View source for Kunlun Mountains

{{Short description|Mountain range in China}}
{{Redirect|Kunlun|the mythological mountain|Kunlun (mythology)|other uses}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Kunlun Mountains 
| other_name = <!-- See transcription table and Notes section below. -->
| photo = Cordillère du Kunlun.jpg
| photo_caption = View of Western Kunlun Shan from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway
| country = China 
| state_type = Region
| region = [[Xinjiang]], [[Qinghai]], [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]]
| border = [[Gobi Desert]]
| area_km2 = 
| highest = [[Liushi Shan]]
| elevation_m = 7167
| coordinates = 
| range_coordinates = {{coord|36|N|84|E|type:mountain_region:CN_scale:300000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology = 
| period = 
| orogeny = 
| length_km = 
| length_orientation = N/S
| width_km = 
| width_orientation = E/W
| mapframe-zoom = 4
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Kunlun (Chinese characters).svg
| piccap = "Kunlun" in simplified (top) and traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
| picupright = 0.5
| psp = Kwenlun Mountains
| s = {{linktext|昆仑山}}
| t = {{linktext|崑崙山}}
| w = K'un<sup>1</sup>-lun<sup>2</sup> Shan<sup>1</sup>
| p = Kūnlún Shān
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|k|un|1|.|l|un|2|-|sh|an|1}}
| order = st
| mon = Хөндлөн Уул
| monr = Khöndlön Uul
| uig = قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى
| uly = Qurum Tagh Tizmisi
| uky = Қурум Тағ Тизмиси
| uipa = {{IPA|ug|qʰʊˈɾʊm tʰaʁ tʰɨzmɨˈsɨ|}}
| tib = ཁུ་ནུ་རི་རྒྱུད
| wylie = khu nu ri rgyud
| thdl = <!-- THDL Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Tibetan -->
| zwpy = Kunu Ri'gyü
| j = kwan1 leon4 saan1
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|kw|an|1|-|l|eon|4|-|s|aan|1}}
| lang1 = ky
| lang1_content = {{lang|ky-Arab|قۇن-لۇن توو}}<br />{{lang|ky|Кунь-Лунь Тоо}}<br />{{transliteration|ky|Kun-Lun Too}}<br />{{IPA|ky|ˌkʰʊnˈɫʊn tʰɔː|}}
}}

The '''Kunlun Mountains'''{{efn|{{bulleted list|{{lang-zh|s=昆仑山|t=崑崙山|p=Kūnlún Shān}}, {{IPA|cmn|kʰwə́nlwə̌n ʂán|pron}}|{{langx|bo|ཁུ་ནུ་རི་རྒྱུད|khu nu ri rgyud}}|{{langx|mn|Хөндлөн Уул|Khöndlön Uul}}, {{IPA|mn|ˈxɵnt͡ɬəɴ ʊːɮ|pron}}|{{langx|ug|قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى|Qurum Tagh Tizmisi}}, {{IPA|ug|qʰʊˈɾʊm tʰaʁ tʰɨzmɨˈsɨ|pron}}|{{langx|ky-Arab|قۇن-لۇن توو|Kun-Lun Too}}, {{IPA|ky|ˌkʰʊnˈɫʊn tʰɔː|pron}}}}}} constitute one of the longest [[mountain chain]]s in [[Asia]], extending for more than {{convert|3000|km}}. In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the [[Tibetan Plateau]] south of the [[Tarim Basin]]. Located in [[Western China]], the Kunlun Mountains have been known as the "Forefather of Mountains" in China.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.foreignercn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8400:kunlun-mountains&catid=121:travel-in-qinghai&Itemid=278 | title = Kunlun Mountains | access-date = April 1, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.hkywa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Non-fiction.pdf | title = Kunlun Mountain Range - A Forever Legend  | access-date = April 1, 2024}}</ref>

The exact definition of the Kunlun Mountains varies over time. Older sources used Kunlun to mean the mountain belt that runs across the center of China,<ref>{{cite book |first=L. |last=Richard |title=Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire |year=1908 |oclc=2281016 }}</ref> that is, [[Altyn Tagh]] along with the [[Qilian Mountains|Qilian]] and [[Qin Mountains]]. Recent sources<ref>National Geographic Atlas of China, 2008</ref> have the Kunlun range forming most of the south side of the [[Tarim Basin]] and then continuing east, south of the Altyn Tagh. [[Sima Qian]] (''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'', scroll 123) says that [[Emperor Wu of Han]] sent men to find the source of the [[Yellow River]] and gave the name Kunlun to the mountains at its source. The name seems to have originated as a semi-mythical location in the classical Chinese text ''[[Classic of Mountains and Seas]]''.

==Extent==
[[File:Map of Tibet in the 13th century and Central Asian trade routes (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|277x277px|Kunlun range]]
[[File:Yarkand River in the Western Kunlun Shan, seen from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway.jpg|thumb|Karakash River in the western Kunlun Mountains, seen from the [[China National Highway 219|Tibet-Xinjiang highway]]]]
From the [[Pamirs]] of [[Tajikistan]], the Kunlun Mountains run east through southern [[Xinjiang]] to [[Qinghai]] province.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325007/Kunlun-Mountains|title=Kunlun Mountains|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2009-11-19}}</ref> They stretch along the southern edge of what is now called the [[Tarim Basin]], the infamous [[Taklamakan]] desert, and the [[Gobi Desert]]. A number of important rivers flow from the range including the [[Karakash River]] ('Black Jade River') and the [[Yurungkash River]] ('White Jade River'), which flow through the [[Khotan]] [[Oasis]] into the [[Taklamakan Desert]]. To the south of the Kunlun is the sparsely populated [[Changtang]] region, which forms part of the [[Tibetan Plateau]].

[[File:TibBahn1.jpg|thumb|left|The Kunlun Pass]]
[[Altyn-Tagh]] or Altun Range is one of the chief northern ranges of the Kunlun. Its northeastern extension [[Qilian Mountains|Qilian Shan]] is another main northern range of the Kunlun. In the south main extension is the [[Min Shan]]. [[Bayan Har Mountains]], a southern branch of the Kunlun Mountains, forms the [[water divide|watershed]] between the catchment basins of [[China]]'s two longest rivers, the [[Yangtze River]] and the [[Yellow River]].

The highest mountain of the Kunlun Mountains is the [[Liushi Shan|Kunlun Goddess Peak]] (7,167 m) in the [[Keriya County|Keriya]] area of the western Kunlun Mountains. 

Some authorities{{who|date=November 2024}} claim that the Kunlun extends further northwest-wards as far as [[Kongur Tagh]] (7,649 m) and the famous [[Muztagh Ata]] (7,546 m).{{cn|date=November 2024}} 

But these mountains are physically much more closely linked to the [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] group (ancient [[Mount Imeon]]). The Arka Tagh (Arch Mountain) is in the center of the Kunlun Mountains; its highest points are [[Ulugh Muztagh]] (6,973 m) and [[Bukadaban Feng]] (6,860 m). In the eastern Kunlun Mountains the highest peaks are [[Yuzhu Peak]] (6,224 m) and [[Amne Machin]] [also Dradullungshong] (6,282 m); the latter is the major eastern peak of the Kunlun Mountains and is thus considered as the eastern edge of the Kunlun Mountains.

The mountain range formed at the northern edges of the [[Cimmerian Plate]] during its collision, in the [[Late Triassic]], with [[Siberia (continent)|Siberia]], which resulted in the closing of the [[Paleo-Tethys Ocean]].

The range has very few roads and in its 3,000&nbsp;km length is crossed by only two. In the west, [[China National Highway 219|Highway 219]] traverses the range en route from Yecheng, Xinjiang to Lhatse, Tibet. Further east, [[China National Highway 109|Highway 109]] crosses between [[Lhasa]] and [[Golmud]].

===Kunlun Volcanic Group===
{{Main article|Kunlun Volcanic Group}}
Over 70 [[volcanic cone]]s form the Kunlun Volcanic Group. They are not volcanic mountains, but cones. As such, they are not counted among the world volcanic mountain peaks. The group, however, musters the heights of {{Convert|5808|m|ft|0}} above sea level ({{Coord|35.5|N|80.2|E|type:mountain}}). If they were considered volcanic mountains, they would constitute the highest volcano in Asia and China and second highest in the [[Eastern Hemisphere]] (after [[Mount Kilimanjaro]]) and one of [[Volcanic Seven Summits]] by elevation. (Mount [[Damavand]] is the highest volcano in Asia, not the Kunlun cones.) The last known eruption in the volcanic group was on May 27, 1951.<ref>{{cite gvp|vn=304030|title=Kunlun Volcanic Group|access-date=2014-03-15}}</ref>

==Mythology==
[[File:Peak in Kunlun range.jpg|thumb|upright|Peak in Kunlun range]]
{{Main article|Kunlun (mythology)}}
Legendary and mystical mountains are a long-standing aspect of Chinese civilization. Kunlun is originally the name of a mythical mountain believed to be a [[Taoist]] [[paradise]].

Kunlun is a semi-mythical region not far from the source of the Yellow River.<ref>{{cite book |last1=贾海建 |title=神怪小说与山岳信仰关系研究 《中央民族大学》 2011 年博士论文 |url=http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-10052-1011159869.htm |archive-date=2023-01-15 |access-date=2022-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115113551/http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-10052-1011159869.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Kunlun Mountains entered Chinese ideology during the [[Warring States period]] (475–221&nbsp;BCE), and have become closely integrated into Chinese culture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peng |first1=Peng |title=Decentralizing the origin of civilization: Early archaeological efforts in China |journal=History of Humanities |date=1 October 2021 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=515–548 |doi=10.1086/715935 |s2cid=244133983 |issn=2379-3163 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/715935|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In the ''[[Classic of Mountains and Seas|Book of Mountains and Seas]]'', the Kunlun Mountains are mentioned:

:{{lang|zh-hant|崑崙之丘，是實惟帝下之都，神陸吾司之。}}

Which means "The hill of Kunlun, which is the capital of the emperor, and the god of the land."

[[Gu Jiegang]] divides the [[Chinese mythology]] system into the [[Kunlun (mythology)|Kunlun system]] and the [[Mount Penglai|Penglai]] system based on the eastern and western regions. He believes that the myth of Kunlun
: "originates in the western plateau, and its magical and magnificent stories spread to the east, and then follow the vast and boundless sea. The combination of these natural conditions has formed the Penglai mythology system in the coastal areas of Yan, Wu, Qi, and Yue."<ref>{{cite book |last1=许洋洋 |title=中国神话的地域文化透视 |url=http://a.xueshu.baidu.com/usercenter/paper/show?paperid=321c70e250531e9c28374365de16c77c}}</ref>
 
In mythology, Kunlun Mountain is the birthplace and ancestral place of the Chinese nation. In mythology, Kunlun Mountain is the center of heaven and earth. It goes up to the sky and is the staircase to the sky. The "Kunlun Mythology" system takes Kunlun Mountain as an iconic place, and mainly focuses on the myths and stories of related characters such as the Yellow Emperor and the [[Queen Mother of the West]] ([[Hsi Wang Mu|Xi Wang Mu]]). Stories such as Kuafu chasing the sun, Gonggong's anger touching Buzhou Mountain, and Chang'e flying to the moon all originate from Kunlun mythology.

[[Mao Dun]] pointed out:
: "The primitive people imagined that the gods lived in a group, and they also imagined that the gods lived on the extremely high mountains, so the highest mountain in the territory became the residence of the gods in mythology. The mystical idea of this is what happened. The Chinese myth is equivalent to that of Kunlun.

According to legend, [[King Mu of Zhou|King Mu]] (976–922&nbsp;BCE, [[Zhou dynasty]]) was the first to visit this paradise. There he supposedly found the [[Jade Palace]] of the [[Yellow Emperor]], the mythical originator of Chinese culture, and met [[Hsi Wang Mu]] (Xi Wang Mu, the 'Spirit Mother of the West' usually called the '[[Queen Mother of the West]]') who also had her mythical abode in these mountains. She was the object of a traditional religious cult which reached its peak in the [[Han dynasty]].

==See also==
* [[Sacred Mountains of China]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Munro-Hay, Stuart ''Aksum''. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. {{ISBN|0-7486-0106-6}}.

==External links==
{{commons category|Kunlun Mountains}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Kuen-lun | volume= 15 |last1= Kropotkin |first1= Peter Alexeivitch |author1-link= Peter Kropotkin| last2= Bealby |first2= John Thomas| pages = 938–941 |short= 1}}

{{Mountain ranges of China}}
{{Qinghai topics}}
{{Tibet topics}}
{{Xinjiang topics}}
{{Sacred Mountains of China}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunlun}}
[[Category:Kunlun Mountains| ]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of China]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Tibet]]
[[Category:Tibetan Plateau]]
[[Category:Mountains of Qinghai]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Sacred mountains of China]]
[[Category:Sites along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Asia]]