Research On The Space Pattern Of Tongwan City

Tongwan City is the capital city of Hsia State and was built by T’ie-fo Hsiun-nu in A.D.413-427(during the period of the Sixteen States).Its archaeological site is the only confirmed site of Hsiun-nu’s capitals.This thesis aims to analyze the space pattern of Tongwan City by studying its archaeological,historical and research documents.Based on the analysis,the thesis also aims to study the ecological environment,subsistence economy and social grouping of T’ie-fo Hsiun-nu and the characteristics of capital cities which were built in agro-pastoral transition zones by nomadic tribes.The thesis starts with the study of the historical evolution of Tongwan and concludes that it was rebuilt on a city of Han Dynasty different from She-yang and Shuo-fang.Then the thesis is divided into three parts — location within the territory,location and the nearby environment,functional layout — based on a macro-middle-micro level of space pattern.Many aspects are carefully studied,including territories(expanded to the south),routes(revolved around Tongwan),administration(military town system),subsistence economy(animal husbandry)and eco-environment(pastures surrounded by rivers in semi-arid climate).Finally,based on the fact that the three main parts of Tongwan City(the western city,the eastern city and the outer city)serves different functions(to hoard treasure,labor and livestock respectively),the thesis concludes that Tongwan City is quite different from capital cities of agrarian society in central China.The space pattern of Tongwan reflects the pastoral characteristics of T’ie-fo Hsiun-nu which relied on animal husbandry and plunder.