Dabasun Nor, Inner Mongolia

Dabasun Nor was a former salt lake in the northwest corner of the Ordos Loop in what is now the Hanggin Banner of Ordos Prefecture, Inner Mongolia, China.

For other uses, see Dabasun Nor.
Dabasun Nor
Mongolian name
Mongolian scriptᠳᠠᠪᠤᠰᠤᠨ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ
Dayan Haizi
Traditional Chinese大鹽海子
Simplified Chinese大盐海子
PostalCharamannai Nor
Literal meaningGreat Salt Lake
Dalay Dabasun
Mongolian name
Mongolian scriptᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ ᠳᠠᠪᠤᠰᠤᠨ

Names

Dabasun Nor[1][2] is a romanization of the lake's Mongolian name, which means simply "Salt Lake". The same name also appears as Da-ba-sun Nor,[3] Dabasun-Nor, Dabsoun Nor,[4] and Dabsoun-Noor.[5] The name was calqued into Chinese as 大鹽海子 (Dàyán Hǎizi),[6][1] "the Great Salt Lake".

It was also known to foreign geographers as Charamannai Nor,[7] Kara-Mannaï-Omo,[8] Karamanni Omo,[9] Hara Manlay Nuur,[10] and Dalay Dabasun,[4] the last meaning "Sea" or "Ocean of Salt", although these names were unknown to locals by the 20th century.[6]

Geography

In the 1840s, the lake was reckoned as about 20 lis (about 13 km or 8.1 mi) in circumference.[5] As late as the mid-1950s, Dabasun Nor was reckoned as usually 13 km (8 mi) long and 2.4–3.2 km (1.5–2 mi) wide, with an expansive salt marsh to its east.[6][1] After a rain, its depth could reach as much as 1.8 m (6 ft).[6] Its former bed lies about 1,300 m (4,300 ft) above sea level.[11]

The area surrounding the lake was once so saturated with salt and natron as to glow white and was scattered with thorn-covered yardangs.[5] The aridity and salinity precluded almost any trees from growing.[3]

History

Przhevalsky recorded the local tradition that the burial place of Genghis Khan was found by traveling about 200 km (120 mi) south of Dabasun Nor. [12]

In the 1840s, Huc and Gabet followed a caravan route south of the lake. The few freshwater springs that occurred were marked at the time by long poles, each topped with a small flag.[5] Their journey came just a decade after Tao Zhu's liberalization of the imperial salt monopoly, and Huc reported that the lake's salt trade had become so extensive as to supply several nearby provinces.[5] This made the area economically important for trade and popular as a destination along caravan routes, but did little to help locals for whom the salt was nearly worthless. The salinity of the ground also kept them from growing any crops[3] or keeping cattle, although camels[5] and sheep were able to thrive on the local thorny vegetation.[13][3] Wild lizards, deer, and rabbits were also abundant into the 20th century.[6]

The lake was still exporting large quantities of salt into the 1930s,[11] but by the early 20th century the revenue was being kept by the local Mongol lord at Hanggin[6] and its reduced economic importance meant that most trade followed the Yellow River around the curve of the Ordos, only bothering with crossing directly across the desert when summer flooding made the river valley impractical.[14]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Zhang (1956).
  2. Chambers Encyclopaedia (1968), Vol. XV, p. 189.
  3. Pereira (1911), p. 262.
  4. Zirkoff (1972), p. 657.
  5. Hazlitt (1852), pp. 204–206.
  6. Pereira (1911), p. 263.
  7. Stanford (1917), p. 22.
  8. Dict. Géogr. Uni. (1839), p. 183.
  9. Brué (1821).
  10. AMS (1949).
  11. Hedin (1943), p. 81.
  12. Cordier & al. (1920), p. 249.
  13. Hazlitt (1852), pp. 210–211.
  14. Pereira (1911), p. 261.

Bibliography
  • "NK-49: Kuei-sui", 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic Maps, Washington: United States Army Map Service, 1949.
  • Dictionnaire Géographique Universel, Vol. VIII, Brussels: A. Lacrosse, 1839. (in French)
  • Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna (1877), Collected Writings: Isis Unveiled, Vol. I: Science, New York: J.W. Bouton, Boris de Zirkoff's rev. ed. 1972, reprinted 2000.
  • Brué, Adrien-Hubert (July 1821), Carte Générale de l'Empire Chinois et du Japon, Paris: J. Andriveau-Goujon. (in French)
  • Hedin, Sven; et al. (1943), Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin: History of the Expedition in Asia, 1927–1935, The Sino-Swedish Expedition, No. 24, Part II: 1928–1933, Göteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag.
  • Huc, Évariste Régis (1852), Hazlitt, William (ed.), Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China during the Years 1844–5–6, Vol. I, London: National Illustrated Library.
  • Pereira, George (March 1911), "A Journey across the Ordos", The Geographical Journal (PDF), Vol. 37, No. 3, London: Royal Geographical Society, pp. 260–264, doi:10.2307/1777398.
  • Polo, Marco (1920), Cordier, Henri; et al. (eds.), The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Vol. I, London: John Murray, reprinted 1926.
  • Stanford, Edward (1917), Complete Atlas of China, 2nd ed., London: China Inland Mission.
  • Zhang Kun (1956), A Regional Handbook on the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Human Relations Area Files, Far Eastern and Russian Institute at the University of Washington.

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