Chang'an

The first ancient capital of China, it was the capital of 11 dynasties: Western Zhou, Qin, Former Han, Xin, Former Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang. It is currently located in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It prospered most during the Han and Tang dynasties, but during the Tang dynasty it was called the Western Capital or the Upper Capital in contrast to the Eastern Capital Luoyang. It is located almost in the center of the Guanzhong Plain in northwestern China.

The ruins of Haojing, the capital of the Western Zhou dynasty, are located in the southwestern suburbs of present-day Xi'an. The site of the Qin dynasty's Xianyang Palace is located on the north bank of the Wei River to the northwest, and the site of the Epang Palace still remains in the western suburbs. Chang'an City of the Western Han dynasty was located in the northwestern suburbs of the city, south of the Wei River, and parts of the palace foundations and rammed earth walls remain above ground today. Within the city, which was surrounded by walls and had 12 gates, palaces such as the Changle Palace and Weiyang Palace were constructed, and cities and residential areas were established. Chang'an City of the Han dynasty, covering a total area of ​​36 square kilometers, was nearly completed during the reign of Emperor Wu. This capital was destroyed by a peasant revolt during the reign of Wang Mang, but thereafter, the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Dynasties all established their capitals in the location of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty. The imperial tombs of the Western Han Dynasty were built in the Weibei Hills, which stretch north of the Wei River, and on the Bailu Plains, southeast of Xi'an City.

In 582, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Yuwen Kai and others to build a new capital in Longshouyuan, southeast of Hancheng, and named it Daxingcheng. The Tang Chang'an City was a remodeled version of Daxingcheng, with no major changes to the basic structure of the capital. It was a long rectangle, 9.7 km east to west and 8.6 km north to south, with the palace and imperial palace in the center of the northern side, and a 150-meter-wide main street running north to south through the center of the city, with large and small roads running east to west and north to south around this main street, forming a grid of city blocks. The Daming Palace of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong was built in the northeast outside Chang'an City, and Emperor Xuanzong built the Xingqing Palace inside the city. Furthermore, Qujiang Pond in the southeast corner was known as a place for entertainment. The city was divided into 109 temples, within which in addition to residential buildings were scattered Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, and Islamic shrines. In addition, both the eastern and western markets were lined with a variety of shops, inns, and restaurants, and were bustling with merchants and travelers from all over the country. At the time, Chang'an was a center of exchange not only with East Asia but also with countries around the world, and caravans from the Western Regions and people from neighboring countries frequently traveled there. Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, students studying abroad, and monks studying abroad often visited the city. Chang'an, the Tang capital, reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, becoming a cosmopolitan cultural city with a population of one million, but it subsequently fell into decline with the decline of the Tang Dynasty.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an never again became the national capital and for a long time remained merely a regional city. However, with the birth of New China, it was revived and, as Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, it is now the center of politics, economy, and culture.

[Shozo Tanabe]

"Chang'an" by Taketoshi Sato (1974, Kondo Publishing)" ▽ "Guide to Xi'an" by Shozo Tanabe (1979, Heibonsha)" ▽ "The Capitals of Nara and Heian and Chang'an" edited by Sadao Nishijima (1983, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

西周、秦(しん)、前漢、新、前趙(ぜんちょう)、前秦、後(こう)秦、西魏(せいぎ)、北周、隋(ずい)、唐の11王朝が都した中国第一の古都。現在の陝西(せんせい)省西安(せいあん)。漢、唐代にもっとも繁栄したが、唐代には東都洛陽(らくよう)に対して西都(せいと)または上都とよばれた。中国西北地方にある関中平野のほぼ中央部に位置する。

　西周の都鎬京(こうけい)の遺址(いし)は、現西安市南西郊に位置する。また、秦の咸陽(かんよう)宮址は北西方の渭河(いが)北岸にあり、阿房(あぼう)宮址は西郊に現存する。前漢の長安城は、市の北西郊、渭河の南に位置し、宮殿の基壇や版築(はんちく)の城壁の一部は、現在、地上にその姿をとどめている。周囲に城壁を巡らし、12の城門をもつ城内には、長楽宮、未央宮(びおうきゅう)などの宮殿が造営され、市(いち)や居住区が設けられた。総面積36平方キロメートルに及ぶ漢長安城は、武帝の時代にほぼ完成をみた。この都城は王莽(おうもう)時代の農民反乱によって破壊されたが、その後、五胡(こ)十六国および北朝の諸王朝はいずれも漢長安城の位置に宮都を構えた。なお、前漢の帝王陵は、渭河の北に広がる渭北丘陵と、西安市南東の白鹿原(はくろくげん)上に造営された。

　582年、隋の文帝は宇文愷(うぶんかい)らに勅して、漢城南東の竜首原(りゅうしゅげん)に新都を造営し、これを大興城(だいこうじょう)と名づけた。唐長安城はこの大興城を修築したもので、都城の基本的構成に大きな変化はなかった。その規模は東西9.7キロメートル、南北8.6キロメートルの横に長い方形で、北辺中央に宮城、皇城を配し、城内中央を南北に幅150メートルの大路があり、この大路を中心に大小の道路が東西・南北に走って碁盤目状の街区を構成していた。長安城外北東には太宗・高宗の大明宮が、また玄宗(げんそう)は城内に興慶宮を造営した。さらに南東隅の曲江池は遊宴の地として知られていた。城内は109の坊に分かれ、坊内には住宅のほかに仏寺、道観、イスラム寺院などが点在していた。また、東西両市には各種商店や旅宿、飲食店などが軒を連ね、各地の商人や旅人たちで大いににぎわった。当時長安は、東アジアのみならず世界各地の国々との交流の中心地であり、西域の隊商や周辺諸国の人々が頻繁に往来した。日本からも遣唐使や留学生、留学僧がしばしばこの地を訪ねた。唐都長安は玄宗時代に最盛期を迎え、人口100万人を擁する国際色豊かな文化都市となったが、その後、唐朝の衰微とともに凋落(ちょうらく)の道をたどった。

　唐朝滅亡以後、長安はふたたび国都となることはなく、長く一地方都市にすぎない存在であったが、新中国の誕生によって復興し、陝西省都の西安として、政治、経済、文化の中心となっている。

［田辺昭三］

『佐藤武敏著『長安』（1974・近藤出版社）』▽『田辺昭三著『西安案内』（1979・平凡社）』▽『西嶋定生編『奈良・平安の都と長安』（1983・小学館）』

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