Chapter 31 The unprecedented prosperity of the urban economy

Qian Mu tasted that the center of gravity of the Chinese economy has always been placed in the countryside, not in the cities.This theory is only suitable for the Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the Western Han Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the center of gravity of China's economy has always been placed in the city, especially in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The East and the West have taken two completely different paths in urban development over the past two thousand years, which is also a very unique perspective in comparative studies.Europe was a city-state system in ancient Greece and Western Rome, with a high urbanization rate. After the Germanic invasion, large and small cities were severely damaged, the manor system became the mainstream, and the urbanization rate continued to decline. Before the middle of the 14th century, Western Europe had Four "megacities", Florence, Milan, Venice, and Genoa, but none with a population of more than 100,000 people.The re-increase of the urbanization rate in Europe is related to the Industrial Revolution.And China, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, has been in a state of continuous improvement in the level of urbanization.According to Zhao Gang's research, the urbanization rate reached 15.9% during the Warring States Period, 17.5% during the Western Han Dynasty, and 20.8% during the Tang Dynasty. This figure is comparable to that of China in the late 1970s.The development of early Chinese civilization was related to the large population gathering in cities.In the Tang Dynasty, the level of urban management has been greatly improved.

List of Urbanization Rates in China Warring States (4th century BC) 15.9% Western Han Dynasty (2nd century AD) 17.5% Tang (745) 20.8% Southern Song Dynasty (around 1200) 22.0% Qing Dynasty (1820) 6.9% Qing Dynasty (1893) 7.7% Republic of China (1949) 10.6% 1957 15.4% 18% in 1978 50.5% in 2011 (Table made by Zhao Gang, supplemented by Wu Xiaobo) In the Western Han Dynasty, the population of Chang’an, the capital, was about 250,000. By the Tang Dynasty, the permanent residents were 626,000. If the garrison, monks, nuns, and merchants were included, the total population may have exceeded 1 million. The area of ​​the former site was about 80 square meters km, larger than Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was the largest city in the world at that time (by the end of the Qing Dynasty, Xi'an had a population of only 110,000).Cen Zhongmian praised in "History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties": "The whole city is full of chess and stars, the streets are wide and straight, and the system is magnificent. It has never existed since ancient times." From the albums handed down to the present, Miyagi is in In the north, the imperial city is in the south, and the north-south central axis of the whole city is symmetrical from east to west.The eastern half is set up in Wannian County with Dongshi, and the western half is set up in Chang'an County with Xishi.

The "Tang Law" stipulates that all commodity transactions must be carried out in the "order market" designated by the government, and there must be no "grass market" under the county seat.On the one hand, it is easy to manage, and on the other hand, it also promotes the agglomeration of large and medium-sized cities in commodity transactions.The commercial trading center of Chang'an City is the Eastern and Western cities - the word "East and West" in later generations comes from this.There are two gates on each side of the east and west cities, and there are two east-west streets and two north-south streets, forming a "well"-shaped street and dividing the market into nine squares.The four sides of each side are facing the street, and the shops are set up around the sides. The shops of the same industry are concentrated in one area, which is called a row.There are 220 shops in the East Market, and the West Market is more prosperous. In addition to shops, there are also bureaus, clothing shops, pawn shops, etc.

The government strictly controls the trading activities of the two cities: follow the ancient motto of "gathering at noon and leaving at sunset". , can hold the handle and knock) and disperse; all the items brought into the two cities by merchants must first be evaluated by the market management agency (city secretary), divided into upper, middle, and lower grades, and the price is set before they can be sold .The government also made special regulations on the rent of shops. Tang Xuanzong once specially ordered that the monthly rent should not exceed 500 cash.It can be seen from these regulations that the commodity trading in Chang'an City, like its urban planning, is completely under the control and intervention of the government, and it is a "planned commodity economy".

Starting from Chang'an, the imperial court built seven post roads, leading to various cities and villages in the empire, and set up post stations every 15 kilometers along the way.These post stations are all located on important traffic routes, with long-term buildings and resident management personnel. They have become the best geographical signs in a wilderness, so they naturally become the best places for local transactions. The capital Chang'an is also the center of international trade.In 640 A.D., the Tang army conquered the Gaochang State in the Western Regions (now the Turpan region of Xinjiang) and re-opened the "Silk Road". Du Oak, with a total length of about 7100 kilometers.It was through this long trade corridor that the Eastern and Western civilizations had a great communication, and Chinese silk and porcelain were continuously sold to the European market.At that time, there was a market exclusively selling medium silk in the Doscus region of Rome, and its value was about as heavy as gold. Papermaking was also introduced to the Middle East during this period.And western flora and fauna and new technologies were also passed on to Middle-earth. "Tang Liudian" records that the Tang Dynasty had exchanges with more than 300 countries and regions, and a large number of foreign guests came to Chang'an every year.The Tang Dynasty set up special institutions (Honglu Temple, Courtyard of Concierge) to receive foreign guests.Western countries such as Anxi (Persia), Daqin (Roman), Dashi (Arab Empire) and other large and small countries continued to send envoys to Chang'an. Many Persians stayed in Chang'an for generations. Most of them lived in Xishi and almost monopolized the jewelry industry. Chang'an There are special Persian residences (specially for Persians to live or store goods), Persian hotels, etc. in the city.

In addition to Chang'an, the industrial and commercial scenes in other cities are also very prosperous.Luoyang, the eastern capital, is second only to Chang'an in terms of city size, with a population of more than 500,000.In the south, the most prosperous cities are Yangzhou, Chengdu, Suzhou and Hangzhou, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is Yizhou (now Chengdu, Sichuan), which was called "Yang Yi Yi Er".Du Fu said in a poem that "one hundred thousand households in the city", the prosperity of wells in Yizhou is second only to Yangzhou. This is how the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was created.Unprecedented light taxation and simplified administration have promoted the prosperity of industry, commerce and local economy, and the unification of the country has provided a broad market space for commodity circulation.Merchants do business within the borders, and there are restaurants and inns dozens of miles away, and each shop is equipped with a donkey, which can walk down the road without the need to hold an iron guard. This is of course an unprecedented peace and prosperity.