Sui-Tang Chang'an (A.D. 582-904)

Abstract

Sui-Tang Chang'an was the capital of Sui-Tang China from AD 582 to 904. With a population of over one million in the 8th and 9th centuries, and with a walled area of 84 square km, it was then the largest city in the world. It has been widely accepted in the academic world that Sui-Tang Chang'an was built under the influence of non-Chinese cultures. My research, however, shows that not only such influence was non-existent, but the planning of the city followed the Confucian canonical prescriptions more faithfully than any of its predecessors. This thesis goes on to survey the various aspects of Chang'an, focusing on the palace complexes, the central and local administrations, ritual centres, marketplaces and the business community, residential wards and foreign residents, monastic institutions, recreational activities, and the final destruction of the city. Chang'an itself was presumably "governed" by the Metropolitan Prefecture and its two subordinate urban county administrations: Chang'an and Wannian. But the power of these officials was largely eclipsed by that of central government The emperor and his entourage lived in the three spacious palaces in the northern part of the city while the central government organs were concentrated in the Imperial City. The residential areas, where the overwhelming majority of the populace lived, designed, in accordance with the time-honoured ward system, which reached its apogee in Sui-Tang Chang'an with 110 symmetrically laid out wards rigidly governed by curfew hours. But as time went on, the system gradually broke down under the influence of burgeoning business activities, which spilled over from the markets into the residential areas of the city. Hand in hand with commerce, religion thrived with Buddhism and Taoism predominating, but various minor foreign cults were introduced via Chang'an's considerable population of foreign residents from the steppe lands, Central and Western Asia. Entrepreneurs, merchants, scholars, entertainers, and soldiers all participated in an urban culture that was increasingly characterized by commercialism, while foreigners with their exotic trades and religions contributed to a prevailing cosmopolitan atmosphere. To examine Sui-Tang Chang'an in perspective, parallels are made with earlier and later capitals in China, including Han Chang'an, Han-Wei Luoyang, Northern Wei Luoyang, Bian and Hangzhou, and occasional references are made to such Western cities as Rome, Constantinople, Cordova and others.