Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats: The Development of Medieval Chinese Cityscapes

Heng Chye Kiang

The emergence of the open city during the 11th century is one of the most dramatic and important changes in Chinese urban history. While the Sui and the early Tang city was controlled and highly disciplined with restricted commercial activity, the late Northern Song city, filled with pluralistic streets active round the clock, became a new urban paradigm. These cities reflect the respective societies that gave rise to them, one rooted in a strong aristocratic power with a highly hierarchical social structure and the other shaped by a pluralistic, mercantile society managed by pragmatic professional bureaucrats.

This book provides an in-depth account of the process of transformation from the curfewed city of the Tang period to the open city of the Song. It analyses the multidimensional factors that gradually led to the development of an urban culture, which in turn helped cement the trend towards the open city with its irregular layout and distinct urban tissue and silhouette.

"... brings new techniques to the study of places in time that will enrich our conceptions of urban history"
-Journal of Asian Studies

"This is an important work for providing background to so much Chinese history and literature in general, and architecture in particular."
-William Dolby, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh

"I have thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Development of Medieval Chinese Citiscapes' ... As far as I know, nothing like it exists in any language ... It stands as an original contribution to the small body of literature on Chinese urban planning and the transformation from Tang to Song society."
-Nancy Steinhardt, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania

HENG Chye Kiang is Professor and Head of Department for Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore.

publication year: 1999
272 pages
ISBN: 978-9971-69-223-0  Hardback  US$32.00  S$49.00