A century of Gongga: mankind's exploration of the snow-capped mountains

In the beginning of ancient times, who preached

How can we examine it when the upper and lower parts are not yet formed?

It is dark and gloomy, who can understand it?

Feng Yi only knows the image, how can we know it?

Towering snow-capped mountains and vast rivers

Mount Gongga, a century of exploration

The King's HatPhotographed by Chen Cheng

01 Introduction

Human beings are unaware of the unknown

Have a natural reverence

Have an instinct to explore nature

More than 2,000 years ago

Qu Yuan asked the first question about the universe.

Two thousand years later

Humankind's Centennial Exploration of Gongga

It is also a hard pursuit of the truth of nature.

02 Muya Gongga

Gongga Mountains

From Kangding Zheduo Pass in the north

South to Tianwan River in Luding

East to Dadu River

West to Yalong River

On the western Sichuan plateau

Over 6,000 square kilometers

The main peak of Mount Gongga is 7556 meters above sea level.

It is one of the mountains with the largest height difference in the world.

It is also the first peak of Hengduan Mountain.

Like an ice giant

Standing in the crisscrossing snowy paradise

Gongga

It is the home of the Muya Tibetans

They have integrated the culture of the Tanguts and Tibetans.

In the long history

Grazing and farming here

Drinking butter milk tea

Dance Muya Guozhuang

Treat Gongga as the god in your heart

Thank you for the grace of the snow mountain

Awe and dependence

We have lived like this for thousands of years.

03 Early Exploration

Curiosity, courage and persistence

Innate human qualities

It is the desire for nature and the yearning for truth

It was written into our genes in ancient times.

Rely on it

People have overcome the harsh natural environment

Humans are eager to know more

Expand your exploration of the world around you

19th to 20th century

A new round of geographical discoveries swept the world

Western explorers from the Age of Exploration

Breaking through the thorns to make your own way

1878

Austrian Lautze was the first to enter the Gongga Mountains for investigation

But this investigation

Only a few words left in history

What really made Gongga appear before the world

It was Joseph F. Rock, an Austrian-American.

▲ Joseph Locke, an Austrian-American

After many twists and turns, he came to Gongga

Photograph, draw and measure the height of snow-capped mountains

This is how the explorers measured:

Estimate your altitude based on personal feeling and air pressure

Measuring the angle of a mountain top with a compass

Using the estimated relationship between horizontal distance and angle

Calculate the approximate height of the summit

A relatively rough measurement method

The results will inevitably not be accurate

The wrong result leads to

Locke thought he had discovered the world's highest peak

He excitedly wrote in the telegram:

"Mount Gongga is the highest mountain on earth

Its altitude is 30,250 feet (9,220.2 meters)

Locke, the discoverer and measurer.

▲Locke's article "The Glories of the Minya Konka"

Source: etsy.com

Locke's advocacy made Gongga famous

This unintentional mistake

Many foreign explorers come here to visit.

Challenge the "World's Highest Peak"

But "King of Shushan"

Not a benevolent monarch.

Gongga is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plate.

Indosinian Movement and Yanshan Movement

Describe the outline of the large landform skeleton

The main peak of Mount Gongga stands tall above all other peaks.

Strong mountain and valley winds

The Great Snow Mountains running north-south

Intercepts a large amount of water vapor from the southeast and southwest

Make Gongga wet and rainy

Glaciation, frost weathering and water flow

The various landforms and topography that shape Mount Gongga

This also makes Gongga a "natural barrier" that is more difficult to climb than Mount Everest.

Changeable weather and steep terrain

In that era when technology was not well developed

Gongga has extinguished the glory of too many explorers

Avalanches and falls buried climbers in snow

According to incomplete statistics

Today

Only about 30 people have successfully reached the summit of Gongga

But dangerous

We cannot stop humans from exploring this snowy mountain.

04 Comprehensive scientific research began in the 1950s

The first Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition began

This was the most difficult period for scientific research on the Sichuan-Tibet line.

Gongga finally welcomed the Chinese

1957

All-China Federation of Trade Unions Mountaineering Team

Came to Mount Gongga for investigation

▲Group photo of the mountaineering team

This is a team of mountaineers

The "national team" composed of scientific researchers

Through many dangers

6 members successfully climbed the Gongga

But some people

Sleep forever in this cloud-top palace

▲Members of the Chinese mountaineering team climbing to the summit of Mount Gongga

From left: Shi Zhanchun, Shi Xiu, Peng Zhongmu, Liu Lianman, Guo Decun, Liu Dayi

▲An article published in the newspaper in memory of the four martyrs of Mount Gongga

Cui Zhijiu, the "Glacier Professor" who participated in the expedition

Here I wrote the first article in China

Scientific research papers on modern glaciers

Preliminary Observations on the Modern Glaciers of Mount Gongga

This article commemorates the

Comrades who died heroically

▲Cui Zhijiu, Acta Geographica Sinica, 1958, 25(3).

This investigation has brought Gongga a more comprehensive and integrated study.

1979 - 1980

At that time, it was the Chengdu Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences

(Now renamed Chengdu Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources)

Initiated a campaign against Gongga region

Study of geology, landforms, climate, soils, and vegetation

The expedition team members need to work more than ten hours a day

Supplies are also extremely scarce

Hardships are beyond words

The survey resulted in the publication of the "Gongga Mountain Vegetation"

and **Collection of papers on Geographical Survey of Mount Gongga**

It is a comprehensive research document on the local environment and natural resources.

▲Cover of "Vegetation of Mount Gongga"

▲Preface to "Geographical Survey of Mount Gongga"

1981

Scientists led by Academician Sun Honglie

Focus on the layout of comprehensive scientific research observation in the Hengduan Mountains

The investigation lasted for 4 years

More than 40 units

Hundreds of researchers participated in this survey

The final result is the "Scientific Investigation Series of the Hengshan Mountain Area of ​​the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau"

▲ "Hengduan Mountain Glaciers" from the "Scientific Investigation Series of the Hengduan Mountain Area of ​​the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau"

(Science Press, 1996-06)

▲"Birds in the Hengduan Mountains" from the "Scientific Investigation Series of the Hengduan Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau"

(Science Press, 1996-01)

▲"Vascular Plants in the Hengduan Mountains" from the "Scientific Survey Series of the Hengduan Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau"

(Science Press, 1996-01)

Involving multiple disciplines such as plants, animals, geology and geomorphology

The then Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology

A large amount of data was collected in Gongga area

Draw the first map of the glacier landform distribution of Mount Gongga

And remeasure the height of Mount Gongga

▲Glacier landform distribution map of Gongga Mountain

(Source: If you haven’t been to Gongga, your travel life is not complete "Outdoor Adventure")

1988

After repeated demonstration by scientists

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Finally, we chose Hailuogou on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga

Started to establish the Chinese Academy of Sciences Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experimental Station

(Gongga Mountain Station for short)

In 1996, Gongga Mountain Station was basically completed.

A comprehensive field observation room was built

And observe the forest ecosystem indicator system

Advanced equipment and equipment for information transmission

▲Old photo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experimental Station

(Source: Zhang Wenjing's "Hailuogou Scientific Expedition Notes")

Gongga Mountain Station integrates multi-level mountain ecosystems

and the impact of human activities on ecosystems

As the focus of research

Exploring the laws of mountain ecosystems

Predicting environmental trends in large regions

To rationally develop and utilize mountain resources

Provide scientific basis for protecting and improving mountain ecological environment

Alpine forest ecology in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

In the study of glaciation and environmental succession

Gongga Mountain Station left a magnificent scroll

▲The current Chinese Academy of Sciences Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experimental Station

05 Gongga today

The time has come to 2018

Li Zongli's team climbed to the top of Gongga

Since the last time a Chinese climbed to the top

61 years have passed

On the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Gonggashan Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor Cui Zhijiu came to Gongga again

▲Professor Cui Zhijiu (left) and Zhang Wenjing (right) visited Hailuogou again for investigation

(Source: Zhang Wenjing's "Hailuogou Scientific Expedition Notes")

The difference is

This time we took the cable car up the mountain

Gongga, a former natural barrier

It has become a famous tourist attraction both at home and abroad.

People can be intoxicated by the beauty of Gongga from any angle

Mountains, rivers, sun, moon, grass, and trees

They are all part of the fragile plateau ecosystem.

To protect Gongga

Established here

Gongga Mountain National Nature Reserve

06 Conclusion

The formation of Gongga predates the appearance of humans

In the distant future

They will coexist with us for a long time

Whether it is reverence or dependence

Curiosity, courage or persistence?

As we get to know Gongga more and more

Everything becomes clear

In this change and thousands of years of bondage

Humans are constantly reflecting on their relationship with nature

Human detector

Already reached the deep sea, deep space, deep earth

But human exploration will never stop.

Because the mountain is there

Source: Science Press

Author: Feng Qiao

Image source: Internet

References:

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[4] Su Zhen, Liang Dalan. Development conditions and distribution characteristics of marine glaciers in Gongga Mountain[J]. Glaciology and Geocryology, 1993.

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[8] Wang Genxu, Cheng Genwei, Liu Qiao, et al. Mountain surface environmental processes under global change: cognition and challenges - Review and prospects of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Gongga Mountain Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experimental Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [J]. Journal of Mountain Science, 2017(05):4-20.

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[11] Gong Boxun. Muya Gongga[M]. Bashu Publishing House, 2004.

[12] Submission | Past scientific expeditions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Chongqing University Journal

[13] The early exploration history of Mount Gongga, appreciate the perseverance and passion of our predecessors! http://www.360doc.com/content/20/0110/15/68279916_885420311.shtml

[14] Hu Zihua. Locke’s 27 years in China: Explorer or speculator? [J]. Literature and History Review, 2017, 000(004):40-41.