MANAGING HISTORIC MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPES NEAR A MODERN CITY: THE CASE OF THE BEIJING WESTERN HILLS, 1912-2012 BY ZHENG LI DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Landscape Architecture in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor D. Fairchild Ruggles, Chair Professor M. Elen Deming Associate Professor David L. Hays Professor Robert B. Olshansky Professor Emeritus Robert B. Riley Abstract During the period of 1912-2012, the Beijing Western Hills is of profound importance because at this scenic site occurred the first synthesis of the major landscape management instruments that now form Chinese public policy. From this synthesis emerged the Chinese city's modern relationship to its adjacent hillside areas in particular and China's new relationship with the natural world in general, both of which evolved over a time period of both global and national changes in technology and political philosophy. Relying on textual analysis and extensive fieldwork, the dissertation characterizes five dimensions of landscape management problems at the Western Hills in relation to the modern development of urban Beijing. These are 1) architectural and landscape design; 2) city planning; 3) hydraulic engineering; 4) forestry; and 5) cultural heritage management. These disciplinary efforts emerged as procedures and methods for solving common problems posed by the new relationship between the city and its adjacent rugged terrains, reshaping the physical landscape and leading to the institutionalization of landscape management and the professionalization of a new class of experts as seen today. While the disciplinary solutions did solve many old problems, some of them have caused new ones. The study also reveals that the Beijing Western Hills is not just a singular case, but rather it is where Chinese official ideas about landscape planning, design, and management were developed, and thus it is a crucible for evolving interpretations of the Chinese landscape and methods for managing it. All these are analyzed within a theoretical framework of modernity in order to identify potential policy and design approaches for the present. ii Acknowledgements Funds for my doctoral study and dissertation writing came from two sources. The Department of Landscape Architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) provided me tuition waivers and living stipends in the forms of fellowship, teaching assistantship, and research assistantship. Meanwhile the China Scholarship Council (CSC) awarded me a scholarship in the academic years 2009-2013, which covered my international airfares and additional living stipends. I was also fortunate to receive a few departmental awards, such as the Natalie Alpert Prize and Pauline Tilton Kennedy Fellowship. My most profound appreciation goes to my kind-hearted advisor Professor D. Fairchild Ruggles who has guided me through my doctoral study. Her breadth of knowledge, clarity of instinct, and exacting stardards have helped shape my research, which was too ambiguous and big at the beginning. Dede has so patiently facilitated my dissertation writing by correcting grammatic errors, elaborating expressions, clarifying arguments and structures, and commenting on ideas. She introduced me to the study of landscape history and theory as well as cultural heritage, encouraging me to look ahead to future studies after graduation. Dede has been the best of role models from whom I learned how to be a great scholar, teacher, and person. I would like to acknowledge my advisory committee at UIUC: M. Elen Deming, David L. Hays, and Robert B. Olshansky. Robert Riley, although retired from teaching as Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture, continued as a mentor and gave me valued advice on the field of American ordinary landscape studies. They together offered iii key insights on my topic, suggested documents I might otherwise have missed, and gave my dissertation a critical reading. I thank them for their time and interest, and their questions and ideas will continue to inspire me in the years that follow. Other faculty members at UIUC, both within and outside the department of Landscape Architecture, also generously offered intellectual stimulations and daily help. I am grateful to the staff at the Beijing Municipal Archives, the Capital Library of China, and the National Library of China, whose generous hospitality and intellectual guidance were of great help to me in the first half of the year 2013. During that crucial period of my archival research, they assisted me in searching and acquiring a great number of original documents without which my research would be incomplete and less coherent. I have also profited from coversations with others in China, including particularly Liu Xiao (刘晓)— a respected researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who shared his research and knowledge of the Sino-French University— and Li Xiong (李雄)— my former graduate advisor at the Beijing Forestry University who helped linked my doctoral research to a future career. Last but not least important, a different kind of thanks for the periods of preoccupation go to my parents— Li Aimin (李爱民) and Xu Fengji (徐凤姬)— and my wife Pei Xin (裴欣). They have accompanied me on this long journey, and I am indebted to them for their support and forbearance. I dedicate the work to them. iv Table of Contents List of Figures & Tables..........................................................................................................................vii Chronology of Beijing History & Note on Translation ...............................................................xiv 1. Introduction: The City and Its Adjacent Mountains....................................................................1 City-mountain Relationship as a Worldwide Problem..........................................................6 The State of Research on Beijing Western Hills.................................................................. 18 An Integrated Approach ............................................................................................................... 29 Concepts and Terminology.......................................................................................................... 32 Notes ................................................................................................................................................... 36 2. Ruin & Modernity: Portrait of an Imperial Landscape ........................................................... 42 Hydraulic Work............................................................................................................................... 47 Palace Garden and Battalion Camp .......................................................................................... 56 Buddhist Temples ........................................................................................................................... 64 Hillside Burial.................................................................................................................................. 69 Summary............................................................................................................................................ 74 Notes ................................................................................................................................................... 77 3. City Planning: Urban Visions of a Historic Mountain............................................................ 81 To Be a Suburb of the Municipality (1908~1928)............................................................... 82 Cultural Tourism and City Beautification (1928-1937)..................................................... 95 The Inconvenience of Culture (1937-1945).........................................................................102 Education and Industry (1945-1949)......................................................................................107 The Idea of Production (1949-1978)......................................................................................113 Displaying China to the World (1978-2012).......................................................................121 Summary..........................................................................................................................................125 Notes .................................................................................................................................................127 4. Cultural Heritage Management: Four Adaptive Uses ...........................................................133 Economic Production: Going Back to the Productivity of Land ..................................137 Modern School Campuses: Cultural Heritage and the Public Good............................145 Landscape and Human Health: Historic Sites as Sanatoria and Resorts....................155 Global Cultural Tourism: From Preservation to Restoration.........................................162 Summary..........................................................................................................................................185 Notes .................................................................................................................................................189 5. From Reforestation to Forest Tourism .......................................................................................204