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Scientific and Social Research

Research Article

Brief Study on Main Ferries in Section of the in Tianye Li University, Lanzhou City 730000, Gansu Province,

Abstract: Ferry serves as an important element of River plays an important role on the course of two traffic. The Yellow River Ferry in Gansu Province traffic routes. In Gansu, the Yellow River often passes and the north-south traffic routes from Chang’an to through long and narrow gorge, so the current is swift Hexi during Han Dynasty corresponds with each and full of turbulence, therefor the locations of ferries other but also are divided into north and south ways. were heavily influenced by natural geographical Beidao ferry is mainly a cable bridge crossing while factors and were mostly concentrated in several the north line of the south road is mianly zhengbojin, basins in present Gansu province. These ferries, qingshijin and shichengjin, and the south line of the corresponding to the traffic routes, are also divided south route is the ferry of Heguan county. The ferry into two roads. The major ferry in the northern road on the north line of North Road and South Road suppose to be Suoqiao ferry. There were Zhengbojin, blocks the traffic to or from to Hexi so the Qingshijin and Shichengjin etc on the northern line two ferries in the north and south played a crucial in the southern road, and the southern line holded part in the management of the northwest frontier the ferry guarded by Heguan County of Han dynasty. during Han Dynasty. Exploring the original setting Later, due to the changes in the watercourses of the reasons and sites of each ferry on the Yellow River is Yellow River and its tributaries, and the increase conductive to the gradual restoration of the or decrease of water volume under the influence of traffic routes, landway and waterway transportation climate, the above-mentioned ferries have become hubs, promoting the exploration and protection of very obscure. Scholars have made many research on the transport historical and cultural heritage at the them, but there are still problems such as misnomers intersection of the Yellow River and Silk Road, and and confusion with ferries of post-Han era, which then enhance the connotation of cultural . need to be further analysed. Keywords: Han Dynasty; Gansu; The Yellow River 1 The Northern Road ferries Ferry In Han dynasty, the route of the northern road to Publication date: March, 2021 the west of the river is shown in the Juyan Mileage Publication online: 31 March, 2021 Compendium. Although the exact passage of the * Corresponding author: Tianye Li, 1078908399@ section from Gaoping to Old Aowei is missing qq.com from this sketch, the road suggests that it requires During Han dynasty, on the original basis of the crossing the Yellow River and that there must have scattered, mainly folk traffic in the Longyou area, the been a crossing point. Liu Zaicong's analysis of Han official started to open up, integrate and constantly dynasty sites in Jingyuan, , and Jingtai restored operated the routes from east to west, and gradually the route and indicated that the river crossing from constituted a traffic network from Chang'an to Hexi. Gaoping to Aowei was near present Jingtai. It is generally agreed that route had two main trunk Suoqiao and the Wufo Valley Basin are two of the roads. As a natural geographical barrier, the Yellow more suitable locations for ferry crossings within

64 Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 Volume 3; Issue 1 Jingtai. Suoqiao is located in the northern section of who chose to pursue He Lian Bobo and was defeated the Red Mountain Gorge, with fast flowing water, by him at Yangwu Lower Gorge (Suoqiao). The word higher banks, poorer conditions and less carrying "crossing" is not a verb, but the name of a crossing capacity. The Wufo Valley is about 12km north point, it refers to the Wufo Township ferry. There are of Suoqiao, and the Yellow River in this area lies no sites from Han and Jin dynasties in the area of between the Red Mountain Gorge and the Black the ferry in Wufo Township, which, as can be seen Mountain Gorge, with a gentle current and suitable from historical sources, flourished after the setting for large ferries. The county seat of Aowei in Han up of Wulanjin and Wulanguan in the Western Wei Dynasty is the ancient city of Diaogou, east of the and Northern Zhou dynasties, and was abandoned in present town of Luyang in [1]. In terms the early after the fall of the Party, and of transportation, there was a road to the county was not officially used again. It was abandoned in the seat of Aowei from either the Suoqiao or the Wufo early Song Dynasty after the fall of the Dangxiang, township ferry. and was never used again by the officials. The The Red Mountain Gorge is the longest gorge in Suoqiao ferry, however, can still be found in Ming the Yellow River and is divided into two sections, the and Qing historical and geographical documents. north and the south, with the cable bridge located in Li Bingcheng mentions that if one crossed the river the northern gorge (also known as the Lower Gorge), via the ferry in Wufo Township, one would have to which joins the Yangwu Lower Gorge. It was here travel an additional ten kilometres to the north before that He Lian Bobo took advantage of the nature crossing the river, and after crossing the river, one and block the road, defeating the reckless Tu Fa Nu would have to cross several beams and travel Tan. Some scholars believe that the Yangwu Lower an additional ten kilometres to the south-east[3]. The Gorge is a large temple crossing at the mouth of the Juyan Mileage Compendium is a post road from Black Mountain Gorge[2]. However, this does not Chang'an to the west of the river in Han Dynasty, and correspond to the "lower" of Yangwu Gorge, and is the post road must have been convenient and fast, therefore inaccurate. On the west bank of the Suoqiao and the Suoqiao ferry was about 20 kilometres less there are a large number of sites along the slopes and than the Wufo ferry, so there is a high chance that terraces, and on the north side of the terrace of the the Suoqiao ferry would have been preferred in Han terrace on the third terrace there is a remnant of a Han Dynasty. dynasty beacon, which is surrounded by a dockyard of about 30 metres in length and width, with remnants 2 Ferries on the Northern Route of the of bricks and broken tiles in iron blue from Han Southern Road dynasty scattered around the yard, and a stone bar of [3] Most scholars believe that during Han dynasty, about 70×35×18 cm in length . This proves that the Jinchengguan was the main ferry point on the crossing was already developed and used during Han northern route of the Southern Road to the west of Dynasty. the river. But most of the historical data from Han Liuman mentions the ferry crossing at Wufo dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties is Township as Aowei north ferry during the Eastern Jin [4] recorded as Zhengbojin, Shichengjin and Qingshijin, Dynasty . not Jinchengjin. Jinchengjin was located near Before He Lian Bobo defeated the Tu Fa Nu Zhongshan Bridge in present Lanzhou, while Tan at Yangwu Ha Gorge,his subordinate given an Jincheng in Han dynasty was located in Xigu.And advice to him that cross from Wenwei to the north, during Han dynasty the Yellow River was more go to Wanhudui, block the water and form a camp to southerly in the Chengguan of Lanzhou than control enemy’s throat. The Wenwei Beidu should it is now. Therefore, the author believes that the main be read as Aowei Beidu. And the Wanhudui, was crossing point of the South Road into the western north of the Yellow River, so Jiao Lang's proposed part of the river should have been near present Xigu plan was not to cross the river, but to travel northeast during Han dynasty. along the river to intercept Helian's army in the In addition, Huang Jianzhong also mentions area as it returned to the capital. However, that there were four ferries in this area during Han this suggestion was not accepted by Tu Fa Nu Tang, Dynasty, namely the Zhongjia River ferry, the Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 Volume 3; Issue 1 65 Xincheng River ferry, the Bapan River ferry and the which stretches from Tumenguan and Malonggou Xiaosigou ferry[5]. Guantan in the south to the mouth of the Yellow River Regarding the ferries in Jincheng County during at Jishi Mountain in the north. To the east of the gate Han period, there are different accounts, in which the is the site of an ancient city in the village of Kangdiao names vary, but judging from the locations described, which stood on the high bank of the Yellow River some of them actually refer to the same crossing. and choked the eastern mouth of the Jishi Gorge. Zhengbojin, Shichengjin and Qingshijin refer to The ancient city site contains a large number of Han crossings that overlap with some of the above. As tiles. Wei Jinxian and Li Bingcheng believed that the Zhengbojin is the mouth of the Jianshui River, and former site of the Heguan County[6-7]. One mile west Jianshui is the present Zhuanglang River.Therefore, of the city, in the place now known as Dadunzhuang, Zhengbojin should be the mouth of the Huangshui was originally a large mound platform, which Chen River, and the same as Bapan ferry. Regarding Shouzhong believes to have been a Han dynasty Shichengjin and Qingshizin, the controversy among beacon[8]. In Han dynasty, Heguan County not only scholars mainly focuses on which is the mouth of had the task of guarding the Yellow River crossing, the Huangshui River and which is the mouth of the but was also under constant threat from the Qiang. Zhuanglang River. Although there is no clear record of the crossing Qing Shijin is in the area of the Zhiyang county, at Heguan County during Han dynasty, the records which is in the valley between the Zhuanglang River of this crossing are becoming clearer as a result of and the Xianshui River, so Qing Shijin should be the confusion between the various regimes in Wei the mouth of the Zhuanglang River. The village of and Jin dynasties. At the same time, the records of Qing Shi, where Qing Shizui ferry is located on the the surrounding city sites also help to determine the south bank of the Zhuanglang River, is the Qing Shi location of this ferry. Chuan Zhuang described by Zhou Xiwu, and there What later generations call Linjin ferry is the same are a number of locations named after Qing Shi, such as the one held by the Heguan county in Han dynasty, as Qing Shi Guan and Qing Shi Tai, which must be it was located in the ancient city of Kangdiao. The related to the ancient Qing Shi Jin. Therefore, Qing ancient city of Kangdiao is located at the mouth of Shijin should be the crossing on the south bank of the lower gorge of the Jishi Gorge, where the river the Zhuanglang River, i.e. Qing Shizui ferry. And is straight and the current is smooth, making it very Shichengjin is the mouth of Huangshui into the river, favourable for the setting up of a ferry. This ferry that is, the small temple ditch ferry. Zhou Xiwu's is known as the Upper Ferry of the Yellow River. judgment in the Ninghai Journal is wrong. The importance of this ferry gradually diminished in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was replaced by the 3 Ferries on the Southern Route of the Fenglin Pass crossing. Southern Road 4 Conclusion Due to material limitations, records of the crossing of the Yellow River to Qinghai in the Helong region Serving as key nodes in Silk Road, ferries of the are not clear. However, during the reign of Emperor Yellow River in Gansu connected Hexi region and Xuan of Han Dynasty, the central dynasty set up the Longyou area, in this section, these ferries were Heguan County in Jincheng County to guard the river also important hubs for water and land transport. crossing. The mountain was already recorded in the During Han dynasty, the central government opened Classic of Mountains And Seas and the Yugong as and controlled these ferries one after another for the being in the 'Qiangzhong of the Seaside. After the purpose of operating the north-western region. These Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars believed it to be in ferries carried a variety of military, political activities Heguan County, Jincheng County, and during the and trade among different ethnic groups, further more, it was divided into large and small played an indispensable role in the development Jishi. The location of Jishi differed from one stage and management of the north-western borderlands to another. The Jishi in Heguan County, Jincheng of Han Dynasty, as well as in the development of County, is the Jishi Mountain in present-day Linxia, contacts with the western regions. The location and

66 Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 Volume 3; Issue 1 importance of some ferries changed because of the Historical (10th series), : Shanghai changing political situation and the military needs. By People's Publishing House, 1992:308. clarifying the reasons for the establishment of these [2] Zhou XH, Zhou Xiaoyu. New evidence of 's history ferries and their specific addresses, clarifying the and places Mysterious South Changtan [M]. :Ningxia changes of their names, and exploring their periodical People's Publishing House. 2013:172. characteristics and related historical events, we could [3] Li BC. A study of the Huining Pass and its related issues in the explore the transportation situation in the Hexi- Tang Dynasty[J]. Historical Geography,2016(2):240-252. Longyou area during Han dynasty and restore the [4] Liu M. A Study of the Ancient Crossing of the Yellow traffic routes, transportation hubs along the Yellow River in Northwest China[J]. Journal of River in Gansu. At the same time, in order to promote Studies,2005(4):102-146. the exploration and protection of the historical and [5] Selected by Phoenix Publishing House. The Chinese local cultural heritage of traffic routes existing in Yellow chronicles of Gansu prefectures and counties [M]. : River Basin and the Silk Road, increasing the Phoenix Publishing House, 2008. richness of cultural tourism elements is undoubtedly [6] Wei JX. The Yellow River Crossing in the History of Linxia one of the concrete measures to pursue high-quality Autonomous Prefecture [J]. Journal of Lanzhou University development of the Yellow River Basin. (Social Science Edition), 1990(1):159-165. [7] Li BC. The Ancient Road of Hezhou[J]. Silk Road, References 1993(3):36-38. [8] Chen SZ. The history and geography of He Long [M]. [1] Li BC. Investigation and testimony of the city sites of the Lanzhou: Lanzhou University Press, 1993: 203. counties of Wuwei County in the Western Han Dynasty [C].

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