Huangsha, the ancient country of Loulan, was dressed in golden armor and fought for hundreds of games until Loulan was broken. "This is a famous sentence in the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Changling's Joining the Army. Although the ancient country of Loulan has disappeared for many years in the Tang Dynasty, it is still deeply imprinted in the minds of scholars in the Tang Dynasty and has always been the object of chanting. Loulan was first seen in the historical records of the Western Han Dynasty in China. Sima Qian wrote in Historical Records: "Loulan and Gushi have battlements, which are close to the salt flats. "It is also said that it is rich in jade, rich in reeds, tamarisk, Populus euphratica and white grass. People chase aquatic plants with grazing, as well as donkeys, horses and camels. "In fact, Sima Qian has never been to Loulan, which was written according to the report of Zhang Qian, the angel of his contemporaries. Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions three times in his life, and experienced hardships, so he was very familiar with the situation of the countries in the Western Regions. It can be seen that the ancient country of Loulan was once very prosperous because it was located on the main road of the Silk Road and had fertile soil and water. Xiongnu was the biggest enemy in the northwest of Han Dynasty. In order to compete for the territory of the western regions, the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu fought for 70 or 80 years, with Loulan bearing the brunt. This kind of competition was once heated up. Until 77 BC, General Huo Guang sent Fu Jiezi to assassinate King Loulan, made his brother king and moved the capital to Yixun City. The ancient country of Loulan was renamed Shanshan country. Since then, Loulan has been an important town in the western regions of the Han Dynasty. Ban Chao lived here in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the Three Kingdoms, Shanshan belonged to Wei. In the Western Jin Dynasty, King Shanshan was named Guiyi Hou. In the 5th century, Song Yun, a famous monk, went to Shanshan, where General Ningxi lived, covered in mud. Since then, the ancient Loulan country has disappeared, and there is no longer any literature record. The territory of the Tang Dynasty was unprecedented. When the troops of the Tang Dynasty went to the Western Regions, they looked for Loulan, but they couldn't find it. From then on, it disappeared and only existed in the imagination of frontier fortress poets. 1274, the great explorer Kyle Poirot came to the east along the ancient Silk Road. He had never seen Loulan, only the vast yellow sand. Where the hell did it go? Is it gone? No, it lies quietly under the vast yellow sand, waiting for the call of science! Discovery after more than one thousand years+1900 In March, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin went east along the Tarim River and reached the lower reaches of the Peacock River in search of the elusive Lop Nur. His guide is Eldik, a Uighur farmer. On March 27th, the expedition arrived at a small mound. At this time, something bad happened. Swinheding found that the water they brought was leaking a lot. In the arid desert, no water equals death. They went to look for water, only to find that their shovel was lost. The guide was ordered to retrace his steps to find the shovel. On the way, he met a strong sandstorm, which fascinated Eldik's eyes. He had to hide first. After the sandstorm, he opened his eyes and an incredible scene happened. An ancient city appeared in front of him: there were walls, streets, houses and even a fire platform on the top of the mountain. Eldik was terrified. He thought he saw the devil's palace. He walked around the empty streets of the city in a hurry, picked up a few ancient coins, carried two exquisite carved boards on his back, and hurried to the pig-killing expedition. Eldik's discovery made him almost faint with excitement. He knew it must be a major discovery in the history of archaeology. Because there is no water, the swineherd must leave here. He decided to have another thorough examination the next year. 190 1 In February, Swing Harding came here again with a lot of water and food. He found that it was an ancient city abandoned by people, but it was once quite prosperous. A large number of cultural relics have been unearthed here, including coins, silk, grains, pottery, 36 Chinese-character papers, 120 bamboo slips and several writing brushes ... After Swinding returned to China, he gave the cultural relics to Himmler in Germany for identification. After identification, this ancient city is the famous ancient country Loulan that shocked the whole world. Subsequently, expeditions from many countries came one after another ... 1979, China made a large-scale latest excavation, and the splendid ancient country of Loulan was finally revealed to the world. Through the long-term unremitting efforts of historians and cultural relics experts, the mysterious veil of Loulan ancient country has been unveiled. The original Loulan City covers an area of about 654.38+10,000 square meters and is located in the lower reaches of Peacock River. In the center of the city is the administrative office, made of adobe, with thick and high doorposts, carved beams and painted buildings, and painted with red paint. This is the power center of the ancient city and the most luxurious place in the ancient city. The south of the city is a residential area with about 1.4 million people. The remaining houses show Chinese-style buildings, which are divided into main rooms and wing rooms, with orchards behind them. There is a tall stupa in the east of the city, and a Buddhist temple five miles away. You can get a glimpse of the religious situation here in those days. There are still mounds in the northeast of the city, which are the ruins of the Han Dynasty post station. There are dense Populus euphratica forests in the northwest and southwest. The streets in the city are vertical and horizontal, and a river runs through the city from northwest to southeast. There are concentrated cemeteries around the city, and you can get a glimpse of the local customs at that time. A large number of cultural relics reproduce the former glory of Loulan. A large number of documents and wooden slips have been excavated in the city; There were five baht in the Han Dynasty and copper coins in the first frost Empire. There are silk fabrics and screens from the Han Dynasty, murals from Persia, and even handicrafts with Athena as the pattern in Greece and Rome. There are also pottery and lacquerware from various countries. All these show the incomparable importance of Loulan in the transportation, cultural exchange and commerce between China and the West. The ancient Silk Road runs from Chang 'an to the west, passing through the famous Dunhuang, and then to Loulan to the west. Loulan is indeed the hub and outpost of China's foreign exchange. It was a large international transit city at that time. When businessmen from China come here, they can choose different roads to travel around the world. People from all over the world gather here from all directions and then go to Chang 'an. As historian Conrath said, "The rise and fall of Loulan ancient city is a monument of world history. "Let's think about the glory of Loulan in those days: gorgeous buildings with different styles abound, the streets are bustling, languages of various countries come and go, camel teams come and go, businessmen are looking for hotels with full rooms with a lot of coins and goods, and soldiers in China may be addicted to bars, because this peaceful and lively scene seems to show their redundancy ... However, all this has gone in such a hurry and suddenly. It seems that it will disappear without a trace in a very short time. What made this bustling ancient city suddenly become an empty city and then be buried under thick yellow sand? A preliminary study on the mystery of the disappearance of Loulan Lop Nur is a fickle lake, known as the "migrating lake". In ancient times, Lop Nur was just north of Loulan ancient city. Sima Qian said Loulan Ancient City: "Lin Yanze" refers to Lop Nur. Experts pointed out that Peacock River and Cherchin River meet Tarim River and enter Lop Nur via Kuruk River. Lop Nur is the source of life of the ancient Loulan. The migration of Lop Nur made Loulan's water source dry up, plants died, and the climate was bad. Loulan people can only wait for death here, so they have to abandon the city, and the ancient city of Loulan disappears into history. But why did Lop Nur migrate? Experts can't reach an agreement. Some people think that the Tarim River carried a lot of sediment, deposited Lop Nur and raised the bottom of the lake, so the Tarim River had to be diverted and the old Lop Nur dried up. Some people think that the Tarim River flows in the valley with soft soil, which will change the river course to form a new riverbed and produce a new Lop Nur. Some scholars believe that the migration of Lop Nur is the result of unbalanced geological structure and movement performance. Many scholars also believe that the decline of ancient Loulan is closely related to social and humanistic factors. According to Chinese ancient books, the ancient Loulan Kingdom finally existed in the Sixteen Countries Period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was the most chaotic period in Chinese history. Many nationalities in the north have become vassals, fighting with each other. Loulan is a battleground for military strategists, a battleground for military strategists. Frequent wars and looting destroyed the vegetation and traffic and commercial status of Loulan. The ancient country on the edge of the desert could not exist without these two basic elements. As a result, it became a vast scene full of yellow sand today.