The development of cityscapes in medieval China.

详细信息   

• 作者：Heng ; Chye Kiang.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：1993
• 导师：Upton, Dell
• 毕业院校：University of California
• 专业：History, Asia, Australia and Oceania.;Architecture.;Urban and Regional Planning.
• CBH：9430527
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：21016770
• Pages：370

文摘

The emergence of the open city during the eleventh century was a watershed in Chinese urban history. Traditionally, Tang Chang'an had been seen as the major paradigm for medieval Chinese cities. Song China saw the birth of a new urban structure that remained dominant until the advent of modern industries, technologies, and government. While the Sui-early Tang city was controlled and highly disciplined with restricted commercial activity reminiscent of the capital cities of the Six Dynasties period, the late Northern Song city, filled with multifunctional streets active round the clock, became a new urban paradigm. These cities reflected their respective societies, the earlier rooted in a strong aristocratic power with a highly hierarchical social structure, and the latter shaped by a diverse, mercantile society managed by pragmatic professional bureaucrats.;Sui-Tang Chang'an and Luoyang were organized on rigid grids with large enclosed wards separated by wide streets. Residents were subject to stringent supervision and forbidden to leave the wards during curfew hours. Commercial activities, strictly regulated and allowed only during certain hours, were restricted to the city's walled markets. Northern Song Kaifeng was different, crisscrossed by narrow streets lined with all kinds of establishments. Businesses opened throughout the day. Ward walls fell and shops, residences, and government offices were no longer separated. Overpopulation forced buildings to be built closely together. Multistory buildings were common. Outside the city walls were extensive suburbs.;There were many reasons for the emergence of the open city. The Tang dynasty, weakened by the An Lushan rebellion, stopped controlling urban order after the mid-ninth century. The half-century-long interregnum of the Five Dynasties further loosened the urban structure. The long period of relative peace and agricultural advancements during Song rule led to rapid demographic and economic growth. The ruling aristocracy of the Sui and early Tang was replaced by pragmatic Song career bureaucrats. There was greater social mobility. Officials and merchants invested in urban land and businesses. Commercial controls and urban regulations were relaxed. Commercial and urban taxes became major sources of income for the Song court. Instead of demolishing street-encroaching structures, additional rent was collected. Song rationalism had turned an urban problem into a money-making opportunity and accepted the birth of a new urban paradigm.;Gradually an urban culture developed helping to cement the trend towards the open city with its irregular layout and city edge, its distinct urban tissue and silhouette.