a matter of Yangyuan and has nothing to do with other places. However, the scientific community defines Mud River Bay as more than just Mud River Bend in the sense of place names.
In 1924, after the British geologist Balbo named the Sangan riparian strata rich in Quaternary hydrangea sediments as the "Mud River Bay Layer", the term Mud River Bay was given a scientific meaning. With the investigation, excavation and research work, the accurate expression of the scientific concept of Nihe bay was determined as follows: "Nihewan can be spatially regarded as the geographical synthesis of Yangyuan Basin, Weixian Basin, Datong Basin, zhuolu basin and Huailai Basin with Nihewan layer; in time, it can be seen as the whole process from the entire Paleolithic period to the Neolithic Age." "In the general sense, Nihe Bay refers to the Sanggan River Basin including Yangyuan, WeiXian, Datong, Zhuolu, Huailai and Xuanhua Basins.
So, how did this ancient and magical region come into being? What was the Sangan River Basin like in ancient times?
On the north bank of the Sangan River today, there is an ancient mountain range that stretches for hundreds of miles, and its name is Bears Ears Mountain. From the direction of Zhuolu, Huangyang (Yang) Mountain (1) is its eastern foothills. There is no doubt that the Huangyang Mountains are an integral part of Bears Ears Mountain.
Huangyangshan Reservoir
Archaeologists have confirmed that while the Himalayan movement was in ancient times, the present-day Sangan River Basin is located in the zone of stress combination and transformation of the Yanshan Movement, the Caledonian Movement, and the Himalayan Movement. Strong squeezing and twisting from three different directions have caused the strata here to break, some faults have been squeezed down, some faults have been squeezed up, and Bears Ears Mountain has been raised in the center of the region, forming three basins around it. Archaeologists Xia Zhengkai and Liu Xiqing said in the article "Preliminary Understanding of the Paleogeographic Environment of the Nihe Bay Layer" that it is precisely this kind of movement that "has caused the geomorphological pattern of the fault basin and the barrier mountainous area separated.". As a result, the center of the Basin of the Sanggan River Basin is "studded with the bastion mountain- Bears Ears Mountain".
The birth of the basin controlled the development of the water system in the region, and gradually formed a large and small beaded freshwater ancient lake. Bears Ears Mountain in the middle divides the huge triangular basin into "Datong Ancient Lake", "Zhangjiakou Ancient Lake" and "Zhuolu Ancient Lake" in the shape of "Pin".
Zhuolu Ancient Lake is located in the southeast of Bears Ears Mountain, spanning present-day Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, and its water surface includes Zhuolu County, Huailai County, Yanqing County and other areas. At that time, there was no current Guanting Gorge, so there was a wide water surface here. Geologically, there are not only indelible traces of the ancient lake, but also some place names that show people the distant information of the ancient lake. Zhuolu and Huailai's boundary mountain Laojun Mountain, which has always been known as Haixin Mountain before. After the Ming Dynasty built the Laojun Ancestral Hall, it had the title of Laojun Mountain, but the surrounding people still adhered to the title passed down by their ancestors, calling it Haixin Mountain. This undoubtedly conveys to us the message that in the past it was indeed the "sea", and Laojun Mountain was a prominent island in the "sea", so it was called Haixin Mountain.
"Zhangjiakou Ancient Lake" is located north of Bears Ears Mountain, spanning Hebei and Shanxi provinces, and covers the area of present-day Xuanhua, Wanquan, Huai'an, Tianzhen and Yanggao counties. A weak mountain that rises to the west of the garden separates the "Zhangjiakou Ancient Lake" from the "Zhuolu Ancient Lake".
Located southwest of Bears Ears Mountain, Datong Ancient Lake also "spans the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei, including Datong, Huairen, Shanyin, Ying County, Shuo County, Hunyuan, Yanggao, Guangling, and Yangyuan and Wei Counties (most of) in present-day Shanxi Province, covering an area of more than 9,000 square kilometers." The Sangan River Grand Canyon, which borders Zhuolu and Xuanhua at present-day times, was connected by a fragile mountain at that time, becoming the dividing line between "Datong Ancient Lake" and "Zhuolu Ancient Lake".
Archaeologists Wei Qi, Zhang Changgeng and Xie Tingqi, according to the excavated fossils, in "Datong Lake" - a lake in the history of Yanbei" and "The Living Environment of the Xujiayao People", not only analyzed the formation of the ancient lake, geology and landform, but also made a detailed description of the animals and plants in the ancient lake area.
At that time, there were "three-toed horses and hoofed rabbits left over from the Tertiary Period" living near the three ancient lakes; there were also standard genera of the Quaternary period, such as bison, Sanmen horse, Nama elephant, Bu's bighorn deer, giant camel, four-elephant deer, plate-toothed rhinoceros; as well as hedgehogs, short-eared rabbits, Ding's weasels, straight-subordinate wolves, tanuki, bears, swollen jaw martens, Sang's otters, badgers, Chinese hyenas, Nihewan saber-toothed tigers, new cheetahs, Li's wild boars, horned chamois, Weng's horned antelope, Shandong sheep, etc. The lake is inhabited by mud bay spiny fish and carp. The shallow waters of the lake are inhabited by a large number of mollusks such as clams, clams and snails." "The plant species in this area are: fir, spruce, pine, cedar, hemlock, larch, elm, willow, hazel, rhinoceros, ephedra, artemisia, cayx, tang pine grass, sedge, grass, asteraceae, quinoa, buttercup family, umbellifera, tateshina, lip family, caryophyllaceae, cattle seedlings, Sichuan continuum, orthopedic family, orthopedic family, etc."
At that time, it must have been water and sky connecting, microwaves rippled, and the mirror-like lake water was boundless.... The blue water of the lake is filled with mud river bay spiny fish and various aquatic creatures.... The surrounding hills are overgrown with fir, spruce, hemlock, cedar and larch, elm, willow and hazelnut are mixed, the forest is covered with weeds of different heights and heights, and unknown flowers compete for beauty and emit their own fragrances....
Three-toed horses flock in the forest, three-door horses, nama elephants, bu's bigfoot deer, four deer, giant camels cut one side, bison, plate-toothed rhinoceros, mud river bay saber-toothed tigers are out and about, hoofed rabbits, short-eared rabbits, Weng's horned antelope, horned chamois are chased by straight wolves and cheetahs, running desperately in the grass ...
After the formation of the three "Pin" glyph-shaped ancient lakes in the Sanggan River Basin, due to the humid climate and the wide variety of animals and plants, it has become one of the few areas in Asia suitable for the survival and reproduction of ancient humans. It is precisely because of this that in the long ancient period, the Sangan River Valley became the mother region of human development.
About the Author
Gu Xinsheng, born in January 1954 in Zhuolu County, a member of the Communist Party of China, with a college degree, he studied in a normal college, and successively served as a teacher, secretary of the Public Society Committee, deputy secretary of the Youth League County Committee, director of the Party History Research Office of the county party committee, executive deputy director of the Organization Department of the county party committee, etc. in Zhuolu County; in 2006, he retired to the second line and engaged in historical research work, and in 2010 he was appointed as the president of the Zhuolu Historical and Cultural Research Association. He devoted himself to the excavation and study of Zhuolu history, and has published more than 150 biographies and historical research articles; edited the "Zhuolu County Chronicle", "The History of the CPC Zhuolu County Organization", "The Outline of the History of zhuolu of the CPC", "Luye Fengyun", "Charming Wujiagou Town" and other books; authored the book "Zhuolu History". In 2016, he served as the consultant of Zhuolu TV Station's "Beautiful Zhuolu My Home" column, and successively planned and filmed more than 40 episodes of TV special films reflecting the history and humanities of Zhuolu; in 2018, he served as the director of the exhibition outline and the text of the exhibition of Zhuolu Museum, the historical consultant of the interactive film live performance of "Zhuoshuilu Mountain" at the closing ceremony of the Zhangjiakou Tourism Development Conference, and the main speaker of the "Classic Zhuolu" column of Zhuolu Tv in 2019. Comrade Gu Xinsheng is the first person to systematically excavate and study the historical and cultural development of Zhuolu, and many research results have filled the gap in the historical research of Zhuolu, and are known as "people who have entered the depths of Zhuolu's history".
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