Fang

Fang is a typical residential space unit in China’s feudal period. It had been called “li”, “lü”, or “lüli” since the pre-Qin period. The saying of “Fang” emerged since the Northern Wei Dynasty and had prevailed in the Tang Dynasty. Under the influence of Li-Fang system, there should be a rigid separation of the closed “Fangs” as residential wards from the markets in a city. While with the progressive disorganization of Li-Fang system since the late Tang Dynasty and the early Song Dynasty, the Fangs gradually transformed into open bar-shaped blocks till the Ming and Qing Dynasties.