Emperor Wu of han, who was known as the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, worked hard to govern and expand the territory, and the Hexi Corridor built by his national strength was even more humiliating. The Hexi Corridor of the Western Han Dynasty was roughly located in the central and western part of present-day Gansu Province, and the famous Four Counties of Hexi were established, which belonged to Liangzhou at that time. Each of the four counties of Hexi is an allusion, carrying the glory and hardships of the Han Dynasty, and one of them is also related to the illness of the champion Hou Biao riding the general Huo Fu!
When it comes to corridors, you can understand what they mean at a glance, but you may not understand the Hexi Corridor. I will tell you about the corridor, which in geographical terms is a narrow channel of passage, the most famous corridor is the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, which is like a wedge deeply pierced into the Pamir Plateau. In this sense, China has three corridors, namely the Maritime Corridor (both sides of the Strait), the Liaoxi Corridor (Shanhaiguan), and the Hexi Corridor. The Hexi Corridor is simply part of what German scholars call the Silk Road, but the Silk Road is divided into two types, one by land and one by sea. The Hexi Corridor is the throat passage of the Silk Road on the road, and this passage is located in Hexi. Here Hexi is the western part of the central part of the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and its general location is located in the central and western parts of today's Gansu Province.
Let me further talk about the detailed location of the Hexi Corridor of the Han Dynasty. The Hexi Corridor is the four counties of Hexi set up during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which are Dunhuang County, Jiuquan County, Zhangye County, and Wuwei County.
Where is Dunhuang County?
Dunhuang County is located in the western part of Jiuquan County, in the western part of the Hexi Corridor, covering Dunhuang City, Guazhou County (anxi County before 2006), Subei Mongol Autonomous County, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County and other places under the jurisdiction of Jiuquan City. It was the last major road to the Western Regions at that time.
Location in Jiuquan County.
Jiuquan County is basically half and half in Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and has extended its tentacles to today's Qinghai Province. Its northern part is mainly located in the territory of Ejin Banner of the Alxa League; most of the southern part of Jiuquan County is located in the whole territory of Jiayuguan City, Yumen City in Jiuquan City, Jinta County, and the southwest of Sunan County in Zhangye City; it is located in a corner of Jiuquan County in Qinghai Province, mainly in Qilian County of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
"Transnational" Zhangye County.
Zhangye County covers a corner of Outer Mongolia, a part of Inner Mongolia, most of Gansu, and a corner of Qinghai. Specifically, the northern part of Zhangye County advanced into the territory of present-day Outer Mongolia, and its east longitude spanned about 100° to 103°, located in the southern Gobi League (province) of Outer Mongolia, the southern part of Gurbantessumu (county), the southern part of Noyunsumu (county), the southern part of Bayandalaisumu (county), and the southwest of HuermenSumu (county). In Inner Mongolia, it mainly extends into the territory of Ejina Banner, and the southern part of Zhangye County is also in Qilian County, Qinghai Province. Zhangye County spans the entire territory of Jinchang City (Jinchuan District, Yongchang County) in Gansu, and most of Zhangye and Parts of Wuwei City. Ganzhou District, Linze County, Gaotai County, Shandan County, Minle County, and Sunan Yugur Autonomous County (partial) of Zhangye City. It also touched the northwest of Zhangye Minqin County, while still touching Qilian County in Qinghai Province.
Location in Wuwei County.
Wuwei County of the Western Han Dynasty touched Qilian County at the same time, mainly in the southern part of the Alxa Left Banner of the Alxa League in Inner Mongolia, and on the Gansu side, across Wuwei City, Jingtai County in the northwest of Baiyin City, Yongdeng County in Lanzhou City, Gaolan County and other places.
From the above description, you know the names of the four counties of Hexi. It is not difficult to know it, it is not difficult to know why it is not difficult, I will talk about the origin of the four counties of Hexi, there is a place name that is also related to Huo's disease! Do you know why Gansu is called Gansu? It is precisely because of the two cities of Zhangye and Jiuquan. This is very similar to Anhui Province's name from Anqing and Huizhou, Huizhou is now fragmented, it is difficult to understand, Gansu is even more difficult. The combination of the first character of Zhangye and Jiuquan is Zhangjiu, and the combination of the tail character is Yequan, which cannot be beaten with Gansu. Zhangye was called Ganzhou in ancient times, and the ancient city of Jiuquan, Suzhou, although it was very ancient, did not have the ancient place name of the Han Wudi period. Today's place names are the same as those of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, especially the four counties of the Hexi Corridor, except that the previous counties are now cities.
There are two names for Zhangye County, one is "Zhang Guo's arm, to pass through the western region", and the other is "broken Xiongnu's arm, Zhang China's Tuo (armpit)". The phrase "to pass through the western regions" is easy to understand, so what does "Zhang Guo's arm" mean? My understanding is that the Zhang Han Dynasty, like an arm, connected to the Western Regions. The country here should have been said to be a "state", but Han Gaozu's name was "state", so xiang state could only be called xiang state, and the state could only be changed to a state. The meaning of Zhang Guo is similar to the meaning of Zhang Chu established by Chen Sheng wu Guang, which is the meaning of Zhang Daguo. It's almost like rolling up your sleeves and working hard. The saying "Breaking the arm of the Xiongnu, Zhang Zhonghua's Tuo (armpit)" is also very profound, and after Huo Wentyi and other generals took the Hexi Corridor, the Xiongnu lamented: "Lose me Qilian Mountain, so that my six animals will not rest; Losing my yanzhi mountain and making my married wife colorless", for the Xiongnu it was really a pain to break an arm, and for the Han Dynasty it was the result of the struggle to open the armpits.
The name Jiuquan County comes from eight characters:
"There is a spring under the city, and its water is like wine."
There is a spring under the city, but what does it mean that its water is like wine? Aren't springs and drinks colorless? The wine here can only be understood from the taste, so why is the spring water of Jiuquan City so much like wine? Here is an allusion to Huo's illness, saying that Huo went to the disease to defeat the Xiongnu, and Emperor Wu of Han was very happy, not far away, and personally gave the champion Hou Meijiu. The young and promising Huo went ill, not only fought mighty but also very righteously, and immediately poured wine into the spring water and shared the spring water mixed with the soldiers. This spring water also has a faint aroma of wine, much like wine. Because it was a reward from the emperor, the spring water mixed with wine was called wine, so it was also called a wine spring.
In 121 BC, the Hun Evil King surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Jiuquan County and Wuwei County. This Wuwei County is also related to Huo's disease, why is Wuwei County called Wuwei? The simple reason is that the Han Dynasty was very powerful! Although the Han army, which was far away, was invincible and invincible, Emperor Wudi of han was proud of it and gave the Han army the praise of "martial arts and military might". In order to commemorate the great achievements of the Han army and to show the holiness of the emperor, Wuwei County was established in 111 BC. However, in the evaluation of place names, there are often known as Jin Zhangye and Yinwuwei, and for Dunhuang, all we know is the Mogao Grottoes.
Dunhuang County and Wuwei County were established in the same year, and in 111 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set aside a separate part of the establishment of Dunhuang County on the basis of Jiuquan County. For the name of Dunhuang County, the ancient sages believed that Dunhuang meant Dasheng. Li Jifu, the father of Tang Dynasty chancellor Li Deyu, said in his book "Atlas of Yuanhe County":
"Dun, Daiya. It is famous for its wide open western region. "
However, in modern times, the results of the research of experts have not been so. They believe that the earliest name of Dunhuang is generally considered to be "Dun xue". The "Dun Xue" in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is a transliteration of the pronunciation of the local indigenous people. The Japanese scholar Toyohachi Fujita believes that the indigenous people at that time were the Tsuki clan people. As for the meaning of Dunhuang, Cen Zhongmian believes that it is peach blossom stone, and Wang Zongwei believes that it is Duohang, which is what the ancient Qiang people call chanting.