Introduction

In the daily life of humans,there are many seemingly ordinary things,behind each of which is a broad and profound history regarding the development of the human beings. The use of fire has given out the dawn light of the human civilization. The manufacturing of tools expands the living spaces of human beings and liberates human beings themselves. The exploitation and utilization of salt is also one of the great miracles of the interaction between human beings and the Nature.

Salt is closely related to the development of the human society. Salt is an indispensable substance in the daily life of human beings. Together with soil,air,water and fire,they constitute the five major elements for the existence of human beings. The first function of salt for human beings is to satisfy physiological needs. Salt regulates osmotic pressure in human tissues,transports water to cells and maintains the neutral function of liquids. Salt excites nerves. It is a vital raw material for the production of gastric juice and bile. Salt is essential for maintaining the physiological balance of a human body. Modern medicine has proved that chlorine,sodium,potassium and other components in salt have a great impact on human muscles,nerves,heart and other organs,as well as digestion,blood pressure,hormones and other functions. Salt deficiency causes muscle spasm,headache,nausea,illness,laziness,arrhythmia and other symptoms. In salt deficiency,people will suffer from tiredness,loss of appetite,indigestion,mental disorders and even death.

In the long history,salt and human beings have formed an indissoluble bond. At first,human beings didn't know anything about salt. In the primitive human era,people lived a life of fishing and hunting. By eating animal flesh and drinking blood,humans naturally absorbed salt,without the need to deliberately seek this special substance. In the middle and late Neolithic Period,with the rise of agriculture,food began to be dominated by grain,so it was necessary for human beings to find new sources of salt in the Nature. The survival,migration and tribal settlement of the human race began to center closely around the search for salt and became highly dependent on the distribution of salt resources.

Without salt,human beings cannot survive and live normally,nor can they evolve and develop normally,not to mention creating a brilliant human culture."In the primitive society,salt was the most influential economic force among various ethnic groups. It is more important than food and clothing,which various ethnic groups have they own ways to be self-sufficient. Only salt is geographically limited and cannot be created by themselves. However,human beings must rely on salt to survive. Therefore,it would inevitably become the gravity of inter-ethnic relations." The human race's understanding of salt is both long-standing and profound. In order to adapt to and transform the Nature,as well as to transform themselves,early human beings had increasing consciousness to chase after salt. This subconscious pursuit of salt made people not only understand the physical salt,but also form a salt-related concept in their minds. The consciousness of pursuing salt is mainly manifested in two aspects:First,to meet the needs of their own survivals,many prehistoric human beings lived around ancient natural salt lakes,salt ponds,salt springs and salt rocks and gave rise to the earliest primitive communities which developed into clan groups. Second,for the need to pursue salt profits,it led to the interest struggle between groups,countries and the central and local governments. Individuals,groups,societies and states had interest and power struggles centering on salt. Later,people were conscious to develop and utilize salt resources for large-scale production,transportation, marketing and management in order to meet people's lives,increase social wealth and amass wealth. These profoundly influential social behaviors manifested therein have created a colorful salt culture.

Only with salt did the people know tastes. Only with tastes did a culture appear. Salt is indispensable to kings,generals and commoners. However,due to social inequality,in a long historical period,the salt produced was also divided into various grades. The best salt was enjoyed by kings, while the inferior salt was used by commoners. According to Fan Chuo's Man Shu ( Book of Non-Han States )in the Tang Dynasty(618—907),the white salt produced from Meijing Well in Lu'nan during the Nanzhao Period was exclusively reserved for the imperial family of Nanzhao. Salt played a highly important role in the formation of ancient ethnic groups and countries,and in the transfers of ancient hegemony and the shifts of regimes. The common salt-seeking consciousness of human beings urged them to distinguish clans and tribes by their blood relationships,to distinguish members by regions,and to form a relatively stable ancient ethnic group,and then to establish an ancient country. Salt has an irresistible cohesive force for farming,nomadic and other ethnic groups.

The salt culture is material-based. Then,centering around this material form,it permeates the material culture,behavioral culture,system culture,concept culture and mentality culture and other cultures across the human society. Merging into people's behaviors and thought,it is a three-dimensional and holistic cultural form. The study of the salt culture starts from the relationships between salt and human beings and between salt and the society,so as to explore the cultural connotations behind various social phenomena around salt. Salt is closely related to the progress and development of the human society. Salt mediates many fields of human society and manifests its incredible magical force. Researchers on the history of salt have to reexamine salt as a rich cultural phenomenon from a broader perspective .

Erhai region in Western Yunnan is an important well salt producing area in Chinese history. Yanlu Mountain, west of the Luoping Mountain—Cangshan Mountain geographical boundary in Erhai region,and the"two-river basin"of Bijiang River and Bishui River bred by Yanlu Mountain are one of the sources of the aboriginal culture in Erhai region. The Western Yunnan Salt Horse Ancient Road in this area is an ancient road for the ancient people of Erhai region to search for salt springs,and one of traffic arteries in Hengduan Mountains in the past. With Yanlu Mountain and the basin of the two salty rivers,namely Bijiang River and Bishui River,originating from Yanlu Mountain as the core,it gave rise to the Salt Horse Ancient Road network crisscrossing the Hengduan Mountains in Western Yunnan. The existence of ancient salt springs in the"two-river basin"in the Longitudinal Valley Area of Hengduan Mountains and the dependence of the human survival on salt made this area one of the birthplaces of human civilization. It's a historical necessity. With the development of salt resources in this area,the Salt Horse Ancient Road has gradually become a belt of cultural exchanges and dissemination in religious and scientific ideas history. It is centering on the triangle of Yunnan,Tibet and Myanmar,and traversing Lancang River,Nujiang River and Hengduan Mountains. It's mainly featured by salt carried by humans or horses,accompanied by commodity exchanges. From the study of Chinese and foreign ancient literature,we can find that there existed traffic routes with commercial activities as the main content between Southwest China and Myanmar,India and Central Asia in the pre-Qin period(Before BC 221). From the analysis of new archaeological materials,the traffic between Southwest China and India had already existed in Shang(BC 1600—BC 1046)and Zhou (BC 1046—BC 256)Dynasties. Some traffic routes extended through India and reached Central Asia,Iran and West Asia,having absorbed and borrowed some elements from the Near East Civilization. With abundant resources of salt wells ,this area was where early humans frequently communicated,and even competed for the salt profit. It aroused the attention of the regime in the Central Plains of the Han Ethnic Group,which then adopted measures such as setting up counties and commanderies for the planning and management of this area,thus promoting the multi-ethnic and multicultural integration in Erhai region. This led to a qualitative change in the social structure of the region.

At present,the people of the Bai Ethnic Group are mainly distributed in Dali,Kunming,Anning and other places of Yunnan Province. Salt wells in the area of the Bai Ethnic Group were developed earlier. As early as the Han Dynasty(BC 206—220 AD),salt had been produced in Anning,Dayao and Yunlong counties. According to"On Salt Affairs"in A Newly Compiled General History of Yunnan ,in the first year(BC 110)of Yuanfeng Period of Emperor Wu,salt officials were set up in 28 salt-producing commanderies throughout the country. Lianran County of Yizhou (present-day Anning City)was one of them. During the Western Han Dynasty(BC 206—25 AD),"Bisu"County was set up in the area of Yunlong and Lanping. The name"Bisu"came from the Bijiang River that flows through the region. In the language of the Bai Ethnic Group,"salt"is called "Bi". As a result,Bijiang River means Salt River. The history of developing salt wells in the salt well area of the Bai Ethnic Group is recorded to be more than 2, 000 years.

The salt well culture of the Bai Ethnic Group in Erhai region is featured by its strong local ethnic cultural features. Over the years,a variety of special reports,single papers and introductory monographs have appeared, but most of them are partial. Relevant chapters are found in Yunnan provincial chronicles and some county chronicles and salt industry chronicles,but they are limited to the descriptions of mining and produces. For example,Liu Guangping's Heijing : A Fading Salt Capital gives an introductory description of the history of the salt-related rise and fall of Heijing Town in Chuxiong. Yunlong County Chronicle , Eryuan County Chronicle , Lanping County Chronicle and Lanping Salt Industry Chronicle all give general descriptions of the development history of the salt industry in this area. It is a unique way to explore the Bai Ethnic Group's unique ethnical culture by taking salt wells as the carriers of the material culture,and the living folk salt custom culture as the clue for a comprehensive study of the salt well culture of the Bai Ethnic Group in Erhai region.

Nanzhao and Dali have vital positions in Chinese history,especially in the ethnic and local history of Southwest China. It unified Yunnan and other places. It brought politics,economy and culture to a new height. During this period,Nanzhao and Dali had a lot of salt wells with sufficient production scales. This was recorded in Man Shu written by Fan Chuo. According to Yunnan Historical Materials Series with Fang Guoyu as the Editor-in-Chief,"The salt is widely boiled at that time. The salt from Anning wells was consumed by ethnical groups in Dianchi,Tonghai,Shengma and other ethnic groups. The salt from Lu'nan wells was supplied to the people in Hedan Baiya and Yunnan. The salt from salt wells in Kungming met the requirements of ethnic groups in Wudeng,Lianglin,Fengpa,Moxie and others. Various salt wells in Jianchuan are relied on by Shiman,Shunman and other non-Han ethnic groups. In short,we could never deny that salt has been an important medium for strengthening exchanges among different ethnic groups. With the development of productive forces,businessmen began to be active,especially those in Hedan (Erhai region). Although the barter was the main method,the salt was counted in the number of silk clothes or in grains. (Each grain of salt weights at 50 grams to 100 grams. The salt grains are counted before trading. )This was the economic tie with which Nanzhao was able to gather scattered ethnic groups and regions".

In the Yuan(1206—1368)and Ming(1368—1644)Dynasties,salt officials were dispatched to the sites of the salt wells. Inheriting the policies of the Ming Dynasty,the Qing Dynasty (1616—1911 )established the Salt Control Circuit in the provincial capital. In the salt wells were set up Salt Distribution Supervisorate or the Salt Commissioner. After the Republic of China,the salt taxation occupied a decisive position for the internal revenues. In the fourth year of the Republic of China,when Yunnan organized the Protector Army to have a punitive expedition against Yuan Shikai(1859—1916,a warlord),the military expenses mainly came from the salt taxation.

The distribution of salt wells in Erhai region are relatively concentrated. For example,there are five salt wells in Yunlong,including Nuodeng,Baofeng,Dajing,Shundang and Shijing. There is Lajing Well in Lanping,Misha Well in Jianchuan,Qiaohou Well in Eryuan. Most of these ancient salt wells are located at the historic hubs of the Salt Horse Ancient Road in Western Yunnan. Most of them had become the material distribution centers for contacts and exchanges with Myanmar,India,Tibet and the Mainland. The market towns where salt wells are located are generally rich areas of the ethnic culture of the Bai Ethnic Group. Because of the development of the modern salt industry and the shift of traffic arteries,most of these areas have lost their previous advantages. Consequently,they have relatively complete preservation of traditional culture. The development of salt wells is a long historical process. Among them,there are many historical and cultural deposits,such as ethnic migration,ethnic cultural identity,religious arts,and folk arts and crafts. This book explores the Han culture from the unique angle of the discovery and development of salt wells in Erhai region. It also explores the influence of the cultures of Southeast Asian countries on the Bai Ethnic Group. This book probes into the internal laws and external causes of the discoveries,development and futures of the salt wells of the Bai Ethnic Group,so as to objectively and accurately grasp the internal characteristics of the salt well culture of the Bai Ethnic Group as a traditional excellent culture. It is a vital and challenging task to explore the ethnic cultural phenomena radiated and derived from the historical process of the salt well development.

"The Salt Horse Ancient Road"is a vital cultural concept in the salt well area in Erhai. It is far earlier than"the Tea Horse Ancient Road"widely concerned by the academia. It can be said that the predecessor of"the Tea Horse Ancient Road"is"the Salt Horse Ancient Road". Salt is one of the earliest commodities exchanged in the human society. Starting from the key material culture of salt,the book discusses the formation laws of the business consciousness of the Bai Ethnic Group,which were matching with the business caravan culture of the Bai Ethnic Group. It is academically valuable in studying the migrating culture,the craftsman culture and the emigration culture of the Bai Ethnic Group. The Salt Horse Ancient Road in Western Yunnan was the earliest ancient road for people to search for salt and has tribal migrations in the southwestern frontier. It is the predecessor of Shu-Yuandu (Sichuan-Ancient India) Road,Southern Silk Road,Bonan Ancient Road and Tea Horse Ancient Road. It contrasts with the failure of the academia to give enough credit to "the Salt Horse Ancient Road ". In the long historical process,various groups in the southwestern frontier have been continuously using the Salt Horse Ancient Road for commodity circulations and folk exchanges. It gave rise to a rich salt well culture,horse caravan culture,ancient road culture,as well as the resulting historical and geographical structure,ethnic social structure and folk trade mechanism. Even in modern times,cross-border smugglers still choose the most secret route of the traditional"Salt Horse Ancient Road".

As salt is an important cohesive force for any primitive civilization,the level of a prehistoric civilization is directly proportional to its difficulty of getting salt. In the formations and shifts of local regimes in Nanzhao and Dali,the salt wells had played vital roles. The exploitation and utilization of salt wells is undoubtedly a great miracle for the ancestors of the Bai Ethnic Group to transform and conquer nature. From the roles of salt wells in enriching the economic life and supporting the regimes of the Bai Ethnic Group,it was most obvious that salt wells had a significant impact on the social and economic life and regimes. This is why we attach great importance to the study of the salt well culture of the Bai Ethnic Group. Only by recognizing the role of the salt well development in the economic history of the Bai Ethnic Group,can we explain its great significance and role in the social history of the Bai Ethnic Group. Only by exploring carefully the various cultural phenomena arising from the Bai Ethnic Group's understanding and conquering of the Nature can we give powerful and objective explanations.

The development of salt wells used to be the economic lifeblood of the area of the Bai Ethnic Group. The "salt"and "iron"in the ancient society are equivalents to"petroleum"and "nuclear weapons"in the present world. As far back as the Nanzhao period,salt once became the currency in people's trade—"being counted in the number of silk clothes". Some scholars even proposed that the wars in the Tianbao Period(742—756)of the Tang Dynasty and some wars between Nanzhao and Tubo were caused by the struggles for salt. In history,the development of salt wells had created brilliant ethnic cultures in some areas of the Bai Ethnic Group. The cooking households and salt merchants in the area of salt wells and the people of the Bai Ethnic Group participating in the trade and transportation of salt had made great contributions to the promotion of the national industrial and commercial civilization. It is a precious wealth worthy of inheritance and development. During the long-term development of salt wells,the Bai Ethnic Group has blended with Han and other ethnic groups. Their mutual influence gave rise to a unique culture of the Bai Ethnic Group,adding a brilliant page to the culture of the Chinese nation. Almost all of the salt well development areas of the Bai Ethnic Group have become leading literature regions which initiated the promotion of their education.

A constant and sufficient supply of salt allowed the ancestors of Erhai region to liberate themselves from the dependence on salt and gave rise to clans and tribes. As a result,they had free time to engage in agricultural and animal husbandry development and learn to use salt well resources to exchange with salt-deficient foreigners,thus forming the cultural blend between tribes in the early Erhai region and the outside world. Having appeared before Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions,the ShuYuandu Road enabling exchanges with East Asia and South Asia is a good proof.

Due to the lack of historical records in the minor areas in the recent and ancient times,the ease of salt melting and classification,and the absence of ruins due to the continuous development of salt resources,the later generations find it difficult to have a comprehensive understanding of the prehistoric culture of this region. However,the characteristics of cultural interaction between the counties and commanderies set in the Han Dynasty and the salt well area in Erhai can be grasped.

First of all,the aboriginal culture of Erhai region is a mixed culture of the farming culture and the nomadic culture. All ancient legends about the discovery of salt wells in this area have one thing in common,that is,brine was first discovered by animals(cattle,sheep,etc. ). Because animals are particularly sensitive to salt,people followed animals and eventually found somewhere to settle down. Even in the late stage of development,large-scale agricultural development was still difficult to form due to the constraints of the geographical environment of high mountains and deep valleys. At present,we can still see the farming way of"one man,two cattle and a plough",the transportation with horse caravans and others,and the habits of relocating pastures to mountains at different altitudes according to different seasons. From these we see the genes of the aboriginal culture.

Secondly,the aboriginal culture of Erhai region has equal and open commercial cultural factors and an open cultural structure accepting any more advanced culture. The discovery and management of salt wells,with salt as one of the important commodities exchanged at the beginning of the human society,gave birth to people's commodity exchange consciousness in Erhai region. The aboriginal culture of Erhai region have the factors of a commercial culture. In the exchange of goods,there was created the idea of equality and openness with other groups. This marked the origin of the market culture of Erhai region flourishing later and the open cultural structure ready to accept any more advanced culture. Unlike Bashu Area(present-day Sichuan)with rapid acceptance of and integration with other cultures,the culture of Erhai region has long maintained its independence with its own strengths,making the Chinese culture from outside only one aspect of the region's multi-cultures rather than an dominant position. This is related to the factor that this area had control over the salt resources in this region. In the human history,regions depending other regions for the supply of salt would be assimilated more profoundly by different cultures. In early years,the salt in Nuodeng Well of Yunlong was mostly developed by the people of the Han Ethnic Group. After living in Nuodeng for several generations,the people in Nuodeng were like General Chu Qiao and his soldiers from the Land of Chu(present-day Hunan)who had "changed their clothes and followed the local customs"and turned themselves into the people of the Bai Ethnic Group. This reflects the digestion and assimilation of the culture of the Han Ethnic Group by the deep-rooted aboriginal culture of Erhai region.

Thirdly,there was a simple thought of having reverence for the Nature,which respects heaven-bestowed treasures(salt as an essential for the human survival). There was also a culture of worshiping animals which found salt wells. Many clans in this area had the customs to worship animals,with the totem cultures such as Ji Clan("Rooster Clan"),Hu Clan("Tiger Clan")and others. For example,the Rooster Clan(a branch of the Bai Ethnic Group)who were the first settlers in Laji Well in Laping worship roosters. This has a far-reaching impact on the polytheistic worships of ethnic groups in the Erhai region.

Nanzhao and Dali Culture is a great variant of the aboriginal culture in Erhai region. In view of the balance of their own interests,the Tang Dynasty supported Nanzhao to unify the six Zhaos and build a powerful local regime. In the history of political relations at that time,Nanzhao became a decisive chess piece to fight against Tubo. Nanzhao was at peace or wars among extraordinarily frequent political and cultural exchanges. Nanzhao had extensively absorbed advanced cultural factors from the Tang Dynasty,Tubo and even India,and organically combined them with the aboriginal culture of Erhai region,so that Nanzhao and Dali culture turned out to be outstanding in the end,with cultural achievements handed down to future generations. Among them,the relationship between the rise of the local regime and the fight over salt profit and the culture of salt wells in Nanzhao and Dali is also one of the important factors that can not be ignored.