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35-747: As part of the Northern Silk Road , running northwest from the western section of the Ordos Loop between Yinchuan and Lanzhou , the Hexi Corridor was the most important trade route in Northwest China . It linked China proper to the historic Western Regions for traders and military incursions into Central Asia . It is a string of oases along the northern edges of the Qilian Mountains and Altyn-Tagh , with

70-492: A Majiayao site in the Hexi Corridor, and the Bronze Age began in the Hexi Corridor around 4200   BP with the arrival of bronze-smelting technology. Domesticated livestock were also introduced to the area around this time, so Bronze Age cultures of the Hexi Corridor typically farmed millet and wheat, while keeping livestock such as sheep, pigs, cattle and horses as well as producing bronze objects. Bronze age societies in

105-706: A bilingual inscription on a stone pillar outside the Jokhang in Lhasa . The Western Xia dynasty was established in the 11th century by the Tangut people . Western Xia controlled from 1038 CE up to 1227 CE the areas in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Gansu , Shaanxi , and Ningxia . Genghis Khan began the conquest of the Jin dynasty around 1207 and Ögedei Khan continued it after his death in 1227. The Jurchen -led Jin dynasty fell in 1234 CE with help from

140-839: A garrison at Hami . After the new Protector General of the Western Regions Chen Mu was killed in 75 CE by allies of the Xiongnu in Karasahr and Kucha , the garrison at Hami was withdrawn. At the Battle of the Altai Mountains in 89 CE, Dou Xian defeated the Northern Chanyu , who retreated into the Altai Mountains . The Han forces, allied with the subjugated Southern Xiongnu, again defeated

175-407: A narrow trackway , where relatively small fortifications could control passing traffic. There are several major cities along the Hexi Corridor. In western Gansu Province is Dunhuang (Shazhou), then Yumen , then Jiayuguan , then Jiuquan ( Suzhou ), then Zhangye ( Ganzhou ) in the center, then Jinchang , then Wuwei ( Liangzhou ) and finally Lanzhou in the southeast. In the past, Dunhuang

210-472: Is very close to Siba culture. The Siba culture may have developed independently. The site of Ganguya in Jiuquan has been excavated. Significant differences have been observed in the comparison of the burial customs and artifacts in the three sites excavated: Donghuishan, Huoshaogou and Ganguya. "During the first two periods of the [Donghuishan] Cemetery, there were only arsenical copper articles, but by

245-595: The An Lushan Rebellion . It was during this rebellion that the Tang withdrew its western garrisons stationed in what is now Gansu and Qinghai , which the Tibetans then occupied along with the area that is modern Xinjiang . Hostilities between the Tang and Tibet continued until they signed a formal peace treaty in 821. The terms of this treaty, including fixed borders between the two countries, are recorded in

280-525: The Gobi desert to the north. Geologically, the Hexi Corridor belongs to a Cenozoic foreland basin system on the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau . The ancient trackway formerly passed through Haidong , Xining and the environs of Juyan Lake , serving an effective area of about 215,000 km (83,000 sq mi). It was an area where mountain and desert limited caravan traffic to

315-658: The Han -ruled Southern Song dynasty . Ögedei also conquered the Western Xia dynasty in 1227, pacifying the Hexi Corridor region, which was later absorbed into the Yuan dynasty . The Hexi Corridor is a long, narrow passage stretching for some 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from the steep Wushaolin hillside near the modern city of Lanzhou to the Jade Gate at the border of Gansu and Xinjiang . There are many fertile oases along

350-593: The Han–Xiongnu War , Han general Huo Qubing expelled the Xiongnu from the Hexi Corridor and even drove them from Lop Nur when King Hunye surrendered to Huo Qubing in 121 BCE . The Han Empire acquired a new territory with trade access to the Western Regions, and also cutting the Xiongnu off from their Qiang allies. Again in 111 BCE , Han forces repelled a joint Xiongnu-Qiang invasion, and to consolidate

385-619: The Karakum Desert towards Merv , joining the southern route briefly. One of the branch routes turned northwest to the north of the Aral and Caspian seas and then on to the Black Sea . Siba culture Shanma culture (900–200 BCE) Shajing culture (800–200 BCE) The Siba culture ( Chinese : 四坝文化 ), also called Huoshaogou culture ( 火烧沟 ),

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420-573: The Protectorate of the Western Regions in 60 BCE, which dealt with the region's defense and foreign affairs. During the turbulent reign of Wang Mang , Han lost control over the Tarim Basin, which was reconquered by the Xiongnu in 63 CE and used as a base to invade the Hexi Corridor. Dou Gu defeated the Xiongnu again at the Battle of Yiwulu in 73 CE, evicting them from Turpan and chasing them as far as Lake Barkol before establishing

455-465: The Roman Empire . It is the northernmost branch of the several Silk Roads providing trade , cultural exchanges and military mobilizations between China and the outside world. The route was first developed by the Han dynasty in the latter part of the 1st century BC to secure diplomatic alliance against the Xiongnu confederacy, with whom China had been having escalating conflicts , and

490-583: The Tianshanbeilu culture at Hami basin to the west. The Siba engaged in agricultural activities like millet farming and pig farming. Their metallurgy was highly developed. Siba culture is found mainly to the west of the Gansu corridor . The locations are found at Yongchang, Minyue, Jiuquan, Yumen counties, and others. Siba culture is bordered by the Qijia culture to the east. The later period of Qijia

525-636: The Yuezhi overcame previous settlers, the Wusun and Qiang , occupying the western Hexi Corridor. Later, the newly risen Xiongnu armies under Modu Chanyu vanquished and expelled the Yuezhi , and established a dominant confederacy empire during the Chu-Han contention and the early Han dynasty . During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han , Modu's son Laoshang Chanyu defeated Yuezhi again in 162 BCE , forcing

560-735: The ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern day Xi'an ), westwards through the Hexi Corridor (in what is the modern Gansu province ) into the Tarim Basin , going around north of the Taklamakan Desert along the two sides of the Tianshan Mountains , and then past the Pamir Mountains to reach the ancient kingdoms of Bactria , Sogdia , Kushan , Parthia and eventually the eastern provinces of

595-574: The Hexi Corridor at this time include the Qijia , Xichengyi , Siba , Shajing , and Shanma cultures. The Hexi Corridor underwent further aridification around 3500 BP during the Iron Age , and cultures at the time (such as the Shajing culture) saw a decrease in their number of settlements and became dominated by nomadic production rather than agriculture. At the end of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE),

630-584: The Northern Chanyu twice in 90 CE and 91 CE, forcing him to flee west into Wusun and Kangju territories. The Tang dynasty fought the Tibetan Empire for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia. There was a long string of conflicts with Tibet over territories in the Tarim Basin between 670 and 692. In 763 the Tibetans even captured the Tang capital of Chang'an for fifteen days during

665-642: The chief commercial hub of the Hexi Corridor along the Northern Silk Road . The Hexi Corridor was first settled around 4800 BP by Chinese millet farmers from the Yangshao Culture in the western Loess Plateau , who enabled the transfer of millet to Central Asia , and consequently to the rest of Eurasia and Africa . Wheat and barley from the Fertile Crescent arrived in the Hexi Corridor via Central Asia around 4000 BP, and later spread into China proper . By 3700 BP, most likely due to

700-469: The city of Jiayuguan . The Jiayuguan fort is the first fortification of Great Wall of China in the west. 38°42′N 100°47′E  /  38.700°N 100.783°E  / 38.700; 100.783 Northern Silk Road The Northern Silk Road is a historic inland trade route in Northwest China and Central Asia (historically known as the Western Regions ), originating in

735-474: The control of the region, four new commanderies were established in the Hexi Corridor, namely (from east to west) Wuwei , Zhangye , Jiuquan and Dunhuang , collectively known as the Four Commanderies of Hexi ( Chinese : 河西四郡 ). From roughly 115–60 BCE, Han forces fought the Xiongnu over control of the oasis city-states in the Tarim Basin . Han was eventually victorious and established

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770-585: The high and desolate Tibetan Plateau further to the south. To the north are the Longshou, Heli and Mazong Mountains separating it from the arid Badain Jaran Desert , Gobi Desert and the cold steppes of the Mongolian Plateau . At the western end, the route splits into three, going either north of the Tianshan Mountains or south on either side of the Tarim Basin . At the eastern end,

805-627: The late Neolithic period and the early Bronze age, when bronze technology , pottery and ornamation styles were introduced to the early cultures of China, such as the Siba culture (about 2000-1600 BCE), the Qijia culture (2500-1500 BCE), the Chawuhugoukou culture (around 800-100 BCE) or the Subeshi culture (1100-100 BCE). Many of the artifacts of the Siba culture are thought to have derived from

840-672: The mountain ranges to the north and south of the Taklimakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar ; and the other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan , Talgar and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan ). The routes split west of Kashgar with one branch heading down the Alay Valley towards Termez and Balkh , while the other traveled through Kokand in the Fergana Valley , and then west across

875-682: The mountains around Lanzhou grants access to the Longxi Basin , which leads east through Mount Long along the Wei River valley into the populous Guanzhong Plain , and then into the Central Plain . The Hexi Corridor is located in western Gansu province, bordered to the south by the Qilian Mountains and to the north by the Gobi Desert . It extends for approximately 1,000–1,200 kilometres (620–750 mi) from Wushao Mountain in

910-580: The path, watered by rivers flowing from the Qilian Mountains , such as the Shiyang , Jinchuan , Ejin (Heihe), and Shule Rivers. A strikingly inhospitable environment surrounds this chain of oases: the snow-capped Qilian Mountains (the so-called "southern mountains" or "Nanshan") to the south; the Beishan ("northern mountains") mountainous area, the Alashan Plateau , and the vast expanse of

945-436: The south to Dunhuang in the north, and covers approximately 5,100 square kilometres (2,000 sq mi). There are several major cities along the Hexi Corridor. From west to east, the major cities are: Dunhuang, Yumen , Jiayuguan , Jiuquan , Zhangye , Jinchang , Wuwei , and finally Lanzhou in the southeast. Just south of the provincial boundary of Gansu lies Xining , the capital of Qinghai Province, which served as

980-812: The third period, bronze articles came into being. In the Ganguya Cemetery which was later than the Donghuishan Cemetery, more than sixty-five percent of the copper samples was tested bronze articles." Siba culture played an intermediary role between the cultures to the east and west. There were also contacts with the Eurasian steppe. Research indicates that there was close interaction between agricultural and pastoral/hunting communities in this wide geographical area; pastoral/hunting communities also possessed many metal artefacts. The cultures of West Asia and Central Asia spread eastward as early as

1015-422: The two tribes of Hunye and Xiutu . In 138 BCE , Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian as the ambassador to the Western Regions in an attempt to make contact with Greater Yuezhi. Zhang Qian's envoy was intercepted by Xiongnu while travelling through the Hexi Corridor, and he was held a captive for ten years, until he finally escaped and continued his mission further west. He eventually arrived at Yuezhi territory, but

1050-623: The weakening and retreat of the East Asian monsoon in the area, the more drought-resistant wheat and barley had replaced millet as the main staple crop in the Hexi Corridor. Several Neolithic cultures developed in the Hexi corridor at this time, such as the Majiayao , Banshan , and Machang . The oldest bronze object to be discovered in China, dating to around 5000-4500   BP, was found at

1085-635: The westward exodus of majority of the Yuezhi survivors (later known as the Greater Yuezhi) into Central Asia, while the small portion of Yuezhi population that didn't migrate (known as the Lesser Yuezhi) was forced to mixed among the Qiang people and become the subjects of Xiongnu's Worthy Prince of the Right . At this point, the Hexi Corridor was under complete Xiongnu control, mainly occupied by

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1120-584: Was a Bronze Age archaeological culture that flourished circa 1900 to 1500 BC in the Hexi Corridor , in Gansu Province of Northwest China. It was discovered in 1984 at Sibatan in Shandan County . Siba type pottery vessels are different from the others in Gansu. Siba produced painted pottery with coloured decorations; these were painted after the vessels had been fired. Similar pottery was used by

1155-492: Was part of the area known as the Western Regions . South of Gansu Province, in the middle just over the provincial boundary, lies the city of Xining , the capital of Qinghai Province. Xining used to be the chief commercial hub of the Hexi Corridor. The Jiayuguan fort guards the western entrance to China. It is located in Jiayuguan pass at the narrowest point of the Hexi Corridor, some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of

1190-626: Was progressively transformed into a major trade route during the subsequent dynasties to project Chinese influence towards the west. The route started at Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han and Tang dynasty , which was moved further east to Luoyang during the Eastern Han dynasty . The route travels northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu from Shaanxi Province, and splits into three further routes, two of them following

1225-479: Was unable to convince the Yuezhi leaders to ally against Xiongnu. On his return journey he was once again captured by Xiongnu while traversing the Hexi Corridor, but again managed to escape two years later. He finally returned to Chang'an in 125 BCE , bringing back invaluable detailed information about the various Central Asian kingdoms such as Dayuan , Daxia and Kangju , as well as other farther countries such as Anxi , Tiaozhi , Shendu and Wusun . During

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