Browsing by Subject "built environment"

The thesis investigates what the classical book Rites of Zhou, the guiding book of construction and bureaucracy in the Western Zhou dynasty, wrote about cities. The topic is relevant because in understanding Chinese cities, there is a lack of attention on the richness of Chinese history and its own tradition in contrast to the rapid and massive urbanization phenomena seen in the country. The aim of the thesis is to understand the political considerations of cities in early China, specifically the literature rich Western Zhou dynasty which was considered as the paradigm for later regimes throughout China’s history. By studying the built environment and way of organization in the beginning of Western Zhou dynasty according to Rites of Zhou, the political traditions and roots of Chinese cities is to be explored. Above all, the cities in the Rites of Zhou are political entities, which were the centers of politics and device to implement king’s will, organizing and controlling the whole kingdom.