Thresholds and Stages: Beijing's Central Political Space

Beijing’s central political space has undergone a profound shift from its imperial origins to its twentieth-century form; Beijing’s central political space changed from a set of enclosed spaces orchestrating ritual processions and thresholds into one of a central square based on spatial models from elsewhere. This shift was one of the most fundamental transformations in the history of Chinese cities, one that both maintains some degree of the nature of political power in China, and repositions it radically. The process of this change gives us a fascinating case study of the intertwined materiality of architecture and politics.