Are Daur people descendants of ancient Qidan people?

In the long and magnificent history of our country, there was once an eagle family who soared against the sky and disappeared mysteriously. This is the Khitan. The original meaning of Qidan is "wrought iron", which means strong. This fierce, aggressive and belligerent nation really spent more than 200 years lashing the inside and outside of the Great Wall, and it was brilliant for a while. But surprisingly, such an arrogant nation has disappeared collectively since the Ming Dynasty, and people have never heard of them again.

Where did the Khitans go? Do they have descendants?

Looking for this missing nation has become an attractive historical mystery.

Come from mystery, walk in mystery.

The Khitans are a mysterious people. Since they appeared in history, mysterious colors have accompanied them.

About the origin of the Khitan, people only know a legend: men came from the Yellow River (now the Xilamulun River) on white horses, and women came from the Shanghe River (now the Laoha River) on green cows. They met, got married and had eight sons. Later, their eight sons multiplied into eight tribes respectively, and gradually developed into the later Qidan.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Ye Abaoji, the leader of the Khitan, unified the eight divisions of the Khitan and established the Liao State. 1 124, the Khitans failed in the decisive battle with Jurchen in the capital, and the nobles led hundreds of thousands of people to Mobei to continue the Liao regime. Liao was finally destroyed by Mongolia in 12 18, and they were never seen in the history books after that.

What about millions of Khitans?

It is said that Liao had a population of several million at the time of its demise. Then, people can't help asking: What about the millions of Khitans?

The Khitans left a lot of historical materials with their own characters, but after the demise of the Liao Dynasty, people who could recognize such characters died or fled one after another, and these ancient books became unreadable gobbledygook. Therefore, future generations can only speculate on the destination of this nation according to various historical materials and scales and claws legends. Opinions vary, but almost every statement lacks reliable basis.

Historians can only speculate that millions of Khitans have three fates:

First, the Khitans living in the ancestral land of Khitan gradually forgot their ethnic origin and merged with other ethnic groups.

Second, after the demise of the Western Liao Dynasty, most of the Khitans in the northern desert moved westward to Kerman, Iran, and were completely Islamized.

Third, after the outbreak of the Jin-Meng War, some Khitans who "vowed not to eat golden millet" took refuge in Mongolia. They followed the Mongolian army to the west and spread to all parts of the country.

In other words, the Khitan nationality melted like ice thrown into the sea. So, can these melted ice be found back?

Just as the experts were looking for clues, a minority named Daur caught their attention.

The legend of Daur

The vast Daxing 'anling Mountains and the clear Nenjiang River. The vast Hulunbeier grassland. Daur people thrive in the intersection of these three landscapes.

Daur means "native place", namely hometown. For hundreds of years, the Daur people have been nomadic here, but where is their hometown? The Daur people themselves don't know, because they don't have their own characters, and they can only pass on history by dictation. No one knows anything before the Qing Dynasty.

A local legend has aroused the interest of national historians: hundreds of years ago, a Qidan army came here to build a frontier fortress (frontier fortress is a unique vocabulary of Daur people, referring to a building similar to the Great Wall). ) and then settle down here. The leader of this army is Sagir Diahan, the ancestor of Daur nationality.

This legend connects Daur and Qidan, but will the legendary story be the truth of history?

As early as the Qing Dynasty, it was suggested that the Daur nationality originated in Qidan. Some modern scholars have found a lot of evidence by comparing the production, life, customs, religion, language and history of Qidan and Daur nationality, which shows that Daur nationality is the nationality that inherits the most traditions of Qidan.

But what they found is indirect evidence, and they can't come to a conclusion until they have enough scientific evidence.

Is Yunnan "I" a descendant of Qidan?

Just when the Daur people were at the end of their roots, another front for finding the descendants of Qidan was opened in Yunnan.

Shidian, an unknown mountain county, has attracted the attention of ethnologists since the 1990s. Here, people found a special nation, and still use the fine print of the Khitan on the graves of their ancestors, collectively called "I".

In a "I" ancestral hall in Wang You Township, Shidian County, people found a plaque engraved with the word "Lu Ye". "I" said that this is to commemorate their ancestor Azulu and show their descendants of Qidan.

It is indeed recorded in history that Azulu is a descendant of the Khitan who took refuge in Mongolia, and his ancestors participated in the rebel war in Nanping, Canada. But how to prove that these "I" are the descendants of Azulu? After all, Mobei Yunnan is separated from Wan Li, and before there is definite evidence, the academic circles can never "correct the name" of this ethnic group claiming to be descendants of the Khitan.

DNA technology reveals the mystery of age

A new technology brings hope for solving this eternal unsolved case. Even though the history has been forgotten, the writing has been lost and the language has changed, there is always a memory in the blood of the descendants of the Khitan gene. Now, archaeologists will use the emerging DNA technology to awaken this last memory.

For the first time, experts obtained the wrist bone of a female corpse in Qidan, Leshan, Sichuan; The teeth and skulls of Qidan people with epitaphs were obtained from Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. I collected blood samples from Baoshan and Shidian in Yunnan. Blood samples were collected from Daur, Ewenki, Mongolian and Han nationalities in Molidawa Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. After comparing the variable regions of mitochondrial DNA extracted from dental pulp and bone marrow of ancient specimens by silicon method, they finally came to an accurate conclusion: the Khitan people have the closest genetic relationship with the Daur people and are descendants of the Khitan people; The "I" in Yunnan has a similar paternal lineage to the Daur nationality, and is probably a descendant of the Khitan officers and men in the Mongolian army.

According to this survey and historical data, historians finally found out the whereabouts of the Khitan nationality: when the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty established the Mongolian Empire across Eurasia, they fought for years and frequently recruited soldiers, and the Khitan nationality, which was able to recruit and fight well, was exhausted and scattered all over the country. Some ethnic groups, such as Daur, are still one ethnic group, while others are assimilated by the local people and scattered as "descendants in the molecular sense".

"The Khitan people live in the sand clouds, and the car is like water. Spring grass Wan Li, peony peony red. " This Millennium Qidan folk song vividly depicts the grandeur of Mongolian grassland and the heroism of Qidan nationality. Thousands of years have passed, the grassland is still there, and the descendants of Qidan are still there. They are still ploughing, grazing, releasing horses and singing. ...

■ Original news

Anyone who has watched the TV series Dragon Eight Branches will be familiar with Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng is a Khitan, and his legendary life makes people curious about the ancient Khitan nationality. In the history of China, this nation has made great achievements for more than 200 years. To this day, China is also called the Khitan in Russian, which shows how far-reaching its influence is. But what is puzzling is that this nation miraculously left a surprise and mystery, and then suddenly disappeared without a trace. So, where did this outstanding nation, which created many civilizations, go? (According to Xinhuanet)

■ Link

Qidan Chinese characters and Qidan fine print

The Khitan nationality is a nationality with a long history and culture. According to historical records, the Khitan originally had no writing. In the first month of spring in 920 AD, Emperor Lu Ye Abaoji of Liao Dynasty ordered the creation of Qidan characters, which were made in autumn and September, and were issued by imperial edicts. This Chinese character is simplified or added with strokes. Before liberation, the words written in the Mourning Book unearthed in Liaoqing Cemetery were all in big characters. Later, this Khitan script also appeared on murals in Qingling and many pottery in Liao Dynasty.

But in addition to the big characters of the Khitan, there is also a small character of the Khitan, which was repeatedly stabbed by the prince according to historical records. After liberation, the epitaph unearthed from Hushanxiao Tomb in Jinxi County, Liaoning Province, and the Khitan characters on bronzes and silverware unearthed in Yixian County and Jianping County, Liaoning Province, are all of this kind of Khitan fine print.

The Khitan script has been used for hundreds of years, but it is not easy to read through, so it has not penetrated into the people. However, it has a great influence on Xixia and Jurchen script, and it is a great contribution of Qidan people to culture.

How much do you know about the history of Qidan?

In 9 16, Lu Ye Baoji proclaimed himself emperor, with the title of Shenshu and the founding name of Qidan. In 947, the title was changed to Daliao;

1 124 years, the decisive battle between China and Beijing failed, and Yale led the army westward. 1 125, the demise of Liao;

1 132 years, YeLvdashi proclaimed himself emperor, known as "Western Liao" in history; 12 18, the western Liao regime was destroyed by Mongolia.