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

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.