The change of capital status in Chang 'an area began in the late Tang Dynasty? The yellow turban insurrectionary? In February 65438+880, Huang Chao attacked Chang 'an, and Tang Xizong fled in a hurry. Our envoys led troops from Daizhou and other places to the King of Qin in Chang 'an. In 883 AD, Huang Chao was forced to withdraw from Chang 'an, but Chang 'an had gone through a bloody battle for three years and was no longer prosperous.
At the same time, the Tang dynasty also ushered in the end, the local situation strengthened, and the central eunuch was authoritarian. Eunuch Tian, Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong were intrigued for the right of salt tax. Tian was at a disadvantage, but he was unwilling to be taken away by others, so the portable emperor escaped.
When he fled, he ordered Chang 'an to be burned, so Chang 'an became a sea of fire and the scenery was no longer there. Later generations did not choose Chang 'an as the capital, the most fundamental reason is that they had a better choice than Chang 'an.
1. After the Anshi Rebellion, Chang 'an's economic status gradually declined.
The economic situation of the city has an extremely important influence on the establishment of the capital city. As the national capital, we must ensure the normal development of the economy and the normal supply of food, otherwise it will lead to rebellion and threaten rule. The appearance of Chang 'an City in its heyday and its subsequent decline are extremely important to the economy.
Chang 'an, which has experienced war, is already in ruins. As early as the Anshi Rebellion, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty had already consumed more than half. Since then, the capital Chang 'an has been occupied by rebels, Tubo people, Huang Chao and others for many times. After repeated looting, Chang 'an has long been ruined, and people have been killed and fled. Without the support of labor force, it is more difficult to reproduce Chang 'an's former glory.
During the reign of Yang Di, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was completed, which successfully connected the northern and southern regions and promoted the development of surrounding cities. By the Southern Song Dynasty, the economic status of the South had surpassed that of the North. Under such conditions, the economic value of Chang 'an City is naturally inferior to that of other cities. If Chang 'an is to be built into the capital, it will take too much manpower and material resources.
Second, after the Tang Dynasty, the border threat gradually shifted from the northwest.
In feudal society, political background has always been the most important factor in capital selection. In addition to the local political environment of the city, the external threats of the country are also extremely important.
Throughout the feudal history, we can find that the forces that threatened the Central Plains dynasty before the Tang Dynasty often came from the northwest, such as the Northern Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, the Xiongnu of the Han Dynasty, and the Turkic of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. As the capital of a country, we must ensure that we can provide strong material support for the front line in wartime, receive information in time and mobilize resources. Tian Zi defends the country? That's it. Before the Tang Dynasty, Chang 'an had this function well.
However, after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the external threats of the Central Plains dynasty gradually moved to the northeast, such as Qidan in the Song Dynasty and Mongolia in the Ming Dynasty. The capital of song dynasty built the capital of song dynasty, because it is the most powerful city near the northeast border. The same is true of Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
It can be seen that the choice of the capital is closely related to national security, and Chang 'an's loss of political advantage is largely due to the change of external threats.
Third, the influence of geomantic metaphysics
Due to the limitation of scientific and technological development, the feudal dynasty advocated geomantic metaphysics. There are two sayings in the history of our country. What's the first one? A surname is out of fashion? Throughout the feudal history, we can find that no two rulers of the great dynasties have the same surname, and then what? Wang Qi has dried up for thousands of years. This sentence means that the king of the capital will disappear after 1000 years. This rumor has not been broken until the end of the feudal dynasty.
Therefore, after the Tang Dynasty, Chang 'an was no longer regarded as the capital because of the cultural factors of China's traditional geomantic metaphysics. Now it seems that this reason may not be credible or even ridiculous, but in ancient times with limited technical level, few rulers dared to take the risk and make Chang 'an the capital.
Fourthly, in the late Tang Dynasty, the natural conditions in Guanzhong area gradually deteriorated.
Natural and geographical conditions are also important criteria for choosing the capital. In the early feudal society, Guanzhong area was called? Land of abundance? Woye is thousands of miles away and the forest is densely covered. However, with the development of feudal society, the area of human activities has become more and more extensive and the intensity of activities has become greater and greater, and this advantage in Guanzhong area no longer exists.
Water plays an irreplaceable role in human survival and urban development. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was abundant rainfall in Guanzhong area, so it flourished for thousands of miles and ensured the supply of urban food. Later, with the expansion of human production and the outbreak of war, the environment in Guanzhong area was destroyed, the rainfall gradually decreased, the once fertile land began to salinize, and the urban food supply became increasingly tight.
During the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang built the largest granary in China? Luokoucang, this granary is mainly responsible for hoarding food supplies from the Central Plains and Jiangnan to Chang 'an. The war at the end of the Tang Dynasty completely destroyed the environment in Guanzhong, making it impossible for this area to supply food normally.
In addition, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the climate in Guanzhong area changed dramatically, and there was a big snowstorm in this area 20 years after Emperor Wendi opened the emperor. Guanzhong area has also been dry for many years. According to the records of New Tang Book and Old Tang Book, there was no precipitation in Guanzhong area in Tang Dynasty 15 winter. From the various ancient paintings unearthed in the Tang Dynasty, it can be found that men, women and children were wearing thin clothes at that time, while the figure paintings in the Song Dynasty were mainly cotton robes and thick clothes.
In the late Tang Dynasty, this phenomenon of high temperature changed and turned to low temperature. According to records, during the Zhenguan period, there was frost and snow in the spring and autumn, resulting in a reduction in grain production.
Summary:
There are many reasons why Chang 'an missed its position as the capital. Economically, Chang 'an has been repeatedly destroyed, and it is difficult to reproduce its former glory. Politically, with the transfer of external threats, it also lost its political advantage. Culturally, Chang 'an has reached the end of kingly way. Time flies, time flies, today's Chang 'an has become the Chang 'an of Xi 'an, but we can still see its glory in Xi 'an.