The word "city" in the poem "Yan Men Tai Shou Hang" written by Li He, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, refers to "city wall". Known as the backbone of the Chinese nation, the word "city" of Wan Li Great Wall also means "city wall". Later, with the development of society, the word "city" included the meaning of "city" today.
First of all, the appearance of the city wall
The city wall is a self-defense facility built by people to resist foreign invasion. Its appearance is closely related to people's settled life.
In ancient times, people turned from mobile hunting life to primitive agricultural labor and had relatively stable residential areas. But "in ancient times, there were fewer people and more animals, and the people were invincible." In order to live and work in peace, we must have a safe environment. Therefore, inspired by deep ditches and dangerous valleys, people dig deep ditches around residential areas to guard them to cut off the path of animals. Taking advantage of the difficulty of climbing a cliff, a high wall is built outside residential areas with natural stone strips or loess to prevent insects and snakes from invading and artificially create a safe zone. It is this crude and primitive defense measure that gave birth to a magnificent military defense system for future generations.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed that this defense facility was built on the Neolithic site. On the construction site of Xi 'an banpo village, a guard ditch with a depth of five or six meters was dug around the residential area. There is a retaining wall on Chengziya site in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, and a wall made of natural stone around Dongbajiasheng site in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. In addition, there are traces of city walls in Neolithic sites in western Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin.
These facts show that it is indeed an important task for all clans to establish their own defense facilities. Different from later generations, its guiding ideology is to prevent animals, insects and snakes, but it has no military purpose.
Second, since the birth of the city wall, it has been branded as a class.
With the establishment of private ownership, city walls began to appear. Legend has it that the Xia Dynasty began to "build a city to defend the monarch and build a profile to defend the people" (Architectural History of China).
Speaking of the construction of the city in the Xia Dynasty, there is also a story circulating among the people. Legend has it that there is a well-loved Huanglong Mountain. Qi often rides it to talk with the gods about the way of governing the country, and returns to earth to convey God's will to his subjects. I don't know how many years have passed, and Huanglong is old and can no longer take off. When he was dying, Kay was very sad and touched the faucet and cried. Huanglong snuggled up to him and said, "My master, don't be sad. After I die, you put my body in a square, you live in it, and my soul will always guard your safety. " Huanglong said that and died.
According to Huanglong's last words, Kay rolled her body into a square. The next morning, Kay walked out of her room and saw the tall and majestic wall where the body of Huanglong was laid yesterday, and a towering tower was built on the wall. The city walls and towers are magnificent, and the beloved Huanglong is faintly visible in the shape.
Qi was very happy and ordered his subjects to build houses and palaces on the city walls. After the completion of the palace, all the royal families of Qihe moved in. Under the protection of the tall city wall, he survived the reign period safely. Since then, successive kings have followed suit and built tall city walls to protect their own safety.
In fact, a slightly larger "city" can only appear after the birth of a class society. Because only by developing into a slave society can we mobilize more manpower and material resources; The main purpose of building a city is for the safety of the rulers, so the city wall has been branded as a class since its birth. Although the above story is only a myth, it also reveals this attribute of the city wall to some extent.
Third, the size of the city wall is a strict embodiment of the hierarchical patriarchal clan system.
As a word, the word "city" first appeared in Jin Ding Wen of Zhou Dynasty. On the left, it looks like a complete closed fortification with a tower, and on the right, it is an ancient weapon with an image-a big axe. The ancient axe represents strength and weapons. The word "city" vividly reflects the military purpose and function of the ancient city wall. At this time, the guiding ideology of building fortifications has been to prevent the people as the center, and has publicly become a symbol of protecting private ownership.
The military function of the city wall is to defend private ownership, and ideologically, the size of the city wall is a strict embodiment of the hierarchical patriarchal clan system.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Kao Gong Ji, the official book of the State of Qi, had strict rules on the etiquette of managing cities, which should be managed according to seniority.
First of all, cities are expensive. The city is divided into three levels, and the city is the highest level, "Fang Jiuli"; Then the ministers, "Fang Qili"; Doctor Qing takes fief as the third level, "Fang Wuli".
Secondly, the height is the most important thing in the corner. The city is nine pheasants high, (one pheasant equals ten feet) ("Research on Gong Ji's Governing System") The corner of the vassal city is seven pheasants high; Dr. Qing's fief is five meters high in the corner.
Third, the roads are arranged in nine, seven and five. No one can change these systems, and those who violate them will be guilty of trespassing and stand firm.
Fourth, why did the ancients "predict" the sky when they were building cities?
However, the city construction project is a great undertaking, shouldering the eternal responsibility of sheltering. Therefore, when the ancients built the city, they should not only respect the master's tools, but also respect Gankun and "God's will".
This idea of worshipping heaven seems so foolish and ridiculous today, but in ancient times when there was no scientific understanding of the objective world, "acting according to God's will" was an extremely important and serious event. The Book of Songs once praised "Heaven" and said, "The emperor is a god, with a harmonious face, looking around and asking the people to be indifferent." "Heaven" or "God" is omnipresent and omniscient, which restricts the life and death of all beings in the lower world. Those who go with the sky prosper, and those who go against the sky die. Therefore, from the emperor down to the common people, no matter what you do, you must first ask heaven if it dares to act-especially in the city.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the first dynasty to establish Du 'an, there was a record of asking for heaven when the capital was established, saying, "Take an examination of Wei and Huang, the house is for the right, the turtle is for the right, and the king of Wu becomes it" ("Records of Beijing Houses in Past Dynasties").
Stargazing is another way for the ancients to examine God's will. The ancients believed that there should be a sky on the wall of the city and the city, and the arrangement and movement of the stars were all some kind of will expressed by the "sky" to the lower bound. These 28 stars are arranged in four groups and seven stars in a row from west to east, which are named Oriental Dragon, Western White Tiger, Southern Suzaku and Northern Xuanwu respectively. These four kinds of beasts are used to control the four poles of the sky and predict bad luck.
In the second year of Emperor Wendi's reign, he often attended Ji Geng to play the emperor, saying, "Look up at the astronomical phenomena, look down at the pictures, and the tortoise omen will allow me to attack and move the capital." Emperor Wen was shocked when he heard this, and sighed, "Heaven is wise, and there is a death sentence", so he wrote a letter to build a new capital and a new city ("Xi Anfu? Volume 1).
When the ancients broke through the concrete floor to build cities, palaces and houses, they also followed the skill ratio and method (commonly known as "Yin and Yang Feng Shui") mixed by five lines of gossip. This method, which combines the five elements of the Western Jin Dynasty, Dongmu, Beishui, Huo Nan, Midi and Bagua, namely, dry sky, Kundi, Kanshui, exotic wind, Genshan, Du Ze and Leihuo, measures the orientation and shape of the building and calculates the fate of the owner and future generations. It has a strong religious and cultural color and has a great influence on the ancient architecture industry in China.
From the origin of the city wall to its later maturity, it is a consistent law to respect God's will and obey the laws of Yin and Yang. According to this law, rulers use it to build a city to defend themselves and show their national prestige.