Approximately 2000 years ago, Loulan was an oases city and a famous stop on the Silk Road. Despite its small size, it was economically prosperous. Located at the half-way point along the Silk Road, on the west bank of Lop Nor Lake, it was a region enriched by the trading of goods such as silks, teas, fruits and jewels. It was one of the sites where the Sogdian letters passed through (Wood, 2002), and was also used as a stopover for travelling merchants. In short, it was flourishing economically while remaining a peaceful and beautiful region for both residents and visitors.
Map of Loulan and the Silk Road
Little else is known of the town that was once considered a kingdom along the Silk Road. It was tragically buried under sand and virtually disappeared. This can be attributed to the shifting of rivers. Consequently, the lack of water would force civilizations to move to a more desirable and sustainable location (Hopkirk, 1980).
A monk, Fa Xian, passed through Loulan on his way to India. He reported being impressed by the region, with its thriving economy and valuable position on the Silk Road. Only 200 years later, however, Xuan Zang reported a much different observation after encountering the ruins of the oases city. He stated that there were no traces of human life anywhere. It appeared abandoned; “the kingdom had vanished and the city was empty and deserted” (Wu, 2005).
An artist’s depiction of Loulan
Ruins of Loulan
Sven Hedin receives the credit for rediscovering the ‘lost city’. His discovery of the ruins made him the most important explorer in the history of Western Region explorations (Wu, 2005). At the time of his discovery, the position of the city was under debate. He realized that it only made sense that the position of Loulan be determined by its dependence on Lop Nor Lake. In order to determine whether his hypothesis was correct, he assembled a team of men and ventured into the Taklamakan Desert. With a lack of water and a team of tired animals, Hedin lost many men to the harsh conditions that greeted them upon entering the unforgiving desert.
Loulan Settlement
His discovery of the exact location of Loulan was essentially an accident. His men had lost tools back at an excavation site. Hedin’s guide, realizing that the tools would be necessary if they were to find water, went back to look for them. A wind forced him off course and led him to the ancient ruins. Hedin saw the wooden figures that his guide had spotted and immediately realized that they were important (Hedin, 1996). Hedin, proud of his discovery, went back to the city several times in order to further excavate.
Sven Hedin’s team excavating Loulan
Countless other explorers ventured through the deadly desert to the site of Loulan. Braving blazing days and frigid nights, men reached the site and were not disappointed. Most were greeted by the discovery of mummies buried under the sands of Loulan. They realized that the bodies were European-looking. They had high-bridged noses, beards, round eye-sockets and light or reddish hair. They were taller than any Asian, wore fur or cloths with interesting patterns, as well as leather and felt (Wood, 2002). These mummies appear to have been buried as early as 2000-1800B.C. (Barber, 1999).
Among these discoveries was one monumental discovery of what many now refer to as the Loulan beauty. Quoting a section from The Mummies of Urumchi by Elizabeth Barber, she described the mummy as:
…bundled up in a brown woollen wrap with her
funerary gifts around her. Framed by auburn hair,
her face looks so peaceful and hauntingly beautiful
that she has captured the imagination of the Turkic
population of the whole province, who nicknamed
her the Beauty of Loulan.
The Loulan Beauty (left: actual mummy discovered;
right: a sketch of what she is believed to have looked like…)
She is believed to have been of Turkic decent, even though that categorization barely suits her facial features. It was determined for certain that she was not Han Chinese. The burials of the Turks and Mongols came 1500 years after this woman lived. Therefore, it is only a belief that they were descended from her and other mummies that were discovered, possessing the same facial features. Furthermore, the majority of non-Chinese residing in Xinjiang today possess blue eyes and light or reddish hair (Barber, 1999).
The items that surrounded the Loulan Beauty tell much of her life. She was buried wearing ankle-high leather moccasins with a fur trim and a mid-length skirt, also leather with fur on the inside for warmth. She also wore a woollen cap or hood that could be secured under the chin. It is believed that she died in the winter months because, the way in which she was dressed, showed that she may have been concerned about keeping warm (Barber, 1999).
Loulan Beauty
The link that follows is a piece from a documentary of all the mummies discovered at Loulan. This specific section focuses only on the Loulan beauty. Chinese archaeologists explain what is believed to have been her life. Watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcyiiviM9_8
In the book, Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An Impossible Journey from Kabul to Chiapas by Gary Geddes, an explorer recounts his encounter with the Loulan Beauty:
…I managed to pay my respects to the Loulan Beauty
with her chestnut hair, which pushed out from under
a felt hat adorned with a goose feather. Her eyes, long
lashes still intact, had sunk below the cheekbones. Otherwise,
she was well preserved, even handsome. Five feet tall,
European, with type O blood and at least 3800 years of under-
ground experience, she did not look a day over forty-five, her
approximate age at the time of death.
…She appeared serene in her glass case in Urumqi, one shoulder
faintly visible through the threadbare weave of her garment, and
her lips pressed – in mirth, perhaps – around some truth, some
unspeakable enigma.
Although very little is left of Loulan, it is not as if it has disappeared completely. Curious tourists are still able to explore the lands and experience the ruins of what was once a booming kingdom, historians are able to visit the Beauty of Loulan in a museum and archaeologists are still attempting to reconstruct the lives of those that resided in Loulan. Although gaps exist in this intriguing story, the gaps are slowly being filled as more discoveries are made. One can only hope to be able to understand everything about this city at some point in the future.
Works Cited
Barber, Elizabeth W. The Mummies of Urumchi. Chapter 4. W.W Norton and Company Inc.: New York. 1999.
Geddes, Gary. Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An Impossible Journey from Kabul to Chiapas. Sterling Publishing Company Inc.: New York. 2005.
Hedin, Sven. My Life as an Explorer. Asian Educational Services: New Delhi. 1996.
Hopkirk, Peter. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road. The University of Massachusetts Press: Amherst. 1980.
Wood, Frances. The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. Chapter 5. University of California Press: Los Angeles. 2002.
Wu, Dunfu. Footprints of Foreign Explorers on the Silk Road. 2005.
