Where is Yanmen Gate?
The Huangdi tribe merged with the Yandi tribe, the Jiuli tribe (Chiyou) and other tribes, forming the prototype of the Chinese nation. Huang Yan fought and merged in southern Shanxi, Hedong, Xi'an, and northern Henan. "Guangming Daily" published Wang Shangyi's article "Taiyuan has been the capital for 4,470 years", which verified that Yao, Shun and Yu established their capitals and states in Taiyuan, proving that Taiyuan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization. According to "Hanshu Geography": "Yanmen was the city of Yu Gong in Jizhou". Yanmen Pass has "dominated the Central Plains" since ancient times. According to Chen Yulin's article "On the Position of Yanbei in National Integration", it is demonstrated that the Yanbei area is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization.
The earliest ancestors of humans in Yanbei can be traced back to the "Xujiayao people". They lived in Yanbei as early as 60,000 to 100,000 years ago. They are descendants of "Peking Man" and are not called early Homo sapiens in archeology. In the Xia Dynasty, the ethnic minorities living in Yanbei and Mobei were called Xunhuan, and in the Shang Dynasty they were called Guifang. , the Western Zhou Dynasty was called Beirong, the Spring and Autumn Period was called Di Ren, and the Warring States Period was called Linhu and Loufan. The above proves that the Central Plains in Yanmen Pass and the desert plains outside the Pass are the birthplaces of Chinese civilization in 5000 years. Among the civilizations, there was the Central Plains civilization first, then Dongyi and Xirong. After developing across the Northern Desert and the Central Plains, they attacked the Dongyi in the east and joined the Xirong in the west. After developing across the Northern Desert and the Central Plains, they attacked the Dongyi in the east and joined the Xirong in the west. , Beiling, which lies between the Northern Desert and the Central Plains, has gradually become the main gateway for exchanges, integration, warfare, and reintegration between the Central Plains and Northern Mobei. It promoted the mutual exchanges between primitive humans and the Han people in the Southern and Northern Central Plains. Cultural exchanges and ethnic integration with the northern ethnic minorities played an extremely important role in the formation of the Chinese nation.
"The Biography of Emperor Mu" records: King Mu of Zhou visited the border in the 17th year (about -960). "Jue Yu's Guandeng". "Guandeng" means stone road; "Jue" means crossing; "Yu" means Xiyuguan (today's Yanmen Pass), which shows that the ancient passes, ancient roads and stone roads had been formed at that time, and only then could they attract the supreme emperor. Go to patrol the border. Beiling Zhoudeng is the earliest ancient tomb, ancient pass, ancient fortress and ancient pass between the Central Plains and Mobei.
The most dangerous pass in China
The six major defense systems of Yanmen Pass "Double Pass and Four Passes" are the largest, most scientific and complete fortification buildings in the northern part of the Central Plains. They fortify Dongxing Pass and Xixing Pass on an area of 302 square kilometers, collectively known as Yanmen Pass.
In ancient times it was called Beiling, in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties it was called Xiyuguan, in Spring and Autumn Period it was called Juzhusai, and in Wei and Jin Dynasties it was divided into Dongxingguan and Xixingguan. Guancheng. Xixingguan (iron-wrapped gate, manually dug), the ancient road is paved with stones, and the cliffs on the left and right are cut like "Three sides rush to the unparalleled place, and the nine fortresses respect the first pass." "Natural danger" and "geographical advantage" indicate the strategic location of Yanmen. The four passes are the Nankou Pass, the Guangwu Pass, the Taiheling Pass, and the Baicaokou Pass. There are "five cities, eight buildings, seven temples and one temple" in Dongxing Pass. "Tower" and other more than 40 ruins. The five cities are Guancheng, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Wengcheng and Weicheng; the eighth floor is Ningbian Tower (Mingyue Tower), Weiyuan Tower (Yanyue Tower), Tianxian Gate Tower, Dili Gate Tower, and Four City Towers. The seven temples are the Li Mu Temple, the Yang Liulang Temple, the Upper and Lower Temples of King Zhao Wuling, etc.; the first tower is the Wild Goose Pagoda, as well as Guan Shu, Military Training Field, Dianjiang Terrace, Guanling, Ancient Barracks, Jiujiao and Eighteen Cave. Magong Kills the Tiger Pavilion, Fendao Stele Pavilion, Changping Bridge, Chang'an Bridge, etc. Five kilometers to the north is Guangwu Pass, commonly known as "Dog Climbing Lotus City", with connected forts and towers, and fortified passes. The left and right sides are connected with the Guancheng defense system, which is a typical building for ancient pass military defense operations. One kilometer to the west is Guangwu Pass City, which was built in the Song and Liao Dynasties. Outside the north wall is the northernmost point of the Central Plains. It is separated by a wall, a city, a pass, and a fortress. In ancient times, this place was worthy of being called the "End of the World" and the "End of the North".
It is three kilometers south of Guangwu Aicheng. , is the Baicaokou Pass. Guguan is an important transportation hub for the north and south, with connected castles, three narrow gates, watchtowers, secret doors, and the Great Wall within the beacon tower, forming a joint defense with vertical depth, clear priorities, combination of points and lines, main body and two wings, front and rear leaning, left and right A unity that is connected, horns of each other, has a strong core, and fights independently is a rare example of city defense in the history of ancient Chinese territorial defense.
The Baicaokou Great Wall is 8,033 meters long and is the most complete and longest preserved original section of the Great Wall. Even Beijing uses this section of the Great Wall as a basis for repairing the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing. Another 3 kilometers south is Xixing Yanmen Pass. There is a group of Han tombs one kilometer north of Guangwu Pass, where 288 generals and soldiers who died guarding the three sides in the 400 years of the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties are buried. They are national security units. There are "three city fortresses" and "39 forts and 12 connected cities" under the pass; on both sides of the pass are the "Eighteen Passes of Yanmen", which strangle the Central Plains in the south and the desert plains in the north. Together with the Outer Great Wall, they form a thousand-mile northern barrier, forming a The pass is dangerous, the pass is important, the pass is majestic, and the pass is absolutely perfect. The essence of the Great Wall lies in the passes, and the essence of the passes lies in Yanmen. Even wild geese find it difficult to fly over. They must circle three times in the sky before flying south, hence the name Yanmen Pass. To this day, a stone inscription has been preserved from this time: "Danger is created by nature."
Controlling the Central Plains - the most important point in China
In the fourteen hundred years from the unification of Qin to the southward migration of the Song Dynasty, the dynasty established by the Han nation had its capital Although he moved many times, he never left this place in the Han Dynasty of the Yellow River outside the southern boundary of Shanxi.
Yanmen Pass has always been the choke point between the Central Plains and the Desert Plains, and it is located in the middle of the three sides, so it must be the center of the battle.
The central part of the Shanxi Plateau is a graben corridor formed by five major basins arranged in a flying geese pattern. The northern army can follow the northern passage directly to the capital or the capital. If they occupy Shanxi, they can check and balance the Central Plains. Yanmen Pass " The most dangerous thing about Yanmen is that the Han Dynasty attacked the Xiongnu, the Tang Dynasty defended the Turks, the Song Dynasty defended the Khitan, and the Ming Dynasty blocked the Waci. It was not only a battle for military strategists, but also a battle for the royal family. Without the defense of Yanmen Pass, there would be no Taiyuan Dragon City, no Shanxi merchant culture, and no stability of the imperial cities of Xi'an and Luoyang. It is said in history that "if you gain Yanmen, you gain the world; if you lose Yanmen, you lose the Central Plains."
In the "Nine Fortresses of the Warring States Period", Yanmen Pass (Juzhu Fortress) is clearly the first of the Nine Fortresses. Among the nine fortresses, there are only two border fortresses that continued after the Qin and Han Dynasties, Yanmen Pass and Juyong Pass in Beijing. As for the pass that spanned the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties for more than 2,000 years, and had a huge impact on the survival of the Chinese nation, Yanmen Pass is the first one.
Yanmen Pass - Witness the "North-South Connectivity" and "Ancient Tea Horse Road" between the Central Plains and Mobei
During the Yanmen Pass War, the Central Plains and ethnic minorities traded here and transferred technology , has been recorded since the Qin and Han Dynasties. During the reign of Emperor Xiao of the Han Dynasty, the Huns transported cattle, horses, sheep and livestock products to Yanmen Pass in exchange for grain, cloth, ironware, etc. from the interior. After the rise of Xianbei, "fine gold and fine iron" from the Central Plains were continuously imported from outside the customs. Through the Han, Wei, Sui and Tang dynasties, and into the Song and Liao dynasties, mutual trade became more prosperous. The important transportation line outside the exit is the Yanmen Ancient Road. Merchants from the Central Plains purchased goods and shipped them out through Yanmen Pass, and then transferred them all the way from Zhangjiakou to Kyaktu; they transported them all the way to Guihua City (today's Hohhot) via Shahukou, and then transferred to Kyaktu to trade with Russia and enter the European market. There is an existing "road dividing monument" in Yanmen Pass, which stipulates the ascending and descending routes of vehicles. It has become the earliest traffic post in the Central Plains, which shows the prosperity of Yanmen Pass.
Yanmen Pass - Witnessing the integration of ethnic groups in the history of northern China
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, ethnic minorities such as Yan Xun, Lou Fan and the Xiongnu formed intermarriage and trade alliances with the Han people through Yanmen Pass, promoting intermarriage and trade alliances with the Han people. the prosperity and progress of the nation. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, especially the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei people established the Northern Wei Dynasty, first moving the capital to Datong and then moving the capital to Luoyang, which made ethnic exchanges more frequent and convenient. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolian and other ethnic groups of the Song and Yuan dynasties, such as the Turks and Shatuo, entered the Central Plains through Yanmen Pass. From war to "harmony and one family", they joined hands with the Han nation to create a glorious Chinese civilization.
Yanmen Pass - Witness the Implementation of the Policy of Harmony and Friendship
The policy of peace and friendship, which has played an important role in handling ethnic relations, stabilizing the political situation, and opening up frontiers in history, was conceived and born in Yanmen Pass. . At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Dao of Jin adopted Wei Jiang's idea of "peaceful garrison" and turned the past method of using force to deal with the surrounding Rongdi into a peaceful settlement, which greatly benefited the ethnic minorities outside Yanmen Pass. King Zhao Wuling's "Hufu riding and shooting" originated from the practice at Yanmen Pass. It was a strategy for strengthening the army and rejuvenating the country learned from occupying Daibei and peaceful exchanges with the northern ethnic minorities. The marriage was triggered after Liu Bang's "Bai Deng Siege", such as Zhaojun's departure from the fortress, Cai Wenji's return to the south, and Princess Yicheng of the Sui Dynasty marrying a Turk.
Yanmen Pass - witnessed many large-scale immigrants in history to guard the border and farm fields
In order to develop northern Xinjiang and build border defense projects, the Central Plains Dynasty often immigrated to the border pass. This policy can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty At that time, the Great Wall was built to recruit civilians and guard the border fortresses. ——In 221, the Qin Dynasty moved 30,000 households to Beihe and Yuzhong (today's north of Yijinhuoluo Banner in Inner Mongolia) for farming. In the Western Han Dynasty, immigrants from the mainland moved to Mayi and other places to engage in animal husbandry, especially horse breeding. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immigrated to the frontier and once reached a population of 700,000, establishing 14 counties.
After inspecting Yanmen Pass, the Secretary-General of the World Chinese Federation praised: "Yanmen Pass is the capital of ethnic integration and peace between the Central Plains and Mobei."