What is the meaning of the title of "Gold Zhangye, Silver Wuwei"? How did it come from?

Zhangye and Wuwei are two cities in Gansu, and they are also two important and ancient cities. In ancient times, there was a saying that "Zhangye is gold and Wuwei is silver". What does this statement mean? Are these two cities really rich in gold and silver?

There are different opinions on how these two names came from, and there is no unified answer, but several statements are more reliable. Let's talk about these interesting statements.

First, occupy a superior geographical position.

Gansu is located between Altun Mountain, Qilian Mountain and Mazong Mountain at the western end of Hexi Corridor. It is an oasis embedded in the desert Gobi. Hexi Corridor was the hub of the Silk Road in ancient times, and its economy and culture were very prosperous. ：

Located in the middle of Hexi Corridor, Zhangye, formerly known as Ganzhou, is an important passage into Hexi Corridor on the ancient Silk Road. The terrain here is very flat, with four distinct seasons, fertile land and abundant water resources, which makes Zhangye an oasis plain with relatively developed agriculture.

It is rich in wheat, corn, rice, beans, fruits and vegetables. It also has a long history, splendid culture and beautiful natural scenery. Since ancient times, it has been known as the "hometown of Sang Ma", "Jiangnan" and "golden Zhangye"

People use intertextual rhetoric to describe the richness here, so they use "Jin Zhangye" and "Yin Wuwei" to represent these two places.

Besides, Wuwei is one of the four counties in Hexi. Wuwei's name is the name of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which means "martial arts and strength". Wuwei was once the capital of the northwest and the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

Therefore, Wuwei also has a deep cultural accumulation, because it is slightly inferior to Zhangye in agriculture, so it is called "Yin Wuwei". Zhangye is called "Golden Zhangye" first, and Wuwei can only be ranked second in "Silver Wuwei".

Second, the theory of five elements

There is also a saying that is recognized from the theory of geographical five elements. Because Zhangye is located in the west of Wuwei, and the five elements of China and the West are gold, it is called "Golden Zhangye", followed by Wuwei, so it is also called "Silver Wuwei".

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Third, folk customs.

1, Jin, Guo

According to legend, during the Republic of China, there was a corrupt official named Guo in Zhangye. He plundered people's fat and made a lot of money. Later, he heard that Wuwei was not only beautiful in scenery, but also prosperous in economy. So, he used his own money to go up and down to Wuwei to be an official. Needless to say, he is greedy again.

People in these two places hate him, so they made up a jingle, "Zhang Ye fished for gold and Wuwei fished for silver, so just call him Guo Tuo." This has the saying of "Golden Zhangye" and "Silver Wuwei".

2. "Jin Zhangye". Legend has it that an important official of the imperial court visited Hexi in the past. During his trip, he heard that there is a popular folk song in Ganzhou and Liangzhou: "Liangzhou is not cold without rice, and Ganzhou has water, lakes and beaches."

However, the climate in these two places is quite different. What he saw in Liangzhou was drought and water shortage everywhere, but in Ganzhou, on the contrary, there was water everywhere.

At that time, Ganzhou people called Ganzhou "Silver Ganzhou" and Liangzhou people called Liangzhou "Jinliangzhou". However, after investigation, the official thought that Gansu and Liangliang's climate were just the opposite, so it was most appropriate to change the name of Gansu and Liangliang. Finally, Jinliangzhou became Yinliangzhou because of water and silver, and Yinanzhou became Jinguanzhou because of dryness and fire. Zhangye was called Ganzhou in ancient times, so it is also known as "Golden Zhangye".

3. During the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, Hexi Corridor was known as "Golden Zhangye", "Silver Wuwei" and "Copper Jiuquan".

It is said that Yuan Zhancheng, the governor of Gansu at that time, wrote on the throne presented to Emperor Qianlong: "I am now cleaning up the land tax in the province and gradually preparing. Chagansu is located in the border, with many mountains and few fields, and places that can be cultivated all year round are promoted as usual. There is a distinction between gold, silver, copper and iron, and there is a distinction between the middle slope of Sichuan and the steep slope of Sichuan. Probably, gold and Yinchuan are always superior, the flat slope halfway up the mountain is inferior, and the steep slope of copper and iron is inferior. The collection is different. "

What do you mean? Translated into vernacular, that is to say, I cleaned up the land tax in Gansu, and now it is almost the same, and it will be cleaned up soon. Because Gansu is remote, there are many mountains and few fields here. For arable land, taxes were raised as usual.

This tax item is divided into four grades: gold, silver, copper and iron. This is a bit like the current sports competition, where the gold medal comes first, the silver medal comes second and the bronze medal comes third. In other words, fields are classified according to fields in mountainous areas, steep slopes, slopes and plains. Generally speaking, the land of gold and silver is called the first-class field, the flat slope field in the mountain is called the second-class field, and the copper-iron field is called the second-class field. The standard of tax collection is determined according to the grade of land.

In this way, we can understand that in ancient times, land charges in Gansu were graded according to the actual situation of the fields, including gold, silver, copper and iron.

Zhangye is located in the middle of Hexi Corridor. Most of the land is oasis plain with the best agricultural conditions, so it is called "Golden Zhangye".

Wuwei in Hexi Corridor, on the other hand, is slightly inferior to Zhangye, and can only be classified as a silver grade, which can only be called "Silver Wuwei".