Brief introduction of ancient Luoyang

Luoyang (also known as Luoyang) was the capital of many dynasties in ancient China, and it often changed places with Chang 'an, usually when the dynasties changed. This city is located in Henan Province in the east of Central Plains of China. It is famous for its exquisite architecture, amusement parks, literature and culture, especially Confucian culture.

Opening and closing capital

Luoyang is located at the intersection of Luohe River and Yihe River in central and eastern China. Therefore, Luoyang can completely control the land and water transportation in the whole area, which is an important fact considering that the tax collected from the whole * * * usually appears in the form of grain. Therefore, Luoyang has always been an important city in the history of China, especially when it was the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-255 BC) and became the capital again at the end of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). , and as the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-535). Luoyang was one of the three short-lived official capitals of the Sui Dynasty (58 1-6 18). It flourished as the second city and the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty (6 18-907), and even became the capital of the new Zhou Dynasty announced by Wu Zetian in 690.

This city was very prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, with a population of about 2 million.

Luoyang most often competes with Chang 'an, which is farther west, to become the capital of China, and the latter may enjoy a better strategic position to rule the wider China. In contrast, Luoyang's long history makes it more advantageous in prestige and has a greater cultural tradition, especially Confucian literature, which belongs to a region with stronger economy.

Layout and architecture

Luoyang is smaller than Chang 'an, but its population density is higher, exceeding 500,000 in Han Dynasty. This population includes not only locals, but also workers, craftsmen and officials in the border areas. The city covers a rectangular area, surrounded by high walls and has 12 gates. On the whole, the architecture is more concise than Chang 'an, and the urban layout is more regular, which once again reflects the importance of Luoyang Confucianism and its aversion to flashy architecture. Especially with the relocation of the capital C in 23 AD, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and * * * were keen to distinguish Luoyang from the ancestors of Qin and Han Dynasties. Just as moving from Chang 'an to Luoyang 800 years ago marked the split between the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it marked a new beginning. The Northern Wei Dynasty chose Luoyang from 494 AD, which was also politically motivated, indicating their warm embrace of everything in China. Luoyang will prove to be a useful symbol of several regimes, so the plan of the new Handu is for another reason, as the historian Melvis explained here.

The second direct consequence of emphasizing that capital is political creation is to insist on its artificiality. Walls, gates and street grids all mark human design of the natural world. They represent hierarchy and control over people who may break the rules. This skill is also reflected in the field of fashion and taste, and the ruler and his court will become the ultimate source and example. ( 100)

Since the 7th century, under the rule of the Tang emperor, Luoyang has become more magnificent. People no longer keep providing the best and grandest buildings for this city. The city is booming and now has a population of about 2 million. Like other cities in China, Luoyang is composed of different special-purpose areas, all of which are laid out in a grid pattern separated by streets and main streets.

There are two royal palaces, located in the city walls, precisely arranged on the north-south axis, with residential areas, craftsmen's workshops and various markets. There are armories, national granaries, altars, auditoriums, mansions, royal stables, university houses, libraries with 370,000 books, museums with exquisite works of art and garrison troops of the Royal Army. There are Buddhist temples and monasteries, synagogues and temples; This is the cultural diversity of one of the greatest cities in the world. Historian EF Fenollosa's description of the amusement park in this city captures the glory of this city:

Large public gardens and museums provide entertainment for people. Private palace gardens are built on solid walled terraces, pavilions, overlooking lakes and bays-or sinking into cool and cool wells, plum trees pat scaly arms into the shape of dragons, and ancient pine trees are trained to twist like snakes through cracks in terrazzo. Large pots of hard pottery and dark tiles coated with cream glaze, possibly purple and yellow, add luster to landscape architecture. Pavilions and pavilions are stacked on granite and marble foundations: the magnificent banquet hall, the blue silk canopy and the heavy porch with gold thread also add noble coolness and aesthetic transition. ( 164)

Luoyang is a real international metropolis, and the market provides exotic goods from * * *, Japan and Central Asia, which are shipped through the Silk Road and ships sailing in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. Each market has a tower where the market leader and his 36 employees can monitor the situation; The market is strictly regulated in terms of commodity quality, prices are standardized, and all transactions are recorded. There is a separate horse market, a gold market and a large multifunctional square outside the south wall.

sabotage

Like other important cities, Luoyang has suffered a lot of damage, especially when the dynasty changed, it seems to be a tradition to level the ancestral capital. A notable dismissal is warlord dong Zhuo C. In A.D. 189, they leveled the wooden buildings in this city. Cao Zhi, a poet in the 3rd century AD, sang the lost virtue of Seoul. He imagined himself as a resident returning to his old and dilapidated capital:

Climb the north ridge

Overlooking Luoyang from a distance.

Luoyang, how lonely and silent!

Palaces and houses were burned to ashes.

The walls and fences are broken and cracked.

Thorns and thistles go straight into the sky.

I can't see the old man;

I only see young people.

I turned around and there was no straight road to go.

Wasteland, no longer cultivated.

I've been away for so long.

I don't know the path.

Between the fields, how desolate.

Thousands of miles are smokeless.

Think of the house where I lived in those years.

Distorted mood, unable to speak.

During the demise of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the city was looted again, this time by nomadic tribes on the grassland in 528 AD, when many imperial elites were executed. These and other similar attacks, especially in the last decades of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the advantages of wood, tiles and dry mud in ancient buildings in China, mean that there are almost no remains today except the foundations used by archaeologists and historians. You can try to rebuild the lost glory of one of the greatest cities in ancient Asia.