Ancient kingdom Loulan in history

5 min read

Loulan was one of the thirty six kingdoms in the Western Regions, closely the Silk road and an important center for trading between the east and the on connected with the Han Dynasty around 1 A.D. In history, Loulan was a hub West. According to the records of Biography in the terghana in the historical Records and traditions in the Western regions in the book of han Loulan had been a well-known “city wall kingdom “before the 2 century A.D. It was to the west of Dunhuang to the southwest of Yangi and Yuli and to the northeast of Charkhlik and Qiemo. the ancient silk road was divided into the southern path and northern path at Loulan Traditions in the Western Regions in the Book of Han “Shanshan kingdom, formerly called Loulan, Yuni city is the capital city, 800km from Yangguan, 3.050km from Chang’ an, there were 1, 570households, 44, 100 people Faxian said”the land here is rough and poor, the clothes taht the natives are wearing are the same to the han people except theblanket. The king obeys the law. There are more than 4, 000 monks, all of them learned from hinayana Master tang xuanzang said go over one thousand kilometers from here to the northeast get to the ancient nation of Na fubo is the loulan region

Loulan Kingdom in the Han Dynasty was between the two regimes, the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu, so it had to play a double-dealing trick Because loulan was located in the traffic hub between Han and the Western Regions, Han couldn’t cross this area to attack xiongnu while xiongnu was not able to threaten the Han Dynasty without the force of loulan. Both Han and Xiongnu implemented a policy of mollification to loulan

Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to visit Dayueshi to establish offensive and defensive alliance, which failed at last. And then he sent the army to suppress the far-away Dayuan Kingdom and sent envoy for several times to visit the Western Regions. When these envoys crossed loulan loulan killed the envoys because they couldn’t stand the burden Finally, Emperor Wu of Han sent army to suppress loulan, so one Loulan prince was sent to the han Dynasty as a proof of surrender. Meantime, Loulan sent another prince to Xiongnu to show neutrality between xiongnu and han After this when the Han expeditionary army attacked a dependent state of Xiongnu, Loulan King colluded with Xiongnu and stationed troops in ambush in his kingdom, which enraged the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu of Han once again sent the army to suppress Loulan and the army was close to its capital Yuni city, so Loulan King as in great horror and opened the gate to offer an apology. Emperor Wu of Han asked Loulan King to watch over Xiongnu In 92 B.C., Loulan King died and the prince was very sad at his death and would not like to go back, and then his brother inherited the throne. not long after the new king died, Xiongnu took this chance to make the eldest son inherit the throne who had served as a hostage in their country. This message shocked Emperor Wu of Han, so he rapidly sent envoy to persuade the new king to go to the han Dynasty in order to hold him as a hostage, but it failed at last. Loulan was close to yumen pass through which the han envoys often went to the kingdoms of the Western Regions, and the envoys had to cross a desert in Loulan named Yardang.

It often blew wind in the desert to draw drift sand into the air to get people lost. The han dynasty continuously asked Loulan to provide guidance and potable water while the Han envoys maltreated theguides for several times, so Loulan King refused to obey the order and damaged the relationship between them Emperor Wu of Han finally sent assassins to kill the new king secretly. The Han Dynasty married a beautiful woman to the prince held as a hostage in the han dynasty and sent him back to Loulan to inherit the throne but the new king was afraid of being assassinated, So Emperor Wu of Han sent troops to station in Loulan in the name of protecting the king. So the Han Dynasty took the initiative in suppressing Xiongnu and the kingdoms in the Western Regions. Afterwards, the power of the Han Dynasty declined so Loulan once again rebelled against Han by killing the officials of han for several times under the instigation of Xiongnu. In the 4 year of the Yuanfeng Reign of Emperor Zhao of Han, senior general Huo Guang sent Fu Jiezi to lead several warriors to go to Loulan. they plotted killing Loulan King Changgui and made Changgui’s brother king and changed the kingdom’s name into Shanshan and enhanced rule over loulan by moving the capital to the south and setting protectorate and sending troops to station in loulan for cultivation of the land

Loulan was a valiant tribe in the Western regions of the han dynasty when Loulan was stable, peaceful, abundant in products and full of business people, and as a prosperous kingdom on the Silk road. It was adjacent to Lop Nor and Tarim River with excellent natural conditions and significant geographic location. According to the records of Commentary on the Waterways Classic, oulan lacked water very much because Zhubin River changed its course in the middle reaches of tarim River after the Eastern Han Dynasty. Suo Le from Dunhuang led 1,000 soldiers to Loulan and summoned 3,000 soldiers from Shanshan yangi and oiuci to channel zhubin river day and night and diverted water to Loulan to relieve the tension of water shortage. However, even though people of loulan tried their best to channel the water course loulan as finally abandoned because of water shortage

However, when did the once prosperous small kingdom in the Western Regions, Loulan, disappear mysteriously Where was Loulan Kingdom This has become a riddle for ages