Zhang Guoshuo: The Capital System of the Early Capital Cities in China

Author: Zhang Guoshuo, director of the key project of the National Social Science Fund "The formation of early Chinese cities and the study of their morphology", professor of the School of History of Zhengzhou University

At all times and in all countries, where there is a country, there is a capital. The capital city is also called "Duyi", or "Du" or "Jing" for short. In today's society, the capital (often referred to as "the capital") mainly refers to the location of a country's highest administrative organ, which is usually the political, military, economic and cultural center of the country. In terms of the capital system, countries in the world are different from each other in terms of one capital system (such as France, Russia), two capital system (such as Bolivia), three capital system (such as South Africa), and four capital system (such as Saudi Arabia). Different capitals have obvious differences in functions. Based on national security considerations and the needs of economic development, some countries have also moved their capitals (such as Kazakhstan and Brazil), or made functional adjustments to different capitals (such as South Korea and Nigeria). In the long historical period of ancient China, more than 200 capitals were built by the state regimes in previous dynasties. The so-called "early capital" refers to the capital in the early national stage. The early countries in China include the "state" in the late Longshan era (Yao, Shun and Yu era) and the "kingdom" in the Xia and Shang dynasties, about 5000-3000 years ago. So far, archaeological discoveries have confirmed that there are at least 20 early capital sites, including Taosi Temple, Wangchenggang, Liangzhu, Erlitou, Zhengzhou Shangcheng, Xiaotun Yin Ruins, etc. In addition, the literature records that there were Pingyang, Puban, Yangcheng and other capitals in the Yao, Shun and Yu period, and at least 14 capitals in the Xia and Shang dynasties, including Yangzhai, Zhenxun, Bo and Yin. The research shows that in the long-term development process, the early Chinese cities formed a unique capital system. Among them, in the system of establishing capital, the early capital implemented the single capital system in some stages, and the main and auxiliary capital system was implemented for a long time. There was basically no multi capital system with equal status; Different capital systems have distinctive characteristics in time, space, rank and duration.

One capital system of early capitals

One capital system means that the country has only one capital. An analysis of the capital system of early China shows that the Longshan era mainly implemented the one capital system, and the Xia and Shang dynasties continued this system in some stages. In the cultural distribution areas of Longshan era states such as Taosi Culture, Liangzhu Culture, Shimao Culture, and Shijiahe Culture, there are no large-scale capital sites that match the scale and specifications of Taosi, Liangzhu, Shimao, and Shijiahe, reflecting that these states may have only one capital. One capital system should also be implemented in some periods of the Xia Dynasty. The Bamboo Chronicle records that "Taikang lives in Zhenxun, Yi lives in it, and Jie lives in it." It means that King Taikang of Xia took Zhenxun as his capital, Hou Yi also took Zhenxun as his capital during the Xia Dynasty, and Xia Jie still took Zhenxun as its capital. There is no record of setting up other capitals during the Taikang period in the literature. Although there is a saying that "Jie's capital is Anyi", Anyi is the place where Xia Jie and others fled after Shang Tang destroyed Xia, not the real capital of Xia. It can be seen from this that at least in the period of Taikang and Houyi replacing Xia and Jie, the Xia Dynasty took Zhenxun as the only capital. According to the geographical location, scholars generally believe that it is located in Erlitou, Yanshi, Henan Province today. In addition, after Yin Jia and before Jie, the Xia Dynasty may have only one capital. During this period, there was no record of Xia people moving their capital or setting up a new capital in the literature, and the ruins of Erlitou capital discovered by archaeology had continuity and long-term nature, which confirmed the inference that Zhenxun was still the capital of Xia after Yinjia and before Jie. In the late Shang Dynasty, the system of one capital was basically implemented, with Huanbei Shang City and Xiaotun Yin Ruins as the capitals. According to the Bamboo Chronicle, "from Pan Geng to the destruction of Zhou, 13 years later, they did not move to the capital." From the perspective of archaeological excavation, the Shang City in Huanbei and the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun are both commercial capitals. In view of the fact that both the two sites are located in the northwest suburb of Anyang City, Henan Province today, which is consistent with the geographical location of Pan Geng's move to Yin in the literature; Most of the remains of the Shang City in northern Huan Dynasty were before Wuding, and the remains of the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun were after Wuding, so it is inferred that the former should be the Yin capital from Pangeng to Xiaoyi, and the latter from Wuding to Dixin.

The one capital system of early capitals has the following characteristics. In terms of time, the one capital system was mostly implemented in the state period, the later period of the dynasty and the period of political stability. In the Longshan era, due to the limited area that each state can control, the establishment of a capital can effectively rule and control the state. In the late Xia Dynasty, due to the powerful Xia Dynasty, there was no serious internal and external military threat, and the one capital system continued to be implemented. In the late Shang Dynasty, especially after Wuding, the Shang Dynasty entered its heyday. The political situation was relatively stable, and the threat from surrounding tribes was relatively small. There was no need to establish multiple capitals. In space, most of the cities with one capital system are located in the center or near central area controlled by the state. As early as in the state stage, the principle of selecting the location of the capital in the middle has begun. Taosi, Liangzhu, Shijiahe and other capital cities are basically located in the center of the state controlled area. The site of Erlitou, the capital of Xia, is in the center of the distribution of Erlitou culture, and the capital of Yin is in the center of the territory of the Shang Dynasty in the late Shang Dynasty. In terms of capital level, the one capital cities are large in scale and high in standard, forming a situation of "one capital is the largest". For example, Taosi, Shimao, Liangzhu, Erlitou, Huanbei Shang City, Xiaotun Yin Ruins, etc. are all the largest and highest standard central settlements in the early country in the same period. In terms of the duration of the capital, the construction and use of the one capital system capital continued for a long time. The Taosi capital lasted for a long time, running through the early, middle and late stages of Taosi culture. In addition to the Huanbei Shang City, which was abandoned due to fire, the Xia and Shang capitals such as Erlitou Site and Xiaotun Yin Ruins have experienced long-term construction and use.

The Primary and Secondary Capital System of Early Capital Cities

The so-called main and auxiliary capital system means that the country takes one capital as its main capital, and sets up one or more auxiliary political and military centers as needed, namely "auxiliary capital", both of which are the capital of the country. The system of establishing capital sprouted in the Yu period, formed in the Xia Dynasty, and was widely implemented in the early Shang Dynasty. The ancient Bamboo Chronicle records that "Yu lived in Yangcheng". It is generally believed that Yangcheng is located in Dengfeng, Henan Province today. The archeological site of Wangchenggang Longshan Culture is the place where the capital of Yu is located. In addition, Shiben and other documents also recorded that Anyi (now in Xixia County, Shanxi Province) and Pingyang (now Linfen Basin, Shanxi Province, the site of Taosi City), the two capitals of Yu and Yu, should be temporary political and military centers established by the Xia ethnic group to expand their power in the north and south of Shanxi Province. During the Dining and Yinjia periods in the early and middle periods of the Xia Dynasty, while setting up a major capital, there were also some auxiliary capitals. The literature is mostly called Yangzhai, the capital of Qi, and it has "the enjoyment of Juntai". It is generally believed that Yangzhai and Juntai are in today's Yuzhou, Henan Province, and some scholars have determined that Wadian Site is the former site of Yangzhai. In addition to Yangzhai, the fifth volume of "Biography of Mu Tianzi" also said that Xia Qizeng had taken "the hill of Huangtai" as the capital. The hill of Huangtai is located in Xinmi, Henan Province today. The Xinzhai city site of Xinzhai period is large in scale and high in specification, so it is very likely to be the hill of Huangtai. The two city sites of Wadian in Yuzhou and Xinzhai in Xinmi coexisted in the Xinzhai period of early Xia culture, and it is very likely that both of them were Qi capitals. According to historical records, from Taikang to Yinjia, many capitals were set up, such as Zhenxun, Yuan (today's temple street in Jiyuan City, Henan Province), Laoqiu (today's northeast of Chenliu Town, Kaifeng, Henan Province), Xihe (today's a place in Sanmenxia, Henan Province). However, archaeological materials show that these capitals were not abandoned before, but had a certain coexistence period. Erlitou Site, as the former place of the Xia capital, was a capital in the first to fourth periods, without interruption, decline or overall abandonment. However, Yuanqiu and Laoqiu in the Dining period and Xihe and other summer capitals in the Yinjia period were set in the same age as the second and third periods of the Erlitou culture, which was the prosperous period of the Erlitou capital. Obviously, there was a coexistence period between Qinxun and Yuanqiu, Laoqiu and Xihe. Due to the long history, large scale, high specification and rich heritage of the city of Zhenxun, while the other three cities have a short history and small scale, Zhenxun should be the main city and the other three cities should be auxiliary cities. Although it is recorded in the literature that the Shang Dynasty was "not always in Jueyi", and experienced five "capital moves", including Zhongding's move to Ao, Hedanjia's move to Neihuang (now Henan), Zuyi's move to Xing (now Xingtai, Hebei), Nangeng's move to Yam (now Qufu, Shandong), and Pan Geng's move to Yin, archaeological findings show that there were several coexisting phenomena in the early Shang Dynasty. Zhengzhou Shangcheng is the capital of Shang Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, Bo, which has a long history. It has existed as the capital of Shang Dynasty from the first phase to the fourth phase of Erligang Culture. As another capital city in the early Shang Dynasty, Yanshi Shangcheng was built in the first phase of Erligang culture and continued to the third phase of Erligang culture, with a long coexistence period with Zhengzhou Shangcheng. The age range from Zhongding, the king of Shang Dynasty, to Nangeng was roughly from the fourth phase of Erligang culture to the first phase of Yin Ruins culture. During this period, Zhengzhou Shangcheng still existed as the capital of Shang Dynasty. Obviously, the capital of Bo coexisted with Ao, Xiang, Xing, and Yan for a period of time. It can be seen from the comparison that Yanshi Shopping Mall and other four capitals are inferior to Zhengzhou Shopping Mall in terms of scale, specification, abundance of relics and duration of the capital, so Bodu should be the main capital, and other four capitals and Yanshi Shopping Mall should be the auxiliary capital.

The main and auxiliary capital system of early capital cities has the following characteristics. In terms of time, the main and auxiliary capital system was mainly implemented in the kingdom period, the early period of the dynasty or the period of social unrest. At the state stage, most of the states did not implement the system of main and auxiliary capitals, but in the Yu period, Yangcheng was the capital, and Anyi and Pingyang had a certain attribute of auxiliary capitals. In the kingdom era, the control area of the Xia Dynasty increased, large capitals appeared, and the main auxiliary capital system was formally formed. In the early Shang Dynasty, Bo (Zhengzhou Shangcheng) was the main capital, Yanshi Shangcheng was the auxiliary capital (Xibo), and Ao, Xiang, Xing and Yan were the auxiliary capitals from Zhongding to Nangeng. In space, the main capital is located in the central area controlled by the dynasty, while the auxiliary capital is mostly located in the surrounding areas. Zhenxun, the main capital in Yiluo Basin, is located in the center of the Erlitou culture distribution area, while Yuanyuan, Laoqiu, Xihe and other auxiliary capitals are located in the north, east and west of the surrounding areas of the Xia Dynasty. The center of the ruling area in the early Shang Dynasty was in today's Zhengzhou area, where the main capital, Bo, was located. The auxiliary capitals of the early Shang Dynasty, such as Xiang, Xing and Yan, were all located in the surrounding areas of the early Shang Dynasty. Yanshi Shangcheng is located near the Xia capital, Zhenxun. The ruling center of the Shang Dynasty before the end of the Xia Dynasty and the early years of the Shang Dynasty was in today's Zhengzhou area. The Yanshi Shangcheng area belongs to the "surrounding" or "front line" area of the Shang Dynasty. As for the location of the capital of Ao, there is a great controversy in the academic circle, or that is, the Xiaoshuangqiao site in Zhengzhou near the capital of Bo, but considering the distance and "cutting the blue barbarians", it is more likely to be located somewhere in the east of Henan or southwest of Shandong. In the capital level, the main capital is obviously larger or better than the auxiliary capital. The main capital is large in scale, with more elaborate planning and construction, complete facilities and high specifications; The facilities in the auxiliary capital are relatively simple, and the scale and specifications cannot be compared with those in the main capital. In terms of the duration of the capital, the main capital is relatively stable, with a long duration, no change or less change; The auxiliary capital is constantly adjusted according to political and military needs, with a short duration and the so-called "repeated relocation".

In short, the capital system of early China was not a single capital system, and the Xia and Shang dynasties were not "repeatedly relocated". In addition to the single capital system in some periods, the early countries implemented the main and auxiliary capital system for a long time. This system of establishing the main and auxiliary capitals had an important impact on the system of establishing capitals after the Western Zhou Dynasty and even during the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. The view that the early capital cities of China were always the one capital system with the former abolished and the latter developed, and that there were two capitals coexisting in this period, is inconsistent with the historical facts.