When we open the topographic map of China and look for the Qilian Mountains, we often find such a mountain range in the central part of Gansu in the Qilian Mountains: it is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed by the Central Plains to the Northwest Frontier, and the Lanxin Railway and the Gansu-Xin Highway pass through here; At the same time, it is also the intersection of China's three natural belts, and it is also the place where many natural and human dividing lines in China pass through, which is of great significance.
What is the geopolitical value of Wusheling Ridge?
Wusheling is located in the middle of Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province, belongs to the eastern section of the Lenglongling of the northern branch of the Qilian Mountains, is about 17 kilometers long from east to west, about 10 kilometers wide from north to south, the elevation of the main peak is 3562 meters, it is adjacent to Maya Snow Mountain in the south, and it is connected to Gulang Mountain Gorge in the west.
However, in a broad sense, Wusheling includes Daiqian Mountain, Leigong Mountain and Maomao Mountain. Among them, Leigong Mountain and Daiqian Mountain are connected to the west with the main mountain range of Lenglongling in the east of Qilian Mountain, with the highest altitude of 4326 meters, which is the peak of Daiqian Mountain. After extending for dozens of kilometers eastward through Maomao Mountain and Laohu Mountain, Wusheling entered the Loess Plateau.
The Loess Plateau area of Gansu Province covers an area of about 113,000 square kilometers, accounting for 24.9% of the province's area, starting from the Longnan Mountains in the south, to the border of Gansu-Shaanxi Province in the east and to the Wusheling Mountains in the west. That is to say, Wusheling is the natural boundary between the Longzhong Plateau and the Hexi Corridor, and it is also the only place to maintain the connection between these two geographical plates, you must know that the abbreviation of Gansu is Gan or Long, the former is derived from the Ganzhou Zhangye of the Hexi Corridor, and the latter of the Long is derived from the Longshan Mountain on the Loess Plateau in eastern Gansu.
In other words, Wusheling is the only place to maintain the connection between the Hexi Corridor and the Longzhong Plateau, and you must know that Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu, is located in the thickest place of loess accumulation on the Loess Plateau in China - Lanzhou's Jiuzhoutai loess accumulation thickness has reached 336 meters. For more than 1,000 years from the Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, Lanzhou has always been an important town on the Silk Road with the trend of "barrier the Central Plains, connecting the Western Regions, and bringing thousands of miles".
Although the mountain range of Wusheling is not so conspicuous in satellite maps, and its name cannot even be found on some small-scale maps, in geography, in the field of humanities and social sciences, and in the huge territory of the mainland, Wusheling has an extremely important significance that cannot be underestimated: due to its unique geographical location and certain altitude, many natural and cultural dividing lines on the mainland pass through Wusheling.
From the topographical point of view, Wusheling is the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau. From the perspective of climate and environment, it is also the dividing line of the transition from semi-arid to arid zone, and the three major climatic zones of plateau sub-arid zone, middle temperate sub-arid zone and middle temperate arid zone intersect in Wusheling Ridge, and it is also the westernmost point reached by the East Asian monsoon, so the inland river in the northwest and the outflow river in the east are also separated from this.
In Wusheling, plateaus and mountains, pastures and farmlands, arid bare loess and lush grasslands, different types of landscapes are intertwined and combined, and they are very diverse. The most important thing is that among the three natural regions of the continent: the Qinghai-Tibet Alpine Region, the Northwest Arid Region, and the Eastern Monsoon Region, as the most macroscopic, concise and generalized division of the continental geographical environment, Wusheling is exactly at the intersection of these three natural regions.
Therefore, some commentators describe the importance of Wusheling in this way: Wusheling is a barrier that cannot be bypassed from the Central Plains to the northwest frontier. Legend has it that in history, Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions, Tang Xuanzang learned scriptures from the West, and Lin Zexu was degraded to the border...... They have all passed by here. Therefore, there was a Han Xiangzi temple on the Wusheling Ridge, and the incense was very prosperous, "the passers-by all stopped to worship, and asked for a sign, praying for a safe journey." Unfortunately, it was destroyed in 1958.
The Great Wall of Wusheling has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times
As for the Hexi Corridor, this geographical plate located west of the Yellow River and shaped like a corridor is precisely the west of Yumen Pass, and the north and south between the Qilian Mountains and the North Mountains (Longshou Mountain, Heli Mountain, and Mamanshan Mountain) in the south. Therefore, Wusheling can be said to be the gateway of the Hexi Corridor, looking at Longdong in the east, driving Hexi in the west, and it is also an important pass to Chang'an in the Hexi Corridor on the ancient Silk Road.
As a security barrier in the interior and Hexi region, Wusheling has always been a battleground for soldiers. During the Western Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing led the army out of Longxi, broke the right part of the Xiongnu, incorporated the Hexi Corridor into the territory of the Western Han Dynasty, built the Great Wall west of Lingju (now the northwest of Yongdeng County), and crossed the Wusheling Mountains through the Zhuanglang River Valley. These rammed earth slabs built of the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty after experiencing thousands of years of wind and rain erosion, mostly into a ridge, along the Great Wall there are many beacons, many collapses, now Tianzhu territory also only remains. Standing under the ancient beacon, hunting in the wind, there are thousands of thoughts.
At the foot of the mountains on the east and west sides of Wusheling Ridge, there are still two ancient cities left, Anyuan in the north of Lingnan and Anmen in Lingnan. The ancient city of Anmen is built according to the terrain of the ridge, 130 meters long from east to west, 100 meters wide from north to south, the city gate is to the south, the existing remnant wall has become a two-meter-high mound, built in the Han Dynasty. The ancient city of Anmen is close to the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty, and across the river to the west is the Jinqiang Station. In the Han Dynasty, this area outside the Great Wall was inhabited by the Qiang people, and the city was set up here as a residence for the army guarding the Great Wall.
Although the Great Wall of Wusheling has been weathered and collapsed, the ruins and broken walls left behind still prove that it is the highest section of the Great Wall. Due to the extremely harsh natural environment and backward production tools, the difficulty of building the Great Wall on the Wusheling Mountains can be imagined. By the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty had collapsed, so the Ming court built a new Great Wall again.
Therefore, the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty met at the same time in the Wusheling Mountains, crossed the grassland, stretched to the top of the high mountain, and meandered westward. Now after thousands of years of wind and frost, climb the Wusheling Ridge and look into the distance, only to see the mountain stretching, like a giant dragon, the head west and the tail east, the west is high and the east is low, covered with clouds and mist, meandering, the Great Wall of Wusheling on it is cold and vast, undulating, the ancient wave gorge wall stands thousands of thousands, the pass is natural, the hanging rock is dangerous, the sky opens a line, the mountains and rivers on all sides of the Wusheling are picturesque.
As an important transportation artery between the east and west of China, two thousand years ago, a steady stream of Silk Road caravans and missions passed through here to connect China and the world, until the overland Silk Road was blocked by the Ottoman Empire and the maritime Silk Road flourished, and the towns and post stations here gradually declined.
However, at the end of the commercial hustle and bustle, the geographical value of Wusheling has not been diminished in the slightest, and today's Lanxin Railway and Ganxin Highway (312 National Highway) are still passing over the mountains from Wusheling. The only difference is that the Great Wall of Wusheling no longer needs to defend against threats, and the ruins will be silently weathered by the years, and the dust will return to dust.
Last review: Yanzhi Mountain: Controlling the sweet and cool throat to achieve a place where soldiers must fight, and conserving water sources to complete a thousand-year-old military horse farm
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