Research On The Regional Space Between Chang'an And Luoyang During The Han And Tang Dynasties

During the Han and Tang dynasties,Chang'an and Luoyang had long been the political core of China.The two cities are separated but closely connected.Their relationship is an important part of ancient China's government system and an effective means for the central government to spread reign over its territory.Because of the special locality,the regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang,the space to carry out the economical,political and military functions of the two cities,turns out an important factor to be considered in making government decisions.This dissertation takes the regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang as study subject to analyze its regional structure,functional features,development and evolution during the periods of Western Han,Eastern Han,Sui and Tang to find out the co-relation between the transformation of regional space and imperial government system.Part one makes an investigation into the transformation of the regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang and its relationship with the geo-strategy in the Western Han Dynasty.The geo-strategy of the Western Han government is making Luoyang the important fortress to strengthen its control over Guandong Area.From Emperor Gaodi to Emperor Wudi,the policy towards the feudal lords in Guandong Area turned from military control to political rule,which resulted in the role change of Luoyang as well as the rearrangement of regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang.With respect to the constitution of defense system,the site of Hanguguan Pass was moved eastward to include the whole Xiao-Han Area in the system,which is good for control over Luoyang.Just around this time,Luhunguan Pass was set and Wuguan Pass was administered by commandant of Hongnong Prefecture.In this way,a defense system,which had Hongnong Prefecture as its base,with Hanguguan Pass in the east,Luhunguan Pass in the southeast and Wuguan Pass in the south,was formed to guarantee the safety of East Guanzhong Area.In the setting of administrative divisions,Hongnong Prefecture was set up between Chang'an and Luoyang,which completely cut through Xiao-Han Area west of Luoyang.In particular,the counties of Xin'an and Yiyang,which enclosed the Yi-Luo Basin from west and southwest,were put under direct administration of Hongnong Prefecture.They took advantage of their upper-stream localities to control the north passage and south passage leading from Luoyang to Chang'an.What's more,Hongnong Prefecture took the commanding role to manage water channels on the Yellow River and the Weihe River.Part two explores the features of the regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty and compares the similarities and differences with those in the Western Han Dynasty.In the Eastern Han Dynasty,the relationship between Chang'an and Luoyang changed,leading to the readjustment of Hongnong Prefecture,whose jurisdiction expanded westward to cover Wei-Hua Area to form a clamp penetrating into Guanzhong Area,which was a sharp contrast to the-clamp into the Yi-Luo Basin in the Western Han Dynasty.The readjustment implies the role of Hongnong Prefecture changed from being Guanzhong Area's east barrier in the Western Han Dynasty to Luoyang's west barrier in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Compared with that of the Western Han Dynasty,the number of passes for military defense between Luoyang and Chang'an is lessened in the Eastern Han Dynasty,which is further seen in the removal of Duwei of Hanguguan Pass over a time.This kind of military deployment takes two aspects into account.For one thing,it is to correspond to the Eastern Han government's policy that stresses civil development rather than rule by force.And for another,the establishment of Chang'an as the military base to stretch control over the Guanxi Area weakens the military pressure from the west.Nevertheless,this deployment does not mean the government neglects its defense over the region between Chang'an and Luoyang.Troops were stationed in and around Chang'an to defend the capital region against attacks from the west.And in the north of the passage connecting Chang'an and Luoyang,military works were built to guarantee the safety of the passage's flanks.Part three studies the regional space between Daxing(Chang'an)and Luoyang from the perspectives of administrative division,water transport and granary distribution and defense system in the Sui Dynasty.The bi-capital system was adopted by the Sui Dynasty in its early years,but soon abolished,and later adopted again.With the wax and wane of the bi-capital system,the administrative division,water transport and granary distribution,and defense system saw a lot of changes accordingly.The greatest changes in the administrative division in the region between Chang' an and Luoyang took place in the sixteenth year(AD 596)of the Kaihuang Years and in the second year(AD 606)of Daye years.The rearrangement in 596 aimed to strengthen government control over Luoyang.To achieve this,to the west of Luoyang,Guzhou was set to control Hanguguan Pass.And together with other districts like Xiongzhou and Songzhou,the passes and water channels were forced out of administrative control of Luoyang.The rearrangement in 606 included two parts.One is the merging of Huazhou,Shanzhou,Xiongzhou and Guzhou to connect Yongzhou and Yuzhou so as to build a shard capital area for the two capitals.The other is the establishment of Hongnong Prefecture to provide safety guarantee for emperors travelling between the two capitals and to maintain peace and order in the mountainous area.From the reign of Emperor Wendi to the reign of Emperor Yangdi,the distribution of water channels and granaries changed too.The center of water transport shifted from Daxing to Luoyang.During the reign of Emperor Wendi,Daxing was the terminal of the water transport system,while Luoyang was just a transitional knob along the way,connecting Guangdong Area and Guanzhong Area.Heyangcang Granary,Changpingcang Granary and Guangtongcang Granary spread along the river banks and constituted a big land-to-river and river-to-canal transport system.But then in the reign of Emperor Yangdi,Luoyang became the center.The channels on the Yellow River and the Weihe River became assisting channels.And the granaries which had been distributed in straight lines along the rivers were then positioned around Luoyang.As for military defense,Emperor Wendi held Guanzhong Area the base and focused on the construction of a big and strong defense system.In the reign of Emperor Yangdi,the eastern capital Luoyang was constructed,expanding the defense system to cover Guandong Area.The efforts of Wendi and Yangdi contributed to the final shape of the defense system which was intended to shield both capitals for the Sui governors.Part four investigates the features and changes in regional space between Chang'an and Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty.The bi-capital system of the Tang Dynasty is quite similar to that of the Sui Dynasty.The founders of both dynasties rose in Guan-Long Area.When they had just taken over the power,Chang'an was more appropriate to be the capital than Luoyang because of its upper-stream locality and precipitous topography.But when the rule became strong and the country became stable,Chang'an seemed too far away from the rich Guandong Area and Jiang-Huai Area.The advantage of Luoyang in transport and tax collecting revealed.Therefore,making Chang'an the western capital and Luoyang the eastern capital helped the rulers bring the vast territory under effective control.In accordance to the change in relationship between Chang'an and Luoyang,the administrative division,water transport and granary distribution changed too.From the founding to the end of the Tang Dynasty,two features can be seen in the administrative division in the region between Chang'an and Luoyang.One is the gradual decrease in the number of prefecture-level divisions.In the Wude Years,out of the need to control Luoyang,Guzhou,Xiongzhou and Hanzhou were set west of Luoyang.Then in the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong,they were removed.The other feature is the change-from purposely distributing some prefectures to the west of Luozhou to naturally dividing some prefectures by mountains.In the early Tang Dynasty,Guzhou and Xiongzhou divided the western mountain barriers of Luoyang.After their removal,Xiaoshan Mountain became the dividing line of Luozhou and Shanzhou.The water way system and granary distribution in the region between Chang'an and Luoyang underwent two stages,with the reforms in year 734 made by Pei Yaoqing as the demarcation.Before 734,the center of water transport was Luoyang.Grains transported by water from Guandong Area and Jiang-Huai Area would be taken to Hanjiacang Granary in Luoyang first.Some grains were stored in this granary.Some were transported over land to Taiyuancang Granary in Shanzhou to be transferred further to Chang'an by water on the Yellow River and then the Weihe River.After 734,water transport in Guanzhong Area was emphasized.Along the banks of the Yellow River,Heyincang Granary,Jijincang Granary,Yancang Granary,Taiyuancang Granary and Yongfengcang Granary were set to function as stops in the long water relay race.Afterwards,canals were dug to improve the transport capacity of Guanzhong Area.Though water transport was temporarily stopped in the time of An-Shi Rebellion,a series of measures were taken by Liuyan and Limi to ensure both land and water transport between Chang'an and Luoyang.The military situation in the region between Chang'an and Luoyang,especially the military importance of Xiao-Han Area,is to be discussed through a study on the military actions that took place there.Xiao-Han Area constitutes the eastern Xiaoshan Mountain and the western Hanguguan Valley.To win battles in this area,the control over either the mountain part or the 'valley part could be vital.In the middle of Wude Years,in the Battle of Luoyang,the troops headed by Li Yuan quickly took control of Xiao-Han Area.Exploiting the steep topography and convenient traffic,assigning troops to Shanzhou,Xin'an and Yiyang,Li Yuan got the upper hand and won the battle.To put down the An-Shi Rebellion,the Tang troops fought twice in Xiao-Han Area.In the war in the 15th year(AD 756)of Tianbao Years,giving up Shanzhou and the western part of Xiao-Han Area was the main cause for the loss of Tongguan Pass and then Guanzhong Area.In the war during the Qianyuan and Shangyuan Years(AD 759-762),the Tang troops kept the enemy to the east of Shanzhou all the time,which strengthened Tang's defense in Guanzhong Area and created opportunity for counterattacks later.In all,the geographical environment and the changing relationship between Chang'an and Luoyang are the main factors deciding the spatial structure in this region.Out of need for political control and military defense,the spatial structure manifests different features.Spatially viewed,the relationship between Chang'an and Luoyang shifts from Chang'an being assisted by Luoyang to the reverse,and then to a balance between the two.At the stages where either one of the two cities is made assistant to the other,the spatial structure in this region is strongly characterized by the tendency to get in charge of the whole Xiao-Han Area for the defense of Chang'an and control of Luoyang.While when Chang'an and Luoyang acquire equal footings,the spatial structure presents the purpose for providing a safe traffic environment between the two capitals,exploiting the land between the eastern and western parts in Xiao-Han Area.Taking a time view,from the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang Period,with the gradual decreasing of differences between Guanxi Area and Guandong Area,the relationship between Chang'an and Luoyang becomes closer.Accordingly,the spatial structure between them,regarding administrative division,waterway transport and military defense in particular,shifts from differentiating the two cities to strengthening their connections.