chídào 馳道

Note

The term chidao, literally “speed” and “way” (Kroll 2015, 51, 79), was first used in the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) to refer to national expressways for the emperor's tours and military affairs. The roadways were first established in the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE); in the Qin dynasty, the First Emperor (Qin Shihuang) expanded them from Xianyang to all parts of the country. New roads were built during the Han, Sui, and Ming Dynasties. Chidao were very wide and were divided into three lanes, with the middle lane being exclusively used by the emperor. After the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE), chidao had two meanings. (1) Chidao located near the imperial palace were strongly associated with imperial authority and the term was gradually used interchangeably with “middle road” (zhongdao 中道), “imperial road” (yudao 禦道), and “defensive road” (yulu 禦路). (2) Between cities and counties, the military and transportation functions of chidao were emphasized. During the Ming and Qing dynasties and into the twentieth century, the term chidao was used generally to refer to common roadways (Ban 1962, 2242, 2888; Wei 1974, 68; Zhu 1984, 705; Wang 2012). 2,, 3

馳道起源于秦朝，為帝王巡遊、軍事遣兵的全國交通道路。馳道在戰國時期已有雛形，秦始皇在六國舊道基礎上修築從咸陽通達各地的馳道，作為全國路網的一部分。漢、隋、直至明代均有新修馳道，完善路網。馳道路面寬闊，道路劃分為三道，中間一道為皇帝專走之道。

東漢後馳道有兩種涵義：（1）都城內外馳道強調皇權制度，一定意義上是君王專走道路，逐漸與“中道”“禦道”“禦路”互用；（2）城邑之間則側重馳道的軍事與交通作用。從明至20世紀，“馳道”一詞泛指車馬馳行的道路（班 1962，2242，2888；魏 1974，68；朱 1984，705；王 2012）。 3