Loulan, known as the ancient country of Loulan, is a small country on the ancient Silk Road and occupies an extremely important position on the Silk Road. According to Records of Historical Records, Biography of Dawan and Records of the Western Regions, Loulan was founded in 176 BC and was a "walled country" before the 2nd century AD.
Guloulan County is located in the west bank of Lop Nur, Ruoqiang County, Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, and is one of the most desolate areas in Xinjiang. According to records, Loulan was built in Yanze (referring to Lop Nur) with battlements. However, "the soldiers are weak and easy to walk", and the Loulan Kingdom has only 1.500 households, with a population of less than 1.500, and the country name is "playing mud". Later, he moved the capital to He Shan. When Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, Loulan changed his name to Shanshan.
The ancient country of Loulan borders Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest and Ruoqiang and Qiemo in the southwest. Because both the north and south roads of the Silk Road are separated from Loulan, Loulan has a special position and is also a military stronghold. The mysterious disappearance in 630 AD lasted for more than 800 years. Today, only ruins remain.
Although the ancient country of Loulan no longer exists, it is very familiar to us, because this place is mentioned in many ancient poems of China. Just as Wang Changling wrote in the title "Join the army", "Don't break Loulan, don't give it back"; In the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu's Twenty Qinzhou Miscellaneous Poems, "It is too late to return to China, but Loulan has not returned." "Send Su Shi to Cao Zhou at dusk in winter", "Luwan needs to levy the sun, Loulan needs to chop it".
In "Five Poems of Xia Sai", "fame, wealth, shame, and death are counted, and Loulan is directly killed to serve the country." In "Send Fiona Fang to Beijing", "Loulan has 100,000 divisions, where are the scholars going?" In Wen Tianxiang's Taibai Building in the Song Dynasty, "Men beheaded Loulantou and drank tea leisurely to worship Yuxian." Li Bai's "Xia Sai Qu" and other poems "I would like to put my sword in my waist and cut Loulan straight". From these poems, we can see that most of them are poems attacking Loulan, which makes us feel that Loulan has become a country hated by the ancients. Why?
Loulan is a powerful country among the 36 countries in the Western Region, bordering Dunhuang and Xiongnu in China in history. Around A.D., it was closely related to the Han Dynasty in the history of China. It was the Loulan State of Han Dynasty, but sometimes it became the eyes and ears of Xiongnu, living between Han Dynasty and Xiongnu. In addition to its special geographical location, Loulan is also a traffic fortress between Han and western countries.
In the history of our country, the Han Dynasty needed to cross this place to attack the Huns, and the Huns could not threaten the Han Dynasty without the help of Loulan, which led to the softening policy towards Loulan. Loulan used this opportunity to skillfully maintain his own survival, but it also belonged to a "swinging" image, which was erratic.
It stands to reason that Loulan is just a small country, still sandwiched between two major forces. It's good to live in the cracks, as long as the two sides are not entangled, at least not annoying. But beyond that, this small country of Loulan is famous for intercepting and killing the envoys of the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions. It is recorded in The History of the Han Dynasty, Biography of the Western Regions, that Loulan State was provoked by Xiongnu and repeatedly intercepted and killed the Chinese ambassador. How can such a situation prevent the ancients from hating Loulan?
In the pre-Qin period, the communication channels between East and West in China already existed. By the time of Emperor Liu Che, Zhang Qian was sent to the Western Regions. Coincidentally, the Silk Road was opened, and the silk trade between the East and the West began to be planned and organized. The Silk Road brought great wealth to the Han Dynasty.
On the Silk Road to the West in the Han Dynasty, all countries along the road around it also benefited from it. In the Western Han Dynasty, the west of Yangguan and Yumenguan, which is today's Xinjiang and beyond, was called the Western Regions. At that time, there were 36 countries, which later split into more than 50 countries. These countries benefited more or less from the Silk Road, especially the ancient country of Loulan, which is in a key position. Loulan's economy developed rapidly and became the richest country at that time.
At that time, the western countries were also under the control of Xiongnu, and they were not completely separated. Under the instigation of Xiongnu, Loulan, Cheshi and other countries often plundered the envoys and caravans sent by the Western Han Dynasty to the western regions, resulting in heavy losses to Wusun and other places in the Han Dynasty. Later, in the third year of Yuanfeng (BC 108), the Han Dynasty led the troops to attack Loulan, and suffered a heavy defeat. Then the famous "Bloody BMW" in history was also introduced from Dawan.
However, Loulan did not completely submit to the big fellow, but was sandwiched between Xiongnu and Han people, playing the role of a swinger. On the one hand, Loulan paid tribute to the Han Dynasty, on the other hand, she was ambiguous with Xiongnu, helping Xiongnu kill messengers, intercepting business trips and destroying the Silk Road. As a neutral figure, he can't get any peace because of his position, but Shi Loulan often acts as the eyes and ears of Huns, spying on the military situation of the Han Dynasty, sometimes pretending to submit to the Han Dynasty, but most of the time he doesn't care about the Han Dynasty.
At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the top, and we also know what kind of person Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was. He is an emperor who loves fighting very much. It is not too much to say that he is a "militarist". After several generations of recuperation in the Han dynasty, he had long wanted to throw off his arm and do it with the Huns. This Loulan also found another job, giving Liang Wudi the style of "must fight", so she made Loulan fat.
Loulan sent a son of Loulan Wang to the Han Dynasty to be a proton, which shows his obedience. But Loulan also sent protons to the Huns, trying to remain neutral between the two countries. However, Loulan sometimes approached the Xiongnu to deal with the big man and intercepted the envoys of the Han Dynasty many times, but never intercepted the envoys of the Xiongnu.
Later, in the Han Dynasty, Zhao Han, a famous diplomat, sent a mission to Dawan to condemn Loulan with the imperial edict of Emperor Zhao Han. Fu Jiezi went to Loulan, but King Loulan didn't want to go near Fu Jiezi. Fu Jiezi attracted Loulan with gold, silver, jewelry and coins. Later, King Loulan talked to Fu Jiezi alone and was assassinated by a strong man led by Fu Jiezi. Tell the nobles of Loulan:
"King Loulan committed the crime of the Han Dynasty, and the son of heaven sent me to kill him. He should be replaced by a prince who stayed as a hostage in the Han Dynasty. The Han army has just arrived, so don't make a move. If you move, you will ruin your country! "
Later, Loulan was renamed Shanshan Kingdom, and Fu Jiezi made protons of the Han Dynasty the new King of Loulan. Later, Zhao Han sent troops to Tunloulan, thus gaining the initiative to crusade against Xiongnu and other countries in the Western Regions. From the above description of Mozi, we can see that Loulan is a capricious "lilliputian country". Loulan rebelled against the Han Dynasty many times and attacked and killed Ambassador China. This swing style will naturally be attacked by the ancients as an enemy and then quickly killed. This is also the reason why ancient poets have always emphasized the destruction of Loulan.
The ancient country of Loulan prospered because of the Silk Road, but in the end it could not resist the passage of time. After the 4th century AD, the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed Shanshan, and Loulan, which lasted for more than 600 years, perished. This country with a history of 600 years has quietly disappeared in the long river of history. ...
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Text/History Mozi Museum
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