Sebikou's secret
Yang Sickle
The avenue, supported by the post station, was the lifeblood of western China for a long historical period.
From the Hexi Corridor into Xinjiang to Urumqi, the journey will pass through the so-called "Bitter Eight Stations", "Poor Eight Stations" and "Rich Eight Stations" in turn. Although the geographical conditions and cultural settings of the caravanserai are different, they are all the phased destinations of the journey. In the sequence of ancient stations, Sebikou is a special one. On the North Silk Road, it was irreplaceable before the advent of modern roads, however, almost no one can say its name except for those who have personally experienced the ancient road. As time passed, Sepebice lost its character, and it and the place where it was located were almost forgotten.
The first time I heard of the place name "Sebikou" was forty years ago. At that time, I was the director of the national company of the Hami Iwu Army Horse Farm, and because of the needs of my work, I took a car to the coal mine in the west of the county town of Barikun to collect coal. As a "zhiqing" from Beijing, it was a rare experience. Out of the county seat, across The Bari Kun Lake, the road goes hand in hand with the beacon tower. The first time I set foot on this ancient road, an impression remained in my memory: the beacon tower connecting the first line was like a telephone pole with a modern highway, which became a symbol of the existence of the ancient road.
Once, our coal truck was temporarily parked on the side of the road, and there was a shepherd driving the sheep to graze nearby. While the driver was repairing the car, I boarded a beacon with the shepherd. The beacon tower was left with reed handles and piles of ashes. At the commanding heights, two people who met in pingshui had a light lunch together. The shepherd is a teacher delegated from the county middle school, and he knows that I am a Beijing zhiqing and is quite affectionate. He told me that this line was the Qing Dynasty's royal post road connecting Beijing and Xinjiang, crossing the town of Suji and crossing the westward journey of the Tianshan Hills, which had to pass through the node of the ancient road, Sebikou. The post road that turns north from the Qijiaojing south of the Tianshan Mountains intersects with the main road leaving the county town of Bali kun and heading west at Sepikou. Therefore, Sebikou is a "tribulation" that the Silk Road brigade cannot pass. The teacher is a man of the mouth, and he interprets "Sebi" as "Saipi", which means stingy and never gives in the dialect. He said that the Sebikou area is surrounded by mountains, no trees and vegetation, no village homes, and the wind and snow are severe and cold all year round. Although no one can avoid the intersection of the two ancient roads, whenever possible, the traveler tries not to stay there. Because there are no villages and market towns nearby. This teacher told me that according to my father's and elders, among the celebrities who passed through Sebikou was Lin Zexu. We are all deeply impressed by the movie "Lin Zexu" starring Zhao Dan. He said, "You're a cultural person, go back and check it out." Involving Lin Zexu, it will not be without records. One day, there may be a film about Lin Zexu's exile in Xinjiang. ”
Since then, Sebikou Station has become a place that I continue to explore.
Indeed, there is a rare mention of the Sebikou Station in the literature of previous generations. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the Silk Road brigade entered the Western Regions from the Xingxing Gorge and first came to Hami. There are two routes to go to Urumqi (on the contrary, from Urumqi back to the interior), one is to go west along the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, through the pier, thirteen rooms, and a bowl of springs to reach the Qijiaojing, from then on to the west, through Tongqu Dayi Turpan to continue forward, is Urumqi; the other is from the Qijiaojing north, into the Tianshan Mountains, straight to Sebkou, from then on to the west, along the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, through Ulan Wusu, three springs to reach the Mulei River, and then through Qitai and Jimsar to Urumqi. Traveling through the ancient road on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, the Poor Eight Stations and the Rich Eight Stations are special relays. The Poor Eight Station is marked by the Sebikoku River between Bali Kun and the Mulei River, while the Fuba Station starts from the Mulei River and ends in Urumqi. In the Qing Dynasty, Sebikou was a low-standard caravanserai, garrisoned by eight postmen (one postmaster, seven grooms) and equipped with eight stagecoaches, but because of its unique location in connecting the ancient road, it became the focus of the ancient road administrators.
According to the "Hege Chronicle", lin Zexu was exiled to Ili in Xinjiang in the twenty-second year of Daoguang (1842 AD), passed through Qijiaojing on September 30, and traveled thirty miles into the mountains on October 2 to reach Sepikou. At that time, there were two private food and lodging shops in Sebikou, and Lin Zexu and his party ate noodles in one of them to fill their hunger, and then traveled ten miles to the Sebi Bridge, where there were also houses. "There are many people who pass through this, and there is a steep slope, sofeath horsepower." After another thirty miles, you will walk out of the hill in front of the mountain. On October 5, the first stop of the Mulei River, which finally arrived at Fuba Station, was "full of merchants and farmers, and there were many acres of land".
Lin Zexu Road passed through the post road north of the Tianshan Mountains, which was carefully maintained in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty.
More than half a century after Lin Zexu left the above records, in the twenty-second year of Guangxu (1896 AD), Pei Jingfu of ZhiXian County, Hainan Province, Guangdong Province, exiled to Urumqi, and in the Record of Kunlun of the River and the Sea, Pei Jingfu described his perception of passing through Sebikou from the big stone station.
Pei Jingfu, a successor to the westward journey, heard the story of Lin Zexu's exile in Xinjiang, and he wrote: "Lin Wenzhong (Zexu) was a minister who was far away, and after leaving the customs, if he entered no man's land, the prefecture and county had no one to ask. To the west of Hami, at night, stop in the snow of the mountain gorge to eat and sleep. In Sebikou Guyi personally experienced the reality of Lin Zexu's road through the wind and meals, Pei Jingfu praised Lin Zexu for the wind and frost its, the iron stone and its heart, and the real queen withered pine cypress.
The ancient yi of Tianshan Mountain, the relay of Poor Eight Stations and Fu Eight Stations, the hopes and efforts of the Silk Road passers-by, and the Sebikou hidden in the hills in front of the Tianshan Mountains constitute a set of three-dimensional images of the history of the development of the western region.
From knowing the location of Sebikou and knowing the past of Lin Zexu Road, Sebikou has occupied a special position in the pattern of human geography research in Xinjiang. During the long exploration expedition, I recorded several secret details related to the ancient yishi of the Tianshan Mountains. In the 1930s, in order to survey modern westbound lines of communication, the Swedish expeditionary Sven Berger was able to survey modern westbound lines of communication. Hedin once again entered Xinjiang from Hexi. One of his missions was to find the whereabouts of the German explorer Hansen between the north of the Hami Seven-Horned Well and the Mulei River. In September 1933, Hansen came to the Seven Corners Well and planned to go to the Mulei River through Sepikou, but when he left the Seven Corners Well and went north, no one had heard of him, and Han Sen had lost track of him ever since. Hansen's father was a German general who was employed to serve the Chinese government during the Sino-Japanese War. Hansen's disappearance along the road has attracted worldwide attention, but there is no real information about his whereabouts, Sven? Hedin also did not find it. I heard during my time at the military horse farm that half a century ago, a young foreign man died in an accident (encountering severe wind and snow) in the area between Dashi, Sepikou and Wutu Valley. From the perspective of the history of exploration, it is still not possible to believe that Hansen is dead, because his body has not yet been found.
There is an unconfirmed folklore about Sebikou, and it is said that on the mountain on the side of the "Sebi Bridge", Lin Zexu's poems are engraved: "The ancient snow of the Tianshan Mountains turned into autumn water", "Qingshi is determined by who is right and wrong". These are two lines in the send-off poem specially written by Lin Zexu when Deng Tingzhen was pardoned and left the exile area of Xinjiang. I think this should be carved by travelers passing through Sebikou in the late Qing Dynasty or early Republic of China to commemorate Lin Zexu. There are several more famous places in Xinjiang about the legend of the ancient inscriptions on the cliffs, such as the inscription of Zhang Qian in the CongShan near Ili, and the inscription of Li Ling in the South Mountain of Hami. Relatively speaking, this Lin Zexu poem of Se Bikou is carved in stone, and the credibility is greater. Inscribed on the cliff, in order not to be erased by the years.
Regarding the hilly area between BariKun and Mulei, it is said that there is a grotto that has never been officially reported. Its origins, and the discovery of several stone carvings related to wooden Buddha statues. Buddha statues (wooden) are apparently related to the early spread of Buddhism in the Western Regions. Wooden Buddha statues, which should have been made by nomads for ease of portability. I wouldn't be surprised if it is finally confirmed that this mysterious grotto is a cultural deposit in the Sepebkou region.
In short, Sepebice is a new point of exploration. It is the landmark point where the two-thousand-year-old road determines the direction, and it constitutes the human geography chapter on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains. Between Sebikou and the Poor Eight Stations and the Rich Eight Stations, there must be many historical pasts lurking, waiting for us to explore and discover. WutuShui is the support of Sebikou, and it is also a rare historical place name in Xinjiang from Zhang Qian's passage through the western region to today, which is still marked on the map used in reality. The Book of Han records that "the king of Cheshihou ruled the Tu Valley", and the Wu Tu Shui was obviously related to the Wu Tu Valley.
Leaving sebikou surrounded by mountains and walking towards the increasingly populated Ulan-Wusu, Sanquan and Mulei River has filled the ancient and modern passers-by with a sense of accomplishment.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, we have mainly set the human geography research of the western region in the vast area north of the Tianshan Mountains (Dzungar): from the Ejina Banner of Inner Mongolia, through the Heigobi, all the way to the west, including hami, Mulei, Qitai, Jimusar's north Gobi - the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains to the border.
This vast and empty area has been proven to be The only dense resource belt in China, and it is the richest and most promising geographical unit in the west and even in the whole of China. It will become a platform for China's reform and opening up to the forefront of the world and develop the energy security area in the western region. At the same time, this place with an area similar to that of Europe has been a passage for people to migrate since ancient times, following the Silk Road to and from the Silk Road, promoting the emergence and development of ancient civilizations, and promoting the collision and integration of the two major civilizations of nomadism and oasis, mutual absorption and mutual acceptance. I hope that through my own efforts, when the development period comes, I will have a more comprehensive, profound and meticulous understanding of the civilization of this region, so as not to appear in the development process of obliterating the misunderstanding of the ancient and brilliant Chinese civilization.
The exploration and discovery of the Sephikou Station is the embodiment of this process.
In 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2008, I experienced many times the journey from Balikun to the west to Mulei and Qitai. In Sanquan, I personally visited the remaining Yizhan Cultural District; in Ulan-Wusu, I imagined meeting Ji Xiaolan, Hong Liangji, Shi Shanchang, Huang Mao, Pei Jingfu and other forerunners. During the trip, I recalled the process of climbing the beacon with the shepherd, the sent teacher. I remembered a common saying in ancient books, "Wolf smoke is everywhere", and said to myself: Did the ancients really call the police and light wolf dung on the beacon? The shepherd, the sent teacher, also said to himself: There must have been more wolves in ancient times than sheep today. Yes, otherwise there would have been so much wolf dung. However, the road passes through a place equivalent to Sebikou on ancient and modern maps, and not only has there been no remaining caravanserai, but even a little remnant of artificial architecture can be seen. Lin Zexu ate noodles to fill his hunger and chanted "Gushu Kongtun does not see anyone, stop but kiss with horses and cattle." In the morning, a meal of sweet quinoa, half-throated west wind rolling dust" The sebikou station of the verse has evaporated from the ground?
In October 2008, I went to Mulei Kazakh Autonomous County to investigate with the leadership of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang. In Mulei, I inadvertently got a clue about the Buddha Cave on the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, just before coming to Changji, I already had reliable information about the Sebikou Station, and when communicating with the relevant leaders of Mulei County, I talked about the "missing" Sepikou Station, which should be in the approximate location near today's highway (provincial highway), and suggested that they explore the ruins.
At the beginning of 2010, I first went to Changji City, Xinjiang, and together with the heads of the Propaganda Department of the Changji Prefecture Party Committee and the Propaganda Department of the Qitai County PARTY Committee, I drove through Fuba Station and Poor Eight Station to Barikun to participate in the laba she porridge ceremony at Dizang Temple. Mulei and Barikun are both Kazakh autonomous counties in Xinjiang. In Mulei County, when they saw the relevant person in charge of the Sebikou Station in October 2008, they unexpectedly learned that it was at that location, through their efforts, that they found the Sebikou Station District marked by the fortress (the old castle). It can be said that this is a big achievement of the cultural department of Mulei County! This is, of course, full of a sense of accomplishment for me – years of exploration have finally come to fruition. But it was not inspired, it was as simple as looking for the ruins of the Creek, and my speculation came from the interpretation of the map. In fact, in early 2008 I had identified the fortress building towering over the mountain beams on a 50,000-in-000 scale map. Like the Xiaohe ruins, the ruins of the Sepikou Station area are not far from the modern highway.
On January 21, 2010, on the way to Barikun, we temporarily left the road line and came to the node of the ancient road, The Sebikou Ancient Station.
Pei Jingfu once summed up the sightings and cultural landscapes of the mountainous terrain and cultural landscape around Sebikou (he called Itakou) in this way:
To the big stone, live in the official shop. Mindian two, slightly wider. The horse number is on the west side of the official store. The water is very sweet, and the ice is three feet thick. Out of the ditch to the northwest, the mountain gorge gradually opened. Three miles, the right mountain ends, the left side has three or four peaks of small mountains, and the road is like a ditch. Five miles, gradually to the flat land, there is a long ridge on the right. Ten miles, the left mountain gradually flattened, the right mountain gradually approached. Uphill, more gravel. Ten miles, gradually flattened. Two miles to the north, to the Se Pa Kou ("Sebi Kou" in the "Hege Chronicle"), the two mountains rise side by side, and there are camps under the left mountain, such as the small fort. Downhill, the gorge only allows one car, and the mountain root is large and large. Five miles northwest, downhill, the two mountains gradually fell.
This is exactly the terrain of the mountains and rivers that I have seen with my own eyes, and it is the Sebikou Ancient Station that we have specially visited.
Just like back in the years when Lin Zexu and Pei Jingfu passed, I stood on the mountain beam opposite the Sepikou Station and inspected the entire area. Compared with the stations in the Hexi Corridor, it is a different model of the station cultural area, which is integrated with mountains, roads, nomadic areas, and settlements, and has an unobstructed view. Today, it is difficult to judge which house is Lin Zexu's noodle shop, but I think it should be the first one near the ancient road. Fortresses made of mountain stone were built to protect traffic. The ruins of only eight permanent stagecoaches and eight stagecoach horses, and the herders who attached themselves to the caravanserai, all of which finally surfaced after a long period of obscurity. The historical past flows through the course, and the recognition of the history of civilization is reflected in the text of standing on the commanding heights to review the history books, and even more reflected in the on-site feelings of being on the ground.
Before us, Sebikou is no longer mysterious. It is a powerful step in the operation of the Western Regions in the Qing Dynasty, and it reflects what the predecessors paid for and got to open up the westbound passage. Its "poverty" is the lack of popularity; its existence is to gather popularity.
On September 3, 2010, I came to Mulei again with the leaders of the Propaganda Department of the Changji Prefecture Party Committee to conduct a new investigation on the progress and development of Changji Prefecture led by modern culture. We made a special trip to the Sebikou Station, the blue sky and white clouds, the silence of the four fields, the undulating mountains, the ancient road Bada, the sheep in the distance, and the fortress occupying the commanding heights in front of us. Here, my exploration and research on the "Tianshan Corridor" has completed an important paragraph. In the next step, I will continue to look for historical details that have been lost in the flow of time, because they provide a precise blueprint for our future development and construction of the western region.
Through this exploration, my feeling is that the Mulei, Qitai, Jimsar and other areas of Changji Prefecture not only have rich natural resources, but also are "rich mining areas" of human geography, which further arouses the world's attention and is inevitable. Taking Mulei, Qitai, Jimsar and other places in Changji Prefecture as examples, the prosperity and development of Xinjiang and the west will be the main theme of China in the twenty-first century. (Author: Yang Gao, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, deceased.) ）