Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
foundations found in the Shang ruins indicate that the palaces not only faced south-
ward but also stood on the same north-south line with one in front of the other, which
should be the primitive form of the principle —“court in the front and living quarters
at the rear.”
6
The foundations of city walls were also excavated in the capital relics of
Shang; they appeared almost square, only the palaces were in the northeast of the
city.
7
Most probably the idea of building the palaces in the middle of the city, i.e. on
the central axis, hadn't took shape or established as a rule until the Zhou Dynasty
(Western Zhou, ca. 1066-771 B.C.). This is the initial thought from which the tradi-
tional principle recorded in the classic of
Zhouli
developed. These became the rules
for workmen to follow in the building of a capital in later years. The theory of “to
choose the middle” was a refl ection of that thought as it appeared in the passage of
“Judge the Situation” (
Shenshi
) in
The Topic of Spring and Autumn by Lü Buwei
(
Lüshi chunqiu
) that “All rulers of ancient times did choose the middle place under
the Heaven to establish their kingdoms.” Beijing, a famous historical and cultural
city, has preserved these characteristics in the planning and design of its buildings.
4.2.3
The Essential Task of Transforming Old Beijing
and the Achievements
With the birth of New China, the task of transforming Old Beijing into the capital
of the People's Republic of China was put on the agenda. This is to say, while pre-
serving the special characteristics of this famous historic city of cultural richness,
we must supply new concepts which refl ect the spirit of the new era. This is not an
easy task. What we have done in the past 30 years showed that we have committed
some irretrievable mistakes and damage. Nevertheless, we have had some achieve-
ments among which the transformation of Tian An Men Square is one.
Tian An Men Square was once the imperial court of feudal sovereignty. It was
surrounded on three sides by red walls, along the inside of which there was a long
corridor respectively made up of rooms whose eaves and ridges were connected suc-
cessively. It was called the “A Thousand Steps Corridor.” The court within the red
walls was in a “T” shape. It had been the place where royal ceremonies took place
showing off the absolute authority of the feudal emperors. The place was out of
bounds to the common people. The court was located on the central axis which is
symbolic in the sense that it expressed the feudal ideology of “the Emperor is the
Almighty Sovereign.” Entering the gate of Tian An Men, one must pass through lay-
ers of enclosed space in order to reach the nuclei of the royal buildings. They are the
tion, please refer to “Summary of Archaeological Fieldwork in Panlong City in 1974” in
Cultural
Relics
(in Chinese), 1976, no. 2.
6
Please refer to “Summary of Archaeological Fieldwork in Panlong City in 1974” cited in note 5.
7
Panlong City is square-shaped and remained intact until 1954. Details can be found in the “Brief
Report on the excavation of Shang sites in Zhengzhou,”
Cultural Relics Material Collection
(in Chinese), no. 1, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1977.
