The Yin Mountains, also known by several other names, are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

stretching across about of northern China. They form the southeastern border of the Gobi Desert and cross the

Chinese provinces The provincial level administrative divisions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. There are 34 such divisions claimed by the People's Republic of China, classified as 23 provinces (), five autonomous regions, four munic ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

and

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

. Among other things, the range is notable for its

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

Names

The Yin Mountains are also known by their Chinese name as the Yinshan, which associates them with the great feminine principle of traditional

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural develop ...

. They are also known as the from the former name of nearby

Chengde Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about 225 km northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by ...

and its eponymous river and as the or Daqingshan. In Mongolian, they are known as the Dalan Qara, Dalan Terigün, Dalan Khar, Moni Agula, or Moni Uul. It was known as Čuγay quzï ( otk, 𐰲𐰆𐰍𐰖𐰴𐰔𐰃) in

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It is the old ...

texts.D. Sinor and S. G. Klyashtorny, The Türk Empire, p. 336

Geography

The range stretches for about . It begins in the southwest as the Lang Mountains at the northern loop of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

. It then rises to about above

Linhe District Linhe ( mn, ; ) is the only district and the seat of the city of Baynnur, Inner Mongolia, situated at the northern loop of the Yellow River, south of the Lang Shan range ( south-east of the Huhebashige). The district spans an area of 2,333 ...

, falls to a more modest north of Baynnur, and widens to a broad highland north of Baotou. Its eastern end is reckoned as about the area of

History

Chinese historians record that the range was a stronghold of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

ruler

Modu Chanyu Modu, Maodun, Modun (, from Old Chinese (220 B.C.E.): *''mouᴴ-tuən'' or *''mək-tuən'', c. 234 – c. 174 BCE) was the son of Touman and the founder of the empire of the Xiongnu. He came to power by ordering his men to kill his father in 209 B ...

around 200BCE. The

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

, Qin, and Han border walls follow its southern ridges. The Tang

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

Bai Juyi (772846) composed the "Yinshan Roads" about its paths.

References

* . * . Mountain ranges of China Mountain ranges of Inner Mongolia Mountains of Hebei Gobi Desert {{InnerMongolia-geo-stub