Sacred Landscapes of Imperial China: Astronomy, Feng Shui, and the Mandate of Heaven (1st ed. 2020)

Synopsis

This book analyses the magnificent imperial necropolises of ancient China from the perspective of Archaeoastronomy, a science which takes into account the landscape in which ancient monuments are placed, focusing especially but not exclusively on the celestial aspects. The power of the Chinese emperors was based on the so-called Mandate of Heaven: the rulers were believed to act as intermediaries between the sky gods and the Earth, and consequently, the architecture of their tombs, starting from the world-famous mausoleum of the first emperor, was closely linked to the celestial cycles and to the cosmos. This relationship, however, also had to take into account various other factors and doctrines, first the Zhao-Mu doctrine in the Han period and later the various forms of Feng Shui. As a result, over the centuries, diverse sacred landscapes were constructed. Among the sites analysed in the book are the “pyramids” of Xi’an from the Han dynasty, the mountain tombs of the Tang dynasty, and the Ming and Qing imperial tombs. The book explains how considerations such as astronomical orientation and topographical orientation according to the principles of Feng Shui played a fundamental role at these sites.

Copyright:

2020

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9783030493240

Related ISBNs:

9783030493233

Publisher:

Springer International Publishing

Date of Addition:

11/06/20

Copyrighted By:

Springer

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Science, Art and Architecture, Home and Garden, Social Studies

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.