Uninvited Guests from the Western Regions

 

Uninvited Guests from the Western Regions

 

In the evening, while drinking Pu'er tea at the Tea Horse Inn, Lacuo brought a foreign tourist to Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing. Lacuo said:

I saw this foreign tourist drinking Pu'er tea alone, so I invited him to drink tea with us, join in the fun, and hear this foreigner's impression of China.

 Foreigners said hello to Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing in English.

 Latso translated in fluent English. He said: This foreigner's name is John. He has visited the Silk Road before, and this time he came to visit the mysterious ancient Dian Kingdom and the Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Road.

 What surprised Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing was: How could Lacuo speak fluent English?

Lacuo smiled and said:

I have lived in Myanmar for a long time. Many Burmese people speak English. In addition, the caravan has to deal with various business people, including foreigners. Therefore, I learned English with the help of my benefactor, the musician Mr. Dorje. Currently you can communicate with foreigners in simple English.

Mr John said:

It's a pleasure to meet you. I just set off from a horse farm in Haida Fishing Village, Lashi, and it took about an hour to get here. I came here along an ancient tea-horse trade route, riding a slightly smaller Yunnan horse.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road winds through the high mountain valleys of the Hengduan Mountains and the jungles and grasslands of the triangle of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet. This is one of the highest ancient roads in the world that I know of to spread civilization and culture.

 The owner of the racecourse in Haida Fishing Village, Lashi, told me: The Ancient Tea Horse Road in history was not just one, but a huge transportation network. He guided me to take one of the Yunnan-Tibet lines. From this ancient road, you can go to Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Nepal, India and Myanmar.

Agudemba asked Mr. John:

How do you communicate with locals due to the language barrier?

Mr. John smiled: no no. Along the way, there were always several Chinese people who spoke English who took the initiative to communicate with me. They are basically local businessmen. Along the way, some villagers also communicated with me in English.

A Dongba man from the Naxi ethnic group, he looks about 50 years old, has a dark face, is not tall, thin, but very strong. He walked up to me and kept telling me in English what the fruit trees on the roadside were.

I didn't expect him to communicate with me in English. I was surprised and asked him: "Do you speak English?"

He said: "I have attended English training classes and learned English to receive foreigners. We always have foreigners coming here." He answered me proudly. Yes, the mysterious Tea Horse Road not only attracts Chinese people, but also attracts foreigners to come to China to see the prosperity of this ancient road and the civilization and culture it brought.

I agreed to his request and let him drive my horse and act as my guide. It took more than an hour to go up and down the mountain. It was really hard for my horse and this Dongba man, but the Dongba man still chatted with me and introduced the local characteristics and scenery along the way. We just parted ways after arriving at this tea horse inn.

Lacuo introduced some past events on the Tea Horse Road to Mr. John in English. Lacuo said:

Although the main items transported on the Tea Horse Road are tea and horses, daily necessities such as salt, medicine, and food are also must-have goods on this ancient road, especially edible salt. In ancient times, the mining of salt mines and the sale of salt were controlled by the government. Long before the Tubo Dynasty, various tribes in Tibet had salt fields and often launched turf wars over the salt fields. The legendary King Gesar and the Naxi King Qiangba fought over the salt fields, commonly known as the "Battle of the Qiang Mountains" ".

The Ancient Tea Horse Road starts from the tea producing areas in Yunnan, Sichuan and Hunan on the east side of the Hengduan Mountains in southwest China, passing through the Hengduan Mountains and the Sanjiang River Basin, which includes the Jinsha River, Lancang River, Nujiang River and other large river canyons, and crosses the highest altitude in the world. The long peaks, giant ridges, and snow-capped mountains and grasslands extend all the way to the west, covering the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and finally lead to the South Asian subcontinent south of the Himalayas. It can be called the oldest, unique and dangerous international transportation artery in the world, and carries a rich civilization. .

Mr. John asked:

I heard that this place was once the mysterious ancient Dian Kingdom. Is this true?

Lacuo said:

The legendary ancient Dian Kingdom is located in the southwest border area of China. Its territory is mainly in the central and eastern areas of Yunnan centered on Dianchi Lake. The main ethnic group in the territory is a branch of the ancient Pu people, generally called Dian people. The ancient Dian people living near Dian Lake formed the Dian Kingdom during the Warring States Period. During the reign of King Qingxiang of Chu, Zhuang Qi was ordered to march south. Around 279 BC, he led his troops through Qianzhong County, passed through the Yuanshui River and headed south to conquer the southwest. Lian Keqilan conquered Yelang, attacked Dianchi Lake, and conquered central Guizhou, Yelang, Dian and other areas. These areas belong to present-day Guizhou and Yunnan. At that time, Zhuang Qi used his military power to decide that his territory belonged to Chu, and he was about to return to the king of Chu. However, Wu County and Qianzhong County of the Chu State were captured by the Qin State in 277 BC. Zhuang Qi's return to the country was cut off, so he stayed in Dian Lake proclaimed himself the King of Dian, named "King Zhuang".

The Qin Dynasty once defeated the Dian Kingdom, and Qin Shihuang ordered the opening of the Five Feet Road to the area. However, after the Qin Dynasty's demise, transportation was interrupted again. There is still controversy as to whether the Qin Dynasty ruled the Dian Kingdom.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the national power was weak, and the southwest border retreated to Bashu. In 122 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered more than ten groups of people, including Wang Ranzi and Bai Shichang, to leave the southwestern barbarians. They wanted to avoid the Xiongnu and find a passage from the southwest to Daxia in the Western Regions. The mission received help from the Dian King Changqiang. However, it failed due to Kunming Yi's obstruction. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty destroyed the Nanyue Kingdom, he wanted to bring the King of Dian into the dynasty, but the King of Dian refused to go to the Han Dynasty because the Qiang relied on tens of thousands of troops.

 Mr. John asked:

So why did the ancient Dian Kingdom disappear later?

 Lacuo said:

In 109 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered Bashu and attacked the Dian Kingdom. The Dian King tasted the Qiang and surrendered the whole country to the Han Dynasty. The Han court established the jurisdiction of Yizhou County in the local area and incorporated the Dian Kingdom into the territory of the Han Dynasty. At the same time, he was given the "Seal of the King of Dian" and allowed the King of Dian to continue to manage his subjects. In 86 BC, the barbarians in Yizhou rebelled against the Han, and Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty sent troops to suppress them. Three years later, the barbarians in Yizhou rebelled again and killed the governor of Yizhou. The Han army failed to suppress it and lost more than 4,000 people. In 82 BC, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty sent troops such as Zheng Wangping and others to suppress the barbarians. They beheaded more than 50,000 people and captured more than 100,000 livestock. After this battle, the Dian Kingdom collapsed. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the further promotion and consolidation of the Han Dynasty's prefecture and county system and the promotion of Confucian culture, the Dian people were gradually decomposed, integrated, and finally completely assimilated.

Mr. John asked again:

I heard that the ancient Dian Kingdom was one of the most mysterious countries in Chinese history. It not only possessed one of the three major evil arts in Southeast Asia, but also created a highly developed bronze culture. However, what is strange is that such an intelligent nation that has existed for more than 500 years disappeared across the country overnight. Where did the ancient Dian people go?

Lacuo said:

The ancient Dian Kingdom existed for about 390 years in the history of Yunnan, appearing in the middle of the Warring States Period and disappearing in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After more than half a century of archaeological excavation, more than 40 Yunnan cultural sites have been discovered in central and northeastern Yunnan, which outline the territory of the ancient Dian Kingdom: from Luliang and Luxi in the east to Anning and Yimen in the west. This area extends from Zhaotong and Huize in the north to Yuanjiang, Xinping and Gejiu in the south, with a length of about four to five hundred kilometers from north to south and a width of more than two hundred kilometers from east to west.

 Mr John said: It seems that I may not be able to see the mysterious ancient Dian Kingdom in my imagination here. But I really want to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of the ancient Dian Kingdom through this trip.

 Lacuo smiled and said:

 Mr. John, you are so obsessed with the culture of the ancient Dian Kingdom. I can take you to see a local archaeologist, and he will tell you some secrets about the ancient Dian Kingdom.

 Lacuo said again:

There is an old saying in China, "When you come, you will be at ease." Now that you are here, you can first learn about the history and culture of the Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Road. I think you will not be disappointed. Lacuo impromptuly sang a Tibetan song "Tracing the Origin of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road":

 

Tracing the history of the formation of the Ancient Tea Horse Road,

After a very long process,

As early as about 40 million years ago,

The Indian continental plate is extremely powerful;

Slowly impacting the Eurasian continental plate,

 The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has grown from the eternal ocean,

 Gradually it rises to become the roof of the world.

 

 The amazing orogeny in the Himalayas,

to the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,

 Forming a huge north-south fold,

This is the famous Hengduan Mountains.

 

Great ancestors of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,

 Very early on in this sacred plateau,

 Working hard to cut through the mountains and clear the way,

 Wisdom builds rafts,

builds ships and pulls ropes in the sky,

In the mountains, dense forests,

cliffs and deep valleys,

Use your feet to walk through the steep and winding mountain roads.

 

Developed Wuchi Road and Nanyi Road,

Lay the foundation for the formation of the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Not far east from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,

It is the road to Shu that is difficult to reach the sky,

And connected to the Loess Plateau,

 Heading to the southeast is the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region.

Going south are the countries of Southeast Asia.

 Here a lot of old ways were born,

 Combine the Hengduan Mountains and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,

They have been closely connected since then.

 There are stories circulating here,

It tells about the hardships of migration of ancient peoples,

 and the legend of the Southern Silk Road.