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Traveling eastward for nearly 500 kilometers from Kashgar City to Aksu City, from this day on, we entered the Aksu region in southern Xinjiang, and what we are about to show you is the ancient and mysterious Kucha culture and the enthusiastic and unrestrained Dolan culture. Before the on-site visit, Let's visit the Aksu Regional Museum first.
Aksu is located in the central part of Xinjiang, at the southern foot of the middle section of the Tianshan Mountains, in the north of the Tarim Basin, bordering Bayingoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in the east, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in the west, bordering on Kashgar in the southwest, facing Hotan in the south, and Yili in the north Autonomous prefectures adjoining. There are 36 ethnic groups living here, with Uyghur as the main body.
Aksu has a long history. As early as 12,000 years ago, there were ancient human activities in the territory. Many Neolithic sites have been discovered in the Aksu area. The stone tool grinding technology and pottery decoration style used by the ancestors here are similar to those in Gansu and North China, and belong to the same cultural type.
The picture below shows the ancestral stone pestle unearthed at the ruins of Keping County, which shows the worship of male roots and fertility by ancient humans.
The picture below shows a painted pottery pot from the Western Zhou Dynasty. The decoration is obviously influenced by the painted pottery culture in Gansu.
The Tianshan rock paintings in Aksu show that the ancient residents of Aksu lived mainly nomadic hunting, migrating with water and grass, and lived in no fixed place; there were also a small number of people who mainly engaged in agricultural production and also ran livestock, and were relatively settled.
The picture below shows a belt hook with deer pattern in the Warring States Period, which has a typical grassland cultural style.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Aksu area belonged to the two cities of Gumo and Wensu. In the third year of Jianyuan in the Western Han Dynasty (138 BC), Zhang Qian went on a mission to the Western Regions and opened the Silk Road. In the later Han Dynasty, Zheng Ji was appointed as the car guard to take charge of the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains with the Northwest Road, known as the "Guardian". Later, the Protectorate of the Western Regions moved to Kucha (now Kuqa).
During the Han Dynasty, there were cities such as Qiuci, Gumo, and Wensu in Aksu, among which Qiuci was the most prosperous. In the first year of Yuankang (65 BC), Jiang Bin, the leader of Qiuci, went to Chang'an to pay homage to the Emperor Han, and expressed his obedience to the Han Dynasty.
(duck-shaped pottery pot of the Han Dynasty)
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Gumo and Wensu were merged into Kucha, and Kucha gradually became the center of economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. During this period, the residents of Kucha mainly believed in Buddhism (introduced to the Kucha area around the 1st century BC), and the Buddhist culture with architecture, sculpture, and grotto murals as the carrier achieved unprecedented development and had a profound impact on the culture of the Central Plains.
(Single-ear pinched pottery pots from the Northern and Southern Dynasties)
Kumarajiva, one of the four great scripture translators in my country, was born in Kucha during this period. The famous Buddhist sayings we are familiar with today, such as "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew and electricity, should be done like this. View", "form is emptiness, and emptiness is form" were all translated by him first. When introducing the miniature landscape of the ancient Western Regions in the Lost City of Sitia in the previous article, the monk sculpture in front of the ancient Kucha Kingdom is Kumarajiva. The following turns to the Kizil Grottoes, and we will see him again.
The picture below shows the mural in Cave 171 of the Kizil Grottoes, "The God of Music, Kindness and Love to King Gandapo". The murals of the Kucha Grottoes inherit the Buddhist art of Gandhara and Mathura (belonging to ancient India), and also integrate the art of Central and Western Asia, forming a unique painting style. The colors are mostly stone blue, stone green, red and white interlaced, the picture is rich and gorgeous, the composition is symmetrical, and the characters are vivid and exquisite.
During this period, Kucha music rose, prospered and spread to the Central Plains. It was all the rage. Kucha music was influenced by music cultures such as India and Persia, and absorbed the nutrients of Han and other minority music cultures. The Eastern and Western cultures were integrated into one furnace. , self-contained system.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court established the Anxi Protectorate in Xizhou (now Turpan). In 658 A.D., the Anxi Protectorate was moved to Kucha, and Kucha became the political, military, economic and cultural center of the Western Regions, with political stability and social harmony. With the prosperity of the Silk Road, the Kucha culture was brilliant for a time.
After the Tang Dynasty unified the Western Regions, the prosperous Buddhism in the Central Plains formed a powerful backflow, which had a great influence on the Buddhism in the Western Regions. Central Plains Han style murals generally appear in the Kucha Grottoes, from themes to painting techniques, they all have a distinctive Central Plains painting style.
During this period, Xuanzang went to ancient India via the Western Regions to learn Buddhist scriptures, and he lectured for several months in Zhaohuli Buddhist Temple (now the ruins of Kuqa Subashi Buddhist Temple).
(Tang Dynasty Clay Figurine Portrait)
During the Five Dynasties, Song, and Liao Dynasties, some local separatist regimes that did not belong to each other emerged in the Western Regions. The Uyghur tribes who moved westward from the Mongolian Plateau established the Xizhou and Kucha Uyghur regimes. After the rise of Xiliao in Central Asia, Kucha became the territory of Xiliao.
(Porcelain Pillow with Baby Play Pattern in Song Dynasty)
After the 9th century, Kucha Uighur Buddhist culture developed. At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century, Islam was introduced into Xinjiang, and Uighur Buddhism in Kucha prevented the spread of Islam to the east. By the 13th and 14th centuries, most people in Aksu still believed in Buddhism.
(Song Dynasty Shi Maitreya)
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in the early 13th century, the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and the oases in Central Asia came under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty, ending the situation of the Western Regions being separated from each other. In 1225, Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, was entrusted with the original hometown of Xiliao (including today's Yili, Wensu, Wushi, Kashgar, Hotan and other places). In 1347, Tuhelu Timur was proclaimed East Chagatai Khan in Aksu. In 1514, Said, a descendant of Chagatai, established the Yarkand Khanate, a local regime that confronted the Eastern Chagatai Khan, centered on Kashgar and Shache. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the descendants of Mongolian Chagatai belonged to the Central Plains Dynasty and continued to pay tribute. In 1406 A.D., the Ming Dynasty set up Hami Guard in the present-day Hami area to govern the local military and political affairs and maintain the safety of the commercial and trade routes between China and the West.
The Yaerqiang regime was later conquered by the Junggar Mongols, and the Tianshan South Road was ruled by the Junggar. During the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong suppressed the Junggar rebellion and implemented a more systematic governance policy for Xinjiang. In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), the Qing government established Xinjiang Province, which was unified with the Taoist government system in the interior, and set up a Taoist county in Aksu.
From the above history, it can be seen that Buddhism has been the mainstream in Aksu and even the Western Regions for a long time, so why do most people in Xinjiang today believe in Islam?
In Xinjiang in history, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism and other religions coexisted together. After the Karahan Dynasty accepted Islam, it launched a religious war for more than 40 years against the Buddhist Khotan Kingdom in the middle of the 10th century. Promote Islam. In the middle of the 14th century, the rulers of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate used coercive means such as war to force the people in Kuqa, Shaya, Wensu and other places to believe in Islam. At the beginning of the 16th century, Xinjiang formed a pattern of coexistence of multiple religions dominated by Islam, which has continued to this day. Therefore, the Uyghurs' belief in Islam was not the result of the people's active conversion at that time, but the result of religious wars and the forced implementation of the ruling class.
(Bronze Gilt Vajrasattva Statue of the Ming Dynasty)
There is a unique Duolang culture (also known as "Daolang") in Aksu, which is mainly expressed in music, dance and painting that praise love and freedom and praise nature. It has strong appeal and wide influence. " singer, stage name comes from this culture.
"Daolang" means gathering. It was born during the rule of the Chagatai Khanate mentioned above. At that time, many small countries fought against each other, and the people were in dire straits. In order to avoid the war, people fled one after another. Some Mongolian nobles plundered a large number of poor people as slaves, engaged in labor in their own manors or served as soldiers in wars, and the Daolang people were born from these refugees and slaves. Later, they couldn't bear the bullying, and fled to the deserted Populus euphratica forest in the lower reaches of the Yarkant River, where they lived a free wandering life together. In the early Qing Dynasty, some Daolang people moved from the Kashgar area to Aksu, and the Daolang culture was formed and developed.
(Instruments such as Populus euphratica canoe and Daolang Rewafu)
There is also an ancient coin hall in the museum, which displays Xinjiang coins with distinctive regional characteristics and inherited the coin shape of the Central Plains. Due to space limitations, I will not introduce them in detail.
The ancient city of Gumo mentioned above is located in the urban area of Aksu today. After the Han Dynasty unified the Western Regions, in order to protect foreign envoys and foreign envoys and merchants who came to Beijing, special "Tings" were set up at important places along the way to manage public security. Kucha Pavilion and Gumo Pavilion were successively set up in Aksu from east to west and Wensu Pavilion. The imitated Gumo Pavilion is also a scene in the urban area of Aksu.
Behind the Gumo Pavilion is a park, built along the Duolang River. In the garden, there are fields of lotus leaves, shady trees and beautiful scenery.
There is also a monument to the Aksu People’s Heroes and landscapes displaying Buddhism, Qiuci and other cultures in the garden. One of the city gates says "Wei Rong City". According to historical records, in the sixth year of Zong Dali (771) of the Tang Dynasty, the famous monk Wukong once came here to call It was called "Weirong City". Since then, the place name of the old city of Aksu has not been recorded in history. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that it was recorded in the history as the name of Aksu City for the first time.
(Kuzi Music and Dance)
(Dorang River night view)
There is also a Populus euphratica Park in the urban area of Aksu. Because of the delay of trivial matters, I have included the Populus euphratica forest in the golden autumn in the self-driving list. There are many places to watch the Populus euphratica forest in southern Xinjiang. Early, I should preview it in advance. Sure enough, the Populus euphratica forest that has not turned yellow is an ordinary street tree, which is not worth seeing.
After the urban area of Aksu, head east to Baicheng, passing through the Wensu Tomur Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is dominated by the Danxia landform in various poses and the Tomur Peak at an altitude of 7443.8 meters. Unfortunately, it encountered heavy rain and the scenic spot could not be entered. Coupled with the rebound of the epidemic, I gave up the idea of waiting, looked at the camels at the door, and drove Go directly to the Kizil Grottoes in Baicheng County.
After entering Baicheng County, I saw a colorful mountain on the side of the road, which is the Yadan landform. The folded mountains are rich in colors, including rock yellow, sandstone red, ocher red, crimson purple... Deep and shallow, layer upon layer, rolling up and down, all in one go.
Continue eastward to Kizil Town, where the Kizil Grottoes are located on the cliff of Mingwutag Mountain, 7 kilometers southeast of the town.
The Kizil Grottoes are Buddhist cave temples excavated in the ancient Qiuci area at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains from the 3rd to the 9th centuries AD. It is not only a representative of the Kucha Grottoes, but also the westernmost group of grottoes after the Buddhist cave temples spread from India to China. With its unique cave shape and mural style, it reveals the trajectory of Buddhism spreading from west to east through the Western Regions, as well as the localization process in the process of spreading.
The picture below shows the murals in Cave 38, which was excavated in the 4th century AD. The colorful music and dance shapes in the murals complement each other with a rich variety of musical instruments. Some musical instruments were introduced from West Asia, Central Asia, and India, witnessing the history of the integration of Silk Road music and dance art in ancient Qiuci.
There are sculptures of Kumarajiva outside the grotto. Kumarajiva was originally from India, and his father, Kumarajiva, was from a prominent family in India, and later went to Kucha to give birth to Rosh. Luo Shi became a monk with his mother at the age of 7. He first learned the Hinayana. Later, he met a famous Mahayana monk in the Shache Kingdom and changed to Mahayana. He read the Mahayana scriptures extensively, was famous in the Western Regions, and was also rumored in the Han area. In the eighteenth year of Jianyuan (382) of the former Qin Dynasty, Fu Jian sent Lu Guang to attack Yanqi, destroy Qiuci, and rob Luoshi to Liangzhou. Three years later, Yao Chang killed Fu Jian and destroyed the former Qin Dynasty. Lu Guang separatized Liangzhou, and Luo Shi stayed in Liangzhou with Lu Guang for 16 or 7 years. In the third year of Emperor Hongshi of the Later Qin Dynasty (401), Yao Xing attacked Houliang and welcomed Luo Shi into Chang'an. In the following ten years, Roche devoted himself to translating scriptures and preaching, and translated thirty-five scriptures in 294 volumes, including the "Great Prajna Sutra", "Miaofa Lotus Sutra", and "Diamond Sutra". The translation is fluent in meaning, faithful in content, and fluent in words and sentences, which has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese scripture translation. Kumarajiva was forced to "break the precepts" twice and was forced to marry. This once made him fall into mental pain, but he did not sink into the world of mortals because of this, but carried out the study of Buddhism to the end of his life.
The Kizil Grottoes travel 70 kilometers eastward to Kuqa, where the above-mentioned Kucha is located. Historically, it was a bridge connecting the Eurasian continent and has the reputation of "the hometown of singing and dancing" and "the music capital of the Western Regions". During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the "Western Region Protectorate" and "Anxi Protectorate" were successively established in Kucha, which were the political, economic and cultural centers where the central government governed the Western Regions.
There is a Kuqa Palace on Linji Road Street in the old city of Kuqa. Let's go there first.
When Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty quelled the size and Zhuo rebellion, Mirza Edu, the leader of Kuqa, made great contributions. Qianlong bestowed the title of Baylor, and the grandson of Edui helped the Qing army put down the Zhangger rebellion in the eighth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1828). , the Qing government began to build the palace according to the salary specifications that the county king should enjoy. Today, there are Kucha Museum, Folklore Museum, Wangfu History Museum and other exhibitions in the palace, from which you can learn about the history and culture of Kucha.
(Kuqa Kings of Past Dynasties)
Another historic site in Kuqa County is the Kuqa Great Temple, which is the second largest temple in Xinjiang after the Kashgar Aitiga Mosque. It seems to have been built in the 15th century. It was originally a civil temple. In the 17th century, it was converted into a wooden structure temple. It was destroyed by fire. The existing temple was built in 1931, including the main body of the temple and the worship hall. There is also a ruins of the Islamic religious court in the temple. .
Kuqa's big naan is also famous. There is a saying in southern Xinjiang: "The best job is to herd sheep, the best rest is to sleep, and the best meal is Kuqa big naan." In Nancheng, the naan cakes being baked in large and small naan pits exude a tempting aroma, permeating the whole town.
About 20 kilometers to the north of the county seat is the ruins of the Subash Buddhist Temple. The "Museum" section above mentioned that Xuanzang stopped for two months to give lectures at the Zhaofuli Temple in the Western Regions on his way to learn Buddhist scriptures.
The ruins of Subashi Buddhist Temple are located on the alluvial platform on the east and west banks of the Kuqa River at the southern foot of the Chaletag Mountain, covering an area of about 20 hectares. In the 10th century, it was the largest, best-preserved, and oldest Buddhist architectural site in the Western Regions, which witnessed the long-term history of ancient Qiuci as the center of Buddhist transmission in the Western Regions.
Rich cultural relics including relic boxes, silk fabrics, ancient coins, pottery, bronze ware, iron ware, wooden slips, murals, statues, etc. were also unearthed from the site. The coins include Central Plains copper coins, Kucha coins, and Persian silver coins. A variety of characters such as riddles indicate the prosperous cultural and commercial exchanges on the ancient Silk Road in the Qiuci area.
There is another historic site 13 kilometers northwest of Kuqa County - Kizilgaha Beacon. "Kizilgaha" means "red checkpoint". During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, in order to effectively resist the invasion of Turks in the Tang Dynasty, it was restored on the basis of the beacon towers of the Han Dynasty and a post station was built, but it was abandoned in the late Qing Dynasty.
The beacon is a military communication facility for frontier defense alarms in ancient times. The top of the beacon can be set off to convey emergency military information. The fire at night is called "beacon", and the smoke during the day is called "sui". Kizilgaha beacon is the earliest and best preserved beacon in Xinjiang.
Beacon Tower is adjacent to the pyramid natural tourism area formed by the Yardang landform. This is a strange landscape formed by the vicissitudes of the underwater world hundreds of millions of years ago. Going to sea is amazing.
In addition to the above-mentioned scenic spots and historical sites that highlight the ancient culture of Kucha, the reason why Kuqa is so fascinating is that it is one end of the Duku Highway, to be precise, it is the end of the Duku Highway.
You should have heard the name of the Duku Highway. It is the section from Dushanzi to Kuqa on National Highway 217. It is also called "Tianshan Highway" because it runs through the Tianshan Mountains. Along the road, there are shocking scenery such as Gobi, snow peaks, glaciers, lakes, forest seas, grasslands, canyons, etc., such as a dancing Tianshan colorful chain, circling among the mountains, climbing over the snow-capped Daban, winding in the deep mountains and canyons, Walking through the forest and grassland is a road across the northern and southern borders with world-class scenery. It is known as "the most beautiful and dangerous road in China".
When traveling from the Kizil Grottoes to Kuqa, you will pass the end of the Duku Highway. On the way, you have already experienced some wonders, such as the strange rock "Looking up at the sky", the Danxia of "Wanhu Chaozong", and the stone carvings with flying calligraphy and painting. ....
As for the amazing scenery on the Duku Highway, please wait for the next chapter to break it down.
