What is the "fragrant house system"? Which dynasty developed?

Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty are both famous dynasties in China history. Although there was a gap of five dynasties and ten countries between the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty for more than 50 years, the Song Dynasty borrowed from the system of the Tang Dynasty in many places, so there were still many similarities between the two dynasties.

Today, Song Anzhi is talking about the urban management system in the Song Dynasty after the evolution of the Fang city system in the Tang Dynasty.

Cities in the Tang and Song Dynasties developed quite rapidly. After the Song Dynasty, its urban planning presented some modern urban forms, so some scholars thought that there was an "urban revolution" in the Song Dynasty. What happened? Next, Song Anzhi will talk about it in detail.

First of all, let's talk about the "square city system" of the urban management system in the Tang Dynasty.

As we all know, the commercial prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, like the Tang Dynasty, made great efforts in foreign trade and attracted foreign businessmen from all over the world to trade in the Tang Dynasty. Foreigners can come here to study. The export of this soft culture was very successful, which not only made the Tang Dynasty gain wealth in foreign trade, but also left a far-reaching impact on the world. So today, Chinese people all over the world live in Chinatown.

An important symbol of commercial prosperity is the development of the city, with Chang 'an, Tang Dou as the representative, and two cities, East and West, each occupying two squares, specializing in commercial activities. At that time, many cities were so commercially developed. Although this development is nothing today, it was a great development in the Tang Dynasty more than 1000 years ago.

Although there were many commercially developed cities in the Tang Dynasty, a strict market system was implemented. Xiangfang represents the residential area of urban residents, and the city represents the commercial area of the city, which means that the residential area and the commercial area are strictly separated.

Besides, the city still has closing time. Generally speaking, the market opens 300 drums at noon every day and closes seven minutes before sunset. One of the main reasons why the Tang government made such a distinction between and is that such a distinction is convenient for maintaining urban security. Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious. At that time, it was very inconvenient for residents to shop.

At that time, Chang 'an City in the Tang Dynasty had another feature, that is, its planning was particularly neat. Judging from some maps of Chang 'an restored from historical materials, the urban planning of Chang 'an is second to none in cleanliness, even today. The poet Bai Juyi once vividly described the city appearance of Chang 'an at that time with poems: "A hundred schools of thought are like a chess game, and twelve streets are like vegetable fields".

This neat planning is not for the convenience of urban residents, but for the convenience of opening stores and closing the market on time and facilitating the "night ban" at that time. In a word, it is to strengthen urban management and maintain urban safety.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the development of urban economy and the decline of imperial power, the distinction between "square" in residential area and "city" in commercial area was no longer so obvious, and the system of closing "city" on time was also destroyed.

It can be said that the focus of Fang Shi system in Tang Dynasty was urban safety, not the convenience of residents. So the distinction is very strict, and it will change with the decline of dominance in the later period.

Next, let's talk about the "Xiangfang System" of the urban management system in the Song Dynasty.

Xiangfang system should first appear in the Five Dynasties, roughly in the second year of Changxing in the late Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties. Xiangfang, a new urban grass-roots management system, appeared, replacing the Fangshi system in the former Tang Dynasty.

However, at that time, it was troubled times, and the carriage system had not been widely popularized. After the Song Dynasty, the xiangfang system began to develop further and spread widely.

After three years in Song Taizu, Kaibao "ordered governors and officials not to send their servants and relatives to handle town affairs". This imperial edict shows that at that time, the Song Dynasty had set up sub-offices in prefectures and counties, which were under the jurisdiction of sub-office officials and town generals respectively.

During the Song Taizong period, an urban management system combining squares with compartments was established.

So what are the characteristics of the caravan system?

To put it bluntly, the Xiangfang system broke the strict distinction between residential areas and commercial areas in the housing market system. At that time, the urban pattern of the Song Dynasty, taking Kaifeng as an example, was not much different from today's urban street layout. Generally speaking, street-facing buildings in urban densely populated areas belong to street-facing businesses, including hotels, restaurants and shops. The street was also filled with various mobile stalls for small businesses, and residential areas were distributed behind the shops, which greatly facilitated the shopping of ordinary people at that time.

Moreover, unlike Chang 'an's neat planning of the city in the Tang Dynasty, the layout of Kaifeng House in the Song Dynasty was not complete, and even in the process of building the city wall, the city wall was distorted to accommodate the folk houses. Streets are different from those in the Tang Dynasty, rough but more natural. Diagonal streets abound. Relatively speaking, the streets of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty were neat but closed. Although the streets in Kaifeng in Song Dynasty were messy, they were open.

In addition, there is another difference here. The urban management system in the Tang Dynasty was the street system and the night ban, which focused on maintaining public order to the greatest extent, and had nothing to do with residents' enjoyment of shopping and life.

The fragrant house system in the Song Dynasty obviously broke the barrier between the residential area and the commercial area in the Tang Dynasty, and it was free to flow, which greatly facilitated the residents' freedom of shopping and movement. Moreover, the night ban in the Song Dynasty was also in a loose state. Although there is controversy about whether the night ban in the Song Dynasty was completely abolished, some scholars believe that it was not abolished, but it is certain that the night ban in the Song Dynasty was much shorter than that in the Tang Dynasty.