Characteristics of Traditional Cities in China

The castle stage in China's ancient history roughly refers to the war between military tribal alliances from the end of primitive society to the beginning of Zhixia Dynasty. It is not only the product of the brutal plunder war at the beginning of civilization, but also one of the results of the long-term struggle between primitive human beings and nature.

This kind of country castle is often called "city" or "city" in ancient historical documents of China. Regarding the concept of "city", Shuo Wen Jie Zi contains: "City, to fill the people." Duan Yucai in the Qing Dynasty wrote: "A man full of words is like a grain in a vessel." [9] "Shi Ming" also said: "The city is also prosperous. Sheng Shouguo is also a country. " Jin Cuibao clearly pointed out: "The city is full, so it is full of major events." [10] Although these functions explain the meaning of the city, they all reflect that leaving the city is a special defense facility. Its original motive was purely for the need of defense. So, "Mozi?" "Seven Diseases" said: "People who live in cities, therefore, have self-control. "It can be said that this general explanation is quite appropriate and conforms to historical facts.

Because the main function of the city at that time was reflected in defense, there must be defense facilities-city walls first. Under the condition of underdeveloped science and technology in ancient times, the insurmountable city wall naturally became the most important symbol of the city. In people's view, as long as there is a city wall, the city will have a defensive barrier and its defensive function will be reflected. When people in cities encounter man-made or natural disasters, they can act as their castles.

Guo Moruo, a famous historian, said: "There is a transitional period from primitive society to slave society. In the history of our country, this period can be traced back to the legendary Yellow Emperor era, from Yao Shunyu to early summer, which lasted for hundreds of years. " [1 1] Judging from the historical conditions of our country at that time, this period was the stage of tribal alliance. At this time, due to the development of social economy, not only rural fixed settlements have emerged, but also the surplus and increase of products have led to wars between tribal alliances, such as the wars between Huangdi and Chiyou, Huangdi and Yan Di. In the war, in order to defend against the enemy and save themselves, but also to resist and prevent the invasion of wild animals and floods in nature, people began to build simple rammed earth walls around relatively concentrated settlements, that is, around their residences, or dig trenches with a certain width and depth around their residences, and at the same time build solid earth walls by returning soil from trenches. In addition, some larger settlements or tribal alliance centers have built better and more complicated walls around them. At this point, the most primitive country castle began to appear.

The appearance of this kind of castle can be confirmed by a large number of historical legends and literature records in ancient China. The Chronicle of Xuanyuan contains: "The Yellow Emperor built five cities." The Biography of the Yellow Emperor said: "The emperor killed Chiyou and built a city for it." In addition to the "Yellow Emperor's Theory of Building Cities", there is also the "Xia Guan's Theory of Building Cities". The report said, "After listening to Yue Si, Yao said,' The emperor suffered from natural disasters and could not recover'. It is the beginning of building a city to defend the monarch and building a country to defend the people. " [12] "Lv Chunqiu? It is also recorded in JUNSHOU that "Xiaqiang is a city" and Huainanzi that "Xiaqiang is a city of three kinds of guns." "Guanzi" also said: "King of Xia people, ... people know the architecture of the city gate. "This kind of city obviously refers to the crude castle building. Because in addition to its records about the city wall, other materials reflect the same as the villages settled mainly by farming.

Moreover, the existence of this rural castle stage in the history of China can be confirmed by the archaeological data obtained. There are rammed earth walls and castles dating back about 4,200 years in Ziya of Longshan Cultural City, Wang Chenggang in Dengfeng and Pingliangtai in Huaiyang.

As early as the early 1930s, when China archaeologists excavated the Longshan cultural site in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, they found a rectangular wall around the site, which was about 450 meters long from north to south and 390 meters wide from east to west. Most houses are in the city. The city wall was built of rammed earth, about 4250 years ago [13]. 1977, archaeologists in China also found a castle site on Xiwangchenggang, Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng County, Henan Province. There are Longshan cultural relics on the rammed earth walls. According to carbon 14, its absolute age should be between 4340 and 3870, "roughly equivalent to Xia Dynasty". Therefore, some people think that "tribes in primitive society may also have castles" and "the time should be earlier than the Xia Dynasty, which may belong to the late primitive society" [14]. 1980, China archaeologists discovered another ancient city site, Pingliangtai ancient city site, in the southeast of Huaiyang County, Henan Province. "The city site is two to five meters above the ground and covers an area of about 100 mu" [15]. Its wall is almost square, the length and width of the city are 185 meters, and the corner of the southwest city is slightly curved. Ruins such as north and south city gates and cement pipes were found in the city site. According to the determination of carbon 14, its age is about 40 10 years ago, and the corrected age of tree rings is about 45 15 years [16].

As can be seen from the above-mentioned city sites, they are different from ordinary villages, but because the productivity level of the whole society was still very low at that time, their production and living conditions were not obviously different from those in rural areas. The interests of residents inside and outside the city are coordinated and have not been divided because of the existence of the city wall. Moreover, no matter according to literature records or archaeological data, the scope of cities surrounded by city walls at that time was mostly larger and larger with the passage of time, which was different from the narrow castles in medieval Europe. Therefore, there are not only relatively concentrated residential areas, but also some farmland and vegetable fields cultivated by urban people. Its purpose is to prepare for the material needs of long-term defense and guarding the city under certain circumstances. Perhaps because of this, even if some cities have formed modern cities more than 2,000 years later, there are still farmland and vegetable fields distributed within the city walls. For example, "Quanzhou, Fujian, there is still a quarter of the open space on the map modified by 1945 aerial survey. In the early years of the Republic of China, a map of Suzhou City with a scale of1:20,000 was completed, and there were a lot of farmland in the city "[17]. There are irrigation and water conservancy facilities in the city, which can greatly reduce the threat of external siege; At the same time, it also shows that there is no difference between the production and lifestyle of urban residents in early ancient times and the farming lifestyle in rural areas. This is especially true of the ancient city of China. The existence of this pastoral castle can be considered as one of the embryonic forms of the future city, and it is the initial bud or embryonic form of the city.

Second, the city, the city separation stage

The phase of separation between cities began in summer and ended in the early years of Western Zhou Dynasty. As mentioned above, in the country castle stage, the castle has only a very single defense function. In the Xia and Shang Dynasties, with the gradual increase of the ruling class institutions, a purely defensive castle gradually developed into a capital city with not only external defensive function, but also internal political center function. However, compared with the former "city" or "castle", this kind of capital and local political center "city" has not changed qualitatively.

As far as the history of "city" is concerned, in the stage of rural castle, due to relatively low productivity, small scale and small population, the exchange of goods between people is extremely limited, even if it happens occasionally, it is temporary. So there were few fixed production exchange places-cities. However, in Xia and Shang dynasties, with the development of social economy and the division of labor between agriculture and handicrafts, handicrafts and commerce, more and more commercial activities began to appear, and a relatively fixed commodity exchange place-city also came into being. As a place of material exchange, the city was a pure place of economic activity in the early days, which was completely separated from the city and existed alone. It was different from the city and the countryside. So the city and the city at that time were two independent bodies, without any internal connection, completely separated from each other. In the long process from city to city formation in ancient China, the stage of separation between cities lasted for quite a long time. This point has been confirmed in many historical documents and a large number of existing archaeological materials.

According to historical documents, we know that the original "city" and "city" are two different concepts, belonging to two different geographical entities, with different properties and functions. As mentioned above, the city refers to a military stronghold with defensive function, surrounded by city walls to guard against traffic emergencies. Then, the document was uploaded: "The city, Guo Ye, is the land of the capital, and those who build it should protect it" [18]. Here, the city, Guo, Yi, Du, Yi, etc. Both refer to a simple "city", and there is no qualitative difference between the two.

Market refers to the trading market. "Is it easy? Quotation: "Japan and China are the market, to the people of the world, to gather goods from the world, and to retreat from the transaction, each has its own place. Shuowen Jiezi also holds that "the city is also a place for buying and selling" and "trade, Jia and the city are also" [19]. It can be seen that trading places here is a city. Judging from the basic characteristics of cities recorded in ancient documents, there is no inevitable internal relationship between cities, and cities do not necessarily have cities; On the contrary, the market does not necessarily surround the wall. It can be considered that the original city or city does not contain the meaning of the compound noun "city"

In recent decades, many archaeological excavations about urban sites in Xia and Shang Dynasties have mostly found the remains of cities, battlements, Du Yi or palaces. In Du Yi, which has a high level of development, there are only some handicraft workshops, which are simply supplied to the royal family, not exchanged. Even handicraft workshops that may be related to the city are mostly scattered outside the city or elsewhere [20]. As for the commercial market with the purpose of commodity exchange, on the one hand, it could not be fully formed under the economic conditions at that time, and on the other hand, a small amount of temporary commodity barter was exchanged, because compared with government-run handicraft workshops, its relationship with political and military central cities tends to be loose. So it lacks the conditions to occupy a place in the capital. The separation of cities and towns was more in line with the reality of social development at that time. For example, Erlitou Palace Site in Yanshi, Henan, Zhengzhou Mall in Hubei, Panlong Mall and Yinxu Capital in Anyang. Although the city sites of various cities are widely distributed and there are many relics, such as city walls, palace bases and handicraft workshops, the economy of Shang cities is still dominated by agricultural production. For example, the length of the east wall and south wall of a large shopping mall site is1700m, the length of the north wall is about1690m, the length of the west wall is about1870m, and the circumference is about 7km. Eleven gaps were found in the surrounding city walls, some of which may have been produced in the process of urban destruction, and some of which may be the city gates. However, from the perspective of urban sites, "most of these residents are agricultural population, which seems to be not much different from ordinary village sites" [2 1]. This just reflects some characteristics of early cities. However, unlike ordinary village sites, there are many handicraft workshop sites outside the mall according to a certain layout. For example, bronze casting sites were found in the northern and southern suburbs, pottery firing workshops were found in the western suburbs, and bone-making workshops were found in the northern wall. It's just that the handicrafts produced by these workshops are not for the needs of the market, but mainly for the rulers [22].

To sum up, from the ancient literature records and the excavation of modern archaeological sites in China, we can see that there are no traces of fairs in the cities of Xia and Shang Dynasties. Although there was a market in this period, it was still in an independent state of being separated or relatively isolated from the cities at that time, and there was no internal connection between them.

Third, the city-city integration stage

In the process of the formation of ancient cities in China, it took hundreds of years for cities and cities to gradually combine and finally become real cities. In time, it roughly includes the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. It can be considered that the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was the time when the real city was born in the history of China.

From the origin of the city, the "city" is adapted to the needs of the ruling group, and the rulers use it to exercise state functions, which is formed from top to bottom due to the role of political forces; "Market" is formed from "below" to "above" due to the need of economic development, through commodity exchange, the subsequent gradual development of handicraft industry and the continuous increase of surplus products. In the stage of separation between cities, the function of cities emphasizes the role of political center and military fortress, which inhibits the organic combination of cities and cities with economic nature; At the same time, due to the relatively slow social development, the overall level of economic development can not completely break through some artificial constraints and "enter" the city; In addition, at that time, the main supply mode of agricultural products in cities was brutal military plunder and forced expropriation, and whether there was a city was not so important to the early capital or city. Moreover, there are many people who set up the city, which makes it easier to increase the defense difficulty of the city and weaken its political and military functions. Therefore, in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, although handicraft workshops and a few temporary markets were set up within the city walls to serve the princes and nobles, the outstanding nature of the pure military defense of the capital at that time could not be changed. In this regard, it can be proved from the geographical characteristics reflected by the special nature of cities or capitals at that time, that is, cities in Xia and Shang Dynasties were mostly built near mountains and rivers that were easy to defend but difficult to attack [23].

There is no clear record in historical documents about when there was a market in ancient China. However, from the market-related records in early Confucian classics such as Zhou Li, it can be seen that there was a market in cities in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which opened the prelude to the early integration of ancient cities and cities in China.

In the Zhou Dynasty, due to the development of social production and the increase of population, settlements increased, and handicrafts and commerce developed rapidly. Therefore, it is followed by changes in cities and urban concepts. On the one hand, people gradually realize that the development of industry and commerce is closely related to the prosperity of the country. On the other hand, due to the warlord regime, countries realize that it is difficult to hold a city with only the defensive function of the city wall and no economic strength for a long time. At the same time, with the expansion of the ruling group and the continuous development of social economy, in order to make their life more convenient and comfortable, and also to enhance the defense ability of the capital city, the rulers allowed the establishment of "city" trade in the compartments of the city, so as to build only political and military buildings such as palaces and government offices, and then handicraft workshops appeared and increased, and the scale of "city" also expanded and the population increased. At the same time, due to the gradual development of economy and the increase of market, some commodity distribution centers or prosperous markets with developed transportation have been promoted. Due to military and political reasons, "city" and "city" have been merged into one. Therefore, "city" can be divided into big city, small city, morning market, night market, regular city and irregular city. "Zhou Li? Local officials said: "a big city will be finished in one day, and the city is ruled by hundreds of nationalities;" Market-oriented, market-oriented from time to time, mainly merchants; Night markets, sometimes night markets, mainly sell husbands and women. When entering the city, Xu holds a whip and guards the door. The group of officials in the city have been displayed in a flat way and given to the city and a gift to the city's teachers. "The so-called' city division' is the' city division'." Division city, education city, political punishment, weights and measures, ban. By city "[24]. That is to say, the management officials set up in the "city" at that time were not only responsible for supervising the entrance and exit of vendors' goods, rectifying the layout of stalls and shops, and even determining prices and restricting the sale of contraband, but also had their own special official residence and its management system. It can be seen that there was no doubt that there was a city in the city.

Through the establishment of the inner city and the construction of the outer city, the original independent cities and cities gradually merged and gradually developed into a unified and organic complex-city. Such an organically integrated city is no longer just a "palace camp". Although it was originally a simple combination of cities, its function, composition and basic characteristics have been greatly complicated and diversified. The emergence of this complex comprehensive city not only becomes the relative center of politics, economy and culture of a country or region, but also becomes the spatial unity of administration, production, culture, residence and transportation system, and is also the organic environment for people to use and transform nature in their production and life. It constitutes a unique way of life different from the countryside, and marks the formation of a truly meaningful city in the ancient history of China.

Only when the city becomes an objective entity that people feel in their lives, and the city and the city are organically combined, will the compound term "city" appear in the language. Because of this, in the stage of separation between castle and city, there were only single concepts such as city, city, capital and city in China ancient literature and idioms, and it was not until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that the literature containing the compound concept "city" began to spread. Did everything wrong? "Ai Chen" contains: "Although the official salary is large, you can't occupy the city; Although there are many party member, you cannot be a minister. " This is completely different from the concept of only cities and cities. In the cited literature, it is qualitatively different. In this regard, "Warring States Policy? Zhao Ce has a similar record. In "Zhao Ce", it is said that the envoy of Feng Ting, the guardian of Shangdang in South Korea, said to the king of Zhao: "There are seventy cities today, and if you want to worship the imperial palace as the king, only the king can do it. "In addition," Zhou Li? Sheriff? The second part of "Si Tuleideng" systematically records all kinds of officials who specially managed the capital market in the Zhou Dynasty and their division of responsibilities, and has different specific provisions on rewards and punishments for monarchs, wives, princes, husbands and wives who crossed the market, such as "managing the market, managing education, political punishment, and measuring bans". It shows that the nature of both the imperial capital and the vassal state cities at that time has clearly reflected the fact that the capital city and the city are gradually organically combined. This is not only the natural need of urban development in Zhou Dynasty, but also the inevitable result of social and economic development at that time, especially handicraft and business development.

According to the archaeological data of the ancient city ruins, in the ruins of Qufu, Shandong, Xia, Yun and Chu in the Western Zhou Dynasty, not only the distribution of handicrafts, commerce and residential areas was found in the imperial barrier Miyagi, but also the existing handicraft workshops and residential areas were found in the inner city except the palace. Ying capital is divided into palace area, handicraft area and civilian residential area, among which handicraft workshops can be seen in many places [28]. Among the handicraft workshops belonging to Xia Ducheng, there are not only large government-run workshops such as cast iron, coins, weapons, bone-making and pottery-burning in Dongcheng, but also some small handicraft workshops found in residential areas in the southwest of the city. These individual handicraft workshops, which mainly focus on agricultural ironware, are obviously not produced for the government, but are sold to farmers or farmers as commodities, which shows that Xia Yan is somewhat commercial [29].

Some people think: "During the Spring (Autumn) War (in China), almost all the larger capitals were attached to an urban area with handicraft industry, commerce and residence as the barrier of the imperial city-Guo Cheng. Guo not only acts as a military barrier, but also enhances its long-term economic strength "[30]. This urban layout model is typical in the old city of Zheng and Han in Henan. According to archaeological investigation, the old city of Zhenghan was divided into two areas: Dongcheng and Xicheng by the city wall. Xicheng is a palace area where kings and royal nobles live, and Dongcheng is a civilian area engaged in handicrafts and commerce. Today, a large area of copper casting and bone making workshops, as well as copper melting furnaces, bone cones, bone beads, bone rings and other products have been discovered. There is also a large cast iron workshop in the southwest of the city, covering an area of 40,000 square meters. Its relics show that not only swords, halberds, arrows and other weapons were cast in the workshop for military use, but also a large number of agricultural and handicraft tools such as hoes, sickles, shovels, hoes and chisels [3 1]. Obviously, these tools widely used in daily production are made for sale, not just for personal use. This shows that the old city of Zheng and Han has begun to get rid of its position as a political and military center in the past, and gradually moved towards a new stage of "city" with commercial and economic nature, and entered a new era of integration between the city and the city, so that the two will eventually merge into one.

It is precisely because of the new situation of the combination of city and city during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that the records of new social strata in the process of city formation also appear in historical documents. Some people think that "people in the workplace" [32] refers to craftsmen and businessmen; The "hundred workers" in the "hundred workers live in the government to handle affairs" probably refers to the folk craftsmen who produce and sell themselves [33]. Such records in Mozi and Analects of Confucius also reflected the integration of cities at that time from the aspect of urban population composition.

Not only that, the integration of city and city was also manifested in the division and management of metropolitan administrative areas at that time. For example, Guanzi settled in Linzi, the capital of Qi State, and the country is 2 1 township: "the hometown of industry and commerce is six, and the hometown of scholars and peasants is fifteen" [34]. According to the regulations, "dry is the government" and "dry is the market". It can be seen that the industrial and commercial households in each city account for nearly 30% of the households in Linzi City. At that time, there were 2,000 households in each township, "2 1 township 42,000 households" ("Warring States Policy? Qi Ce recorded: "There are 70,000 households in Linzi, which are very rich and real"), and each household has an average of 4 people, that is, there are more than 100,000 people in Linzi City. Compared with the capital of Xia and Shang Dynasties, the integration of cities and cities in the two-week period was more obvious, and the city also developed greatly. This is not only manifested in the increase of urban points, the expansion of urban distribution and the change of urban regional structure, but also in the rapid increase of urban population and the increasingly complex population composition. All these reflect that the city and the city at that time have gradually merged into one and formed a real city.

To sum up, the formation of ancient cities in China is a long historical process, and it is a life form system that gradually becomes the opposite of the countryside in the process of leaving the countryside. From the end of primitive society to the Spring and Autumn Period, it mainly experienced three stages: country castle, separation of city and city, and integration of city and city. Especially from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the changes in the size, region and population composition of the city, the trend of urban integration was obviously reflected at that time. From the initial individual, temporary and accidental combination, it gradually developed into a universal, more frequent and trending combination, thus announcing the birth of a real city in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.