Shangri-La: A Story Originating from the West
1933, the British writer james hilton described in his novel "Lost Horizon" that four westerners, including Conway, were abducted by a mysterious hijacker when they moved to Peshawar from a place less than the mainland in South Asia during the war, thus accidentally arriving at Shangri-La, the mysterious Blue Moon Valley in the East.
The novel depicts a mysterious secret: people live an elegant life without competition in Xianggu, the snow-capped mountains block the rolling red dust outside, and the gurgling water brings bursts of birds and flowers. Various faiths exist peacefully, and there are Christian churches, Buddhist temples, Taoist temples and Confucius temples everywhere. People follow the principle of moderation and maintain a moderate attitude towards everything, even happiness. Shangri-La is a gathering place of natural scenery-snow-capped mountains, glaciers, canyons, forests, grasslands and lakes-and wealth (rich in gold mines). It embodies all the beautiful human ideals, such as beauty, clarity, safety, leisure, satisfaction, tranquility and harmony.
The tranquility, peace, freedom and happiness described in the book-the holy land where man and nature live in harmony and people live in peace-is the magical land called Shangri-La. After the novel was published by Macmillan Publishing Company in London in April 1934, publishers and writers caused a sensation in Europe unexpectedly, and the novel quickly sold well in the United States, Japan and other countries. After the novel was published, it was immediately made into a movie by the original Hollywood production company, which became popular all over the world, and the theme song "This Beautiful Shangri-La" was also sung all over the world. Later, the word "Shangri-La" was bought out by the Kwok family, a Hong Kong entrepreneur, and became a hotel firm. Later, it traveled all over the world and became one of the highest symbols of hotel brands in the world, confirming the great significance of Lost Horizon in human culture.
The Lost Horizon has become the peach blossom source in the west, and its great significance lies in implanting the artistic conception of "paradise on earth" into the western cultural values. The British Writers' Dictionary claims that one of the achievements of this book is to create the word "Xanadu" for English vocabulary. Since then, this imaginary paradise on earth has become synonymous with "Eden", "Xanadu" and "Utopia", and immediately became a spiritual placebo for people under the shadow of the economic crisis and war at that time. At one time, a cultural wave of returning to nature and looking for Shangri-La rose in the West. During World War II, President Roosevelt was asked where the plane bombed Japan by the US military took off. Roosevelt said, "From Shangri-La." This probably means "no comment" and "unknown". This shows the influence of the word "Shangri-La" on western society.
In his novels, james hilton described to the world an ideal country full of poetry and dreams, full of pastoral songs. For more than half a century, many followers of Shangri-La have traveled across the ocean, and Wan Li came all the way to the southwest of China, eager to find the sacred place of Shangri-La in his heart.
In China, where Shangri-La is located, as early as three years before the publication of Lost Horizon, a female explorer named Liu described Zhongdian in Diqing, Yunnan in her travel notes:
From Lijiang to the west, the road is rocky and steep, such as climbing the ladder, the old man making friends, and the mountains are closed all the year round. A traveler who doesn't see the horse's head is suspected of going to a chaotic world. But three days later, I suddenly saw the vast dam, the wind was clear and the moon was bright, the sky was covered with grass, and the yellow flowers were covered with flocks of cattle and sheep, which set up the curtain. Then the city is like a wisp of smoke, like a fisherman in Wuling, and I have strayed into Taoyuan Wonderland. Where is this? It is Zhongdian County, the junction of Yunnan and Kangping.
After walking out of Zhongdian City, Ms. Liu has another description:
Out of the north gate of Zhongdian city, it is a grassland about ten miles wide, surrounded by mountains, such as the bottom of the plate, in which a stream twists and turns. The grassland is divided into several pieces, and cattle and sheep hang their heads for grass. There are several water mills near the stream, which are sparkling all day long, and the study of highland barley is also Baba's place. On the grassland, there are many wild birds hovering low, and their voices are dumb, which is in harmony with the grinding sound. In this quiet square, it is also like a child's whisper, which shows its leisurely taste. At the end of the grassland, I just saw a towering building standing at the foot of the mountain. The famous osmanthus temple was built by the Qing court. The outer wall was dyed ochre, facing the center of the hall, and the roof was plated with red gold, which was dazzling. There are more than a thousand lamas. ...
In these two descriptions by Ms. Liu, many natural features of Zhongdian are strikingly similar to the scenery in James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon. Such as boundless wide dams, meadows in the sky, yellow flowers everywhere, flocks of cattle and sheep, surrounding mountains, towering buildings on hillsides, ochre outer walls and roofs plated with red gold, all these are the scenery of Blue Moon Valley explained in the novel. /kloc-Hilton, who wrote "The Lost Horizon" 0/933 years ago, could not have seen this adventure travel book. Therefore, some people say that the concepts of Shangri-La in the west and Xanadu in the east coincide with each other under the background of the blue sky and clear water in Diqing.
The description of this kind of scenery and an overview of this aspect appeared in the 1995 spring Beijing Excellent Tour Guide Examination. Sun Jiong is an employee of Yunnan Tourism Group Company. In this exam, he found a passage in an exam: "Shangri-La", a well-known word in the world, first appeared in the novel "Lost Horizon" by British writer james hilton, but its real source came from a dialect of Tibetan people in Yunnan ... This test aroused Sun Jiong's infinite reverie. So he began to look for the real Shangri-La in the book. He first found the novel The Lost Horizon, and then expanded the search area with the map. Many things happen. Finally, he found Shangri-La described in the novel in Diqing, Yunnan.
Shangri-la is here!
Later, after more than nine months of research, scholars and archaeologists in Yunnan provided another important evidence to prove that Shangri-La's real location was in Diqing: from a linguistic point of view, Shangri-La was translated from Diqing Tibetan, meaning "the sun and moon in my heart". Zhongdian County in Diqing Prefecture is located in a basin on the plateau. The ancestors of Diqing established two towns in this basin, namely Sunlight City and Moonlight City (called "Blue Moon Valley" in the novel The Lost Horizon). Finally, experts confirmed that Diqing is Shangri-La!
1September 997 14 2 1: 03, Yunnan Zhongdian held a press conference and officially announced to the world: "Shangri-La is in Diqing!" The journey of "looking for Shangri-La" spanning more than half a century has finally settled! The Shambhala Kingdom in Tibetan Scriptures and Shangri-La in James Hilton's works are both in Diqing! The explosive news immediately shocked the whole world.
On the night of the news release, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcast the news to the world. Then, the major domestic media, as well as The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Seattle Post, The Christian Science Monitor and Time Weekly in the United States, Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan, South China Morning Post and Asia in Hong Kong.
Later, on June 7, 2002, with the approval of the central government, Zhongdian County in Diqing Prefecture was officially renamed Shangri-La County. In the past five years, two news shock waves about Shangri-La have spread all over the world. As a result, a Shangri-La whirlwind swept through China, and Shangri-La believers and tourists from all over the world flocked to witness Shangri-La, a fairyland on earth.
Diqing, which means "auspicious place" in Tibetan, is located in the northwest of Yunnan Province, at the junction of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet provinces, and is the core of a national-level scenic spot where Jinsha River, Lancang River and Nujiang River flow side by side. Here Daughter Mountain, Yunling Mountain and Gongga Mountain run through the north and south in parallel, and Meili Snow Mountain, Baimang Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain stand at the summit. The special geographical location and complex terrain make Diqing a natural transition zone between the Central Plains and Tibetan areas, which determines its historical destiny. Diqing is located in the magical and beautiful Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with the hinterland of Hengduan Mountains in the southeast. The terrain is undulating, with towering ice peaks and hundreds of miles of snow-capped mountains. There are also many deep and mysterious canyons, such as Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lancang Grand Canyon and Meili Grand Canyon. In the snow-capped mountains, there is a vast grassland, which is divided into eight Zhongdian meadows, such as foundation meadow, Napahai meadow and Dudu meadow, by Xiaozhongdian River, Gendu River, Nachi River and Naizi River, like eight lotus petals.
The special geographical structure has created Diqing's wonderful natural landscape, from the Jinsha River, which has the characteristics of the south of the Yangtze River, to the Snow Mountain Canyon, which can make people "walk" all over the world in one day: "It snows in June, the fruit is ripe, and the apricot flowers are frozen in March"; Tiger Leaping Gorge, where "a line divides into a natural barrier, and two mountains have a stone as the door"; The first bay of the Yangtze River, "the first wonder in the world"; Baishuitai, known as the "fairy field"; Bitahai, known as the "Pearl of the Plateau"; Napahai, a paradise for black-necked cranes, makes tourists amazed.
The vertical valley of Hengduan Mountain in the south extension of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwest Yunnan is the boundary mountain between Yunnan and Tibet, which is closely connected with Prince Snow Mountain. Later, the locals called the two connected snow-capped mountains Meili Snow Mountain, and the local Tibetans regarded them as "sacred mountains". Meili Snow Mountain is connected to Adoni Mountain in Tibet in the north and Robbie Snow Mountain in the south, with an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters. The peak is covered with snow all year round, and below 4000 meters above sea level is a vast virgin forest. There are 13 peaks with an average elevation above 6000m, which are called "Thirteen Peaks of Prince Edward", each with its own characteristics and closely connected. Kawabog, the main peak of Meili, is a sacred mountain in the hearts of the Tibetan people in Kangba, with an altitude of 6740 meters, which is the first peak in Yunnan Province.
Meili Snow Mountain is famous for its majesty and mystery. As early as 1930s, American scholars praised Kawaberg as "the most beautiful mountain in the world":
This is the loveliest mountain in the world, almost a wonderful pyramid. The outline is simple, like a child drawing two hooks, but the height, width and three-dimensional sense are not the same. It is so brilliant, so quiet!
This is the description of the snow-capped mountains in Lost Horizon. Many people think that this is the Cavabaugh Snow Mountain in Diqing. Therefore, Meili Snow Mountain attracts the attention of the world for a long time with its unique charm, and also casts a mysterious color on the land under its feet.
Kawabog, which means "God of Snow Mountain" in Tibetan, is said to be the patron saint of Gajuba, a branch of Ma Ning (also known as Hongjiao, the oldest sect of Tibetan Buddhism), ranking first among the eight sacred mountains in Tibetan areas. In the hearts of Tibetans, it is an inviolable holy land. When the weather is clear, the quiet blue sky in Qingyuan sets off the nobleness and magnificence of Xuefeng, and the white edge of Kawabao Peak points directly at the sky. In the morning light of clouds steaming and thin smoke, fog is its mysterious veil, and clouds are its ethereal and gentle belt. Snow is whiter and brighter than clouds. Clouds and fog are just symbols of graceful and restrained snow peaks.
Almost all Tibetans in Diqing believe in Tibetan Buddhism, and some other ethnic minorities also believe in Tibetan Buddhism, which occupies an extremely important position in the hearts of Tibetans. When you go to Tibetan areas, you can see splendid temples, many monks, mani prayer piles, white stupas and prayer flags on the top of the mountain. The profound influence of Tibetan Buddhism on Tibetans can be seen from their family layout, costumes, daily work, festivals, weddings and funerals, children and so on. There are many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Diqing, the most famous of which is Gadansong Zanlin Temple, which is known as the "Little Potala Palace", and Gadong Chikulinji in Deqin. Smaller monasteries are all over the country.
There are many Naxi people in Diqing, who live along the Jinsha River, such as Shangri-La March 8th, and the Lanjiang River in Weixi and Deqin County. Historically, the Naxi people in the territory generally believed in Dongba. The priest of this religion is called Dongba, so the name of this religion is Dongba. Bai Di, Sanba Township, Shangri-La County, is the holy land of Dongba religion. Teacher Dongba abides by such a rule: "Dongba who has never been to Bai Di is not really Dongba." Therefore, in the past 250 years, Dongba Christians have made pilgrimages to Bai Di from the surrounding areas to learn classics and practical arts. Dongba Sutra records Dongba Sutra (i.e. Dongba hieroglyphics) and Dongba religion created by Dingbashiro, the first saint of Dongba, when he arrived in Bai Di. In addition, A Min Shiluo, another ancestor of Dongba religion, is from Bai Di, and his descendants still live in Bai Di.
Christianity and Catholicism spread in Diqing a long time ago, and a French Catholic church was built in the hinterland of Diqing by the Lancang River. The Woods around the church are lush and the fruit trees are towering. In the fruit season, the fruits are numerous; The church also grows authentic French grapes. This is the main church in Yi area of Yunnan, and the famous Catholic foreign missionary society in Paris, France-Cizhong Church.
Kava Castle is regarded as a sacred mountain by local Tibetans. Although explorers and mountaineers are fascinated by its mystery, the differences in culture and religious beliefs also make mountaineering controversial among local Tibetans. The Chinese and Japanese mountaineering teams have reached the summit three times in a row, but none of them have reached the summit. Although the elevation of Meili Snow Mountain is not very high, the elevation difference from Mingyong Village (2,200m above sea level) to the summit is 4,540m. Meili Mountain has frequent precipitation and loose soil. The vertical climate at the foot of the mountain is prominent and the weather is changeable; The surrounding glaciers are highly mobile, and avalanches and ice collapses often occur. Therefore, no one has reached the top of Kawaberg Peak so far. In the last few days of 199 1, the Chinese and Japanese mountaineering teams tried to conquer this snow-capped mountain again, but it turned out to be the second largest mountain disaster in the history of human mountaineering: a joint Chinese and Japanese mountaineering team composed of six Japanese and 1 1 Japanese was all killed while climbing Kawa Peak, which is the famous "Meili Mountain Disaster" and also human beings. Their bodies were not discovered by local Tibetans who went up the mountain to collect medicines until 1998, and they were properly placed.
Kava Castle lets conquerors go home with regrets or throw their souls into the snow-capped mountains. Therefore, at the request of the local Tibetans, the relevant state departments in China made a decision to postpone climbing the Kawabao Snow Mountain, and the local government also explicitly banned climbing the Kawabao Snow Mountain. Kawaberg has become the only mountain that has not been conquered by human beings so far.