The Study On Residence Of Chang-an In Tang Dynasty

During Tang Dynasty, Chang-an was not only the living space of the emperor, governmental officials, common people, monks and priests, but also the stage for different administrative institutions. It was a centre of politics, economics and culture of Tang Dynasty and reflected the history and social life in that time. Therefore, the study of Chang-an city is a basic job.As a city, Chang-an was a physical, static object as well as a spiritual, dynamic synthetic. Therefore, the study on residence of Chang-an in Tang Dynasty includes city walls, Fang-li, palaces and studies of different ideas, thoughts and their interactions. As Victor Hugo said, just like all rules of religion, people's thoughts also have their monuments. All important thoughts are written on stones. Residences, first as architectures, are ideal carriers. That's why my paper chooses this subject. Joined the natural and social environment in that time, we restore and study the ownership, layout, scale and distribution of different residences, in order to discuss the action and reaction of residence, environment and people's thoughts. Consequently, this paper is consisted of four parts:1. The analysis of ownership of residences of Chang-an in Tang Dynasty According to ownership, the residences can be divided into officials and privates.From the discussion of continuities and changes, we believe, whether officials or privates, the ownership can not be changed fundamentally by natural continuity and rent. However, some privates can become officials by confiscations and business deals, and some officials can become privates by grants and businesses.2. The layout of residences of Chang-an in Tang DynastyDepending on related documentary writings and few archaeological materials, we restore the layout of residences from the angle of architectural history. We believe the layout inherits traditional heritages and points out new direction for future development. Despite their different ranks and scales, the basic layout was the same, especially their evident axes and symmetries. Accessory architectures, such as stable and playground were placed in side yard. Ordinary residences were closed and small because of rigid restrictions and the system of rank. Many had gardens as well as palaces. And from the front rooms to last, there were also many changes.3. The scale of residences of Chang-an in Tang DynastyLand in Chang-an was very wide, and there was no legal restriction for use. Therefore, scales of residences were very large. However, with the change of palace's layout, the intention of land concentration and the transform of land use, scales ofresidences were gradually small.4. The distribution of residences of Chang-an in Tang Dynasty From the discussion of distribution and its formation, we find that it was rich in east and poor in west, and strong in north and weak in south. But it was not formed at the same time. We should pay attention to the process and realize its nature. Chang-an was the capital of Tang Dynasty, that is the most important reason to its special layout. It also strengthened the topology factor, which is first but not most.