An overview of the topography of Shaanxi:
Shaanxi is long and narrow, with high terrain from north to south and low in the middle. At the same time, the terrain tilts from west to east. There are many types of terrain such as plateaus, mountains, plains and basins. It is about 870 kilometers long from north to south and 200 to 500 kilometers wide from east to west. From north to south, it can be divided into three geomorphic regions, namely the Northern Shaanxi Plateau, the Guanzhong Plain, and the Qinba Mountains. The plateau area is 9.26 million hectares, the mountain area is 7.41 million hectares, and the plain area is 3.91 million hectares.
Topographical points
The mountainous terrain of northern Shaanxi is of little strategic significance from a military point of view; Guanzhong is the heartland of Shaanxi. During most of the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, Guanzhong was the center of the country.
The Guanzhong Plain is surrounded by mountains on three sides and the Yellow River on the other, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. The climate is warm, suitable for farming, and with a large population, it became the foundation of the kings of the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties.
Southern Shaanxi is culturally closer to the Sichuan Basin, separated from Guanzhong by the long Qinling Mountains. The core of southern Shaanxi is the Hanzhong Basin. Whether it is the Guanzhong regime that wants to go south to Bashu, or the southern army wants the northern expedition to the Central Plains, the Hanzhong Basin is a battleground.
Qinling Valley Road
Whether it’s from Guanzhong in the north to Hanzhong in the south, or from Hanzhong in the south to Guanzhong in the north, you must climb the Qinling Mountains with an average width of 200 kilometers and a height of 3,000 meters in the middle. Modern technology can build high bridges and dig tunnels. The moat became a thoroughfare, but in ancient times, people who did not have large transportation vehicles could only rely on human backs and donkeys to walk four hundred miles of mountain roads. The difficulties can be imagined. In the event of a marching army, how to cross the Qinling Mountains is a top priority.
For thousands of years, relying on the diligent wisdom and bravery of the working people, the ancient Chinese have dug five passages between the eight hundred miles of the high mountains of the Qinling Mountains, from the Guanzhong Basin to the Hanzhong Basin. The sheep intestine trail in the primitive deep forest river valley, from east to west, is Cugu Road, Ziwu Road, Tangluo Road (Luogu Road), Baoxie Road (Xiegu Road) and Chencang Road from east to west.
- The southern end of Coogou Road in the east is today's Xunyang County, Ankang City, and the north end to today's Chang'an District, Xi'an City, is the ancient Chang'an City Chang'an County;
- The second Meridian Road is the suggestion made by Wei Yan in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Qibing goes out of the Meridian Valley. This is the road. The southern end is in Shiquan County, Hanzhong City, and the northern end is also to Chang'an;
- The third is Luogu Road, which exits Hanzhong City in the south, passes through Yang County in the northeast, and reaches Zhouzhi County in Xi'an City in the north;
- The fourth Baoxian road goes out of Hanzhong City in the south, passes through the Qinling Mountains to the north through Taibai County, Baoji City, and ends at present-day Meixian County, Baoji City;
- The fifth is the most famous Chencang Road. Yes, it is the Chencang Road that Liu Bang sent Han Xin, Mingxiu plank road to darken Chencang, from Hanzhong to the northwest, passing Mian County and Lueyang County, along the Jialing River, turning to the northeast. After passing through Fengxian County, we left Sanguan and arrived at the Chencang District of Baoji City at the northern end of today.
The following is the general direction of the 5 valley roads drawn by the editor:
In addition, there are actually two roads, but they are not from Hanzhong to Guanzhong. One is the Qishan Road, which is the way Zhuge Liang walks out of Qishan. This road bypasses the Qinling Mountains and arrives at Longxi before entering Guanzhong. The other is Wuguan Road, which is a route from Henan to Guanzhong via Wuguan. These two roads do not belong to the route from Guanzhong to Hanzhong mentioned above, so they will not be detailed one by one.
Shaanxi Digital Elevation Model DEM
If you have a digital elevation model of Shaanxi, that is, DEM data, you can load it into the GIS software to view the topography of Shaanxi intuitively and accurately.
Through different rendering settings and configuring different colors, many exquisite topographic maps rendered by DEM can be produced.
If necessary, you can download the 30-meter DEM data of Shaanxi and open it with Global Mapper to view the terrain of Shaanxi in detail.