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Legends of the Building of Old Peking Hok-lam Chan
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Legends of the Building of Old Peking
Hok-lam Chan
Legends of the Building of Old Peking examines a series of popular legends surrounding the building and rebuilding of the city that served as the capital of a succession of dynasties, including the Nazha or Nezha City legend of the Yuan (1279-1368) "Great Capital" and the Ming (1368-1644) "Northern Capital," and the Mongol legend of "siting by bowshot to locate the capital city" and its Chinese adaptations. These legends reveal a rich tapestry of religious and cultural traditions surrounding the majority Han and non-Han people's conceptions of the origins of their capital cities--legends that are distinct from imperial ideologies and dynastic traditions, and evolved under changing political and cultural circumstances. The book is a unique study of the historical origins of old Peking (spelled thus to distinguish it from modern Beijing) as well as the genesis and efflorescence of related popular culture in today's capital.
Hok-lam Chan is affiliate professor of Chinese history at the University of Washington and former professor and chairman of the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"Each story brings a political figure or ruler face to face with the legend: the integral relationship between the eight-armed Buddhist and folk child-diety Nezha and two ministers named Liu, the flight of a Mongolian archer's arrow and the ethnicity of the Yongle emperor, and others. In uncovering these legends, the interplay of mythology, folklore, and cosmology are examined against history and urban reality. Meticulously researched, this ground-breaking book is the achievement of a career of in-depth examination and interpretation of primary resources." - Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, author of Chinese Imperial City Planning
| Media | Books Hardcover Book (Book with hard spine and cover) |
| Released | March 31, 2008 |
| ISBN13 | 9780295987828 |
| Publishers | University of Washington Press |
| Pages | 420 |
| Dimensions | 152 × 229 × 30 mm · 772 g |
| Language | English |
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