匠人营国，方九里，旁三门。
国中九经九纬，经涂九轨;
左祖右社，面朝后市。
The
Root of the Old Beijing
by
wenhousecrafts.com
14 May 2007
An
old Beijing with a palace, a moat and city
walls
The old city of
Beijing, rebuilt on the ruin site of the Yuan
when third Ming Emperor Zhu Di relocated his
dragon seat to north about 600 years ago, is
an enlarged virsion of the imperial city
Nanjing.
But then the old Nanjing was constructed based
on the principles observed by Song dynasty's
capital Kaifeng. But then again, the
blueprint of Kaifeng was in Tang
dynasty's capital Luoyang. But then again,
gain, Luoyang followed the footsteps of Han
dynasty's capital Chang'an. And then gain,
gain, gain... and then, just where is the
source of the Chinese city planning
principles?
A learned Chinese
town planner or architect will tell you that
they were from one book titled 《周礼·考工记》 (Rites of Zhou
Dynasty - Engineering and Craftsmanship).
