敦煌英文介绍-Dunhuang

敦煌英文介绍Dunhuang

Thenational,historicalcityofDunhuangisarenownedtouristcityfamousfortheMogaoCaves.ItissituatedinthecommonboundaryofGansuProvince,QinghaiProvinceandXinjiangProvince.Dunhuang,longagoreferredtoas'ShaZhou'(beautifuldesertoasis),wasthehubofmiddleandeasternsilkroutesinancienttimes.Thecitylandmarkisanattractivestatue,theideaofwhichcomesfromthemuralinMogaoCaves,ashrinetothecultureandartsofDunhuang.FromMt.Qilianinthesouth,Mt.Mazonginthenorthanddesertfromeasttowest,thelandformofDunhuangCityisadecliningbasin-plainfromwesttonortheast,highinthenorthandsouth,andlowinthemiddle.ThewesterncitiesofChina,especiallythoseinthedesert,areknownfortheirsandstorms,sotouristsshouldprotectthemselveswithglasses,hatsandgauzekerchiefs,etc.

Inancienttimes,DunhuangwasthecenteroftradebetweenChinaanditswesternneighbors.Atthattime,itwasthemostwesterlyfrontiermilitarygarrisoninChina.WiththeflourishingoftradealongtheSilkRoad,DunhuangwaspromptedtobecomethemostopenareaininternationaltradeinChinesehistory.ItprovidedtheonlyaccesswestwardfortheChineseEmpireandeastwardforwesternnationalities.Today,asareminderofthishistoricalarea,weareleftwiththeMogaoCaves,YangguanPass,YumenguanPassandmanywonderfulChinesepoemsdepictingthetime.AlthoughwhatremainsofthetwoPassesarecrumblingwalls,onecanstillexperiencetheatmosphereofthattimewhilevisitinginperson.

Today,Dunhuangisatypicaltouristcity,cleanandbeautiful.Becauseofitssplendidstonecaves,tourismhasbecomeanindispensableindustrytoDunhuangCity.Surroundingestablishmentsincludevariousclassesofhotelsandrestaurantsforyourchoosing.Aswell,tourismpersonnelareknowledgeableandwelltrainedthesedays.ForawesterncityinChina,ithasbecomemoreaccesibleforpeopletocomeandgoastheyplease.Transportationismuchmoreefficient,ensuringthatyourwonderfultriprunssmoothly.MaytoSeptemberisthebesttimetovisit,sobesuretoplanyourtripduringthesemonths.IncludingDunhuangCityinyourtourisadecisionyouwon'tregret!

DunhuangCity,anobviouspearlontheSilkRoad,opensherarmstowelcometouristsfromallovertheworld.

ThefirstrecordedhistoryofDunhuang,avitalstationalongthelegendarySilkRoad,wasrelatedbyEmperorWuoftheHanDynasty(206B.C.–220).However,modernarchaeologicalfindingstracetheregion'shistoryasfarbackastheXiaDynasty(21st–16thcenturyB.C.).DuringtheShangandZhouDynastiesoverthenext1,400years,theareawasinhabitedbythreenomadictribes—theQiang,WusunandYuezhi(Rouzhi).AttheendoftheQinDynasty(221B.C.–206B.C.),theYuezhiconqueredtheothertwotribesandoccupiedtheentireHexiCorridor.Thiscorridor(alsocalledGansuCorridor)wastheprimarysegmentoftheancientSilkRoad.Later,theHun(orXiongnu)armiesvanquishedtheYuezhiandestablisheddominancehereduringtheearlyHanDynasty.FromtheearlyseventhcenturyB.C.,ChinesekingdomsbuiltwallsalongtheirnorthernfrontierstodefendthemselvesagainstthewarlikeHuns.DuringtheHanDynasty,themostambitiousGreatWallprojecttodatewasbegunwithfoursystemsoffortificationspanningfromDunhuanginthewestallthewaytotheKoreanpeninsulaintheeast.

Dunhuang'simportanceasamilitaryfortressledtoitsbecomingaprefecturein177B.C.concurrently,constructionoftheYumenguanPassandYangguanPasstothewestofDunhuangopenedanewtraderoutebetweenthecentralplains(Hexi)andthestatesinXiYu(literallythewesternregions,referringtomostpartsofXinjiangandpartofcentralAsia)namelythenotedSilkRoad.Asmoreandmoreimmigrantsfromthecentralplainssettledhere,DunhuanggraduallybecameaprosperousagriculturalbaseaswellasthekeymilitaryinstallationontheHan'sborderfrontier.Forthenextseveralcenturies,DunhuangservedasoneofChina'smostimportantmilitary,politicalandeconomiccenters.

CommercialdevelopmentintheHanDynastywassoonaccompaniedbythegrowthofreligion.ThearrivalofConfucianisminitiallyandlaterTaoismandBuddhismwouldplayanimportantroleinDunhuang'sdevelopment.Duringthisperiod,however,politicalturbulenceprevailedasfivedifferentregimesrulestheregion.AtthistimeBuddhismbegantogainastrongfootholdanditsearliestgrottoeswerebuiltinthenearbyMagaoCaves.Intheensuingyears,theSilkRoadflourishedasthepopularityofBuddhismincreased.MoreBuddhistwritingsandmusicwerebroughttoDunhuangwiththeencouragementoftheSui(561–618)andTang(618–907)Dynasties,moreandmorelocalpeoplebegantoembraceBuddhism.

TheTangcontinueditsdominanceoftheregionfendingoffmilitaryattacksincludingadefeatoftheTufan(theancestorsofTibetans).DunhuangandtheHexiCorridorwouldremainvitalmilitaryfortresses.Duringthistime,theart,ideasandculturesofothercivilizationssuchasGreece,India,andcentralandwesternAsiawereimportedintoDunhuang.EminentBuddhistmonkscontinuedtocomeheretocarryforwardtheirdharma.TheMagaoCaves,thegreatestexampleofBuddhistculturalsignificance,continuedtohousereligiousstatuaryandfrescoesinitsgrottoes.

IntheSouthernSongDynasty(1127–1279),warfareintheregionbecamemorefrequentandcommercewasgraduallyshiftingfromlandtosearoutes.Thisresultedin