Chang'an Avenue and the Modernization of Chinese Architecture

366 Pages·2013·6.822 MB·English

by  Shuishan Yu

Chang’an Avenue
and the Modernization
of Chinese Architecture
A China Program Book
University of WAshington Press
Seattle and London
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This book is made possible by a collaborative grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This book was supported in part by the China Studies Program, a division of the Henry M.
Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. A publication grant
from the Department of Art and Art History at the Oakland University contributed toward
editorial and production costs of the book.
© 2012 by the University of Washington Press
Printed and bound in China
Designed by Veronica Seyd
16 15 14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any informa-
tion storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
University of Washington Press
PO Box 50096
Seattle, WA 98145-5096, USA
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yu, Shuishan.
Chang’an Avenue and the modernization of Chinese architecture / Shuishan Yu. — First
[edition].
pages cm — (A China program book/Art history publication initiative)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-295-99213-6 (hardback)
1. Chang’an Jie (Beijing, China). 2. Symbolism in architecture—China—Beijing.
3. City planning—China—Beijing. 4. Architecture and state—China—Beijing. 5. Beijing
(China)—Buildings, structures, etc. I. Title.
NA9053.S7Y8 2013
720.951’156—dc23 2012027784
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI z39.48-1984.
in memory of my mother, shi shUsheng 石淑生,
and to my father, yU hongjing, 于洪经

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Language xiii
Introduction 3
Chapter One: The History of Chang’an Avenue in an Urban Context 13
Chapter Two: National versus Modern: The 1950s 55
Chapter Three: Collective Creation: The 1964 Chang’an Avenue Planning 103
Chapter Four: Modernization in a Postmodern World: The 1970s and 1980s 144
Chapter Five: Collage without Planning: Toward the New Millennium 178
Chapter Six: Chang’an Avenue and the Axes of Beijing 241
Conclusion: Chang’an Avenue in a Global Context 277
Notes 286
Glossary 315
Bibliography 327
Index 341
vii

Acknowledgments
This book was developed from my PhD dissertation under the guidance of profes-
sors Meredith Clausen, Madeleine Yue Dong, Marek Wieczorek, Daniel Abramson,
and Yomi Braester within the Department of Art History at the University of Wash-
ington. I thank them all for giving advice, sharing insights, and providing resources
for my research, a true intellectual benefit that I can still feel strongly today. Professor
Clausen deserves special thanks for bringing me to the “New World” twelve years ago
and being my source of inspiration ever since. Without her criticism and encourage-
ment I would have never made it through my studies in Seattle. She remains the most
reliable support for my research and, as an advisor, a model for my academic career.
I received financial support at different stages during my research and writing. The
initial research for an article was supported by the Hsiao Fellowship from the Henry
M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. After the
committee and I made Chang’an Avenue the subject of my graduate studies, my field-
work and archival research in China were made possible by a variety of scholarships
offered by the same university, including a Pell Scholarship, two Parnassus Endow-
ment Scholarships, two Nordstrom Awards, a School of Art Award Scholarship, and
a graduate school fellowship. My writings developed gradually into a manuscript in
the form of a series of summer projects supported by the Faculty Research Fellowship
from Oakland University. A publication grant from the Department of Art and Art
History at Oakland contributed toward editorial and production costs of the book at
a time of universal economic stringency. I am grateful to all of the above-mentioned
institutions for their generosity.
This book would not have been possible without the help of numerous scholars,
friends, and colleagues. In the United States, professors Bob Mugerauer, Vikram
Prakash, Jerome Silbergeld, Martha Kingsbury, Patricia Failing, Brian McLaren, Frank
Ching, and Alex Anderson took time to meet and share with me invaluable com-
ments on the project. Professor Nancy Steinhardt gave me the opportunity to present
the initial article on Chang’an Avenue at the Society of Architectural Historians
annual meeting and offered me advice for revision. And professor Jeffrey Cody made
ix