Xining in May has stepped into the threshold of spring, and the thick breath of Spring Festival has already permeated the earth, but Sun Moon Mountain, as the watershed between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the mainland, is still shrouded in snowy winter. The cold wind whistling outside the car, snowflakes flying, and the windshield wipers kept scraping off the snowflakes on the glass. The endless grasslands and rolling mountains in the distance have long been covered with snow, and the original green space is white.
Sun Moon Mountain-Princess Wencheng bid farewell to her hometown
Sun Moon Mountain is 90 kilometers away from Xining, and Sun Moon Lake crossing the Qinghai-Tibet Highway is 3520 meters above sea level.
In fact, the landform environment of Sun Moon Mountain is not steep compared with the whole Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. But since ancient times, it has long been famous for its vast snowy areas, because Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng passed through here when they married Tubo. The eternal story makes all passers-by stop here, climb this mountain, and pursue the traces left by Princess Wencheng when she passed by.
Stepping on the snow along the mountain road, looking around, the earth is vast and snowy; Although it's freezing, it's refreshing to climb high and overlook at this time, as if the blood in the body is accelerating circulation, but the whole body feels a burning sensation.
In Tibetan, "Sun Moon Mountain" means "Donima" or "Nimadawa", which means the sun and the moon. In fact, "Sun Moon Mountain" is mainly named after Princess Wencheng's story about the Sun Moon Mirror.
According to records, from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, Sun Moon Mountain was called Chiling, which was the boundary mountain between the Northern Wei Dynasty and Tuguhun, and between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. It was named after the reddish yellow sand on the top of the mountain.
This is the watershed between the outflow river and the inland river in eastern Qinghai, and it is also the natural dividing line between the agricultural area and the animal husbandry area in eastern Qinghai, so Sun Moon Mountain is also called the "grassland gateway". Every spring and summer, green grass, cattle and sheep full of slopes, tents bit by bit, the scenery is very spectacular. However, what is displayed in front of my eyes at this time is the most essential landform environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau-some desolate, rough and magnificent, although not covered with green grass.
Sun Moon Mountain is not only famous in ancient and modern times, but also has many legends. Among them, the stories and legends of Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet are the most popular and touching. In the fourteenth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan reign (AD 640), Tubo sent a special envoy Lu Dongzan to Chang 'an to offer a dowry to get married, and Emperor Taizong promised Wen to become a princess. When the princess was married far away, Emperor Taizong prepared all kinds of daily utensils, jewelry, silks and satins, books, medicines, silkworm eggs and grain seeds as dowry, and also sent bands and craftsmen to Tubo with him.
They set out from Chang 'an, Kyoto in the Tang Dynasty, crossed the Yellow River, entered Qinghai and headed west along Huangshui River. After Sun Moon Mountain, Songzan Gambu personally led troops to camp on the south bank of Zhaling Lake to meet the princess, and Li Daozong presided over a grand wedding. Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng entered Tibet via Yushu and arrived in Lhasa today on April 15, and were warmly welcomed by people in Xizang. Princess Wencheng went to Tibet to get married, leaving many beautiful legends and historical sites along the way.
According to legend, when Princess Wencheng came to Sun Moon Mountain, she climbed to the top of the mountain and looked around. She can't help feeling sad. Tears streamed down her face and she was homesick, so she took out the "Sun Moon Mirror" given to her by her former queen. At that time, the queen told her that if she was homesick on the road or after Tubo, she would take it out and have a look. Chang 'an and her mother can be seen in the mirror. Princess Wencheng thought of this and took out the mirror. Sure enough, she saw Chang 'an and her mother in the mirror. This made the princess even more sad and accidentally broke the "Sun Moon Treasure Mirror" into two halves. History has become a legend, and legend has become a myth. This is why it was called "Chiling" in ancient times and later renamed "Sun Moon Mountain". Seventy years later, Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty embarked on a long road of marriage here. In order to consolidate the reconciliation between Tang and Fan, during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Tubo Kingdom also set up a good monument of Han and Tibetan on the top of Sun Moon Mountain. Tibetans and Han people live in harmony with Sun Moon Mountain as the boundary, and the Sun Moon Mountain is the place where tea and horses exchange. According to historical records, since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty in June18, they have lived in harmony with all ethnic groups in the border areas, and the leaders of all ethnic groups have sent envoys to propose to the Tang Dynasty. Tang dynasty 15 princess married other nationalities.
Murals and legends
Coming to Sun Moon Mountain, besides seeing its unique landform and being baptized by the introduction of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there is also an important content, that is, savoring the stories and legends about Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet that have been handed down through the ages, rich in content and full of wisdom and humor. Objectively recorded the cultural exchange, collision and integration of different nationalities.
The murals around Riding mainly tell the anecdote that Lu Dongzan, a minister sent by Songzan Gampo, the king of Tibet, proposed to Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, and that Lu Dongzan had great wisdom and courage to overcome all difficulties and solve problems skillfully during his marriage. First of all, the story of how 100 foals identify their mothers from 100 mares. Lu Dongzan comes from snowy grassland. This problem is a piece of cake for him. He separated the mare from the foal and walked around for a day and a night. The next day, the hungry foal rushed out of the fence and rushed to her mother to nurse. Secondly, Emperor Taizong asked Lu Dongzan to recognize Princess Wencheng from 300 women. The clever Lu Dongzan learned in advance through a visit that the princess once used a balsam, which smells strange and can attract butterflies and bees. Three days later, when 300 beautiful women dressed exactly the same gathered together, I saw two bees hovering over one of the women's heads, so the princess was recognized. ...
The Moon Pavilion mural mainly introduces the spread of spiritual civilization and material civilization brought from the Central Plains after Princess Wencheng entered Tibet.
The magical legend of Sun Moon Mountain seems to take us through the historical tunnel and immerse ourselves in the past time and space. May this beautiful story always accompany us and continue westward along the "Tang-Fan Ancient Road".
The story of Daotanghe River
Leaving Sun Moon Mountain, not far ahead is Daotang River. It is common sense in geography that the west is high and the east is low, and the water flows eastward. However, this river is uncharacteristically flowing from east to west, hence its name. There are many folk legends about why this river flows backwards. First, Princess Wencheng left Sun Moon Mountain and continued westward. When the princess turned around from her horse and looked east at her hometown, she found that her sight had been blocked by Sun Moon Mountain. She couldn't help shedding sad tears, then sighed and moved west with tears in her eyes. Then, the tears shed by the princess turned into a river. Because of sympathy for the princess's sadness, the river also flowed westward with the princess.
In fact, Daotang River originated from Chaerhan Grassland at the foot of Sun Moon Mountain, and was originally an eastward river. About130,000 years ago, there was a strong orogeny. The rising mountain, Sun Moon Mountain, blocked the exit of Qinghai Lake, and Qinghai Lake began to flow eastward from Sun Moon Mountain, but gradually the Sun Moon Mountain became higher and higher, and Qinghai Lake became a completely closed lake, but the river that leaked eastward had to.
Nowadays, people no longer bother to research this legend, only hope that this mysterious and beautiful legend can bring good luck and good luck to this place forever. At this time, although the grassland is barren and the ice and snow are everywhere, on the edge of this spring, the sun is like fire. Cattle and sheep are grazing in the distance, yellow ducks are singing, birds are soaring, and Daotang River is melting in the sun.
The first town on the plateau
At the mouth of Daotanghe River into Qinghai Lake, there is a new Daotanghe Town. It is 96 kilometers away from Xining, which is the main road from Xining to Haixi Prefecture, Tibet and Qaidam Basin in southern Xinjiang. It is also the only way for the branch line of Qingkang Highway to go south to Yushu, Guoluo, Hainan and other pastoral areas, so it is known as the "throat into Tibet". Now the first-class highway from Xining to Daotanghe Town has been opened, and it takes only one hour to drive. Although this is a small town, it is the gateway to Qinghai Province and Tibetan pastoral areas.
Walking into the town, you are greeted with a strange style. On the three streets extending along the Y-shape, brand-new Tibetan houses are lined up on both sides of the asphalt road. Schools surrounded by high walls, newly-built two-story buildings, and street sculpture parks to commemorate Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet. ...
For more than 1000 years since Princess Wencheng, as the first town in Tibet, ethnic blending from south to north has never stopped, like a flowing river. (Cheng Weidong)