Questioning whether the Tangya Tusi Site can be called a “City”

Lei Yu

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2020.04.011Abstract：On July 4， 2015， after the deliberations at the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee， a series of Tusi Heritages Sites consisting of the Tangya Tusi site in Xianfeng County of Hubei Province， Laosicheng site in Yongshun County of Hunan Province， and Hailongtun site in Zunyi of Guizhou Province were successfully listed on  the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural List. Since Tangya Tusi Town was successfully included in the list of the World Heritage sites， some research documents have defined the Tangya Tusi site as a “city” based upon its having 3 streets， 18 lanes and 36 courtyards.  In recent years， the definition of this site as a “city” has become more and more influential， and has almost become  “unquestioned”.

This article holds the idea that an ancient city must have three basic characteristics： first， it must hold have an important position， and it was usually the capital or seat of a province， prefecture and/or county government; had a city wall; and was a regional political and cultural center. Second， it must radiate out quite widely， have a relatively large population living in and around the city， and convenient connectivity. Third， it must have a relatively developed market， a relatively complete facilities for street market， a large number of resident shops， relatively complete types of services and transactions， and be a center for regional economy and trade. Although the Tangya Tusi site had an urban format， it had no market， and was not a regional market. Thus， could it could not be called a “city”.

The social and economic conditions of theTangyasi in the Ming Dynasty made it impossible for a Tusi Town to become an economic and trade center. In the ancient Shizhou area， Tangya Tusi Town was located in a border area. Due to the barrier of high mountains， the status of vast land with small population， and inconvenient transportation， the area was still relatively closed， and， in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties， the local economy was still very backward. The Tangyasi was a lower ranking Tusi who ruled  400 households with a population of about 1600. The ordinary people there were generally poor. Such a social and economic situation determined that Tangya Tusi Town could not be a central market center with active trading， and was less likely a city.

The geographical environment andcommunication conditions of Tangya Tusi town determined that it was not suitable for market trading. Tangya Tusi Town is located on a relatively independent triangular mesa in the upper reaches of Tangya River， with steep cliffs on both sides and narrow passes at the north and south ends. There is only a mountain path in the northeast corner of Tusi Town. The site selection of Tusi Town is obviously closer to that of a defensive castle. The Tusi Town has walls， gates and defense facilities， all of which are closer to the nature of a military fortress. It is obviously not suitable for market trading. According to G. William Skinner  s analysis， the level of communication and transportation are  decisive variables for both central markets and primary markets（1998[1993]）. Under the conditions of having a vast spread of land together with a sparse population， poor livelihoods and inconvenient transportation/communication， Tangya Tusi Town obviously did not have the conditions necessary to become a regional trading center.

The architectural layout of Tangya Tusi site also does not support a framework for market trading. In addition to a small number of fixed shops， traditional rural markets should also have street markets where street vendors and villagers sell their goods. The main roads of this Tusi Town are Shangjie （Upper Street）， Zhongjie （Middle Street） and Xiajie （Lower Street）. Shangjie is slants towards the southern edge of the Tusi town， and it is winding; Xiajie is slants towards the northern edge; it is wide， but its quality is very uneven. Neither of these streets is suitable for market trading. Seen from the orientation and construction quality of the street， the most likely place to become a trading place should be Zhongjie. However， according to archaeological excavation and field survey， Zhongjie street is also not suitable for market trading. The total length of the middle street is about 247 meters， but the average width is only about 2.3 meters， and some sections of one side or both sides of the street are deeply sloped. Such a narrow road obviously cannot meet the needs of market transactions.

There is no record of a “Tangya market” in the local chronicles. There is a section on “markets” in the fourth volume of the Xianfeng County Annals in which the markets of eight “Li” are listed respectively. However， there is no record of a “Tangya market”. If we compare the place names that appeared in the local annals with those names still currently in use， Tangya should be found within the scope of “Lexiang Li”， but the market which is closest to it is “Dingzhai”. Tangya is more than ten miles away from“Dingzhai”， which should be within the radius  of “Dingzhai”. The rural “market” was formed as part of the longterm development of regional societies，  and it is normally influenced by a series of factors， including economics， population， transportation， customs， and the distance to other “markets”， etc. If there had been a “market” in this Tusi Town， the abolition of the Tusi might have had a certain impact on the “market”， but it would not have led to the disappearance of the “market”.

Historically， Tangya Tusi Town was both the administrative seat  and residency of the Tangya Tusi.  We can call it tusi cheng （Tusi Town， or si cheng [Si Town]） or Tusi Castle， but it cannot be considered a city. There is no fundamental historical evidence to call Tangya tusi Town a city.

As a cultural World Heritage site， Tangya Tusi Town belongs to the common wealth of all mankind. Although there is only one character difference between chengshi （city） and sicheng （Si town）， it is a significant difference. Defining it as a city will violate the principle of authenticity of the international World Heritage Convention with regard to the protection of World Cultural Heritage， damage the recognition of the site  s core value， and might affect the publicity of the site. Promoting Tusi town to the status of “city” might transmit false information and wrong guidance to society and visitors， resulting in a distortion of historical truth. In the long run， this practice will damage its reputation as a Cultural World Heritage site， and might even lead to the devaluation of its historical value. Returning to history and facts is our proper attitude towards the Cultural World Heritage site of Tangya Tusi Town.

Key Words：Tangya Tusi Town Site; “City”; market; protection of World Heritage culture sites

References：

G. William Skinner. zhongguo nongcun de shichang he shehui jiegou （ Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China）. Shi Jianyun，Xu Xiuli，transl. Beijing：zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe，（1998）[1993].