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| Ordos Plateau | |||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄂爾多斯 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 鄂尔多斯 | ||||||||
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| Mongolian name | |||||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | ᠣᠷᠳᠣᠰ Ordos | ||||||||
TheOrdos Plateau, also known as theOrdos Basin, theOrdos, or theShaan-Gan-Ning Basin, is ahighlandsedimentary basin in parts of northernmostChina with anelevation of 1,000–1,600 m (3,300–5,200 ft), and consisting mostly of land enclosed by the "Ordos Loop", a northerly rectangular bend of theYellow River. It is China's second largest sedimentary basin (after theTarim Basin) with a total area of 370,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi). The Ordos includes territories from fiveprovinces:Shaanxi,Gansu,Ningxia,Inner Mongolia, and a thin fringe ofShanxi (western bordercounties ofXinzhou,Lüliang andLinfen), but is demographically dominated by the former three, hence the area is sometimes also called the "Shaan-Gan-Ning Basin". The basin is bounded in the east by theLüliang Mountains, north by theYin Mountains, west by theHelan Mountains, and south by the Huanglong Mountains, Meridian Ridge andLiupan Mountains.
The name "Ordos" (Mongolian:
) comes from theorda,[1] which originally means "palaces" or "court" inOld Turkic.[2][3][4] The seventh largestprefecture ofInner Mongolia,Ordos City, is similarly named due to its location within the Ordos Loop.
TheMing Great Wall cuts southwesternly across the center of the Ordos region, roughly separating the sparsely populated north (or "upper Ordos", which is actually lower in elevation than the "lower Ordos" south) — considered theOrdos proper — from the agricultural south (or "lower Ordos", i.e. northern part of theLoess Plateau). The north Ordos consists mainly of the aridOrdos Desert (subdivided into theMu Us andKubuqi deserts), which is administered byInner Mongolia'sOrdos City, but thefloodplains along thebanks of Ordos Loop's northern bends are fertilegrasslands historically known as theHetao Plains ("river loop" plains), which is subdivided into the "west loop" (withinNingxia) and "east loop" (within Inner Mongolia, further divided into "front loop" and "back loop") sections. The Inner Mongolian cities ofHohhot (provincial capital),Baotou,Bayannur andWuhai (its third, fourth, eighth and eleventh most populous prefectures respectively), and all ofNingxia'scities exceptGuyuan, are all located on these riverside plains along the Hetao region. Throughout Chinese history, the Hetao region was of major strategic importance and therefore hotly contested against variousEurasian nomads such asDi andRong (Shang andZhou dynasties),Xiongnu (Qin andHan dynasty),Rouran (Northern Wei),Eastern Göktürk (Sui andTang dynasty) andMongols (Ming dynasty).
The more populous south Ordos is traversed by the upper reaches ofWei River's two largesttributaries, theJing andLuo Rivers, whose valleys cut through the mountain ranges east ofTianshui and south ofPingliang,Qingyang andYan'an to drain into the crescenticGuanzhong Plain on the other side. The south Ordos and the Guanzhong Plain together were one of thecradles ofChinese civilization and remains densely populated throughout history. The largest city in the Guanzhong region,Xi'an, is the10th largest Chinese city[5] and the most populous settlement in the entireNorthwest China, and had long served as thecapital of China in more than a dozenancient dynasties.
The area is of high archaeological interest. Skeletal remains and artifacts show theOrdosian culture occupied the area in theUpper Paleolithic. The lateNeolithic saw the development or introduction of theZhukaigou culture, which was followed by theiron-wieldingOrdos culture.
TheYellow River flows from its source in theSanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve on theTibetan Plateau in a roughly eastern course before turning northwest after its confluence with theBai He ("White River") inMaqu County,Gansu. After reversing course back towards the east, it begins the massive Ordos Loop by turning northwards atZhongning County inNingxia. It runs northwards about 640 kilometers (398 mi), leaving theLoess Plateau—whoseerodedsilt produces the river's yellow color—for the Ordos proper before turning east inInner Mongolia. It continues this course for about 320 kilometers (199 mi) beforeShaanxi'sLüliang Mountains force it sharply southwards. The eastern side of the loop runs about 600 kilometers (373 mi), re-entering theLoess Plateau before reaching its confluence with theWei River atTongguan inShaanxi and again turning sharply eastward. It then flows throughHenan'sHangu Pass to enter theNorth China Plain.
TheWei River largely forms a southern side of the imperfect rectangle formed by these curves of the Yellow River, flowing about 560 kilometers (348 mi) through theLoess Plateau from a source not far from its southwestern corner to a confluence at the southeastern corner. TheQin Mountains—including the famousMount Hua—separate its watershed from that of theHan River, which flows south to a confluence with theYangtze atWuhan.
Underlying the loess plateau is one of the largestcoal beds in China.
Rainfall and therefore population decreases rapidly as one moves north. The Wei River valley on the south is densely populated and is one of the ancient centers of Chinese civilization. The north is grassland and desert (Ordos desert) and is part ofInner Mongolia. Because of its low and variable rainfall the region was once notorious for drought and famine.
At the southwest corner near where the Yellow River emerges from the Tibetan Plateau isLanzhou, the westernmost large city in north China and the capital ofGansu. To the west of Lanzhou isXining from whence caravans (and now the railway) started forLhasa. North of Xining the Gansu orHexi Corridor runs along the northern edge of theTibetan Plateau. This corridor and the Wei River valley became the mainsilk road route fromChina proper to theTarim Basin and westward. Downriver (north) from Lanzhou is a gorge throughGaolan County andBaiyin. The river emerges from the mountains and entersNingxia nearZhongwei. It runs east with the Tengger Desert in Inner Mongolia to the north and hills to the south. It turns north through dry country to past theQingtongxia dam to the irrigated area aroundWuzhong City. It continues north pastYinchuan, the capital of Ningxia. To the west are theHelan Mountains. The river leaves the northern tip of Ningxia south ofWuhai, flows through desert and enters a large irrigated area atDengkou. At the northwest corner theLang Shan mountains force the river to turn east nearLinhe. Here there is an irrigated area between the mountains and river and desert to the southeast. Near the center of the northern stretch is the large town and irrigated area ofBaotou.The main road south runs from Baotou toXi'an. About 70 miles northeast of the northeast bend isHohot, the capital of Inner Mongolia. The river turns south, enters the loess plateau and forms a gorge at least 200 feet below the surrounding hills. There are no large towns in this region. There is a dam apparently called Wanjia and another further south and then theHukou Waterfall of the Yellow River, the second highest in China. The river leaves the gorge nearHancheng, receives theFen River from the east and the Wei River from the west. At its juncture with the Wei the Yellow River turns east toward the North China Plain. One can go upstream on the Wei with theQin Mountains withMount Hua on the south pastWeinan toXi'an, a former capital of China and now a large city. West of Xi'an isXianyang, theQin dynasty capital. The river exits the mountains west ofBaoji. There is a dam, the river narrows and becomes yellow and the railroad needs many bridges and tunnels all the way toTianshui. Upstream various tributaries extend in the direction of Lanzhou.
Although this rectangular area is obvious on a map, the north and south of the area are so different that the region cannot be said to have a common history.
The south and east of the plateau belong historically and culturally to China, for which seePrehistory andHistory of China.
The north and west, the grassland and desert, belongs historically and culturally to nomads. The region had been occupied by humans since at leastUpper Paleolithic, when the culture may be known as theOrdosian culture.[6] The Ordosian culture, also sometimes called the Ordos culture,[7] is documented from theUpper Palaeolithic. The points and sides of their tools indicate a "Moustero-Levalloisian" element. They seemed to have a masterful knowledge of Upper Palaeolithic technology, producing blades as much as fifteen centimeters long.[8]
By about 1000 BC Chinese civilization was centered on the west side of the North China Plain with an extension up the Wei valley and a northern extension up theFen River. The lower Wei valley is still one of the most densely populated areas in China. Rulers based in the Wei valley had an advantage since the mountains to the east made anatural fortification and war horses were readily available from the northern grasslands. TheZhou dynasty and theQin dynasty started in the Wei valley.Xi'an on the lower Wei was several times the capital of China. By theTang dynasty the economic center of China had shifted to the Yangzi valley and the Wei region became partly dependent of food imported up theGrand Canal.
The Ordosian culture was followed by theZhukaigou culture of the lateNeolithic and early Bronze Age. While the Zhukaigou culture population appears to have been exclusivelyMongoloid, as known from their skeletal remains and artifacts,[9] the Ordos culture is thought to have been the most eastern extension ofEurasian nomads, and at least partly ofEuropoid peoples.[10] Under theQin andHan dynasties the area came under at least loose Chinese control. TheZhukaigou culture is one of theNeolithic cultures at Ordos, dated between 2200 and 1500 BC. It is associated with about 327 burials, with recentmaternal genetic evidence showing that they were related to the remains from Yinniugou, as well as modern populations likeDaurs andEvenks.[11] The archaeological finds at the site are similar to those of thelower Xiajiadian culture. These finds are important as they are associated with the development of snake pattern designs on the decoration of weapon and animal-depicting artifacts which later would become a characteristic style of the Ordos.[12] The skeletal remains at Taohongbala (桃紅巴拉) tomb dated to between the 7th and 6th centuries BC are generally identified as belonging to theXiongnu bronze culture and show strong Mongoloid features.[13][14] A similar type of burial at Hulusitai aroundBayannur, uncovered in 1979 and dated to between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, is considered the only Xiongnu site along the northern slope ofYinshan. The site consisted of mainly bronze artifacts and pottery and 27 horse skeletal remains.[15] Further excavation in 1983 at Guoxianyaozi uncovered a total of 31 burials dated to the 6th to 5th century BC revealing strong north Mongoloid features. These generally decreased towards the south, and skeletal remains of east and north Mongoloid type can be seen from finds inMaoqinggou and Yinniugou dated to around the 7th century BC, amounting to a total of 117 burials.[16] Many bronze weapons of these cultures are similar to those of Chinese style.[17] Depictions of the Ordos people tend to show straight hair. This is especially true of archaeological finds fromBaotou (M63:22, M63:23, M84:5), Etuoke (M1, M6), Xihaokou (M3), lower Woertuhao (M3:1), and Mengjialiang.[18]
Horse nomads occupied the area of the Ordos Plateau previously settled by theZhukaigou culture from the 6th to the 2nd century BC, creating theOrdos culture, before being driven away by theXiongnu. The Ordos Plateau contained the best pasture lands on theAsian steppe.[19]
The Ordos are mainly known from their skeletal remains and artifacts. The Ordos culture of about 500 BC to AD 100 is known for its "Ordos bronzes", blade weapons,finials for tent-poles, horse gear, and small plaques and fittings for clothes and horse harness, usinganimal style decoration with relationships both with theScythian art of regions much further west, and alsoChinese art. Its relationship with theXiongnu is controversial; for some scholars they are the same, and for others different.[21] Many buried metal artefacts have emerged on the surface of the land as a result of the progressivedesertification of the region.[22] According toIaroslav Lebedynsky, they are thought to be the easternmost people ofScythian affinity to have settled here, just to the east of the better-knownYuezhi.[23] Because the people represented in archaeological finds tend to display Europoid features, also earlier noted byOtto J. Maenchen-Helfen,[24] Lededynsky suggests the Ordos to be ofScythian affinity.[25] The weapons, found in tombs throughout the steppes of the Ordos, are very close to those of the Scythians, known on theAsian Steppe asSakas.[26]
The Ordos were in contact and often at war with the pre-Han andHan populations of the period. Their former territory is now located just north of theGreat Wall of China, and on the south bank of the northernmost hook of theYellow River. The western neighbours of Ordos may have been identical with theYuezhi who, after being vanquished by theXiongnu, migrated to southern Asia to form theKushan Empire. They were also culturally related to another nomadic tribe to the east, theEastern Hu (東胡;Donghu), who shared a similar "art of the steppes," but appear to have been Mongoloids.[27] They may also have been related to theDi people of Chinese annals.
In Chinese accounts, the Xiongnu first appear at Ordos in theYizhoushu andShanhaijing during theWarring States period before it was occupied byQin andZhao. It is generally thought to be their homeland, however when exactly they came to occupy the region is unclear, and it might have been much earlier than traditionally thought, as suggested by archaeological finds.[28] As the Xiongnu expanded southward into Yuezhi territory around 160 BC under their leaderModun, the Yuezhi in turn defeated the Sakas (Scythians) and pushed them away at theIssyk Kul. It is thought the Xiongnu also occupied the Ordos area during the same period, when they came in direct contact with the Chinese. From there, the Xiongnu conducted numerous devastating raids into Chinese territory (167, 158, 142, 129 BC).[29] TheHan dynasty started tofight the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BC under emperorHan Wudi, and colonized the area of the Ordos underShuofang commandery in 127 BC. Prior to the campaign, there were already commanderies established earlier by Qin and Zhao until they were overrun by the Xiongnu in 209 BC.[30]
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