Remaking Beijing – Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space - Softcover

Hung, W

4.3

27 ratings by Goodreads

9780226360799: Remaking Beijing – Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226360792 ISBN 13: 9780226360799

Publisher: Chicago University Press, 2009

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Remaking Beijing In 1949, Beijing still retained nearly all of its time-honored character and magnificence. But when Chairman Mao rejected the proposal to build a new capital for the People's Republic of China and decided to stay in the ancient city, he initiated a long struggle to transform Beijing into a shining beacon of socialism. So began the remaking of the city into a modern metropolis rife with monuments, public squares, exhibition halls, and government offices. Wu Hung grew up in Beijing and experienced much of the city's makeover firsthand. In this lavishly illustrated work, he offers a vivid, often personal account of the struggle over Beijing's reinvention, drawi...

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Review:

"Highly original. . . . The author's account of his own developing political understanding adds another perspective to his cultural studies approach and records the intellectual and poltiical history of a generation."--Delia Davin"The Times Higher Education Supplement" (11/25/2005)

"Fascinating. . . . multilayered book into which the author has woven passages of thoughtful narrative from his own experience. . . . Should help us all to think and look beyond the square."--John Gittings"The Guardian" (04/29/2006)

"At first glance, "Remaking Beijing" seems a curious mix of art history, political history, and personal reminiscences, but this first impression quickly fades and the book emerges as a compelling and well-structured whole."--Daniela Yew "Art Documentation "

"At first glance, Remaking Beijing seems a curious mix of art history, political history, and personal reminiscences, but this first impression quickly fades and the book emerges as a compelling and well-structured whole."--Daniela Yew "Art Documentation "

"Wu Hung sensitively intertwines his learned analysis with a personal account of how Tananmen influenced him and his family. He explains how the Communists decided to turn the area in front of the Forbidden City from a relatively private space into an overpowering public one."

--Jonathan Mirsky "Times Literary Supplement "

About the Author:

Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Chinese Art History and director of the Center for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago. He is also the author of numerous books, including Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, Exhibiting Experimental Art in China, and The Double Screen: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting.

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