Planning theory in ancient China

Ancient large-scale cities in China were always governmental center of the royal blood and planned to be symbols of this kind of government. The design ideas and city layout were affected by consciousness of concentrated royal power. By means of social research methods, the article confirms the close relationship between city planning ideas and political system in order to establish a sort of research base for the modern planning system.

Traditional philosophy

In Chinese traditional philosophy, it focuses on the practice. Specifically, architecture comes with transport, apparel and tool. Architecture is the crucial factor, not because of its value of art. It can be seen just as a symbol of class.

The “Thought of Etiquette” decides the expression of planning and architecture in ancient China.In China’s traditional urban planning, the ruling class use physical boundaries to protect themselves. “The Great Wall” is one of the most famous physical boundaries in China. The theory of urban planning in ancient China reflects the Thought of Etiquette’s impact on the urban construction. 《周礼.考工记》 is one chapter of the Thought of Etiquette. In this chapter, it talks about the regulation of urban planning in ancient China.

Concept of urban

The concept of “urban” in ancient China is separated into two parts: one is “city”, the place that the ruling class and residents live. The other is “market”, the place that residents can have commercial activities.

The history of urban development in China begins in Zhou dynasty (1066BC). Politic is the most important factor of the urban existence in ancient China. Therefore, the original and development reflect Deep-rooted authoritarian political regimes. The ruling class not only decides urban construction, but also has some special ideas of the urban scale, layout, functional division and style of architecture during the process of urban construction.

The influence of the ruler’s thoughts is obvious. The checkerboard pattern appeared. The layout of most cities highlights the political center. Emphasized on the axis and layout palace in front, markets in back. Laid the basic pattern for the next 2000 years development.

References

He, Congrong (2007, December 18). "Chapter 2 Architecture of Xia, Shang, Zhou Dynasties and Spring and Autumn Period". CORE OCW. https://web.archive.org/web/20081110104828/http://202.205.161.91/CORE/architecture/the-history-of-ancient-chinese-architecture/chater-2-architecture-of-xia-shang-zhou-dynasties-and-spring-and-autumn-period/. Retrieved February 8, 2009.

Frieldmann, J. 1995. Where We Stand: Decade of World City Research, in Knox P and Taylor P J (eds). World Cities in a World System. Cambridge: Cambridge UP 21–47(p. 15).

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