11-1 Applying Chinese History to the Present Day

In previous episodes, we’ve introduced several projects in China. Here, we’ll highlight preservation and restoration projects that bring China’s history to life in the present day. One is “Shanghai Xintiandi,” which emerged from China’s turbulent modern and contemporary history, and the other is a project centered on the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, built during the Tang Dynasty.

Toward the end of the Qing Dynasty, which had been weakened by the Opium War that began in 1840, the Taiping Rebellion broke out. To escape the chaos, many people fled from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to neighboring Shanghai.The foreign concessions in Shanghai—which were under the control of Western powers—found themselves in a situation where they had no choice but to accept these people, and it was at that time that the prototype of the collective housing form known as “linong” was born.A blend of traditional Chinese housing styles and British working-class housing, these Shanghai-specific liangong are recognized as a form of Chinese collective housing, alongside Beijing’s “siheyuan” and Fujian Province’s “Hakka tulou.”
In the liangong of the former French Concession—which later became Shanghai Xintiandi—the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in 1921 at the “Memorial Hall of the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party” (First Congress Site). The young Mao Zedong attended this congress as a delegate from Changsha.Incidentally, the character “Tian” (天) in “Shanghai Xintiandi” derives from the combination of the characters “Yi” (一) and “Da” (大).

The Shanghai municipal government issued a call for development proposals for this historically significant site, and Vincent Lo—a member of a wealthy family that had emigrated from Shanghai to Hong Kong during the revolution—submitted a proposal. Known in English as Vincent Lo, he had been educated in Australia and saw great potential in Shanghai, which was undergoing a dramatic transformation under Deng Xiaoping’s economic policies.
The concept behind Lo’s proposal was to preserve and revitalize the liangong in a contemporary manner, and the Shanghai municipal government selected this highly compelling proposal.This developer, who possessed both a keen business acumen and an artistic sensibility, brought to Shanghai’s Xintiandi a selection of cafés, restaurants, art shops, and live music venues with a modern Hong Kong flair, infusing the city with a contemporary Hong Kong atmosphere that also evoked a touch of modern Britain.Under Vincent Lo’s leadership, what was then Nikken Sekkei International (Singapore; an affiliated company that no longer exists) collaborated with Wood & Patta Architects on the preliminary design, while conducting meticulous on-site surveys prior to the design phase and working with the Architectural Design Research Institute of Tongji University on the detailed design.

Shanghai Xintiandi, which preserves the historic facades of the alleyways as much as possible while showing respect for the “Old City Site,” pleasantly guides visitors all the way to the farthest reaches of its central plaza—which skillfully incorporates greenery—and has become a popular district where a modern sensibility blends with a historic atmosphere. The North Block was completed in Heisei 12 (2000) and the South Block in Heisei 14 (2002). This success boosted the development potential of the entire surrounding area, leading to the successive construction of offices, hotels, and commercial facilities in the vicinity.

This successful development project, which applies Chinese history to the present day, has become famous throughout China and turned into a tourist attraction. However, today’s Shanghai Xintiandi embodies China’s turbulent history, including the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the Shanghai concessions established by Western powers, the Communist Revolution, British rule over Hong Kong and its handover to China, the Cultural Revolution, and the Communist Party’s economic growth policies.

Chang’an, which served as the capital of numerous dynasties since ancient times, is now known as Xi’an and has become the largest city in western China, with a population exceeding 8 million. Home to many tourist attractions—including the Terracotta Army created by the First Emperor of Qin—and attracting large numbers of visitors from around the world, Xi’an has continued to develop as a key city in the Chinese government’s Western Development Initiative.One of the projects currently being pursued by the city of Xi’an is a large-scale urban development project centered around the Great Ci’en Temple and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the Qujiang District in the southeastern part of the city.

When discussing the Big Wild Goose Pagoda—a major historical heritage site in China—one cannot overlook Xuanzang, who holds a historically significant position in both Chinese and Japanese Buddhism.After studying Buddhism in India for 16 years beginning in 629, Xuanzang brought a vast number of sutras back to China. Subsequently, by imperial decree of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the Great Ci’en Temple was established as a base for translating these sutras into Classical Chinese.The Great Wild Goose Pagoda, which Xuanzang is said to have helped construct, was built within the Great Ci’en Temple as a pagoda to house the sutras and was completed in 652 as a five-story structure.It was later reinforced and expanded into a seven-story pagoda in 705; in any case, as a Tang Dynasty structure—and given that very few buildings from this era remain in China—the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a vital national historical heritage site.

The Xi’an Qujiang New District, which is in charge of the development, is promoting urban development for tourism, business, and culture across the 150 hectares surrounding the Great Ci’en Temple andthe area surrounding the Great Wild Goose Pagoda to promote urban development for tourism, business, and culture. To this end, it commissioned Nikken Sekkei—which had a proven track record at Shanghai Xintiandi—to create the master plan for the Xi’an Great Wild Goose Pagoda Area Development Project and the basic plan for the Great Wild Goose Pagoda North Square, which serves as the heart of the project.The development plan proposes “Yanta South Road,” a 60-meter-wide, 1.2-kilometer-long pedestrian-oriented, landscaped boulevard extending south from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, with a key focus on how to apply the urban planning and architectural design concepts of the Tang Dynasty to the modern era.
The Great Wild Goose Pagoda North Plaza was completed in Heisei 17 (2005) as the first phase of the development plan. Located north of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, this plaza features a large body of water and serves as the “face” of the planned district, welcoming visitors approaching from the central Xi’an city area to the north.In Xi’an, a city with limited water resources, the project created a gently terraced waterscape measuring approximately 50 meters east-west by 250 meters north-south, establishing a plaza where visitors can view the Great Wild Goose Pagoda alongside its reflection on the water’s surface.

That concluded Nikken Sekkei’s proposal, but the city of Xi’an added an even more dynamic element to the plaza. This involved a nightly show featuring a synchronized display of lights, music, and fountains, held every day. The event is free, attracting large crowds day after day, and has become a major tourist attraction in Xi’an.