Abstract

Chinese and Western spatial thought has tried to understand space differently
from the body’s perspective. There are some similarities between ancient Chinese and
Western spatial thought in understanding the relationship between body and space; both
position the body as a coordinated structure or as the basic logic of spatial composition.
However, since the 20th century, this shared understanding of the “unity of heaven and
man” has been gradually replaced by the modern urbanist concept of separating body
and space. A comparison of the concept of “body” embedded in Chinese and Western
spatial thought should use the chronological development of concepts to explore the
intersection of ideas developed in parallel processes between the two. The comparison
shows that the differences between ancient Chinese and ancient Western spatial thought
on the body are manifest in three aspects: different objects of concern, different awareness
of problems, and different influences on later generations.

Keywords Spatial thought, Body concepts, Comparative study, Body and space