Analysis of the spatial coupling of handicraft workshops in Chinese capitals before Qin and Han dynasties

Abstract

The ancient capital of China is an important materialized carrier for ancient civilizations. Nowadays, the ancient Chinese capital lacks attention to the secularized space in the capital, especially the space related to the handicraft production. In addition, whether or not the space division method of the ancient urban planning land use can be measured by the spatial division theory of modern urban planning is an issue worthy of discussion. This research is based on archeological reports and the latest progress in archaeology. It targets different types of handicraft workshops in 18 ancient capitals from Three Dynasties (i.e. Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties) to Qin and Han Dynasties in China. The properties, scales, and location distribution of the workshops (including suspected relics) and other types of space are carried on the statistics and integrated application of multi-analysis methods, such as architectural spatial analysis and archeological database quantitative analysis. It also explores characteristics of handicraft workshops in different industries, including the spatial composition, distribution sites, spatial coupling and long-term spatial evolution. Meanwhile, it extracts the space land composition and attribute features, structural elements, distribution locus, planning methods, and the interaction process with other spaces. By the covariation analysis, the relationship between the evolution of inner space structure and civilization in the ancient capitals of China is put forward. The study has found: