Unearthing life in the mists of time

History books record emperors, wars and political systems. But how did people actually live? Where did they sleep, walk, and pray? The answers often lie not in texts, but beneath the soil in the silent ruins of ancient cities.

Now, for the first time, Chinese archaeologists have fully uncovered the layout of a fang (traditional Chinese residential unit) from the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties in Luoyang, Henan province, which was the eastern capital of the two dynasties.

The era saw the lifang system implemented by the rulers as an urban planning mechanism that divided the capital city into walled residential wards called fang, with strictly controlled access via gates and curfews to reinforce social order and administrative management.

Zhengpingfang was one of the 103 residential units in the capital then, located near the central axis of the city, south of the Luohe River. As the fang had records of what it contained in the Tang era, but no existing aboveground architecture when archaeologists started excavation in 2020, it provided an excellent chance for them to carry out an archaeological project around this area.

In the past six years, they have gained a panoramic view of the organization of the fang and the evolution of the architectural complexes within the area, thereby gaining a more thorough understanding of Sui and Tang governance, says Shi Zishe, head of the archaeological team at the site.

According to historical texts, a typical fang was square, with each side about one li (approximately 530 meters) long. Inside, east-west and north-south streets crossed like a chessboard, with walls on all four sides and a gate in the middle of each.

Zhengpingfang basically follows this layout, with its north-south side measuring 533.6 meters and its east-west side 464.6 meters. Archaeological investigations show that the inner road network changed over time, from a cross shape to a T-shape, with nearly half of the east-west road occupied by a large complex that covered the entire western half of the fang area in its later years.

Archaeologists also found that the complex's northern wall broke through the ward's original northern boundary, extending about two meters into a road. This was strictly forbidden in the early and middle Sui-Tang periods.

So who was powerful enough to break the rules? By consulting historical records, archaeologists believe it was a residential complex of Princess Taiping, the beloved daughter of Tang emperor Li Zhi and empress Wu Zetian.

"Although we haven't yet found direct evidence such as inscriptions, the layout of the complex, its specifications and the unearthed artifacts all match historical descriptions," says Shi. "Therefore, we believe it was the princess' residence as recorded."