Luoyang City in the Period of Emperor Xiaowen in the Northern Wei Dynasty

From the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, Luoyang has always been one of the commercial cities in China. The capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties was established here, and it became the economic and cultural center of the whole country and even Asia. However, after the Yongjia Rebellion in the late Western Jin Dynasty, Luoyang was devastated in the long war: palaces, poor houses and alleys were completely burned; The dignitaries and ordinary people helped the old and the young, and they fled to ten rooms and nine empty rooms. So-called? Luo Jing capsized, and scholars and women in Zhongzhou avoided the chaos. This is indeed a concrete reflection of the situation at that time. For several dynasties, the Imperial Capital has become a wilderness ruin, which really makes those who hear it cry and those who see it sad.

In September of the seventeenth year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 493), Emperor Xiaowen Justin first visited the site of the Forbidden City in Wei and Jin Dynasties, only seeing blackened broken piles, collapsed walls and crows. He said to the accompanying ministers:? The Jin Dynasty did not practice moral politics, and the ancestral temple was destroyed in a few years, which only made me sad! ? After that, I recited the poem Mi Li in The Book of Songs. ? He is separated from Xiaomi. He is a seedling of Xiaomi. Walking decadent, the heart is shaken. People who know me worry me; What do I want if you don't know me? The sky is long, who is this? ? Millet is separated, and the ears of millet are also separated. Walking is decadent and my heart is drunk. People who know me worry me; What can I ask if you don't know me? The sky is long, who is this? ? The separation of millet is the reality of millet. Walking is decadent, and my heart choked. People who know me worry me; What do I want if you don't know me? The sky is long, who is this? ? I dare not look up when I cry. This poem "Li Shu" was written by the poets of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty when they passed by the old capital. After the war, their houses were completely destroyed, their walls were broken, and they were overgrown with weeds. Singing this poem in the cry of wild crows at dusk has to make people feel scared. People who don't cry? Who is this? ? Since Pingcheng has been quite prosperous, why move the capital to this deserted place for many years and almost deserted? Apart from knowing that Luoyang is the symbol of the Central Plains and that moving the capital is an important step of Emperor Xiaowen's policy of localization, we will not discuss many other reasons here. In October this year, Emperor Xiaowen ordered Muliang, Li Chong and Dong Jue to take charge of the reconstruction project of Luoyang. They imitated the styles of Pingcheng and Wei and Jin Dynasties and constructed the framework of Luoyang New Town. Jiang Shaoyou, a commoner-born Sanda assistant, also made great contributions. In the fifteenth year of Taihe (AD 49 1 year), Jiang Shaoyou visited Qi in the Southern Dynasties as a visiting deputy. He secretly observed the architectural style of the palace houses in Jiankang City. Cui Yuanzu, minister of Qi, said to Emperor Wu. My nephew Jiang Shaoyou has the same architectural talent as Lu Ban, so the Northern Dynasties appointed him as an official of a master craftsman. He came to the south this time, ostensibly for a visit, but secretly for the purpose of plagiarizing China's example of building palaces. How can we let barbaric countries steal our cultural relics from China? I ask your majesty to detain Jiang Shaoyou and let their ambassador go back. ? Emperor Wu of Qi thought it was unfriendly and did not agree. So after returning to China, Jiang Shaoyou drew the layout style of Jiankang City from memory and applied it to the construction of Luoyang New Town on a large scale. It can be seen that the newly-built Luoyang City was influenced by Wei and Jin culture, Pingcheng Saibei culture and Jiangnan culture. Coupled with the residents of all ethnic groups and even countries living in this city, this metropolis has become more international. Emperor Xiaowen's meritorious service lies not only in moving the capital to Luoyang to speed up the sinicization of Xianbei people, but more importantly, he built Luoyang into the largest, most populous and most prosperous city in the medieval world. The whole city is an irregular rectangle from north to south. The circumference of the city wall is about 14 km and the height is six or seven meters. At this time, the scale of Luoyang City was the highest in the Middle Ages. The total area is about 265.5 square miles and the population is about 600,000. At the same time, the total area of Rome, the capital of the European Roman Empire, and Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, is less than 70 square miles, only 26.4% of Luoyang. Other big cities in Europe and Asia cannot compare with Luoyang. Compared with Luoyang, they are just a small village. Even the Jiankang City in the Six Dynasties was somewhat dwarfed. The overall planning of Luoyang after reconstruction is clear, orderly and standardized. It basically inherits the previous architectural style, but it has a new breakthrough. Miyagi is concentrated in the center of big cities. The northern part of Miyagi is a garden area; The south is the palace area; Taicang in the northeast is the reservoir area, which is the food supply place for the imperial palace and officials. Northwest is the famous Jin Yong City in Jin Dynasty and the auxiliary city of Miyagi. South of the city is a concentrated distribution area of state affairs and a vassal of the royal family. This architectural pattern centered on Miyagi embodies the supremacy of imperial power in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and reflects the mentality and ambition of emperors sitting in the Central Plains to unify the world and transport the world in their hands. This architectural style became the blueprint of capital planning in Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is not easy for a Xianbei person to move to the Central Plains all the way to realize localization and leave classic buildings for * * *. This is a miracle! Outside the south gate of Miyagi, there is the widest north-south street in the inner city, called Tongtuo Street. It is about 40 meters wide and two or three kilometers long, which is the central axis of the city. It divides Luoyang into two parts: the central government office, the ancestral temple and the state are concentrated in the west, and Yongning Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Luoyang, is also here; On the east are Situ House, Guozixue, Zong Zheng Temple and Baojun House. There are also four north-south vertical streets and four east-west horizontal streets in the city, which cross each other to form a unified chessboard network; Consists of Tongtuo Street and Miyagi Qianheng Street? Ding? Zigzag Road is the widest and most important street in this city. During the Han and Jin Dynasties, this road was divided into three streets, with Imperial Road in the middle. Only the emperor and senior officials of the imperial court are qualified to walk, and there are tall earth walls on both sides. Now, after the reconstruction, there are still three openings on the city gate, which shows that the system at that time was still used to it. This is to prevent ordinary people? A glimpse? If anyone can see the son of heaven, what else? Rowen? And then what? It can also be seen that Xianbei people are getting more and more divorced from the masses and becoming more and more Chinese. Outside the inner city is outside Guo Cheng. It borders Mangshan Mountain and Elo in Nantong in the north. Due to the geographical conditions of the north and south, it extends to the east and west, showing a rectangle with a wide east and a narrow north and south. Besides Guo Cheng, there are squares, temples, cities, ritual buildings and so on. Li Fang arranged the whole battlements in a large-scale and unified way. Its setting adapts to the bureaucrats at all levels who moved to the south and is divided into different living quarters. There are cities and temples in all districts to meet people's religious needs. The west of the city is mainly inhabited by the clansmen, aristocrats, bureaucrats and other people who migrated to the south with eight surnames (Mu, Lu, He, Liu, Lou, Yu, Ji and Wei). There is a big market with the nature of central market and many luxuriously decorated Buddhist temples. Shouqiuli here, also known as Prince Square, is a royal settlement. Royal family? Good at the wealth of mountains and seas, living in the kindness of Sichuan forest, fighting for the repair of garden houses, competing? . In addition, there are Cui Shi, Lushi, Zheng of Xingyang, Wang of Taiyuan, Zhao and other local aristocratic families in Beijing as official settlements, where many Han dignitaries once lived. Various cultural areas and other ethnic areas are more lively, but the market in these areas is smaller, Buddhist temples are much smaller, and there are many religious buildings built by residents of other ethnic groups or countries. There is a strict hierarchy between residential areas, and people who have not reached certain qualifications or have not been invited by the other side are not allowed to enter or leave without authorization. The city gates were rebuilt on the basis of the site of the Han and Jin Dynasties, and some of them were newly opened, forming thirteen city gates. The moat outside the city is called Shui Gu, which surrounds the city and enters Yangqu in the east outside the Spring Gate. Luoyang's industrial and commercial development is relatively fast. Sima Yang, a Fu Jun, wrote in Galand. In the east of the city, there are two miles of trade and goods, and the people inside are very skilled. Butchers make a living from this and have huge wealth. Liu Bao is the richest man. Every state and county has a house, and each house has ten horses. As for the salt millet thief, the high market price is an example. The boat and the car are connected together, and the footprints are all vendors'. It is based on goods from home and abroad. Produce a copper mountain, hide a golden cave at home, have more houses than the system, and have a cloud on the floor. The costume of horses and chariots is to become a king. ? In the south of the city, there are two miles of tuning and music, people are in it, the silk and bamboo are singing, and the world is wonderful. ? In the west of the city, there are two miles of salt ponds and Zhi Zhi, and most people in the city are engaged in brewing wine. Bai Liu, a native of Hedong, is good at making wine. In June, the last month of summer, it was summer, and it was raining. It was very violent to store wine with poppies in Japan and China. After ten days, the taste of the wine stopped, and it was delicious, but after one day, I was not awake. Shi Jing Chaogui went to visit San Francisco in the county. San Francisco is more than 1000 miles away, so it is the farthest. Crane Also known as? Riding donkey wine? . In the middle of Yongxi, Mao Hongbin, a wine lover, robbed thieves on the road and got drunk while stealing wine. All of them were arrested, so it was renamed? Rape flower wine? . The ranger said:? I am not afraid of bending my bow and drawing my sword, but I am afraid of falling into the spring mash. In the north of the city, there is a filial piety and a persistence to the end of Erli. People in the city are selling coffins and renting hearses. ? There is no wealth and wealth, but the rich are there. All these miles are larger than the population of Huo Zhi's industrial and commercial district. There are more than one house, and the buildings are opposite to each other, with heavy doors and heavy fans, and the traffic on the pavilion road overlaps. Splendid gold and silver, handmaiden fondle clothes; Five flavors and eight treasures, servant Li Bikou. In the year of the tortoise, he was arrogant in industry and commerce. He refused to listen to clothes, gold and silver. Although the comparison system was established, it was not implemented. ? From the west of the green ridge, as for Daqin, a hundred countries and thousands of cities are attached. Businessmen and traders are busy every day, and the so-called zone of heaven and earth has been exhausted. Lehua rustic, old home, countless. As a result, more than 10,000 families are attached to the people. Doors and alleys have been trimmed, columns are filled smoothly, trees are shaded, and the courtyard is full of green willows. These are rare commodities in the world. ? At this time, Buddhism prevailed, and there were more than 30,000 temples and more than 2 million monks and nuns in the Northern Wei Empire. Luoyang alone has 1367 monasteries and more than 300,000 monks and nuns. Most of these temples are magnificent in decoration and exquisite in material selection. The largest is Yongning Temple. The Buddhist temple in the temple is modeled after the Taiji Hall in the palace. There are more than 1000 monk's rooms, all decorated with pearls, jade and cotton embroidery. There is also a nine-story wooden pagoda (pagoda) in the temple, which is more than 40 feet high and beautifully carved. The tower is surrounded by clocks, which are excited by the wind and sound ten miles clear. (History of Southern and Northern Dynasties) Other Yongming and Jingming monasteries also have 1000 monk rooms. These temples are full of incense on weekdays, and when Buddhist festivals or monks give lectures, they are crowded and lively. Senior monks will travel with gongs and drums, and they will go to the police like emperors. Even monks and nuns in small monasteries (such as wreaths and charities) parade around like bureaucrats. There are fewer followers of other religions than Buddhism, and the temple view is not as good as that of Buddhist temples. Since moving the capital, all aspects of the Northern Wei Empire have been relatively developed, and it is really in full swing. In such a peaceful time, who will recite the poem "Mi Li"? Who remembers the tears that Emperor Xiaowen shed? In the 19th year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (495), Emperor Xiaowen officially moved to Luoyang. At this time, the reconstruction of Luoyang has not been completed. When the palace was first built, it began to have a wide range of services, and thousands of soldiers and people delivered goods every day. ,? After moving the capital to Luoyang, it cost a lot? . After Emperor Xiaowen died, his heirs did not save money for him, and they were not interested in the already tight financial resources. They built various royal gardens and entertainment places for themselves. The most famous is Hualin Garden. This garden is located in the north of Jianchunmen Imperial Road in the northeast of Luoyang, and it was expanded on the basis of the garden site in Wei and Jin Dynasties. To the east of the garden, there is a narrow spring with big eyes and winding for three miles. Is there one in Hualin Garden? Sea? , that is, the lake formed by ZhaiQuanShui, also known as Cold Tianyuan Pool. There is the Jiuhua Terrace built in Cao Pi's time in the pool. Later, the Qingliangtang, Penglai Mountain, Xiantang, Diaotaitang and Rainbow Pavilion were expanded. The emperors took a boat to play on the lake between Penglai and Rainbow, and lived a fairy-like life. There is an ice storage room on the west side of the lake. In June, the ice stored in winter was distributed to Guan Bai as a gift. The southwest of the lake is connected by mountains and rivers; Jingshantang, warm air room and dew cold pavilion are connected, Lingshan passes through the valley, and jade carving stands like Changhong. There is an immortal jujube in the Baiguoyuan south of Jingshan Temple. Jujube is five inches long, the kernel is as small as a needle and the meat is delicious. People call it. Queen mother jujube? It is said to belong to Kunlun Mountain. In addition, there are all kinds of exotic flowers and herbs and Xiantao Guo Ling. ? The king is the best in the world? . Emperors are so extravagant that they don't expect their officials to be quiet and disciplined. Most of the private gardens of the aristocratic families are concentrated in Prince Square. They? Fighting for the renovation of the garden house and bragging about each other? ,? Heavy doors are full of rooms, caves are connected with houses, flying halls are windy, heavy buildings are foggy, and every household builds a high platform Xie Su; There are flowers, forests, lakes and gardens here. Everything is peach, plum, summer green, bamboo, cypress and holly. ? Among these gardens, there are famous private gardens of Hejian, Linhuai King, Qinghe City and Levin King. Yuan Yong has 6,000 servants and 500 prostitutes. Chen Yuan spends money like water, spending hundreds of millions of dollars every day. These two princes used to be richer than Chen Yuan. He made a manger made of all silver, carved golden dragons and jade phoenixes on the windows, and made countless cups, agate bowls and red jade bowls at the banquet. Chen Yuan also boasted: Don't hate me for not seeing Shi Chong, and don't hate Shi Chong for not seeing me. ? You know, Shi Chong is the richest man in the Western Jin Dynasty, with billions of wealth. It is estimated that Shi Chong will be ashamed to see Chen Yuan. It seems that the Northern Wei Dynasty not only inherited the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, but also inherited its extravagant style. In the past, many people opposed Emperor Xiaowen's move to the capital, but since he lived a happy and luxurious life in Luoyang, he was full of praise for all the policies of Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization. They all wear Hanfu, correct their pronunciation and learn from Han Li. What old capital is Pingcheng, what six northern towns, and what gentle harassment have been thrown away. It is better to dream of spring than to do anything in a colorful and gentle village. How do emperors, generals and powerful sects in Luoyang understand the changes outside the city? Corruption is prevalent throughout the country. Politics is based on bribery? . After the powerful ministers controlled the state affairs, they sold officials and titles and extorted money; Local officials believe that the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and they are willing to gather in the local area. Uprising and rebellion continued in all directions, and the southern dynasties often invaded. Due to frequent wars, production has been seriously damaged: land merger has revived and the land equalization system has been shaken; Tax officials arbitrarily change the weights and measures, and heavy taxes lead to farmers' displacement and flight, or become monks and nuns, or be taken over by aristocratic bureaucrats and slaves, or risk gathering people to revolt. The threat of softness is increasing day by day, and the border areas are repeatedly looted; Military corvees are everywhere, and the people are miserable. On the border? The deceased slept on the road, and as for the decay, no one cleaned it up; When it rains, ghosts sing everywhere, which is scary? . Buddhist monasteries are divided into Xuan Tong, Shaman, Sanzang, Monk, Monarch, Monastery and Monk. The huge temple industry is basically in the hands of senior monks. Usually, they behave dignified and sit upright. When they give lectures at the altar, they are like gods and buddhas. In private, they embrace child molesters and prostitutes, and their food is no worse than that of the royal family. Those millions of low-ranking monks are just their slaves. Unable to bear the oppression of the superior monks, they had to oppose both Buddhism and the king's law. The entire Northern Wei Empire faced total collapse in less than 30 years after it moved its capital to Luoyang. At this time, no one thought of Xiao Wendi's sadness of "millet separation". Who would have expected that everything in Luoyang would be in ruins again? But soon, Luoyang will once again fall into the sadness of "millet separation".