Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
To the west of the Central Platform was put up the “Drum Tower”. And to the north
of “Drum Tower” was built “Bell Tower”. The drum and the bell were instruments to
give the standard time in old days. So the two towers became centres telling the time for
the whole city. The fact was also clearly recorded in
Marco Polo's Travelling Notes
.
Once the geometric centre of the whole city was determined, the position of the
outer walls of the city was also decided. The construction of the city was basically
carried out according to the original planning. Only the east wall slightly drew in for
the purpose of avoiding some topographical disadvantages.
The east, west and south walls of the city had three gates each. Its north wall had
only two gates. Inside each gate there was a straight main road. These roads in the
city formed a criss-cross network of communications which resembled a chess-
board. The middle gate of the south wall was fi xed on the central axis of the whole
city. The gate was on the central trunk line, which led northward to the imperial city.
Inside the emperor's palace, only the main halls which were symbolic of the impe-
rial power, were arranged on the central axis, while those less important buildings
were symmetrically arranged on either side of the central axis.
Outside the imperial city were arranged many horizontal streets and lanes paral-
lel with each other in between meeting these vertical main roads at right angles.
These districts were chiefl y living quarters of the local inhabitants. These areas
were dotted with many central and local government offi ces and institutions, tem-
ples, warehouses and other public buildings. Only two groups of important build-
ings were laid out in a planned way. The fi rst group of edifi ces was positioned inside
the south gate of the east wall of the city. This group of edifi ces was called the
Imperial Ancestral Temple, a place where the emperors offered sacrifi ces to their
ancestors. The other group of buildings was situated inside the south gate of the
west wall of the city. It was called the Altar of Land and Grain, a place where the
emperors offered sacrifi ces to the God of Land and the God of Grain.
This plane arrangement of the city of Dadu was similar to a kind of ideal designing
of imperial capitals in the ancient time. This ideal designing was fi rst seen in a topic
entitled “A Study of Engineering” which came out in the fi fth century B.C. This topic
exclusively dealt with engineering and also referred to the designing of imperial capi-
tals. According to
A study of Engineering
, the imperial city walls in the four directions
must form a square. The wall on each side had three gates. Inside each gate there were
three main roads parallel to each other. So the main roads and streets in the city formed
a criss-cross network of communications. The imperial city was supposed to face the
south. In front of the central point of the imperial city (in the south direction) were
located the imperial courts. At the back of the imperial city (in the north direction)
were concentrated the market-places. To the left of the imperial courts (in the east
direction) was located the Imperial Ancestral Temple. To the right of the imperial city
(in the west direction) was situated the Altar of Land and Grain. It is clear that the
planning of Dadu City was made on the basis of this ancient ideal designing and also
in the light of the specifi c conditions of the distribution of lakes and waterways on the
spot. This plane arrangement was aimed at placing the imperial palaces on the most
important position of the whole city. This designing embodied the absolute power of
feudal emperors (Fig.
1.5
).
