A Study Of The Two Jing Palace In The Tang Dynasty

Taoism is the biggest source of religion in China, which was formally founded in Eastern Han Dynasty as widely accepted and went through a period from the normal to the noble society. It was widely supported by the Taoist priest to honor Lao Zi as ancestor during the Tang Dynasty’s coming into power. It became the National Religion after founding the Tang Dynasty. The dominants made full use of the Taoism idea to assist the rule, which in turn provided an indispensable stage for the Taoism. The perfect carrier of Taoism is " gongguan", as a result, it is of high significance to do some research about the "gongguan" in Tang Dynasty."Gongguan" consists of "daoguan" and "daogong". The place "daoguan "where Taoist priest lived came into being during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, while "daogong" was in Tang Dynasty. As the capital city of Tang Dynasty, "Gongguan "in Chang’an and Luoyang were the models. In this essay, the author will discuss the problems about the origins, distribution and social functions of "Gongguan" in the two capitals. The author hopes to have a clear understanding about those "Gongguan".The sources of the "gongguan" in the two capital cities of the Tang Dynasty can be mainly divided into three categories:including inheriting from the Sui Dynasty; the government building and the private houses, of which the government building is the main source. As for the private houses to be "gongguan", it must be approved by the emperor. This phenomenon shows that "gongguan," in the charge of the emperor, shares close relationship with the political rules.The distribution of "gongguan" in the two capital cities of Tang Dynasty is relatively complicated. According to the all kinds of historical data collected, there exist eleven "gongguan" in the two capital cities and fifty-six outside the outer city walls.From the point of view of space structure, "gongguan" in Chang’an are mainly distributed in the Darning Palace and the workshops near the outer city walls. While there are less ones in the remote workshops of the southwest and southeast parts. All of these present the characteristics of "scattered in different parts of the city while concentrated in a certain place".There are many Bodhimandas in the Chang’ an city and from this aspect we can conclude the royal life are closely related to the Taoism."Gongguan" in the outer city wall are relatively concentrated in the noble living-areas, from which it can illustrate that the development of Taoist is highly affected by the upper-class and this in turn makes it much nobler. A lot of "gongguan" are concentrated in the mountains near the two capital cities, which shows that the Taoists have frequent interaction with the society and it makes the Taoism more socialized.As for the "gongguan" in Luoyang, it is mainly distributed to the south of Luoshui. In addition, natural and social factors can have certain effect in the distribution of "gongguan" in the two capital cities."Gongguan" in the two capital cities has irreplaceable social functions. Taoism in the Tang Dynasty has its particularity, especially as the center Chang’an and Luoyang, "gongguan" bear more social functions, the most important one is its political role.Many social events would take place in the"gongguan" in the Tang Dynasty, including the national Worship ceremony and the Imperial Examination. Other roles of "gongguan" also affect many aspects of Tang Dynasty. But the most important one is that the emperor relies on "gongguan" to promote and maintain their regime so as to continue theocracy.The innovation of this paper is that the author has done systematic research on the "gongguan" in the two capital cities. By giving an all-round description the author highlights the status of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty. Not only does the "gongguan" belong to the religious system, but has been an important part the patriarch system.In the Tang Dynasty, "Gongguan" came into being and the two capital cities were the most concentrated and important parts. They were closely linked to the society and played important part in the political, economic and cultural life in Tang Dynasty. Doing researches about "gongguan " in the two capital cities can offer great help for further study on the Tang Dynasty Taoist. In addition it can also provide a base to understand the Taoism after Song Dynasty.