believes that everyone is no stranger to the folk song "Chile Song" from the Southern and Northern Dynasties that had been in elementary school. Song Yun: "Chile River, under the Yinshan Mountains. The sky is like a dome, covering the four wilds. The sky is blue, the wild is vast, and the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep." After the teacher taught us to sing this song, he will popularize geography for us. Knowledge. Chile is a tribe that was active in the north in ancient times. Chilechuan is the area where they were active, and the address is near the Hetao Plain in the central and western part of Inner Mongolia.
Speaking of my country’s plains, we first think of the three major plains, namely the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain, and the Middle and Lower Yangtze Plain. Outside the three plains, the Hetao Plain is not very well-known, but the strategic position of the Hetao Plain is very high and its history is very glorious.
Some people don't understand the "set" of the Hetao Plain, which is related to the shape of the Yellow River. The Yellow River departs from the Bayan Har Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and exits from Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake. There have been several major geographical transitions. Starting around Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, the Yellow River flows in a southwest-northeast direction. After passing through Yinchuan, the central city of Ningxia, near Bayannaoer in Inner Mongolia, it changed from west to east. A few hundred kilometers later, the Yellow River changed from north to south near Tuoketuo County in Inner Mongolia and became the boundary river between Shanxi and Shaanxi. . After flowing for hundreds of kilometers, the Yellow River changed from west to east near Fenglingdu at the junction of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces, and merged into the Bohai Sea in Shandong Province. People say that the Yellow River is like a huge "ji", and from above Yinchuan and below Tuoketuo, the "set"-shaped plains on both sides of the Yellow River are the Hetao Plain. Let’s look at the shape of this section of the Yellow River. Does it look like a big sleeve?
We all know that the Northeast Plain is divided into three parts: the Sanjiang Plain, the Songnen Plain, and the Liaohe Plain. The Hetao Plain is actually divided into three parts, called the front, rear, and west. The so-called Xitao is in Ningxia, covering an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers. Ningxia is long and narrow from north to south, the terrain is high in the south and low in the north. There is the Loess Plateau (Liupan Mountain) in the south. The terrain in the north is low and flat, especially the Yinchuan area, called Yinchuan Plain, which is also called Xitao. The Helan Mountain in the northwest of the Yinchuan Plain isolates the desert area, and the Yellow River crosses the Yinchuan Plain to the north, bringing huge water resources to the Yinchuan Plain. The Yinchuan Plain also has a well-known name—Shangjiangnan, where Ningxia rice is very famous. There is a well-known jingle in Ningxia, saying: "Ningxia Chuan has two heads and sharp ends, east of the Yellow River, west of Helan Mountain, Jinchuan Yinchuan Miliangchuan." Later, a strategic decisive battle with the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the result of the Northern Zhou Dynasty victory, captured many Chen Jun. The Northern Zhou Dynasty escorted these prisoners to the vicinity of Yinchuan, because they were southerners who were good at growing rice. Over time, the Yinchuan Plain became a rice-grain river. In the late Tang dynasty, the Tuoba family segregated its control in the Dingnan Army area, and gradually expanded its control. After more than one hundred years of repeated seesaws, the Xixia Dynasty was finally established, which caused huge troubles in the Northern Song Dynasty. One of the core areas of Xixia is the Yinchuan Plain. The state capital Xingqing Mansion (Yinchuan) has abundant water and soil, which can provide enough food for the Xixia imperial family without being restricted by Song and Liao Dynasty.
After the Yellow River exits Ningxia, it enters Inner Mongolia. It ends near the junction of Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces. The plains on both sides of the Yellow River are called Dongtao. The West Tao Yinchuan Plain was mentioned above. Sometimes when people talk about the Hetao Plain, the West Tao Yinchuan Plain is not included, but only refers to the East Tao in Inner Mongolia, that is, the plains on both sides of the Yellow River running from east to west. There are two younger brothers under Dongtao, namely the back cover and the front cover. The so-called rear set refers to the plain between the Yellow River after entering Inner Mongolia and Xishanzui, which is mainly located on the north bank of the Yellow River in Bayannaoer. The latter is not well-known, but his four neighbors are famous, with the famous Yinshan Mountain in the north, the famous Langshan Mountain and Ulan Buhe Desert in the west, the Yellow River in the south, and the famous Daqing Mountain in the east. To the east of
, there is also the front plain, which is the Tumote plain between Hohhot and Baotou, Inner Mongolia, which is the Chilechuan mentioned at the beginning of the article. The back cover and the front cover are basically connected geographically. Due to the perennial moisture of the Yellow River, the land here is fertile and suitable for livestock and farming.
In history, the Hetao region (referring to the rear and front sleeves, excluding the western sleeves) was the boundary between the Central Plains Dynasty and the northern nomadic dynasty. For example, the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, the boundary line between the two sides is in the Hetao area. The capital of the Western Han Dynasty was set in Chang'an, Guanzhong, not far from the Hetao. Once the Huns break through the Hetao line of defense, the Huns cavalry can easily reach Chang'an. Therefore, the Western Han Dynasty attached great importance to the army in HetaoDefense, set up Shuofang Provincial Governor to town. Especially on both sides of the Yellow River in the Hetao Plain, the Western Han Dynasty established many captains and county governments. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Luoyang was the capital, and the Xiongnu issue had basically been resolved. The Hetao area's military defense significance to the Central Plains dynasty declined slightly, but it was still very important. Speaking of a person, it is Lv Bu, who is known as the first warrior of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, "Ma Zhong Chimian, Ren Zhong Lv Bu." Lu Bu is a native of Jiuyuan County, Wuyuan County, which is now west of Baotou.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Hetao region became one of the dividing lines between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan (Mongolian ministries), and became the focus of the two sides. The Hetao is the southern gateway of the Beiyuan and the northern gateway of the Ming Dynasty. It is not far from the capital and Xi'an. It is of great strategic significance for the Ming Dynasty to control the western line.
