Rethinking Space and Power in East Asia: Digital Approaches to the History of Infrastructure. (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Weerdt, Hilde; Huei-Lan, Xiong; Jialong, Liu
• Is Part Of: Ming studies. Number 81(2020)
• Page Start: 76
• Page End: 87
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: material infrastructure -- digital history -- city walls -- Henan -- Shaanxi -- Guangdong -- local gazetteers; China -- History -- Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 -- Periodicals; China -- Civilization -- 960-1644 -- Periodicals; 951.02605
• DOI: 10.1080/0147037X.2020.1736862
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0147-037X

Abstract

Abstract : In this report we briefly introduce the rationale behind a pilot project that is meant to serve as a test case for the feasibility of a longue-durée historical investigation of large-scale material infrastructures. The larger project is aimed at a critical analysis of how large-scale infrastructures such as roads, city walls, and bridges have contributed to regional and empire-wide integration, but equally why and how processes of integration regularly broke down, and how large-scale infrastructure projects contributed to countervailing trends including local tension, local autonomy, and cross-border regional formations.