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*''Chinese'': 長安 ''(Chang'an)''
*''Chinese'': 長安 ''(Chang'an)''
Chang'an, today called [[Xi'an]], was the capital of China during the [[Sui Dynasty|Sui]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] Dynasties. Its layout, meant to mirror the organization of the cosmos and to have powerful cosmological or geomantic effects, served as the model for many later Chinese capitals, and the cities of [[Heijo-kyo|Heijô-kyô]] ([[Nara]]), [[Kyoto|Heian-kyô]] (Kyoto), and [[Fujiwara-kyo|Fujiwara-kyô]] in Japan, as well as royal capitals of Korea.
Chang'an, today called [[Xi'an]], was the capital of China during the [[Han Dynasty|Han]], [[Sui Dynasty|Sui]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] Dynasties. Its layout, meant to mirror the organization of the cosmos and to have powerful cosmological or geomantic effects, served as the model for many later Chinese capitals, and the cities of [[Heijo-kyo|Heijô-kyô]] ([[Nara]]), [[Kyoto|Heian-kyô]] (Kyoto), and [[Fujiwara-kyo|Fujiwara-kyô]] in Japan, as well as royal capitals of Korea.
The city was established by [[Emperor Wen of Sui|the first emperor]] of the [[Sui Dynasty]], as a show of his power and legitimacy. The city was damaged in the revolts which brought the fall of the Sui, but was rebuilt soon afterwards by the Tang Imperial Court, again to serve as a symbol of the dynasty's power and legitimacy.
The city, called Xi'an ("Western Peace") since the [[Ming Dynasty]], is located in northwestern central China, just across the Wei River from the [[Qin Dynasty]] capital of [[Xianyang]].
==Layout==
==Layout==
===Han Dynasty===
The Imperial capital at Chang'an was organized around the Changle Palace, built atop the former site of a Qin Dynasty secondary palace, known as the Xingle Palace, and located just across the Wei River from the former site of the chief Qin Imperial Palace.
Imperial palaces occupied more than half the city, and included a series of covered bridges which allowed the Emperor and members of his Court to travel from one palace to another unseen by people on the streets. The Imperial residence and audience hall were housed in a structure known as the Weiyang Palace, constructed immediately to the west of the Changle Palace. Both buildings were made in wood, around solid earthen cores. Another similar set of Imperial structures were built a short distance to the west, at what is today Shanglin Park, along the shores of a manmade lake known as Kunming-chi, and meant to represent the world's oceans.
::''Main article: [[Mingtang]]''
Whereas the Qin capital was meant to represent a microcosm of the empire, the Han capital (and the Sui & Tang ones which would succeed it) were designed to represent a model of the cosmos. One of the most significant structures in this symbolic scheme was a ritual hall known as the [[Mingtang]] ("Bright Hall"), encircled by a moat known as the Biyong ("Jade Ring Moat"). The square inscribed within a circle this formed is among the most classic and fundamental elements of the classical Chinese conception of the cosmos; this provided a profoundly symbolic ritual space within which the Emperor, regarded as the axis between Heaven and Earth, symbolically surveyed the entire realm, and performed numerous rituals aimed at maintaining the cosmic order.
===Tang Dynasty===
At its height, the city may have been home to as many as one million people<ref>Roughly half of whom would have lived within the city walls proper.</ref>. Its earthen, brick-covered city walls, five meters high, formed a rectangle roughly 8.4 km from north to south, and 9.5 km from east to west. Within the walls, the city was divided into one hundred districts, separated from one another by high walls and gates which were sealed overnight, in observance with a curfew imposed upon the residents. This organizational pattern allowed the government to much more easily maintain registers of the number of families living in each district, and to tax them accordingly. Drum towers spaced throughout the city announced the hours, and soldiers on horseback patrolled the streets, especially at night, to enforce the curfew.
At its height, the city may have been home to as many as one million people<ref>Roughly half of whom would have lived within the city walls proper.</ref>. Its earthen, brick-covered city walls, five meters high, formed a rectangle roughly 8.4 km from north to south, and 9.5 km from east to west. Within the walls, the city was divided into one hundred districts, separated from one another by high walls and gates which were sealed overnight, in observance with a curfew imposed upon the residents. This organizational pattern allowed the government to much more easily maintain registers of the number of families living in each district, and to tax them accordingly. Drum towers spaced throughout the city announced the hours, and soldiers on horseback patrolled the streets, especially at night, to enforce the curfew.
==History==
==History==
Established at the start of the Sui Dynasty and rebuilt in the Tang Dynasty, the city fell and was recovered several times; the [[An Lushan Rebellion]] ([[755]]-[[763]]) and [[Huang Chao Rebellion]] of [[880]] were perhaps the most significant of these uprisings. The city was also attacked annually by [[Tibet]]an raiders in the 760s-780s, with the raids continuing at lessened frequency into the 9th century.
Established during the Han Dynasty and rebuilt in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the city fell and was recovered several times; the [[An Lushan Rebellion]] ([[755]]-[[763]]) and [[Huang Chao Rebellion]] of [[880]] were perhaps the most significant of these uprisings. The city was also attacked annually by [[Tibet]]an raiders in the 760s-780s, with the raids continuing at lessened frequency into the 9th century.
The city was destroyed in the overthrow of the Tang in [[907]], and never again served as the Imperial capital. Many of the palace buildings were at that time floated down the river to be incorporated into the reconstruction of [[Luoyang]].
The city was destroyed in the overthrow of the Tang in [[907]], and never again served as the Imperial capital. Many of the palace buildings were at that time floated down the river to be incorporated into the reconstruction of [[Luoyang]].
==References==
==References==
*Ching, Francis D.K. et al. ''A Global History of Architecture''. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons (2011), 219-220.
*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 203-205, 209.
*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 203-205, 209.
