The Magic Square: History of Chinese City Planning - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

This is the first complex publication of the development of Chinese urbanism in a western language. Equipped with extensive source material and accurate modern maps, the author was able to apply metrological methods.
The book is divided into five chapters presenting four millennia of the urban history of China.
1. The beginning of the sedentary settlement: Different Neolithic culture groups merged into what may be called the beginnings of the typical Chinese civilization.
2. Antiquity: The formative period of urbanism, culminating in the first planned city, the Holy City of Chengzhou (Luoyang), at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty (approx. 1000 BC).
3. The Middle Ages: The time of the imperial court culture of the Han and Tang dynasties.
4. Modern Age: The time of the urban culture and its enemies. Economic development after 1000 AD changed Chinese society and created an urban culture connected with international trade. This urban civilization was highly endangered by the destructive attacks launched by nomadic warrior tribes and almost completely destroyed by the Mongols. Using the sacred Magic Square concept, the Mongols founded a new city, the present-day Beijing.
5. This chapter deals with the structure of Chinese cities and towns in general. It provides a comprehensive survey of the urban life and culture that existed in the traditional society of late Imperial China.

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