Sui-Tang Chang'an: A Study in the Urban History of Late Medieval China (Volume 85) (Michigan Monographs In Chinese Studies)

Chang'an was the most important city in early imperial China, yet this 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, this volume 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 gives a sense of why Sui-Tang Chang'an was considered the most spectacular metropolis of its age.Victor C. Xiong is Associate Professor of Asian History and Chair of East Asian Studies, Western Michigan University. He has written several articles on the urban, cultural, and socioeconomic history of early imperial China, with special focus on the Sui-Tang period. Chang'an was the most important city in early imperial China. Located in the present day Xian 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 Changan 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-citiesthe consummation of a centuries-old urban ward system. Although dominated by a sophisticated secular culture, Changan was permeated with the spirit of monastic religion. Although governed by officials schooled in an anti-mercantile tradition, Changan played host to a dynamic and thriving business community. Offering diversity, tolerance, and above all, civilization, Changan attracted travelers, merchants, pilgrims, and scholars from all over China and Asia. Sui-Tang Changan 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 cityits 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. Chang'an Before The Sui -- Morphological Genesis Of Daxingchen-chang'an -- Palace City -- Daming And Xingqing Palaces -- Central And Capital Administrations -- Ritual Centers -- Marketplaces -- Residential Quarters -- Monastic Communities -- Epilogue. Victor Cunrui Xiong. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 327-344) And Index. Victor Cunrui Xiong.