The earliest book about Kunlun Mountain in history is Shan Hai Jing, which is all-encompassing, recording a large number of fairy tales, people, animals and various mountains and seas.
Shan Hai Jing Ye Xi Jing: South of the West Sea, on the shore of quicksand, behind Chishui and before Heishui, there is a mountain called Kunlun Mountain. ..... Some people Dai Sheng, tiger teeth, leopard tail, caves, known as the Queen Mother of the West.
This passage probably explains the geographical location of Kunlun Mountain. Kunlun Mountain is in the south of the West Sea, on the edge of quicksand, behind Chishui and before Heishui. The West Sea here is probably Lop Nur or Qinghai Lake, quicksand is Taklimakan Desert, and Blackwater and Chishui are rivers near Kunlun Mountain.
The beautiful scenery of Kunlun Mountain
In addition to explaining the location of Kunlun Mountain, it is also said that there lived a person named Queen Mother of the West on Kunlun Mountain. This man wears jade jewelry on his head, his mouth is full of tiger teeth, and he has a leopard-like tail, and he lives in a cave. The Queen Mother of the West is also a figure in ancient China mythology.
The Queen Mother of the West later became the supreme god in Taoism. Taoism is the only indigenous religion that originated in China. His thoughts originated from Huangdi in the period of Three Emperors and Five Emperors and Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period. It became a religion in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and then gradually spread to China, forming a series of mythological worship.
For example, the Jade Emperor is the leader of Taoist immortals, and his wife is the Queen Mother, which is actually the Queen Mother. In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Queen Mother is the goddess in charge of "Shirley" and "Five Handicaps". In The Journey to the West, the Queen Mother is the first fairy, in charge of the Flat Peach Garden. In the murals of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, there is the image of the Queen Mother.
Western Queen Mother Mural
Therefore, in a series of myths of Huaxia nationality, you can see the figure of the Queen Mother of the West. It can be said that her image is well known to women and children. Coupled with the influence of local religion and Taoism, the Queen Mother of the West has a higher status in the eyes of Han people and Chinese people. Therefore, Kunlun Mountain, where the Queen Mother of the West lives, has become a sacred place for China people to worship. This is for cultural reasons.
In addition, there are fairy tales related to Kunlun Mountain, such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, fairy mending the sky, and Jingwei filling the sea. The Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's story tells that Chang 'e ate the elixir of life taken by her husband Hou Yi and flew to the Moon Palace after becoming an immortal. The Queen Mother lived in Kunlun Mountain, and Chang 'e flew from Kunlun Mountain to the Moon Palace.
These fairy tales endow Kunlun Mountain with lofty status and make it a sacred place in the eyes of China people, which is one of the reasons why Kunlun Mountain is the ancestor of Wanshan Mountain.
Kunlun Mountains
Second, historical records.
In fact, the Queen Mother of the West is not just a mythical figure, but a real one in history. It happened in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is recorded in Mu Chuan:
"Biography of Mu" Volume III: Today is a good day and a guest of the Queen Mother of the West. Is holding the Bai Gui Xu Anbi to see the queen mother.
This passage says that Zhou Muwang met the Queen Mother on an auspicious day in Jiazi, and Zhou Muwang came to see the Queen Mother with Bai Gui Xu Anbi who lives in Kunlun Mountain. At that time, Zhou Muwang's Western Expedition reached the territory of the Queen Mother, and Zhou Muwang's whereabouts at that time were like this:
I walked 35,000 miles from Fenghao to the west, crossed the Yellow River to the north, crossed the Hutuo River, went out of Yanmen, went to Baotou, passed Helan Mountain and Qilian Mountain, and then took Tianshan North Road to reach the Queen Mother of the West.
The ancestors of Wanshan
Judging from the route taken by Zhou Muwang, it is a road from Xi 'an to Kunlun Mountain, which is recorded in historical materials. Mu Zhuan is a Wei tomb in the Warring States Period, and a number of bamboo slips have been unearthed, including Mu Zhuan and Zhu Shuzhi, which should be said to be credible.
Zhou Muwang's expedition to Kunlun Mountain should be one of the earliest expeditions of China people, which promoted the connection between China and Kunlun Mountain and made Kunlun Mountain enter China's cognitive range for the first time, which can be found in a series of historical materials and ancient books.
Biography of Dawan in Historical Records: The Han Dynasty made the poor source of the river, which started in _, and its mountain was full of jade. According to Tian Zi ancient books, the famous river came out of the mountain and was called Kunlun Cloud.
The messengers of the Han Dynasty have been looking for the source of the Yellow River. The Han people in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed that the source came from China, where the mountains were rich in jade. The messengers collected jade, and then the emperor named the mountain where the Yellow River originated as Kunlun Mountain according to the inspection of ancient books.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty named Kunlun Mountain.
This shows that the name Kunlun Mountain was officially determined during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it is also mentioned that Kunlun Mountain has two remarkable characteristics, one is the source of the Yellow River, and the other is rich in jade.
Third, the source of the Yellow River
It is also recorded in Historical Records. At that time, people regarded Kunlun Mountain as the birthplace of the Yellow River:
Historical Records Biography of Dawan: Taishi Gong said: In this discipline: "The river flows out of Kunlun. Kunlun Mountain is more than 2,500 miles high, and the sun and the moon avoid each other as light. There are Liquan and Yaochi on it. Today, it is a summer in Zhang Qian, and it is poor in Heyuan. In this century, we will see the so-called Kunlun Mountain. Therefore, there are mountains and rivers in Kyushu, and the ministers are close.
Taishi Gong Sima Qian said: The book says that the Yellow River originated in Kunlun. Kunlun Mountain is more than 2,500 miles high, and the sun and the moon are shaded, and each shines. There are Liquan and Yaochi on Kunlun Mountain. Since Zhang Qian went to Summer, he finally found the source of the Yellow River. Where can I see the Kunlun Mountain mentioned in Yu Benji? Therefore, the mountains and rivers of Kyushu are the closest to the actual situation.
Kunlun Mountain was regarded as the source of the Yellow River in ancient times.
The earliest civilization in China should be the Yellow River civilization. The original ancestors of China all lived in the Yellow River valley. Water has always been the source of life and gave birth to Chinese civilization. With the development of productive forces, exploring the source of the Yellow River has become one of the most important tasks for Chinese people. At that time, due to the limitation of geographical knowledge and science and technology, it was generally believed that the source of the Yellow River was Kunlun Mountain.
We now know that the source of the Yellow River is Zhaqu, Yuegu Zonglie and Kariqu at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, but the ancients did not know this. Since the Yellow River is the mother river of China, Kunlun Mountain, the source of the Yellow River, is the ancestor of all the mountains in China. After all, it gave birth to the Yellow River.
Fourth, the hometown of jade.
There are four famous jade in China: Hetian jade in Xinjiang, dushan jade in Nanyang, Henan, lantian jade in Xi, Shaanxi and xiuyan jade in Liaoning, among which Hetian jade is the most famous and has the longest history, ranking first among the four famous jade.
China's jade culture has a long history, such as Liangzhu civilization, which is regarded as Yu Dynasty by some historians. The most famous unearthed cultural relic of Liangzhu civilization is jade, which is not only beautifully made, but also huge. Liangzhu jade is not Hetian jade, but at least it represents a jade culture. Some archaeologists even think that the developed jade in Liangzhu can be regarded as a symbol of civilization, and it ranks as the fourth major feature of civilization along with bronzes, cities and characters.
Hetian jade
Hetian jade is mainly produced in Hotan, Xinjiang, between Kunlun Mountain and Taklimakan Desert. In ancient China, it was always believed that Hetian jade was produced in Kunlun Mountain, and Qilian Mountain was also considered as a part of Kunlun Mountain by the ancients.
According to archaeological findings, the earliest Hotan jade site discovered in China comes from the Xinglongwa site discovered in Xinglongwa Village, Baoguo Township, Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. About 8000 years ago, according to historical records, it was earlier than the period of Three Emperors and Five Emperors. Some jades unearthed from Xinglongwa site are considered as Hetian jade, that is, Kunlun jade.
For example, some jades unearthed from the famous Muhao Tomb in Shang Dynasty are considered as Hetian jade by experts and scholars, and come from the vicinity of Kunlun Mountain, including Sanxingdui site, and some jades are considered as Hetian jade. In addition, the Hetian jade site unearthed from the Han Tomb in Mancheng, Hebei Province, the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province, and the tomb of Guo in Sanmenxia, Henan Province, spans from Shang Dynasty to Han Dynasty, indicating that it was produced near Kunlun Mountain.
Jade has the function of decoration, ceremony and sacrifice in China culture, and is regarded as a noble sacred object, which ordinary people can't own. In addition, it was not easy to mine jade in ancient times, so Kunlun Mountain, which produced jade, was also regarded as a sacred place and was well known by ancient rulers.
Landform map of Kunlun Mountain
Verb (abbreviation for verb) geography and landform
The terrain of Kunlun Mountain is absolutely unique in China. It is the longest mountain range in China, with a total length of 2,500 kilometers, spanning Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai provinces. Although far away from the Central Plains, Kunlun Mountain is considered as the ancestor of Wanshan Mountain by the ancients in China, so half of China's myths and legends come from this mountain.
The so-called ancestor of Wanshan Mountain means that Kunlun Mountain is the ancestor of all the mountains in China. You put your eyes on the whole map of China. On the map of China, the dividing line between north and south is the Qinling-Huaihe line, which extends westward and roughly coincides with Kunlun Mountain. If Kunlun Mountain is connected with Qinling Mountain, it can form the absolute north-south dividing line of China.
From the map, the mountains in China are mainly east-west and rarely north-south, including the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. Of all the east-west mountains, only the Kunlun-Qinling line runs through the east and west. You can think of Kunlun Mountain as the ancestor of Wanshan Mountain, and then other mountains are like the remnants of Kunlun Mountain.
Kunlun Mountain is 2500 kilometers long.
In fact, Altun Mountain, Qilian Mountain and Tanggula Mountain around Kunlun Mountain can also be regarded as the residual veins of Kunlun Mountain. Even the Himalayas, like Kunlun Mountain, extend from the Pamirs from west to east, and Kunlun Mountain is in the middle, resulting in a series of mountains. This is the ancestor of Wanshan.
If the map of China is regarded as the shape of a rooster, then the location of Kunlun Mountain is the rooster's back, and the rooster has to rely on his back to support his life. If the whole of China is regarded as a rooster, then Kunlun Mountain is the birthplace of Wanshan Mountain, which is the importance of its geographical location.
The average elevation of Kunlun Mountain is about 5500 ~ 6000 meters. The top of the mountain is covered with snow all year round, inaccessible and rich in vegetation. It is not only the forbidden area of life, but also the source of life. There are many places in Kunlun Mountain that no one dares to enter, such as the Gate of Hell in Kunlun Mountain, also known as Death Valley. There is almost no life in this valley.
It is said that Kunlun Mountain is the source of life, because it is not far from the birthplace of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. In ancient times, it was also considered as the birthplace of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. These two mother rivers are the source of Chinese life, and the whole Chinese civilization originated here, and this source is in Kunlun, which means that Kunlun Mountain is also the source of China, and of course it is also the ancestor of Wanshan.
There are many water sources around Kunlun Mountain.
Kunlun Mountain is not only not far from the source of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, but also has many water sources flowing through or originating from Kunlun Mountain, such as Kunlun River, Caracas River and Yeerqiang River. Keriya River, Niya River, Yulong Kashi River, Qierqin River, Na Ren Guole River and Chaidamu River are all near Kunlun Mountain.
Water is the source of life. It is precisely because there are many water sources around Kunlun Mountain that an oasis is formed at or near the foot of the mountain, which in turn breeds cities and countless local people, not only Chinese people, but also other ethnic groups living nearby regard Kunlun Mountain as a sacred mountain and carry out a series of worship. Over time, Kunlun Mountain has become the ancestor of Wanshan recognized by all ethnic groups in China.