Geography Reference
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the air circulating in summer time. It can be imagined that in order to adapt to this
climatic characteristic, the earliest palace buildings in Yellow River Valley since the
ancient time, have adopted the style of backing to the north and facing the south, as
it is seen in the archaeological discovery at Erlitou, Yanshi County. Having been
existing for a long time, this practice became a custom. When it was recorded in 'the
Way the Craftsmen Build the City-state', it was quite enough to make clear upon
noticing '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' their relative
positions. Here the words 'facing ahead' are of great importance. It denotes fronting
the southern direction, as a result of which the tradition of so-called 'facing the
south to be emperor' in the ideology fi nally came into being.
In accordance with the geomancy theory in later times there is also explanation
concerning the question of facing the south in construction design. For example,
Zhang Ziwei of the Song Dynasty wrote in his topic entitled Yu Sui Zhen Jing that
temples, courts, palaces, and prefecture and county offi ces all face the south without
any exception, the reason of which is to manage in the face of brightness. 7 There is
no record concerning whether in the beginning of Yuan Dynasty the absence of the
gate of due north was owing to the impact of geomancy theory or not. So let us lay
it aside for the time being. However, it is very obvious that the geographical condi-
tions of the Yellow River Valley led to the construction of palace facing the south in
the beginning.
Translated by Li Guanghui
7 “Xuan Sui Zhai Xuan”, vol. 19 of Yu Sui Zhen Jing , the Ming Jiajing version, proofread by Li
Wentian in Qing Dynasty.
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