Objective The current research on Shengjing City (today’s Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China) mainly focuses on fields such as architecture, urban history, planning history, landscape science and folklore, and the issues of interest include urban spatial patterns, morphological changes, landscape construction, influence of multi-ethnic integration on urban development, etc. However, there is scant research on the cultural landscape in historical periods from the perspective of the science of human settlement. Moreover, due to the lack of official historical materials on Shengjing City in the late Qing Dynasty, the research on Shengjing City seldom involves this historical period. The early Guangxu period marked the final stage of the feudal monarchy. As the secondary capital then, Shengjing was on the eve of the collapse of the old order. The book Shenyang Baiyong written in the fourth year of the Guangxu period can serve as a historical snapshot. It explores the cultural landscapes and the urban spatial changes of Shengjing City, which remained an imperial secondary capital under the external changes of the late Qing Dynasty, from the perspective of the science of human settlement, and is of great significance for filling the gap in the research on the cultural landscape in Shengjing City in the late Qing Dynasty.

Methods This research uses methods such as text mining analysis, spatial-temporal geographical analysis, and historical geospatial analysis to quantitatively analyze the types of cultural landscapes described by Miao Runfu in Shenyang Baiyong, as well as the spatio-temporal information of these cultural landscapes, and to explore their distribution patterns. Specifically, the research firstly uses the ROST CM6 content mining system to extract high-frequency characters from the poems in Shenyang Baiyong through text mining analysis, and categorizes these high-frequency characters based on the nature of activities in cultural landscapes, spatial locations of these landscapes, and historical and cultural characteristics of Shengjing City. Then, based on the theory of spatio-temporal geography, the research analyzes the cultural landscapes depicted in Shenyang Baiyong on an annual basis, and presents the distribution patterns of cultural landscapes in Shengjing City over time in the form of Sankey diagram. Moreover, a geospatial analysis is conducted using ArcGIS software, and a kernel density analysis is conducted on different types of cultural landscapes in Shengjing City to explore their spatial distribution patterns. Additionally, by comparing the urban spaces described in Shenyang Baiyong with those recorded in the official documents from the early and middle Qing Dynasty, the research illustrates the characteristics of urban landscapes in Shengjing City during Guangxu period.

Results The cultural landscapes in Shengjing City are classified into 4 primary types and 15 secondary types. A visual analysis of the temporal distribution characteristics of cultural landscapes conducted using Sankey diagrams reveals that the cultural landscapes in Shengjing City follow the overall pattern of seasonal agricultural cycles, and are influenced by festival folklore. A kernel density analysis conducted using ArcGIS reveals significant differences in the spatial distribution of different types of cultural landscapes, which are generally concentrated in the area between the outer city wall and the inner city wall. The density of landscapes in the north of the city is higher than that in the south, and activities are distributed along the line from Xiaoxiguan Street to Xiaodongguan Street in the northern part of the city, suggesting that this east-west road traversing Shengjing City was an important space for activities of residents during Guangxu period. Changes in the level of attention to the four types of urban spaces, namely, spaces for capital construction, spaces for local government offices, spaces for religious customs and living spaces for the Banner people and commoners, and changes in the distribution kernel density of the city indicate that the official power spaces in Shengjing City had faded out of the lives of local residents by that time, while the civil spaces continued to develop, with the population constantly expanding, the commerce thriving, and the beliefs diversifying. However, due to the special status of the Banner people in Qing Dynasty, the nobles and aristocrats lived in the inner city, while the Banner people lived in the outer city. The Shengjing society depicted by Miao Runfu still consisted mainly of the banner people with prosperous and diversified living spaces. It is found that by the early Guangxu period, the influence of the royal family had gradually weakened, with Shengjing City transitioning from a capital city to a secondary capital, and then to an awkward situation at the end of Qing Dynasty when the Qing government was preoccupied with internal and external troubles, accompanied by the declining political status of Shengjing City. However, from an urban perspective, the population, economy, and culture of Shengjing City continued to grow richer, making it gradually develop into a local center city with Manchu characteristics.

Conclusion Due to the lack of official historical records, the research on the cultural landscapes in Shengjing City in the late Qing Dynasty has long been in a state of blank. Shenyang Baiyong to some extent compensates for the insufficiency of historical materials, providing a basis for analyzing the cultural landscapes in Shengjing City in the early Guangxu period. The in-depth exploration of Shenyang Baiyong fills the gap in the research on the cultural landscapes in Shengjing City in the late Qing Dynasty, which can provide new insights for the research on Shengjing City and a reference for subsequent analysis of the cultural landscape pattern of Shengjing City through poetry.