Former Liang built Guzang Castle
At the foot of Qilian Mountain more than 1,600 years ago, there was a prosperous and rich capital city. The shape of this capital is particularly strange, it is long from north to south, and it extends two small cities in two directions from east to west. From a distance, it has a head and tail and wings, like a big bird that spreads its wings and flies south. Because there is a Gaizang River passing next to it, people who come and go call this city "Gai Bird City" or "Wing City".
The city's cornices and arches are majestic and magnificent, and if nothing else, twenty-two light city gates were built, which was the city with the most gates in the Chinese capital at that time. In addition, there are numerous pavilions, Buddhist temples and pagodas, as well as dense schools, book houses, shops and military barracks, and a landmark building in the Hexi Corridor with a height of 15 meters stands on the north side of the city. People live and work in this city, happy and contented. This city was Guzang, the capital of the former Liang State during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and its site was in today's Wuwei City, Gansu.
The construction of the capital city has a long history in China, and has long had certain regulations. In the traditional sense, the capital cities built by successive dynasties, such as Chang'an City, Luoyang City and later Beijing City, were all boxy. So, why did Gu Zang, the capital of the former Liang Kingdom, build the shape of a bird? There is also a legend here.
According to legend, the earliest Guzang City was built by the Nomadic Xiongnu near Wuwei during the Western Han Dynasty, after the Xiongnu were driven away by the Han Dynasty, the immigrant Han people lived here, and in the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, this became the capital of the former Liang State, when the Central Plains was in constant war, many famous Han clans and ordinary people fled to the Hexi Corridor with their families and mouths, and the arrival of endless refugees made Guzang City overcrowded, and the former Liang generations of kings had to carry out a large-scale expansion of Guzang City in addition to building another town to resettle the people who defected to Guzang.
By the time Zhang Jun, the third king of Former Liang, ascended the throne, his grandfather Zhang Rail and uncle Zhang Mao had built a new city on the north and south sides of the original Old City of Guzang. In this way, the south city, the old city, and the north city were arranged from south to north, and Guzang City was expanded into a rectangle after Zhang Jun took the throne, out of the needs of economic development, he was ready to expand Guzang City again. If it was built according to the appearance of the former capital city of the Central Plains, Guzang City should be built into a boxy, but at this time, Guzang City has been repaired into a rectangle by the previous generations of kings of Qianliang, so how should it be repaired? For a time, this became a big problem in front of Zhang Jun, the King of Liang
And just at this time, a song suddenly spread in the streets and alleys of Guzang City: "Hong came from the south and was not alarmed, who said that the lone chick was born with tails and wings, and held aloft the six phoenixes." The sudden outpouring of this ballad for no reason must have been a sign. Liang Wang Zhang Jun "giggled" in his heart after hearing this, why? It turned out that when Zhang Jun's father, Zhang Jun, was alive before, there was a strange song and ballad that was sung among the children in Guzang City: "Snake cannon, snake cannon, male head fell to the ground without realizing it." At that time, because I didn't know what the song was singing, everyone thought that the dolls were singing and playing, so they didn't take it seriously. At this time, a demon named Liu Hong from Guanzhong lived in the Tianti Mountain south of Guzang City. He hung a mirror with a cast ornament in the cave, and then shook the lights to create a mysterious and eerie illusion that confused many believers. Several of Zhang Yu's subordinates were drawn to convert to this religion by him. There were many letters, and Liu Hong's desire for power also swelled, and he even wanted to replace Zhang Yu. One night, two of Zhang Huan's subordinates, who had been brainwashed by Liu Hong, killed Zhang Huan while he was asleep, and cut off Zhang Huan's head, preparing to ask Liu Hong for credit for the song that had circulated in the city before, at which point there was an answer, "Gong Head Fell to the Ground Without Realizing" singing that Zhang Huan was cut off his head without noticing, although later all the people, including Liu Hong, were killed, but this song left a lot of shadows in the hearts of several generations of kings, including Zhang Jun. And now that a song has suddenly spread in Guzang City, what does it foreshadow? For a while, the people in Guzang City were all talking about it: "This time, there won't be anything wrong in The Liang King's family, right?"
Due to the strange song, Zhang Jun, the King of Liang, felt uneasy, and the matter of repairing the city was temporarily not mentioned. Until one day, a white-haired old man suddenly came to Guzang City, and he said to a small official in the city: "This Guzang City, there are mountains in front of the head, and there are rivers on the east and west sides, but unfortunately the north is a stone beach, which suppresses the feng shui of this Guzang City, so the previous generations of Liang Kings were killed and the queens were killed." If you can fix two wings for it and make it fly like a phoenix bird, this Guzang City and the people in the city will be able to fly yellow and soar..." He said and flew away. The petty officer reported the words of the white-haired old man to Zhang Jun, and Zhang Jun felt as if this was the case. In addition to the murder of his father, his uncle Zhang Mao did pass the throne to him because of his absence. Now that Xiucheng can soar, let's not care what those few songs really mean. So Zhang Jun immediately summoned the officials of the city, and after some research, Zhang Jun asked him to expand a city according to the city wall on the east and west sides of the old city of Guzang. In this way, the former Lianggu Zang City was built into the shape of a large bird with wings. Among them, the south city protrudes to symbolize the bird's head; the middle city symbolizes the bird's body; the east-west extension of the East and West Garden City resemble the spread wings of a bird; and the north city symbolizes the bird's tail.
It is also strange to say that the "bird-shaped" Guzang City has really "soared" since then. During the twenty-two years of Zhang Jun's reign, the former Liang state was rich and strong, and the territory once reached the Pamir Plateau in present-day Xinjiang, extending to the vicinity of today's water in the east, and there were twenty-two counties under the sole rule. Zhang Jun became a "King of the Northwest", and the countries of the Western Regions at that time bowed down to Qianliang. In order to curry favor with Zhang Jun, the kings of the Western Regions also sent envoys to Qianliang to pay tribute to huohuan cloth, peacocks, calves, elephants and other rare treasures. King Yuanmeng of Shanshan also presented Zhang Junjin with two beautiful women who could sing and dance. Zhang Jun was greatly pleased, and specially sent people to build a guest house in Guzang City to welcome the distinguished guests, so that the beautiful women of Yan Shanlai could live.
Later, a warlock from Chang'an who could explain the proverbs came to Guzang to see Zhang Jun. At this time, Zhang Jun remembered the previous ballad and asked the warlock about the meaning of the ballad. The warlock understood for a moment and said happily, "Isn't the lone chick here talking about Your Highness?" His Highness lost his father when he was young, like a lost chick. But who would have thought that His Highness was brilliant and brilliant, and now he had become a phoenix that flew over nine days and could make a long sound! Then the crowd suddenly realized.
The country was full of singing and dancing, and Zhang Jun also began a hedonistic life of poverty and luxury. In addition to expanding Guzang Castle, he also carried out large-scale construction of the palace where he lived in the city. In the south and middle castles there are his palace districts, which are built with a large and spectacular palace complex. In the East and West Garden Cities on the east and west sides of Guzang City, there are also specially built Xiyuan and gardens for Zhang Jun and his family to recreation and hunting. It is home to fish, birds and animals, exotic flowers and plants, and exotic animals such as peacocks and elephants from the western region. There is also a large flower and fruit garden built in the north city, cultivating a variety of famous fruits and exotic flowers.
To say that the most luxurious and magnificent palace in Guzang City is the Qianguang Hall built by Zhang Junshi. According to relevant historical records, the exterior of the Qianguang Hall is decorated with the traditional Chinese emperor's yellow decoration, and the doors and windows railings are exquisitely carved, and they are also decorated with gold and pearls. The whole building looks elegant and magnificent. On the door of the temple are pearl bead curtains decorated with gold wire, the hall is placed with mica screens with intricate craftsmanship that can reflect the beautiful pearl-like luster, and the floor is covered with thick Western carpets. The Qianguang Hall is also surrounded by the "Four Hours Palace" representing the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The Four Hours Palace is extremely luxuriously decorated, and the color of the interior decoration will change with the color of the exterior of the palace. The food, drinking and entertainment supplies in the palace are gorgeous and luxurious, and Zhang Jun will choose different palaces to live in according to different seasons. It is his first choice for warming in winter and cooling off in summer. In his later years, Zhang Jun no longer pays attention to so much, but just enjoys playing and living at will.
The bustling street market in Qianlianggu City, the grand scale of the building, and the splendid palace make The former Liang and later Hou Liang also choose this place as the capital city. Guzang became the city with the longest capital in the history of the Hexi Corridor. Wuwei still retains the reputation of "Five Liang Ancient Capitals".
Source: Liangzhou Cultural Research Institute