（一）

        春秋时期的越国，定都今日之绍兴。秦统一中国，推行郡县制，今浙江全境几乎全属会稽郡。东汉的“吴会分治”，旧会稽郡一分为二：吴郡（郡治在今苏州）、会稽郡。“新会稽郡”的治所仍在绍兴，依然管辖浙江多数区域。

        三国以来，境内陆续分出临海郡（今台州）、吴兴郡（今湖州）、东阳郡（今金华）、永嘉郡（今温州）等。隋唐时期，增设杭州、处州（今丽水）、睦州（治所今建德梅城镇）、衢州、明州（今宁波），五代吴越国又有秀州（今嘉兴）之设。浙江的城市格局，即明清所谓“上三府，下八府”，至此全面形成。

        隋唐以前，绍兴始终是浙江最重要的城市。唐末，钱镠追随董昌，转战四方，割据两浙。后来，董昌在绍兴自立，却把杭州让给跟班的小兄弟钱镠，当然不能说董昌大度，而是绍兴乃浙东的节度使州，杭州只是浙西普通的“支郡”，地位远不及绍兴重要。杭州超越绍兴，主要是钱镠开创的吴越国定都杭州，经营近百年的结果。后来，宋室南渡，以临安府为首都，杭州一跃而为全国性的政治、经济、文化中心，迥非绍兴可以企及。

        南宋重海外贸易。作为贸易大港，明州是通往日本、朝鲜的主要窗口。因经济生活中的重要性，唐开元年间新设的“小兄弟”明州，后来居上，赶超绍兴；近代温州开埠后，西风东渐，绍兴在区域城市中的地位，甚至为温州超越。

        今天浙江的车牌号，杭州是浙A，宁波浙B，温州浙C，绍兴浙D，排行老四，大概就是这种历史发展趋势的反映。

        简而言之，近两千多年来的浙江城市史，主要是一部“千年老大”绍兴不断边缘化，隋唐以前的“山中小县”——也就是后来的杭州——取而代之逐步成为“浙江首府”的历史。

（二）

        前述城市发展史，极粗线条，不足为训。但今天的话题，城市考古，绝不仅是古代城市政区沿革的变迁，更是城市具体形态和规划的变迁；绝不仅是写在纸面上的城市历史，更是深埋于地下的实物的历史。

        我们的城市，在宋代，尤其到南宋，始有较详细的记载。比如杭州、宁波均有完善的宋元方志传世，除了文字记载，更有描绘详细的“舆图”，对宋元以后的城市形态多少有点感性认识。与此相反，我们对隋唐以前的城市，简直可说一无所知，甚至连南朝东阳郡有无城墙，唐代越州城内的坊区有无坊墙等基本信息也无法回答。

        这是因为文献无载，历史学家无从着手；更因为金华、绍兴等城市，世代都在同一地点建设、发展，六朝隋唐的遗迹已经深埋在地下四五米的地方，南宋临安城的地面也在今杭州城内水泥路下两三米深处。浙江城市人口多，经济发达，高楼林立，考古学家有限的发掘工作，只能见缝插针，在基本建设的间歇空隙进行。这种城市被称为“古今重叠型城市”，开展考古工作困难重重，几乎无法触及早期遗迹。

        偶尔才有例外，三国孙吴时期自会稽郡析置的临海郡（今台州），郡治在今椒江北岸的章安，即原秦汉回浦（章安）县治。唐代，台州的郡治从章安迁至临海，旧治废弃，姑且可称“章安故城”。长期以来，人们认为章安故城叠压于今日的章安镇区之下，悲观地以为遗址已经无存。

        其实，章安故城遗址并不“古今重叠”。唐代废弃后，新章安镇重建于旧城以外，故城长期为稻田，并无建筑覆盖。这种城市遗址可称“旷野型城市”。该发现缘于当地前些年大规模的挖掘窨井，每隔几十米挖圆井，出土了大量东汉至南朝的砖瓦、瓷器和建筑构件，根据遗物的分布，甚至可以勾勒出临海郡治的范围。

        “旷野型城市”适宜考古，倘若加以全面勘探，有可能厘清六朝郡城的具体布局和形态。在别地已然不具备工作条件的状况下，章安故城的重大意义，再怎么形容也不过分。这绝对是罕见的、宝贵的历史文化遗产，无论对于台州，抑或对于浙江。敬请当地加强遗址保护！

（三）

        以上只说州郡城市，其实，城市既有等级之区分，如浙江南宋城市，有都城、州府、县城和县城以下城堡等诸多等级；也有类型之区分，嘉兴、湖州等“水乡型”城市，与丽水等“山地型城市”，在规划和形态上，理应有所区别，具体对象，都要具体说。

        无论哪一类城市，“旷野型”都是特例，我们始终要面对“古今重叠型”的“硬骨头”，只能在钢筋水泥的丛林里，追寻旧时痕迹。

        “古今重叠型城市”的考古工作，说起来，只是两句话：一是“平面找布局”；二是“纵向找沿革”。说来容易，做来却是无止境的事业。

        城市考古的基本目标，是复原城市平面布局，然后在复原的基础上，讨论城市规划。以杭州为例，南宋临安城考古的目标是为了描绘一幅详尽的“临安城地图”。考古队工作好几年，在地图上画出南宋太庙的一条线、德寿宫的几个框框。这是艰苦卓绝的“拼七巧板”，需要几代人工作的叠加，最终完成“拼图游戏”。

        在操作层面，城市复原可以分成宏观、中观、微观三个尺度进行。

        “宏观尺度”的复原，讨论城市的选址、环境、基本形态的变迁。如隋朝杭州创立之初，州城在凤凰山上，城墙“周围十里”，范围甚小。钱镠割据两浙，在“小城”之外，加筑一圈外城，将凤凰山“小城”改为王宫，杭州始为“腰鼓城”，北宋因之；南宋定都临安，将小城辟为皇宫，元陈随应《南渡行宫记》说“皇城十里”，正是隋城的规模。元灭南宋，拆毁城墙，大内毁弃。元末重建杭州城，竟将原来的政治中心凤凰山，整体割弃于城外。这就是唐宋元三代杭州城变迁的宏观考察。

        “中观尺度”的复原，讨论城市局部规划、道路肌理、坊巷格局等。南宋御街，贯穿杭州城南北，南起皇城北门，经朝天门（今鼓楼），两侧有太庙、三省六部；过朝天门，经德寿宫侧，一路向北；在观桥附近，折西而行，抵达终点景灵宫，即今武林路与凤起路交叉路口。御街遗址深埋于今中山路下两三米，严官巷发掘的南段御街十分重要，但受工作条件制约，竟未能完整揭露，尽管可以判断御街的砌筑工艺，但宽度数据只能推测。但我们知道，各段御街的宽度不同，南段约在15.5米左右，中段约11.6米，北段自观桥以后，街道较窄，约在3至9米之间。这些数据看似平常，却是文献无法告诉我们的，对认识临安城极为关键，至少可以知道南宋皇帝前往景灵宫行礼乘坐的玉辂车，无法通过御街某些路段。

        “微观尺度”的工作更多，通过考古发掘，复原德寿宫、杨皇后宅等具体建筑的格局、形态和营造工艺，甚至可以比较两者主体建筑的等级差异，台基、柱础的工艺差别。也许，细节能够引领我们通往历史的幽微之处。

（四）

        最后说城市考古的“纵向找沿革”。2015年，我发掘嘉兴子城遗址，先确定城墙四至，再揭示中轴线，这是“平面找布局”；在北城墙位置，发掘一条探沟，解剖至生土，由剖面可见，北城墙位置最早在战国时期已有聚落，两晋时期存在高规格建筑，可能已是浙北的政治中心；五代建起城墙，元灭宋后，拆毁城墙，从此再无恢复；明代在旧城基址上建筑土垣，作为嘉兴府衙署的北界围墙；1949年后，围墙拆除，护城河填平，一切封存于水泥路面之下。

        这是“纵向找沿革”，近2000多年来嘉兴城市的变迁，直观展示在剖面上，堪称历史文化名城的“城市年轮”。

        一座城市的历史文化内涵，既来自于平面铺开的格局：城墙、道路、河道、衙署、文庙、城隍庙、街区、坊巷的排布，更来自于纵深沿革的变迁。2018年我发掘明清金华府文庙的泮池遗址，明朝人将泮池开凿于六朝东阳郡的地层上；民国时期，文庙改为金华中学；1975年泮池拆毁并填平，填满垃圾。如今重建文庙，根据考古揭示的泮池遗迹，将在原址重建全新的泮池。莫说故事太寻常——这是金华城内东南，一千多年来发生的故事，在一口池塘大小的同一地点。

城市的好故事，从长时段、有纵深的历史变迁中生长出来。

An Archaeologist’s Review of Cities in Zhejiang

Cities of Zhejiang

What is now known as Zhejiang was primarily Yue Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn (770-746BC) period of China, with present-day Shaoxing as the capital. After the Qin unified the whole country and set up a national administrative system of prefectures and counties, Shaoxing was the capital of Kuaiji Prefecture which ruled over the whole of Zhejiang of today. It was in the Three Kingdoms period of China that some more prefectures appeared in Zhejiang. As dynasties followed each other, more prefectures appeared. The map of Zhejiang with all its major cities (capitals of prefectures) today looks like those in the Ming and the Qing.

Shaoxing was the most important city in Zhejiang for centuries before the Sui and the Tang dynasties. Toward the end of the Tang, Dong Chang, a warlord, occupied Shaoxing as his base and let his general Qian Liu rule in Hangzhou, which was much less important than Shaoxing back then. Qian set up Wuyue Kingdom and housed the royal family in Hangzhou. Under the 72-year rule of the Qian family, Hangzhou prospered. When the royal house of the Song fled to Hangzhou after it lost its vast land in the north to the nomads, Hangzhou became the national center of politics, economy and culture. After losing its dominance to Hangzhou, Shaoxing declined further as Ningbo, called Mingzhou back then, prospered as a harbor city engaged in international trade with Japan and Korea. In modern days, Wenzhou in the south became another important city in Zhejiang. Shaoxing was pushed back to the fourth. The province’s vehicle registration plate system categorizes Hangzhou as A, Ningbo as B, Wenzhou as C, and Shaoxing as D, reflecting the ranking of the cities in the province.

In a sense, a history of cities in Zhejiang over the last 2,000 years tells the story of how Shaoxing got marginalized after it 1,000-year dominance and how Hangzhou rose to top.

Cities in Detail

Historical documents would be enough if all one needs is a general review of how cities evolved in the province over the past 2,000 years. But knowledge from historical texts is no longer sufficient if one wants details of how a city evolved and went through prosperity and tribulations and when it changed its jurisdictions in national and provincial government systems. Archaeological finds provide concrete evidences.

Historians know relatively a lot about Hangzhou and Ningbo from the 10th century on as historical literature have reliable texts and maps to provide a general idea, but little is known about cities in Zhejiang in the Sui Dynasty and the Tang. For example, they don’t know whether the capital of Dongyang Prefecture in the Six Dynasties period had a city wall. Nor do they have the slightest idea of whether the workshops in the capital of Yuezhou Prefecture in the Tang Dynasty had separating walls.

Archaeologists have difficulties to find out the details of these cities as most cities in Zhejiang are built on the same place. Experts have little to explore as crowded cities don’t offer them precious opportunities to look down into the past cities buried deep underground in present-day cities. For example, the past cities of the 3rd century to 7th century are buried about 4 to 5 meters deep down in the ground. The capital city of Hangzhou of the 10th to 13th century is buried about 2 to 3 meters deep down underground in present-day Hangzhou. With a large population and highly concentrated urbanization, Zhejiang gives little chance for archaeologists to explore the buried past of the big cities.

The Inner City of Jiaxing, explored in 2015, revealed the ancient site in two ways. Archaeologists first determined where the city wall used to stand. Then they traced the central axle and finally they got the whole map of the inner city. Next, they dug a trench near the northern section of the city wall. The 5-meter-deep trench revealed layers of different dynasties stacked one upon another. In 2018, a similar excavation project was conducted at the Panchi Site at Confucius Temple in Jinhua in central Zhejiang. Now, the temple is being reconstructed and the pond Panchi will be restored too. These two are examples of archaeological layers in one place.

But there is an exception. For a long time, archaeologists believed that the capital city of Linhai Prefecture (present-day Taizhou) was buried deep underground beneath the present-day Zhang’an town. A few years ago the town was constructing a drainage system when people stumbled upon the remains of the old city in a large area of rice paddies. Archaeologists found a lot of bricks, pottery, and other construction materials that can be traced back to the Han dynasty up to the Six Dynasties. Based on the evidence, archaeologists have determined the size of the old capital city, which, in fact, was abandoned after the county was removed from the administrative system.

Though archaeologists don’t have much chance to dig down in big cities across Zhejiang, they have formulated a complete plan for what to do in case an opportunity pops up in future. Take the city of Lin’an (present-day Hangzhou) of the Southern Song Dynasty for example. It took archaeologists a few years to draw a map of the Royal Ancestral Temple and some temples near it. It would probably take several generations of archaeologists to complete a whole map of the national capital about 900 years ago. Archaeologists view the restoration of the past Hangzhou in three ways. At the macro level, the city changed in size in the Tang, the Song and the Yuan. At the middle level, archaeologists look at roads, lanes, shops, residential communities, workshops, etc. At the micro level, archaeologists concentrate on palaces in the Forbidden City. Details uncovered in excavation projects on the royal compound could reveal technology, architecture, workmanship used in the construction of the palaces. If differences exist, these differences could tell stories about the royal compound itself.