Research On Festival Activities And Spatial Order In Chang'an City In Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty was the maturity period of festivals in ancient China,when the prosperity of festival activities reached an unprecedented height.Festival activities are an important part of national political and cultural system,and its spatial evolution is the result of power game,which affects the evolution and reconstruction of the spatial order of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty.In this paper,we take the birthday festivals,festival Sujiang activities,Shangsi festival as an example,though combing the spatial process of festival activities and their interaction with political power,including the private power of the emperor and the public power of the court,to explore the role and influence of festival activities on the spatial order of Chang'an.This article is broken down into five chapters.The chapter one discusses the inner logic relationship between the festival activities and the spatial order in Chang'an.Festival activities reflect the stability of state power and social and economic development.The development trend of the festival activities in Tang Dynasty is in step with the social development needs in Tang Dynasty.Its activity space and the space transfer of the power center are in the same direction,which eventually leads to the imbalance and reconstruction of the spatial order of the capital city.Chapter two,chapter three and chapter four are the main body of the paper.Chapter two discusses relationships between the birthday festivals for emperors and political space of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty,and takes Qingcheng Festival,a birthday festival for Emperor Wenzong of Tang,as an example to expound on.The birthday festival of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty established the historical tradition of both secular entertainment and serious etiquette.Based on this tradition,the birthday festivals of the late Tang Dynasty was shaped as an important political tool to establish the authority of the emperor and show the image of the country.The choice of its activity space was closely related to the political intention of the emperor.Chapter three analyzes the meaning of religious festival activities to the development of the public space of Chang'an in the Tang dynasty by taking Sujiang(Buddhist lecture for folks)as an example.The development of the Tang Dynasty's Sujiang shows the trend of secularization and utilitarianism,and the problems of vulgar content and too much gathering caused by it increase the difficulty of urban management,and are not conducive to the official guidance of the people's thoughts.The rise and fall of Sujiang reflects the power game between the imperial court and religious forces.Although Theatrical venue set up for Sujiang has a certain breakthrough significance for the development of the public space of Chang'an,this breakthrough is only a representation,which fails to change the spatial order of Chang'an from the level of structure.Chapter four selects Shangsi Festival as the object of study to discuss the relationship between folk festival activities and the political space of Chang' an in the Tang dynasty.Shangsi Festival was a "carnival" in the Tang dynasty which has been gradually incorporated into the national ritual culture system.During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty,the space of exorcise activity in Shangsi Festival changed from the riverside of Weihe River to Chan-Ba district which promoted the reconstruction of the spatial pattern of Chang'an ritual system During the Kai Yuan and Tian Bao period.The increasing privacy of the banquet space in Shangsi Festival during the period of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty is related to the adjustment of the emperor's authority from outside to inside.Chapter five focuses on discussing the spatial influence and historical role of festival activities in Chang'an in the Tang dynasty.Festival activity is an important means in the construction of Chang'an political space and etiquette space,which is of great significance to the development of the public space of the capital city.In turn,the more open public space directly challenges the hierarchical order and closed characteristics of the capital space.In comparison with Luoyang,Taiyuan,Yangzhou and Chengdu,it is found that,compared with Chang'an,Luoyang and Taiyuan have less space extension for festival activities,which reflects the advantage of power concentration of the capital Chang'an.Yangzhou and Chengdu have an interactive relationship with Chang'an in terms of festival culture.The prosperity of market economy and the change of spatial pattern of southern commercial metropolis driven by festival culture are the reflection of power spillover.The festival activities under the influence of political culture is a double-edged sword for the spatial order of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty.On the one hand,it will become an effective tool to strengthen the spatial order and ritual sense,on the other hand,it will threaten the tight spatial order because of the entertainment attribute of the festival itself.Festival activities gradually became a symbolic power in the history of the Tang Dynasty,with an extremely strong capacity for social mobilization,and also to regulate the rhythm of political and social life in the city through their influence on the time order.Festival activities promote the development of urban public space in the political game.It added a secularization to urban development and facilitated the downward migration of Tang Dynasty etiquette culture.Under the absolute control of the will of power,the breakthrough of the spatial order and the transformation of Chang'an in Tang Dynasty are limited,and its role in the transform of capital system in Tang and Song Dynasties also needs to be reevaluated.