Shadow of the Tomb Raider: A Complete Record of the History of Tomb Raiders in China

Chapter 81 The Lost Soul: The Vicissitudes of the Looting and Excavation of the Loulan Ancient Tombs (1)
desert civilization disappears

In the long history of thousands of years in our country, there used to be a prosperous nation.The people of this nation gradually established a prosperous country relying on natural geographical advantages.It was once an important country that the Silk Road passed through.However, this prosperous country suddenly disappeared from people's sight more than 2000 years ago.Since then, no news about it can be found in the history books, and no one knows where this country has gone.This country is the ancient country of Loulan.

The ruins of the ancient city of Loulan are located in the west of Lop Nur, Xinjiang.According to modern archaeological excavations, the ancient country of Loulan once created a highly developed civilization on the oasis near Lop Nur.Next to the ancient city of Loulan is the vast Lop Nur, where people go boating and fishing on the blue waves, hunt in the dense Populus euphratica forest, and bathe in the gifts of nature.

Lop Nur is an ever-changing lake, known as "a migratory lake".The "Linyan Lake" recorded by Sima Qian refers to Lop Nur.Lop Nur is the source of life of ancient Loulan.According to Li Daoyuan's "Shui Jing Zhu", after the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the diversion of the Zhubin River in the middle reaches of the Tarim River at that time, Loulan was seriously short of water.The migration of Lop Nur depleted Loulan's water source.In order to alleviate this situation, Soler of Dunhuang led 1000 troops to Loulan, and summoned 3000 soldiers from the three kingdoms of Shanshan, Yanqi, and Qiuci to divert water into Loulan day and night.But the ancient city of Loulan was eventually abandoned, and a splendid culture disappeared along with it.

In 1900, a Swedish explorer, Sven Hedin, visited Lop Nur in China.Surprisingly, he discovered a thousand-year-old city on the way to find the water source, and a large number of pottery, characters, coins, silk fabrics and other cultural relics were unearthed during the later excavation process.Later, through textual research, this place is the Loulan Kingdom recorded in historical materials. When it was discovered, it had been buried in the desert for about [-] years.

The earliest record of the Loulan Kingdom is "Historical Records", and later "Han Shu Biography of the Huns" also described the Loulan Kingdom: "Shanshan Kingdom, whose real name is Loulan, Wang Zhizhi Nicheng, went to Yangguan for a thousand and six hundred miles, and went to Chang'an for six thousand and one hundred miles. There are 570 households and 12 mouths.” The ancient city of Loulan is shaped like a square, with an area of ​​about 36 square meters.It is a small country among the 300 countries in the Western Regions. Its capital is located on the northwest coast of Lop Nur, Xinjiang today, and it was established around [-] BC.

The ancient city of Loulan was very prosperous for a time, but what really attracted and fascinated people from all over the world was the reason why it mysteriously disappeared 600 years ago.In fact, almost all the ancient cities that rose up in the Tarim Basin in history, including Loulan, disappeared into the vast sea of ​​sand almost at the same time, that is, in the fourth century AD.So, what is the explanation for the mystery of Loulan's disappearance?

Ecological deterioration said.Similar to the "Huangchang Ticou" in the Central Plains, when the Loulan civilization was prosperous, it also cut down large areas of trees to build mysterious and far-reaching "sun tombs". The appearance of the "Sun Tomb" is fantastic and graceful, spectacular yet mysterious; it is made of layers of round logs, and the whole shape presents a radiating state, from thin to thick, arranged in an orderly manner, just like the sun shining on the earth. .Due to the massive deforestation of trees, coupled with the deep inland, the natural climate is dry and windy, and the water source is scarce. In the end, the ecological balance here was greatly damaged, and the desert was approaching. Loulan people stayed away from their hometown in order to escape famine.

war said.The Eastern Jin Dynasty was an era of constant wars in the history of our country, and the ancient city of Loulan happened to survive at this time, and its geographical location was important in military affairs. Therefore, Loulan Kingdom became a strategic location that all parties wanted to occupy.Frequent wars have wiped out the Loulan civilization, the people are in dire straits, and the people are confused. The Loulan Kingdom is finally walking towards the grave of death.

Water scarcity said.The Loulan civilization benefited from the flow of the Tarim River. However, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the diversion of the Zhubin River in the middle reaches of the river, the Loulan Kingdom lost its main water source.Although Sule of Dunhuang later led the people to try their best to introduce the Zhubin River water into the Loulan area, they still failed to get rid of the fate of Loulan's water shortage.

Disaster said.The speed of the spread of the disease exceeded the pace of escape of Loulan people. Many people believed that the plague was the ultimate cause of Loulan's disappearance.According to legend, this plague is the terrible "hot nest disease". As long as someone in a region is infected with this disease, under the condition of backward productivity, the disaster will inevitably affect almost all members.The people of the ancient city of Loulan encountered this misfortune.

The most touching thing in Lop Nur is that the changes of the so-called "vicissitudes of life" may not take as long as expected. It is hard to imagine that 50 years ago there were still You can row a boat and catch fish over 1 meter long.The diversion of water for irrigation in the middle and upper reaches and the construction of reservoirs prevented the Tarim River from flowing into Lop Nur. In 1972, Lop Nur evaporated the last drop of water and became a sea of ​​death.

Because of the disappearance of water, the abandonment of a lake or even the abandonment of a city is not uncommon in the Taklamakan Desert.For example Loulan.

Historically, Loulan was one of the 36 countries in the Western Regions, adjacent to Dunhuang, and had a close relationship with the Han Dynasty around AD.Loulan City was the political, economic, and cultural center of the Loulan Kingdom in the early stage. It connected to Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest, and Ruoqiang and Qiemo in the southwest.The southern and northern routes of the ancient "Silk Road" diverged from Loulan. As a transportation hub town in the hinterland of Asia, Loulan City once played an important role in the cultural exchanges between the East and the West.

How did Loulan disappear mysteriously?It has been a question that has been debated by modern scholars for many years.

One theory is war, and it is believed that Loulan was destroyed by Dingling, or by the Huns nomads in the north.But the doubt is that war can only destroy a city and a pool, and it is unlikely to destroy the entire country.There is also a saying that it is a plague. It is believed that a major plague occurred in the whole country at that time.Some mass burials have been found nearby, in which the bodies of men, women and children are piled on top of each other like bricks.

The climate deterioration theory is currently the prevailing argument, and it is believed that natural changes caused the great migration of countries.When the famous Loulan beauty was dissected, it was found that there was a lot of sand deposited in the lungs.It shows that the climate has started to deteriorate at that time.

However, the view that everyone agrees with the most is that the most fundamental reason for the ruin of Loulan is that there is no water in Loulan. The famous historical geographer Wang Shouchun believes that the reduction of water until it disappears is not only caused by climate change, but also by human factors.From a historical point of view, due to the increase in population, the excessive drawing of river water in the upper reaches has caused the reduction of water flow in the downstream rivers and the instability of the river course, which eventually led to the abandonment of ancient ruins in the downstream.

There is also a theory that the Loulan people cut down a large number of trees for their large-scale construction and its peculiar tomb form "Sun Tomb", which eventually brought about ecological deterioration. The "Tomb of the Sun" has a strange and magnificent appearance. Surrounding the tomb are seven layers of thin and thick logs.The wooden piles are from the inside to the outside, and the thickness is orderly.Outside the circle, there are rows of logs that spread out radially in all directions. The whole shape resembles a sun. According to the data at the beginning of this year, in the seven tombs that have been discovered, there are more than 1 logs, which is a staggering number.

It is worth mentioning that in the law written in Lu language excavated in Loulan, there is such a law: "Anyone who cuts down a living tree will be fined with a horse; whoever cuts down a small tree will be fined with an ox; Two sheep."It can be seen that people at that time had realized that they must protect the ecological environment in order to survive.

But Loulan was finally lost in the wind and sand.According to historical records, thousands of people from Loulan Kingdom moved to Yiwu (today's Hami area) under the leadership of a man named Shanmi. In Lop Nur, until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1980, the corpse of a Loulan woman unearthed by Mu Shunying in Xinjiang put another veil on the dreamlike Loulan civilization, making the Loulan civilization even more mysterious.Just imagine, how could a corpse be preserved so well after 800 years?However, "there are no birds above, no beasts below, and the eyes are everywhere, but the dead bones are the ears." The eminent monk Faxian passed Loulan when he was learning Buddhist scriptures in 400 AD.The Western Regions were originally an arid land, but the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau exacerbated the drought in this area, and the degree of desertification gradually became serious.The reasons for the disappearance of Loulan civilization have been debated endlessly, but no matter which one is said, it is impossible for the above-mentioned reasons to destroy a piece of brilliance in an instant. It is more likely that the ancient city of Loulan disappeared under the combination of several external forces. of.In addition, human beings are eager for quick success and the expulsion of interests is also one of the reasons for Loulan's disappearance.

The disappearance of the Loulan civilization is a pity for both China and the world, but after the pity, people have to reflect on it.Wars, droughts, climate warming, plagues, and the destruction of the natural environment by humans has reached an unprecedented level, and the living environment is gradually deteriorating.Then, can people take Loulan as a warning and properly reflect on their own behavior to avoid future troubles?

The ancients said: "The present is to the past as the past is to the future generations; the present is to the future generations as the present is to the past." The "memory of people and water" left by Loulan is a painful history.However, if you look at Lop Nur today and the large Populus euphratica forests in the lower reaches of the Tarim River that have declined due to lack of water, you cannot help worrying. What kind of history will we leave to future generations?

Loulan ancient tomb is difficult to rest in peace

The Loulan Kingdom used to have a very strong history, and was also deeply influenced by the Han culture of thick burials.Many of their tombs are rich in funerary objects.As a result, the Loulan site on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert has become a place that many Chinese and foreign explorers and tomb robbers yearn for.

The most typical Loulan ancient tomb is the "Sun Tomb".This tomb is named for its resemblance to the sun.In the middle of the ancient tomb is a tomb surrounded by wooden piles, and there are seven concentric circles surrounded by several wooden piles on the periphery. These wooden piles also form several rays with the center of the tomb as the endpoint, in the shape of sun rays.

In many places in Xinjiang, there are stories of treasures buried in many deserts around the Taklamakan Desert.There are also some scary legends. For example, there is an ancient city in the desert, which is full of gold and silver, but if someone picks up the gold, a black storm will suddenly blow up, or it will be attacked by countless wild cats.There will also be ghosts calling the name of the person who took the gold, leading him to the depths of the desert.This terrifying legend did have a certain deterrent effect on the local people. For a period of time, no local people dared to step into the desert to rob tombs.However, with the development of the economy, more and more cultural relic dealers are hovering around people, attracting them with large bundles of banknotes.The mummy stolen from these tombs can be sold for 7 yuan as long as it changes hands locally, and it can be sold for a high price of 100 million yuan if it is smuggled out of the country.As a result, some people couldn't stand the temptation of money and started tomb robbery.Although the desert seems to have been cursed by the ancient Loulan people, people have been killed by tomb robbery.However, these did not deter the ensuing grave robbers.Every summer, many people lead camels into the desert to hunt for treasure.

Regrettably, after thousands of years of waiting, what the ancient city of Loulan has waited for is not people's high level of protection for it, but hoes in the hands of more and more tomb robbers.

From March 1901th to 3th, 4, Sven Hedin hired farmers to excavate randomly in 10 ruins in Loulan City, and obtained a large number of Han five baht coins, exquisite silk fabrics from the Han and Jin Dynasties, glassware, weapons, copper and iron. Tools, bronze mirrors, decorations, beads, and wood carvings in the style of Dharani.There are more than 13 Han and Jin wooden slips and paper documents with extremely high historical value.Stein, who came with Sven Heding, has unearthed a large number of cultural relics, including 270 Chinese documents alone, many of which have dates, and the latest date is the 349th year of Jin Jianwu (14), and there are many others Luwen, a Litwen.Juruichao of Japan obtained 330 Chinese documents here, the most famous of which is the letter written by Li Bo, the governor of the Western Regions who is very familiar to the historians at home and abroad, to King Yanqi.Such a wealth of cultural relics has greatly promoted the study of Loulan history.Later, archaeologists discovered wooden slips in Chinese language of the Jin Dynasty, a large number of coins of the Han Dynasty, Roman-style glassware, a Han-style pottery retort, and a Guishuang coin in the city of Loulan. There are also West Asian style wool cloth.

"The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and if you don't break Loulan, you will never return it." It will take 1500 years for Loulan and the civilization it created to disappear.In particular, the discovery of the 3800-year-old white "Loulan beauty" and the huge sun-shaped cemetery ancient tomb ditch has led people to deep questions about the surprise of the first discovery of Loulan: Where did the Loulan civilization come from?Where did the white people in Loulan come from and where did they disappear?A series of unsolved mysteries can only wait for more discoveries in Loulan, but what will be left after the looting of the tomb?
(End of this chapter)