The Paper asked
"Five hundred years of China look at Beijing, a thousand years of China look at Kaifeng, three thousand years of China look at Xi'an, four thousand years of China look at Luoyang." According to popular belief, China had eight ancient capitals: Xi'an, Luoyang, Beijing, Nanjing, Kaifeng, Anyang, Hangzhou and Zhengzhou. If you count the historical capitals of divided regimes and national regimes, the total number is more than two hundred. Why are the eight ancient capitals, and Henan account for four? Which cities are considered the "elders" of the ancient capital? What kind of glory have they left behind in the long history? In this issue, Xi Huidong, vice president of the Silk Road Research Institute of Northwest University, continues to answer questions for everyone.
Why did the Shang Dynasty move its capital frequently?
@ Pi Xing Dai Yue eats cantaloupe: Why did the Shang Dynasty change places every few years, from Henan to Shanxi, then to Hebei, and then back to Henan?
Xi Huidong: The Shang Dynasty did move the capital frequently, the Shang Shu records that the merchants "did not often move", the "Records of History" records that the first Shang moved from Qi to Tang for a total of 8, the Shang Dynasty moved from Tang to Tang for a total of 5 times in more than 600 years, the first 8 and 5 after the first, a total of 13 moves, but it was not changed every few years, some capital cities were used for a long time, the early Shang Were used for more than 180 years, and the middle Pan Geng moved to Yin for more than 270 years. The reason for the frequent relocation of merchants to the capital is also the focus of research in the Shang Dynasty, and the following main views have been formed for more than a hundred years.
1. River disaster theory: The Eastern Han Dynasty people first put forward the river disaster theory advocated by scholars such as Wang Guowei and Gu Jiegang, believing that natural disasters such as floods in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were the main causes of the relocation of the capital.
2. Nomadic theory: Modern scholar Ding Shan proposed, the Republic of China Guo Moruo agreed, that the first Shang and early Shang belonged to the nomadic economic form, so they frequently moved the capital.
3. Younong said: Modern scholar Fu Zhufu proposed that Zhai Bozan and others agreed, believing that the agricultural technology of the Shang Dynasty was not high, and the long-term cultivation of slash-and-burn cultivation was also the same as the decline in land fertility and yield, and it was necessary to relocate the capital to change the cultivated land.
4. Mine-by-mine theory: Zhang Guangzhi, a Chinese-American archaeologist, proposed that bronze was a strategic resource for the maintenance system of the Shang Dynasty, and it was necessary to relocate the capital to find new copper and tin mines.
5. Go to luxury: Literature such as the pre-Qin "Mozi" proposed that Han Ru vigorously advocated that moving could allow the royal family and nobles to go to luxury and simplicity, find their original intentions, and forge ahead.
6. The theory of infighting: After liberation, Guo Moruo and other scholars who emphasized class struggle mostly held this theory, believing that the infighting within the royal family, the royal family and the nobility, the royal family and the Witch people, and the royal family and the poor people was the main reason for moving the capital.
7. Expansion said: Merchants seized the world, Zhenfu Xia remnants, Zhengdongyi, Huaiyi, Ghost Fang and other Fang states were the main reasons for the migration of the Shang Dynasty.
On the whole, the reasons for the 13 relocation of the capital by merchants are not the same, but the main reasons for the 5 migrations of the Shang Dynasty are infighting and expansion, the theory of extravagance and mining is basically not established, and the flood theory and the nomadic theory have some convincing power in the early days and when a certain capital is moved.
The location of the capital city of the Shang Dynasty has its own emphasis on different capitals, but it is nothing more than the reasons for the shape of mountains and rivers, economic wealth, convenient transportation, and close relatives and enemies. The location of the new capital mainly considered the main problems and contradictions at that time, with the capital city as an important way to solve the main problems at that time and resolve the main contradictions, the capital city was selected in the area with mountains and rivers and the economy was rich, and through the construction of urban defense facilities and the deployment of elite troops, the safety of the capital city could naturally be guaranteed.
@oxford: How big is the area of Yindu? What does the palace layout look like?
Xi Huidong: Yindu refers to the capital city of Anyang Yin Ruins in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, which has been used for more than 200 years and covers an area of 36 square kilometers, which is much larger than the 25 square kilometers of the mid-period capital Zhengzhou Mall, and is comparable to the size of the Great Wall of Han. The main features of the layout of the Yin Ruins Palace Area are the four-in-one palace temple altar tomb, the unity of life and death, and the fusion of sacred and secular. The palace is a square courtyard, sitting north and facing south.
Interior view of the ruins of Yin Ruins
The past and present lives of the well-known ancient capital
@donottag: Why did Xi'an become the ancient capital of many dynasties? Do it have any natural advantages?
Xi Huidong: Xi'an has become the first ancient capital of China, nothing more than the mountains and rivers, tianfu jincheng, the world, agriculture and animal husbandry, east-west convergence of several points, three mountains and one river high-rise four plug shaped victory, eight hundred miles of Qinchuan rich Tianfu, compatible with agriculture and animal husbandry Huarong two advantages, the integration of Eurasian Silk Road diversified civilization is its natural advantages.
@Surging netizen MJNfMr: Luoyang is suddenly on fire because of a series of Internet celebrity videos and cultural tourism promotion, can you talk about the prosperity and decline of Luoyang?
Xi Huidong: Henan Satellite TV's series of traditional theme music and dance phenomena have been enshrined, carrying the banner of traditional Chinese innovation and dissemination, which is commendable.
Westerners say that five hundred years of Chinese history look at Beijing, a thousand years of Chinese history look at Kaifeng, three thousand years of Chinese history look at Xi'an, I think it can be extended forward and backward: four thousand years of Chinese history to see Luoyang, because the capital of Xia and early Shang are in Luoyang, a hundred years of Chinese history to see Shanghai, forty years of Chinese history to see Shenzhen. Luoyang prospered because of the world, the convergence of the four directions, the root vein, and the legal domain, but it also declined because of the land of the four wars, the battle between soldiers and families, the limited resources, the decline of canals, and the transformation of land and sea.
@Shan Youmu Xiqing unintentional: Which of Xi'an and Luoyang is the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties?
Xi Huidong: The number of dynasties mainly depends on statistical standards and caliber, if the standard is unified, Luoyang should be 15 dynasties, more than the 13 dynasties in Xi'an, but the unified dynasty xi'an is much longer than Luoyang. Xi'an Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Xinmang, Eastern Han, Western Jin, Former Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang 13 dynasties, Luoyang is xia dynasty, Shang dynasty, western Zhou, eastern Zhou, western Han, eastern Han, eastern Han, Eastern Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, Sui dynasty, Tang dynasty, Wuzhou, Houliang, Later Tang, Later Jin and other 15 dynasties.
@Bear: Is Kaifeng easy to attack and difficult to defend and not suitable for being an ancient capital?
Xi Huidong: Kaifeng was the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty for 167 years, nourishing a prosperous Chinese culture and economy, ranking fifth in the ancient capital, and history proved that it was suitable for being a capital city at that time. Kaifeng is located in the Eastern Henan Plain, there is no easy to defend and difficult to attack mountains and rivers like Chang'an and Luoyang, and it is easy to suffer from river troubles, in comparison, it is indeed easy to attack and difficult to defend, but it also has the advantages of convenient transportation and canal hub, the capital of the Wei State and the Northern Song Dynasty, Daliang City and the Northern Song Dynasty Fenliang City are very prosperous, so Westerners use a thousand years of Chinese history to see Kaifeng. Without the victory of mountains and rivers, the Northern Song Dynasty stationed the country's elite forbidden army around Kaifeng to build the Great Wall and solve security problems. Therefore, the choice of the capital city varies from time to time and place to person, and it is necessary to consider the main problems and contradictions at that time, as long as it can solve the problem, it can be a capital city.
@Man of Cloth: What are the characteristics of the capital city of the Southern Song Dynasty?
Xi Huidong: The biggest feature is two, one is that the outer castle is built on the mountain and the shape is irregular and similar to the waist drum, but the imperial castle of Miyagi is made to face north instead of sitting north and facing south, which is unique in the ancient capital. This is mainly due to the influence of the topography, but also because Hangzhou is only Lin'an, but the capital city in law and name.
"Imperial City Map" in "Xianchun Lin'an Zhi"
@WIND CHIME: What is the layout of the Western Xia capital city, and what is its historical evolution?
Xihui East: The Western Xia capital xingqingfu is in present-day Yinchuan, located in the center of the Ningxia Plain, and was rebuilt and expanded over more than 30 years on the basis of the Song border city of Huaiyuan Town, which has been used for nearly 200 years. Xingqing City has a circumference of eighteen miles, affected by the terrain and water body to form a rectangular city wide from east to west and short from north to south slightly southwest, influenced by the shape of Tang Chang'an City and Song Kaifeng City, there are imperial cities and more than 30 square squares in the city, as a residential area, workshop area and market area, there are many Buddhist temples in the city, which were later destroyed by the Mongols.
Editor-in-Charge: Huang Yazhu
Proofreader: Ding Xiao