The Hexi Corridor is not only the throat of the Silk Road, but also the bridgehead for controlling the Western Regions

Gansu Province is located in northwest China, between the Central Plains, the Mongolian Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Western Regions. Its strategic location is very important. Gansu, as an independent administrative region, was also formed under this kind of geopolitics. For a long time, Gansu has not only been the main channel of the Silk Road, but also a springboard for the central dynasty to control the Western Regions. 1. The strategic value of the four counties in Hexi in the Han Dynasty. Gansu Province is located in a narrow strip between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Mongolian Plateau, the Western Regions, and the Guanzhong Region. Rivers such as the Yellow River and Weanshui flow from west to east, and melted ice and snow create a vast plain. Hexi Corridor. For the Central Plains dynasty, as long as they control the Hexi Corridor, they can establish close political, economic, commercial, and cultural ties with the Western Regions. The natural conditions suitable for agricultural production in the Hexi Corridor were also conducive to the development of the Central Plains Dynasty here. The geographical location of Gansu In the early Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu in the Mongolian Plateau became powerful and constantly intruded on the Guanzhong area. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions in order to contact the Dayue clan in the Western Regions to deal with the Xiongnu. Since the Hexi Corridor was under the control of the Huns at that time, Zhang Qian was detained twice by the Huns during his first mission to the Western Regions for 10 years. Therefore, if the Han Dynasty wanted to establish contact with the Western Regions, it had to capture the Hexi Corridor. At the same time, the Xiongnu established contact with the Qiang people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Qiang people posed a greater threat to the capital Chang'an. During the Tang Dynasty, Tubo set out from here to invade Chang'an. Therefore, if you want to cut off the connection between the Xiongnu and the Qiang people, you must also To occupy the Hexi Corridor. In 121 BC, Huo Qubing led his army to launch the Battle of Hexi and defeated King Xiutu of the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty then established four counties here: Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang, which were called the "Four Hexi Counties". The Liangzhou Governor's Department was established. From then on, the Hexi Corridor was included in the territory of China. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty carried out large-scale immigration and stationed troops in the Hexi area, making the Hexi Corridor gradually become a fertile field. At the same time, the Hexi Corridor was also suitable for grazing. The cavalry of the Han Dynasty provided a steady stream of horses and strengthened the military power of the Han Dynasty. After the Hexi Corridor was included in the territory of the Han Dynasty, the opportunity for the Han Dynasty to establish a real connection with the Western Regions came. In 119 BC, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions again. Different from the previous mission, this mission was large-scale and had military protection along the way, so it was able to reach the countries in the Western Regions smoothly. After Zhang Qian's second mission to the Western Regions, commercial and political exchanges were established between the countries in the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty. The messengers kept coming. In order to protect the smooth flow of their routes, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to destroy Loulan and other small countries that maliciously blocked the trade routes, allowing the Han Dynasty's military power to penetrate into the Western Regions. The final result was that the Han Dynasty began to station troops in the Western Regions. In 60 BC, the Han Dynasty established the Western Region Protectorate in the Western Regions and formally brought the Western Regions under military control. Silk Road 2, the springboard into the Qiang area. The Qiang and Han are two major ethnic groups with the same origin. The Qiang ethnic group includes many branches, including the later Dangxiang ethnic group, Tibetan ethnic group, etc. Before the invention of farming, the ancient Qiang ethnic group lived in the Gansu and Qinghai areas. Later, one branch entered the Weihe River Basin, invented agriculture, and became the Huaxia ethnic group, which later evolved into the Han ethnic group. During the Han Dynasty, the Qiang people were still in the nomadic stage and often invaded the Guanzhong area. After the Han Dynasty obtained the Hexi area, its control over the Qiang area was also strengthened. In 111 BC, the Han Dynasty army entered the Hehuang area to attack the Qiang people. Xiping Pavilion (today's Xining), a Qiang-protecting school captain, was established here, which marked the beginning of the Han Dynasty's management of the Hehuang River Basin. During the period of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Chongguo attacked the Qiang people and established the "Jincheng vassal state" and Linqiang (Huangyuan County). ), Anyi (Ping'an), Poqiang (Ledu), Yunwu (Minhe), Yunjie (Lanzhou Honggu), and Heguan (Guide County) 7 counties. The Wei and Jin Dynasties inherited the control of the Hehuang area from the Han Dynasty. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other ethnic groups entered the Liangzhou area and established five Liang kingdoms, known in history as Qianliang, Houliang and Northern Liang. , Southern Liang, and Xiliang. Among them, the Murong clan of the Xianbei tribe directly entered the Hehuang area and established the Tuyuhun Kingdom. The control of the Central Plains over the Western Regions and the Qiang areas was weakened. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, control of the Hexi Corridor was restored. The road was reopened, and the Western Region was re-incorporated into the dynasty's territory. However, the rising power of the Qiang people made Hexi difficult to control. In the early Tang Dynasty, Tubo unified the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and became the greatest threat to the Tang Dynasty. Invasion of Guanzhong, Hexi, etc. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Hexi Corridor was controlled by Tubo. In 763, the Tubo army invaded Chang'an. After the collapse of Tubo in the late Tang Dynasty, the Dangxiang tribe of the Qiang people rose again and established the Xixia Kingdom during the Northern Song Dynasty. , was also a powerful enemy of the Northern Song Dynasty. Xixia occupied the entire Hexi region, which controlled the land Silk Road, and the Northern Song Dynasty could only develop by sea. At the same time, the Northern Song Dynasty lost its natural horse production base, making it difficult to build a strong cavalry. Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has always been at a disadvantage in the struggle with the Qiang people, until the rise of the Mongols changed this situation. The territory of Xixia In 1227, Mongolia destroyed Xixia and occupied the Hexi Corridor. Mongolia also took advantage of the situation and entered the Hehuang area. In 1239, Woduan led the Mongolian army into the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Tibetan forces surrendered one after another. In 1247, Mongolia and Tubo held a Liangzhou Conference, and the Tibetan religious leader Sakya Pandita signed the "Sakya Pandita Letter to the Tibetan People".

After that, the Yuan Dynasty inherited Mongolia, and Qinghai became part of China. The Yuan Dynasty established the province of Gansu in the Xixia region. The Ming Dynasty inherited the establishment of Gansu Province and established the Xi'an Xingdu Commandery Department in Linxia, ??Gansu Province as an institution to control Tubo. Liangzhou Alliance 3. The gathering place of Eastern and Western cultures. The Hexi region has become the throat of the Silk Road since the Han Dynasty. Ironware, silk, tea, porcelain, papermaking, etc. from the Central Plains reached the Western Regions, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe through the Hexi Corridor, while vegetables, fruits and other products from the West also reached the Central Plains region through the Hexi Corridor. Businessmen from the east and west came and went here, and ethnic groups from the north and south arrived here, so this place became a furnace of great ethnic integration. The Yuezhi, Wusun, Xiongnu, Di, Qiang, Xianbei, Tuyuhun, Tubo, Uighur, Dangxiang, and Mongolia once appeared here. Currently, there are also Han, Hui, Tibetan, Mongolian, Yugu, Kazakh, Tu, ***er, etc. The family has lived here for generations. The coexistence, collision and intersection of multiple ethnic groups have laid a solid cultural foundation for the cultural integration of multi-ethnic groups in the Hexi Corridor. The Hexi Corridor is not only a channel for economic exchanges, but also a channel for cultural exchanges between the East and the West. During the Western Han Dynasty, Indian Buddhism began to be introduced to the Central Plains through the Western Regions and the Hexi Corridor. Faxian, Xuanzang, etc. all traveled to India through the Hexi Corridor. The Confucian culture of the Central Plains also entered the Western Regions through this place. The Juyan Han bamboo slips unearthed in the Hexi Corridor are considered to be one of the four major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The grottoes in Dunhuang and Maijishan are witnesses of the spread of Buddhist civilization to the west. Dunhuang Grottoes During the Tang Dynasty, the country's development level further increased, and Western Manichaeism (Mingjiao), Christianity, Zoroastrianism (Zhoujiao), etc. also entered Chang'an City through the Hexi Corridor. During the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs believed in Manichaeism and it was designated as the state religion. The Christian empire in West Asia rose, and its religion began to be introduced through the Hexi Corridor. During the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of merchants from Persia, Japan and other countries in West Asia settled near the Hexi Corridor, and gradually merged with the local Han people to form Taiwan. Also in the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced to the Tubo region from the Central Plains and India, and gradually merged to become Lamaism. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism was continuously introduced to the Mongolian Plateau. Over time, the Mongolians also began to believe in Buddhism. At this time, a very special phenomenon occurred. The Central Plains to the east of the Hexi Corridor is Han culture (Confucian culture), the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the south and the Mongolian Plateau to the north are Tibetan Buddhist cultural areas, and the Western Region to the west is a Buddhist cultural area. The exchange and integration of three cultures in the Hexi Corridor is rare in the world.