Confucius’ Courtyard: Architecture, Philosophy and the Good Life in China

For more than three thousand years,  Chinese life – from the city and the imperial palace, to the temple, the  market and the family home – was configured around the courtyard. So  too were the accomplishments of China's artistic, philosophical and  institutional classes. Confucius' Courtyard tells the story of how the  courtyard – that most singular and persistent architectural form – holds  the key to understanding, even today, much of Chinese society and  culture.

Part architectural history, and part introduction to the  cultural and philosophical history of China, the book explores the  Chinese view of the world, and reveals the extent to which this is  inextricably intertwined with the ancient concept of the courtyard, a  place and a way of life which, it appears, has been almost entirely  overlooked in China since the middle of the 20th century, and in the  West for centuries. Along the way, it provides an accessible  introduction to the Confucian idea of zhongyong ('the Middle Way'), the  Chinese moral universe and the virtuous good life in the absence of an  awesome God, and shows how these can only be fully understood through  the humble courtyard – a space which is grounded in the earth, yet open  to the heavens.

Erudite, elegant and illustrated throughout by  the author's own architectural drawings and sketches, Confucius'  Courtyard weaves together architecture, philosophy and cultural history  to explore what lies at the very heart of Chinese civilization.