Si-yen Fei is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.
Urbanization was central to development in late imperial China. Yet its impact is heatedly debated, although scholars agree that it triggered neither Weberian urban autonomy nor Habermasian civil society. This book argues that this conceptual impasse derives from the fact that the seemingly continuous urban expansion was in fact punctuated by a wide variety of “dynastic urbanisms.” Historians should, the author contends, view urbanization not as an automatic by-product of commercial forces but as a process shaped by institutional frameworks and cultural trends in each dynasty.
This characteristic is particularly evident in the Ming. As the empire grew increasingly urbanized, the gap between the early Ming valorization of the rural and late Ming reality infringed upon the livelihood and identity of urban residents. This contradiction went almost unremarked in court forums and discussions among elites, leaving its resolution to local initiatives and negotiations. Using Nanjing—a metropolis along the Yangzi River and onetime capital of the Ming—as a central case, the author demonstrates that, prompted by this unique form of urban-rural contradiction, the actions and creations of urban residents transformed the city on multiple levels: as an urban community, as a metropolitan region, as an imagined space, and, finally, as a discursive subject.
發表於2024-12-22
Negotiating Urban Space 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
The introduction part of this book summarizes and critiques existing studies of Chinese cities. It in turn reviews several key issues regarding Chinese urbanization: 1. Urbanization and commercialization. The author rightly notes that “the triumph of marke...
評分The introduction part of this book summarizes and critiques existing studies of Chinese cities. It in turn reviews several key issues regarding Chinese urbanization: 1. Urbanization and commercialization. The author rightly notes that “the triumph of marke...
評分The introduction part of this book summarizes and critiques existing studies of Chinese cities. It in turn reviews several key issues regarding Chinese urbanization: 1. Urbanization and commercialization. The author rightly notes that “the triumph of marke...
評分The introduction part of this book summarizes and critiques existing studies of Chinese cities. It in turn reviews several key issues regarding Chinese urbanization: 1. Urbanization and commercialization. The author rightly notes that “the triumph of marke...
評分費絲言的這本書是近幾年最好的關於晚期中華帝國城市史研究作品之一 。本書的導論:A New Approach to Chinese Urbanism,對以往中國城市史研究中的“都市化(urbanization)”問題的探討提齣瞭自己的質疑。費認為以往的研究使得宋元時期的城市與明清時期的城市隻有規模上的...
圖書標籤: 城市史 城市 海外中國研究 費絲言 曆史 社會史 明史 明清史
About places and space; thinking about why “space” is more powerful and popular than “place” in the literati circle
評分這個選題是極好的,方法和撰寫策略都很好,但是概念和材料上有很多問題,但仍值得一讀。
評分前兩章對明代社會生活的觀察很獨特,後兩章基本上是textual analysis。費強調明代城市的特質,排斥將明清城市統而論之的做法;描述城市認同的建構,勾勒城市空間的邊緣,將城市與鄉村進行區分。其實在大方嚮上沒有偏離颱灣前輩們的路數,隻是將那些熟悉的結論翻譯成瞭英文而已。
評分序言好棒好棒,前兩章好棒,後麵一般棒。核心討論點落在早期近代的城市屬性上,正麵進招,勇氣可嘉,效果也不錯。另外第一章的內容對於瞭解一條鞭法的推行也頗有價值。
評分常讀常新 越讀越好
Negotiating Urban Space 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載