Scientific Miracle - China's Discovery IV - Technology Volume

Author: He Le Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: In the Later Gang Phase of the Longshan Culture at Hougang, Anyang, Henan, rammed earth walls were discovered. In recent years, castles of the Henan Longshan Culture period have also been found in Wangchenggang, Dengfeng, and Pingliangtai, Henan. The castle at Wangchenggang consists of two walls, east and west, in a square shape. The castle site at Pingliangtai is square, with the remaining wall height of about 3 meters and a top width of about 10 meters, built using the small plate method, with clear rammed earth layers.
The Zhengzhou Shang Dynasty City was the capital during the mid-Shang Dynasty, with the ruins located in the middle of the Shang Dynasty site in Zhengzhou. The city's plan is rectangular, and the walls were built segment by segment using the plate method, with thin rammed earth layers and dense hammer marks, making them very solid. Rammed earth structures for defensive slopes were found on the inner side or both sides of the walls.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the construction of cities strictly adhered to the hierarchical system corresponding to the rank of the nobility. Between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, traditional rituals were broken, and cities were built independently according to local needs. These cities often followed the terrain, resulting in irregular plans. In the Warring States period, with the development of the economy, the situation of "cities stretching for a thousand zhang and towns with ten thousand households" emerged, and the multi-layered city defense system with moats for enhanced defense became widespread. In the era of frequent wars, cities with strategic importance had castle construction on an astonishing scale. The rammed earth walls of the lower capital of Yan reached 40 meters in width, the foundation of the walls of Linzi, the capital of Qi, was up to 43 meters wide, and the walls of the former capital of Zheng and Han reached 40 to 60 meters in width. The total length of the city walls of these ancient cities was all over 20 kilometers.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the establishment of centralized feudal dynasties, city defense construction was further strengthened. Each dynasty had different names for the city walls, such as the inner city, outer city, and national city, but the basic system remained unchanged. Generally, the capital city had three layers of walls: the palace city, the imperial city (inner city), and the outer city (city wall).
After the Tang Dynasty, the method of encasing rammed earth walls with bricks emerged. Early wooden beam gate openings gradually evolved into brick arch openings after the Yuan Dynasty. Many cities built two or more layers of gates to enhance defense, forming what is known as a "mortar city." Rectangular towers were built at regular intervals on the walls to facilitate side attacks on besieging enemies, these towers were called "horse faces." Defensive facilities such as battlements, battle sheds, and city towers were also commonly found on the walls. In water towns relying on river transport, water gates were installed. In Penglai, Shandong, by the sea, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the "Penglai Water City" was built as a military stronghold to control water and land transportation.
The ancient city walls of Xi'an are the earliest, largest, and best-preserved city walls remaining in China. The existing Xi'an city walls can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty Chang'an City in the long history. Today's Xi'an city walls were rebuilt on the foundation of the Tang Dynasty Chang'an City by the Ming Dynasty. In the 10th century, after the fall of the Tang Empire, the vast Chang'an City walls, which were 35 kilometers in circumference, were instantly reduced to ruins in the flames of war.
In the first year of the Tianshou era (904 AD), General Kuangguo of Chang'an, Han Jian, rebuilt the new city walls on the ruins. In reality, these new walls were merely the renovation of the imperial city of the Tang Dynasty Chang'an City.