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Sum m ary

The north-south central axis of the Palace City was an invisible line, along which the most important structures centred. Its sweeping vista could only be revealed when all the hall gates along the line were held open. However, as the line terminated at its southern extreme, the Chengtian Gate, it was joined by an extended axial line of an entirely different nature. This was Chengtianmen Street which served as the central axis of the Imperial City. It was Chengtianmen Street that made the physical morphology of the Imperial City so different from the Palace City. Cutting right through at the centre, it provided a penetrating perspective that went south beyond the Imperial City.

Measuring 2820.3m by 1843.6m, the Imperial City could be divided from west to east into three clear-cut areas.

The central area was the essential part of the Imperial City and played host to the three highest government organs. Of the triad, the Secretariat (zhong shu sheng) and Chancellery {men xia sheng) were mainly housed in the palatial areas: Taiji and Darning Palaces. They kept their branch offices in the Imperial City. The third one, the Department of State Affairs (shang shu sheng ) maintained its headquarters there with four of its six affiliated boards.

The eastern and western Areas accommodated the two most important ritual centres: Ancestral Temple (east) and State Temple (west). Symmetrically laid out from each other, they were intended for ritual activities that pacified the spirits and ghosts of the imperial ancestors (Ancestral Temple) and entertained the she and ji gods of soil and grain.

There was one suburban ritual centre in each of the four suburbs. They were purported to worship the Supreme God of Heaven, the earth god, and all sorts of pantheist minor gods that presumably dwelled in nature.

Administratively, the city of Chang'an was not an entity. It was governed by the Metropolitan Prefecture which had jurisdiction over 20-23 counties. In the city area there were two Imperial Counties, Wannian and Chang'an, most of the time.

The head office of the Metropolitan Prefecture was in Guangdtfa n g between the Western Market and the Imperial City. It was moved east to Xuanyang fang during the An Lushan Rebellion, then again to Wuben fa n g in 767. The six functioning bureaux under the prefectural office were responsible for the routine administration including rites and personnel, population, revenue, works, law and war. The leading officer of the Metropolitan Prefecture was jing zhao yin or

4 Administrative & Ritual: Summary

metropolitan prefect This position was in most cases filled by career bureaucrats, but from time to time it was also given to people of extraordinary capacities. As early as Xuanzong's period, the yin was closely tied with court politics through concurrent assumption of the post of censor general (yu shi da fu ) . Depending on his personality, jin g zhao yin could be oppressive to the underdogs or courageous enough to challenge the rich and powerful. In a word, he enjoyed immense power in his territory.

The head offices of the two Imperial Counties that were directly under the Metropolitan Prefecture, Wannian and Chang'an, were respectively situated in Xuanyang/a/ig and Changshou/arzg in the eastern and western parts of the city. The six functional bureaux of the Metropolitan Prefecture were also represented at the Imperial County level on a smaller scale.

The magistrate of an Imperial County, ling, compared favourably with his local counterparts. Right at the heart of the capital, he was often exposed to more opportunities for promotion. Sometimes magistrateship served as a stepping stone for a more lucrative position at the central government.

Judging from the location of its office, Wannian County was given great priority, having occupied part of the strategically important Xuanyang fa n g . On the other hand, the Chang'an County office was located further down south and closer to the deserted area of the city.

In Chinese capital earlier than Sui-Tang C hang’an, it was custom ary to distribute the central governm ent organs in a num ber o f places. N orthern Wei L u o ya n g ,fo r example, scattered the central governm ent offices in a wide area south o f the p a la ce.146 Sui-Tang C h a n g ’an was the fir s t C hinese capital to have concentrated the central administrative area and imperial residence in one geographical location, which was insulated fro m the rest o f the city by surrounding walls. The central administrative zone and the imperial residence were carved into two separate small cities with the central east-west wall serving as the partition. It is interesting to note that Sui-Tang C hang’an set a precedent fo r a sim ilar palace and governm ent location in Sui-Tang Luoyang.147 The practice was abandoned in Song capitals; neither Bian nor H angzhou bothered to build a walled central governm ent area.148 This unique phenom enon m ay r e fe c t the aristocratic view o f the planners o f C h a n g ’an: governm ent should be p ro tected fr o m the civic p opulace, and the governm ent area should serve as a buffer zone to w ard o ff any threat to the throne. Later developments rendered such precautions unnecessary.

146 14l\

148'

See Jermer/147-8.

See Tang liang jing 5/131-9/

See Dong jing 2/52-64; Gemet Daily /29. 125

4 Administrative & Ritual: Summary

However, the Metropolitan Prefectural and Imperial County governments were excluded from the Imperial City. Although, in theory, the Metropolitan Prefecture and the two Imperial Counties should have been the top municipal authorities o f the city, the presence of the palace and central government greatly eclipsed their jurisdictions. Not only were the Palace City and Imperial City de facto extraterritorial areas, such important functions as market administration, defence and policing were largely controlled by the central government. The metropolitan prefect (in spite o f his personal power) and the imperial county magistrates were never in a position to bargain with the central authorities which nominated them. Compared to other provincial prefectures and counties, officials working fo r the metropolitan and imperial county governments were of much higher rank, even though they did not enjoy any degree of economic, political and military independence.

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