A long history and splendid culture,
Datong, a famous historical and cultural city in China
Datong, known as the "famous city beyond the Great Wall", is located in the northernmost part of Shanxi Province, between the inside and outside of the Great Wall, and is the second largest city in Shanxi. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the Royal River, a tributary of the Sanggan River, runs through the north and south. For a long time, people's understanding of Datong has stayed in the richness of coal capital, the magnificence of Yungang and the magnificence of Huayan Temple. In fact, as early as 1982, Datong, together with 24 cities including Beijing and Chengde, was included in the first batch of "famous historical and cultural cities in China" and became the only city in Shanxi. Then, what kind of history and culture does Datong bear in order to win this honor?
First, Datong has a long history. To be precise, it has a history of more than 2000 years. Moreover, in this long history, it built the capital once and served as the capital twice.
The second item is culture. In a word, I noticed that the mountain (Yanmenguan) is separated, and our Taiyuan and Jinnan belong to the culture of the Yellow River basin. The other sentence notes that to the north of the mountain is the culture of the Sanggan River basin. If you can barely say it, the two cultures will be very different. What's the difference between these two cultures? I think from this perspective, Shannan is the agricultural economy and culture of the Central Plains, and Shanbei is a combination of nomadic culture and agricultural culture, so the cultural characteristics of this place come out. This is the characteristic of minority culture. It is precisely because the minority culture has brought characteristics to Datong's culture that it is not high, but it has characteristics and characteristics are valuable!
The third is the capital. More than 80% of the first batch of famous historical and cultural cities have capitals, such as An, Luoyang, Jing and Ning, which are the capitals of several dynasties and have a long history, especially An and Luoyang, which are all ancient capitals. Therefore, Datong, as the capital, is only the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a period of division between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but it is precisely the capital of the North. In these 978 years, the capital city had a glorious period. This glorious situation has not been well documented so far. Through the research in recent years, it is still considerable. The capital, its ruins, its history and its culture make Datong the first batch of famous historical and cultural cities, which is well deserved.
Datong was called Pingcheng and Yunzhong in ancient times, but it was renamed Datong in Liao Dynasty. Historically, it was an ancient battlefield for the Han nationality in the Central Plains and the nomadic people beyond the Great Wall to compete for the world. The special geographical position has created the history of war and ethnic integration in Datong for thousands of years. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was here that King Wuling of Zhao abandoned the heavy chariot robes of the Han people, popularized Hu Fu's light riding and light shooting, and achieved a generation of hegemony. During the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang led an army to fight against the Huns and was trapped in Dengbaishan, Pingcheng for seven days and seven nights. Later, he used Chen Ping's trick to bribe E Shi, the wife of Hun Khan, to break through. The failure of this war made the Western Han government change its strategy towards Xiongnu, and concluded a pro-marriage contract with Xiongnu, so there was a Zhaojun who was later passed down as a much-told story.
A famous historical city is always associated with some historical celebrities who are proud of ancient and modern times. In 398 AD, Tuoba Gui, a leader of Xianbei nationality from the depths of the grassland, unified the north and established the Northern Wei Dynasty, becoming the first minority dynasty in China history to compete with the Han regime in the south. Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, is the northeast of Datong today. Until Emperor Xiaowen of Wei moved to Luoyang, Pingcheng had been the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty for nearly a hundred years. After nearly a hundred years of painstaking efforts, Pingcheng became the political, military, economic and cultural center of the north at that time, writing the most brilliant chapter in the history of Datong.
Up to now, Datong still has the remains of the charm of the Northern Wei Dynasty, namely Yungang Grottoes, which have been included in the world cultural heritage. Yungang Grottoes are located at the foot of Wuzhou Mountain 16 km west of Datong City. It is dug by the mountain, stretching for one kilometer from east to west. There are 53 existing caves and more than 50,000 stone carvings. Among them, Caves 16 to 20, known by the world as "Cave 5 of Tan Yao", were excavated by Yao Tan, a famous monk in the Northern Wei Dynasty, at the behest of Wen Chengdi, with a history of more than 500 years. Surprisingly, the five giant buddhas in Tan Yao's five caves are the true portrayal of several emperors in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and even the moles on his face and feet are consistent. Shu Wei records that "in that year, Si was appointed as a stone statue to make it look like an emperor. Once established, there are black stones on the face and black spots on the body. " This seamless cooperation is certainly not a coincidence, but has deeper political reasons. The reason why the Northern Wei Dynasty respected Buddhism and Daxing Grottoes was based on Buddhism's consideration of the "economic interests" of imperial power. Tuoba Gui shouted the strong historical voice that "the emperor today is the Tathagata" through the mouth of the French monk. The requirement of worshipping Buddha and emperor ushered in the huge cave-opening statue project in Yungang, Northern Wei Dynasty, and Tan Yaodong came into being, thus realizing the unity of politics and religion in Northern Wei Dynasty.
Yungang Grottoes are a bright pearl in the treasure house of world culture and art, with unprecedented tolerance. Looking up, the golden pagoda is full of jade, the fairy mountain bamboo silk and the flute are played all day ... This is the unique luxurious and gorgeous shape, round and smooth lines, plump and soft composition and lively and happy atmosphere in the culture of the Northern Wei Dynasty. From this, we can appreciate the grandeur of the Northern Wei Dynasty and feel the Buddhist culture understood by Xianbei people.
Through today's analysis, every statue and cave in Yungang Grottoes has taken care of two aspects. On the one hand, it takes care of the real emperor, on the other hand, it fully and skillfully expresses the connotation of Buddhism. In this respect, I saw the Buddhist view of space in Huayan Sutra, the view of seconds and time in Hualien Sutra, and the western heaven that people yearned for in Amitabha. As well as Maitreya's idea of a peaceful and prosperous future, are all reflected in Yungang Grottoes, which happened in the Northern Wei Dynasty 1600 years ago. In other words, in which period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Buddhism was deeply understood with the concept of Xianbei people.
1995, archaeologists discovered the site of Tang Ming in the Northern Wei Dynasty in the southeast of Datong. This amazing discovery excites people. Tang Ming is the place where ancient emperors held courtship, sacrifice and celebration ceremonies, and it is the carrier of ritual culture. Tang Ming in the Northern Wei Dynasty is very big, which is three times as big as the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It combines the crystallization of Confucianism in Han Dynasty and Wei and Jin Dynasties, and makes some innovations. Tang Ming culture is a major symbol of the cultural maturity of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which makes people full of respect for the cultural construction of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Moreover, the discovery of Tang Ming has become a coordinate point, from which it can be accurately judged that the big city where it exists is the location of Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
What about the inner city of Datong, the city of peace? From the Northern Wei Dynasty to today, nearly 1600 years have passed. There's nowhere to move. The whole place is here. This is different from the eight ancient capitals we have drawn from the capital society before China. For example, typical places like An, Luoyang, Han Changan and Tang Changan are not in one place, Qin Changan is not in one place, and Luoyang, Han Luoyang and Tang Luoyang are not in one place. During the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the place was designated as Shangjing or Zhongjing, and it was officially settled in the Yuan Dynasty. Its capital is called Dadu. It is the capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, that is, 700 to 800 years of history. Now the investigation in Beijing is very clear. Where is the ruins of the Yuan Dynasty and the capital of Liao and Jin Dynasties? It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the present place was determined.
In the Five Dynasties, Shi Jingtang at the end of Jin Dynasty ceded sixteen states to Qidan in order to become the "son emperor". In this way, Datong was placed in the Liao area, thus sweeping away the decadence of the Tang Dynasty and entering a new period of prosperity. For more than 200 years, Datong has become the capital of Liao and Jin Dynasties, and the favorite "Xijing" of Qidan people and jurchen people. It seems that the literati of past dynasties only loved the decadent, corrupt and peaceful Xiao Zhao and Song Dynasty, but neglected the powerful and prosperous Liao and Jin regimes. In fact, the Liao and Jin Dynasties, which coexisted with the Southern Song Dynasty, not only strengthened Mazhuang, but also inherited and created the lofty and unrestrained northern culture. This unique multi-ethnic culture originated from Beijing, the capital at that time, but it was hard to find its trace because Beijing was later established as the capital, but it was completely preserved in Datong. The ruins of Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple and Kannonji in Datong City vividly reflect the characteristics of Liao and Jin culture. In particular, the statue of "grinning Bodhisattva" in the Tibetan Hall of Boccaccio in Huayan Temple in Liao Dynasty has a very unique shape. Bodhisattva's mouth is full of fragrant teeth, showing the charm of Buddha. Compared with the Song plastic maid of Notre Dame de Jinci in Taiyuan, Shanxi, she is obviously two different styles of sculpture. Song people were too deeply bound by the "ritual" system, and their hearts were more exposed than exposed; The Khitan people are heroic, unrestrained and have fragrant teeth, which is another manifestation of beauty.
Datong in the Ming Dynasty changed the cultural outlook of the capital and turned a new page with a military posture. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang led the Ming army to conquer the Yuan Dynasty, ending the rule of the Yuan Dynasty in the whole country. The remnants of the Yuan army retreated to the Mongolian plateau, weakened, but still stuck to the Central Plains, posing a serious threat to northern Xinjiang in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming dynasty attached great importance to the defense of the northern border, and set up nine defense towns in the north, called Jiubian. Among them, the strategic position of Datong Town is particularly important. At that time, one-twelfth of the country's troops were stationed here, and both Ming Chengzu and Ming Yingzong had personal expedition here, which had the reputation of "Datong scholar's vest is the best in the world"
From 65438 to 0952, the Central Ministry of Culture presided over the national investigation and study of ancient buildings. In the investigation report, the investigation team of ancient buildings in Yanbei, with Mr. Luo as the main body, commented: "Datong has many historical sites and cultural relics, which can be said to be one of the cities with the richest historical sites and cultural relics in China." It is these cultural relics that tell us the ups and downs of Datong for more than two thousand years. A famous historical city embodies the essence and charm of one or several dynasties in history. Therefore, there is a saying in China: Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties saw Ann, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen saw Nanjing, Qian, Yue, Zhao and Song saw Hangzhou, Yan, Yuan, Ming and Qing saw Beijing ... Then, it is natural for the Northern Wei, Liao and Jin Dynasties to see Datong.
Datong, one of the first historical and cultural cities in China, has been called "Phoenix" since ancient times. It was the first capital of Tuoba family in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the capital of Liao and Jin Dynasties. It melts the charm of Wei and Jin Dynasties into a mountain and the romantic customs of Liao and Jin Dynasties into a city. In the long historical process, many precious historical sites have been left behind, forming a unique regional culture.
The overall layout of the ancient city of Datong is like a phoenix with one wing. Nanguan is the phoenix head, the main city is the phoenix body, Beiguan symbolizes the phoenix tail, Dongguan is the left wing, except Xiguan. Legend has it that a warrior shot off the right wing of Phoenix with a sword, so this Cai Feng can't go far.
The nearly hundred-year history of the Northern Wei Dynasty as the capital and the more than 200-year history of the Liao and Jin Dynasties as the capital make Datong, a famous city beyond the Great Wall, have an extraordinary royal bearing. This kind of bearing is not only reflected in the grandeur of Yungang Grottoes and the grandeur and exquisiteness of Huayan Temple and Shanhua Temple, but also permeated in the blood of the ancient city. The river that runs through Datong from north to south is called "Yu He", which has the flavor of the capital and should have existed since the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Datong is known as the "city of dragon walls", and there are as many as nine dragon walls so far. Among them, Datong Jiulongbi is the most famous. The dragon wall is a special building in ancient times, which is generally used as a wall for buildings, and is mostly built in front of palaces, palaces and temples. It can not only be used as a barrier for courtyard buildings, but also set off the solemnity and glory of buildings. The Jiulong Wall in Datong is the largest in China, bigger than the two in front of the Forbidden City and Beihai Park. This Nine Dragon Wall, built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, is the zhaobi of Zhu Guifu, the king of the Ming Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty. It is composed of colorful glazed components such as yellow, green, blue, purple, black and white, which is magnificent and dazzling, adding icing on the cake to the ancient city of Datong.
Today, Datong has become a modern city, where nearly one million citizens live and work in peace and contentment, and people's lives seem to be no different from other cities. It's hard to say in what culture they are represented. However, after all, it has carried more than 2,000 years of civilization history and superimposed the cultures of dozens of ancient nationalities. In history, Xianbei people came from Turkic and Qidan people came from Jurchen. Mongolians, Tatars, Shatuo and Wala people live and fight in this land. You come and go, and a multi-ethnic group gathers and disperses, from which Datong's unique urban culture comes.
Whether Datong culture is Hu Hua Han culture, Hu Hua Hu culture or Hu Han mixed culture, I have thought for a long time and found that we have a characteristic of Datong. We residents can't talk about five generations, that is, five generations lived in Datong, unlike southerners, who had ancestral temples and genealogy. When people trace back, our ancestors came from the Ming, Song and Tang Dynasties. People can lay down their genealogy, but Datong is not. What is the reason? In ancient times, the nationalities in the north came and went here quite frequently. So every ethnic group came and wanted to leave their own culture. Of course, there are also local Han Chinese in this place, but what is the proportion of Han Chinese in this place? It should be said that it is below 50%, not an absolute majority. In this case, this place is definitely a place in Hu Hua. The power of China culture is relatively strong. After Hu people came to Datong, they wanted to learn China culture and learned a lot from the Han people. At this time, Hu was sinicized. For example, in the more than 90 years since Datong was its capital, the policy of governing the country and its central contents were mostly adopted by the Han people. Therefore, after so many years of changes, this culture of Datong should be particularly noteworthy.
This unique culture and folk custom formed by multi-ethnic blending can be found not only in famous cultural relics and historic sites, but also in traditional houses in Datong. These dilapidated quadrangles inherit the most vivid vitality and charm of Datong. Ancient dwellings and ancient streets are important parts of historical and cultural cities. As early as the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Liang Sicheng, a famous architect, once said: The value of Beijing lies not in palaces and temples, but in the spatial order of all buildings. We should protect not only cultural relics. Datong is certainly the same. Strolling through these streets, you may raise the dust of the Northern Wei Dynasty, or you may step on the rubble of Xijing in Liao, Jin and feel the charm of the 1,600-year-old ancient capital.
As a historical and cultural name, the street pattern of Datong is very distinctive, because it continues the Li Fang system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. What do you say about this pattern? It's a bit like the residential area we are talking about now, that is, the residential area and the commercial area are separated. Then, each "room" is also a chessboard, and how many residential units are it divided into? Then, this street connects these units and forms a large residential area. Then, China's Li Fang system began to change after the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, to develop commerce into streets, starting from the Northern Song Dynasty. It broke the structure of Li Fang system in Sui and Tang Dynasties, so it (Datong) really kept this structure. Now its street pattern is still the same, but some buildings have become modern buildings, but the general pattern has not changed. At that time, there were arches at every intersection between streets. The most famous in Datong is the four archways, these four.
At present, the worst is the lane system pattern of the street. What you can see now is a small piece in the southeast corner. This kind of thing is non-renewable. I hope to come up with a plan as soon as possible. How to save this block (traditional block)? Isn't Beijing now designated as more than 50 key protected cultural relics? We might as well learn from Beijing in Datong. We decided to protect it in the southeast corner. This is my hope.
Folk customs and folkways are the most intuitive cultural phenomena, reflecting the history, culture and temperament of a city. The special geographical location and historical origin have created the unique folk customs of Datong.
If the folk custom of Datong can be summarized as three points. First of all, this place is martial, and Datong people, especially the people in the county, have maintained the habit of practicing martial arts until the eve of liberation. You are like Wujiayao. In many places, everyone seems to be used to fist dancing, which is related to frequent wars and a large number of people joining the army. In addition, Datong people sing well, and almost every county has a (small play). There are more than a dozen yangko songs in Shuozhou, with shadowy Taoist feelings, yanggao duet, Hunyuan fan drum, our Beilu bangzi, Xiluo in Shuozhou and Hunyuan fan drum. We found out why she left so many. This is because many ethnic minorities exchanged and integrated here at that time. Every nation that came here brought the carrier of music from its ancestors, and now it is those small operas. Another point is that Datong people love beauty. In the past, people's homes were particularly clean, and Datong people paid special attention to clothes, which looked better.
In Datong, you will find that most people here have exquisite facial features, especially Datong girls, who are almost all beautiful women. In fact, there have been many beautiful women in Datong since ancient times. There is a folk proverb recorded in the Records of Datong Prefecture: "Fu Xuanzhi teaches the field, the wall of Yuzhou, the wife of Datong, and the three wonders".
This is inseparable from the integration of ethnic minorities in Datong history, including Huns, Xianbei people and Xianbei people. Now it seems to have evaporated from the earth. Where did this country go? In fact, when did Xianbei change his Han surname from the Northern Wei Dynasty? These people have integrated into the local area. Xianbei people have a remarkable feature, that is, their noses are high and their eyes are big. These people will be more beautiful if they marry the Han people. This is probably the fundamental reason why Datong people have beautiful brothers and beautiful women.
Datong handicrafts have a long history, a wide variety and exquisite skills. Among them, bronze processing technology is famous at home and abroad. Until now, in Datong, hand-made bronze workshops are still inheriting ancient crafts. Bronze processing in Datong began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, with a history of 1500 years. During the period of the Republic of China, "Datong Records Draft" recorded: "Although Datong is not a copper area, its copper products are quite famous, with high quality and low price, and most of them are shipped to outer Mongolia. In the handicraft industry, copper workers are the most unique. " There is a folk saying that "Wutai Mountain worships Buddha and Datong City buys copper", which shows that the reputation of Datong bronzes is far spread. Longfeng copper hot pot is not so much a cooker as a handicraft. During the period of 1973, when French President Pompidou visited Datong, Premier Zhou Enlai presented him with a copper hot pot engraved with the pattern of "Flying Moon in Kowloon", which made Datong copper hot pot famous all over the world.
Datong is known as the "coal sea" and has a long history of coal mining. Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty recorded that local residents mined coal for cooking and heating in the Notes on Water Classics. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Datong Coal Mine developed and became a commodity and circulation market. Yu Qian, a poet in the Ming Dynasty, once wrote a poem about coal: digging chaos to get black gold, storing yang and having profound meaning. Torches are full of youth, and red stoves shine all night ... Because of the long history of coal mining and the large number of miners, there is a folk custom of celebrating Miners' Day every winter. On the same day, in front of streets and shops, a round "fire" should be surrounded by coal blocks. In the evening, all the fires in the city were lit, and there was a lively atmosphere of jubilation. Today, Datong has developed into one of the most important energy bases in China. Datong Mining Bureau is the largest coal enterprise in China, which continuously delivers high-quality coal to the whole country and even the whole world through railways and highways every day.
Datong, which shows the history of civilization for more than 2,000 years, is rich in resources and inherits the ancient folk customs, which is a fusion of the cultures of dozens of ancient nationalities. Today, this famous historical and cultural city still radiates eternal glory.