Qin period of ancient capital city layout characteristics

Afang Palace Fu wrote: five steps a building, ten steps a pavilion, the corridor waist, eaves and teeth high pecking. From this, we can peep out the characteristics of the palace building during the Qin Dynasty. From the Qin Shi Huang unification of the six countries, the Qin Palace building has reached the peak of the point, it can be said that the later generations of the palace building, have inherited the essence of the Qin Dynasty building. And from the characteristics of Qin Palace architecture, you can also see the characteristics of Qin culture. The following is to explore in depth.

A process of ancient Chinese architectural history

China's architectural history from can be traced back to the primitive society, early mankind knew to use wood to build the basic structure of the house, use the soil to make the foundation, tamping the foundation, but also knew to use the stone to build a house to shelter from the wind and rain. The wisdom of primitive man can be seen from the excavated ruins of Xi'an Half-slope and Zhejiang Hemudu.

During the Xia Dynasty, China entered into slavery, and the excavated ruins of Erlitou in the Xia Dynasty: the whole building was in the shape of a "back", with wells next to it, and some ditches used for drainage, and the four walls were all built very smoothly to enclose the royal city in it. From the Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, the construction of the royal city has changed from the initial small-scale buildings to a large number of palaces with unique architectural forms. They sought to emphasize the tallness and majesty of the palaces in their construction, thus highlighting the supremacy of the king's power. History records: the rulers in pursuit of pleasure, to "high platforms, beautiful palace" as the honor, the most famous than the Chu Palace of Architecture: Zhang Hua Terrace, Gao Tang Terrace, five music Terrace. There is also King Wu Fu-chai for Xi Shi built Pavilion Wa Palace "layers of corridors and hips around, magnificent."

After Qin unified the six kingdoms, it built the Great Wall, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the A-Fang Palace and other buildings, as well as expanding the Xianyang Palace. The scale of the Xianyang Palace and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is equivalent to more than 2,000 times that of the Forbidden City in Beijing, which is staggering. And the famous Great Wall of China, the Qin Great Wall is up to more than 3,000 kilometers, today's experts have never found the edges of the Xianyang Palace walls, perhaps because of the sheer size of the buildings of the Xianyang Palace, so that people have no way to find them.

In traditional Chinese culture, the doctrine of feng shui treasure is strictly followed, and the concept of unity of heaven and man is implemented, and these concepts on the palace architecture also reflect the cultural characteristics of the Qin Dynasty.

The evolution of palace architecture in the Qin Dynasty

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the rites and music were in tatters, and the authority of the Zhou Emperor no longer existed, so each country no longer built palaces in accordance with the hierarchical requirements of the Zhou rituals for palace architecture, but rather built their palaces in a more magnificent way according to their own ideas. The earliest palace in Qin was Yongcheng, which was later built by Duke Ling of Qin, who moved the capital to Jingyang, Duke Xian of Qin, who moved the capital to Liyang, and Duke Xiaoyao of Qin, who continued to build it, before laying down the basic architectural pattern of the Qin dynasty.

In 677 B.C., Duke De of Qin moved the capital to Yongcheng, today's Fengxiang County in Shaanxi Province. The Da Zheng Palace was built here as a resting place for the Duke of Qin De. Although the history books did not record the details of the Grand Zheng Palace in detail, based on the wealth accumulated by the Qin monarchs before Duke De of Qin, the scale of its construction should not be too small. For nearly three hundred years, Yongcheng was the political, economic and cultural center of Qin. Historical records show that the walls of Yongcheng were vast and deep, with a huge city wall and many gorgeous palaces surrounding it like a starry moon. Duke Xian of Qin moved the capital of Qin from Yongcheng to Xianyang in order for Qin to be able to go east and compete with the six Shandong countries. Although Yongcheng lost its status as a political and economic center, it was still an important place for Qin people to worship their ancestors.

About this history of Qin Linggong moved the capital to Jingyang, history books recorded very little, and Qin Linggong did not make any big contribution to the Qin state, so the existence of Jingyang Palace is not very meaningful, not to explain in detail here.

After the relocation of the capital by Duke Xian of Qin and its perfection by Duke Xiao of Qin, the city of Xianyang was finally established as the capital of Qin. After continuous improvement by Duke Xiao of Qin, King Huiwen of Qin, and King Wu of Qin, the construction of Xianyang City was finally completed in the era of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, and its vast walls made Tian Wen, the Monarch of Mengchang, and Wei Wuji, the Monarch of Xinling, who had entered the Hangu Pass, unable to do anything about it.

After the unification of the six kingdoms by Qin Shihuang, the Xianyang Palace was still expanding. There has been controversy in the historiography about how big the palace was, and the more common saying is that it probably took the whole of Xianyang as its own palace, thus forming a closed encirclement. Its architectural features draw on the strengths of the six eastern countries, but also has its own principles, a center represents the imperial city, the two central axes represent the concept of civil and military officials and generals *** with the rule of the country, while the overall layout sits in the west towards the east, implying that the purple energy comes from the east. From the characteristics of these buildings, it is not difficult to see that the Qin Dynasty centralized system of power, the only emperor thought, as well as the idea of unity of heaven and man.

Three from the Qin Palace architectural features peep Qin cultural characteristics

Qin Palace architectural ideas are very simple, first of all, the central axis of symmetry. After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the establishment of a centralized political system, and the central axis symmetry of the architectural pattern just symbolizes the status of the emperor's supremacy, the emperor is also the son of God, the son of God is in the most central position in the palace building, fully embodies the ancient Chinese architecture of the unity of man and the sky idea. And Xianyang Palace with the Qin wars continue to win, the continuous expansion of territory, the palace has been expanding, until the Qin Shi Huang united the six countries are still under construction, from which it is not difficult to see the Qin culture in the characteristics of the enterprising, successive generations of the Qin people continue to open up new territories, before the construction of a great unity of the empire.

People in the past have never known whether the A-fang Palace really existed, through the archaeological excavations in recent years gradually restored the appearance of the A-fang Palace, due to the Qin Dynasty's demise, the A-fang Palace was built only a small part. Experts found that the center line of the Afang Palace has been to the south, north to the Wei River, which is in the same position with the central axis of the Xianyang Palace, which can be seen in the Qin Palace building a strong sense of the axis, more proof of the unity of man and heaven.

The second is the pattern of sitting west to east. Qin is located in the western frontier, and the neighboring Yi Qu, Dong Hu and other countries have close contact, and they in the long-term and these Rong Di war, but also learned a lot of Rong Di customs, and therefore by the six eastern countries of contempt. When Duke Xiaodong of Qin, he was y impressed that the lords were inferior to Qin, the ugliness of which was great, and he was motivated to become strong and started the Shang Yang reform. And the Xianyang Palace sitting in the west towards the east of the architectural pattern, may be intended to remind each king of Qin, do not forget the six countries in the east of Qin's insults, to always remember the east out of the national policy, the annexation of the six countries, a unification of the world.

This pattern of sitting in the west and facing the east was also meant to express the Qin people's yearning for the culture of the Zhou, and for the culture of the six kingdoms. Due to its location on the border, the Zhou Emperor did not think very highly of the Qin, and they considered the Qin people to be barbarians, just like the Chu people. The Qin people had no culture of their own at this time, and were very much attracted to the Zhou rituals of the Central Plains, which honored the east and y influenced them by the etiquette of sitting towards the south. The Zhou royal family capital Haojing, its palace walls are exquisite, leading to the six eastern countries to follow suit, the Qin people at this time, although not recognized by the six countries in Shandong, in the international community does not have any status, but they also aspire to gorgeous palace, exquisite architecture, so follow the example of the Zhou emperor's palace sitting in the west towards the east of the architectural pattern, and has been continued.