The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City: Volume 1, The City in Ancient China - Softcover

Wheatley, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0202362027 ISBN 13: 9780202362021

Publisher: Routledge, 2008

Synopsis

These two volumes elucidate the manner in which there emerged, on the North China plain, hierarchically structured, functionally specialized social institutions organized on a political and territorial basis during the second millennium b.c. They describe the way in which, during subsequent centuries, these institutes were diffused through much of the rest of North and Central China. Author Paul Wheatley equates the emergence of the ceremonial center, as evidenced in Shang China, with a functional and developmental stage in urban genesis, and substantiates his argument with comparative evidence from the Americas, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Yoruba territories.

The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City seeks in small measure to help redress the current imbalance between our knowledge of the contemporary, Western-style city on the one hand, and of the urbanism characteristic of the traditional world on the other. Those aspects of urban theory which have been derived predominantly from the investigation of Western urbanism, are tested against, rather than applied to ancient China.

The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City examines the cosmological symbolism of the Chinese city, constructed as a world unto itself. It suggests, with a wealth of argument and evidence, that this cosmo-magical role underpinned the functional unity of the city everywhere, until new bases for urban life began to develop in the Hellenistic world. Whereas the majority of previous investigations into the nature of the Chinese city have been undertaken from the standpoint of elites, The Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City has adopted a point of view closer to that of the social scientist than the geographer.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Wheatley was professor and chairman of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He was most famous for his work dealing with comparative urban civilization. Some of his books include The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, 7th to 10th Centuries; Nagara and Commandery, Origins of the Southeast Asian Urban Traditions; and The Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore (with K. S. Sandhu).

Review:

Reviews on the original single volume title, Pivot of the Four Quarters:

“This book will certainly interest a great number of readers. The China specialists will have to read it because it deals with the ancient Chinese city. But sociologists will have to read it just as well, as it deals with the question of origin and character of cities as well.”

—Wolfram Eberhard, The Journal of Asian Studies

“This is a book which nobody interested in ancient China from the late Neolithic to the end of the Chou period can afford to miss. It contains a wealth of material valuable in many fields of study far beyond the realm of the formation of early Chinese cities... [T]he book is an outstanding and important work.”

—A. Gutkind Bulling, Pacific Affairs

“In studying the origins and development of the city in the history of China before the imperial era, Paul Wheatley directs attention to questions which are crucial to the growth of China’s political and social systems and to the importance of religious practices.”

—Michael Loewe, Modern Asian Studies

“The Pivot of the Four Quarters is a profound and many-layered work which has significance and meaning in a number of different dimensions... This is a magnificent book. It is a rarity in geography. It makes fundamental contributions to our knowledge and understanding of urbanism... Elegantly and precisely written, it will surely stand the test of time to be regarded as one of the major contributions by a geographer in this generation. It is a contribution which nobody can afford to ignore.”

—David Harvey, Annals of the Association of American Geographers

“Professor Wheatley has effectively integrated the findings of scholars in a number of fields in support of his main theses.”

—Baruch Boxer, Annals of the Association of American Geographers

“Although this is not an easy book, it is a significant one... Wheatley has introduced new and provocative thinking about how man has developed the resources available to him and has organized himself both institutionally and spatially in support of this development... Wheatley has clearly succeeded in his objective of presenting new evidence and ideas to increase our understanding of cities, both old and new.”

—Clifton W. Pannell, The Geographical Review

“Now at last we have a... book on Neolithic, Shan, and Chou China.... The result is in almost every way brilliant and stimulating.”

—David N. Keightley, Journal of the American Oriental Society

“[I]ntricate work.”

—Margaret Medley, The Geographical Journal

“The Present study is the first systematic analysis of the origins of the city with special reference to North China... [This t]hought-provoking... [and] interesting work... should be read by all seriously interested in urban studies.”

—David Pong, Science

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0202362027
• ISBN 13: 9780202362021
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 358