周秦城市的發展與特質

The Characteristics and Development of Chinese Cities in the First Millennium B.C.

杜正勝(Cheng-Sheng Tu)

《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》 51本4分 (1980/12) Pp. 615-747

並列摘要

This thesis is an attempt to describe and explain the processes of the second stage of urbanization in early China, in which the transition from city-states to hsien-cities occurred. I will also show the transformation of Chinese society in the Ch'un-ch'iu and Warring-States periods. There are five chapters in this paper: (1) the characteristics of Chinese city-states, (2) the urbanization during the Ch'un-ch'iu period, (3) the origin of outer city-walls, (4) new markets and handicraft centers, and (5) the beginnings of hsien-cities as the bases of the centralized administrative system.
The Chinese city-state was composed of a small city enclosed in pounded-earth walls and surrounded by a big area of field and forest, separated by hills, rivers and artificial obstructions from the neighbouring city-states. This is because the city was often located on a plain near a hill fortification or along river or between both of them. All the Chou capital cities were of this model. Their triple political, ritual and military functions were reflected by the major structures in the city-walls, such as the palace/temple, common worship place of the she (社) unit, and the fortifictions. Originally, the palace and temple were in the same building: the front section was the temple, and the living quarters were in the rear. In Chinese, this arrangement was called ch'ien wiao hou chien (前廟後寢); conclusive evidence for the existence of this arrangement has been shown by the recent archaeological field work at Feng-chu (鳳雛) village, Chi-shan (岐山) county, Shensi (陝西) province, which is believed to have been the site of the premier city of the Chou pople in the Wei River valley. According to both textual records and bronze inscriptions, these buildings served as places for planning war or peace, managing civil policy, bestowing awards, and worshipping. They were organized and used by the aristorcracy only, while the she, which was a large plaza with an earthen platform in the center, was the worshipping place of the commoners. Executions were also carried out here. Another major structures, the fortifications, were pounded-earth ramparts over 20 meters in height. They were strong-holds stored with arms, provisions, and reserved supplies of metal. If the she is comparable to the Forum of classical Rome, the fortifications were comparable to the medieval European castle tower in function.
In the feudal ages, the length of the city-walls was limited, and was determined by the holder's status in the feudal order. The King's city was biggest, the dukes (kung 公) next, the counts (hon 侯) next, and so on. This system was in practical existence during the first quarter of the first millennium B. C., when the Son of Heaven' authority was still valid. His authority gradually declined with the weakening of the Western Chou dynasty. The rapid pace of Chinese urbanization during the entire Eastern Chou dynasty (including the Ch'un-ch'iu and Warring-States), was unlike any other time in Chinese history. All the feudal states did their best to build new cities or enlarge old ones. For both the Ch'un-ch'iu and Warring-States periods, the data for numbers of cities are too inexact to make a statistical conclusion, but the growth of urbanization is nevertheless a clearly visible tendency. One of the main motives for this growth was constant warfare between the states. The conquerors built cities to control the conquered area, while those under threat of invasion also built cities to maintain security. For example, during the Ch'un-ch'iu period, the states of Chin (晉), Ch'u (楚), and Lu (魯) built cities in Shansi, Anhwei, and Shantung respectively. By the end of the Ch'un-ch'iu period, numerious cities had been built on the frontiers of most of states. In the following period of the Warring-States, this urbanizing trend continued, with many small fortresses built around a major city. Thus at that time, even a village with pounded-earth walls was not uncommon.
In my opinion, the second stage of Chinese urbanization took place during the Ch'un-ch'iu period. The elements of this transition are the increase in numbers of cities as outlined above, and the enlargement of these cities in area. The latter element is of great significance for socio-economic history. During this period, double walls were built to protect the citizenry, The inner wall was called ch'eng (城), and the outer called kuo (郭). The traditional singal-wall city-states disappeared, and the new structure became typical of Chinese cities for the following two thousand years. In the first half of the Ch'un-ch'iu period some powerful states enlarged their outer walls, but the general trend began around 600 B.C. This conclusion is supported by the archaeological evidence and the interpletation of socio-economic data. The most famous example is the capital city of the Eastern Chou, on the east bank of the Jian (澗) River, near modern Loyang; on the basis of stratigraphical evidence it can be concluded that the original walls were probably built a little before the middle of the Ch'un-ch'iu period. It is a big city, and the city walls excavated were the outer ones. The Chou Kings in this time were not strong. If their capital is representative of the average city of the time, it can be supposed that most of the cities were enlarged with outer walls during the middle stage of this period, that is about 600 B.C. This opinion also can be supplemented with evidence of socio-economic change, Around the middle of the Ch'un-ch'iu period, the traditional tax system was no longer in use. The control of man-power was replaced by the control of goods. Even the most conservative state of Lu could not resist the new situation in the beginning of the sixth centry B.C.. According to the new tax system, it became legal for peasants to leave their country homes making possible the growth of the large cities, The emergence of new markets and handicraft centres can be reasonably interpreted from this transition.
The birth of new markets and handicraft centres is closely related to the breakdown of stable village communities. The latter support new cities and the former absorb the labour from the country. The original places of new markets were along the roads, especially outside city gates; these markets were called kuei shih (逵市). At this stage, there was no definite area for markets. During the second stage of the development, the markets were called shih ch'an (市廛), and were enclosed with walls as a special area in the administrative system. The inhabitants of these shih ch'an had a different status from the general citizen. This development varied from place to place, but generally, before the middle of Ch'un-ch'iu period, the taxation was based on agricultural prodncton, not trade, in most states. For this reason at that time the capital of the state of Chin was moved to the agricultural area of Hsin T'ien (新田 New Field), not to the salt centre of Shieh Chi (解池 Salt Lake of Shieh). The development of the new markets did not conflict with the enlargement of city walls with the exception of new markets, handicraft centres were the new phenomena inside the outer walls. Remains of several workshops for making bronze, iron, and bone implements as well as pottery kilos and coin mints have been excavated in these areas. Originally, the merchants were private citizens, while the handicraft labourers were under the control of the officials. Some of the new workshops were managed by the citizens. At first, both clothing and pottery were their products; then, the iron industry, in which iron replaced bronze as the common mental from the seventh or sixth centuries U. C. onward.
Various studies have been made on the problem of the origins of the hsien (縣). In my opinion, the listen developed in the state of Chin toward the end of the Ch'un-ch'iu period. The hsien was an administrative area under the direct control of the central government of the state, After an area had been conquered militarily, it was often set up as a halest, with the hsien-city representing central-government rule in that area and serving as its administrative focus. While individual examples can be found in Ch'un-ch'iu times, such listen-cities did not become a systematic unit of state authority unit the end of the period, and then only in the state of Chin, They were more widely used during the middle Warring-State period with the reforms of Shang Yang (商鞅) in the state of Ch'in, as the authority of the central state government expanded and more border-walls were built by each state; the listen-city was widely used as its instrument. However, Shang Yang did not originate the chün (郡), the administrative unit most closely associated with the listen. The chün or ”commandery” was a military administrative unit set up in border areas, and was similar in function to the medieval European duchy. It appeared first in the state of Wei (魏) during the Warring-States period, but did not become a common institution until Ch'in Shih-huang-ti (秦始皇帝) divided all of China into 36 chün after unifying the country in the third centry B.C. The hsien-city remained the basis of the administrative system; the hsien-city was the local focus of the central government’s universal rule, and the hsien-commandant was the Emperor's representative in the locality. In this paper, I argue that Ch'in Shih-huang-ti's edict of destructing all of cities in China did not carry out completely; it was only related to the small walled cities which were obstacles to unified, centralized rule, on the contrary, the hsien-city was the focus of centralized rule over a broader area and the most efficient means of extending central authority. As such, it needed walls of its own; it became the basic model for the nest two thousand years of administrative system.
The socio-political development of China is reflected in the development of her Cities. As the traditional village community broken down, the individual family became the basic Cell of society, making possible the system of imperial rule. The phenomenon of the hsien-city is a unique Chinese socio-political characteristic of the last two millennia.