Today, we will reveal the secret of "Zhoudao": how amazing is "Zhoudao"? For the Zhou people, the "thoughtful way" is not a simple technological innovation, but is based on a well-thought-out philosophical concept.
The remains of the "Zhou Road" between Qizhou and Feng and Ho only use basic construction techniques, and the road surface is strong, slightly higher in the middle and slightly lower on both sides, so as to facilitate drainage; It is up to 10 meters wide, and there are four sets of ruts on the road surface, which can be opened to traffic in both directions.
Scholars believe that this high-quality road is the "Zhou Road" in the literature, and is known as the ancient "highway". This discovery proves that "Heavenly Works" contains Qishan's "trip to Yi" is correct, and "Zhou Dao is like a stone, and it is as straight as an arrow" is not a false reputation.
However, the construction methods involved in "Zhou Dao" are only basic construction and surveying techniques, which are all skilled engineering skills of Zhou people. In fact, all it takes is basic triangulation techniques to draw a straight path.
Therefore, there should be a more direct triggering factor for "thoughtfulness". While the horse-drawn carriage became increasingly important in the political, military, and social affairs of the pre-Zhou period, it is also recorded that the Zhou kings developed roads in the Qi Zhou Dynasty.
The coincidence of the timing is noteworthy. According to the Book of Songs, after the prince moved to Qixia, he opened up a road in Zhouyuan. Therefore, there should be a more direct triggering factor for "thoughtfulness".
Wang Ji has been a good politician and has taken a series of measures to improve road conditions. In addition to clearing shrubs, he also planted pine and cypress trees in the middle of the road, which may be the case"Thoughtful"The origin of the street tree system.
By the time of King Wen, the roads of Gi-eup had become more complete, and there were already well-established facilities for wells and houses on the roads. In addition, from King Tai to King Wen, they opened up the road of Qishan, so that the dangerous Qishan has a flat road.
The timing of the emergence of this series of high-quality roads coincided with the integration of horse-drawn carriages into the political society of the early Zhou Dynasty, which may be closely related to the relationship between the carriage and the road. Throughout the Western Zhou Dynasty, there are many songs about carriages and avenues, and the relationship between cars and roads is clearly expressed in the poems.
Whether it is the high mountains, the scenery, or the four peons and the six rings such as the qin, the relationship between the car and the road is clearly expressed. When Han Hou entered the Zong Zhou, he rode a horse "four peony Yiyi, Kong Xiu and Zhang", and the "poem" also described the avenue he walked on his journey: Yiyi Liang Mountain, Wei Yu Dianzhi, there is a way.
These all show that the Zhou people attached great importance to construction"Thoughtful"The reason may be that the car and the road are the two major elements of transportation, and the time point when the horse-drawn carriage became a national strategic tool coincided with the time point when Zhou Yuan built the road, showing a strong correlation.
In the minds of the ancients, the road and the car were always accompanied by each other, just as the form and the god were inseparable. By dismantling the carriage structure, we can see that the "such as the arrow" of "Zhoudao" is not a literary brushwork, but a necessary design for carriage transportation.
The rotating and carrying structures are made of sandalwood and bronze castings, which are durable, but lack the effect of cushioning and absorbing shocks. Ancient horse-drawn carriages did not have elastic shock absorbers, and the bumps in the road were transmitted directly to the inside of the vehicle, affecting comfort and increasing the risk of overturning.
It was not until the invention of rubber pneumatic tires in the mid-19th century that this problem was solved. But in ancient times, if the carriage was to be safe and comfortable, the roads had to be improved.
Therefore, the "thoughtful road" must be "like a stone" to strengthen the flatness of the road surface.
Driving a horse-drawn carriage is a complex skill that requires tacit cooperation between the master and the horse. In ancient times, only those who were familiar with horses could go into battle.
The carriage was designed with ease of handling and comfort in mind, so the road had to be flat, straight, and wide. Most of the archaeological discoveries of the Western Zhou chariot and horse burials are one cart and four horses, but there are also signs of one cart and six horses.
There are verses in the Book of Songs about six horses being dragged, which shows that the carriage has a large load capacity and requires a wide road. The avenue "Kui" in Xinzheng City, the width of which contains nine sets of tracks according to the "Zhou Li Examination Record", the ring road is seven sets of tracks, and there are still five groups of tracks after leaving the city, which is enough to meet the needs of horse-drawn carriages.
The four tracks of the "Zhou Dao" between Qifeng are parallel, each group is 220 centimeters wide, and the road width can reach 10 meters, which is undoubtedly a strong evidence that the "Zhou Dao" recorded in the "Examination Record" has a wide and multi-track.
The wide, multi-track carriage provided enough space for the carriage to travel, otherwise there was a danger that the carriage would go wrong. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were two famous incidents of the wrong carriage: Qu Wowu Gong cut the wings, in the battle of the Yanting, Han Wan drove, Liang Hong was on the right side, they chased the Yihou to Fenxi, but the carriage was wrong and stopped.
Another case occurred in the battle between Qi and Jin, where the army of the Marquis of Qi was defeated, and on the way to flee, when he was about to reach Huaquan, the carriage was wrong under a tree, and the car was destroyed and people died.
It can be seen that width was crucial for the carriage to travel, especially in the Zhou Dynasty, when the carriage became more and more popular. Therefore, many of the features of the "Zhou Dao" are not groundless, they are designed to accompany the carriage travel.
In the Shang Dynasty, the transportation status of horse-drawn carriages was not significant, so the design of "Zhoudao" would not have appeared in the Shang Dynasty. And these designs are not designed to match the ox cart, because the ox cart slows down the car and does not have high requirements for the quality of the road.
The construction of "Zhoudao" is because the carriage carries important political, military and social functions, and the quality of the road needs to be improved. The causes, purposes, time, ethnic groups and regions that stimulated the construction and upgrading of roads all clearly pointed to the Zhou people.
The Zhou people successfully established the chariot organization in the pre-Zhou period, and from the Battle of Muye to the Cheng and Kang feudals, the carriage undertook military and transportation tasks, and finally brought about a major breakthrough in the country's territorial and administrative capabilities for three generations.
When the carriage first emerged in China, it was closely integrated with the state power and elite class of the Zhou people, and became the primary means of transportation in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and in order to cooperate with the carriage, the Zhou people opened up a flat, straight and wide "Zhou Road" to achieve many of their political, military and social tasks.
Therefore, we call the Western Zhou Dynasty the "Carriage Era", and it is precisely under the impetus of the "Carriage Era" that a glorious leap forward in the history of Chinese roads was produced - "Zhou Dao".
In ancient times, there was a road called "Zhou Dao", which led from the eastern part of Guanzhong to between Zongzhou and Chengzhou. This road played an important role during the Keyin War, and after the construction of Nakyi, it became the only way to connect the two capitals.
After the Zhou Gong's Eastern Expedition, the road network of Dongtu was gradually formed, and the vast Dongtu was the hometown of Yin Shang, and the Zhou people took Chengzhou as a base and extended the three kingdoms of Qi, Lu and Wei to the east, forming a defense system of "four strongholds, three fronts" to protect the newly attached land.
There were close military ties between the four strongholds, starting from Chengzhou, attacking the Shandong Peninsula all the way and marching along Hanoi to Yinxu. The army of the East Road, led by King Cheng and Duke of Zhou, first captured Shang Xian, and then Shang Xian's hometown was guarded by the Lu State, followed by the coastal countries, and the commander was Zhao Gong.
Another large army crossed the Yellow River from Luoyi and marched north along the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, the first step was to establish a defense country, defend Yinxu, and then divide Xing and Yan to the north to build a northern soil defense line.
The Yan Kingdom was first sealed during the reign of King Wu Keshang, and the excavation of the Yandu ruins also proves this. There is controversy about the origin of the Xing Kingdom, but the fact that it was located in present-day Xingtai City, Hebei Province after the Eastern Expedition has been confirmed by excavated data.
After the Eastern Crusade, Chengzhou served as the apex and established a strategic layout of Tuqi and Lu feudalism to the east and Tuwei, Xing, and Yan to the north. As a result, a military defense line of "four strongholds and three fronts" was formed, and the four strongholds cooperated closely with each other and fought in coordination.