Analysis on site determination and spatial layout of ancient house, fortress-village, town and city in China based on landsenses ecology

ABSTRACT

The theory of landsenses ecology is closely connected with Chinese philosophy and ecological wisdom. Many ancient settlements contain the ideas of landsenses ecology in the process of site determination, planning and development. From the perspective of landsenses ecology, this paper takes ancient house, fortress-village, town and city in Yu County, Hebei Province, China, as typical cases, and summarizes the characteristics and changes of the influencing factors in the process of these site determination, planning and development over history through literature search and field investigation. The main factors of site determination, planning and development would have different focuses and changes in different historical stages (from the Stone Age to Qing Dynasty) and on different scales (from house to city). The main factors ranged from macro factors, including natural factors, political economy, military defense and landscape structure, to specific factors, including road traffic, microclimate characteristics, human physical and psychological perception, financial situation, etc. It can be seen that there is a correspondence between the process of Chinese ancient site determination, planning and development and the theory of landsenses ecology.

KEYWORDS:

• Landsenses ecology
• Yuzhou
• fortress-village
• site determination and planning
• influence factor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The book of Zang was written by Guo Pu, the ancestor of Chinese geomantic omen, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

2. The Village Covenant of Yuzhou is divided into 12 chapters: Chapter 1 is about the location of the fortress-villages, which is about the terrain and environment of the fortress-villages, and it puts forward the principles of setting up the fortress-villages: according to the height, avoiding the water, avoiding the rush and avoiding the backwater; Chapter 2 is about the situation of the fortress-villages, which is about the matters of combining the fortress-villages, so as to strengthen the defense force; Chapter 3 is about the fortress-village system, which is about the regulations that should be adopted by the fortress-villages, which has provisions on the shape of the enclosure, the viewing platform and Barbican; Chapter 4 is about the fortress-village guards, which is about how to strengthen the defense of the fortress-villages; Chapter 5 is about the fortress-village tools, which is about the all kinds of weapons required in the fortress-villages; Chapter 6 is the Fortress-village beetles, which are some factors endangering the safety of the fortress-villages; Chapter 7 is fortress-villages people, who are assigned according to their military functions; Chapter 8 is fortress-villages teaching and Chapter 9 is fortress-villages learning, which are all about the methods of battle and keeping practice; Chapter 10 is fortress-village nameplates, which is good for scheduling and resisting spy; Chapter 11 is fortress-villages fee, which is calculated by the area of one’s fields to supply sources and management of military defense expenses; Chapter 12 is fortress-villages alert, which are attentions in wartime.