Reconstruction Research of Jining City in Chuzhou

Author: Guo Dewei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-02-01
Features: The construction of the Chu City and the development of Chu cultural scenic spots took six or seven years. During this period, the author had the opportunity to meet many experts in Chu culture, some of whom became close friends with the author. The author is one of them. They visited numerous ancient cultural sites and historical buildings, including Jining City. They also read many books on Chu culture and participated in several major academic discussions. As a result, the author is not unfamiliar with many academic issues in Chu culture research, and some of them have even sparked a strong interest in the author. Therefore, the author can not only see the essence of this book but also understand some of its mysteries. Compared to other books, the author believes this book has two major characteristics: novelty and difficulty. The novelty lies in the fact that no one has written a book like this yet. To construct Chu City, the authors searched through major bookstores and libraries across the country, hoping to find a similar book for reference, but they came up empty-handed. They consulted many scholars, who all said that no such book had been written. Therefore, this book may be the first comprehensive study to restore the palaces, gates, and layout of the Chu capital Jining City. Some contents and proposals in the book are also very new, such as why the city walls of Jining City were designed with corner cuts? The book provides a novel explanation. For example, it proposes that the water gates (water passes) of Jining City are the (budding) of China's customs, and the Chu navy is the budding of China's navy. These proposals are also very novel; the restoration of buildings such as city gates and palaces is even more innovative. Although some proposals may not seem new, such as the fact that the ancient capital of Ying during the Spring and Autumn Period was located in multiple places, and Jining City was the capital of Chu during the Warring States Period. However, these views are scattered in some articles and are not systematic or comprehensive. The author, on the other hand, presents a comprehensive and systematic discussion, citing the newest archaeological evidence as strong support, making their arguments clear and compelling, and thus giving the impression of being "new." The other characteristic of this book is its difficulty. As the saying goes, "everything starts with difficulty." Since no one has ever done this before, it is naturally difficult. In fact, the difficulty does not stop there. From the content of the book, it involves many disciplines: archaeology, history, ancient literature, historical geography, ancient architecture, urban design, and transportation. It covers both the humanities and the natural sciences, essentially being an intersection of social sciences and natural sciences. Conducting such interdisciplinary research on a specific historical and geographical environment like Jining City is undoubtedly challenging. It is encouraging that the author's research has yielded certain results. The author has devoted considerable effort to restoring the Chu capital, conducting bold experiments and explorations on palace architecture, and many of the restoration proposals they have put forward are acceptable based on the actual construction of Chu City. The book is richly illustrated, making it a pleasure to read. After the completion of Chu City, construction, cemetery, and tourism departments from various provinces and cities have come to learn from the experience. The publication of this book is bound to be well-received by them. In conclusion, the author has truly put a lot of effort into this book. Therefore, the author asked me to write a few words, and I was happy to comply. This is the preface.