The emergence of the city marks the beginning of a civilisation. The city, especially the leading cities of a country, is also where the major features of a country are contained and where historical events play out. This book introduces readers to the progress of China's civilisation over more than 5000 years of history, through the rise and development of its cities. From the prehistoric Yangshuo and Longshan periods all the way to the People's Republic, this book outlines major events and developments to highlight the evolution of the Chinese civilisation. Using historical dynasties and urban dynamics as vertical dimensions, it examines major historical events, economic developments, territorial changes, and other developments over China's long history. It also discusses the uniqueness of China's history and compares its civilisations to Western experiences.
Author(s): Victor Fung-Shuen Sit
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 442
City: Singapore
Contents
About the Author
Preface
Introduction: Civilisation, City, History, and Chinese Characteristics
THE DEFINITION OF CIVILISATION
CIVILISATION AND THE CITY: CITY AS FOUNDATION FOR CIVILISED SOCIETY
CIVILISATION, CITY AND HISTORY
TYPES OF CIVILISATIONS, CONFLICT OF CIVILISATIONS AND FAILURE OF CIVILISATIONS
A. Riverine/Primary Civilisation
B. Maritime Civilisations/Secondary Civilisations
C. Failure of Civilisations and Conflict of Civilisations
MAJOR VIEWPOINTS ON CHINA’ URBAN CIVILISATION
A. Civilisation and Culture: Content of Civilisation
B. The Chinese View on Culture and Civilisation
C. Moral and Pacific Qualities of Chinese Civilisation
D. The Persistence and Sustainability of Chinese Civilisation
Defence Depth: Vast Territorial Expanse, Natural Protection on Three Sides
Attributes of Righteousness and Peaceful Coexistence
ORGANISATION OF THE BOOK
Chapter One China’s Urban Civilisation: Origin and Stages of Development
LOCAL ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE
DIVERSITY OF EARLY CULTURES
WHEN DID CHINA CROSS THE THRESHOLD OF CIVILISATION?
Chapter Two From Village to Proto-cities of Late Yangshao Period
EARLY CULTURES BEFORE THE ADVENT OF CIVILISATION
SETTLEMENTS IN LATE YANGSHAO
A. Jiangzhai I
B. Dadiwan IV
C. Proto-city
NATURE OF THE PROTO-CITY
Chapter Three Longshan: Early City-states
CITY-STATE CONCEPT
CITY-STATES IN WESTERN ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS
A. City-states in ancient Egypt
B. City-states in Mesopotamia
SOCIETY IN LONGSHAN PERIOD
LONGSHAN SETTLEMENTS AND CITIES
A. City Structure and Function
1. Liangzhu
2. Taosi
3. Shimao
4. Shijiahe
CONCLUSION: URBAN CIVILISATION OF THE LONGSHAN PERIOD
Chapter Four Xia Dynasty: Civilisation in the Early Bronze Age
XIA DYNASTY SET THE FOUNDATION FOR CHINA’S CIVILISATION
XIA DYNASTY SEEN FROM ANCIENT TEXTS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS
A. King List and Major Historical Events
B. Territorial Composition of the Empire
1. Capital cities
B. Xia Territory and the Feudal System
XIA OPENED A NEW ERA IN CHINESE CIVILISATION
A. Start of the Bronze Age
B. Rite and Music System and the Hereditary Empire
XIA’S SPATIAL ORGANISATION AND URBAN SYSTEM
A. The Core
B. The Periphery
XIA URBAN CIVILISATION AS REFLECTED BY THE CAPITAL CITY ERLITOU
A. Erlitou
B. The Audience Hall and Ancestral Temple
C. Craft and Commoners Quarters
D. Other Cities
CONCLUSION: FIRST HEREDITARY STATE IN CHINESE CIVILISATION
A. Xia Dynasty was a Real Existence
B. From Grand Harmony (大同) to a Well-off (小康) Feudal Society
C. Hereditary Feudal Empire and Capital City Planning
Chapter Five Shang Urbanism at the Climax of Bronze Metallurgy
FIRST DYNASTY WITH SURVIVING WRITTEN HISTORY
SHANG STATE AND SHANG CIVILISATION
A. Early Shang: Xiaqiyuan Culture
B. Shang’s King List, Patrilineal Succession (兄終弟及)
RULING PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY, ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM AND TERRITORY OF SHANG
A. The Benevolent Monarch
B. Territorial Extent and Composition
C. Administration and Military Arrangement
D. Economy, Taxation, Currency, Trade and Code of Law
E. Bronze Metallurgy and its Spread
SHANG URBAN DEVELOPMENT
A. Urban System in Erligang
(I) Capital City
(II) Regional Centres within 300 km of the Capital Hao
(III) Regional Centres in the Periphery
B. Urban System in Late Shang (Yinxu)
CONCLUSION: FEUDALISM THAT CHARACTERISED CHINESE URBAN CIVILISATION
Chapter Six Matured Canons, Laws, and Institutions: Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States
HISTORICAL WATERSHED IN CHINESE CIVILISATION
ZHOU STATE AND ITS IDEOLOGY
A. Feudal System
B. Zhou Territory and Bureaucracy
C. Zong Fa System and the New State Religion
D. Well-field System (井田制) and Town and Country Divide
LAWS, CANONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND EDUCATION
A. Five Classics (五經)
B. Education to Civilise: the System and its Curriculum
“KAO GONG JI” AND CHINESE CITY PLANNING
A. Principles, Procedures, and the Ideal Layout of the Capital City
B. Wang Cheng — the Imperial City
FEUDALISM REPLACED BY NEW CENTRALISM — THE IRON AGE
NEW URBANISM IN EASTERN ZHOU AND WARRING STATES
A. Linzi (臨淄)
B. Qufu (曲阜)
CONCLUSION: FORMALISED CHINESE CITY FORM
Chapter Seven Qin and Han: Centralised Territorial State and the Administrative City
NEW IMPERIAL DYNASTY AND THE NOTION OF ‘CHINA’
NEW ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC SETTING
URBANISATION AND THE CITY IN THE HAN
HAN DYASTY CITY STRUCTURE
A. Changan
B. Luoyang
C. Linzi
D. Wan
E. Chengdu
F. Handan
CONCLUSION
Chapter Eight Tang: Golden Age of the Confucian Model
FROM FRAGMENTATION TO GREAT UNITY
TANG GOVERNMENT SYSTEM AND SOCIETY
URBANISATION AND CITY GROWTH IN THE TANG
A. New Metropolises in South China
B. Canal Cities
C. Cities along the Yangtze
D. Seaport Cities in the Southeast
E. Administrative and Military Cities
TANG DYNASTY CITY STRUCTURE
A. Changan
B. Luoyang (Capital of Bei Wei)
C. Guangling (Yangzhou)
D. Panyu (番禺, present day Guangzhou)
CONCLUSION
Chapter Nine Song Renaissance and the New Urbanity
INTRODUCTION: NEW HEIGHTS IN CHINESE CIVILISATION
CHARACTERISTICS OF SONG SOCIETY
A. Decline of Military Prowess
B. Ascendance of Civilian Officials and Revival of Confucianism
C. The Mercantile State
URBANISATION DYNAMICS IN THE SONG
A. Growth of the Urban Economy
B. Emergence of Commercial Townships and ‘Grass Markets’
C. Growth of Riverside, Coastal and Frontier Urban Centres
A NEW URBAN SOCIETY
A. New Urban Capitalist Class
B. Emergence of the Urban Masses
C. Change in Urban Function and Urban-rural Relationship
KEY CITIES WITHIN THE CHINESE GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE (970–1279 AD)
A. Kaifeng (開封)
B. Linan (臨安, Present Day Hangzhou)
C. Pingjiang (平江, Present Day Suzhou)
D. Mingzhou (明州, Present day Ningbo)
E. Cities in Xi Xia, Liao and Jin
CONCLUSION: INNOVATIONS LED TO DEVELOPMENT IN CIVILISATION
Chapter Ten Ming Dynasty: Reconstruction of Chinese Civilisation after the Yuan
URBAN CIVILISATION DOWNTURN IN THE YUAN
A. Yuan Succeeded Song, Yet Chinese Civilisation Persisted Under Duress
B. Pro-Mongol Discrimination Hurt Cultural and Economic Development
C. Urban Development Tilted Towards South China
MING: REVIVAL OF CHINESE CIVILISATION AND SELF-ESTEEM
A. Military Prowess and Territorial Security
B. Revival of “Rule by Virtue” (德治), Education and “State of Rituals and Righteousness” (禮義之邦)
C. Economic Development
URBANISATION IN THE MING
MING CITY EXAMPLES
A. Nanjing
B. Beijing
C. Linqing
D. Datong
CONCLUSION: CHINESE CIVILISATION RESURGED
Chapter Eleven Qing China: From Neo-Confucianism to Confrontation with the West
QING DYNASTY: WATERSHED IN CHINESE HISTORY
A. Manchu Rule: Another Example of Integration with Frontier Minorities
B. Revenge for the Ming Emperor: Unity of Han and Non-Han Peoples
C. Neo-Confucian Policies: Agriculture, Righteous Rule and Education
QING URBANISATION, PERIOD I: TRADITIONAL URBANISM
A. Dynamics of Urban Growth
1. Administration and frontier defence
2. Development of inter-regional trade
3. New globalisation factor
B. Neo-Confucianism
QING URBANISM: PERIOD II — COMING OF WESTERN INFLUENCES
A. Influence of Western Powers
B. Urbanisation Under Western Sway
C. New City Types Impacted by Western Influence
D. Other Modern Cities and the Spatial Pattern of Urbanisation
CITY EXAMPLES
A. Guangzhou
B. Xi’an
C. Hankou
D. Shanghai
CONCLUSION: CONFLICT OF CIVILISATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND WESTERN POWERS
A. Neo-Confucianism in Early Qing
B. Warning Call for Chinese Civilisation
Chapter Twelve People’s Republic: Chinese Civilisation with Socialist Approach
SEARCH FOR SOLUTION TO CHINA’S MODERN PROBLEMS
SOCIALIST APPROACH OF THE PRC (1949–1981)
A. Mao Zedong led His People Back on Their Feet
B. Cities as Containers of the New Chinese Civilisation
C. Role of the City Under China’s Socialism
URBANISATION PROCESS BEFORE THE OPENING AND REFORM, 1949–1981
A. Definition of City and Township and a New Planned Development
B. Impact of the Great Leap Forward
C. Impact of the Cultural Revolution
MAOIST URBAN CIVILISATION (1949–1981)
A. Massive Organised Migrations
B. ‘Production First; Livelihood Second’
C. Functional Transformation of the City
D. The City-Region
E. Socialist Elements in the Planning of the Internal Structure of the City
TRANSITION TO SOCIALIST-MARKET ECONOMY (1981–2020)
A. Post Cold War Opening and Reform
B. A New Stage of Globalisation
C. Emergence of Extended Metropolitan Regions
D. Shenzhen: the Transitional City
PEACEFUL REEMERGENCE: 2005 AND AFTER
CONCLUSION: A NEW PAGE OF CHINESE URBAN CIVILISATION
Chapter Thirteen Message from the Evolution of China’s Urban Civilisation
CITY AND CIVILISATION
THE EVOLUTION OF CHINA’S URBAN CIVILISATION
A. From Round Moated Settlements to the Emergence of Civilisation in Longshan Cities
B. Sandai: Establishment of Rule of Righteousness and Following Music and Rituals
C. Confucianism from Han to Qing dynasties
D. The Five Axes of Chinese Civilisation
CHANGES IN THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE CITY
DELIBERATION ON CONTEMPORARY DIRECTION OF CHINESE CIVILISATION
1. Characteristics of Chinese Civilisation
2. Capabilities of Chinese Civilisation to Respond to Challenges
3. Discourse on Conflict of Civilisation and ‘End of History’
4. The China Model: Beijing Consensus
CHINESE CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
A. Improving the Path of Sustainable Development: Party Discipline, Rule of Law and Spatial Connectivity
B. One Belt One Road Initiative and ‘Community of Shared Future for Mankind’
References
CHINESE LITERATURE
ENGLISH LITERATURE
ONLINE MATERIALS
Index
