Special Section Theory Studies Comparative Biography Text Studies Autobiography Studies Oral History Studies History of Biography Subject Study Film Biography Studies From Life Writers
Writing “Dreams of Splendor”: City Biography in China

Abstract: In recent years, works on cities have yielded fruitful results that can be defined as city biographies. The writing a city can be traced to the Book of Songs, capital odes of the Han Dynasty, chorography of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, The Eastern Capital of the Song Dynasty and the Menghua style of the later ages, etc. All of them fall into the category of city biography. The emergence of abundant city biographies in recent years continues this writing tradition. It is also a response to the current milieu of globalization and urbanization and is a cultural representation of social vicissitude. City Biography is a writing based on the local cultural spirit and the urban cultural identification, and has a palpable nostalgic temperament and identity appeal.


Keywords: city biography, writing practice, nostalgia, identification