ABSTRACT
In strong contrast with western cultural traditions in which speech becomes the ultimate location of meaning, the Chinese civilization strategizes on writing as the last site of cultural significance. This chapter takes the plastic force of the Chinese writing system, tentatively described as figuration, as the central power to formulate strategies of memory, and aesthetic and spatial orders in Chinese cities. From its primary surrogate as calligraphy forming an “empire of figures,” to its formation of objects of value and semantic distributions in the built environment, figuration is a unique and powerful cultural force that has shaped Chinese cities continuously.
