A long view of the ancient capital of the dynasty

【What the Reader Says】

Author: Sun Xiaofei (Scholar of Ancient Capital Studies, author of "Prosperity and Decline: A History of the Change of the Imperial Capital in three thousand years" and other works)

The study of ancient capitals is an important direction of modern historical research, and on this basis, the "Study of Ancient Chinese Capitals" has been established. Mr. Shi Nianhai, a famous historian, defined this discipline as "the science of studying the formation, development, depression or disappearance of the ancient capital of China, or the reform of the new city." "In this field, there are many people who have written a lot. More than two or three sons can be called giants, and the author believes that Mr. Shi Nianhai can still be called a leader.

He and his disciples, with a reputation of many, are well-known in the field of geographical and historical research. The study of ancient capital studies advocated by mr. Li has gradually become a prominent science, and plays an important auxiliary role in the economic and cultural development of today's cities.

"Ancient Capital and Culture of China" by Shi Nianhai, Chongqing Publishing House

Mr. Shi Nianhai said: "In the long historical period of our country, there have been many dynasties or regimes that have risen and fallen. Every dynasty or regime has its own capital, and some have more than one. The existence and destruction of these capitals can reflect certain aspects of their respective dynasties or regimes, such as political uplift, economic prosperity and decline, social changes, and even the rise and fall of national fortunes. This is because the capital city is the center of a generation, and the five parties are mixed, from which you can learn about the situation of the whole country. Understanding and studying the capital city contributes to our study of history. ”

As he said, his masterpiece "Ancient Capital and Culture of China", which has been popular for more than 20 years, can be called the introductory secret book in this field, which is re-published by Chongqing Publishing Group or a fortunate event for the academic community.

One of Mr. Shi's contributions is that it not only obscures the reasons for the creation and destruction of the ancient capitals of all generations, but also lists the places where various regimes from antiquity to the Republic of China are located. For example, the capital of Zhang Chu, built by Chen Sheng, located in present-day Huaiyang, Henan, although he died in June, was recorded in history. The Chu capital Xutai, built by Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu, was located in the northeast of today's Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province, and the regime only existed for 3 months, but since it once had a capital name, it also left a mark in the writings of Mr. Shi Nianhai.

In Mr. Shi Nianhai's writings, all kinds of nature are included, almost without omission, and the capital of the provisional regime established by the peasant uprising is also treated equally. What is valuable is that the capital cities built by the surrounding ethnic groups are also registered one by one. The names of the capitals and the time of their establishment were all stated in more detail.

Since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the capital city has formed a two-capital system according to the needs of the rule, and the deputy is the accompanying capital. Mr. Shi Nianhai also made a special column for a detailed section.

Not only that, Mr. Shi Nianhai has made chronological examinations of the many large and small capitals, for example, Xi'an is the capital, after more than a thousand years; Beijing to the Republic of China, the capital time is also nearly a thousand years.

Mr. Shi Nianhai's work is complicated and simple, and the complexity is appropriate, its summary is clear and coherent, and its complex theories are all-encompassing, and more aspects of the ancient capital have been studied.

For example, for the Tang Dynasty lifang system, there were more inks and a special chapter. Among them, the section "Changes in the Streets and Lifangs of Chang'an Waiguocheng in the Tang Dynasty" conducts a panoramic scan of the situation of Guo Guo outside Chang'an in Tang Dynasty. "There are official offices, temples, mansions, and gardens in the workshop, and the households are also staggered." Mr. Shi Nianhai not only put forward ideas based on documents, such as "For ease of maintenance, there are walls around each square, which is the same as Guo Cheng around the capital." Such a wall is commonly known as the square wall. Volume 86 of the Tang HuiJiao, "Streets and Alleys", contains the edict of February of the fourth year of Zhen Yuan, which mentions the walls of the streets of the mansions in the capital. There is also a "Biography of Li Wa" written by Bai Xingjian, which is also called Li Yuan, which is the Li Yuan of Zeng Dao and the north of the east gate of An Yi Fang. To confirm his point, he also cited contemporary archaeological research by the Tangcheng excavation team, "proving that Lifang does have a mill wall." "Mr. Shi is a solid scholar, of course, he knows that in ancient society there were transgressors in any regulation, so he also quoted relevant information to prove that there were lawbreakers who opened their own doors, "At that time, although it was stipulated that non-three products or more and the three absolute families in the factory were not allowed to open the door by themselves, there were still many people who failed to comply with such rules, so they attracted the attention of the relevant clerks, and even alarmed the royal family." The self-opening of the mill door means that the control iron plate made by the factory has been opened by the private. It is the desire for freedom, the impact on constraints, that has given rise to a number of such lawbreakers. Such an attempt also inspired the Song Dynasty to break through the shackles of living space control and create a relatively free pattern of factories and markets.

Mr. Shi Nianhai pointed out: "These capitals have certain laws in the process of evolution. Chinese paleodus not only studies the processes and phenomena of the evolution of these ancient capitals, but also studies the laws of evolution in them, and studies these laws as a reference for current construction. Especially in the reconstruction and expansion of modern cities on the site of the ancient capital, there is also a layer of relationship between inheritance and innovation. ”

The predecessors opened the mountains, and the later generations built roads. Although China's ancient capital studies have made remarkable achievements, the research space left for latecomers is still huge.

In the early construction of imperial space, the city was a clear symbol of the development of productive forces and the development of civilization, and in the case of early China, "du" was a cosmic imagination closely related to religious consciousness, and with the evolution of religious views and political power and ruling models, its connotation and extension were also changing.

For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, "du" was still just a very narrow urban term, and the place where the king lived was known as the country, and the place where the doctor lived was known as the capital. On a religious and cultural level, the connotation of "capital" also includes the burial place where doctors and nobles lived. According to the study of tombs in the Spring and Autumn Period, the doctors were buried in the city after death, and it is likely that they were not far from their living quarters. Other forms of "city" that have left this religious view may not be called "capitals."

In the Warring States, the connotation and extension of "capital" continued to evolve, from the place where the ancestors lived, to the place where the Zongmiao Temple was located, until the Qin in the late Warring States period, which became the city where the Son of Heaven lived. The definition of "capital" given by the "Zuo Chuan" is: du, the lord of the ancestral kings of the zongmiao temple.

Taking Qin as an example, the continuous relocation of the capital to Yongcheng, its architectural form, with the continuous development and growth of Qin, has shown a turn from "the ceremony of the Chongzong Temple" to the "power of the Heavy Heavenly Son", and from the layout of the urban space, the transition from the central system of the Zongmiao Temple to the central system of the palace has been shown. By the time Yin Zheng established the capital xianyang, in order to highlight the power of the son of heaven, the imperial palace became the center of the capital, and the zongmiao temple had been reduced to a secondary position and placed in the southern suburbs.

After the Han Dynasty, people had to give a new name to the "capital": the capital, the monarch's residence, and the people's capital. It was not until the time of Emperor Hui of Han that he built an ancestral temple for Han Gaozu in Chang'an City, built a market and an ice storage room, and then built an inner wall to protect the palace, the temple and the market.

Therefore, from the perspective of etymology, looking back at the concept of "capital", we still have doubts: whether the Western Zhou and Shang, the place where the Son of Heaven lived, can be called "capital". In the Han and Wei dynasties and the Liaojin, the political, military, and cultural functions of the "capital" were different from those of the Warring States. Taking the five capitals of Liaozhi as an example, except for Shangjing, which is the political center, the other four capitals are only convenient for controlling one side, and there is no name for beijing, but no capital.

Then, whether the research object of the so-called ancient capital science is the place where the Son of Heaven resides, or the city of the arch guard and the capital division and the division of power, it is necessary to further clarify the concept and study it in depth. Although "du" is widely used, sometimes it is not the other capital, and some "du" is just a different name for the city.

In the book "Ancient Capitals and Cultures of China", Mr. Shi Nianhai said, "In the capital city, there are many people and people, and they have not been uniform. "His words are very good. The study of ancient capitals, as sir said, is expected to be carried out by successors, studied in detail, and classified for the sake of time.

Regarding Mr. Shi Nianhai's contribution in this field, Mr. Wang Shejiao commented, and the author is related to the author, Mr. "initiated and founded the Ancient Capital Society of China, forming a stable academic team; The establishment of Chinese ancient capital science laid the theoretical foundation for the study of ancient capital science in China; adhered to the concept of 'for the use of the world', pointed out the purpose and direction of chinese ancient capital science research; summarized and outlined the basic appearance and law of the development of China's ancient capital, and promoted the development of Chinese ancient capital research."

Hopefully, with Mr. Shi Nianhai as the banner, the latecomers will come up with a set of "Chinese experiences" through the study of ancient capitals and civilizations, so that the value contained in each broken wall and ruin can be boasted and the brilliance will last forever.

Guangming Daily (15th edition, November 29, 2021)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily