Yue Guanchao and the others were standing at a relatively high position, and could see the layout of Moyu County at a glance. This Moyu County is divided into two parts, the Gaotai Old City and the Moyu Old County. The two are close to the west bank of the Kashgar River and are connected to each other to form the current structure. Moyu City.
If you look carefully, you will see that the winding flow of the Kashgar River leads to the oasis in the distance. On the west bank, there is a huge earth cliff tens of meters high and hundreds of meters long. It is like a tall embankment formed on the oasis, rising along the river in a half-moon shape. In terms of height, it cannot be compared with the peaks of Kunlun Mountain on the south bank. It is not particularly high, but it is an excellent commanding point in the flat oasis area.
What is carried on this earth cliff is Gaotai City in Moyu County!
What is Gaotaicheng?
Gaotaicheng is also called Gaotai folk house. It is a unique residential building developed by the people in the territory according to local conditions. It is like the stilted building in the southwest, the Hakka earth building in Lingnan, and the pit courtyard in Shaanxi and Gansu. It has very distinctive local symbols and geographical characteristics.
Most of these Gaotai cities were built on earth cliffs or platforms, taking full advantage of the high terrain of the cliffs. The first-story houses were built along the edge of the cliff.
A large amount of mud and poplar wood will be prepared during construction. The mud will be mixed with things such as thatch and grass roots, which can not only increase the hardness of the mud, but also make the mud dry as quickly as possible.
As for the poplar wood, it serves as a component. Most villagers will completely peel off the skin of the poplar wood and make simple wooden components so that they can bear heavy weight and be placed on the walls to form roofs, shed beams, frames, and balconies. , corridor.
After construction, the house will either be rammed earth yellow, or it will be coated with white gypsum, red gypsum or gray-blue-orange gypsum mixed with medicated powder to protect the walls and prevent insects from invading.
Since most of the people live together among their ancestors, as the family population continues to increase, they often add additional buildings on top of the earth buildings. By analogy, no matter how many generations have been born, new houses will be built in this way. Abandon.
In addition, there is not only one household in the entire earth cliff, but is usually shared by hundreds of households. A large number of houses and earth buildings will soon completely cover the outer edge of the earth cliff. After nearly a hundred years, the houses on the earth platform will The buildings are like wild grass and bamboo shoots clinging to the stones, completely occupying the earth platform, forming a wonder of houses on top of each other, buildings on top of each other, courtyards within courtyards, and cliffs leaning against cliffs.
There is no standard style for these earth building houses, and the layout and shape are very flexible. They are all based on the needs of ordinary people and families. There is neither the Central Plains architectural concept that must be square and symmetrical about the central axis, nor the space where flat land or Feng Shui treasures must be built. Consciousness does not pursue any form or beauty in terrain and space, but only makes the best use of things.
Under the concept of extreme freedom, the courtyards and buildings are different. The small ones only have bungalows, the medium ones are two or three stories high, and the large ones are four or five stories high. The tallest earth building is built under the cliff according to the topography of the earth cliff. Three floors were built on the cliff, forming a seven-story earth building landscape.
Since this kind of flexible and loose structure pursues freedom, it is doomed to lose its unity. The entire Tuya house has no order at all. There are gaps up and down, scattered heights, connected front and back, corridors left and right, and complicated layers. There are unique styles everywhere. Street-facing buildings, street-crossing buildings, cross-street buildings, suspended courtyards, and high-platform courtyards. The higher you go, the more you can see courtyards like castles in the air.
If you walk into it and take a quick look, the most common ones are the corridors, planks, lanes, stairs, and balconies between the houses. They extend in all directions, criss-cross, twist and turn, turn sharply up and down, and may even have to drill through. When the bridge crosses the hole, unless there is an acquaintance to lead the way, a stranger would not be able to completely walk through it. It is likely that he will walk in circles for several hours.
At a cursory glance, the houses are all piled up in a mess, and they do look loose and disorganized. However, since they were pursuing tall buildings when they were built, they had already made plans!
These houses are made of tightly rammed soil, mixed with unique local rock powder, which is extremely hard. As long as the moisture is dried, even if you use a knife to crush it, you can only grind out a lot of crushed soil. As long as it is a Gaotai village that has already been formed, it is often already Having developed for hundreds or even nearly a thousand years, it is enough to show the sturdiness and durability of these high-rise buildings.
The style of house architecture is related to the local natural environment and social environment. The emergence of this kind of Gaotaicheng is inseparable from the oasis environment.
The location of Hotan Oasis was a gateway between the East and the West in ancient times. To the west, you can reach Europe and Central Asia, to the east, you can go to the Hexi Corridor, and even to the south, you can enter Tibet. This unique geographical advantage makes the Hotan Oasis a gateway between the East and the West. It is not an exaggeration to say that this place is the gateway to the East.
In other words, as long as the Hotan Oasis is controlled, the gateway to foreign trade in the Western Region will also be controlled. In peacetime, this is a prosperous Silk Road merchant country from all directions. In times of war, this place becomes a battleground among the three parties!
The emergence of Gaotaicheng just met the needs of the people in the oasis area.
First of all, Gaotai City is built on a high place based on mountains and cliffs, and can directly overlook the oasis of the vast plains. The most difficult thing to fight in a war is to fight with the low against the high. With the help of the height of the cliff itself, the people can stand on the fort. It is easy to see the movement and battle situation in the distance, forming an advantage against the enemy.
Furthermore, earth cliffs can also ensure that buildings are not washed away by water. The oasis area is close to the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain, and the snow-capped mountains are rich in melt water. During the season when the melt water in the snow-capped mountains is abundant, the oasis is prone to siltation and floods, and when large lakes can no longer hold water, At this time, the Kashgar river will rise on a large scale, and it is likely that some villages and towns in the oases will be washed away.
If it is on earth cliffs, these earth cliffs are at least tens of meters high, which can completely withstand normal floods. When the oasis floods, it can avoid the loss of life and property. Furthermore, if the flood has spread even on the earth platform, , then this place will become an oasis where they cannot survive, and it will also allow them to pack up their belongings as soon as possible and move to an easier-to-live area.
Generally speaking, Tutai folk houses are not only a fortress of resistance in times of war, but also a high platform to avoid water in peacetime. They can prevent most flood hazards. If we talk about it a little further, it is that the high platform occupies the highest view of the oasis, standing on the earth cliff. You can overlook both sides of the Kashgar River, oasis scenery, snowfields and mountains, and have a panoramic view!
Keli looked at these people and pointed to the northwest direction on the east bank of the Kashgar River: "In the past, the entire Hotan Oasis was the territory of the Kingdom of Khotan, and the capital of Khotan was located on the east bank of the Kashgar River. Now this location has been submerged by farmland and has become The high terraced fields on the oasis.”
Speaking of this, he paused and continued to explain: "Judging from the location, there is a section of earthen platform along the river that is hundreds of meters long and tens of meters high on both the east and west banks of the Kashgar River. This is probably the former site of the capital of Khotan thousands of years ago. The location of the West City includes the current Moyu and Hotan. The two earthen platforms we saw should have been the former site of the royal city of Khotan. They should have built the royal city on the earthen platform before they piled up two earthen platforms on the banks of the Kashgar River. A high platform in the earth."
Later, Khotan was destroyed by the Karakhanid Dynasty during the Song Dynasty, and it became a province of the Karakhanid Dynasty. Nearly a thousand years have passed, and there are countless small country governments in the oasis. No matter what ethnic group they are, as long as they come to Kashgar From the river bank, you can see that the terrain here is higher than other areas, and it is natural to build a city and build a stronghold here.
After talking about Gaotaicheng, they focused their attention on Moyu County.
The general boundaries of the county do not exceed the huge earth platform on the west bank of the Kashgar River. The county town has a tall, almost rammed earth-yellow city wall with its north and south vertices, together with the earth platform shaped like a crescent moon, forming a square and elliptical city wall shape.
On top of this city wall, you can see stomping platforms, high fortresses, towering spires, helmet-topped city gates, as well as horse trails and watchtowers extending inward everywhere.
The residential houses extending from the earth platform are mostly yellow-brown in color with rammed earth. Most of them are bungalows. Then there are some two- and three-story stacked earth buildings. Due to the terrain, there are few five or six-story stacked earth buildings like the earth platform. Among the buildings, only the white tower in the center of the county town is relatively tall, standing out from the crowd among the low and chaotic earth buildings around it.
Moyu County as a whole looks like a flower with a towering white pagoda as the center. Sunshade tents have been erected all over the city, and colorful silks and satins can be seen fluttering in the wind. In addition, the faces of the people walking casually in the city are quite unique. exotic.
After the car drove into Moyu County, it took them through the main road and finally stopped beside the huge white tower in the city.
According to Song Siyuan, the car transport teams she found came to Hotan for two purposes. One was to collect loose jade, and the other was to deal with goods that were in short supply.
Starting from Dunhuang, they had to walk nearly two thousand miles along the corridor before reaching the west coast of the desert. In order not to waste the journey of the convoy, they would also load the car with goods in short supply. Whatever the people in the Khotan Oasis lacked the most, they would Whatever you pull, you can make a lot of money on the southern shore of the desert.
This time I came to Hotan, these carts were carrying some of the best tea, silk, porcelain, gold and silverware, and handicrafts from the mainland. Just one trip along the Hotan Oasis and all the goods were sold. , at the same time, you can also take advantage of the fleet to collect loose jade from farmers and herdsmen in nearby towns at low prices. As long as you can transport them out of the territory, you can always use the name of "Hetian Jade" to sell it in the cultural and entertainment market. Make a fortune.
After they thanked the car team, they followed Keli and walked east along the White Tower to the vicinity of Gaotai City.
Along the way, the surrounding Khotanese people may have never seen so many Han Chinese faces, and they frequently glanced sideways. There was no hostility in their eyes, just like guests at home, showing curiosity and alienation.
As I walked around, the markets of Khotan stretched before my eyes like a picture scroll. Today's Moyu County is still regarded as the gateway between the East and the West. However, with the development of maritime trade and the decline of the Silk Road, it is far less prosperous than it was a thousand years ago. It has a kind of decadence like a hero in his twilight years. It felt like there was dust everywhere, making it look dusty and messy.
However, there is an old saying that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even though this place is in some decline, it still maintains the prosperity of southern Xinjiang. Shops can be seen everywhere along the streets, and there are hawkers in the markets one after another. There is a dazzling array of Eastern and Western goods, which is dizzying.
When I walked to a certain crossing building, the neighborhood had already begun to become congested. The surrounding area was filled with cluttered faces, and there were even people who pushed open the windows from the crossing building and stretched their heads to look down at the situation. It is estimated that it will be impossible to get through for a while.
They decided to stop and see what the crowd was about!
