China’sWall: Space, Power, and Culture

Abstract

China’s wall is part of Chinese history—both as habitation (walled settlements) and as an icon of Chinese civilization. More significantly, China’s wall, as a configured part of social space is a spatial metaphor of division and differentiation. According to Bourdieu, space is about social organization and power. This article is a sociohistorical discourse on China’s wall, specifically on social space as conceptualized and perceived in imperial China, during the Mao era and in China today. Bourdieu’s concept of space as social and relational lends itself to the deconstruction of the metaphorical wall. It is contended that the age-old hukou/household registration, reestablished by Mao in conjunction with the danwei/work/administrative system, constitutes a part of this wall. The intent behind this discourse is to gain insight into Chinese conceptualization and perceptions of space within a sociohistorical framework.