历史不一定是发展史——中国古代都城形态史的解构

History is not always a history of development:A historical deconstruction of the urban forms of ancient Chinese capitals

以往的研究认为中国古代都城城市形态的历史是一种前后相继的发展史,使用的主要研究方法就是对城市形态进行相似性比较,但这种方法在逻辑上存在根本性的问题,因此其结论是值得质疑的。基于对这一问题的研究,我们可以进一步认为,历史并不一定就是事物、事件之间有着密切联系、存在发展阶段以及变化规律可循的"发展史",而可能只是由一些不存在密切联系,只是在时间上具有先后顺序的同类对象构成的历史。

Some scholars argue that the history of the urban forms of ancient Chinese capitals is a history of development, and their major method is a comparison of the similarities of the urban forms. Because this method has some logical weaknesses, the relevant research findings are questionable. This study reveals that history is not necessarily a history of development, nor a his- tory following some laws in the changes of history with close connections between things and events; history might be constructed by unconnected things only in a chronological order.