City drainage in ancient China

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 753-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Du ◽  
X. Zheng

This paper gives an overview of the evolution of city drainage in ancient China, and analyzes the achievement of drainage of such cities as Pingliangtai in Henan province, Xibo of Shang Dynasty, Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi, Chang'an, the capital of Han and Tang Dynasties, Kaifeng, the Eastern Capital of Northern Song Dynasty, Ganzhou, Dadu, the capital of Yuan Dynasty; and Beijing, the capital of Ming and Qing Dynasties. This paper also sums up the characteristics and the management experiences of the drainage facilities of ancient Chinese cities, including drainage system management methods, rules and laws about drainage in different eras, and overall principles of ancient city water systems. At present, most major cities in China are facing issues relating to drainage systems and city water systems. These cities are often bothered by floods and other water-related problems. Learning from the ancestors' experience would be important and necessary for modern planners and decision makers. Therefore this paper may be used for reference in modern city planning and construction.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
Xinlin Dong

AbstractAfter the downfall of the Tang dynasty, the Khitan-Liao empire, the Five Dynasties, and Northern Song dynasty formed the second “northern and southern dynasties” confrontation in the history of China. Also in this period, two systems appeared in the capital city planning: the “Shangjing norm” of the Liao dynasty characterized by the 日-shaped plan view and the “Dongjing mode” of the Northern Song dynasty characterized by the 回-shaped plan view. The “Shangjing norm” is the materialization of the political system of “ruling by the customs of the peoples being ruled” applied by the nomadic rulers from the northern steppes when they were managing the empire with the Han people as the majority. This seemingly reflected the ethnic discrimination of the nomadic ruling class at the beginning of the establishment of their empire. The capital designing ideas of the Jin, Yuan, and Qing dynasties were all following this norm at the beginnings of their rules. “Dongjing mode” of the Northern Song dynasty is the materialization of the “imperial sovereignty” idea emphasized by the empires founded by the Han rulers, which seems reflecting the bureaucrat system with the centralization as the characteristics. The designs of the Liao Zhongjing (Central Capital) and the Jin Zhongdu were both simulations of that of Dongjing, which showed the trends of ethnic convergence and unification. Moreover, Dadu of the Yuan dynasty and Beijing of the Ming and Qing dynasties were the symbols of the formation of the unified multiethnic empire of China.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1932
Author(s):  
Wenji Huang ◽  
Mingwang Xi ◽  
Shibao Lu ◽  
Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary

In the long history of the feudal society of China, Kaifeng played a vital role. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng became a worldwide metropolis. The important reason was that the Grand Canal, which was excavated during the Sui Dynasty, became the main transportation artery for the political and military center of the north and the economic center of the south. Furthermore, Kaifeng was located at the center of the Grand Canal, which made it the capital of the later Northern Song Dynasty. The Northern Song Dynasty was called “the canal-centered era.” The development of the canal caused a series of major changes in the society of the Northern Song Dynasty that were different from the previous ones, which directly led to the transportation revolution, and in turn, promoted the commercial revolution and the urbanization of Kaifeng. The development of commerce contributed to the agricultural and money revolutions. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the political center moved to the south. During the Yuan Dynasty, the excavation of the Grand Canal made it so that water transport did not have to pass through the Central Plains. The relocation of the political center and the change in the canal route made Kaifeng lose the value of connecting the north and south, resulting in the long-time fall of the Bianhe River. Kaifeng, which had prospered for more than 100 years, declined gradually, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, it became a common town in the Central Plains. In ancient China, the rise and fall of cities and regions were closely related to the canal, and the relationship between Kaifeng and the Grand Canal was typical. The history may provide some inspiration for the increasingly severe urban and regional sustainable development issues in contemporary times.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 3344-3351
Author(s):  
Xinquan Ma ◽  
Xiaofang Yao ◽  
Kwon Hwan

Objectives: Cigarettes are not goods that have existed in China since ancient times, but consumer goods that were introduced into China by western countries and accepted and developed by Chinese people in modern times. The application of Chinese soil smoke culture in Li gonglin’s landscape painting is studied in this paper. Methods: From the perspective of art history, landscape painters in the Northern Song Dynasty, as a prosperous period of Chinese art history landscape painting, thought deeply about painting from the artistic form of nature, and integrated their own view of environment into their creation, forming many landscape aesthetic paradigms. Results: This paper focuses on the interactive dialogue between the literati and the environment with the involvement of how space planning and governance are allocated. It is aimed at the global perspective in the Anthropocene and a local position in the Northern Song Dynasty. Localization is not only the exploration of the ecological approaches of China and the West in space, but also the integration of the past and the present, observing its ecological image from the perception and practice of traditional environmental aesthetics to the harmonious coexistence of modern cities and nature. Conclusion: Local tobacco is not a traditional local consumer product. Under the public’s praise, it has gradually formed a unique thing in China - cigarette culture. People in the society are not only the observers of the environment, but also the participants of the environment. Through the aesthetic configuration of the classification of environmental belonging space and the transformation of the image and vision into such realistic or ideal landscapes as “Longmian Villa”, it goes towards ecological holism. Therefore, from the perspective of environmental aesthetics research, Li Gonglin’s paintings have research value.


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