History fuels boom in old city

Pillar of diversity

Sandwiched between two winding sections of the Great Wall and situated at the easternmost tip of the Silk Road during the 5th century, Datong was a hub where Chinese, foreigners and ethnic groups from north China engaged in cultural interaction.

Its distinct geography and history contributed to its ethos of openness and inclusivity. Yao Zijin, a local cultural specialist, said Datong is the epitome of the history of the multi-ethnic and unified Chinese nation taking shape.

Two historical events set monumental examples for generations to come. Some 2,330 years ago, King Wuling of Zhao State, which Datong was a part of during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC), feared that the flapping robes his commanders and soldiers wore might be a hindrance, so he initiated military reform that is now encapsulated in the four-character idiom "Wearing Hu-styled attire and shooting from horseback".

By adopting much tighter attire suited to horse-riding nomads — who were generally categorized as Hu at the time — and training the cavalry in horseback archery, the king's reforms greatly improved the Zhao military's fighting capabilities.

It served as a curtain-raiser for greater interaction and mutual learning between different ethnic groups inhabiting the ancient Datong region, and the king's mausoleum is now a cultural heritage site.

Datong's ancient glory reached its apex when Pingcheng (an ancient name for the city) became the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), which was founded by the Xianbei ethnic group. Its rulers settled in the Datong region and decided to adopt Han Chinese family names, language and clothing.

Nowhere are the signs of that mutual learning and mixing more visible than in the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is home to 50,000 Buddhist stone sculptures and was built largely during the Northern Wei Dynasty period.

Its architecture consists of not only Chinese but also Indian and even Greek elements. Sculptures depicting musical scenes in 24 caves present a kaleidoscope of instruments, ranging from Han Chinese zithers and flutes, Xianbei horns, the waist-affixed drums of Qiuci State and Persian harps.

Yuan Xiaozhong, 55, is witness to the changes the grottoes have undergone over the past half century. Born in Yungang village adjacent to the grottoes, Yuan now heads the monitoring department at the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute.

"By delving deeper into the grottoes, I became increasingly convinced that Chinese civilization was jointly created by people of different ethnic groups. It was mutual learning between different cultures that sustained and invigorated Chinese culture, and that is also the wellspring of our cultural confidence," he said.