Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.3
Ordos Plateau and adjacent areas
abrupt turn at the Bend of the Yellow River. As early as the late Pleistocene epoch,
the river bed had begun to move eastward long before reaching the Bend. This
movement still continues gradually to the present day. During the process of east-
ward turning, water from the Yellow River frequently overflowed into a lake occu-
pying the deserted old river bed, and occasionally flooded surrounding low-lying
country. More than 2,000 years ago, when the Han Dynasty first began to open up
this area, a long narrow lake ran from east to west at the foot of the Yin Mountains.
It was called Tusheng Lake. During the Han Dynasty land was reclaimed on the
alluvial plain to the south of this lake. People were moved here to settle on the land
and military fortresses were established to defend the new settlements against inva-
sion and plunder by Huns from the north. During this period, hordes of settlers
moved from the hinterlands to the banks of the Yellow River near the southern edge
of the Yin Mountains, including the northern part of the present Ulanbuhe Desert
and the Ordos Plateau. In 127 B.C. alone no fewer than 100,000 people moved here.
The western part of the Yin Mountains and the plains south of Tusheng Lake were
particularly important as areas for new settlements. A broad and smooth mountain
path to the north-west of Tusheng Lake passed through the gorge of the Yin
Mountains and afforded an important pass leading to Hun territory beyond the
mountains. To defend the southern entrance to this pass, a small stone fort was built
on the steep slope to its west. This fort, the renowned Cock and Deer Fort, has been
preserved to this day.
