Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty

The Site of Luoyang City Introduction

Summary: (1) Contribution to the Silk Roads' OUV Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty hosted the capital cities of four important imperial dynasties in the evolutional history of C ...

 

 

 

 

(1) Contribution to the Silk Roads' OUV

Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty hosted the capital cities of four important imperial dynasties in the evolutional history of Chinese civilization (1st Century-6th Century AD). Situated in the Luoyang Basin of Central China, being the oriental starting point of the Silk Roads in this period, it demonstrates cultural characteristics of the Central Chinese dynasties from the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty and testifies to the unique urban culture resulted from the assimilation of nomadic people with farming people during the Northern Wei Dynasty , cross-region and cross-period evolution of urban layout, and the spread and localization of Buddhism in Central China.

(2) General Information

The site of Luoyang city from the Eastern Han to Northern Wei Dynasty was located in the city of presentday Luoyang, 15 km west from the city proper of Luoyang and 345 km away from Xi’an city (Chang’an city of Han Dynasty). The ancient Luoyang city was built on the alluvial plain of Yi River and Luo River in the eastern part of Luoyang Basin. It was adjacent to Mang Hill to its north and Luo River to its south51. The Luoyang Basin where the site was located was an important agricultural region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and is of high transportation and military significance. Therefore several dynasties set their capitals here. The layout and remains of the site mainly date back to the Northern Wei Dynasty, accompanied with remains from the Western Jin Dynasty, the Kingdom of Wei and the Eastern Han Dynasty and even from earlier periods. The ancient Luoyang city occupied 10 square kilometers in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was expanded to a trio of city walls in the Northern Wei Dynasty, covering an area of nearly 80 square kilometers.

The contour of the city during the Eastern Han Dynasty was a rectangular in north-south direction, with 12 city gates on four sides; the northern and southern palaces occupied most of the space within the city. During the Kingdom of Wei period and Western Jin Dynasty the city site stayed the same with that of the Eastern Han Dynasty. And in the Kingdom of Wei period, the southern palace gradually dilapidated, only the northern one existed, and the Jinyong City was newly built on the northwest corner of the city.

Luoyang city of Northern Wei Dynasty inherited the urban forms explored since Kingdom of Wei including north-south central city axis, single imperial palace, outer city system and Lifang system, and further developed city forms of significant influence for later periods, therefore it is an important city site carrying crucial historic information on the evolution of Chinese ancient capital cities. Luoyang city of Northern Wei Dynasty consisted of three rings of cities, viz., imperial palace, inner city and outer city. The imperial palace was situated in northcentral part of the inner city. Remains from imperial palace include Changhe Palace Gate remains, Site of Architectural Remain 2 and 3, and site of Taiji Hall. The north-south Tongtuo Avenue, a major road of the city, formed “T” shape with east-west Tongtuo Street outside the Changhe Gate. Many important buildings were built along the Tongtuo Avenue, like government buildings, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Ritual Temple, the royal Yongning Temple, etc. Neat east-west and north-south streets and avenues constituted the grid road system of the city. The main roads were connected with the gate of the inner city and the roads stretched out of the city. On the northwest corner of the inner city was Jinyong city, a military installation. Lifang (enclosed residential area) was distributed in other parts of the inner city and outer city, with living area, handicraft area and markets. Representative remains of Luoyang city from Eastern Han to Northern Wei dynasties were mainly from the inner city at the time of Northern Wei52 (i.e., the range of Luoyang city in Eastern Han, the Kingdom of Wei, and Western Jin dynasties), mainly containing city walls of the inner city and imperial palace, city gates, remains of the moat, roads remains, and architectural sites (including sites of palaces, government buildings, temples, warehouses etc.) and handicraft workshop sites.

(3)Attributes

With the remains of the entire capital cities of Eastern Han, Wei and Western Jin Dynasties, together with that of the imperial palace and inner city of Northern Wei Dynasty grand in scale and well preserved, the site uncovers the cultural characters of the Central Chinese imperial dynasties from Eastern Han to Northern Wei in carrying on the past ritual traditions while absorbing and integrating influence from multiple cultures; it is a witness in particular to the unique urban culture resulted from the active assimilation and promotion of agricultural culture of etiquette by the nomadic Xianbei people of Northern Wei Dynasty. Different city layouts and remains of city defense system, palaces and temples from 1st century to 6th century in ancient Luoyang city are evidence of the developed Chinese civilization in the eastern end of the Silk Roads from Eastern Han, the Kingdom of Wei, Western Jin and Northern Wei dynasties that with distinct cultural characteristics of the Central China, propelled and guaranteed the development of the Silk Roads.

The layout of Luoyang city of Nor thern Wei Dynasty shows its inheritance and innovation on city layout of Eastern Han, the Kingdom of Wei and Western Jin dynasties and also witnesses the integration and interchange between Xianbei and other steppe nomad people with farming people of the Central China. It proves the open and inclusive cultural mentality of the nomad peoples and displays the resultant dynamic urban cultural characteristics.

Through the inner city, imperial palace, Tongtuo Avenue, Yongning Temple, and thus formed distinctive features of city form and urban layout including the north-south central axis, single imperial palace, Lifang system presented by all types of heritage remains from Northern Wei Period (5th -6th Century), the site exhibits the interchange of urban cultures between the Central of China, Southern China and central Asia; and the city form led by ancient Chinese etiquette and with the integration of rich cultural influences, which cast a profound and lasting impact on the development of Chinese capital city planning and design in the following dynasties. In addition, the Buddhist remains represented by the Yongning Temple site demonstrate the process of dissemination and localization of Buddhism and Buddhist architecture in Central China.

The features of Luoyang city of Northern Wei Dynasty, including a trio of city walls, Lifang system, single imperial palace, the concentrated layout of markets and handicraft district, to place important architectures along the city’s north-south axis avenue, military defense area on the nor th of the imperial palace and government buildings on the south of it, and the many Buddhist temples, inherited and developed the tradition of capital architecture in Central China and Southern China53, but these features were also directly or indirectly associated with the urban planning in Central Asian cities54. The city layout produced by the integration of multiple factors cast a profound and lasting impact on the capital and city planning in Sui and Tang dynasties and the time after. The fact not only demonstrates the cross-regional cultural interchanges along the Silk Roads, but also proves the enduring influence of this interchange activity, as exemplified in the city layout. We are able to observe the spread of Buddism from 1st century AD to 6th century in Central China in the light of the site of Yongning temple of Northern Wei Dynasty (the largest Buddhist temple in China of its time) and relevant records in Luoyang Qielan Ji (A Record of Buddhist Temples in Luoyang of Northern Wei Dynasty) and other historical documents.

The pavilion-style wooden pagoda style as illustrated by the Yongning temple of Northern Wei Dynasty reflects the architectural integration of Indian and Central Asian Buddhist pagoda with traditional Central China buildings, and Buddhism’s propagation and localization in Central China.

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