When Yelang Kingdom began to exist is unknown and can only be roughly inferred from the existing evidence. The time of its demise is believed to be in the Pingnian period (28 BC to 25 BC), during which Yelang Wang Xing coerced 22 small countries around him to rebel against the Han Dynasty, was killed by Chen Li, the ambassador of the Han Dynasty, and Yelang was also destroyed. Since then, Yelang has never been seen in history books.
For a long time, people have not found any trace of Yelang country, even the ancient Shu country in myths and legends has found evidence of its existence, while Yelang country recorded in historical records is "hiding half of her face behind her guitar from us", which makes people puzzled. Some people even think that Yelang country may be an illusory world, a castle in the air and the product of hearsay. Since the rise of tourism in China, people have paid more and more attention to cultural tourism. As an ancient civilization and a part of the splendid culture of the Chinese nation, the humanistic value of Yelang country has been gradually valued by the world. For some time, Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places have been fighting for the ownership of Yelang. So, where is Yelang Kingdom?
Archaeologists have traveled all over Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan in search of the ancient Yelang Kingdom. There are no more clues in the history books, and they hope to revive the ancient Yelang country through archaeological excavation.
After nearly half a century's research, enthusiastic archaeologists still face the embarrassing reality: the mysterious veil of Yelang ancient country has just been unveiled, but there is no way to explore it.
For nearly half a century, people who have been searching for the ancient Yelang country have found evidence that Yelang country does exist, but unfortunately, no one has been able to see the true face of the ancient Yelang country so far. Today, there are at least four mysteries in Yelang ancient country;
The first mystery is where the territory and capital of the ancient Yelang Kingdom are. Through the archaeological excavation of Yelang country, people discovered a strange phenomenon. Judging from the excavation results, the capital of Yelang Kingdom seems to be everywhere, except Yuanling, Guang Shun, Maokou, Anshun, Zhenning, Guanling, Zhenfeng, Tongzi and Guiyang in Guizhou, Xuanwei, Zhanyi and Qujing in Yunnan and Mayang in Hunan. Relevant cultural relics have been found in these places, and there are legends about Yelang country in most places, which proves that it was once the ancient capital of Yelang. Therefore, some people think that during the Yelang Kingdom, there were frequent wars and the territory was constantly changing, so its capital could not be fixed in one place for a long time, but should be constantly changing and changing. As a country, no matter how big or small, no matter how long it exists, it should have its own scope of rule and political, economic and cultural center. To determine its territory, we must first determine its capital-that is, the political center. Now some places in Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and Hunan consider themselves the capital of Yelang country. These statements can be quoted from the classics and are true. So, which one is the real Yelang country capital? Is the statement that "Yelang Kingdom keeps moving" put forward by some scholars before really correct? Since ancient times, no country that has ever existed can move its capital so frequently in a very short time, because moving its capital is, after all, a major event that requires manpower, material resources and financial resources.
The second mystery is who is the ruling nation of Yelang, or who is the most populous nation of Yelang. At present, there are four answers to this mystery. Some people say that the dominant or most populous ethnic group of Yelang is Miao, some people say Yi, some people say Buyi and some people say Gelao. All four ethnic groups have established ethnic societies to find strong evidence for the descendants of Yelang ancient country, but no one has found any evidence that can be finalized.
The fourth mystery is how long the Yelang Kingdom has existed. The history books clearly recorded the time when Yelang Kingdom perished, but did not record when it was established. The general view is that Yelang Kingdom has existed for about 300 years. However, this statement has not been unanimously recognized and there is no actual evidence.
Although these four mysteries have not been solved so far, they are not completely without clues. The archaeological excavation of the "Southwest Yi" tomb in Lekehezhang, Guizhou Province has provided important help for revealing Yelang culture. Leke Ethnic Township in Hezhang County is located at the border of Yunnan and Guizhou, surrounded by mountains, with mild climate and fertile soil. It was once one of the political, economic and cultural centers of the Yi people who entered Guizhou. Since the first batch of cultural relics were discovered by farmers in Kele area due to agricultural activities, archaeologists have excavated nearly 400 ancient tombs and unearthed more than 2,000 cultural relics, including a large number of cultural relics from the Warring States, Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties. Unearthed many cultural relics, such as stone, pottery, jade, copper, iron, agate and other agricultural tools, daily necessities, combat weapons, decorations, agricultural portrait bricks, Legetu portrait bricks and so on, fully reflect the unique Yelang national culture from the Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the characteristics of the integration of Chinese culture and Yelang national culture in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Coke is called "Kolomu" in Yi ancient books, which means "central city". This probably means that this is the capital of Yelang. "Cromu" was recorded as "Leke" in the Central Plains history books, and later evolved into "Coke". Among the ethnic minorities living in the cola area, the Yi nationality is the largest. The locals also said that the Yi people were the first to enter Coke. If Coke is really the capital of Yelang country, then the Yi people are probably the original Yelang people.
According to the ancient Yi literature, there are ancient music Mao Mu in Chengdu, Chu Mao Qi Wood in Chongqing and Lebo Mao Mu in Kunming. According to this clue, from the Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Mao Mu is probably an important city in Yelang country.
Yelang Kingdom reached its peak when it built its city in the Coke area. Many contemporary urban sites show that King Yelang is likely to take his family and lead a team to build cities in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and other regions to expand the region. This may be the reason why many places are considered as the capital of Yelang country.
According to historical records and archaeological excavations, it has become an indisputable fact that Yelang Kingdom is mainly distributed in Guizhou. The tomb of Coke "Southwest Yi" only shows that Coke was an important city at that time and was very prosperous. If it is only nominally the capital of Yelang country, the reason is not sufficient. The four puzzles of Yelang Kingdom have not really been solved, and the mysterious ancient Yelang country still needs us to continue to explore.