Luoyang (p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast. As of December 31, 2018, Luoyang had a population of 6,888,500 inhabitants with 2,751,400 people living in the built-up (or metro) area made of the city's five out of six urban districts (except the Jili District not continuously urbanized) and Yanshi District, later being conurbated.
Situated on the central plain of China, Luoyang is among the oldest cities in China and one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It is the earliest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.
Etymology
The name "Luoyang" originates from the city's location on the north or sunny ("yang") side of the Luo River. Since the river flows from west to east and the sun is to the south of the river, the sun always shines on the north side of the river. Luoyang has had several names over the centuries, including
Luoyi (洛邑) and
Luozhou (洛州), and Luoyang has been its primary name. It has also been called
Dongdu (l=eastern capital) during the
Tang dynasty,
Xijing (l=western capital) during the
Song dynasty, or
Jingluo (l=capital Luo). During the rule of
Wu Zetian, the only
empress regnant in Chinese history, the city was known as
Shendu (l=divine capital). Luoyang was later renamed
Henanfu (河南府) until regained its former name in 1912.
History
Classical era
In 1036 BC a settlement named Chengzhou (成周) was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured
Shang dynasty nobility. The Duke also moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to
Chengzhou from the
Zhou dynasty capital at
Haojing. A second Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng (also: Luoyi) was built west of Chengzhou. Wangcheng became the capital of the Eastern Zhou dynasty in 771 BC. The Eastern Zhou dynasty capital was moved to Chengzhou in 510 BC. Later, the Eastern Han dynasty capital of Luoyang would be built over Chengzhou. Modern Luoyang is built over the ruins of Wangcheng, which are visible at Wangcheng Park.
[China.org.cn, 2009]
Qin Shi Huang's chief minister, Lu Buwei, was given Luoyang. Lu began programs to develop and beautify Luoyang. It is said that Liu Bang visited Luoyang and considered making it his capital and was persuaded to reconsider by his ministers to turn to Chang'an instead for his capital.
Han dynasty
In 25 AD, Luoyang was declared the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty on November 27 by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
The city walls formed a rectangle 4 km south to north and 2.5 km west to east, with the Gu River, a tributary of the Luo River just outside the northern eastern walls. The rectangular Southern Palace and the Northern Palace were 3 km apart and connected by The Covered Way. In 26 AD, the Altar of the Gods of the Soils and Grains, the Altar of Heaven, and the Temple of the Founder, Emperor Gao of Former Han were inaugurated. The Imperial University was restored in 29 AD. In 48 AD, the Yang Canal linked the capital to the Luo. In 56 AD, the main imperial observatory, the Spiritual Terrace, was constructed.
In 166 AD, the first Roman mission, sent by "the king of Da Qin the, Andun" (Marcus Aurelius, r. 161–180 AD), reached Luoyang after arriving by sea in Rinan Commandery in what later is central Vietnam.[Hill (2009), p. 27.]
The late 2nd century saw China decline into anarchy:
The decline was accelerated by the rebellion of the Yellow Turbans, who, although defeated by the Imperial troops in 184 AD, weakened the state to the point where there was a continuing series of rebellions degenerating into civil war, culminating in the burning of the Han capital of Luoyang on 24 September 189 AD. This was followed by a state of continual unrest and wars in China until a modicum of stability returned in the 220s, but with the establishment of three separate kingdoms, rather than a unified empire.[Hill (2009), p. xvi,]
Wei and Jin dynasties
On April 4, 190 AD,
[; ] Chancellor
Dong Zhuo ordered his soldiers to ransack, pillage, and raze the city as he retreated from the coalition set up against him by regional lords all over China. The court was subsequently moved to the more defensible western city of Chang'an. Following a period of disorder, during which warlord
Cao Cao held the last Han emperor
Han Xiandi in
Xuchang (196–220), Luoyang was restored to prominence when his son Cao Pi,
Cao Pi of the
Cao Wei, declared it his capital in 220 AD. The Jin dynasty, successor to Wei, was also established in Luoyang. At the height of Jin rule, Luoyang had a population of 600,000 and was probably the second largest city in the world after
Rome.
At the start of the 4th century, Luoyang was subjected to repeated attacks during the War of the Eight Princes and Upheaval of the Five Barbarians under the Jin. In 311 AD, rebel forces of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty sacked and razed the city in an event known as the Disaster of Yongjia.
Northern Wei
In winter 416, during Liu Yu's northern expedition against the Later Qin, Luoyang fell to the Jin general
Tan Daoji. In 422, the city was captured by
Xianbei-led
Northern Wei. The
Liu Song, which succeeded the Jin, recovered the city in 430, and by the 460s, Luoyang was definitively under Wei control. In 493 AD, as part of his
sinicization campaign, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moved the capital from
Datong to Luoyang, moving over 150,000 people to the site by 495,
and started the construction of the rock-cut
Longmen Grottoes. More than 30,000
Buddhist statues from the time of this dynasty have been found in the caves (which were chapels dug into cliffs).
The classical temple located at the caves, "Gate of Dragons," protected the statues/sculptures and the cave of Buddha.
Some of these sculptures were two-faced. At the same time, the
Shaolin Temple was also built by the Emperor to accommodate an Indian monk on the
Mount Song next to Luoyang City. The
Yongning Pagoda, the tallest pagoda in China, was also built in Luoyang. The city reached a population of 600,000 at its height during the Northern Wei.
The city was destroyed by the warlord
Gao Huan, who captured the city and forced its population to move to his capital at Ye in 534.
Sui and Tang dynasties
When Emperor Yang of Sui took control in 604 AD he founded the new Luoyang on the site of the existing city using a layout inspired by his father Emperor Wen of Sui's work in newly rebuilt Chang'an.
[ p. 116][ p. 167–169.]
During the Tang dynasty, Luoyang was Dongdu (東都), the "Eastern Capital", and at its height had a population of around one million, second only to Chang'an, which, at the time, was the largest city in the world.[Abramson (2008), p. viii.]
During an interval in the Tang dynasty, the first and the only empress in Chinese history – Wu Zetian, moved the capital of her Zhou dynasty to Luoyang and named it as Shen Du (Capital of the God). She constructed the tallest palace in Chinese history, which is later in the site of Sui Tang Luoyang city. Luoyang was damaged during the An Lushan Rebellion.
were found dating from the Tang dynasty of a Christian couple in Luoyang of a Nestorian Christian Sogdian woman, Lady An (安氏), who died in 821, and her Nestorian Christian Han Chinese husband, Hua Xian (花献), who died in 827. These Han Chinese Christian men may have married Sogdian Christian women because of a lack of Han Chinese women belonging to the Christian religion, limiting their choice of spouses among the same ethnicity.
Song dynasty
During the Northern
Song dynasty, Luoyang was the 'Western Capital' and birthplace of Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song dynasty. It served as a cultural center, housing some philosophers. This prosperity was mainly caused by Luoyang undergoing new developments and reconstruction during this period.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
-
Longmen Grottoes, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000
-
The Grand Canal – Huiluo Barn, Hanjia Barn, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014
-
Silk Roads – Han Wei Luoyang City Site, Dingding Gate Site of Sui Tang Luoyang City, Xin'an Hanguguan Site, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014
Administrative divisions
The prefecture-level city of Luoyang administers 7 districts and 7 counties:
-
Districts
-
Defunct District
-
Counties
During the 2010 census, the 5 "built-up" urban districts held a population of 1,857,003, making it the fourth-largest city in Henan. The entire area of Luoyang's municipal government held 6,549,941 inhabitants total.
2021 administrative reorganization
With the 2017 designation of Zhengzhou as a National Central City, Henan Province in 2020 proposed a new development plan for Zhengzhou Metropolitan Area, which called for the development of Luoyang as a sub-central city. As part of this development, authorities decided to expand the urban area of Luoyang. This facilitated planning and coordinated use of resources and infrastructure in Luoyang, and allowed for better integration towards Zhengzhou, as Yanshi, Jili and Mengjin previously separated the Luoyang urban area from Zhengzhou.
On 28 March 2021, the central government approved an administrative reorganization of Luoyang city. Yanshi District City was reorganized into an urban district (Yanshi District), while Jili District District and Mengjin District County were merged into Mengjin District. This reorganization effectively doubled the urban area of Luoyang.
Geography
The countryside controlled by the municipal government includes more rugged land: mountains comprise 45.51% of the total area; hills, 40.73%; and plains, 13.8%.
[ Luòyángshì op. cit. Běijīng. "''Luòyáng. 20 Mar 2008. Accessed 16 Jan 2014. ]
Climate
Luoyang has a highly continental dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification:
Cwa). Extremes since 1951 have ranged from (unofficial record of ) was on January 17, 1936)
to .
Culture
- Sites
The
Luoyang Museum (established 1958) features relics dating back to the
Xia dynasty,
Shang dynasty, and
Zhou dynasty dynasties. The total number of exhibits on display is 1,700.
[ China Culture. " Luoyang Museum ".]
The Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory (also known as the Dengfeng Observatory or the Tower of Chou Kong) stands south-east of Luoyang. It was constructed in 1276 during the Yuan dynasty by Guo Shoujing as a gnomon for "the measurement of the sun's shadow". Prior to the Jesuit China Missions, it was used for establishing the summer solstice and in traditional Chinese astronomy.[Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China.]
Luoyang is the foundation of Confucianism, the birth of Taoism, the first transmission of Buddhism, the formation of metaphysics, and the origin of neo-Confucianism. All kinds of cultural thoughts are integrated and symbiosis here, and the compass, Papermaking and printing among the four great inventions of ancient China were born here. Luoyang is the cultural root and ancestral lineage of the global Chinese, more than 100 million Hakka ancestral home in the world, 70% of China's clan name originated here, Heluo culture represented by "Hetu Luoshu" is the ancestral source of Chinese civilization.
- Botany
Luoyang is celebrated for the cultivation of peonies, its city flower. Since 1983, Luoyang hosts the annual National Peony Fair (牡丹花会) and is the birthplace of the "Luoyang Water Banquet" (洛阳水席), a 24-course culinary tradition.
More than 19 million tourists visited Luoyang during the 2014 festival.
Archaeological Site Conservation Mobile Lab
The Luoyang Municipal Institute of Archaeology operates a mobile laboratory for the on-site conservation of artifacts during excavations. This vehicle is equipped with tools for emergency stabilization, cleaning, and preliminary analysis of unearthed objects, particularly fragile organic materials and metals, allowing for immediate intervention before transfer to a full conservation facility.
Subway
Line 1 of Luoyang Subway opened 28 March 2021.
See also
-
Roman Catholic Diocese of Luoyang
Further reading
-
Abramson, Marc. Ethnic Identity in Tang China. University of Pennsylvania Press (Philadelphia), 2008. .
-
Cotterell, Arthur. The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside View of the Celestial Empire. Pimlico (London), 2008. .
-
Hill, John E. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookSurge (Charleston), 2009. .
-
Jenner, W. J. Memories of Loyang. Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1981.
-
Yang Hsüan-chih. Lo-yang ch'ien-lan chi, translated by Wang Yi-t'ung as A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Lo-yang. Princeton University Press (Princeton), 1984. .
External links
