'Share the Pleasures with the Public': Evolution of Urban Landscapes in Nanjing in Song Dynasty China (976–1279)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the cultural and political implications of urban landscapes in Song Dynasty China through a case study of Nanjing’s greenspace. The increasing urban population and thriving city-centred culture prompted urban greenspaces in Nanjing to assume additional social and cultural functions, contributing to the multi-level and multi-functional development of the city’s greenspaces under commercialised and popularised aesthetics and landscaping theories. Meanwhile, under the political principle of ‘sharing the pleasures with the public’, the imperial court and local officials attached importance to landscaping, using urban gardens as a tool to achieve political and cultural control and social edification.