Ye (Hebei)
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36°16′29″N 114°24′01″E / 36.2748°N 114.4002°E
Ye or Yecheng (simplified Chinese: 邺城; traditional Chinese: 鄴城; pinyin: Yèchéng; Wade–Giles: Yeh4-ch'eng2) was an ancient Chinese city located in what is now Linzhang County, Handan, Hebei province and neighbouring Anyang, Henan province.
Ye was first built in the Spring and Autumn period by Duke Huan of Qi, and by the time of the Warring States period the city belonged to the state of Wei. During the Han dynasty, Ye was the seat of Wei Commandery and an important regional center. Following the collapse of Han rule, Ye served as the military headquarters of the warlords Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Under the latter's rule, Ye transformed into a political and economic center of China and remained so during the Three Kingdoms period and the Northern dynasties.
History[edit]
In 204, Cao Cao wrestled the city of Ye from Yuan Shao's son Yuan Shang. As the preceding battle of Ye had destroyed the inner city, Cao Cao set about rebuilding the city in the mold of an imperial capital.[1] He initiated a number of works in Ye, digging canals in and around the city to improve irrigation and drainage, building the Hall of Civil Splendour (
Shi Le made Ye the capital of his Later Zhao dynasty of the fourth century.[4]
In the 490s, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moved his capital from Pingcheng (
Some scholars, such as Ku Chi-kuang[8] reported that the Hebei region continued to harbour separatist sympathies into the Tang dynasty. It was the region from which An Lushan launched his rebellion during the reign of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong. The city was razed after the rebellion's failure.
Extensive excavations of the city have been made in recent years, allowing Chinese historians to make detailed plans of the site. In 2012, archaeologists unearthed nearly 3,000 Buddha statues during a dig outside Ye. Most of the statues are made of white marble and limestone, and could date back to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties (534–577 CE).[9]
A community of merchant Sogdians resided in Northern Qi era Ye.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ Tsao 2020, p. 16.
- ^ de Crespigny 2010, pp. 334–6.
- ^ Tsao 2020, p. 3.
- ^ Grousset, Rene (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
- ^ Arthur Cotterell. The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside view of the Celestial Empire. London: Pimlico, 2007, page 93.
- ^ Cotterell, p. 93
- ^ E. G. Pulleyblank. The Background of the Rebellion of An Lu-Shan. Oxford University Press, London Oriental Series, Volume 4., 1966. Page 76.
- ^ "Ku Chi-kuang, "An-Shih Luan ch'ien chih Ho-pei Tao', Yen-ching Hsueh-pao 19 (1936), pp. 197-209
- ^ "Pictures: 3,000 Ancient Buddhas Unearthed in China". National Geographic. 2012-04-17. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
- ^ Jacques Gernet (31 May 1996). A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press. pp. 193–. ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7.
- de Crespigny, Rafe (2010). Imperial warlord : a biography of Cao Cao 155-220 AD. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18522-7.
- Tsao, Joanne (2020). The city of Ye in the Chinese literary landscape. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-42014-4. OCLC 1141200097.