Helan Mountain rock painting

Helan Mountain rock painting

Helan Mountain rock painting is a national key cultural relic protection unit, a national AAAA tourist attraction, a national research tourism demonstration base (one of the first 20 in 2016), and an art gallery for Chinese nomads.

In ancient times, Helan Mountain was a place where the northern minorities, such as Hun, Xianbei, Turk, Uighur, Tubo, Dangxiang, lived and multiplied. In the hinterland of Helan Mountain, which is more than 200 kilometers long from north to south, there are more than 20 remains of rock paintings. One of the most representative is HELANKOU rock paintings.

At the 2018 Northwest China Tourism Marketing Conference and tourism equipment exhibition, he was shortlisted in the list of "100 wonders of Northwest China". At the 2018 China Yellow River Tourism Conference, Helan Mountain rock painting was rated as "50 scenes of China's Yellow River".

From the date of resumption of operation in 2020 to December 31, 2020, all medical workers in the whole country (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) with valid certificates (doctor's certificate, nurse's certificate or other qualification certificates related to medical work) will be given free admission preferential policies; they will take the sightseeing bus for free; preferential windows and green channels will be opened for medical workers in the peak tourist season.

historical origin

This is the masterpiece of Qiang Rong, Yue Shi, Xiongnu, Xianbei, tiele, Tujue, Dangxiang and other nationalities who have been active in this area since ancient times, roughly from the spring and Autumn period to the Xixia period.

Helan Mountain rock paintings have different contents in different places: Shizuishan area is mainly composed of forest and grassland animals, such as North goat, rock goat, wolf and so on; Helan Mountain area is mainly composed of all kinds of human beings; Qingtongxia, Zhongwei, Zhongning area are mainly composed of grazing and grassland animals, such as North goat. In Baijigou, Helan Mountain and other places, a large number of painted rock paintings were also found, with the main content of riding characters and animals such as goats and horses. The discovery of colored rock painting adds new content and form to Helan Mountain rock painting.

Form of expression

HELANKOU is more than 50 kilometers away from Yinchuan city. It is located in Jinshan Township of Helan County in the middle part of Helan Mountain. The mountain is very high, with an altitude of 1448 meters, commonly known as "huoliaokou". There are more than 1000 individual rock paintings on both sides of the ravine, which stretch for more than 600 meters. The artistic form of the picture is rough and thick, the composition is simple, the posture is natural, and the realism is strong. More than half of the total number are mainly head portraits. Secondly, there are animals such as cattle, horses, donkeys, deer, birds and wolves.

The picture of human head is simple and strange. Some people wear horns, some have feathers, and some wear pointed or dome caps. Some of them are wearing headdress and some are wearing bun. They are elegant and elegant. They represent the ancient women's pursuit of beauty thousands of years ago. Some of them have big ears, high nose and hairy face, some of them have mouth and bone, and some of them have strip or arc lines. There are also several facial features like a standing figure, arms bent, legs spread, waist wearing a long knife, showing the image of totem wizard.

Analysis of engraving

The composition of animal graphics is rough, vivid and lifelike. There are running deer, prominent blue sheep with two horns, galloping horses, wagging dogs, images of birds and beasts, pictures of some people's hands and the sun, and scenes of primitive religious activities.

According to the analysis of rock paintings and Xixia inscriptions, HELANKOU rock paintings were carved successively in different periods. Most of them were done by northern nomads in the spring and Autumn period and Warring States period. There are also portraits of other dynasties and Xixia period. There are two kinds of engraving methods: chiseling and grinding: chiseling marks are clear and shallow; grinding method is chiseling first and then grinding, with thick and deep lines and smooth grooves. The theme, content and expression of HELANKOU rock paintings are very extensive, full of imagination, giving people a real, cordial, solemn and pure feeling. Many rock paintings provide precious cultural relics for us to understand and study the history, culture, economic situation, local conditions and customs of ancient nomadic people, which can be called a precious national art gallery.

Main types

Tens of thousands of ancient rock paintings have been found in the eastern foot of Helan Mountain. It records the living scenes of ancient human beings from 3000 to 10000 years ago, such as grazing, hunting, sacrifice, war, entertainment and dancing, copulation, as well as various animal patterns and abstract symbols, such as sheep, cattle, horse, camel, tiger and leopard. It reveals the primitive clan's culture of nature worship, reproduction worship, totem worship and ancestor worship Connotation is a cultural treasure house for studying the history of Chinese human culture, religion and primitive art.

According to the survey, Helan Mountain rock paintings are distributed in three cities and nine counties (districts) in the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, Ningxia, with a total of 27 locations. Among them: there are 12 rock painting spots in the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Yinchuan City, including daxifenggou, xiaoxifenggou, baihugou, chaqikou, HELANKOU, Suyukou, huihuigou, baisikou, shuijikou, gunzhongkou, Hongqigou and liuqukou.

The "rock paintings" in Helan Mountain are exactly rock carvings. In Yunnan and Guangxi, there are also many rock paintings, also known as cliff paintings, which are painted with pigments, and mostly with red pigments; while most of the "rock paintings" in northern China are rock carvings. Among the many "rock paintings" in Helan Mountain, only the one in Baijigou is painted with pigment, and the others are rock carvings.

According to the distribution of rock paintings, they can be divided into three types

Grassland rock art

It is mainly distributed in Shizuishan district and Huinong County in the northern part of Helan Mountain.

Mountain rock painting

It is mainly distributed in the middle and north section of Helan Mountain, mostly carved on the cliff in the hinterland of the mountain.

Rock paintings of desert hills: mainly distributed in the southern part of Helan Mountain and the northern part of Weining mountain. Helan Mountain rock paintings are generally distributed on the mountains inside and outside the gully and on the alluvial fan desert grassland outside the gully.

The distribution of Helan Mountain rock paintings in Yinchuan has obvious geomorphic features. From the north of Suyukou to daxifengou, most of the rock paintings are distributed in the mountains inside and outside the gully, and a large number of rock paintings are also distributed in the piedmont alluvial fan desert steppe. From the south of Suyukou to liuqukou, there are few rock paintings on the mountain, and there are almost no rock paintings on the desert grassland. Most of the rock paintings on the mountains inside and outside the gully are concentrated in the range of about 10 meters above the valley root, and are distributed in sheets. The highest rock painting is less than 50 meters, and few rock paintings are found on it. The rock paintings in the gully mouth are distributed within 500 meters in depth, and most of them are in the gully mouth. The deeper the gully is, the rarer the rock paintings are on the mountains on both sides. The rock paintings in the piedmont alluvial fan desert steppe have the characteristics of "large dispersion and small concentration", which are mostly carved on the movable single stone and exposed standing stone. From the gully mouth to the alluvial fan, the spatial distribution of rock paintings obviously presents the fan-shaped distribution characteristics from dense to sparse.

Helan Mountain rock paintings include Shizuishan City, Pingluo County, Helan County, Qingtongxia City and Zhongwei county

Shizuishan rock paintings

① Mairujing rock painting is a rock painting spot at the northernmost end of Helan Mountain. Generally, the picture is small, mostly individual patterns, and few combined patterns. Most of the pictures are animals, and there are also individual figures, plants or symbols. There are two methods for rock painting: chiseling and carving.

② The distribution of heishimao rock paintings is relatively concentrated, mainly using the chiseling method, a small number of patterns for grinding and carving, and individual use of carving method.

③ Jiucaigou rock art, the rock art in this area has the image of tiger, strong body, decorated with stripes on the body, composed by double hook engraving. The other is the tower.

Pingluo County rock art

① Qiutougou rock paintings, qiutougou old known as "guidegou.". Most of the rock paintings face the West and are poorly preserved. A considerable part of them fall off or are not clear. They are basically chiseled. The chiseling points are large and deep, and the images are rough and nonstandard. The content of rock paintings is mainly animals, and there are also individual figures.

② Baijigou rock painting is the only color painted rock painting in Helan Mountain. Located on the east side of a natural cave in Baijigou, the rock paintings are painted in red, with 37 groups and more than 100 pieces, which are rich in content. In the characters, there are riders in battle and hunters hunting; animals include North goat, snake, dog and so on. The rock paintings here also show the contents of reproduction worship and sun worship. There are other signs and symbols.

③ Daxifenggou rock painting, also known as "xifugou" or "xifogou", is located at the junction of Pingluo County and Helan County, more than 30 kilometers away from Pingluo County. The rock paintings of daxifeng include human faces, figures and animals. There are eight points in the rock paintings.

Helan County rock art

① The content of xiaoxifenggou rock paintings is mainly animal expression, and the production techniques are mostly chiseling, but there are also individual grinding methods.

② There is a small ridge at the mouth of baitougou, which divides the exit of the ditch into two parts. The north entrance is commonly known as fork canal. The rock paintings are distributed at the corner of the north slope at the mouth of fork canal, which is in the southeast. Carved antelope, rock sheep, North goat, flying sparrow and other animals, as well as the horse herding map, in which the characters have tail ornaments.

③ Chaqikou rock painting, located in the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, Jinshan Village, Jinshan Township, Helan County, contains human faces, symbols and animals.

④ HELANKOU rock paintings, open mouth, facing the Yellow River, the ditch springs flowing more than. Rock paintings are distributed on the cliff walls on both sides of the valley, and most of them are facing the sun on the North cliff of the gully. The preservation of rock paintings is different. The preservation of rock paintings on the north side of gouya is obviously better than that on the south side. HELANKOU is one of the most concentrated rock paintings in Helan Mountain, with most of the contents

Chinese PinYin : He Lan Shan Yan Hua