| Town in Sichuan basin gets a breakthrough development during Tang and Song Dynasties, which prompts new changes in town’s distribution. Researching change and distribution of town in Sichuan basin during Tang and Song Dynasties is not only helpful to know the distribution state of this region, and deepen the knowledge of social and economic development level during Tang and Song Dynasties. And it also provides useful historical reference for balancing urban and rural development, speeding up the pace of urbanization, as well as rural urbanization nowadays and the construction of new countryside.There are94towns in Tang Dynasty. Towns in Sichuan basin mainly distribute in4prefectures of western Sichuan plain:Chengdufu, Qiong prefecture, Jia prefecture and Han prefecture. During late Tang Dynasty, towns expand to Jialing river basin, which includes Li prefecture, Lang prefecture, Guo prefecture, Yu prefecture, Sui prefecture and He prefecture. The parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin has towns, too. During the Two Song Dynasties, there are895towns in Sichuan basin, and the highest increase amplitude one is parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin. Then is the hilly area, and then is western Sichuan plain, and the last one is the basin edge area. In Sichuan basin, towns distribute among main traffic artery and coastal areas, such as Min river coast, Jialing river coast and Qu river coast, and they disperse in the inside and the edge of Sichuan basin. The distribution pattern combines huge concentration with small dispersion, which is feature in constant expansion and increase of distribution centers. The manifestations of the changes happen in Sichuan basin during Tang and Song Dynasties are as follow: firstly, during Tang and Song Dynasties, the number of towns increases fast, while the increasing speed of the Two Song Dynasties is slow. Secondly, from Tang to Song Dynasty, no matter towns in prefectures or towns in counties, the density of towns is growing. However, the density of Tang to the Northern Song Dynasty is much bigger than that of the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty. The tendency of each district’s towns in Sichuan basin is that:from Tang to the Northern Song Dynasty, the highest increase in numbers is hilly area, and then the western Sichuan plain, and then the parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin, and the edge area is the last one. During this period, the highest increase in density is hilly area, and then the parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin, and then the edge area, and the western Sichuan plain is the last one. From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, the highest increase in numbers is hilly area, and then the parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin, and then the western Sichuan plain, and the edge area is the last one. During this period, the highest increase in density is the parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin, and then hilly area, and then the western Sichuan plain, and the edge area is the last one. Overall, during Tang and Song Dynasties, no matter in numbers or in density, the tendency of the4areas in Sichuan basin, including the western Sichuan plain, the hilly area, the parallel mountain ridge and valley in eastern basin and the edge area, show an increasing trend.The change of town’s distribution in Sichuan basin during Tang and Song Dynasties is influenced by the natural and social factors. Different natural and geographical conditions have great effect on different types of towns. For this reason, the western Sichuan basin and the hilly area become intensive distribution areas of production town (grain production) and resource-based town. While affected by water and land transportation condition, towns of this district distribute in coastal area and main traffic artery. What’s more, town’s distribution also influenced by regional economic development, the rise of commercial trade and frequent religious activities as well. |
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