Ancient Salt Roads of China

Ancient Salt Roads of China is the most comprehensive book to date on the transportation routes of the ancient Chinese salt industry and offers complete coverage of extant research on the spread of the salt industry culture. It reconstructs the distribution of the salt industry and salt economy in nine salt districts and four regions (north, east, west and south) in ancient China, and analyzes the distribution of their respective salt transportation routes, covering the geographical scope of China’s 18 provinces and four municipalities directly under the Central Government. Working from this basis, it then comprehensively applies research methods from various disciplines such as architecture, history, and sociology to explore how regional culture penetrates through salt as a medium, the relationship between the outside and the inside of salt communication, and the scope of salt transportation in connection with cultural boundaries. The book offers a wealth of novel perspectives, innovative methods, and sound conclusions.

Overview of Ancient Salt Roads of China.- Ancient Salt Roads in Eastern China.- Ancient Salt Roads in Western China.- Ancient Salt Roads in Northern China.- Ancient Salt Roads in Southern China.

Kui Zhao is a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, doctoral supervisor, postdoctoral fellow of Tongji University, vice president of the Guild Hall Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, director of the Chinese Guild Hall architectural heritage conservation research center, visiting scholar at Harvard University  and the University of Florida in the United States, and a member of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). His main research areas include traditional architecture and heritage protection, ecological architecture and regional architecture. He has participated in a number of National Natural Science Foundation initiatives, published numerous books and research papers in core journals, and won many provincial and ministerial awards for design and planning projects.