South of the Tree
Setting up the capital according to a tree from the Ming Records
There is no doubt that the settlements in the area that we today call Dashilar existed for years before they formally became part of the city. But the history of the area really begins when the Mongols built their version of Beijing: the million-strong megacity of Dadu. This was when the capital was moved north east from its earlier site, and the area of Dashilar suddenly became a natural point of arrival for those coming to the city.
When the Mongolian capital was constructed more than 850 years ago, a Chinese official named Liu Bing Zhong was in charge of the city plan. He constructed a city that was the closest anybody has ever been to fulfilling the prescriptions for the ideal city outlined in the Chinese building manual Zhou Li Kaogong ji, an ancient text which held almost sacred properties.
A conversation between Liu Bing Zhong and the great Mongolian ruler Kubilai Khan is often quoted when discussing the layout of what is today Beijing. The Khan was curious to know how it was possible to determine that the city was actually constructed along an accurately measured North-South axis as it was prescribed in the Zhou Li manual. Liu Bing Zhong answered “because of that tree,” and pointed to a tree just outside what is today the Tiananmen gate.
Under the dynasties, when houses were built in China, straight north was determined by watching the shadow of a tree trunk. The tree that stood outside the Tiananmen gate, the south gate of the Mongolian capital, took on that role within the newly-planned city.
As well as following the north-south axis as determined by the tree, it was seen as of the utmost importance that the palace should be in the center of the walled city enclosure. Time was predicted by observing the position of the sun and the moon, and it was essential that these heavenly features should revolve around the Imperial palace where the son of heaven resided.
In other words, the tree was the zero point of an amazingly planned community in perfect balance between time and space that housed close to a million people.
Xiong Mengxiang a citizen of mongolian Dadu describes how the tree had the title of general bestowed upon it, such was its importance. On special occasions people would visit the site of the tree and even pray to it. From observing the shadow of the tree, well-ordered streets in straight lines were constructed to the north of it. Many of these lanes exist to this very day, but sadly the glorious plant that determined their location is no more.
The settlements of what was to become Dashilar were not to the north of the tree, but to the south, in a floating society that represented the exact opposite of the delineated order seen elsewhere in the city. In many ways, this area was like the roots that stabilized and nourished the tree. Underground, roots naturally bend according to where water could be found. Dashilar was not planned, but had emerged organically, woven into the geographical conditions. We know from the Ming dynasty archives that the settlements occupied a huge area, but in imperial maps they were seldom seen, in fact they barely had a name. This lasted till the end of the Ming, when finally the area of Dashilar emerged from obscurity.