The temporal and spatial changes in official facilities in Dali under the bureaucratization of native officers

• Published in: Journal of Asian architecture and building engineering pp. 1 - 21
• Main Authors: Bai, Xiaohe, Li, Yonggu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 11.09.2024
• Subjects: chinese cultural circle; city setting; constructing landscape; landscape history; urban history
• ISSN: 1346-7581; 1347-2852
• DOI: 10.1080/13467581.2024.2399691

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the bureaucratization of native officers led to a more systematic expansion of Chinese official facilities in frontier areas, resulting in large-scale changes in the local landscape. This expansion is a distinct chapter in the history of ancient urban construction. For the Dali region, where the central government took the lead during the Ming dynasty, this paper compares the construction history of defense, administration, rituals, and education in different periods and discusses changes of Chinese official facilities in the context of the bureaucratization of native officers. The results show the following: 1. The primary concern of the appointed officials was to establish cities and create safe and stable strongholds to demonstrate the authority of the center. 2. The official facilities of administration, sacrifice, and education are all around the official controlled road. In addition, they gradually extended to various areas to control Dali. 3. Through the building of administrative facilities to implement central control, sacrificial facilities to achieve ideological infiltration and educational facilities to implement basic education development, Dali gradually converged with the Central Plains. 4. The political strategy of the appointed officials toward Dali was as follows: build offices – schools -walls – temples.