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The transfer of foreign modernity in Beijing: the new urban space in the Legation Quarter, 1900–1928

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2022

Xusheng Huang*
Affiliation:
School of Architecture, Southeast University, Sipailou 2, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: huang_xusheng@seu.edu.cn

Abstract

This article suggests that the post-colonial viewpoint could be valuable in understanding Beijing during the colonial crisis between 1900 and 1928. Through the examination of urban space in the Legation Quarter, it pays attention to the emerging special types and forms, as well as the mechanisms behind them, and explains the transposition of a foreign modern cityscape to the local context. The Europeanized district in Beijing was a symbol of Western civilization and the uneven power dynamics in the city, and was regarded as both a spatial model and a competitor for the Chinese government's attempts to create a modern capital.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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References

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59 Wang, ‘Bei gongdi ji’, 7. A zhang is a Chinese unit of measurement, which corresponds to 3⅓ metres.

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