Thinking Outside the Walls

Illustrations of Cities and Extramural Space in Chinese Gazetteers

Authors

  • Daniel Knorr University of Cambridge

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2022.3.knorr

Keywords:

urban space, gazetteers, maps, chengtu, walls

Abstract

Walls have long been understood as a distinguishing feature of premodern Chinese cities. Serving both practical and symbolic purposes, they set off urban space from the surrounding countryside. This article examines illustrations of cities (chengtu) in Qingera gazetteers to determine to what extent and in what ways our assumptions about the importance of walls correspond to a common genre of visually representing urban space. Some chengtu reflect these assumptions very directly, presenting walled cities as islands floating in the blank space of exurban space. However, most chengtu contain some amount of extra-mural detail, and there is considerable variety in how these illustrations treat the relationship between intramural and extramural space. No single factor, such as geography, the presence of topo-graphical features or religious structures, or the specific title attached to a given chengtu, can explain this variation. Instead, chengtu reflect tremendous fluidity in visual discourse around cities in the Qing period beyond what existing scholarship on gazetteers and repre-sentations of urban space would lead us to expect.

來自牆外的視角:中文史料圖錄中的城邑與郊野

古代中國的城牆一直被視為城邑的一個顯著特徵。它分隔城郭與郊野,既實用又具有象徵意義。本文通過考察清代方志中的城市圖錄,來印證人們對城牆重要性的認知與城市視覺史志之間的相符程度。有些城邑在城圖中被呈現為游離在汪洋中的孤洲,明顯契合主流意象。但大多數城圖則包含畫外音,對城郭內外空間關係的處理也不盡相同。而無論是地理位置、地形特徵,還是宗教結構,抑或賦予城圖的特定標簽,沒有任何一項能成爲解釋這種差異的單一因素。由此,城市圖錄在清代城貌的視覺話語中展現出的高度流動性,實非傳統方志和城邑表徵研究令人始料能及。

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References

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Dantu xian zhi 丹徒縣志 (Dantu County Gazetteer). 1683. He Jie 何洯, Cheng Shimei 程世美, and Bao Tianzhong 鮑天鍾 (comp.).

Guangping fu zhi 廣平府志 (Guangping Prefectural Gazetteer). 1677. Shen Hanpan 申涵盼 and Shen Yichen 沈奕琛 (comp.).

Huzhou fu zhi 湖州府志 (Huzhou Prefectural Gazetteer). (1739) 1758. Hu Chengmou 胡承謀 and Li Tang 李堂 (comp.).

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Jingzhou zhi 景州志 (Jingzhou Gazetteer). 1745. Zhao Yi 趙栘 and Qu Chenglin 屈成霖 (comp.).

Licheng xian zhi 歷城縣志 (Licheng County Gazetteer). 1640. Ye Chengzong 葉承宗 (comp.).

Licheng xian zhi 歷城縣志 (Licheng County Gazetteer). 1773. Hu Delin 胡德琳 and Li Wenzao 李文藻 (comp.).

Nanchang fu zhi 南昌府志 (Nanchang Prefectural Gazetteer). 1789. Xie Qikun謝啓昆 and Chen Lanlin 陳蘭森 (comp.).

Sanshui xian zhi 三水縣志 (Sanshui County Gazetteer). 1677. Lin Fengtai 林逢泰 and Wen Zhuotian 文倬天 (comp.).

Taiping xian zhi 太平縣志 (Taiping County Gazetteer). 1775. Zhang Zhongxiu 張鍾秀 (comp.).

Taizhou fu zhi 台州府志 (Taizhou Prefectural Gazetteer). (1691) 1722. Fang Jinglian 方景濂 and Zhang Lianyuan 張聯元 (comp.).

Tongzhou fu zhi 同州府志 (Tongzhou Prefectural Gazetteer). 1741. Li Zhilan 李之蘭 and Zhang Kuixiang 張奎祥 (comp.).

Tongzhou fu zhi 同州府志 (Tongzhou Prefectural Gazetteer). 1781. Wu Tailai 吳泰來 (comp.).

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Knorr: Thinking Outside the Walls

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Published

2022-12-30

How to Cite

Knorr, D. (2022). Thinking Outside the Walls: Illustrations of Cities and Extramural Space in Chinese Gazetteers. The Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies, 3, 123–148. https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2022.3.knorr

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Section

Visual Materials in Local Gazetteers