In the fourth year of Wei Jingyuan (263 AD), in the war against Shu launched by the Cao Wei clique, the general Deng Ai of Zhengxi made the most of the limelight. At that time, the large army led by the Zhenxi general Zhong Hui was stubbornly blocked by Jiang Wei in the area of Jiange, and the progress was not smooth. In order to break this stalemate, Deng Ai led his troops from Yinping along the trail, crossed hundreds of miles of precipitous terrain and harsh environment, bypassed the frontal defense of the Shu army, and attacked Fuxian county, Mianzhu and other places directly to Chengdu, and finally completely disintegrated the Shu army's defense line and eliminated the Shu Han clique.
In this battle, Deng Ai not only won the first merit with his outstanding courage, strategy and outstanding performance, but also became a famous general of the Three Kingdoms who enjoyed a reputation in later generations, and this battle also became a classic example of the ancient Chinese army carrying out a roundabout surprise attack that will forever be recorded in the annals of history. And the ancient road that Deng Ai led his troops from Long into Shu interspersed with detours, which was later called "Yin Ping Dao", also became famous and well-known with this battle. So, is Yin Ping Dao really an ancient road from Long to Shu? What historical evolution has it undergone? Combined with the relevant historical records, the author makes a brief introduction to the origin and transformation of Yin Ping Dao.
"Yinping Dao" was a county-level administrative region during the Two Han and Three Kingdoms periods. According to the Book of Han? According to the Geographical Chronicle, Yinping Province was one of the thirteen counties under the jurisdiction of Guanghan County. Yan Shigu, a geographer and historian of the Sui and Tang dynasties, clearly pointed out in the commentary of the Book of Han that the imperial court of the Han Dynasty was divided by the composition of the people living in the county, and the county where ethnic minorities were the majority was called "Dao". According to the "Hanguan Old Yi", it is called a county in the county, and it is called a road in the border area. From the above records, it can be seen that during the Two Han Dynasties and Three Kingdoms period, Yinping Dao was a county-level administrative district where ethnic minorities gathered at the local level set up by the imperial court, which can also be called "Yinping County", which was specifically located in the northwest of Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu Province.
However, in the Song Dynasty, Yin Ping Dao had a turning point in history. Because before the Song Dynasty, "Dao" has always been a specific administrative region, since the Song Dynasty, "Dao" has become synonymous with "Road". Therefore, in the eyes of the Song people, Yinping Road became the name of a road. When the Song Dynasty writer Zhu Mu compiled the "Fang Yu Sheng", he marked the Yinping Road as an ancient road in and out of Shu. Under the influence of the Song people, the Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Wei made further sublimation, and clearly pointed out in his compilation of the "Continuation of the Chronicle of Events" that Deng Ai excavated the YinPing Dao and defeated the Shu Han Wei general Zhuge Zhan at Mianzhu.
The conclusions of scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties were continued and affirmed in the Qing Dynasty, and the early Qing geographer Gu Zuyu, in his book "Minutes of Reading history and public opinion", called Yinping Dao an ancient road in and out of Shu. The "Gansu Tongzhi" during the Qing Yongzheng period and the "Chronicle of the Territory of the Three Kingdoms" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty both agreed with the previous generations, making the "YinPing Dao" completely far away from its original meaning and becoming the current meaning, Deng Ai interspersed the ancient road of Yin Ping Dao in the Battle of Shu. This is the origin and evolution of the "Yin Ping Dao".
The ancient road that Deng Ai was interspersed with at that time was actually called "Zuo Dan Dao". According to the "Book of Shu" compiled by the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Li Chong, the path between Shu Mountain and Miangu to Yemeng is extremely steep and narrow, and pedestrians from north to south can only use their left shoulders to carry the burden to move forward, during which there is no way to change shoulders, so the road is called Zuo Dan Road. In the "Records of Shuzhong Guang" compiled by the Ming Dynasty geographer Cao Xuequan, a record in the "Yizhou Record" of the Jin Dynasty is quoted, that there is a left shoulder road from Yinping County to Chengdu, the road is extremely narrow and dangerous, and the burden can only be picked on the left shoulder, "not the right shoulder also". It also clearly states that "Deng Ai cut down Shu from this".
In addition, although the meaning of "Tao" changed during the Song Dynasty, confusing the region as a road, it had a huge impact on later scholars. However, the Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Wei, in the "Continuation of the Chronicle of Events", not only recognized the Song people's belief that the way of Deng Aifa Shu was the Yin Ping Dao, but also clearly pointed out that the Yin Ping Dao was the Zuo Dan Dao. There is a record in the book that Deng Ai selected elite men in Yangping to enter The Zuo Dan Road from Deyang to Jiangyou, and raided Mianzhu and pointed directly at Chengdu. It can be seen from this that whether it is the Yinping Dao in the current sense or the Zuo Dan Dao in the Two Han and Three Kingdoms periods, it is actually a different title for the same road.
After understanding the origin and evolution of the Yin Ping Dao, what is the specific route of the Yin Ping Dao? Modern scholars have drawn a relatively unified conclusion based on historical materials and field investigations. The Yin Ping Dao is composed of many parts, the most important of which is the distinction between the right path and the partial path.
Yinping Zhengdao, also known as "BaishuiDao", is named after Baishui County during the Two Han and Three Kingdoms periods. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Baishui County was renamed Jinggu County, so the road was also called "Jinggu Road". The Yinping Zhengdao is a passage into Shu by land and water, which has very important military value. Its route started from Wudu Commandery (present-day Chengxian County, Longnan City, Gansu Province), along the Bailong River through Yelucheng (present-day Wudu County, Longnan City, seventy miles southeast of Wudu County) to Yinping Commandery (northwest of present-day Wen County, Longnan City), along the Baishui River to Yinping Qiaotou (present-day East of Yulei Township, Wen County, Longnan City), through Baishuiguan (present-day Yingpan Township, Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province) to Baishui County (present-day Shazhou Town, Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City), through Shimenguan (present-day Shilong Village, Lizhou District, Guangyuan City), Yemeng Pass (Zhaohua Town, Zhaohua District, Guangyuan City), and entered Hanshou County (present-day Zhaohua District, Guangyuan City).
The Yin Ping Partial Path, that is, the Way of Deng Aifa Shu. Originally a nameless mountainous secluded road, this ancient trail is steep and narrow, with hundreds of kilometers of no-man's land in the middle. Deng Ai led his men to dig a mountain and build a bridge on this side road, and detoured to the hinterland of the Shu army, giving the Shu Han clique a fatal blow. This partial road was also famous for Deng Ai and became a passage into Shu that was highly valued by successive generations of soldiers.
The route starts from Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, along the Baishui River across the Yinping Bridgehead and turns southwest, over the Sky Ridge at the junction of Wen County and Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, along the Qingxi River Valley of Qingchuan County, through Yinping Mountain in Qingchuan County, Yinping Village in Qingxi Town, and Qingxi Town, and then turns southwest, through Mazhuoguan and Baicao Township at the junction of Qingchuan County and Pingwu County, and then down the Fu River through Nanba Town and Mage Mountain in Pingwu County, into Wudu Town in Jiangyou City, Mianyang City, and through Jiangyou City and Mianyang City to Chengdu. This partial road was very steep and tortuous during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, which can be seen from the records of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
With the passage of time and the development of the times, Yinping Road evolved from an administrative area to a road name for entering and leaving Shudi, and eventually replaced Zuo Dan Dao and was widely recognized. In modern times, scholars have continuously enriched the connotation of Yin Ping Dao through data research and field investigation, making it a complete shu dao system concept composed of several parts such as the right way, the partial road, the branch line, and the extension line.
Reference books: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Book of Han", "Old Yi of Han Guan", "Victory of Fang You", "Tongzhi of Gansu", "Chronicle of the Territory of the Three Kingdoms", "Chronicle of Shuzhong Guangji", "Continuation of The Chronicle of Major Events"