The Geographic Location of Dunhuang and the Formation of a Religious and Cultural Area

Dunhuang is located in the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau to fill the east-west lowlands between the Qilian Mountains and the Horsehair Mountains, the elevation of about 1,700 meters, respectively, lower than the Qilian Mountains more than 3,700 meters, lower than the Horsehair Mountains 800 meters. Qilian mountain peaks have perennial snow and ice, the terrain is steep; Horsehair mountain and north of the region for the desert Gobi, more sand, less water and grass are not conducive to the passage. And the two places between the low-lying area of flat terrain, and along this with the Qilian Mountains flowing down the snow and ice water moisturized by the oasis, beads distributed in front of the mountain sand on the Gobi. This low-lying area naturally become the passage of human corridor, since ancient times is the Central Plains to the West, the Indian subcontinent and Europe's important channel, so it is known as the Hexi Corridor. One oasis after another along the corridor served as an indispensable resting and supply point for travelers from east to west. Dunhuang is the westernmost oasis in the corridor, and further west into the western region of the Taklamakan Desert, according to different routes will reach the eastern end of the desert Turpan, Ruoqiang or Loulan.
       Dunhuang oasis is located in the Party River out of the Qilian Mountains after the formation of alluvial plains delta, flat terrain, fertile land, abundant water, there are human settlements and conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry production, human beings since ancient times in this constantly gathered and multiplied. Because the Hexi Corridor is located in the passage between the Central Plains and the West, the basic need for the exchange of commodities from different regions has made this area an important artery for commerce and trade in all periods of history. Commodities exported from here to the west were mainly silk, iron, etc., so this road is also known as the "Silk Road". From the west to the Central Plains imported a wide variety of commodities, such as jade, glass and other treasures, artifacts; elephants, horses and other exotic birds and animals, as well as many varieties of crops. Because the Dunhuang oasis was located at the border in ancient times, it naturally became a major border trade town. Dunhuang became the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty in 121 B.C., and Dunhuang County was set up here in 111 B.C., one of the four famous counties in the west of the river. The Mogao Caves murals contain many scenes depicting the activities of our ethnic minorities and western merchants. In the exchange of goods at the same time, different regions of the language, thought, religion, technology and other human civilizations also took place in this exchange, collision and integration. The importation of Buddhist culture from India and the West was one of the wonders produced by the exchanges at that time, and it was rooted and flourished in Dunhuang and spread all over the Central Plains. The development of trade and religion greatly contributed to the prosperity of ancient Dunhuang, according to records of the Han, Wei Jin, North and South Dynasties, and the Sui and Tang dynasties of Dunhuang, the village adjacent to the dock, dogs and chickens, pagodas everywhere, the market is vast. It is also said that the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, Chang'an first, Dunhuang second, Yangzhou third.

From today's ethnic and religious distribution pattern, Dunhuang is located in the Han, Tibet, Mongolia, Wei and other ethnic groups gathered in the interactive part of the area, but also located in Xinjiang Islam, Tibetan Buddhism on the Tibetan Plateau and the distribution of Hexi and the Central Plains of the northern part of the interactive part of the distribution of Buddhism. Religious areas converge in Dunhuang, the distribution pattern is laid with the geographic environment of the regional differentiation has a close relationship. Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BC in ancient India, the 3rd century BC from Kashmir north into the Tarim, so it is also known as Northern Buddhism. Buddhism flourished in the Tarim Basin in the 1st century A.D., and gradually spread eastward into the Central Plains. Dunhuang, as the westernmost city in the Han region, was the first to come into contact with Buddhism. Both the western region to the Central Plains to preach, or from the Central Plains to the west to obtain the scriptures returned to the monks, will first come to Dunhuang to rest, translation of the scriptures and sayings. By the end of the 3rd century, Dunhuang had monasteries and translators specializing in Buddhist scriptures, and a number of Dunhuang people went to study in the West and India and preached in the interior. Dunhuang thus became a center of Buddhist culture. Stimulated by the introduction of Buddhism, Chinese Taoism grew up in the 2nd century, and was later introduced to Dunhuang in the 4th century, and then to the West, where it blended with Buddhism to form a Buddhism with Chinese characteristics, combining the ideas of Outer City Buddhism and Chinese Taoism. Buddhism and Taoism in the Mogao Caves mural performance is very full, such as the Buddha Cave mural painted on the Queen Mother of the West, Fuxi, Nuwa, Xuanwu, Lei Gong and other Taoist content. And many of the murals on the flying image is the Buddhist flying eternal life and Taoism's ascension to the sky a perfect combination of longevity. There are a large number of Buddhist and Taoist scriptures coexisting in the cave, and there are even Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures copied on the front and back of a page respectively. It can be seen that Buddhism and Taoism have long coexisted peacefully in Dunhuang, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, "guarding" the Thousand Buddha Cave and discovering the cultural treasures of the Cave of Tibetan Buddhist scriptures Wang Yuanlu is also a Taoist priest. Compared with the western region of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes religious culture of long-term development and fortunate retention, there are a variety of reasons, one of which is the power of Islam in this region has little influence. Even in the "Five Dynasties" Tubo, migratory birds and "Song" when the Western Xia, "Yuan" when the Mongols ruled Dunhuang period, because of their belief in Buddhism so that the development of Buddhism and Taoism in Dunhuang can be sustained, although the Although this period was already a period of decline for grotto excavation, new caves were still being built. However, Buddhism and Taoism in the "Western Regions" were later devastated. Buddhism and Taoism, which had flourished in the Western Regions before the 10th century, were replaced by Islam in the 16th century after a number of religious wars due to the spread of Islam from the 10th century onwards. Islam first occupied the southern part of the Tarim in the early 11th century, and in the 16th century it expanded to the entire Tarim Basin and the area north of the Tianshan Mountains. As Islam prohibited idolatry and polytheistic worship, Buddhism and Taoism in the Western Region disappeared. During this period, Dunhuang, located at the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, was under great threat. With fear, Dunhuang Buddhists and Taoists closed their collection of texts and books in a small grotto, the Bible Cave, in the Thousand Buddha Caves, to avoid the calamity. Fortunately, the Islamic forces in the occupation of the Tarim Basin and then no large-scale eastward, did not break the "sandbar". Mogao Grottoes suffered greater damage mainly in the Ming Dynasty and later, when the sea trade has flourished, the Eurasian land bridge has lost its former value, few merchants, the court no longer attaches importance to. Mogao Grottoes so the court cold Luo, incense does not flourish, not only lost the old face and was destroyed. After the end of the Qing Dynasty, foreign thieves and more than 900 Russian soldiers living in the Mogao Grottoes between 1920 and 1921 caused the most serious damage to the art of the caves. "Before the Ming Dynasty, when the Silk Road was emphasized by the Central Plains, Dunhuang, one of the four counties in the western part of the country, had been under the direct rule of the Central Plains government since the Western Han Dynasty, making it difficult for the later Islamic powers to compete with them. And the western region of the Tarim area is just some small countries, such as Ü-Tsang Li Shengtian regime, the West State migratory bird regime, the national strength is weak, not against by the Arab Islamic forces supported by the attack of the Kara Khan dynasty, and therefore had to rely on Fanfan one after another. Reason two from the geographical area analysis, the Tarim Basin for a complete geographic body, the people are mainly living in the desert environment of the nomadic herders, habits are more or less the same, easier in a religious integration. When the Islamic forces attacked, the military forces in the west of the river were hindered by the distance and the desert, and it was difficult for them to enter the Tarim quickly to provide strong support to the Buddhist areas. Similarly, when the Islamic forces in Tarim wanted to continue their eastward advance, they were also afraid of the constraints of the natural and human environment. In the case that both forces did not dare to rush into the situation, the balance of power appeared. Thus, since the 16th century, the distribution pattern of Islam in the Tarim and Buddhism and Taoism in the west of the river was formed. Tibetan Buddhism on the Tibetan Plateau has also become self-contained due to the transportation difficulties with the outside world caused by the steep mountains surrounding the plateau. However, before the emergence of this pattern of Buddhism during the reign of the world, the more integrated regional human environment and the Northwest people of various ethnic groups and the urgent feelings of interaction with foreign people, so that people do not hesitate to life to the challenge of the harsh natural environment, breaking through the barrier of nature to carry out the different regions of the economic and cultural exchanges, which greatly enriched the Dunhuang Buddhism-based culture. Cave in the preserved more than 40,000 pieces of a variety of text remains, including Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Lituan, Ürümtan, Guzi, Turkic and other kinds of text on the then "intellectuals" from all over the world, which was also relegated to the literati, the Bachelor have come to Dunhuang at that time economic openness, ideological vitality, inclusiveness, social stability of the region, natural and human conditions make Dunhuang in the ancient Chinese culture. The natural and human conditions put Dunhuang in a special position as the center of cultural exchange of ancient Chinese culture, especially religious culture.

       The natural environment of the Tarim Basin is closer to that of the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, than that of the Central Plains and the western part of the country, with deserts and the Gobi spreading widely, and its inhabitants mostly nomadic herdsmen. According to the viewpoint of the American geographer Simple, the inhabitants of the desert area, due to the extreme monotony of their environment, developed a mentality that was prone to accepting a single idea and thus tended to favor monotheism. Islam is a monotheistic religion. Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, which originated in the agricultural areas of India where ecological populations are more abundant, and the habits of the people are similar to those of the Central Plains and the western part of the river, so that it is easier for people to agree on the concepts of nature and other concepts under this religion. These aspects can also explain the formation of the geographical distribution pattern of religious beliefs in the northwest of China.