Abstract
In the modern world, China is both a developing nation and a newly emerging socialist state. Coming from an ancient cultural tradition, she now faces a new era of unprecedented social change. While overhauling her backward economy and actively pursuing reconstruction and modernization, she is also rapidly developing a new socialist culture. In the process of modernization and reconstruction, it is necessary for China to adopt the foreign science and technology according to her own needs. But the development of a new socialist culture, however, entails a more important and complex problem: how to identify and preserve the valuable part of China’s own traditional culture.
This is a reprint of Chapter XXI in a collection of research papers entitled: World Patterns of Modern Urban Change—Essays in Honor of Chauncy D. Harris, edited by Michael P. Conzon, published 1986 by the Department of Geography, University of Chicago.—Editor’s note.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Paul Wheatley, The Pivot of the Four Quarters: A Preliminary Enquiry into the Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1971, p. 425.
- 2.
Later the name was changed to Jing Shan (Scenic Mountain) and also Mei Shan (Coal Hill).
- 3.
During this period, the canal formerly outside the Royal City’s east wall was incorporated into the Royal City, and shipping on the Grand Canal was thus unable to reach Ji-shui Tan. The lower part of Ji-shui Tan was connected with Tai-ye Chi to the south, and the aqueduct which had been specifically created to supply water to Tai-ye Chi was abandoned. Altogether, the city’s water system regressed under the Ming Dynasty’s management.
- 4.
The name “Shan Chuan Tan” was later changed to “Xian-nong Tang” (Altar of the God of Agriculture).
- 5.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Tian-an Men was called the Cheng-tian Men.
- 6.
Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Towns and Buildings, paperback edition. Cambridge, Mass.: First M. I. T. Press, 1969. Preface, p. v.
- 7.
Edmund N. Bacon, Design of Cities, revised edition. London: Penguin Books, 1980, p. 244.
- 8.
The actual work, of course, was not without problems. For instance, in the cases of the demolition of the old city wall and most of the old gates and the filling of the moat, there was serious disagreement in the beginning. From today’s point of view, these are simply irretrievably lost.
- 9.
See The Beijing Daily (Beijing Ribao), August 3, 1983, and The Beijing Evening News (Beijing Wanbao), August 4, 1983.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hou, R. (2015). The Transformation of the Old City of Beijing, China—A Concrete Manifestation of New China’s Cultural Reconstruction . In: Symposium on Chinese Historical Geography. China Academic Library. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45272-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45272-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45271-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-45272-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)