1. The Urban Revolution British archaeologist, V. Gordon Childe
Attempting to explain the emergence of cities in the ancient Middle East
And the social/cultural trends that cities therefore embodied

2. The Urban Revolution Cities State organization Social hierarchy
Extraction of surplus
Full-time specialization of labor
Writing and mathematics
Monumental architecture

3. Types of tombs from c. 3rd – 5th Centuries
Tombs (kofun)
Types of tombs
from c. 3rd – 5th
Centuries

4. 5th century tomb of Emperor Nintoku, in Sakai (near Osaka)
Tombs (kofun)
5th century tomb of Emperor Nintoku, in Sakai (near Osaka)

5. Diffusion of urban idea
T’ang dynasty of China ( A.D.) provided model for Japanese imperial capitals (and model for notions of how a complex state should be organized)
diffusion or adaptation of Chinese social, cultural, political, technological patterns

6. Diffusion of urban idea
Diffusion of pattern, rather than underlying similarities of development or process
Not an “urban revolution” in Childe’s sense, but elements of what makes a city possible are still apropos

7. Diffusion of urban idea
Took a few attempts in Japan to get it right.
Series of Chinese style capitals
Asuka
Fujiwarakyo
Nara
Heiankyo (present-day Kyoto)

8. Chang-an, capital of the T’ang dynasty
A.D.

9. Chang-an Imperial capital Cosmological significance of urban plan
Social/political structuring of capital around institutions of state, as well as cosmological significance of Imperial court

10. Plan of Fujiwarakyo (near present day Kyoto)
Early Japanese cities
Plan of Fujiwarakyo
(near present day
Kyoto)

11. Plan of Heiankyo (the present day Kyoto)
Early Japanese cities
Plan of Heiankyo
(the present day
Kyoto)

12. Tourist map of present day Kyoto)
Early Japanese cities
Tourist map
of present day
Kyoto)

13. Compare Heiankyo

14. . . . with Edo
1747 French map of Edo,
by the mapmaker Bellin