Major historical events in Jiuquan County

1. The first county was established

In the second year of Yuanshou [121], in order to cut off the threat and get through the contact with the western regions, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a title of generals in ancient times, Huo Qubing, to lead the army to conquer the Hun Hun Hun King who was entrenched in Hexi twice in spring and summer. Huo Qubing led his troops into the hinterland, swept through five Xiongnu kingdoms, and won a great victory, forcing Hun Evil King to kill Hugh Tuwang and return to the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Huo Qubing once celebrated at the edge of Jinquan, where he drank royal wine with soldiers, hence the name Jiuquan. The Han Dynasty chose this name to set up Jiuquan County and Wuwei County in Hexi. Jiuquan county leads 9 counties, and there are 3 counties of Fulu, Lehuan and Suimi in Jiuquan city today.

2. According to the two customs, four counties were established

In order to consolidate Hexi and manage the western regions, the Western Han Dynasty separated Zhangye and Dunhuang counties from Wuwei and Jiuquan counties in 111 BC. Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang are located in Hexi. At the same time, Yangguan and Yumenguan were built as the gateway to the western regions. It has created more favorable conditions for managing the western regions and opening up the traffic between China and the West, which has had a far-reaching impact in the history of our country.

3。 Building the Great Wall and setting up pavilions

On the basis of winning the counterattack against Xiongnu, the Western Han Dynasty extended the Great Wall built by Qin Shihuang to Jiuquan, and then from Jiuquan to Longle County, Dunhuang County, which extended Qin Changcheng to the west for more than 1, kilometers. There are pavilions and barriers every five or ten miles along the Great Wall, that is, beacon towers. The big one is called the barrier, and the small one is called the pavilion. There are garrisons to defend and shoulder the dual tasks of reclaiming land for production and fighting to protect the border.

4. the immigration policy of the Han dynasty played an important role in the development of Hexi. According to Han Shu and Historical Records, after the establishment of Zhangye County and Jiuquan County in the Western Han Dynasty, Tian Guan was set up, and 6, people were relocated from the mainland to defend the fields here. A large number of immigrants to Jiuquan and Dunhuang not only increased the labor force, but also brought advanced production technology and culture to the Central Plains, which made great contributions to the development of Jiuquan.

5. Zhang Qian visited the western regions twice and opened the "Silk Road"

The Western Han Dynasty established four counties in Hexi area to strengthen its control, but at the same time, it also paid attention to developing the social economy and prospering the Silk Road in Hexi area. In the first 138 years, Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian across the Hexi Corridor occupied by Xiongnu to the Western Regions, contacted the Yueshi people and attacked Xiongnu. Qian failed in the first 126 years. In the first 119 years, the Emperor sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, with more than 3 people accompanying him, carrying ten thousand heads of cattle and sheep and ten million yuan of gold and silk, out of Chang 'an, through Jiuquan in Hexi, across Xinjiang to Wusun, and sent envoys as far away as Hamadan in India and Iran. In the second year of Yuan Ding [115 BC], Qian returned to Chang 'an to reply, and the "Silk Road" was opened. After the emperor moved to Iraq, Alexandria, Egypt and other countries. Since then, there have been unprecedented frequent exchanges between China and the West. The Silk Road, which runs across Asia and connects Africa and Europe, is 7, kilometers long, connecting China, India, Babylon, Egypt, ancient Greek and Roman cultures, and Jiuquan and Dunhuang are its only places. The envoys to the western regions "face each other across the road, ranging from hundreds of people to hundreds of people, from more than ten batches to five or six batches in a year." China's four great inventions were introduced to the west through this road, and the specialties of the western regions and central and western Asia were also introduced to the Central Plains along the Silk Road.

6； Dou Gu defeated the Northern Xiongnu, and Ban Chao managed the Western Regions

At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the first year of Jianyuan [AD 25], the Northern Xiongnu was powerful, and it conquered most of the Western Regions once ruled by the Western Han Dynasty, and the Silk Road was cut off. In AD 29, Dou Rong, a warlord occupying Hexi, led the five counties in Hexi to submit to the Eastern Han Dynasty. In AD 73, Liu Xiu, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, sent Dou Gu to lead 12, soldiers and Qiang Hu cavalry in Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, and defeated the Huyan king of the Northern Xiongnu from Jiuquan, thus opening the door to the Western Region.

The famous Ban Chao made great contributions in this campaign, so Dou Gu sent him to the Western Regions. After hard work, Ban Chao re-established relations with other countries in the western regions, and finally restored the traffic between the mainland and the western regions, which had been interrupted for more than 6 years. In 91 AD, became the capital of the western regions. Ban Chao lived in the Western Regions for more than 3 years, but he wrote to the Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty because of his old age, saying, "I dare not look to Jiuquan County, but I hope to be born in Yumenguan" and asked to leave the Western Regions. In 12 AD, Ban Chao was finally ordered to return to Luoyang. He was an old man over the age of 7.

7. King Xiliang moved the capital to Jiuquan

During the 3-year civil strife in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Jiuquan experienced nine separatist regimes, namely, the Western Jin Dynasty, the former cool, the former Qin Dynasty, the latter cool, the latter cool, the latter cool, the northern cool, the northern Wei Dynasty, the western Wei Dynasty and the northern Zhou Dynasty. The longest period of rule was 96 years, and the shortest period was only 1 years in the former Qin Dynasty. Among them, Li Yan, the country of Xiliang, established Dunhuang in the fourth year of Longan [4] and moved to Jiuquan in the first year of Yixi [45].

In this turbulent era of more than 3 years, it is also a period of great integration of people and groups, and Jiuquan has become an international city with the integration of Chinese and Western trade and culture. Celebrities come forth in large numbers and talents abound. Suo Jing, Zhu Fahu, Song Yun, Song Xian, Guo Li, Liu Fang, Zhen Yi, Qi Jia, etc. are all famous local scholars all over the country. For example, Qi Jia, a native of Jiuquan, went to the Dunhuang Academy to study and read the classics, and then opened the door in Jiuquan to teach students, with more than 2, disciples.

8. Emperor Yangdi's Journey to the West

In 581 A.D., the Sui Dynasty was established and destroyed in 589, ending more than 28 years of north-south division and unifying the whole country. In the first year of Daye [65], Suzhou was stopped and Fulu County entered Zhangye County. In 69 AD, Emperor Yangdi visited Zhangye in the west, and the envoys of 27 local governments in the western regions came to meet together. They all wore gold and jade, covered with brocade, burned incense and played music, and sang and danced noisily. Emperor Yangdi also made the ladies of Zhangye and Wuwei dress up and wear dozens of miles around to show the strength of China. This is an unprecedented event in the history of Jiuquan Dunhuang, and it also reflects the prosperity of Jiuquan and Dunhuang at that time.