“The landscape is not a natural landscape, but a historical landscape.”
Reading the Landscape of Power through the Ancient Capitals Built by Power
The landscape is a historical scene.

“A mountain with a huge cliff that spreads out like a folding screen at the top”, “a mountain whose grandeur is impossible to take your eyes off”, Onyeosan.
The author, who went on a field trip in the past, sees Mt. Onyeo, where Jumong of Goguryeo fled from Buyeo to make his capital, and is reminded of the Acropolis of Athens and, furthermore, of the nature of power.
“There was a scheme to create legitimacy for power by relying on the sacredness bestowed by the Parthenon on the Acropolis, or by Jumong, the son of the Heavenly Emperor who established his capital on Mount Onyeo, or by monopolizing sacred places and claiming that power was bestowed from heaven.”

The impression the author received from Mt. Onyeosan was concretized into a study of ancient capitals a few years later when he encountered William Hoskins' phrase, “Landscape is not a natural landscape, but a historical landscape.”
This is an application of Hoskins' observation that "all human activities, such as turning wastelands into farmland, building alleys, roads, and byways, and constructing cities, change the natural landscape, and behind the landscape that unfolds before our eyes in this way, lies the historical activity of human activity" to ancient cities.
That's how this book began.

While reading a book by William Hoskins, the phrase “landscape is not a natural landscape, but a historical landscape” caught my eye.
His observation that all human activities, such as turning wastelands into farmland, building alleys, roads, and byways, and building cities, change the landscape, and that behind the landscapes that unfold before our eyes are the historical activities of human activity, was excellent.
--- p.7

Someone among the residents praises the leader's achievements and suggests that the leader take care of them a little more.
It is not known whether it is voluntary or the leader's instigation, but the leader reluctantly takes more of his share.
It is the origin of inequality and the creation of authority.
--- p.12

A leader who has tasted the sweetness of authority engages in frequent wars and trades.
More loot and trade goods were gathered at 'Godo'.
But the distribution is not fair.
At first, it was distributed fairly among the residents through a large village feast, but now the village feast is nothing more than a show event.
In reality, the rewards are distributed in order of merit.
The leader declares that this is fair.
It is the beginning of discrimination and division.
--- p.13

As the leader became a child of heaven, his brothers and children also became noble beings who received heavenly bloodline.
The key to noble bloodlines is rarity.
As the number of noble people increases, they become ordinary.
A lineage of noble blood is created, starting from heaven and continuing down to the leader.
Authority arises when we visualize this lineage.
A shrine is built to honor the noble bloodline.
It's a seed
--- p.15

Wasn't it said that the problem of establishing a nation was ultimately a problem of power?
The emergence of cities soon meant the differentiation of classes and the emergence of power.
… … A city cannot be called a place just because people live together.
The concentration of the ruling class through the differentiation of classes and the emergence of power was a necessary condition, and the external dependence that became necessary by eliminating self-sufficiency was a sufficient condition.
It was a transition from a village to a city.
--- p.17~9

The deepening of class differentiation and concentration of power resulting from the development of productivity and increased production has manifested itself in the expansion of urban complexity and the resulting hierarchy among cities.
--- p.19

In the hierarchy under the feudal system, 'country' refers to the city of the emperor, 'the castle of the feudal lords' literally refers to the city of the feudal lords, and 'do' refers to the fief of the royal family and the nobles (territories given to royalty, meritorious subjects, and ministers in ancient China as special rewards for their achievements).
--- p.21

In the hierarchy of cities, the presence of a ancestral shrine is a condition for being a top-tier city.
… … The distinction between cities that could and could not become a ‘do’ based on their ancestral shrines was a qualitative classification that went beyond a hierarchy.
--- p.22

In short, the difference in these two aspects, the presence or absence of a palace and a royal shrine, shows the qualitative difference in status between a large number of people and a king.
… … The capital city, which was created with the advent of the king, secured exclusive spaces that supported the king’s power, such as the palace and royal shrine.
In other words, the existence of both was a characteristic of the landscape that allowed a city to be a city, and … … it was the difference between a ‘city’ and a ‘town.’
Thus, the leaders of Dongokjeo, Ye, and Han could be described as living in towns, while the kings of Goguryeo and Buyeo lived in provinces.
--- p.32

Being free from direct production and labor means having power and wealth.
Regardless of time and place, there are bound to be those who thrive on wealth and power.
… …these are people who live in exchange for the production activities and labor that should be done by those with wealth and power.
In other words, the lives of those in power are only possible if they exist.
--- p.34~5

The power of the king is not exercised through legends or symbols alone.
Force based coercion is needed.
… … Detention facilities are … … installed at intersections with the highest traffic volume.
It is according to the king's intention to achieve educational effects.
… … Detention facilities require money to operate.
… … The king has no intention of running this detention facility with his own money.
… … The king … … tries to collect money from the residents little by little to secure operating funds, saying that it is a facility for the safety of all residents.
It's a public tax
--- p.36~7

The brain prison and the large warehouse are symbols of regulations for social order, that is, public power, and the national finances to maintain it.
The Great Warehouse and the Brain Jade are the so-called landscapes of the capital city created by state power.
--- p.40

The grand warehouse was a warehouse where the collected rent was stored, i.e., a national treasury warehouse.
… … The existence of the Great Warehouse not only signaled the emergence of a state finance to support public power, but also hinted at the king's relative expansion of power over the nobility as a result of his control over the redistribution function of the warehouse.
--- p.41

It is possible to evaluate and classify the maturity of the judiciary based on the presence or absence of a space called a brain prison.
Because the existence of the brain jade symbolizes the restraint and coercion of a more powerful person.
--- p.42~3

The point I want to emphasize is the change in landscape due to power.
The change in power structure, the establishment of government offices and public authority, brought about changes in the cityscape by creating spaces such as warehouses and prisons.
--- p.45

One of the detention facilities of Goryeo, Gaguseo, can be interpreted as being located at the intersection of a grid-shaped city street.
Considering that in ancient Chinese society, since the Warring States period, the city served as a place for carrying out punishments, and that state power sought to maintain effective public order by making an example of criminals in crowded places, it is understandable why detention facilities were installed at intersections.
--- p.47

The development of the Three Kingdoms proceeded in two directions: the sphere of rule and the ruling system.
If the former led to a struggle for dominance among the three countries, with the former establishing a situation in which the three countries were established, the latter was essential for survival in this changing situation.
… … This was a transition to a political system in which the so-called great king, who gained exclusive power over the nobles, ruled the country exclusively.
This orientation was manifested in the adoption of new ruling norms and ideologies, such as the law and Buddhism, to overcome the existing small-state order.
It was a change of ideology.
Such changes in power relations and shifts in the ruling system were inevitably reflected in the city's landscape.
--- p.53

A dazzling skyline adorned with high-rise pagodas replaced the massive tombs, creating a new landscape for the powerful.
And at the top of that Buddha land was the great king, the Wheel-Turning Saint King.
Through the splendid scenery of the capital city decorated with Buddhist temples, one could always experience the power of the great king.
Ultimately, the landscapes of Pyongyang, Luoyang, and Jiankang in the 5th century were no different in that they sought to maintain the social order and ruling system through Buddhism.
--- p.69

Frequent warfare gave rise to a kind of professional soldier, and at the same time brought about the phenomenon of population concentration within defensive facilities to avoid war.
The development of cities during the Warring States period was not unrelated to this.
It was during this period that 'Gwak' appeared.
Soon it will be a flatland castle.
If the role of the ‘castle’ was to protect the ruler, the function of the ‘fortress’ was to protect the people.
This was a difference in defensive function, that is, a distinction of targets.
--- p.78~9

The emergence of 'Kwak' is due to two conditions.
The first is the growth of a centralized monetary economy, and the second is the invasion of external enemies that threaten that economic society.
--- p.80

Amidst heightened tensions, Goguryeo embarked on a series of military preparations, including repairing Hwandoseong Fortress, constructing Guknaeseong Fortress, and moving the king's residence. Immediately after, Former Yan's full-scale invasion began.
Although it failed to fulfill its role and fell, the background and purpose of the construction of the fortress were clearly the need for military defense against the invasion of the former Yan.
--- p.86

The function and role of Pyongyang Castle, in addition to military defense, was to secure a space for power and a residential area for the ruling class.
Here, the castle walls as lines physically divide space, thereby visualizing the spatial division of power and non-power, dominance and subordination.
--- p.90

Although there are differing opinions on the construction date of Ji'an Pyeongji Fortress, the first flat-land fortress in Goguryeo's capital, considering the function and role derived from the background and purpose of its construction, the mid-3rd century theory can be given weight.
What matters is functionality.
During China's Warring States period, a 'gwak' emerged as a type of flat-land fortress to protect industries such as markets and the monetary economy, whereas Goguryeo's flat-land fortress was a kind of inner fortress, and rather than serving a military defensive role, it was focused on the socialization of space to privilege the residential space of the ruling class that became the central aristocracy.
In other words, the flatness of the house reproduced the class distinction between the 'central nobility' and the 'non-central nobility' through the landscape itself.
--- p.96

There must be boundaries in the space of power, and furthermore, those boundaries must be clearly visible.
This is because power has the property of hierarchizing space and reproducing its ruling order by clearly revealing its own exclusivity.
What is noteworthy at this time is the existence of grid-shaped horizontal divisions.
--- p.97

The grid-type street plan is a universal urban structure that has appeared throughout the East and the West, past and present, and its characteristics can be broadly categorized into five.
First, zoning/layout is possible with the most basic surveying instruments and techniques.
Second, it is convenient for land distribution/ownership and taxation.
Third, the city can be expanded without changing the basic pattern of urban planning.
Fourth, square buildings are the easiest to accommodate.
Fifth, it is most advantageous for military and political domination.
--- p.101~2

The differences in the landscape of Goguryeo's capital before and after the move of the capital to Pyongyang can be summarized as follows.
The dense concentration of Buddhist temples replaced the large-scale royal tombs, and the grid-like street layout replaced the flat-land castle walls.
This change in landscape is related to the new system that Goguryeo pursued, namely the Great King's despotism.
The great monarchical system based on transcendent royal authority and bureaucratization of the nobility had two axes: first, Buddhism as a ruling ideology that elevated the great king to a transcendent being, and second, the law as a ruling system that bureaucratized the nobility.
In other words, the changes in the capital's landscape following the relocation of the capital to Pyongyang were the result of the spatial realization of the Buddhist world through a bureaucracy based on laws and a ruling order centered on the great king.
--- p.105~6

The grid-like street division cannot be explained simply as a matter of how to maintain roads within the city walls or how to distribute land to officials.
It can be evaluated as a means of not only monitoring and controlling the citizens of the city, but also clearly and visually showing how the nation and the people, and further, the rulers and the ruled, are ranked, and as a device that naturally makes people aware of their own status and conform to the class system.
--- p.113

There were two characteristics of the Jang'an City landscape that distinguished it from the Pyongyang capital city.
One is the spatial division of government officials and civilians by the city walls within the city walls, and the other, although it is only an estimate, is the implementation of the bangjang system through high walls.
As mentioned, if we acknowledge that both were means of controlling the population since the Northern Wei Dynasty's Luoyang, then the effect Goguryeo hoped to achieve by moving its capital to Chang'an could also have been to strengthen control over the population.
--- p.127

What I want to emphasize is not the fact that the landscape of Goguryeo's Chang'an was influenced by that of Northern Wei's Luoyang, but rather the fact that Northern Wei and Goguryeo shared the same intention of the ruling power to effectively control the population behind the landscape change.

--- p.127