"Remarkable.... Xu is most effective when discussing the city as seen through the eyes of the literati. Its walls, canals, and distinct residential wards come lyrically alive." --Journal of Asian Studies, May 2001

"Chinese scholars, other urban historians, formal analysts, and students should profit from [Xu's] finely textured arguments and rich data." --Choice, October 2000

"A marvelous architectural history with rich details and cogent arguments" --Traditional Dwelling & Settlements Review, Fall 2001

"La meilleure synthèse sur l'histoire de Suzhou" --Revue Bibliographique de Sinologie, 2001

"Fascinating ... The book will be of great interest to scholars in the field of urban development and urban history" --Urban Geography, 2003

"Not just a comprehensive view of a particular city, but a sweeping synthesis of the state of the field ... Essential reading for any student of urban history, urban planning, or architecture" --China Review International, Spring 2002

"A powerful study that takes the reader far beyond its focus, Suzhou. Researched in tremendous detail, it is a particularly strong addition to the core of books on Chinese architecture and planning." --Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, University of Pennsylvania

"This is an important work. The scholarship is broad and accurate; it displays careful critical thinking; and it deals with the material in a judicious and original manner. Particularly noteworthy is its critical analysis of elements of myth, legend, and popular religious ideas where those have intersected with the great tradition's concerns in city building. Xu's work is a significant contribution to knowledge in several fields: the history of urbanism, Chinese history, architectural history, and comparative studies." --Frederick Mote, emeritus professor of Chinese history, Princeton University

The city of Suzhou was a leading force in the development of an urban China for nearly a millennium. The one-time capital of the state of Wu, Suzhou lay at the heart of a region vital to the economic and cultural growth of the Chinese empire from as early as the ninth century. In this masterful study of the formation and transformation of Chinese urban form and space, Suzhou is presented as both the object of and witness to a complex history. Drawing on a wealth of primary materials detailing the city's history, customs, and urban construction as well as on recent work in Chinese history, culture, and religion, Yinong Xu examines characteristics of building and transformation in premodern Suzhou, characteristics that, while particular to the city's own historical development, reflect or were determined by factors representative of China's urban history in general.

Throughout this work the author attempts to separate historical truth from the accumulation of pseudo-historical lore concerning the way in which the city of Suzhou was created, formed, and transformed in the past. Following an introduction to the historical background of the city, Xu sifts the deep layers of accumulated ancient legend and myth to present a verifiable albeit more spare outline of the city's origins than is to be found in either the traditional historiography or recent writings. He then clarifies a large number of more purely historical issues where diverse readings of the documentation have persisted. The examination of major aspects of urban transformation in imperial-era Suzhou comprise the remainder of the work.

Among the key themes are the evolution during the Southern Song period of the canal network as a framework for the spatial organization of the city structures, and the realignment during the Ming and Qing periods of the geometry of the city around three major districts and its western suburbs. Critical typological issues explored in this context include the symbolic status of city wall and wall-like structures, a discussion that leads to an explanation of the coexistence of the walled city's stability of form in time and urban expansion in space; the absence of formal bonds between building types and social institutions by way of illuminating the relationship between urban and rural construction; and the mode of arranging public urban space as exemplified by the miscellaneous public use of a temple courtyard. Finally, the author looks at the manner in which fengshui ideas operated in urban construction, challenging the traditional image of an all-pervasive fengshui influence on building activities in premodern China.

Richly detailed, impeccably researched, judiciously argued, and generously illustrated, The Chinese City in Space and Time will engage scholars in a wide range of disciplines, including urban history, Chinese history, comparative historical studies, popular religion and mythology, and architectural history.

Yinong Xu is senior lecturer in the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales.

Related titles: Remaking the Chinese City; Mapping Chengde; Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats