History of Ancient Towns in Zhejiang

Author: Chen Guocan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: This book is an important part of the "Research on the Ancient Economy History of Pojiang" project, a key research project under the "Nineteen Eighty-Five" Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning of Zhejiang Province. After years of in-depth research, Chen Guocan and Xi Jianhua, two scholars, have written this monograph based on extensive collection of materials and systematic analysis. It undoubtedly represents another significant achievement in the study of local history in Zhejiang. This book fills a gap in the research on the history of regional towns in China, and at the same time, their research perspectives and methods provide a valuable model for other studies on the history of regional towns in China.
The book classifies ancient Chinese towns into two categories based on their scale and functions in politics, economy, and culture. One category includes capital cities, prefectural cities, and walled towns, which are cities with city walls. The other category consists of towns that emerged after the decline of city walls. Cities serve as the political centers of a country or region, as well as centers for commerce and cultural entertainment, while towns are generally not the political centers of their localities but rather relatively independent commercial centers.
The Song Dynasty was a crucial period when Chinese towns transitioned from ancient to modern times. One of the key characteristics of the socioeconomic landscape during this era was the accelerated development of cities and the rise of numerous commercial towns in rural areas. The development of commodity economy in the Song Dynasty led to the breakdown of the traditional market system, fully realizing the commercial functions of cities and strengthening their commercial nature. Due to the increase in urban populations, many new towns emerged around cities, dotting the urban landscape like stars.
By the Ming and Qing dynasties, as the book points out, towns exhibited an "urbanization" trend. When it comes to research works, it is unrealistic to expect them to be uniform or exhaustive in their coverage. Instead, researchers can choose to explore different angles and levels, writing about their own insights and findings.