What lies beneath the enduring charm of West Lake? This volume reveals how this iconic Hangzhou landscape evolved from a swamp into a public space and, ultimately, a powerful cultural symbol. Through new interdisciplinary research, it reframes West Lake within long-term landscape formation, showing how interactions between people and nature shaped its preservation, aesthetics, and commodification. Chapters uncover overlooked histories--from water myth to dredging, from material culture to global reception--demonstrating how West Lake became a place where knowledge, art, and identity were continually remade.
This book offers a fresh model for landscape and place studies in China and the broader East Asian cultural sphere.