Objective Zhenshan is an important component of China’s mountainous geographical system and an excellent product of the close integration of nature and culture in traditional Chinese landscape construction. Related to both geography and humanity, Zhenshan is a typical result of geographical imagination. The current research on Zhenshan involved the traditional Chinese state ritual system of sacrifice to mountain and water spirits has provided detailed textual research and interpretation of the concept and cultural connotations of Zhenshan. In the construction of urban landscape, urban Zhenshan is a typical cultural element that shapes urban landscape pattern. As a common phenomenon in urban and rural spaces, urban Zhenshan lacks in-depth research compared to national sacrificial Zhenshan in terms of their respective values. Therefore, there is a certain gap in the current research on Zhenshan between national sacrificial Zhenshan and urban Zhenshan. Only by fully revealing the historical evolution process of Zhenshan can a complete knowledge system and spatial cultural system of Zhenshan be constructed. Meanwhile, it is also important to explore the identification and protection of cultural resources and the establishment of a theoretical system for traditional “city – mountain” landscape construction in combination with the interpretation of the humanistic connotation of Zhenshan, the induction of the composition of the geographical spatial system of Zhenshan, and the summary of the principles for spatial order and construction of Zhenshan, natural landforms and cultural elements, which is an important way to elucidate China’s traditional natural values and promote the excellent experience of traditional spatial practice.
Methods Based on Erudition Chinese Local Chronicles Database of 6,000 volumes of chronicles spanning a period from Song Dynasty to the Republic of China, this research conducts a quantitative analysis of the historical information about Zhenshan Moreover, combined with the analysis of graphic and textual historical materials, the research sorts out historical changes in the connotation of Zhenshan’s geographical imagination, summarizes the composition of Zhenshan’s geographical spatial system, and generalizes the principles for spatial construction of urban Zhenshan.
Results Zhenshan has gone through a journey from divinity to secularity, and from nationality to locality, driven by spatial imagination such as perception and political intention in different historical periods, in the form of enduring mountains and rivers. The development of Zhenshan in China experienced political propaganda in the pre-Qin period, and during the period from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, the focus of Zhenshan shifted from propaganda to education, followed by the widespread rise of local Zhenshan after Tang Dynasty. In this process, the geographical imagination connotation of Zhenshan shows a transformation from political propaganda to political education, and from top-down to bottom-up discourse influence. With the evolution of the connotation of Zhenshan, Zhenshan in geographical space can be summarized into four levels: cosmic Zhenshan, national Zhenshan, regional Zhenshan, and urban Zhenshan. The gradual shift of Zhenshan’s focus from the universe and the world to a region and a city has formed a multi-scale and multi-level geographical spatial system. The ancients recognized such geographical characteristics of national mountains as node identification, overall context and fractal, and projected such humanistic order as patriarchal norms and ritual hierarchy thereon. The geographical spatial system of Zhenshan is a typical embodiment of the aforesaid geographical imagination of national mountains. From cosmic Zhenshan to national and regional Zhenshan, and finally to urban Zhenshan, there are cultural and political differences between Zhenshan at different levels and scales. Local Zhenshan is mostly located in branch ranges, while national Zhenshan and regional Zhenshan are mostly located in main ranges, with Kunlun serving as the home to cosmic Zhenshan, the top-level Zhenshan, thus forming a hierarchical and differentiatial recognition system of Zhenshan. The spatial construction of urban Zhenshan is a practice of constructing abstract conceptual spaces based on specific perceptual spaces at the settlement scale. According to existing local chronicles, there were a total of 299 cities in Song and Qing dynasties with their own urban Zhenshan. The spatial construction of urban Zhenshan is unified within the same political demands and cultural models, forming a certain paradigm of Zhenshan space and the “city – mountain” spatial construction principle. Meanwhile, Zhenshan is widely distributed in different terrains and landforms, forming an organic and adaptable spatial construction of Zhenshan.
Conclusion Geographical imagination under different geographical and cultural backgrounds affects the construction of different ethnic and regional spaces. Under the Western concept of nature, Westerners view nature from a functional perspective, look inward at cities, and treat nature with little humanized or poetic imagination, forming differentiated geographical imagination and spatial practice results. Chinese people, on the other hand, look outward at cities, take nature as a yardstick for political and spatial construction, and establish the “man – nature” order of cities based on natural elements. The cultural mode and spatial organization of Zhenshan have a coupling relationship, and from the perspective of geographical imagination, the connotation of Zhenshan can be deeply explored to promote the protection and inheritance of Zhenshan space and culture.
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