Sui-Tang Chang’an: A Study in the Urban History of Late Medieval China (Volume 85)

by Victor Cunrui Xiong

Chang'an was the most important city in early imperial China. Located in the present day Xi’an area of Shaanxi Province, it was the most spacious and often the most populous urban center in the world during its existence. Laid out as the terrestrial abode of the Son of Heaven, the axis mundi from which he sought and received divine sanction from Heaven, Earth, ancestral spirits, and other gods, Sui-Tang Chang’an was the medieval Chinese city at its most spectacular. Its symmetrical plan was executed to perfection, following an ancient urban cosmology, and its gridiron framework included over a hundred orthogonally designed mini-cities―the consummation of a centuries-old urban ward system. Although dominated by a sophisticated secular culture, Chang’an was permeated with the spirit of monastic religion. Although governed by officials schooled in an anti-mercantile tradition, Chang’an played host to a dynamic and thriving business community. Offering diversity, tolerance, and above all, civilization, Chang’an attracted travelers, merchants, pilgrims, and scholars from all over China and Asia.

Sui-Tang Chang’an is the first comprehensive study of the Sui-Tang capital in the English language. Following a background sketch of the earlier Han dynasty Chang'an and an analysis of the canonical and geomantic bases of the layout of the Sui-Tang capital, Victor Xiong focuses on the essential components of the city―its palaces, central and local administrative quarters, ritual centers, marketplaces, residential wards, and monasteries. Based on careful textual and archaeological research, this volume vividly narrates why Sui-Tang Chang'an was considered the most spectacular metropolis of its age.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2000

Reviews

[Mh430 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the topic interests you then this is the indispensable reference.

For most of its time as capital of Imperial China Chang'an (modern day Xian) was the most populous city on Earth and this book is worthy of that subject. Yes, there's historical relevance here but at the same it's just plain fun to read the details of how more than a million people lived and were governed in what amounts to a pre-industrial London or New York.

4.5 stars

[Eressea]

索恩2022待出

[Lillian K. Union · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very scholarly work. Not bedtime reading. The definitive source for information on the city of Chang'an in the the Tang Dynasty.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lonely Planet guide to late 6th c. to early 10th c. Chang'an. A wonderful collection of stories and sources, and an occasional meditation on the making and production of space.