Capital Cities and Urban Form in Pre-modern China

Luoyang, 1038 BCE to 938 CE

Victor Cunrui Xiong, Victor Xiong

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317235552
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Luoyang, situated in present-day Henan province, was one of the great urban centres of pre-Qin and early imperial China, the favoured site for dynastic capitals for almost two millennia. This book, the first in any Western language on the subject, traces the rise and fall of the six different capital cities in the region which served eleven different dynasties from the Western Zhou dynasty, when the first capital city made its appearance in Luoyang, to the great Tang dynasty, when Luoyang experienced a golden age. It examines the political histories of these cities, explores continuity and change in urban form with a particular focus on city layouts and landmark buildings, and discusses the roles of religions, especially Buddhism, and illustrious city residents. Overall the book provides an accessible survey of a broad sweep of premodern Chinese urban history.

1 Genesis

From Luoyi to Wangcheng

In 1045 BCE, King Wu of Zhou marched east with a coalition army to meet the main force of the Shang. At the Battle of Muye (west of Huixian, Henan),¹ he won a decisive victory against the enemy, which led to the collapse of the Shang dynasty. On his way to the battleground, King Wu had passed through an area, later known as LUOYANG, which inspired him to make the following statement:

From the north shore of the Luo to the north shore of the Yi, the land is settled and without obstruction. Here was a Xia settlement. If I might gaze south to the Santu [Mountain] (in Songxian, Henan), and north to the city walls near the Yue (the Taihang Mountains), if I might look back to the Youhe (Huang River) and look out to the Luo and Yi – this would not be far from a Heavenly Residence.²

What King Wu envisioned was an ideal dwelling place for the Son of Heaven, a capital, in an area which his brother the Duke of Zhou referred to as the “center of the land” (tuzhong) (axis mundi), “great hub” (dacou),³ or “center of all under heaven” (tianxia zhi zhong).⁴ For King Cheng, King Wu’s successor, LUOYANG was a place like no other that allowed him to receive guests from the four quarters.⁵ More than 800 years later, the Han adviser Lou Jing, who opposed the idea of locating the Han capital in LUOYANG, admitted that it was “considered the center of all under heaven so that the local lords from the four quarters, when fulfilling their duties to provide tribute, found that the distance to the central court was equalized.”⁶ So the strategic importance of the place lay in its easy access to other key areas, not in its great productive power nor its defensibility.

After the passing of King Wu, the young dynasty he had founded was soon faced with a most serious challenge from within during the reign of King Cheng.⁷ Because of the king’s young age, the Duke of Zhou assumed regency. Previously, the former core territory of Shang had been divided into three regions, governed by King Cheng’s three brothers – Guanshu (Shuxian), Caishu (Shudu), and Huoshu (Shuchu), known as the Three Supervisors. But Guanshu and Caishu betrayed the trust of the Zhou court. Colluding with Wugeng, son of King Zhòu of Shang, they launched a rebellion with the support of the Huai barbarians in the east. The Duke of Zhou crushed the rebellion, executed Wugeng and Guanshu, and banished Caishu. To keep a watch on former Shang subjects, the Zhou resettled them in Song and Wey.⁸

These events underscored the strategic importance of the east and the urgent need to realize King Wu’s vision to build a capital city at LUOYANG.

Western Zhou

The founding of the first city: Luoyi

Subsequent to the pacification of the east, a decision was made to create a major city in LUOYANG, in the fifth year of King Cheng (1038 BCE), known in history as Luoyi or “Luo City.” For that purpose, two of the king’s most powerful advisers – the Duke of Shao and the Duke of Zhou – traveled to LUOYANG.⁹ The initial site divinations were performed by the Duke of Shao, who “consulted the tortoise about the localities, and having obtained favorable indications, he set about laying out the plans.” These were followed by more divinations conducted by the Duke of Zhou to narrow down the area of the future city. As he said, “I then divined concerning the east of the Jian River and the west of the Chan River, and the ground near the Luo was indicated. Then I divined concerning the east of the Chan River, and the ground near the Luo was again indicated.”¹⁰ These activities anticipated the Zhouli prescription, “In such matters of state as a major move of the capital and a major gathering of the army, one conducts tortoise divinations.”¹¹

The divinations, however, were not only about identifying the optimum site. Upon receiving a messenger sent by the Duke of Zhou, King Cheng responded:

The Duke has not dared but to acknowledge reverently the favor of Heaven, and has surveyed the locality to find where our Zhou [city] may be created to respond to that favor. Having settled the locality, he has sent his messenger to come and show me the divinations, favorable and always auspicious. Two of my people are involved [in bringing the message].¹² The Duke [of Zhou] has reverently acknowledged the favor of Heaven, making provision for me for myriads and tens of myriads of years.¹³

By invoking the favor of Heaven, King Cheng endowed LUOYANG with an aura of sacrality, which was further enhanced by a series of elaborate sacrificial ceremonies that followed:

On the dingsi day (January 31, 1038 BCE), [the Duke of Zhou] offered two bulls in a suburb; on the morrow, the wuwu day (February 1), at the Altar of the Soil (She) of the New City, he sacrificed a bull, a goat, and a pig.¹⁴ On the wuchen day (February 11), the king [Cheng] in the New City performed the annual winter sacrifice, offering a red bull to King Wen, and the same to King Wu. He then commanded that a declaration to be prepared, which was done by Yi in the form of a prayer, and it simply announced the remaining behind of the Duke of Zhou. The king’s guests, on the occasion of killing the victims and offering the sacrifice, all made their appearance. The king entered the Grand Chamber, and poured out the libation.¹⁵

Of these ritual activities, two types were of far-reaching significance: the sacrificial rites at the Altar of the Soil in the third month, and those in honor of King Wen and King Wu in winter. Later, they would be institutionalized as recurrent rites in honor of the gods of the soil and grain and dynastic ancestors.¹⁶ Furthermore, the winter offering of bulls in a suburban location set a precedent for suburban sacrifices, which would later become the highest-ranked ritual ceremonies to reverence the celestial gods at the capital.¹⁷

Layout and structures

Amidst this flurry of ritual activity, the city was born. While history has left us little information concerning its construction, it has preserved important accounts of the city itself – its morphology, administrative organization, and landmark structures.

The “Zuoluo” chapter of the Yi Zhoushu records that Chengzhou (Luoyi) was composed of an inner city and an outer city. The inner city was a square enclosure, measuring 1,620 by 1,620 zhang (9 x 9 li or about 10 km²). Surrounding the inner city was the much larger outer city, measuring 17 by 17 li (about 37 km²).¹⁸ The city enceinte extended south to the Luo, and bordered on the Jia mountain to the north. The outlying suburban area enveloped the outer city. The combined urban and suburban space measured about 600 by 600 li (about 46,139 km²).¹⁹

These numbers, although taken from a source that is probably 3,000 years old, are not necessarily unrealistic. The inner city was in fact similar in size to that of Han-Wei and Northern Wei Luoyang while the combined area of the outer and inner cities was about one half of Northern Wei Greater Luoyang. The metropolitan area, at one quarter of the size of present-day Henan, was vast by any standards, but was not excessive for a capital district in ancient times.²⁰

The metropolitan area was divided into 100 counties (xian). They all had their seats, ranging in size from one third to one ninth of Wangcheng (Luoyi). Each county had four subcounties (jun).²¹ Each subcounty had four townships (bi), each of which had 500 households.²² There were even smaller units called dubi (neighborhoods) that were limited to 100 households.²³ There were farmers managing a township who could rise from commoner status to become knights (shi) and knights managing state affairs who could become dukes or counselors. Craftsmen, merchants, petty officers, market managers, and bondservants all lived in their own quarters (zhou) and wards (li); and did not mix with one another.²⁴

The existence of a marketplace is indicated by the aforesaid reference to “market managers.” Recent archaeological finds may help identify its location. From the rammed earth city wall of Han Henan County, potsherds with the inscription he shi (He Market) were unearthed. It is possible that the He Market sat on the site of an even earlier market. On the other hand, a bronze inscription of the late Western Zhou provides clues as to how the market was regulated. Residents of all stripes – local lords, commoners, and Huai barbarians – were required by royal mandate to exchange their goods in the market.²⁵ A record in the Zuozhuan points to the existence of multiple markets in Wangcheng at a later date (520 BCE).²⁶

The landscape and architecture of the city were dominated by the so-called Five Halls (wugong). The Jin commentator Kong Chao and later exegetes explain their functions thus:

The Grand Temple (damiao) was for services to Houji (the legendary ancestor of the Zhou royal house); the Ancestral Hall (zonggong) was for services to King Wen (the last predynastic leader who laid the foundations for the rise of Zhou); the Paternal Hall (kaogong) was for services to King Wu (the founder of the dynasty); the Grand Court (luqin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of maps
• Introduction
• 1. Genesis: from Luoyi to Wangcheng
• 2. Eastern Han Luoyang: the Imperial capital
• 3. Towards a national metropolis: Cao-Wei and Western Jin Luoyang
• 4. Rebirth and destruction: Northern Wei Luoyang
• 5. The Sui eastern capital
• 6. Tang Luoyang I: a historical perspective
• 7. Tang Luoyang II: physical characteristics
• Appendix to Chapter 7: controversial Tang Luoyang ward names
• 8. Tang Luoyang III: the inhabitants
• 9. Epilogue
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index