Yumen pass

Yumen pass was built when Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty opened roads in western regions and set up four counties in Hexi. It got its name because it was the place where jade was imported from western regions.

In the Han Dynasty, it was the gateway to all parts of the western regions, and its former site is now xiaofangpan city in the northwest of Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Yumenguan, also known as xiaofangpan City, was built around 111 BC. It is the throat pass of the silk road leading to the northern road of the western regions. It is located in the Gobi Desert 90 km northwest of Dunhuang city. Guancheng is a square city. The Loess barrier is 10 meters high, 3 meters wide at the top and 5 meters wide at the bottom. It is 24 meters long from the east to the west, 26.4 meters wide from the north to the south, and covers an area of 633 square meters.

At that time, Yumen pass, camel bells long, people shouting, caravans, envoys, a prosperous scene. When you climb the ancient pass, you can see that there are many swamps and ravines around, the Great Wall is winding, the beacon stands upright, the Populus euphratica is tall and straight, and the spring is green. Red willows, red flowers, reed swaying, and ancient pass majestic posture, make people fascinated, mixed feelings, nostalgia, spontaneously.

Yumen pass

Yumen pass was first built when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened roads in the western regions and set up four counties in Hexi. It got its name because it was the place where jade was imported from the western regions. In the Han Dynasty, it was the gateway to all parts of the western regions, and its former site is now xiaofangpan city in the northwest of Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Yuanding or Yuanfeng (116 bc-105 BC) built the great wall between Jiuquan and Yumen, and Yumen pass should be set up accordingly.

According to the geographical records of the Han Dynasty, Yumen pass and Yangguan pass, another important pass, are both located in longle County, Dunhuang county. They are both Duwei's offices and important places to garrison troops. At that time, the Central Plains and the western regions all passed through the two passes, which were important military passes and silk road transportation thoroughfares in the Han Dynasty.

Han banchao had been in jueyu for a long time. He wanted to return when he was old. He wrote: "I don't want to go to Jiuquan county. I wish I could be born in Yumen pass.". Zhang Dai's sailing at night

On June 22, 2014, at the 38th UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting held in Doha, Qatar, Yumenguan site, as one of the sites in the "Silk Road: road network of chang'an-tianshan corridor" jointly applied for World Heritage by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was successfully included in the world heritage list.

Introduction to scenic spots

Yumenguan site is located at the westernmost end of Hexi Corridor, on the South Bank of Shule, about 90 km away from Dunhuang city and 150 km away from Lop Nur in the West. It is surrounded by Gobi, desert and meadow. The site starts from cangtingsui in the East, xianmingsui in the West and three piers in the south. The core area is centered on the site of xiaofangpancheng, which is 45 km long from east to west and 0.5 km wide from north to south. The present remains include two city sites, 20 beacon cherts and 18 sections of the Great Wall. They are open to tourists, including xiaofangpancheng site, dafangpancheng site and the Han Great Wall site around danggushui.

Chronology of Yumenguan site

In 770-221 B.C., Yueshi and Wusun were stationed as herdsmen one after another.

In 138 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the western regions for the first time to contact the Yue family and destroy the Huns.

In 121 BC, Huo Qubing, a general of Hushi, marched into Hexi and defeated Xiongnu. At that time, Wuwei and Jiuquan counties were established.

In 119 BC, Zhang Qian was sent to the western regions again.

In 108 B.C., Zhao fenu left Dunhuang and became a guru master. So "Jiuquan Pavilion barrier to Yumen."

In 104 B.C., Li Guangli, the general of the second division, went out of Yumen to fight against Dawan. In vain, he withdrew from Dunhuang and wrote a request for a strike. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was so angry that he made an envoy to zheyumen and said, "if you dare to enter the army, cut it." Second division fear, because stay in Dunhuang.

In 25 A.D., Dou Rong took charge of Hexi and called himself the general of the five prefectures, belonging to Dunhuang.

In 73 A.D., ban Chao sent 36 officials to the western regions.

In 75 A.D., Emperor suzong of Han Dynasty ordered ban Chao to return to the capital and was advised to stay by the western regions.

Banchao was the capital of the western regions in 93 ad.

In 102 A.D., ban Chao returned to Luoyang from the western regions via Dunhuang.

In 107 A.D., the silk road was restored to An'an road after three unique links.

In 266 ad, Zhu fahu, a Dunhuang monk, returned to the West and began to translate the classics.

In 275 ad, linghufeng of Dunhuang built hecang city.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, British Sinologist Stein and others explored Yumen pass privately many times.

In 1944, the Northwest China scientific expedition carried out archaeological investigation and mapping work in Yumenguan area, and excavated a large number of Han bamboo slips.

In February 1963, the former Gansu Provincial Committee announced the Yumenguan site as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level.

In January 1988, the State Council announced it as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

In 2006, "Yumenguan site" was included in the preparatory list of China's application for world cultural heritage "China section of the Silk Road".

In June 2014, "Yumenguan site" was listed in the world cultural heritage list of "road network of Chang'an Tianshan corridor".

In August 2017, Dunhuang Cultural Tourism Yumenguan Scenic Area Operation Management Co., Ltd. was established.

geographical position

Yumenguan site is located on the South Bank of Shule, the westernmost part of Hexi corridor. It is a natural geographical environment composed of Gobi, desert, river and lake. It faces Beishan in the north and Qilian Mountain in the south. It is about 90 km away from Dunhuang in the southeast and 150 km away from the eastern edge of Lop Nur in the West. This area is a symbol of the traffic boundary between East and West, and has been an important traffic channel between East and West since ancient times.

Introduction to scenic spots

Yumenguan, commonly known as xiaofangpan City, was built when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened roads in the western regions and set up four counties in Hexi. The existing Guancheng is square with well preserved walls, rammed with yellow clay and opened two gates in the northwest. The castle is square in plane, 24 meters long from east to west and 26.4 meters wide from north to south, with a total area of more than 630 square meters. At the foot of the north slope of the city, there is a big East-West lane, which is a way for the Central Plains and western regions to travel and post. The existing city wall is 9.7 meters high and about 3 meters wide. The widest part of the wall base is 5 meters. There is a city wall on it. There is a horse road in the southeast corner of the city to climb to the top. It used to be an important military pass and Silk Road in Han Dynasty.

The great wall of the Han Dynasty is an important part of the military defense system in Hexi area of the Han Dynasty, and it is also the historical miniature of the whole northern defense project constructed by the Western Han Dynasty. Despite thousands of years of wind and rain erosion, it still stands in the Gobi desert, as if to tell people the magnificence and prosperity of the desert pass. The great wall of the Han Dynasty in Dunhuang is the longest and best preserved one, which is of great research and ornamental value.

Hecang City, commonly known as "dafangpan city", was built in the Western Han Dynasty. Until the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was an important Quartermaster warehouse for Grain Reserve of the Great Wall frontier defense. Hecang city is located in the north and south. It is built on rammed earth. It is rectangular and divided into three parts: outer city, inner city and Cang City. The outer city wall has collapsed. The remaining Cang City is about 132 meters long from east to west and 17 meters wide from north to south. The highest part of the remnant wall is 9 meters. There are two walls in the north and south direction in the city, dividing it into three warehouses with equal area. Each warehouse opens to the south. Most of the four walls have collapsed, but the north wall is relatively complete. It is surrounded by grassland and swamp in the East, West and North, and covered by Gobi higher than swamp in the south.

ruins

Yumenguan, also known as xiaofangpan City, was built around 111 BC. It is the throat pass of the silk road leading to the northern road of the western regions. It is located in the Gobi Desert 90 km northwest of Dunhuang city. Guancheng is a square city. The Loess barrier is 10 meters high, 3 meters wide at the top and 5 meters wide at the bottom. It is 24 meters long from the east to the west, 26.4 meters wide from the north to the south, and covers an area of 633 square meters.

At that time, Yumen pass, camel bells long, people shouting, caravans, envoys, a prosperous scene. The ruins of hanyumen pass in 2013 is a small square castle, which stands on the sand and stone hills in the long and narrow area of the Gobi desert. When you climb up the ancient pass, you can see that there are many swamps, ravines, great wall, beacon towers, Populus euphratica and green springs. Red willows, red flowers, reed swaying, and ancient pass majestic posture, so that you are fascinated, mixed feelings, nostalgia, spontaneously.

In 1907, the adventurer, archaeologist and smuggler, Stein excavated many Han bamboo slips from the ruins not far north of Guancheng. According to the contents of the slips, it was determined that xiaofangpan city was the location of Yumenguan. According to historical records, the location of Yumen pass should also be nearby, but xiaofangpan city only has more than 600 square meters, which is too small as the westernmost customs in the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the exact location of Yumenguan is still uncertain. The well preserved site of xiaofangpan city is tentatively designated as Yumenguan, which is a key cultural relic protection unit in China.

15 kilometers away from Yumenguan, there is the ancient city of hecang, which was the granary of Yumenguan guards in Han Dynasty. Only the broken walls and ruins can be seen, but the momentum of that year can still be seen.

Traffic information

Internal transportation

There are more than 320 types of taxis in the city, which serve day and night. There are more than 300 rickshaws in the city, which is very convenient. On Mingshan road in the city, there are four bicycle rental points. If you want to rent a tour bus, luxury air-conditioned type, you can contact the local travel agency or star hotel head office; ordinary domestic bus, you can contact the center of each automobile passenger transport company.

It is about 90 kilometers from Dunhuang to Yumenguan. It is connected by desert highway and can be transported by car

Chinese PinYin : Yu Men Guan