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29-570: Chinese mythology and imagination developed an extensive collection of ideas. The Weak River, or Weak Water, was so-called because nothing could float in it. Various mythological geography is associated with the Weak River, including one or more of the eight mountain pillars , especially the (mythological) Kunlun Mountain , the Red River , intervening terrain, such as the Moving Sands . Jade Mountain

58-609: Is a former lake in the Gobi Desert . It is located in the western part of Inner Mongolia , in Ejin Banner of the Alxa League , near the border with Mongolia . Gashuun Nuur had an area of 267 km (103 sq mi) in 1958, of 213 km (82 sq mi) in 1960, and dried up in 1961. The eastern lake reappeared in 2005. As of August 2012 , the area of the lake is 38 km (15 sq mi). The Juyan Lake basin

87-787: Is a rare wetland located in a desert. It covers an area of about 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi). The Juyan lake is one of three former terminal lakes located at the outer edges of the Heihe River ('Black River') catchment which formed a large inland delta between the Qilian and the Gobi Altay. The Heihe River is also known as the Ruo Shui (Chinese: 弱水 ; lit. 'weak river'), also Etsin Gol or Ruo He or Ejin River . The basin's boundary

116-669: Is formed by the Mazong Shan mountains to the west, the Heli Shan and Longshou Shan mountains to the south, the Helan Mountains and Lang Shan ranges to the east and the Gobi Altay range to the north. The basin played an important role in ancient times and was historically part of the Hexi Corridor between the 2nd century BC to the 8th century AD. "This territory, called Juyan by

145-524: Is the scene for all sorts of activities by deities, immortal, would-be immortals, and so on, and generally exists in an alternate reality of culture. However, both Ruo Shui rivers are directionally located in a somewhat northern and western way. Eight Pillars Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: The Eight Pillars ( Chinese : 八柱, bāzhù) also known as Eight Pillars of

174-535: The Han Chinese , was maintained and garrisoned by the empire from the time of Emperor Wu until the last century of Later Han. Militarily, the outpost of the Great Wall was important for two reasons: as a supply point for the garrisons in the northwest and, perhaps more significant, as a means to deny this prosperous region to the northern nomads. Left undefended, Juyan would have provided an ideal route for attack against

203-473: The Moving Sands . The eight mountain pillars include Kunlun , Jade Mountain , Mount Buzhou , and five more (Yang Lihui 2005: passim ). Kunlun functions as a sort of ladder which could be used to travel between earth and Heaven. Accordingly, any person who succeeded in climbing up to the top of Kunlun would magically become an immortal spirit (Yang 2005: 160–162). Buzhou was the defective mountain pillar. Having been damaged by Gonggong , it no longer separated

232-628: The University of Hong Kong . Another 20,237 slips were excavated between 1972 and 1976 by the Juyan Archaeological Team, Gansu. These slips are held by the Provincial Museum of Gansu and came to be known as the "new Juyan texts." The science fiction series Perry Rhodan features the rocket-shuttle Stardust returning from the Moon in 1971 with alien technology, landing near the point where

261-784: The Chinese commanderies of the corridor itself. During Former Han, therefore, the Zhelu Zhang (Fortress to Block the Enemy), had been constructed by the marshes of the Edsin Gol , and it was from this base, for example, that the general Li Ling went forth on his disastrous attack against the Xiongnu in 99 BC. South of the Juyan salient, the main line of defences followed the Great Wall , which ran in this region from

290-524: The Earth and the Heaven for the proper distance. Bu-zhou was the northwest one (Hawkes, 1985 (2011): 94–95, 135–136, 323). Kunlun Mountain has been described in various texts, as well as being depicted in art. Sometimes Kunlun appears as a pillar of the sky (or earth), sometimes appearing as being composed of multiple tiers (Yang 2005: 160), with the commonality of "mystery, grandeur, or magnificence" being emphasized in

319-480: The Moving Sands. Various activities took place at the eight pillars. For one, they were often thought of as reaching from Earth to Heaven; thus, climbing one of the pillars would allow one to reach Heaven from Earth. The eight mountain pillars were favorite places for all sorts of characters to visit or dwell. This includes various deities, immortals, and shamans. Various deities inhabited or visited one or more of

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348-453: The Sky are a concept from Chinese mythology . Located in the eight cardinal directions, they are a group of eight mountains or pillars which have been thought to hold up the sky. They are symbolically important as types of axis mundi and cosmology . Their functions in mythology ranged from pillars which functioned to hold apart the Earth and the Sky (or Heaven), as ladders allowing travel between

377-748: The West the Weak Water river forms one of the barriers on the way, one of the many difficult areas which the Xuanzang the Monk, Sun Wukong the Monkey, and their companions must cross over. The Weak Water River is an allusion in various Chinese Classical poems, the early Chuci anthology included. Pulled through the sky by a team of dragons, Qu Yuan soars above all obstacle rivers and hostile terrain at will during his spirit journey as described in his poem " Li Sao ". The Li Sao helped set

406-590: The back of a magical crane or dragon. The Wu or shamans were people that practiced divination, prayer, sacrifice, rainmaking, and healing, generally through the use of spirit flight. They generally seem to have become immortals. The Eight Pillars are a subject of poetic allusion from the ancient poems " Li Sao " and " Heavenly Questions " by Qu Yuan ; and, on through later times, in Classical Chinese poetry . The immortals, or xian , were Daoist immortals (humans who had metamorphosed into superhuman form), which

435-464: The eight mountain pillars. These include Xiwangmu and others on Kunlun. Although not originally located on Kunlun, but rather on a Jade Mountain neighboring to the north (and west of the Moving Sands ), Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of Meng Hao in the West, in later accounts was relocated to a palace protected by golden ramparts, within which immortals ( xian ) feasted on bear paws, monkey lips, and

464-638: The livers of dragons, served at the edge of the Lake of Gems. Every 6000 years the peaches which conferred immortality upon those who ate them would be served (except the time when they were purloined by Monkey King ). Originally a plague deity with tiger teeth and leopard tail, she became a beautiful and well-mannered goddess responsible for guarding the herb of immortality (Christie 1968: 78–79). The immortals, or xian , were Daoist immortals (humans who had metamorphosed into superhuman form). The xian were often seen as temporary residents, who visited by means of flying on

493-575: The modern river of that name was named for its seasonal weak flow in its lower reaches: the mythological Weak River was named for the inability of the liquid substance constituting it to float any objects. Another difference is that the geographical river rises as the Heishui ( 黑水 , black water ) on the north slopes of the Qilian Mountains, a major river system of northern China , then flowing approximately 630 kilometres (390 mi) from its headwaters on

522-559: The mythological descriptions. The base of the Kunlun Mountain is said to penetrate as far into the earth, as its above-ground part proceeds towards the sky (Christie1968: 74). As the mythology related to the Kunlun developed, it became influenced by the later introduction of ideas about an axis mundi from the cosmology of India. The Kunlun became identified with (or took on the attributes of) Mount Sumeru . Another historical development in

551-552: The mythology of Kunlun, (again with Indian influence) was that rather than just being the source of the Yellow River , Kunlun began to be considered to be the source of four major rivers flowing to the four quarters of the compass (Christie 1968:74). Another of the Eight Pillars was Jade Mountain. Various other mythological geography is associated with the Eight Pillars. This includes the four rivers flowing from Kunlun Mountain and

580-572: The northern Gansu side of the Qilian Mountains , on a spur of the Kunlun range, north-northeast into the endorheic Ejin Basin in the Gobi Desert , forming one of the largest inland deltas or alluvial fans in the world, its drainage basin covering about 78,600 square kilometres (30,300 sq mi) in Gansu and Inner Mongolia : on the other hand, the mythological Ruoshui River circles Kunlun and

609-847: The passes of Yumen Guan and Yang Guan in Dunhuang commandery of the far west along the northern edge of the Hexi Corridor past Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei ." In 1930, the Sino-Swedish Expedition excavated ten sites in the Juyan Lake Basin and unearthed a total of 10,200 wooden slips dating to the Western Han , which came to be known as the "old Juyan texts." In 1937, after the Second Sino-Japanese War began, Chung-Chang Shen transported these wooden slips from Beijing to

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638-476: The poet laments that he is not only irremediably separated from his lord due to earthly rivers which are wide and bridgeless, but that his desire to visit the Hanging Garden of Kunlun is not possible due to his inability to pass the barrier of the "rushing Weak Water". Apparently he was less worthy than Qu Yuan and chose to write a poem lamenting this. The Weak River was often seen as a protective barrier against

667-464: The profane and unworthy, protecting a Western Paradise. Often this Paradise was presided over by Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of Meng Hao in the West, in later accounts was relocated to a palace protected by golden ramparts, within which immortals ( xian ) feasted on bear paws, monkey lips, and the livers of dragons, served at the edge of the Lake of Gems. Every 6000 years the peaches which conferred immortality upon those who ate them would be served (except

696-588: The time when they were purloined by Monkey King ). However, as a barrier The Weak Water River would be crossed over by those who were worthy, such as immortals ( xian ), humans who had metamorphosed into superhuman form, or those well on the Way to immortality. The xian were often seen as guests who visited by means of flying on the back of a magical crane or dragon. The Wu or shamans were people that practiced divination, prayer, sacrifice, rainmaking, and healing: they in specialized traveling by spirit flight, induced through

725-523: The tone for other poems of the Chuci , which also allude to this type of mythical geography. Although Qu Yuan is largely credited for the Chuci material, other authors are also known. " Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast " was written by Zhuang Ji also known as Yan Ji in the second century BCE. Also known as "Ai shi ming" this poem is an example of the use of the Weak Water River as an image, where in lines 15-22

754-464: The two, and as the location of various paradises or wonderland with associated magical people, plants, and animals. The Eight Pillars are a central aspect to Chinese mythology, and also have been used extensively in poetic allusion. Some variations exist, such as only having four pillars. Various mythological geography is associated with the Eight Pillars, including the eight mountain pillars themselves along with surrounding or intervening terrain, such as

783-453: The usual shamanic means. There is a real, geographical Ruo Sui ( Chinese : 弱水 ; lit. 'weak water' also Etsin Gol or Ruo He or Ejin River). This Ruoshui ("Weak River") is not identical with the mythological Weak River. Are there historical points of tangency? What is the relationship between the two? One major difference between the modern river and the mythological river is that

812-505: Was also in the vicinity. As the mythology of the Weak River and related mythical geography developed, it was influenced by ideas from the cosmology of India related to Mount Sumeru as an axis mundi , together with related cosmological features, such as rivers. Also India was the goal of the Buddhist priest Xuanzang and his companions in the Journey to the West . In the novel Journey to

841-510: Was presided over by Xiwangmu. The xian were often seen as temporary residents, who visited by means of flying on the back of a magical crane or dragon. Ejin Basin 42°17′N 100°37′E  /  42.283°N 100.617°E  / 42.283; 100.617 The Juyan Lake ( Chinese : 居延海 ; Wade–Giles : Chüyen Hai ; Mongolian : Gashuun Nuur (shown on Chinese maps as 嘎顺淖尔 Gāshùn nào'ěr or 嘎顺诺尔, Gāshùn nuò'ěr ) for western lake, Sogo Nuur for eastern lake)

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