Where is Loulan country now? What is its origin, decline, politics, economy and culture?
First, what is Loulan?
Loulan, one of the 36 countries in the Western Regions, was only active on the historical stage for four or five hundred years and died mysteriously in the fourth century. There are still different opinions about the reasons. 1500 years later, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin and Rob's guide Aldek rediscovered it on March 28th, 1900, which caused a sensation in the world and was called "Pompeii of the East". For one hundred years, Loulan has been a hot spot for explorers, historians and travelers in China and even the whole world. The beauty of Loulan, the tomb of Loulan, the colorful coffin of Loulan ... one after another, the mystery seduces everyone.
According to Historical Records Biography of Dawan and Hanshu Biography of the Western Regions, Loulan was a famous "wall garden" in the western regions as early as the 2nd century AD, with a population of14,000 and nearly 3,000 soldiers, which can be described as a vast territory. Guloulan is also the first stop of the ancient Silk Road from the west to Yangguan. At that time, it was the "street messenger" on this traffic line, with busy traffic and prosperous urban economy. Strangely, after five or six hundred years of prosperity, the famous Loulan Kingdom suddenly disappeared after the 4th century, with no historical records and no name.
In the 7th century A.D., when Tang Xuanzang returned from the Western Ocean, he saw that Loulan country was "desolate and deserted", and its depression scene made people feel great changes!
190 1 year, with the help of local guides, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered the "Ancient City of Loulan" in the north of Lop Nur, claiming that it was "the reappearance of Pompeii in the desert" and caused a sensation in the world. Chinese and foreign scholars believe that the ancient city of Loulan is the most important historical relic discovered by the prosperous ancient Loulan country on the Silk Road. It plays a vital role in studying the ancient history of Xinjiang and even Central Asia, the historical changes of the Silk Road, and the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western cultures.
A large number of archaeologists, geographers and geologists followed. They are:
Huntington Expedition1905;
1906 British Stan expedition;
1908- 1909 Japan's mitsuo otani expedition;
1910-1911Japan's second expedition.
The cultural relics excavated by these expeditions in Loulan ancient city and Lop Nur area have shocked the world with their great value, and the number is countless. In addition, there are stone axes, wood products, pottery, bronzes, glass products, ancient coins and so on. In the Neolithic Age, there were many kinds of cultural relics. Among them, Jin Dynasty Warring States policy and Han Jin manuscripts are the most precious. This kind of handwritten paper is only one or two hundred years later than the paper invented by Cai Lun 105, and six or seven hundred years earlier than the oldest China paper in Europe. The unearthed Han brocade is colorful and exquisite. Some embroidered "Han embroidery (10,000) has infinite descendants (that is, full house descendants)". Some embroidered "longevity", "happiness" or "longevity". The production date is1-2nd century. Another major excavation was the discovery of the letter from Li Bo, the long history of the Western Regions in the Western Jin Dynasty, to King Yan Qi, the so-called "Li Bo Document", and the "Haitou" ancient city discovered according to Li Bo's document. This led Loulan to take away a large number of ancient cultural relics in the later period of research, and wrote and published a series of monographs on Loulan in Lop Nur, praising Loulan as a treasure buried in the desert and a historical heritage.
Scientists from China visited Loulan on 1927. Huang Wenbi, a famous archaeologist and Chen Zongqi, a geographer who came to Loulan with the Sino-Swiss (Canon) Northwest Scientific Delegation, visited the northern shore of Lop Nur many times and excavated the site. More than 70 dated wooden slips of the Western Han Dynasty were unearthed, and the beacon tower site of the Han Dynasty was excavated. A considerable number of bronzes, ironware, lacquerware, woodwork, bones, stones, pottery and silk and linen fragments have also been unearthed. Huang Wenbi published a monograph "Archaeology of Lop Nur" on his archaeological work in Lop Nur area, and the ancient civilization in Loulan area turned a new page in the hands of China scholars. Huang Wenbi was the only archaeologist in China who had been to Lop Nur before liberation.
The Loulan adventure craze in New China once again caused a sensation in the world. The most positive response is Japan. The book Loulan Kingdom written by the famous Japanese historian Mr. Zehejun has been published in two editions. In Japanese elementary school books, there is an introduction about the ancient city of Loulan, which is a household name in Japan.
In the late 1970s, Japan's nhk TV and CCTV jointly produced the TV series Silk Road. At that time, the Institute of Archaeology of Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences was invited to assist in filming TV series. They organized teams, overcame many difficulties, and went deep into Lop Nur area for three times, and once again obtained China's wooden slips and documents (including a small amount of fallow) and a large number of precious cultural relics such as ancient money, woolen goods, silk goods, leather products and lacquerware in Wei and Jin Dynasties. The Surveying and Mapping Brigade of the Military Region cooperated with the investigation team to go deep into Loulan to survey and map the topographic map of Loulan ancient city. After accurate measurement, it is determined that Guloulan City is located at 89 degrees 55 minutes 12 seconds east longitude and 40 degrees 30 minutes 57 seconds north latitude. The ancient city covers an area of 6.5438+0.2 million square meters, slightly square, with a side length of about 330 meters. The walls made of mud, reeds and branches are still discernible. A northwest-southeast ancient river runs through the city. The remaining main houses in the city are still well preserved, except for the missing roof, other parts such as doors and windows can be clearly distinguished. In the ancient city, wooden beams, purlins and rafters used for building houses can be seen everywhere. Some of these building materials in Hu Yangmu are carved with patterns, which show a considerable level of craftsmanship and are particularly eye-catching, providing valuable information for the study of ancient architecture. In addition, there are ancient beacon towers, granaries and other architectural relics. As for pottery pieces, felt pieces, ancient copper coins, silk fragments and other cultural relics, only a little excavation on the surface and underground can make "antiques" see the light of day again.
The Japanese called 1988 "the Year of Loulan", and carried out commemorative activities centered on Loulan exploration, such as organizing a 100-member investigation group, holding a large-scale exhibition of Dangheding and Loulan Kingdom, holding a report meeting, and taking photos of Loulan. It can be seen that Loulan's research has already gone global.
Second, Loulan State Site
Loulan ancient city 1
(1) guanya
"Three rooms" are three rooms side by side. One of the two adobe buildings in Loulan City, the tallest building in the city was probably the official residence at that time. Since Sven Hedin discovered the ancient city of Loulan and excavated a large number of precious documents under the corner of three rooms, Zuicho Tachibana from Japan and Steinying from Britain have been excavating here and taking cultural relics abroad. These cultural relics were later collected by museums and studied by experts, and the upsurge of "Loulan research" rose internationally. "
(2) domicile
It is made of red willows and reeds. Today, the roof and walls do not exist, but the layout at that time can be seen from the remaining wall roots.
(3) stupa
This stupa is about 10 meter high and is the tallest building in Loulan City.
2. Haitou Ancient City
During the period of 1988, the cultural relics team of Lop Nur organized by the cultural relics department of the autonomous region, with the cooperation and assistance of the troops, discovered two ancient cities, such as Haitou (Stan number lk), in the southwest of Loulan ancient city, drew the first topographic map of these two ancient cities in China, and collected a number of precious cultural relics specimens, which further filled the archaeological gap in Lop Nur area.
3. Ruins of Milan
This is a vast area, and the ruins mainly include Milan Castle, two Buddhist temples and cemeteries. Along the city wall, at the bottom of the Buddhist temple, big pits dug by things can be seen everywhere. Milan belongs to the ancient Loulan country, where China settled in the Han Dynasty. A controversial point of view is that this is the new capital of Loulan country after it moved its capital. There have been "wonderful murals with Indian cultural characteristics"-winged angels, Tibetan wooden slips in the 8 th-9 th century AD; This is an important historical site to reveal the mysterious rise and fall of Loulan ancient country, an important area where Buddhism spread eastward from Xinjiang to the mainland, and a rare proof that historical records record the exchanges between Tubo and the western regions.
4. Washixia Ancient City
5. Xiaohe Cemetery
1934 In May, an expedition camped by the Loulankum River. They are looking for an ancient tomb with 1000 coffins in the Qom Valley.
In two months, rob "camel hunter" Aldek and others searched again and again in vain. Even Aldek himself speculated that the ancient tomb was submerged by newly formed rivers and lakes in more than ten years or was reburied by a strong black storm. At the end of the month, the expedition advanced to the oasis belt closer to the southwest of Rob wasteland.
Soon, they found a river flowing southeast. It is 20m wide and about120km long. The current is sluggish, and a series of small lakes and swamps are surrounded by reeds and red willows. It is a new river after the restoration of Qom River, with a history of less than 10 years. Before they entered the desert along this river, they temporarily named it "Little River". There is a round mountain 4-5 kilometers east of "Xiaohe". From a distance, there is a dense dead tree at the top of the mountain, which is 4-5 meters high. Strangely, the distance between dead trees is very close, one plant is connected with another, supporting each other.
On the mountain, there are mummies, skeletons, dismembered bodies, huge boards that can trip at any time and thick wool fabrics. In a boat-shaped wooden coffin, there is a well-preserved female corpse. When the coffin is opened, the tight shroud will be weathered into powder at the touch. Uncover the rag covering her face, a beautiful girl, her eyes closed, her mouth slightly tilted, as if she had just fallen asleep by magic, and a mysterious smile appeared on her face. This is the legendary "Princess Loulan" or "Queen Rob". She has been sleeping in the desert for more than 2000 years. She has long hair and shawls, and is petite, only 5.2 feet tall.
At the top of 10× 16 square meters, there are huge painted wooden columns, exquisite wooden fences, life-size wood carvings and eye-catching halls (ground buildings of cemeteries). Experts believe that it was not built for ordinary Loulan people, but an important mausoleum.
1998, a group of archaeologists reached the Rob Desert with difficulty. They happened to see some traces of abandoned city walls, exposed to the yellow sky without cover. Under the guidance of a 100-year-old Luobu people, it is confirmed that this is a Luobu village that has been in ruins.
This river may be the ancient site of Loulan-the public cemetery of the residents of the ancient city. After nearly a hundred years of busy explorers and archaeologists, many large tombs and funerary objects have been discovered in the Rob Desert. Then, in the Loulan desert, which has been silent for thousands of years, will there be rare masterpieces or undiscovered miracles like the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum?
6. "Sun Tomb"
Located on the north bank of the ancient Peacock River. It was discovered by archaeologists Hou Can and Wang Binghua in the winter of 1979. There are dozens of ancient tombs, each of which is the tomb of the dead, with a circular stake in the middle and seven circles around the stake more than one foot high, forming several rays in the form of solar rays. According to the determination of carbon 14, the Sun Tomb has a history of 3800 years. Which nation and tribe is it? Why are you buried here? Where do these people live? Whether to use the sun as a totem to build this tomb or other meaning ... Twenty years later, it is still a mystery. What about the fracture of Lop Nur civilization and Loulan civilization in recent 2000 years? Maybe when the mystery of the Sun Tomb is solved, there will be a conclusion.
The "Loulan Beauty" of Indo-European race was unearthed here 3800 years ago. Nearly 65,438+00 ancient human sites have been discovered, and some human relics, such as stone balls, hand-made Gaza pottery fragments, bronze fragments, triangular wing bronze cymbals, animal bones, beads, etc., are exposed on the surface of yellow land that is not completely covered by sand dunes. There are also some stone knives, Shi Mao, stone arrows, tiny stone leaves and stone cores. From 5000 to 6000 years ago. This clearly shows that Loulan, which is still barren, did grow green grass from the late Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age to the early Han Dynasty, and the forest coverage rate reached 40%.
Third, how did Loulan disappear?
Loulan has always been a mysterious place for Chinese and foreign archaeologists, historians and geographers.
Two thousand years ago, it was an important transportation hub on the Silk Road, connecting north and south and meeting east and west. The most prosperous shopping mall in western China in ancient times. The residents here also grow wheat and raise cattle and sheep. Their daily necessities are Hu Yangmu, ox horn and straw products. Why did this famous ancient shopping mall disappear without a trace in a very short time? What's hidden in this?
In the process of the destruction of Loulan, the destruction of ecological environment played an important role in fueling the flames. Loulan used to be a vibrant oasis with a wide river network. However, the huge "Sun Tomb" has laid a hidden danger for the destruction of Loulan.
The "Sun Tomb" has a strange and spectacular appearance. Around the tomb are seven layers of thin and thick logs. The stakes are orderly in thickness from the inside out. Outside the circle are rows of trees scattered radially in all directions, orderly and spectacular. The whole shape looks like a sun, and it is easy for people to have all kinds of mysterious associations. With the prevalence of "Sun Tomb", a large number of trees were cut down, which made Loulan people bury their homes unconsciously. According to the seven tombs that have been discovered, there are more than 1 10,000 logs, which is amazing.
The destruction of ecology can not only be attributed to the "Sun Tomb", but the resultant force of various factors will inevitably lead to ecological imbalance. Loulan is located inland with a dry climate. Over time, the original green oasis can no longer remain green. In the unearthed Han bamboo slips, we can know the situation of the reduction of food rations of Loulan soldiers, which reflects the hardship of Loulan after the environmental deterioration from one side.
In addition, it is entirely possible that the war directly led to the demise of the ancient country of Loulan. Before the era of maritime trade, there was only one long "Silk Road" for East-West trade. Countries along the "Silk Road", especially Shanshan, south of Tarim, have become important targets for looting by neighboring powers.
Driven by human interests, it is also an important force leading to environmental changes. In the 4th century, Loulan was gradually abandoned. The main reason is that the ancient road from Dunhuang to the western regions has developed greatly since the 4th century. In addition to passing through Yizhou (now Hami), there is also a newly developed sea channel with more convenient transportation. The change of traffic route immediately made Loulan lose its position on the Silk Road.
Fourth, the environment of Loulan.
1 climate
The climate here is harsh. There are more than 100 windy days in a year, with the high temperature reaching more than 50 degrees in summer and the cold reaching more than 30 degrees below zero in winter.
2. Terrain
The ancient city of Loulan is surrounded by the vast landform of Ya Dan. Ya Dan is a kind of hills formed by long-term strong wind erosion and water erosion, just like a reef in the sea. The surface ravines are vertical and horizontal, undulating, and it is difficult for cars to drive.
5. Where did Loulan people come from?
Who once thrived in the mysterious land of Loulan? Whose wisdom created the splendid oasis civilization? The research on this issue has always been fascinating and confusing.
Lin Haicun, a professor of archaeology in Peking University, said: "Loulan people use Quluwen in Central Asia as the official language, while Loulan's mother tongue is Indo-European, which is called' Northeast Language' in academic circles." "The conclusion of anthropological research on Loulan and the result of linguistic research on Loulan remind us once again that in ancient times, there was an Indo-European tribe living in Loulan, far away from Europe." So this book thinks that Loulan people are "ancient Indo-European tribes wandering in the East".
However, there is no consensus on the question of "where Loulan people come from". . There is a view that Loulan people belong to Aryans. Yang Lian, an archaeologist at Loulan, China Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that he had been to Loulan in 1980s and met a man in his thirties, who was tall and about 2 meters tall. He specially took a picture for him, and the boy standing with him didn't see his chest.
According to a recent study by an anthropologist in China from the perspective of genetics and artifacts, Loulan people are closer to ancient Afghans, which is another brand-new argument.
This well-preserved female corpse, with light hair, developed eyebrow arch and straight nose bone, obviously has the characteristics of Caucasian race. This is completely consistent with anthropologists' anthropological measurement of human bones unearthed in cemeteries. By the time of Loulan State in Han Dynasty, the ethnic composition of Loulan residents had a new development. They were born with Caucasians, including Mongolians. The ancient inhabitants of ancient Eurasia took this not-lush land as their foothold, hoping to build a beautiful home here!