Luoyang
Luoyang 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 area made of the city's five out of six urban districts and Yanshi District, now being conurbated. By the end of 2022, Luoyang Municipality had jurisdiction over 7 municipal districts, 7 counties and 1 development zone. The permanent population was 7.079 million as of 2022.
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 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 and Luozhou, but Luoyang has been its primary name. It has also been called Dongdu during the Tang dynasty, Xijing during the Song dynasty, or Jingluo. During the rule of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, the city was known as Shendu. Luoyang was renamed Henanfu during the Qing dynasty but regained its former name in 1912.History
Classical era
Several cities – all of which are generally referred to as "Luoyang" – have been built in this area. In 2070 BC, the Xia dynasty king Tai Kang moved the Xia capital to the intersection of the Luo and Yi and named the city Zhenxun. In 1600 BC, Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia dynasty king, and built Western Bo, , a new capital on the Luo River. The ruins of Western Bo are located in Luoyang Prefecture.In 1036 BC a settlement named Chengzhou was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility. The Duke also moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to Chengzhou from the Zhou dynasty capital at Haojing. A second Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng 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 still visible today at Wangcheng Park.
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 but 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 eminent 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.For several centuries, Luoyang was the focal point of China. In AD 68, the White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was founded in Luoyang. The temple still exists, though the architecture is of later origin, mainly from the 16th century. An Shigao was one of the first monks to popularize Buddhism in Luoyang.
The diplomat Ban Chao restored the Silk Road during the Eastern Han dynasty, thus making Luoyang the eastern terminus of the Silk Road during the Han dynasty.
In 166 AD, the first Roman mission, sent by "the king of Da Qin , Andun", reached Luoyang after arriving by sea in Rinan Commandery in what is now central Vietnam.
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.
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 Xian in Xuchang, Luoyang was restored to prominence when his son Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty, 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. For the next two centuries, Luoyang would cease as a major population hub, but remained a hotly contested region among various states to come. It was the site of a pivotal battle in 328 between the Han-Zhao and Later Zhao dynasties which established the latter as a hegemonic power in the north. The city changed hands several times throughout the Sixteen Kingdoms period, as it was also controlled by the Former Yan, Former Qin and Later Qin dynasties. The Jin dynasty, which had relocated south of the Yangtze river after the upheaval, was even able to recover the city on a few occasions.
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 dynasty. The Liu Song dynasty, which succeeded the Jin, briefly recovered the city in 430, but 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. The classical temple located at the caves, "Gate of Dragons," protected the statues/sculptures and the cave of Buddha. Many 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 right next to Luoyang City. The Yongning Temple, 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. The old city was the site of numerous battles between Western Wei and Eastern Wei between 538 and 575.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.During the Tang dynasty, Luoyang was Dongdu, 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.
During an interval in the Tang dynasty, the first and the only empress in Chinese history – Empress Wu, moved the capital of her Zhou dynasty to Luoyang and named it as Shen Du. She constructed the tallest palace in Chinese history, which is now in the site of Sui Tang Luoyang city. Luoyang was heavily damaged during the An Lushan Rebellion.
Epitaphs were found dating from the Tang dynasty of a Christian couple in Luoyang of a Nestorian Christian Sogdian woman, Lady An, who died in 821, and her Nestorian Christian Han Chinese husband, Hua Xian, 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. Another epitaph in Luoyang of a Nestorian Christian Sogdian woman also surnamed An was discovered and she was put in her tomb by her military officer son on 22 January, 815. This Sogdian woman's husband was surnamed He and he was a Han Chinese man and the family was indicated to be multiethnic on the epitaph pillar. In Luoyang, the mixed raced sons of Nestorian Christian Sogdian women and Han Chinese men has many career paths available for them. Neither their mixed ethnicity nor their faith were barriers and they were able to become civil officials, a military officers and openly celebrated their Christian religion and support Christian monasteries. Central Asians like Sogdians were called "Hu" by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty. Central Asian "Hu" women were stereotyped as barmaids or dancers by Han in China. Occasionally, "Hu" women would be involved in prostitution as the "Hu" women in China were at times in occupations that doubled as illicit services.
During the short Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Luoyang was the capital of the Later Liang and Later Tang dynasty.