1．九朝古都連史話

1．九朝古都連史話

在洛河與邙山之間的洛陽盆地上，從東到西幾十千米的距離，依次排列著夏、商、周、漢魏、隋唐五大都城的遺址，從東周起，歷東漢、曹魏、西晉、北魏（孝文帝以后）、隋（煬帝）、唐（武后）、后唐、后梁先后9個朝代在洛陽建都。

周在歷史上是中國西北部的一個小國，公元前11世紀(jì)一舉滅掉商朝，建立了周王朝。為了加強(qiáng)對東方諸侯的控制，就選擇了黃河以南的伊洛一帶準(zhǔn)備建都，成王五年（前1038）大規(guī)模地在洛邑一帶營建成周（即當(dāng)時的洛陽城），后來也稱為王城。成王先后派召公和周公去察看地形，進(jìn)行城市規(guī)劃。當(dāng)成周建成時，為了表示對這座城市的重視，成王把代表國家的重器九鼎也遷到了成周。據(jù)記載，當(dāng)時的成周分內(nèi)城和外城，南部與洛水相連，規(guī)模很大。西周時期洛陽亦非常受重視，成王甚至長期居住在洛陽。但總的來說，當(dāng)時的洛陽仍不過是處在陪都的地位。直到公元前770年，周平王才正式遷都洛陽。此后的500多年，周都以洛陽為都城。

漢魏洛陽的故城在今洛陽市東15千米處，起初規(guī)模比較小，春秋時晉國聯(lián)合其他諸侯國對其進(jìn)行了擴(kuò)建。秦國攻取洛陽以后，設(shè)置三郡。漢朝在洛陽設(shè)置河南郡。

東漢光武帝劉秀即位后，正式把漢朝的都城遷到了洛陽，在城內(nèi)大量修建宮殿和臺、觀、館、閣。另外，為了供帝王游獵，還修建了不少苑囿，如上林苑、芳林苑、靈囿等，在洛陽城南側(cè)還修建了明堂、辟雍和靈臺。明堂是天子的太廟，辟雍是用來演奏樂禮、宣講德化的地方。靈臺在明堂、辟雍的西南，是用來觀測天象的地方。現(xiàn)在洛陽漢魏故城南的靈臺遺址依然存在，這也是中國現(xiàn)存的最早的一座天文觀測遺址。漢代洛陽城，囿十二閣門，現(xiàn)在這座故城遺址的輪廓還清晰可辨。

東漢時，洛陽的商業(yè)也很繁榮。當(dāng)時，洛陽有很多人棄農(nóng)從商，市場上出現(xiàn)了許多專供享樂的物品。但到了東漢末年，洛陽一度遭到嚴(yán)重破壞。直到公元220年魏文帝曹丕篡漢自立后，才又開始營建洛陽宮，并遷都洛陽。

晉代洛陽開始呈現(xiàn)出一派繁榮的景象。當(dāng)時洛陽有金市、牛市、羊市3個市，而且市的早放晚收也都有定時。永嘉之亂后，洛陽又遭到極大的破壞，許多宮殿被焚燒，財產(chǎn)被搶掠，城市成了一堆瓦礫灰燼。

北魏初期定都在平城（今山西大同），它統(tǒng)一北方以后，政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)重心開始南移。493年以后遷都洛陽。據(jù)史料記載，當(dāng)時洛陽城內(nèi)的城市區(qū)劃已經(jīng)形成，貧富懸殊的住宅區(qū)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。北魏洛陽的商業(yè)也非常繁榮，出現(xiàn)了固定的商業(yè)區(qū)。那時，洛陽是“絲綢之路”的東方起點，是國際貿(mào)易的大都市。

隋朝隋煬帝即位后，改洛陽為東京，不久又決定遷都洛陽。605年，隋煬帝命令楊素、宇文愷營建東京。因為漢魏洛陽故城已經(jīng)在不斷的戰(zhàn)亂中頹廢不堪，所以在故城西邊營建新的都城。

新建的都城，北依邙山，南對伊闕，地勢非常險要。全城有城門10個，南面、西面各3個，西面、北面各2個。城內(nèi)建有宮城和皇城，都在城的西北角地勢較高的地方。作為皇宮的主體，宮城的中央各殿和皇城的正門端門都是正對伊闕，全城以此為中軸線，看起來氣勢非常雄偉。隋朝營建東京洛陽，工程非常浩大，如此巨大的工程在當(dāng)時的技術(shù)條件下居然能在一年的時間內(nèi)完成，不能不說是一個奇跡。

隋煬帝在營建東都的同時，在615年三月又動工開鑿運(yùn)河。從洛陽的西苑引澗水、洛水到黃河，再從板清（今河南滎陽汜水鎮(zhèn)東北）引黃河水到淮河。然后又疏浚邗溝，引淮河水到長江，從而溝通了江淮。608年又開通了永濟(jì)渠，引沁水南到達(dá)黃河，北到達(dá)涿郡（今北京西南）。610年開通了江南運(yùn)河從京口（今江蘇鎮(zhèn)江）到余杭（今浙江杭州）400余千米。運(yùn)河修成后，洛陽成了全國的運(yùn)河中心，交通更加方便，經(jīng)濟(jì)更加繁榮。

唐高宗在洛陽修建了上陽宮，其中的西南隅，是唐代洛陽宮殿中最為壯麗的建筑。690年，武則天正式稱帝，改唐為周，并以洛陽為都，在洛陽進(jìn)行了歷史上最大規(guī)模的修建，這也是洛陽歷史上最為輝煌的時期?，F(xiàn)在洛陽牡丹天下聞名，就與當(dāng)時武則天喜歡牡丹有直接的關(guān)系。武則天死后，政權(quán)復(fù)歸李氏，仍定都長安，洛陽再次成為陪都。

隋唐王朝大規(guī)模修建洛陽，說明洛陽的地位在當(dāng)時是非常重要的。在隋唐以前，全國的經(jīng)濟(jì)、政治、文化中心在長安，但東漢以后長安因為戰(zhàn)爭而屢遭破壞。都城設(shè)在長安最困難的問題就是運(yùn)輸問題，如果要把全國各地的，特別是東南地區(qū)糧食和其他物資運(yùn)往京城要經(jīng)過黃河的天然險要地段，十分不便。而洛陽位于中國的中部，物資轉(zhuǎn)運(yùn)比較方便，而且從政治上考慮，建都洛陽也便于加強(qiáng)對全國的控制，因此，政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)中心便從長安轉(zhuǎn)移到了洛陽。

唐末的“安史之亂”中，洛陽再次在戰(zhàn)亂中毀滅，輝煌不再。五代的后梁、后唐時，洛陽在風(fēng)雨飄搖中十多年，從此結(jié)束了它的都城歷史。

宋代建都東京（今河南開封），此時洛陽已不再是都城。金滅北宋后，于1217年在洛陽建立中京，現(xiàn)在的洛陽老城就是在金代修筑的。元、明、清三代在洛陽設(shè)置河南府，城墻本來是土墻，到明代（1373）才開始修筑磚墻，到清朝初期，又對洛陽城加以重修。

1. History

Across the Luoyang Basin located between the Luohe River and the Mount Mang there lies a city which used to be the capital of nine dynasties-Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Wei (in the Three Kingdoms Period), Western Jin, Northern Wei (in the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period), Sui during the reign of Emperor Yang, Tang during the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian, Later Liang (907-923) as well as Later Tang (923-936). The city is Luoyang.

In the 21st century BC, Yu founded the Xia dynasty in the area where the Yellow River meets with the Luohe River. In the Xia dynasty, several kings including Taikang, Zhongkang and Jie set the capital in Zhenxun (inside present Luoyang ). In the 16th century BC, Xia dynasty was defeated by Shang, and Tang, the King of Shang dynasty set the capital in Xihao (inside present Luoyang).

In the 11th century BC, Zhou, a small state northwest of China, toppled the Shang dynasty and established the Zhou dynasty. In order to strengthen the control over those dukes in the east, the King of the Zhou dynasty ordered to build a secondary capital around Yiluo area on the south bank of the Yellow River. In 1038 BC, King Cheng started a huge capital building project in Luoyi. He sent Duke Zhao and Duke Zhou successively to look into the landform there for city planning. After the construction was finished, King Cheng moved nine dings, a set of bronze objects used as the symbol of the dynasty, to the new city, showing his accent on the city. The capital was named Chengzhou (today's Luoyang) and later known as Wangcheng which literally means "the city of the king". According to historical records, Chengzhou was quite large, divided into the inner city and the outer city with Luohe River flowing by in the south. Though King Cheng spent much of his time in the new capital, Chengzhou was still no more than a secondary capital. In 770 BC King Ping officially moved the national capital to Chengzhou which remained so ever since for more than 500 years.

In the Eastern Han dynasty, Luoyang was made the capital after Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu, succeeded the throne. Inside the city, a number of palaces, terraces, Taoist temples and halls were built; outside the city, several imperial animal hunting enclosures were built. What's more, Ming Tang, Pi Yong and Ling Tai were erected south of the city. Ming Tang was the Imperial Shrine. Pi Yong was a place for performing ritual music and preaching morals. Ling Tai was an observatory. Today, the relic of Ling Tai still stands in Luoyang. It is the most ancient one among all the observatory relics.

In the heyday of the Eastern Han dynasty, commerce in Luoyang was so developed that a lot of residents gave up farming and took up business. In the market, numerous entertainment goods were sold. In the late years of Eastern Han, however, the city was seriously destroyed and didn't recover until it was rebuilt in 220 by Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty who later declared Luoyang the capital.

In the Jin dynasty, Luoyang became prosperous again, as evidenced by the booming markets for gold, cow and sheep respectively. At that time, these three markets were opened and closed regularly each day. Unfortunately, prosperity didn't last long. After Xiongnu invaded into Luoyang and captured Emperor Huai in 331, palaces were burned, properties looted and the entire city reduced to debris and ashes.

When the Northen Wei dynasty first set up its regime, Pingcheng (today's Datong in Shanxi province) was its capital. Later, however, as the political and economic centers gradually moved southward after Northern Wei unified north China, Luoyang was finally announced the capital in 493. According to historical records, in this period, Luoyang had already been divided into districts with separated residential areas for the rich and the poor respectively and an exclusive business block. It was the starting point of the Silk Road and thus a metropolis for international commerce.

In the Sui dynasty, Emperor Yang renamed Luoyang as Dongjing (eastern capital) and soon made the decision to move the capital to Dongjing after he enthroned. In 605, ordered by Emperor Yang, two officials-Yang Su and Yuwen Kai-supervised the construction of a new capital west of the original city which had been seriously torn by years of wars.

Facing Mount Mang to its north and Mount Yique to its south, the new capital was built on a place difficult of access. There were ten city gates in total.Inside the city were the Imperial Palace and the Imperial City, both located at the northwest corner which was higher than other parts of the city. The main palaces of the Imperial Palace and the front gate of the Imperial City Duanmen were all in the same line with Mount Yique, thus forming a central axis which made the city look even grander. Huge as the project was, construction of Luoyang was finished in one year. Given the technical conditions at that time, it wouldn't be too much to call it a miracle.

When the capital was under construction, Emperor Yang ordered to start a large-scale canal-digging project. In 608, Yongji Canal was finished, connecting Luoyang with Zhuojun (the southwest of today's Beijing). In 610, another canal measuring more than 400 kilometers long was finished, linking Jingkou (today's Zhenjiang) and Yuhang (today's Hangzhou). What's more, several other canals were dug one after another and finally link two important rivers together-the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. As a result, Luoyang became the national hub of water transportation. Convenient transportation led to a even more prosperous economy.

In the Tang dynasty, a new Imperial Palace-Shangyang Palace-was built in today's Luoyang and the southwest part of the new palace was the most impressive. In 690, Emperor Wu Zetian, the sole woman emperor in the Chinese history, officially declared herself to be the emperor and changed the name of the dynasty into Zhou with Luoyang as its capital. During her reign, Luoyang, after a repair and rebuilding effort of the largest scale in history, entered a resplendent period never being surpassed later in history. The fame that Luoyang peony enjoys now may well be attributed to Emperor Wu's fondness of peony. After she passed away, throne was returned to the Li family. The capital of the dynasty moved back to Chang'an and Luoyang was degraded to the secondary capital once again.

The large-scale construction of the city in both Sui and Tang indicated the importance of the city. Before Sui and Tang dynasties, Chang'an had been the national economic, political and cultural center, but it was greatly ravaged by wars in and after Eastern Han. Inconvenient transportation also put Chang'an at a disadvantage: grain and other goods from all over the country, the southeast in particular, had to be transported to the capital via the naturally dangerous section of the Yellow River. By contrast, located in the central part of China, Luoyang was easy of access and was a better place for an emperor to rule the whole country. Thus, Luoyang replaced Chang'an to become the national political and economic center.

Unfortunately, Luoyang was once again ruined by warfare in "An-Shi Rebellion" and remained murky in the period of Five Dynasties, putting an end to its history as a capital.

When the Song dynasty was established, Dongjing (modern Kaifeng, Henan province) was made the capital. In 1217, the Jin dynasty built Zhongjing (central capital) which is the origin of the current old city of Luoyang. In Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Henan Fu was set in Luoyang. In the Ming dynasty, the original rammed-earth wall was replaced by a brick wall. In the early Qing dynasty, Luoyang was rebuilt.