The Late Neolithic walled capital of Taosi (Xiangfen, Shanxi, ca. 2300-1900 BCE) is laid out on a non-cardinal plan rotated roughly 45 degrees from the cardinal directions, its two wall lines running northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest: the early city (~56 ha) is recorded at 315 degrees and the middle city (~280 ha) at 312 degrees measured along the northwest-southeast wall line (about 45 degrees west of north), while the perpendicular northeast-southwest wall line is the orientation conventionally described as 45 degrees east of north, and later work describes a 225-degree southwest-facing principle for the ceremonial front, the reciprocal of that northeast bearing. Three interlocking questions remain open. (1) Why is the capital plan non-cardinal: competing explanations invoke local topography (the NW-SE trend of the Chongshan and Lüliang ranges and the Nanhe stream), a winter-solstice observational axis tied to the IIFJT1 observatory, and Cao Huiqi's hypothesis of astronomical direction-finding by gnomon shadow lines together with a four-seasons calendar. (2) The southwest quarter of the proposed eight-element cosmological scheme is posited to have contained a fire altar, but no such altar has been archaeologically demonstrated. (3) The Earth-Center (dizhong) legitimation system, anchored by the lacquered gnomon and template from Tomb IIM22 and a 1.6-chi summer-solstice shadow criterion, is claimed as the ideological charter of the site, yet how widely this system was recognized beyond Taosi is unverified.

Background

Taosi is a Longshan-period (ca. 2300-1900 BCE) walled site at Xiangfen, Shanxi Province, China, interpreted by its excavator He Nu as the capital of a monarchic early state and a candidate for the legendary Yao's capital. The site comprises an early city of roughly 56 ha oriented at 315 degrees, a middle city of roughly 280 ha oriented at 312 degrees, a palace enclosure, and an outer enceinte; most large rammed-earth buildings and houses follow the same ~45-degree (north-by-east) convention, and later analyses describe the ceremonial front of major buildings as facing southwest (225 degrees). The enclosure (enceinte) system, the rammed-earth (hangtu) construction, and the size hierarchy of the cities are key evidence for early state formation in the Central Plains. Within the site, the structure IIFJT1 - an arc-shaped rammed-earth foundation with a row of columns (D1-D13) separated by slits (E1-E12) and a central observation point - has been interpreted as an observatory for horizon sunrises, supporting a claimed 20-term positional calendar. Tomb IIM22 yielded a lacquered gnomon rod (guibiao) with an associated template (guichi) marked in color bands, argued to encode a 1.6-chi summer-solstice noon shadow as the Earth-Center (dizhong) criterion from later texts such as the Zhoubi Suanjing and Zhouli. Traditional Chinese capital planning distinguishes the four-cardinal (sizheng) and four-corner (siwei) orientation systems; the non-cardinal Taosi axis has been explained both topographically (the NW-SE trend of the Chongshan and Lüliang ranges, with the city axis perpendicular to the mountain trend, and the Nanhe stream bordering the site) and astronomically (a winter-solstice sunrise observational axis; Cao Huiqi's gnomon-shadow direction-finding plus a four-seasons calendar). He Nu has further proposed an eight-element cosmological scheme for the middle city, including a fire altar in the southwest quarter, and a water-versus-fire (shui ke huo) cosmological reading of the site's relationship to the Nanhe stream.

Problem Statement

Determine, on archaeological and archaeoastronomical evidence, the astronomical and cosmological basis of the non-cardinal capital plan of Taosi. This requires resolving three linked questions. (a) Orientation cause: establish why the capital is laid out on a plan rotated roughly 45 degrees from the cardinal directions (early city 315 degrees and middle city 312 degrees measured along the northwest-southeast wall line, about 45 degrees west of north; the perpendicular northeast-southwest line about 45 degrees east of north; and the ceremonial front facing southwest at 225 degrees), discriminating among the competing explanations - the topographic account (the NW-SE trend of the Chongshan and Lüliang ranges with the city axis perpendicular to the mountain trend, and the Nanhe stream), the observational-axis account tied to the IIFJT1 observatory and winter-solstice sunrise, and Cao Huiqi's account of astronomical direction-finding by gnomon shadow lines serving a four-seasons calendar. (b) The southwest fire altar: demonstrate or refute the existence of the fire altar posited for the southwest quarter of the eight-element cosmological scheme of the middle city. (c) The reach of the Earth-Center system: establish how widely the Earth-Center legitimation system - the gnomon and template of Tomb IIM22 with the 1.6-chi summer-solstice shadow criterion - was recognized beyond Taosi, or whether it remained a local ideology.

References

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