In this accessible new study, Toby Lincoln offers the first history of Chinese cities from their origins to the present. Despite being an agricultural society for thousands of years, China had an imperial urban civilization. Over the last century, this urban civilization has been transformed into the world's largest modern urban society. Throughout their long history, Chinese cities have been shaped by interactions with those around the world, and the story of urban China is a crucial part of the history of how the world has become an urban society. Exploring the global connections of Chinese cities, the urban system, urban governance, and daily life alongside introductions to major historical debates and extracts from primary sources, this is essential reading for all those interested in China and in urban history.
- Accessible and engaging introduction both to urban history and the history of China
- Includes extracts from primary sources
- Examines the legacy of China's cities in contemporary rapid urbanization
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Awards
- Winner, 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Titles
Reviews & endorsements
'A well-written and much-needed overview of China's 2000-year urban history connecting local developments and international influences. Exploring the complex intersection of urban system, form and governance, urban culture and daily life, Toby Lincoln's comprehensive study of Chinese cities is an important addition to the growing field of global urban history.' Carola Hein, Delft University of Technology
'Lincoln captures China's urban history in rich detail, including changes in conceptions of cities, urban form, and urban life over the centuries. Enlivened with excerpts from fiction and memoirs, this book is both a sweeping historical overview and a great introduction to scholarship on Chinese cities past and present.' Kristin Stapleton, University at Buffalo, SUNY
'A good teaching text both reviews and engages with the literature … the author whets the reader's appetite for more, which is exactly what an introductory academic text should do.' Michael Hebbert, The China Quarterly
'It is a fascinating read, entertaining a new perspective on the course of Chinese history … Highly recommended.' Q. E. Wang, Choice Connect
'Lincoln's textbook is an extremely useful tool … I admire how Lincoln foregrounds the historical legacies of administrative central-ization, economic interconnection, and cultural production in China today while still conveying the many transformations of Chinese urban forms.' Chuck Wooldridge, Journal of Chinese History
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Product details
- Date Published: May 2021
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781316647288
- length: 286 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 152 x 14 mm
- weight: 0.47kg
- availability: In stock
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The emergence of China's imperial urban civilization (antiquity to 220 CE)
3. Expansion of China's imperial urban civilization to the south (220–755)
4. The Tang-Song transition and its effects on China's imperial urban civilization (907–1402)
5. The flowering of Chinese imperial urban civilization (1402–1799)
6. The seeds of urban modernity (1800–1895)
7. Urban modernity in Republican China (1895–1949)
8. The Maoist period (1949–1976)
9. The Reform Era and the present
10. Conclusion.
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Author
Toby Lincoln, University of Leicester
Toby Lincoln is Associate Professor of Chinese Urban History at the University of Leicester.
Awards
- Winner, 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Titles