Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
3.2
Shifting Priorities with the Extension
of the Middle Axis in Different Ages
It is necessary to explain further too that the extension towards the due north of this
middle axis of the whole city in the planning is actually a new development against
historical tradition.
The original middle axis inside the Beijing old city was defi ned at the time when
the Yuan Dadu, the capital city of Yuan Dynasty, was fi rst constructed, but its his-
torical origins in fact existed very long. What is more important is that it in a con-
centrated way embodied the traditional thought in the days of the imperial power:
Facing the South to be Emperor, i.e. the emperor should face the due south to rule
the world. This was refl ected conspicuously in the beginning of the planning and
design of the Yuan Dadu.
The planning and design of the Yuan Dadu can be traced up to the description of
'the Way the Craftsmen Build the City-state' in
Kaogongji
, Z
hou Li
(the topic
recording the work of craftsmen at the Warring States Period, 475-221 BC), but the
design of the city walls was in fact totally different from the description of the topic.
Now it is explained separately as follows:
So far as the layout of the core buildings in 'the Way the Craftsmen Build the
City-state' is concerned, it reads like this: the Imperial Ancestral Temple on the left
side, the Altar of Land and Grain on the right side, Court facing ahead and Market
on the back side (
zuozu youshe, mianchao houshi
).
By comparison, it is analyzed with the help of sketch map of the Yuan Dadu that
by the so-said
zuozu
it means in fact the Imperial Ancestral Temple at the foot of the
east wall inside the city. By
youshe
it means in fact the Altar of Land and Grain at
the foot of the west wall inside the city. By
mianchao
it denotes the place analogous
to the 'Grand Inner Portion' on the extension line from the 'Central Terrace' towards
the due south inside the city, i.e. the predecessor of the Forbidden City. By
houshi
it
denotes the bazar area near the 'Central Terrace' on the due north of the 'Imperial
Palace' (the Grand Inner Portion) (Fig.
3.3
).
In accordance with the above mentioned comparison, it explains just as it is in
'the Way the Craftsmen Build the City-state', that the 'left' is the east, the 'right' is
the west and the 'back' is the north. Only the site where the royal court was located
is specially called 'court facing ahead' not 'in front'. Why? After pondering over it
scrupulously, I think if the 'court facing ahead' is understood as 'court in front', it
seems not so exact. Because the word 'facing' (
mian
) contains the meaning 'looking
forward to', that is to say: if you sit in the middle looking forward to the due south,
that will be the court; if you turn back looking towards the north, that will be the site
of market. Here it implies the meaning of giving priority to the south.
In fact, in the Chinese history, the main palaces of the capitals of successive
dynasties all faced the due south in the planning. After the Yuan Dadu in the Yuan
Dynasty, the further developed Beijing Capital City of the Ming and Qing dynas-
ties further embodied this point in concentration, i.e. the well preserved Forbidden
City and two sides thereof, the Imperial Ancestral Temple (now the Working
