Taking the high ground: construction of the regional spatial order of Chang’an Area in Tang Dynasty

Abstract

ABSTRACTAncient Chinese cities were closely connected to extramural areas. Therefore, research on the construction of urban space in ancient China should not be restricted to the area within the city wall; rather it should extend to the surrounding areas. There has been plenty of research on the urban planning and design of Chang’an in Tang Dynasty (618–907), which is the capital of the most prosperous dynasty of ancient China. However, little research has paid attention to its spatial order at the regional scale. This article aims to solve this problem using the ‘triple-evidence’ method, i.e. based on the evidences from archaeology, literature and field survey. More specifically, it explores the main problems involved in regional spatial construction, reveals the general strategies for construction of the regional spatial order, and further analyses the planning and design approaches for different spatial scales. This paper reveals that ‘Taking the High Ground’ is the main method used in the construction of regional spatial order of Chang’an Area in Tang Dynasty, which reflects the dialectical whole of ‘configurational force’ and ‘form’ in the planning and design theories of ancient China.