Does Yongchang County belong to Jinchang? Why do China citizens here look like Europeans?

When you mention Gansu, you may immediately think of the famous Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and the spectacular scenery of the Yellow River in the desert. Besides, you may not remember more tourist attractions for a while. However, in recent years, an unknown small village in Gansu has attracted many tourists and scholars. For a time, archaeological excavations and academic research were carried out in this mysterious village.

Being in it is like being in a foreign country.

This mysterious village is located in Yongchang County, Gansu Province, and the locals call it "Zhelaizhai". It doesn't rain all the year round, and desertification is very serious, which makes the originally barren land look even more desolate. From a distance, "Zhelaizhai" closely depends on the rolling Qilian Mountains. Like other villages in western China, adobe houses compacted with clay form the whole picture of the village. In addition, there is nothing special! So, what has attracted the attention of many scholars?

Guan Heng is a researcher at Li Gan Institute of Culture. Ten years ago, when he entered the village, he was attracted by the strange sight here. He found that most villagers who came to this village had brown or yellow hair and blue or gray eyes. Although it doesn't look obvious, careful observation shows that they are essentially different from the local Han compatriots with black hair and eyes! The appearance of the villagers who come to Zhaizhai still makes many people feel that they are not from China, and those who come to Zhaizhai will also give people a feeling of being in a foreign country! However, when I opened the household registration book of the villagers, I saw the records of the ancestral home of Gansu and Han nationality. What happened? If you are really Han Chinese, why are you different from others?

Chen Zhengyi, a professor of history at Lanzhou University, also said: "This is a very strange phenomenon. I often accompany some foreign guests to visit. They think it's interesting. How did they say our fellow villagers got to this place in Gansu? They look like westerners, but speaking in Yongchang dialect is very interesting for foreign guests. "

Why are they different from others? Guan Heng is puzzled, but he thinks that there must be unknown secrets behind these strange villagers. In order to uncover the mystery of the villagers' appearance, they conducted extensive visits and investigations in Zhelaizhai.

Ancient City Discovered in Western Han Villages

Who are these villagers? Mysterious questions puzzled Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi, but when their research was in trouble, Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi made an unexpected discovery. They found a large building site in Zhelaizhai, which was identified by experts as the ancient city of the Western Han Dynasty.

The discovery of the ancient city ruins made Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi even more confused. When a villain comes to the village, how can there be ruins of the ancient city? What exactly is this city site? Could it have something to do with these strange villagers? Unable to answer, Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi planned to find another way to find clues about this ancient city from historical records. Sure enough, a record in the history books caught their attention!

It turns out that Hanshu recorded an important clue about foreign troops. In 36 BC, Chen Tang of the Western Han Dynasty led an army to attack the Huns and launched a great war in Zhi Zhi. In the battle, the soldiers of the Western Han Dynasty found that the Xiongnu had sent an army with a very strange shape, and they also put out a "fish scale" array to resist the attack of the Western Han army.

After carefully consulting a large number of historical documents about the ancient Roman army, Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi thought that the Jiamen fish scale array mentioned in Hanshu was a unique way of fighting for the ancient Roman army. At this time, Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi suddenly realized that all the villagers who came to the village liked to make steamed stuffed buns with ox noses and play bullfighting games. Many countries in the Mediterranean region also worshipped cows and liked to play games such as bullfighting. The ancient Romans also had the same custom. Then, can these strange villagers who came to Zhaizhai be descendants of ancient Roman soldiers brought back by Chen Tang?

How did the Roman Legion come to China?

Guan Heng made a bold speculation, but one after another, like a raging wave, mercilessly impacted his vision. Because ancient Rome and China are far apart, separated by Wan Li, how could the Roman Legion come to China? And why did they appear in the Xiongnu army? Chen Zhengyi and Guan Heng thought that the First Legion of Ancient Rome had to flee eastward from the eastern defense line of Parthia army, because their route home was blocked and they were likely to enter the area controlled by Huns. In desperation, they surrendered to the Huns and became Huns' mercenaries, which made it possible for Shang Chen to capture them and bring them back to the Western Han Dynasty! According to Hanshu, shortly after Shang Chen brought these prisoners back to the Western Han Dynasty, a county named "Li Gan" suddenly appeared in the territory of the Western Han Dynasty, and "Li Gan" was the title of ancient Rome in the Western Han Dynasty at that time. Are the prisoners of war brought back by Shang Chen really ancient Romans?

Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi found such a record in the "County Records of Yongchang County", "Liangzhou is in the south of Yongchang County today, and Li Gan is the place where the county is located", which shows that the setting of Li Gan County is closely related to the prisoners of war of the Roman legion. According to historical records, Li Gan County is located at the foot of Zhaomian Mountain in the south of Fanhe County, which is the Qilian Mountain adjacent to Zhelai Village, and Fanhe County is today's Yongchang County, which shows that Li Gan County recorded in historical books is in Zhelai Village.

The mystery of the villagers' appearance was uncovered.

The discovery of the ancient city of Li Gan excites experts, because it can show that Roman soldiers did come to Zhaizhai more than 2,000 years ago, and those strange villagers who came to Zhaizhai are probably descendants of those Roman soldiers. However, time flies, and 2000 has passed in blowing in the wind. Regrettably, Li Gan County, which was established for the ancient Romans, has long since ceased to exist in the ever-changing historical situation. Those people have not left any records about them, only their descendants are left, telling the world a confusing legend in the long river of history!

Now Guan Heng and Chen Zhengyi have come to the conclusion that these strange villagers who came to the village are probably descendants of the ancient Roman legion that disappeared in history.

Today, these villagers who came to Zhai Zhai can finally stop worrying about their looks, and the questions that have remained in their hearts for thousands of years have finally been answered. More importantly, the eternal mystery that has puzzled Chinese and western historians for many years has been solved!

(According to Science and Technology Daily)