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| Lanzhou City |
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Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, is a major stop on the ancient
"Silk Road" west of Xi'an. Situated on the upper reaches
of the Yellow River, Lanzhou has been important for thousands of years
because of the Hexi Corridor, or “Corridor West of the Yellow
River,” in which early Chinese civilization began. About 3,000
years ago, in the Zhou Dynasty, agriculture began to take shape in
the basins of the Jin and Wei Rivers that formed the corridor, marking
the beginning of the great Yellow River basin civilization.
Starting in the Qin Dynasty, merchants and traders traveling from
Xi'an to central Asia and then on to the Roman Empire, or the other
way round, broke their long journey at Lanzhou. To protect this
corridor and important communications hub, the Great Wall was extended
under the Han as far as Yumen, in the far northwest of present-day
Gansu Province.
Lanzhou became capital of a succession of tribal states during
the turbulent ventures that followed the decline of the Han Dynasty.
During this time of turmoil, people began to turn to ideologies
that satisfied their need for hope. Taoism developed into a religion,
and Buddhism became the official religion in some of the northern
states. Buddhist art also flourished, and shrines were built in
temples, caves, and on cliffs. From the fifth to the 11th centuries,
Dunhuang, beyond the Yumen Pass of the Great Wall, became a center
for Buddhist study, drawing scholars and pilgrims from afar. It
was a period in which magnificent works of art were created.
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