Historical sensing: the spatial pattern of soundscape occurrences recorded in poems between the Tang and the Qing Dynasties amid urbanization

Urban heritage encompasses the social, cultural, and economic aspects that are valuable to humanity. It is shaped by historical values and the accumulation of traditions and experiences arising from various cultures (UNESCO 2011). There are three main categories of urban heritage: (1) Monumental sites of special cultural value, which are often recognized as landmarks or important historical sites; examples include iconic buildings, monuments, and UNESCO World Heritage sites. (2) Common sites that coordinate with the urban landscape and are gathering places or community meeting points; they may include squares, parks, or public spaces that serve as important social hubs. (3) New urban elements that are recent additions to the urban fabric, including modern architectural forms, open spaces between buildings, or urban infrastructure such as green spaces, water bodies, and road networks (EC et al. 2004).

Urban cultural heritage can be illustrated through three key dimensions: physical form, cultural and historical associations, and vitality (Farrelly et al. 2019). Physical form refers to the visible structures and physical characteristics of urban heritage, including buildings, monuments, public spaces, and infrastructure. The physical form shapes the visual landscape and architectural character of a city. In addition, urban heritage is rich in cultural and historical associations that give it meaning and significance. These associations may include stories, traditions, events, or historical narratives attached to specific sites, buildings, or places within the urban environment. The vitality of urban heritage refers to the energy, activity, and vibrancy found within it. It is about the living, breathing aspect of heritage that engages people and creates a sense of connection and attachment. Vitality can be seen in the cultural events, festivals, markets, or vibrant communities that bring life to urban heritage. These dimensions of urban heritage capture our interests and sensations, encouraging people to engage with and experience it. Therefore, urban heritage holds immense significance for society, culture, and the economy. It serves as a cornerstone of spiritual culture, fostering a profound sense of identity among local inhabitants. It also functions as a captivating emblem for external visitors, offering channels for exploration and consumption. The discovery and preservation of urban heritage foster a collective sense of identity and pride among residents and contribute to the continuity and enjoyment of cultural legacy for both local communities and visitors.

Much cultural heritage exists in tangible or intangible ways in urban forests (Svensson 2006; Ahmad 2006). They are usually distributed in the boundaries of cities and are closely connected with the natural environment (the river valley flowing through cities, the adjacent fields and forests, etc.) (Safiullin et al. 2014; Hong et al. 2023; Li et al. 2023). In urban forests, the regional culture can be perceived through cultural heritage, which is an important attribute for visiting tourists (Chen et al. 2019; Deng et al. 2010). Urban forests are ideal places for citizens to live, work, and improve their quality of life (Pang and Ni 2018). Owing to one of the main features of urban forests—beautiful landscapes and subtle soundscapes—that distinguish them from the built environment, citizens prefer to escape from cities to urban forests to seek peace and tranquility (Tyrväinen et al. 2007). This has led to the prosperity of urban forest tourism as one of the most dynamic economic drivers (Liu et al. 2019). Urban forests provide the following benefits: social, aesthetic, architectural, climatic, physical, ecological, and economic (Paletto et al. 2017). Therefore, urban forests, as important places for the public to engage with nature, culture, and history, can provide more recreational services for citizens.

Cultural heritage is “the expression of the way of life produced from social development and passed down across generations” (Brooks 2002). Soundscapes are also recognized as part of cultural heritage, and their value is assessed as an important component of the recreational function of urban forests (Rolfe and Windle 2015). Soundscapes positively impact human health but are ephemeral and transient (Aletta et al. 2018; Kato 2009; Kato 2007; Hong 2022). The soundscape heritage, which includes any sound produced by human activity or manipulating objects, is considered a direct reflection of the ancient built environment and is specifically linked to certain spaces (Parker and Spennemann 2022). Therefore, the “sounds of the past” are considered intangible cultural heritage, also referred to as ‘aural heritage’ (El-Khateeb and Ismail 2007). Excavating the soundscape of the past can provide us with opportunities to understand the acoustic environment of this land in the past. Moreover, we can reproduce these soundscapes through various technological means, enhancing people’s interactivity with the environment and their auditory experiences, thereby promoting the protection and improvement of historical soundscapes.

Fuzhou, situated on the southeast coast of China, boasts a rich history and a high-quality ecological environment. However, the city has faced challenges in preserving its cultural heritage amidst rapid development in recent years. Urban construction often encroaches on heritage sites, while land development impacts the ecological environment. This conflict has led to the gradual erosion of Fuzhou’s unique cultural characteristics. Recognizing these challenges, the Fuzhou Municipal Government has recently begun emphasizing the importance of cultural heritage in urban planning, marketing, and communication. The goal is to foster a harmonious relationship between humans and their environment by promoting local culture and enhancing the city’s historical and cultural ambiance. Fuzhou’s experience is not unique; many cities in China are experiencing similar issues as they undergo rapid urbanization. Therefore, this study aims to examine Fuzhou’s urban cultural heritage through case studies, shedding light on the historical significance of its soundscapes. Doing so offers a replicable research methodology that can be applied to cultural research and conservation efforts in other regions.

The primary objective of this study is to rediscover and reassess the vitality of Fuzhou’s urban culture concerning heritage conservation and urban regeneration while offering theoretical backing and case analyses for urban planning departments and marketing organizations. This research is significant in its potential to supplement methodological approaches in analogous studies and advance theoretical frameworks and practical applications within global urban research contexts. Given this prerequisite, this research will explore ancient people’s sense of the environment in poetized locales, which can be derived from ancient poems and hold historical research value. Furthermore, this study proposes a new concept—historical sensing—based on social sensing to analyze the experiences and feelings of poets during their visits to monuments or resorts. The distribution of urban heritage will be examined through historical materials to observe the tendencies of poets in different poetized locales by dynasty. The difficulties in this research are as follows: (1) a large number of ancient poems are scattered and difficult to collect; (2) the number of surviving poems varies from dynasty to dynasty, making it difficult to compare them longitudinally; (3) professional dictionaries are needed to translate ancient poems due to differences in language expressions; (4) some descriptions in poems may differ from the actual situation, so interpretation is necessary to determine the authenticity of the poet’s depiction of the place; and (5) the names and locations described in poems may not align with their present names and locations, requiring confirmation through other ancient documents or research findings.

Soundscape in poems

Previous research has explored various historical aspects of soundscape memories. For example, scholars have studied the bustles and prosperity brought by the sounds of vehicles during the Industrial Revolution, the frightening and chilling sirens before air raids in World War II, and the laughter, singing, and bird chirping recalled by adults. These soundscapes, tied to specific historical events and memories, are connected with human emotions and can evoke strong feelings (Tokgöz et al. 2019; Liu and Kang 2016; Mao et al. 2022). There are also historical soundscapes, such as the hawking of vendors, the huckstering of paperboys, and the bell ringing of church bells, that help people understand the impact of social transformation and the development of urban planning (Sharma 2021; Fahmy 2016; Parker and Spennemann 2022; Liu et al. 2019). People can evaluate a city’s historical and cultural heritage based on their own soundscape experiences (Zhang and Xu 2020; Masullo et al. 2020). When these soundscapes match their related heritage, the recognized cultural value of both can be enhanced (Parker and Spennemann 2022). Similar to urban landmarks, a community-focused soundscape can help shape the identity of the local group (della Dora 2021; Yelmi 2016). Therefore, the soundscape can be regarded as a component of cultural heritage that arouses people’s memories, as it carries the behaviors and activities of humans, expressing special sentiments and meanings. (Mao et al. 2022; Jia et al. 2020).

Similarly, scholars have examined urban soundscapes through literary works to delve into cities’ social and auditory aesthetics. Chambers (2023) utilized the novel “Convenience Store Woman” as a case study, highlighting the significant influence of urban soundscapes on human sensory perception. Taylor et al. (2018) analyzed historical texts from England’s Lake District and employed geographic text analysis to explore how soundscapes are depicted in the literature. They argue that sound can offer a novel way of experiencing landscapes, indirectly enabling the public to perceive physically concealed areas and encouraging people to put themselves in the context between sound sources and landscapes, thereby obtaining a deeper sense of belonging (Taylor 2018). Shephard and Rice (2023) examined the soundscapes of the streets of Renaissance Naples through Giovanni Pontano’s extensive dialogue “Antonius,” encompassing hubbub, official sounds, and public performances. Their study revealed that street soundscapes in the literature can mirror implicit elements such as power, status, and gender across social classes. Huang (2023) revealed that Yusef Komunyakaa’s poetry soundscapes illuminate prevalent social issues in American society, including racial inequality and gender bias. He posits that soundscapes crafted by privileged classes exert oppressive forces on marginalized groups, while those crafted by marginalized groups serve as tools for resistance and healing aimed at dismantling soundscape imperialism. In summary, extracting soundscapes from literary works for research purposes is a common scholarly practice. Nonetheless, many scholars fail to establish connections between the soundscapes depicted in the literature, contemporary urban development and the preservation of historical and cultural heritage.

Historical and cultural heritage in poems and maps

In China, numerous scenic areas contain historical and cultural heritage related to locales in literary works. Poems are often used to enhance the visibility and reputation of these scenic areas. Currently, most spatial analyses of urban heritage based on poems are performed on a single case. Treatises related to this topic investigate the conservation status, visitors’ sensing, and management measures for actual cases. However, there is relatively little research on the past and present distribution, conservation, value excavation, etc., of urban heritage based on textual and pictorial sources such as poems, prose, and ancient maps. The ancient collections of poems and prose that have been passed down over time help explore the structural value of urban heritage and reveal the role of poems in heritage tourism as well as regional cultural diversity (Yu and Xu, 2019). A poem’s vast amount of temporal and spatial information can also help people understand complex spatial structures and guide tourists to appreciate cultural heritage, creating a poetic experience beyond the poems themselves (Zhang et al. 2021; Yu and Xu 2016; Yu and Xu 2018). With the growth of heritage tourism and literary tourism, poems can not only recreate the construction of cultural landscapes but also play an important role in the revival of urban heritage and the construction of the image of tourist attractions (Xi et al. 2022; Torabi Farsani et al. 2018; Lin et al. 2020).

Furthermore, materials such as ancient maps contain information about the scale, layout, and construction of ancient cities, providing detailed evidence for the evolution, vicissitude, and revitalization of urban heritage (Zhang and Lian 2021; Tuo and Li 2022; Liu et al. 2022). Historic and cultural sites in cities are closely related to the sounds generated by human activity. Therefore, the areas where cultural relics and historic sites are concentrated are also key fields of soundscape research (Mu et al. 2022). The systematic collection of ancient maps helps to fully reconstruct a region’s historical and environmental characteristics, and it can effectively determine which areas today are the focal points for the preservation of its historical and cultural heritage. Simultaneously, numerous ancient place names within research areas are conserved in both ancient maps and poems. Alterations in these place names can effectively reveal significant historical events across various regions and illuminate the communal culture of these locales (Perono Cacciafoco and Cavallaro 2023; Choi and Wong 2018; Cole and Hart 2021). Furthermore, ancient place names are regarded as vital components of landscape elements, exerting an influence on the reflection of cultural significance concerning the local identity, memory, and comprehension of the soundscape environment (Light and Young 2015). However, currently, with the expansion and development of cities and increasing noise pollution, a growing number of historic soundscapes, especially in urban areas, are slowly dying out and remaining only in textual form in ancient documents. In this context, the excavation of soundscape heritage based on poems becomes the focus of this research.

Social sensing and historical sensing

This research will use the term “historical sensing” to represent the feelings of the poetized locales and sounds in poems. However, “social sensing” should be defined before defining historical sensing. Social sensing consists of two aspects: perceiving the real world and noticing and reacting accordingly. Sensing includes context awareness and group awareness. Context awareness refers to cognition of the surrounding material environment, while group awareness refers to cognition of the social environment (Wang and Lu 2002). Human temporal-spatial behavioral characteristics can be extracted from social sensing data in three aspects: (1) affection and cognition for the geographical environment; (2) movement and activity in geographical space; and (3) social relationships among individuals (Liu, 2016).

Today, the vast amount of personal and public data available on the internet allows researchers to study the social sensing of individuals or groups with the development of digital technology (Guo et al. 2022). In this context, a new term, “computational social science,” has emerged, which aims to understand the social sensing of individuals, organizations, and societies through the collection and analysis of big data, thus allowing for a better understanding social systems (Pentland 2005; Lazer et al. 2009; Galesic et al. 2021). The application of social sensing to geographical and spatial analyses is still in its infancy. In the era of big data, social sensing data can come from multiple sources, including social platforms, online maps, and mobile signaling. These data, such as points of interest (POIs), records semantic information about users’ locations, namely, the type, name, and geographical coordinates (longitude, latitude), and can provide researchers with datasets for analyzing geographic and spatial characteristics (Chen et al. 2018). In contrast, in ancient times, sophisticated technological conditions and public platforms for social-perceptual data collection were absent, hindering the reflection of a place’s characteristics, emotions, and attributes through certain mediums. Nonetheless, most historical texts were dispersed across various artworks or ancient books and were only consolidated into collections by contemporary scholars. This consolidation provides a foundational resource for investigating the historical functions of these places. Hence, we assert that exploring past places or social environments is essentially a form of cultural archaeology that enables the recreation of a certain area’s sense of place. Through longitudinal surveys of historical texts relating to an area, we can discern the difference between the historical perceptions of ancient people and those of the present day.

Combined with the above review, there are few studies on the status quo of historical, cultural heritage, and human soundscapes in urban green spaces from the perspective of poetry. Most studies have focused on improving tourists’ satisfaction and experience and enhancing regional cultural connotations (Liu et al. 2018; Wu et al. 2021; Ge et al. 2013). Therefore, this research aims to analyze the following: (1) the vegetation coverage in the past and present at the site of the poem; (2) the preference of poets during different dynasties to describe soundscapes; (3) the tendencies of poets in different poetized locales; and (4) the conservation of poetized locales (urban heritage) and soundscape heritage.

Geographical text analysis

Literary works represent and memorize various experiences in geographic space while constructing the sociocultural meanings of places and lands, allowing literary works to impact place and regional identities through literary discourse (Juvan 2015). Currently, most Chinese poetry research applications are qualitative and lack data mining, visualization, and GIS analysis (Qian 2020). This study uses a geographical text analysis (Donaldson et al. 2017) to investigate ancient people’s tendencies to travel and their soundscape preferences in poems (Wang and Lu 2002; Taylor et al. 2018).

Study area

Fuzhou, Fujian Province, located on the southeast coast of China, is a famous historical and cultural city with 2,200 years of history. During the 44^th session of the World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou, the “Fuzhou Declaration” emphasized the significance of cultural heritage to humanity. This urged the public to recognize the challenges to world heritage posed by the excessive development and utilization of natural and cultural resources (UNESCO 2021). Indeed, in recent years, the expansion and development of Fuzhou city have led to the destruction of numerous historical and cultural heritage sites. Once vibrant, cultural places are now forgotten or unnoticed by both residents and visitors, giving way to extensive modern urban residential and commercial developments. Therefore, conducting thorough research on urban heritage helps implement the principles of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, specifically “identification, protection, conservation, presentation, and transmission.” The Fuzhou Declaration contributes to essential strategic support for the sustainable development of urban cultural diversity.

Fuzhou includes 6 districts, 6 counties, and 1 county-level city, with a total area of 12,000 km², a built-up area of 416 km², an urbanization rate of 72.5%, and a forest coverage rate of 58.41%. Fuzhou is a typical estuarine basin, with the overall terrain configuration being high in the northwest and low in the southeast (Lin et al. 2022). Mountains and hills account for 72.68% of the total territorial area, including 32.41% of mountainous land and 40.27% of hilly land (Fig. 1). Just as an ancient proverb goes, “Three mountains hide (Zhi Mountain, Luo Mountain, Min Mountain), three mountains appear (Pingshan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Wushan Mountain), three mounts can’t be seen here (Ling Mountain, Dingwu Hill, Zhong Mountain).” Fuzhou city is surrounded by mountains: Kushan Mountain (919.1 meters) in the east, Qi Mountain (820 meters) in the west, Wuhu Mountain (700 meters) in the south, and Lianhua Peak (605.3 meters) in the north. This study area contains Gulou District, Taijiang District, Cangshan District, and Jin’an District in Fuzhou.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Historically and culturally, since the city was founded in the 5th year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (202 BC), it was called Minzhou until it was renamed Fuzhou in the 13th year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty; Fuzhou is still used as its name today. By the Song Dynasty, Fuzhou had entered a golden period of economic and cultural prosperity and had become one of the six major cities in China. The construction of Fuzhou city went through six successive phases: Yecheng (named after Ye Hill), Zicheng (inner subcity), Luocheng (outer irregular circular walls), Jiacheng (sandwiching the Luocheng on both sides), Waicheng and Fucheng. After the expansion during the Five Dynasties, the walls of the city enclosed Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Pingshan Mountain (As shown in Fig. 2a–e). There were seven towers in Fuzhou historically, but only the Wu Tower and Bai Tower remain today. Therefore, Fuzhou is also known as Sanshan, the “Three Mounts” in Chinese, and the iconic landscape of Fuzhou is called “Three Mounts and Two Towers.” Currently, Fuzhou remains a legacy of 24 historic districts and 70 historic architectures, including representations of the prosperity of Fuzhou’s modern culture, such as the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys Historic and Cultural Area, the Mawei Shipping Cultural Ruins, and the Yantai Mountain Historical Area, as well as representations of the profundity of ancient monastic culture, such as Yongquan Temple, Xichan Temple, Hualin Temple, and Jinshan Temple. In addition, many historic and cultural figures, such as Zhou Pu, Fu Ruzhou, Xie Zhaozhe, Zheng Shanfu, and other ancient poets, as well as Lin Zexu, Shen Baozhen, Yan Fu, Chen Baochen and other modern officials, have emerged in Fuzhou in ancient and modern times.

a Han dynasty, b Jin dynasty, c Tang dynasty, d Liang dynasty, and e Song dynasty (Wang, 2002). Sources: the ancient maps are from the book of Wang (2002).

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Classification of the inner city, suburb, and exurb in ancient times in Fuzhou city

Given the fluctuating city scope across various dynasties, it is necessary to employ ancient texts to delineate the city boundaries of Fuzhou during the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. This process facilitates the identification of the city center, enabling the boundary of ancient Fuzhou into its suburbs, exurbs, and inner city to be delineated. Additionally, this process allows the travel range preferences among ancient citizens to be explored by analyzing ancient poems. The historical extent of Fuzhou city in ancient times can be outlined as follows:

During the Western Jin Dynasty, the marsh and sandbar areas in the ancient bay of northern Fuzhou gradually increased due to a continuous decline in the sea level (Lin 2008). Yan Gao, the Taishou (governor), used soil from the southern extension of the sandbar to build a Zicheng (subcity) and dug the Great Hangqiao River outside the Hujie Gate by artificially dredging the trench of Zicheng and the canal (Zang 2020). From the Jin Dynasty to the middle of the Tang Dynasty, due to the flourishing economy and booming population of Fuzhou, the inspector Zheng Yi built walls in the southeastern corner of Fuzhou city. After the walls were constructed, the area of Zicheng was much larger than that of the old one, with row upon row of yamen (civil service department). The site of the former Yecheng of the Han Dynasty was later rebuilt into a football court (Zhang and Xu 2020). There were six gates in Fuzhou city during this period: the Hujie Gate, Anding Gate, Kangtai Gate, Fengle Gate, Yixing Gate, and Qingtai Gate (Chen et al. 2020).

From the end of the Tang Dynasty on, many citizens moved out of the Zicheng to settle. Due to the continuous expansion of Fuzhou city during the Tang Dynasty, outside the Zicheng, Wang Shenzhi built an irregular circular wall named Luocheng, which is approximately 1.8 km from east to west and 1.7 km from north to south, to “Defend the Fuzhou and Raise our people” (Liu 2006). The new wall embraced the commanding height of Ye Hill to the north, the residential and commercial area south of the Dahangqiao River to the south, the vicinity of today’s Gaofeng Bridge to the west, and the vicinity of today’s Fujian Provincial Hospital. By this time, Fuzhou had an inner and outer wall in the Tang dynasty. The inner city was the residence of princes and nobles, while the outer city was the area for civilian residences and commercial and economic activities (Wu 2008). There were eight gates in Fuzhou city during this period, namely, the Lishe Gate, Haiyan Gate, Tongjin Gate, Yanyuan Gate, Yongan Gate, Shanhua Gate, Qingyuan Gate, and Anshan Gate (Chen et al. 2020).

In the 2^nd year of Kaiping of the Liang Dynasty (908 A.D.), Wang Shenzhi decided to build the Jiacheng, expanding the city from the north of Luocheng to the Yansheng Gate and Yiai Gate on the eastern foot of Pingshan Mountain, and from the south of Luocheng to the Ningyue Gate, now known as Nanmendou (Fuzhou Urban and Rural Construction Chronicle Compilation Committee 1995).

Due to the constant wars in Fujian Province after the death of Wang Shenzhi, the governor of Fuzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty, Qian Yu, built additional walls based on the southeastern wall of the Jiacheng from the Liang Dynasty to strengthen its defenses. The expansion extends to the Tangjing Gate in the northeast, the Hesha Gate in the south, the Tongxian Gate in the southeast, the Xingchun Gate in the east, and the Yishan Gate in the west (Zhang and Xu 2020). After the Song Dynasty, the walls of Fuzhou city were destroyed and rebuilt several times. The prefecture chief, Cheng Shimeng, restored the Zicheng and expanded the west gate to the intersection of Wuhu Road and Hubin Road (Zhang 2008). However, the walls of Fuzhou city were demolished once again after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty.

The walls of Fuzhou city in the Ming Dynasty were rebuilt on the foundation of the Jiacheng and Waicheng. The city walls reached Pingshan Mountain in the north, as well as Yushan Mountain and Wushan Mountain in the south. The east, west, and south sides of the walls were restored according to the ruins of the walls during the Song Dynasty. After the walls were restored during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the number of gates around the city increased to seven (Fuzhou Urban and Rural Construction Chronicle Compilation Committee 1995). They included the Ningyue Gate in the south, near the present-day Nanmendou; the Shuibu Gate in the Southeast, near today’s intersection of Wuyi Road and Fuxin Road; the Xingchun Gate in the east, near the interchange of Dongda Road, Tatou Road, and Liuyi Road; the Tangjing Gate, near the intersection of today’s Yongan Street, Wenquan Branch Road, and Wenquan Road; the Jinglou Gate, located in the mid-posterior section of present-day Liuyi North Road to the south; the Yiai Gate in the north, built in the Liang Dynasty, near the intersection of today’s Hualin Road, Beida Road and Tongpan Road; and the Yingxian Gate in the west, near the present-day interchange of Guxi Road, Xihong Road and Baima Road. During more than 200 years of the Qing Dynasty, the walls of Fuzhou city underwent several renovations, but their spatial extent did not change much from the walls of the Ming Dynasty (Fig. 3a). After the Revolution of 1911, the walls of Fuzhou city were gradually dismantled to develop transportation (The Annals of Fuzhou Compilation Committee 1998) (Fig. 3b, c). Today, some ruins of Fuzhou city’s walls are distributed in the vicinity of Wushan Mountain and Yushan Mountain, which has provided a valuable basis for the study of changes in the walls of Fuzhou city.

a View of Fuzhou, c.1670-c.1700; b city map of the capital of Fujian Province; c China, East Coast City of Fu-chou (Min-Hou). Sources: the ancient maps are from Anonymous (1670), Hu (1860) and O.S.S. (1994).

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In summary, it can be seen that the urban area of Fuzhou was very small during the Han Dynasty and grew significantly after local officials used the canal to develop the city’s transportation network during the Tang Dynasty. The scale of Fuzhou city was the largest during the Song Dynasty, while the urban area decreased during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the walls retreating to the edges of Wushan Mountain and Yushan Mountain. It is noteworthy that although the urban area has changed, there have also been numerous residential buildings for civilians built outside the walls of Fuzhou city in modern China. Due to the expansion of ports during the late Qing Dynasty, Fuzhou became a distribution center for bulk commodities. Therefore, the district of the southern extension of the central axis of Fuzhou city, namely, the present Taijiang district, has become a stable commercial and economic center. This leads to separation of the economic center from the political center in terms of the spatial pattern (Liu 2007).

Based on the above information, the extent of the urban district, inner suburb, and outer suburb of ancient Fuzhou city needs to be defined. First, the definition of the outer suburbs is determined according to Daniel’s definition (commute time ≥ 25 min) (Daniels 1999). Second, the QGIS was used to overlap the extent of the urban district of Fuzhou city through all past dynasties. The center of the urban district is located in the vicinity of the Hujie Gate in the Tang Dynasty and the Huanzhu Gate in the Song Dynasty, that is, the intersection of present-day Bayiqi Road, Yangqiao Road, and Dongjiekou. Considering that transportation in ancient times was inefficient and that horse-drawn carriages were the main vehicle, an isochronous circle of less than 25 min is determined by drawing a circle with the center of the urban district as the center of the circle and a horse-drawn carriage traveling for 25 min at a speed of 6 km/h (the lowest speed) as the radius (Dimitriou 1995; Chen 2013). As shown in Fig. 4, the area enclosed by the walls of Fuzhou city is roughly considered the inner city. The area outside the walls but within a 25-min isochronous circle is regarded as the suburb, while the area outside the 25-min isochronous circle is regarded as the exurb.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Sources of historical data

The historical data include the following two categories: (1) Ancient poems: The Collection of Poems of All Fujian (Zheng et al. 2011), The Chanting of Fuzhou Poetry (Li, 1999), The Appreciation and Analysis of Fuzhou Poetry, Poetic Fuzhou: A Selection of Famous Poems and Writings of Fujian Capital (Zhang, 2014), and The Poets’ Eulogization of Cangshan Through Dynasties (Lin, 1999), which contain many poems related to the soundscape. (2) Ancient maps: the maps of Fuzhou city’s walls throughout all dynasties are from the content published in Wang Yingshan’s The Record of Fujian’s Capital; Hu Donghai’s Complete Maps of the Capital City of Fujian Province from the library of the University of Chicago; China, The East Coast City of Fu-Chou from the library of University of California; and View of Fuzhou, c.1670-c.1700 from the National Museum of the Netherlands.

Data analysis

The data were processed using the following three steps: First, the verse describing the locale and soundscape in the poem was extracted to identify the category of poetized locales and soundscapes. Second, according to the poets’ descriptions and historical data, the poetized locales and the extent of the Fuzhou city’s walls from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty were marked and drawn through QGIS. Finally, the current state of conservation of the urban heritage (poetized locales and soundscapes) was investigated through field investigation methods.

Poetized locales

There are 155 poems from the Tang to Qing Dynasties, and 56 poetized locales were identified from the above 5 collections of poems. During processing, the poetized locales involved architecture, river systems, viewing platforms, and mountains. First, the architecture includes religious architecture such as temples and towers, as well as nonreligious architecture such as plank bridges, pavilions, terraces, towers, and landscape architecture. Second, the river system includes West Lake, the Min River, streams, etc. Third, viewing platforms are unique among the cultural attractions in Fuzhou because the poems about the activities of ancient minstrels are directly related to viewing platforms, which are common places where ancient literati gathered, such as the Diaolong Platform, Qingling Platform, Pingyuan Overlook, and Lingxiao Overlook. Furthermore, as Fuzhou city is surrounded by mountains, the mountains have naturally become places that poets visit frequently and the objects they depict. The mountains include Kushan Mountain, Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Damiao Mountain. Obviously, through the above analysis, the landscapes of the poetized locales were divided into two types: natural and unnatural landscapes.

Soundscape

Twenty-five types of soundscapes were extracted from the poems. In the process of extraction, some ancient Chinese words, such as Fanbai (Buddhist chants), Songlai (pine trees’ sound), and Mingqiong (chirping crickets), are explained in a Chinese dictionary and then reclassified as follows: (1) natural sounds include the sounds of rivers, wind blowing, trees rustling, water flowing and rain; (2) animal sounds include birds chirping, clucking, insects twittering, and monkey screeching; (3) sounds of life include Buddhist sounds of chanting, singing, reciting, amusement, reading, talking, roaring, footsteps, and stepping on leaves; and (4) mechanic sounds (artificial sounds) include the sounds of instruments, bells ringing, traffic, wind chime ringing, night watches, tea boiling, and rod thumping.

The city wall

The extent of the ancient city walls was mapped based on information provided in ancient maps from the Tang to Qing Dynasties published in the Record of Fujian’s Capital, Full Maps of the Capital City of Fujian Province, China, The East Coast City of Fu-Chou, and other publications and documents such as The Collection of Historical Maps of Fujian Province, Changes in the “Ancient Bay of Fuzhou” during the historical period, etc. In the process of creating the map, QGIS was used to outline the boundaries of the city walls through the ages to identify the extent of Fuzhou city during different periods. The abovementioned poetized locales were then marked on the map to observe their distribution (urban heritage) in each region.

Procedure

Based on geographical text analysis, we constructed the flowchart shown in Fig. 5. The research process was divided into the following 5 steps: (1) Poem collection: we collected the description of the soundscape, determined whether what was depicted is a real perception of the poets’ experience of the environment and classified the different types of soundscapes. (2) Mapping: (a) Poetized locales were mapped based on the exact location where the poem was composed, which was identified from the title and content of the poem. The POI data and QGIS software were used to construct the satellite map. (b) The ancient city walls from the Tang to Qing Dynasties were mapped using ancient maps and literature documents. To determine the extent of the inner city, suburb, and exurb in ancient times in Fuzhou city, an isochronous circle of less than 25 min was delineated around the center of the inner city throughout all time periods. (3) Data statistics: To analyze the poets’ preferences for travel and soundscape descriptions, this research calculated statistics on poetized locales and types of soundscapes they frequently described. (4) Field investigation: Based on the results of the above steps, all the poetized locales were photographed to investigate the current status of preservation (urban heritage) and soundscapes at the site.

Research process. Source: Drawn by the authors themselves.

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Spatial distribution characteristics of poetized locales and vegetation

A collation of poetized locales reveals poets’ destinations involving a wide range of places, including Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Kushan Mountain, Miaofeng Mountain, Damiao Mountain, West Lake, Nantai Island, and East Mountain. Most of the poetized locales are located in contemporary urban green spaces, some of which are now parks, whereas others are now tourist attractions. From the administrative district aspect, those poetized locales were concentrated in today’s Gulou District, followed by Taijing District, Jin’an District, and Cangshan District.

Gulou District

Most of the poetized locales are located in Gulou District because of the site selection of ancient Fuzhou city. Since the Tang Dynasty, the built-up area of Fuzhou city has expanded outward, with Dongjie Kou as the center. Therefore, the poets’ choice of poetized locales ranges outward from the center of Fuzhou city. In Fig. 6, the poetized locales are labeled according to their type, including mountains, such as Pingshan Mountain, Ye Hill, Zhong Mountain, Dingwu Hill, Wushan Mountain, and Yushan Mountain, and river systems, such as West Lake. The varieties of vegetation found in poems include bamboo, pine, willow, vine, poplar, etc., and the environment is described as “grass overwhelms stone statues (草没石像),” “birds chirping, rising and falling in deep forest (林深鸟啼),” and “shade the sky with trees (树荫遮天) (Table 1)”. Architectural poetized locales, which can be religious or nonreligious architecture such as West Garden, Xichan Temple, Kaiyuan Temple, Three Lanes, and Seven Alleys, are also described in terms of their vegetation. However, in contrast to natural mountains and rivers, this vegetation is artificially cultivated in a limited area.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Taijiang District

Compared with those in Gulou District, there are fewer poetized locales in Taijiang District, and most of them are distributed outside the city. Figure 7 shows the poetized locales in Taijiang District, including Jixiang Hill, Damiao Mountain, Yamu Sandbar, and Wanshou Bridge. Except for Wanshou Bridge (today’s Jiefang Bridge), where there is no configuration of vegetation, others locales are equipped with vegetation, including Ficus, lychee, mango, and other trees, as well as flower beds that change with the seasons. It can be seen from the poetry records, Damiao Mountain and Jixiang Hill used to be densely vegetated, with vegetation such as willow, Ficus, lychee, and pine. In the poetry records, the environment is described as “verdant willow (柳青青),” “the frondent leaves of Ficus trees (榕叶暗),” “desolate pine and elm (松楸冷落),” and “deep within the lush greenery (绿阴深处) (Table 2)”. In the past, a large number of trees were planted in the Yangzhong Pavilion and Yamu Sandbar. Due to the high forest coverage in the surrounding area, there is also a poem that describes dense vegetation: “The willows shade upon buildings’ head, the verdant mountains embrace buildings’ back (楼头柳阴低, 楼被山色碧).”

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Jin’an District

Figure 8 shows that the poetized locales in Jin’an District are mainly mountains and hills, such as Jinji Mountain, East Mountain, Kushan Mountain, Sang Brook, and Dongchan Temple. Both Jinji Mountain and Kushan Mountain are currently being developed as tourist attractions for the public and tourists. Most of the mentioned tourist attractions in Kushan Mountain are well preserved, whereas the temples on Jinji Mountain have disappeared. However, both of them, as urban forests, still have ample green space. Whether as a place for poets to write poems in the past or a well-known tourist spot in Fuzhou today, Kushan Mountain contains relatively varied and abundant tree species. There are countless records of the greenery of Kushan Mountain in poems, such as “the beautiful and peculiar Lingyuan Cavern is surrounded by verdant lotuses and a lush forest of pines and bamboos (灵源秀且奇, 荷翠森松竹), “the Song Ridge reaches to the sky, the path is accessible to the deep forest (松岭接霄汉, 深林径可通), “ten thousand trees just shed, then Ding Peak is flat (万木叶初脱, 丁峰势尽平),” and “Wisteria clings to the longevous trees, and the birds chirping echoes in the deep mountains (木古藤萝护, 山深禽鸟呼)”. Currently, Masson pine, acacia, sweet gum, camphor tree hackberry, etc., are planted on Kushan Mountain. Jinji Mountain is also well covered with vegetation. The poetry line “sitting under the pine shade, I feel carefree and divine (松阴覆座闲)” shows that trees cover people’s rest space (Table 3). Today, the mountain is planted with mass pine, Ficus, acacia, plum blossom, cerasus campanulate, etc. Sang Brook is located near today’s Dengyun Reservoir. This locale has not been vigorously developed, and the branches of the stream have been preserved because its location is close to the edge of Fuzhou and surrounded by mountains. Ancient poets liked to gather and compose here and called it “floating wine cups along winding water (曲水流觞).” Currently, there is high vegetation coverage with camphor trees, Ficus macrocarpa, hackberry, and other trees. The Shengquan Temple near the East Mountain has been well restored; however, the Dongchan Temple and East Mountain are now unrecognizable. Although Dongchan Temple was located in the peripheral area of ancient Fuzhou city, there was considerable vegetation, described as a “grass engulfed Zen palace (草没禅宫)” and “the pine trees drop their emerald green leaves low (松低空翠)” in poems. Since ancient times, the East Mountain was a place frequented by ancient literati and writers. Therefore, there are numerous poems about its vegetation coverage, such as “the pine and bamboo trees rustle, shading the magnificent gate, and there is also a hidden green room in verdant forests (萧松竹荫华扉, 更有虚堂隐翠微),” “the bamboos are old but always cast shade, the withered pines’ veins are dim but visible (竹老阴常覆, 松枯脉暗穿),” “The old cypresses and tall pines wind along the road, the pheasants soar up while the sun casts its golden and bright light on rocks (老桧乔松路屈盘, 翚飞金碧照岩端) (Table 3).” However, currently, there is limited vegetation coverage in the two poetized locales, with only a few trees planted on the green space in their vicinity.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Cangshan District

The tourist destinations in Cangshan District are mostly mountains (Fig. 9), such as Miaofeng Mountain, Yantai Mountain, and Huangshan Village. In terms of vegetation, there are poems such as “wild trees offer shade (野树阴阴),” “bleak pines wind the path (寒松绕径),” “birds chirping in evergreen trees (鸟声苍树里)” and other verses, which are used to describe the dense vegetation of Miaofeng Mountain. In ancient times, Cangshan District was called Nantai Island, while in modern times, as a trading harbor of Fuzhou, numerous foreigners gathered and settled there. Compared with modern times, Yantai Mountain was pristine, with beautiful scenery and thick vegetation. The poet Cao Xuequan wrote a poem after visiting this place: “the fragrance of scented tea and plum blossoms disperse with the wind, while the incoming tides on the river bring green water (风吹香片和梅坞, 江上潮来绿水生) (Table 4).” This indicates that ancient poets frequently appreciated plum blossoms and composed poetry about them. This area is well covered by trees in the streets and has a favorable vegetation condition today. At present, there are trees such as Ficus, camphor, bauhinia, kapok, and other tree species. The present-day location and surroundings of Huangshan village are significantly different from those in ancient times. Because the Chengmen Sandbar area initially formed in “South Bay” Fuzhou during the Ming Dynasty, Huangshan village is located near a riverbank, where the sounds of a gushing river can be heard. It has been recorded in poems that there was farmland, woods, and hills, constituting beautiful scenery. Zheng Shanfu, a poet of the Ming Dynasty, wrote a poem titled “Entering Huangshan to Cultivate Cropland at The End of The Year (岁晚入黄山治田)” after visiting and relaxing in Huangshan village. Currently, greenery is common around Huangshan village, but the nearby green area of Huang Hill is relatively considerable. Some important historical and cultural sites, such as Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Pingshan Mountain.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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The soundscape tendencies of poets during different dynasties

Tang Dynasty

Many poems and literature from the Tang Dynasty have been lost due to the changes in dynasties. A few of them have been filtered to meet the research criteria of this paper. Three poems in the Tang Dynasty record the soundscapes heard by poets, among which birds chirping appears twice, and the sounds of reciting, instruments, and the wind blowing leaves each appear once. Hence, bird chirping was an auditory soundscape that the poets of the Tang Dynasty preferred to describe (Table 5). Ouyang Gun’s poem “Nanjian Temple” visually describes birds chirping and the sound of trees rustling at the poetized locale, as recorded in the poem (Table 6):

The poem’s general meaning is that no one but the birds are singing in the temple in springtime. Vines and creepers conceal the stone footpath, causing the native monk to be lost. Clouds hide ancient walls with the remaining great Buddha reliefs. Grass overwhelms incensory with surrounding musk. The pines rustle as if chanting a hymn in Sanskrit, and the drooping willow leaves mask the temple, making it appear indistinctly in the distance. To indulge in the pleasure of meditation and Zen, please do not blame the poet for wasting time wandering around. The poem vividly depicts both the environment surrounding Nanjian Temple and the poet’s auditory sensations.

Song Dynasty

Since the Song Dynasty, the description of soundscapes in poems began to show a diversified trend. In poems, the sounds of instruments and bells ringing occur four times each, the sound of singing occurs three times, and the sounds of birds chirping, water flowing and reciting each occur twice. In addition, the sounds of traffic, amusement, rain, reading, and windchimes ringing each occur once. Overall, the poets of the Song Dynasty mainly described the sounds of instruments, bell ringing, and singing songs (Table 5). Compared with Luocheng in the Tang Dynasty, the area of Fuzhou city in the Song Dynasty expanded greatly. Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Pingshan Mountain, and other important historical and cultural locales were encircled by the city walls during this period and therefore the poets had a wider range of choices to enjoy. In the Song Dynasty, poets often went to places such as Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, Kushan Mountain, East Mountain, Dongchan Temple, West Lake, and Nantai Island, and places such as temples where poets liked to travel and inscribe poems were commonly built on these locales. In addition, it can be seen from the poems that mountains, forests, and lakes are also places where poets gathered, made good cheer, and sang songs and listened to music. Zeng Gong’s “Mahayana Temple” records the sounds of bell ringing during his travels in the mountains (Table 7):

The general meaning of the poem is that it was a good spring outing season. East Mountain is not far from the east gate of Fuzhou. Because of the beautiful scenery, the poet would rather give up his bamboo sedan and walk there to visit. In the river canyon of East Mountain, the legend of the woodcutter Lan Chao pursuing deer is long gone. In the nearby Liuhua Cavern, the water reflects the flowers and plants, which look so leisurely. The buildings and structures look otherworldly, and the temple bells ring faintly from afar. The poet laments that his schedule is so busy that he has stolen a day to relax and stroll here with his wife and children. The poem indicates that the poet traveled to the outer suburbs of Fuzhou in his spare time, and the gorgeous environment of East Mountain provided a pleasurable experience for the poet’s audio-visual sensations.

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan dynasty was relatively short. Poems were not prominent in the Yuan dynasty due to Yuan operas and Zaju (a poetic drama set to music). In addition, because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty showed little interest in implementing the policy of Sinicization, poems were not taken seriously in the Yuan Dynasty. There were only 54 Fuzhou poets recorded in the Yuan Dynasty. Even fewer poets lived in Fuzhou, excluding those who lived in other provinces for a long time (Zhang and Huang 2018). Only four of the surviving poems met the research criteria. In the poems of the Yuan Dynasty, the sounds of instruments appear three times, and the sounds of singing and birds chirping appear once each. It can be seen that poets favored instrument sounds during the Yuan Dynasty (Table 5). Instrument sounds are documented in Wang Han’s poem “The Lantern Festival (Table 8)”:

The poetized locale of this poem is near the Hesha Gate of Fuzhou city. The poem’s general meaning is that the buildings at sunset look like castles in the air. The poet aged by a year after the Spring Festival. However, the scene of hustling and bustling near the Hesha Gate on a windy and rainy day is unforgettable. The poem shows that there was local folk music, called Shifanchi (a symphony for ten instruments), in ancient times by describing two instruments, the “Xiao” (vertical bamboo flute) and the drum. The poem shows that many citizens come to the Hesha Gate of Fuzhou city to watch the folk music performances at the Lantern Festival. The Ming Dynasty poet Xu Teng recorded this scene in his poem “The Lantern Festival Music in Fuzhou (Table 9)”. Therefore, through the poem, it can be understood that Fuzhou used to have a unique folk soundscape with large-scale performances during festivals.

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty was a prosperous period in the history of poetics with intense contention among schools. The categories of humanistic soundscapes that can be summarized from the poems of the period are the richest of all the time periods studied. In the poems of the Ming Dynasty, the sounds of birds chirping occur 26 times, the sounds of bell ringing occur 24 times, the sounds of an instrument occur 15 times, the sounds of singing occur 14 times, the sounds of rivers occur 8 times, and the sounds of water flowing and amusement occur 7 times each. In addition, the sounds of wind blowing leaves and chanting sutras occur 6 times each; the sounds of conversation, monkey screeching, and insects twittering occur 4 times each; roaring, the sounds of wind and reciting occur twice each; and the sounds of rod thumping, stepping on leaves, clucking, tea boiling and night watches occur once each. Overall, because the poets love to travel to mountainous areas, where there are normally various birds and religious architecture, birds chirping and bell ringing are mentioned most frequently in the poems (Table 5). In Xu Teng’s poem “Spent One Night with The Abbot of Kushan Temple (宿鼓山寺方丈),” there is a verse that reads, “The bell ringing of temple bells are too sparse to pass through the trees, a weird bird is singing all night for the arrival of spring (疏钟出寺过林隐, 怪鸟啼春彻夜闻) (Table 10).” In addition, since the Tang Dynasty, plentiful religious architecture in the mountainous areas of Fuzhou has been recorded. For example, Xie Bi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, records in the poem “The Current Scene in Fuzhou (福州即景)”: “There are three hills and a thousand clusters of temples in the city, but only the seven towers and thousands of lanterns arise in the evening (城里三山千簇寺, 夜间七塔万枝灯) (Table 10)”.

It is worth noting that describing the sounds of instruments and singing is an impromptu performance in the poets’ journey. Poets express their feelings by describing the material, no matter where they travel, such as mountains, viewing platforms, or beside a river or lake. Lin Hui’s poem “Zhou Qihuang Called Together to Pingyuan Overlook on Zhuzui Day (竹醉日周其皇招集平远台眺望) (Table 11)” describes a scene as follows: the poet went to the Pingyuan Platform in Yushan Mountain with his friends on Drunken Bamboo Day (the day of planting bamboo), where the sounds of Hujia and drums resounded through the mountains and forests. On the way back, as they had not had enough enjoyment, the poet and his friends sang all the way home.

Qing Dynasty

The description of soundscapes in the poems of the Qing Dynasty is also rich and colorful. Due to the construction of roads and the development of transportation, more places and longer distances are available for poets to travel to during this period. As a result, poets preferred to travel to the outskirts of the city. These preferences can be found in the poems of the Qing Dynasty: the sounds of birds chirping and instruments occur six times each; the sounds of reciting, water flowing, and wind occur three times each; the sounds of singing and rivers occur twice each; and the sounds of bell ringing, talking, insects twittering, clucking, the sound of traffic, reciting, amusement, reading, monkey screeching, and wind blowing occur once each. From the statistical results, it can be seen that birds chirping and instruments are the most commonly included soundscapes. Overall, the poets of the Qing Dynasty and their predecessors preferred to roam in locales covered with vegetation and record the sounds of the forest, such as birds chirping, water flowing, wind, insects twittering, and wind blowing leaves (Table 5). Zhou Lianggong describes the sounds of birds chirping and instruments in his poem “Appreciating Peach Blossom in Shengguang Temple (Table 12)”.

The poet’s preferences for different poetized locales

Tang Dynasty

Fewer poems survived. The city was smaller, so the poets were limited to traveling within the city and its suburbs. They were more inclined to visit religious places and other humanistic landscapes.

Song Dynasty

There were more diverse destinations for touring. The poets preferred to stroll in the inner city rather than going to the suburbs. This was because Fuzhou city is enclosed by mountains such as Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Pingshan Mountain. The pavilions and viewing platforms provided convenient places for poets to indulge in drinking, feasting, music exchange, reciting, and having fun. In the suburbs, the poets liked to visit West Lake, where there were also pavilions and other buildings for relaxation. In the exurbs, the poets often visited Kushan Mountain and East Mountain, where there were many religious buildings for meditation and relaxation.

Yuan Dynasty

Similar to the Tang Dynasty, there were a limited number of poems written in the Yuan Dynasty and the poetized locales embodied in the poems were monotonous. Although the poetized locales in the Yuan Dynasty involved the inner city, the suburb, and the exurb, the poems did not fully explain the poets’ choice of destination.

Ming Dynasty

A large number of poems were recorded during the Ming Dynasty and including where the poets travelled to. The poets of this period preferred to travel to the exurbs or have fun in the inner city. Most of the poetized locales in the exurbs were related to mountains and religious architecture, such as Kushan Mountain, Miaofeng Mountain, Jinji Mountain, and East Mountain. These locations became gathering places for poets to spend their leisure time. Temples also provided resting places for poets during their journeys. In terms of the inner city and suburbs, the poets in the Ming Dynasty mostly chose destinations in the “three mountains.” Few poems mentioned poets traveling to West Lake or other river systems.

Qing Dynasty

The poets in the Qing Dynasty preferred mountains and temples as the poetized locales in the exurbs, occasionally involving nonreligious architecture and river systems. In the inner city, the poetized locales included religious architecture, nonreligious architecture, river systems, viewing platforms, and mountains, but to a lesser extent. Similarly, in the suburbs, literati and poets preferred to visit religious or nonreligious places to spend their leisure time, such as Xichan Temple, the Wangbei Platform in Longtan Cape, Zhenhai Building in Pingshan Mountain, and the Diaolong Platform in Damiao Mountain.

In general, the poetized locales of ancient poets were concentrated in the inner city (38.1%) and exurbs (38.1%). The ancient poets preferred locales with cultural landscapes (61.3%), with religious architecture (30.3%) being the most interesting object to describe. These religious structures include famous tourist attractions in Fuzhou, such as the Yongquan Temple, Jinshan Temple, Xichan Temple, and Hualin Temple. Most of the natural landscapes (38.7%) were concentrated in mountain areas (27.7%), such as Kushan Mountain, Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Pingshan Mountain. Therefore, ancient poets tended to choose mountainous areas with religious architecture as poetized locales, which indirectly explains why birds chirping and bell ringing were commonly described in their poems (Fig. 10). Additionally, the high forest coverage rate in Fuzhou’s special geographical location directly affected the travel choices of literati and poets.

Sources: Drawn by the authors using Origin 2023.

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Dynasties and urbanization influenced the locations of poetized places about soundscapes

The influence on poetized locales in Gulou District

The poetized locales in Gulou District, including Zhong Mountain in Dazhong Temple, Dingwu Hill in Dajue Temple, West Garden beside Wushan Mountain, Shenggguang Tower, Shengguang Temple, and Suyuan Cavern on Wushan Mountain, were influenced by changes in the dynasties and the process of urbanization. The block in the vicinity of Dazhong Temple has been designated residential land and school land, but the specific location of Zhong Mountain is unknown. Dajue Temple is now well preserved for worship, but Dingwu Hill no longer exists, leaving only remnants of the “Dingwu Hill” stone tablet. The West Garden has been designated residential land, and the garden ruins have disappeared. The remnants of Shengguang Tower and Shengguang Temple cannot be found, but as tourist attractions, notice boards have been placed to recognize their approximate locations and promote local culture. The Suyuan Cavern has been replaced by a shrine, but it is worn out due to a lack of maintenance.

The influence on poetized locales in Taijiang District

In Taijiang District, several locations have been affected by changes in dynasties and urbanization, including Jixiang Temple on Jixiang Hill, Yangzhong Pavilion near Damiao Mountain, Yamu Sandbar beside the Min River, and the Wanshou Bridge on the Min River. Jixiang Temple on Jixiang Hill has been converted into residential and commercial land. A school providing elementary education for school-age children is now planned for Damiao Mountain, while the nearby Yangzhong Pavilion has been replaced by a road. Yamu Sandbar has undergone significant changes because it is no longer a sandbar but has been hardened for construction. Therefore, it is now designated residential and commercial land. The Wanshou Bridge has been demolished and replaced by the Liberation Bridge. However, bridge piers have been preserved and placed in surrounding parks to enhance visitors’ cultural experience of urban tourism.

The influence on poetized locales in Jin’an District

In Jin’an District, there are notable locales with poetic charm, including Dongchan Temple in the western part of the ancient part of Fuzhou city, Xiyun nunnery on Jinji Mountain, Huang’en Temple near Dongshan Mountain, Shanhui Hall and Mahayana Temple. These sites have been influenced by changes in dynasties and the process of urbanization. Currently, Dongchan Temple has been converted into residential housing for citizens. Jinji Mountain has been developed into a tourist attraction for visitors to enjoy. However, the exact location of the Xiyun nunnery on Jinji Mountain is no longer verifiable and has vanished over time due to various dynasty changes. Poetized locales near East Mountain have mostly disappeared. Currently, this area has been transformed into residential, commercial, and industrial land. Ancient poems described Dongchan Temple as having stunning scenery, lush vegetation, and picturesque streams and waterfalls. Unfortunately, as a peripheral of the city, it currently lacks effective management and suffers from a low-quality environment.

The influence on poetized locales in Cangshan District

The poetized locales in Cangshan District, including Tianning Temple on Yantai Mountain, Miaofeng Mountain in Hongtang Ferry, and Huangshan Village in Chengmen islet, were influenced by changes in dynasties and the process of urbanization. Currently, Yantai Mountain, as a historical and cultural district, plays a notable role in revitalizing historical and cultural heritage, attracting many tourists. However, Tianning Temple was planned as a campus, resulting in the disappearance of one of the ancient “eight scenes of Nantai”, namely, “the morning bell ringing of Tianning Temple”. Miaofeng Mountain has plans to be converted into a cemetery, while Miaofeng Temple and HongshanTemple, located on a branch of Miaofeng Mountain, are well preserved. Unfortunately, due to urban development, Miaofeng Mountain has suffered some damage. Huangshan Village was originally situated in the urban fringe area of Fuzhou, but the lack of effective planning and management has led to it becoming a densely populated village within the city.

Characteristics of the spatial distribution of poetized locales throughout dynasties

To further discuss the scope and spatial-temporal characteristics of the poetized locales, the data of the poetized locales throughout different dynasties were input to ArcGIS for kernel density analysis. In Fig. 11, the darker areas indicate that the poets traveled to these locales more frequently, while the lighter areas show a lower frequency of poet visits. Figure 11 shows that the highest density in the Tang Dynasty was 0.18–0.21 (Fig. 11a), the highest density in the Song Dynasty was 0.6–0.74 (Fig. 11b), the highest density in the Yuan Dynasty was 0.18–0.21 (Fig. 11c), the highest density in the Ming Dynasty was 3–3.67 (Fig. 11d), and the highest density in the Qing Dynasty was 0.56–0.67 (Fig. 11e). These results demonstrate that darker areas represent a greater number of poets’ descriptions of the environment. This finding also indicates that these regions have more historical and cultural information available for reference, providing greater possibilities for recreating the historical appearance of the region.

a Tang Dynasty, b Song Dynasty, c Yuan Dynasty, d Ming Dynasty, e Qing Dynasty, f All dynasties. Notes: The value of legend represents the frequency of poets visiting poetized locales. The darker color indicates more frequent visits, while lighter color indicates less frequent visits. Sources: plotted by the authors using ArcGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022.

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Overall, the areas with a high density of poetized locales from the Tang to Qing Dynasties are Gulou District, Jin’an District, and Taijiang District. First, the core area in Gulou District includes the areas around Wushan Mountain and Yushan Mountain, with densities ranging from 4.5–5.5. Second, the core area in Jin’an District is the area around Kushan Mountain, with a density of 2–2.7. Finally, the core area in Taijiang District is the area around Damiao Mountain. The results suggest that a higher density corresponds to better preservation of urban heritage and greater cultural representativeness (Fig. 11f). This is because the poets recorded a lot of information about the environment of these poetized locales, which can provide researchers, heritage restorers, and land planners with a specific foundation for urban heritage revitalization.

Indeed, in many literary works about ancient Fuzhou, the narration often revolves around these regions and locations. The Qing Dynasty writer Lirenheqiu (pen name) used Fuzhou city as a creative blueprint in his literary work “The Folklore of Min Capita,” and he creatively presented the sounds and scenes in the literary work based on the environment of the poetized locales (Lirenheqiu 2012). For example, Wushan Mountain and Yushan Mountain in Gulou District are described as places where literati reside due to their graceful surroundings. Literary works tend to depict this area as a place where ancient people conversed, composed poems, and socialized. Damiao Mountain in Taijiang District, as the place of enfeoffment for the Minyue king, is described in literary works in a way that resembles reality. Both literature and reality use the recitation of ancients to commemorate the historical anecdotes and mythological events that occurred there. Kushan Mountain in Jin’an district is often described in literary works by the sounds of hawkers, bells, chanting, musical instruments, etc. On the one hand, the ferry around Kushan Mountain provides a commercial environment for vendors. On the other hand, Yongquan Temple on Kushan Mountain provides a place for ancient people to visit; therefore, literary works creatively depict poetized locales from the perspective of daily life. In Fig. 11f, the locales with higher densities are all in mountainous areas, which have maintained relative continuity despite changes in dynasties. Except for Damiao Mountain, which has been designated a campus area, Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Kushan Mountain are still mountainous areas and have become tourist landmarks in Fuzhou. These three poetized locales have favorable green coverage, and the natural soundscapes mentioned in ancient poems have been well preserved. While these poetized locales may experience some degree of urban noise, locals and visitors still enjoy relatively undisturbed natural and animal sounds. Notably, all three of these locations are situated within urban forests, providing an opportunity for more effective interventions in preserving both historical and cultural heritage and the integrity of historical soundscapes.

The hydrological changes in Fuzhou city affected the poetized locales and soundscapes from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty

Figure 12 shows that the poetized locales from the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty were predominantly located in cities. From the Ming Dynasty onward, the poetized locales were mainly located in two areas: the inner city and the distant suburb. During the Qing Dynasty, the scope of the poetized locales significantly extended outward and they were concentrated in both the suburbs and the exurbs. In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, the classic southern continent, it is recorded that the ancient river system of Fuzhou city was well developed. Min (the short name for Fujian Province) is in the middle of the sea, and there are mountains in the northwest called Middle of Min, the mountains in the middle of the sea.

Sources: Plotted by the authors using QGIS and Adobe Illustrator 2022 (Zhang and Wang 2022; Zhang et al. 2023).

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According to this, it can be inferred that the terrain of early Fuzhou should have been a peninsula deep in the sea. Later, as the sea level dropped, the sandbar in the southern part of Fuzhou city gradually emerged. Chen Yi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, stood on the wall of Fuzhou city and wrote the following verse, “The sandbar is so gloomy like the dusk (沙墟阴欲暮),” which describes the beautiful scene when the poet overlooks the sandbar. However, Fuzhou city was not yet able to expand south because the sandbar was in the early stage of forming. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, river branches formed by the accumulation of sandbars to the south of Fuzhou city were surrounded by the outer city. On the one hand, the river branches could be used as trenches for the city walls, and on the other hand, the sandbars between river branches could be used to set up wharves to moor merchant ships. During this time, Yushan Mountain and Wushan Mountain were adjacent to the river branches. Cheng Shimeng once recorded in the Darshan Pavilion on Wushan Mountain that “The sea gate in front of me and the city in retrospect are comparable to the Taoist sacred mountain, Penglai Mountain (前际海门, 回览城市, 宜比道家蓬莱山).” During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there was still much land in southern Fuzhou that lay below sea level, but nearby lands such as Damiao Mountain, Lengyan Sandbar, and Cangxia Sandbar had already emerged from the sea surface, while distant lands such as Yantai Mountain, Gaogai Mountain, Frog Mountain, and Fengguan Mountain gradually formed. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, more arable land was available due to the emergence of more sandbars and the expansion of Yamu Sandbar. At the same time, poets had more destinations to travel to after the hills and plains of Nantai Island across the Wanshou Bridge had mostly formed.

As a result, the sounds of rivers and the river system were commonly described in ancient literature. When the poetized locales were situated on highlands, the poets could take in everything about the landscape pattern of Fuzhou at a single glance. Compared to the river system in the south, the mountains near the ancient city of Fuzhou were more convenient for poets to travel to and offered better views. This also explains why mountains became a frequent object of poets’ descriptions as well as frequent poetized locales. For example, poets meticulously recorded the surrounding hydrological conditions of Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, and Kushan Mountain. During the Song Dynasty, Wang Kui, in his poem “Aofeng Summit,” wrote the verse “gazing at the vast sea nearby (眼看沧海近)” to describe the geographical features of Yushan Mountain and the ancient city of Fuzhou, which was situated adjacent to the river and sea. In the Ming Dynasty, Xie Zhaozhe, in the poem “Jueding Summit Climbing,” used the phrase “the sound of waves in autumn scenery (涛声秋色)” to depict the visual and auditory ambiance around Kushan Mountain in the eastern part of Fuzhou. Similarly, Ming Dynasty poet Deng Ding, in his work “Nanjian Temple”, which was composed atop Wushan Mountain, employed the sentence “the city reflects the red hues of the sunset on the river (江城返照红)” to portray the colors cast upon the ancient city of Fuzhou by the evening sun over the rivers. Overall, the hydrological features described by the poets align closely with the accounts of ancient Western travelers exploring Fuzhou. The Portuguese adventurer Galeote Pereira documented that the ancient city of Fuzhou was built on water and traversed by numerous rivers with sloping and wide riverbanks, primarily serving as urban streets. He metaphorically compared Fuzhou’s ancient city to another city, Venice (Boxer 2017). This suggests that Fuzhou’s ancient transportation network comprised both streets and waterways, with streets facilitating trade and waterways handling transportation (Chen 2015). Similarly, Martin de Rada, a member of the Spanish diplomatic mission, depicted the hydrological conditions of ancient Fuzhou, noting deep water channels in some parts of the city and an abundance of waterways necessitating the use of boats for the transport of goods (Boxer 2017). Consequently, the hydrological features of ancient Fuzhou were intricately interwoven into the daily lives of its residents, with the recreational activities and living scenes of the ancient inhabitants intimately connected to water and its sounds. This explains why various descriptions of water sounds frequently appear in poems. At the same time, when local governments seek to recreate this type of auditory scene, they must consider the different visual and auditory experiences brought about by ancient geographical conditions. It is necessary to combine these ancient experiences with today’s urban development situation to ensure the correct strategic combination for promoting urban culture.

In addition, as the city expanded with the changes in dynasties, the number and variety of places where poets could go gradually increased, leading to a diversity of descriptions in the poems. This also indicates that the poetized locales from the Tang to Qing Dynasties gradually extended from the inner city to the suburbs. In addition to inefficient transportation, geographical limitations also contributed to this tendency. The geography also explains the high frequency of river sounds in the poems. Cao Xuequan in Yantai Mountain, Xie Zhaozhi in Kushan Mountain, and Zheng Shanfu in Huangshan Village used the terms “the sound of surging tides” and “the sound of waves” to describe the river sounds they heard. On the one hand, this is because Fuzhou used to have a large area of water, and the poetized locales were close to bodies of water. On the other hand, the relatively small scope of Fuzhou city, with few buildings and low noise, made it easier to perceive this type of natural soundscape. Compared to ancient times, the water system of present-day Fuzhou city is still well developed, but the landscape is far less impressive. To efficiently utilize urban land, many internal rivers are covered by roads. Even if rivers cross the central urban area, they are overshadowed by large-scale urban buildings, and the sounds of flowing water and waves can no longer be heard within the city. More importantly, due to geographical changes, there are fewer ponds and swamps in Fuzhou as there were in ancient times, providing visitors and residents with fewer hydrological experiences. In recent years, the local government of Fuzhou has begun to pay attention to the landscape construction pattern of Fuzhou city, making full use of the city’s rivers to build ecological corridors and attempting to partially restore the historical appearance of Fuzhou city to enhance the local sense of belonging for residents and tourists.

Soundscape heritage conservation based on historical sensing

At present, there are four primary types of green spaces in Fuzhou’s green space system, namely, parks, production green space, protective green space, and auxiliary green space (Li et al. 2017). Most of the poetized locales recorded in the poems are parks. There are 52 major green parks and scenic spots in Fuzhou, with a total area of 5426.12 hm². Fuzhou has a total of 166 urban parks, such as Wushan Mountain, Yushan Mountain, West Lake, Kushan Mountain, Qishan Mountain, Jinji Mountain, Pingshan Mountain, and Ye Hill. Other locales, such as Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Kaiyuan Temple, Hualin Temple, Xichan Temple, and Hongshan Temple, are only part of the protective green space and auxiliary green space. There are 33 poetized locales located in urban green spaces closely related to urban forests.

In terms of the statistical frequency of soundscapes in each dynasty (Fig. 13), the top five soundscapes recorded in the poems are birds chirping (37 times), instruments (29 times), bell ringing (29 times), singing (20 times), water flowing (12 times), reciting (10 times) and rivers (10 times). Ancient poets tended to record birds chirping in their poems. This is because the poet enjoyed strolling in the mountains, which were often filled with dense vegetation and frequented by birds and fowl. Additionally, ancient Fuzhou city was surrounded by mountains with high forest coverage, providing suitable habitats for numerous ponds and marshes where birds could thrive. The sounds of instruments and bell ringing were the next most common in poems. As a unique humanistic soundscape in ancient temples, bell ringing was often heard in the early morning and at dusk. Most of the ancient poems mentioning bell ringing were written before the poets went out or upon their return. Instruments also played a significant role in feasts and gatherings, providing a means for poets to express their emotions and communicate with others. In addition to these three humanistic soundscapes, singing, water flowing, and Buddhist chanting were also mentioned. These soundscapes are all related to three types of poetized locales, namely, mountains, river systems, and religious architecture. However, since they were not perceived during the poets’ travels, they were not well recorded.

Sources: Drawn by the authors using Origin 2023.

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A favorable soundscape can engender comfort for both residents and tourists (Hosseini and Kowkabi 2023). For those mentioned above, urban green spaces housing historical and cultural heritage sites are better preserved in terms of their natural and animal sounds, which can evoke pleasure for tourists. Ye et al. (2023) suggested that augmenting the proportion of natural sounds in urban soundscapes enhances visitors’ perceptions of soundscape quality, whereas an overabundance of artificial sounds (e.g., traditional cultural sounds) and urban life noises can detract from the overall experience. In general, tourists’ perceptions of soundscape places are based on complex scenes. All sounds shape people’s perceptions of urban spaces, and a familiar soundscape that is harmonized with urban historical and cultural heritage can create a sense of belonging. After all, the soundscape is part of the ‘feel’ of a particular city, town, or community and is a key component of people’s sense of place (Garrioch 2003). Consequently, our examination of past soundscapes in Fuzhou city can serve as a foundation for developing soundscapes in present-day historic districts, cultural parks, and urban forests, thereby enhancing visitors’ satisfaction and engagement.

However, according to the investigation conducted by Hong et al. (2022) on urban noise, complaints regarding commercial noise in the historic central area of Fuzhou, known as Gulou District, are notably prevalent among residents. This phenomenon can be attributed to the narrow street layout and bustling commercial activities in this area. Additionally, the extensive urban development projects undertaken in this region have adversely affected both residents and tourists. Historical poems depicting Gulou District portray it as ancient Fuzhou’s cultural and educational center, adorned with numerous academies, temples, and government offices, underscoring its significance as a hub of traditional humanistic soundscapes. Regrettably, in the present day, the proliferation of skyscrapers and frequent commercial ventures have obscured many historical and cultural sites within local communities, rendering them inconspicuous to residents, let alone tourists. The iconic soundscapes of the past, such as reciting, reading, and bell ringing, have faded into obscurity and are no longer discernible to the public. Therefore, the local government should consider revitalizing historical soundscapes at select poetized locales within this area, enriching the experiences of residents and visitors while cultivating a distinct sense of place.

In terms of the current status of historical and cultural heritage protection (Table 13), there are a total of 56 heritage sites mentioned in the poems, of which 25 have been destroyed and 31 are well preserved. The number of destroyed and preserved heritage sites is roughly equal. The reasons for the destruction are twofold. On the one hand, many historical and cultural heritage sites have been abandoned and dilapidated over time due to historical development. Examples of this include Nanjian Temple in Wushan Mountain, Shengguang Temple, Xuelao Pavilion, Suyuan Cavern, and Chenglan Pavilion in West Lake. On the other hand, local governments have failed to include restoration plans for the original ruins in urban planning, leading to the disappearance of many historical and cultural heritage sites, for instance, Huangen Temple in East Mountain, Shanhui Hall, Mahayana Temple, Jixiang Temple in Jixiang Hill, Yueshan Nunnery in Hualin Temple, West Garden next to Wushan Mountain and Tianning Temple in Nantai Island. Urbanization has had a significant impact on daily life and urban heritage in China. It is certain that, whether in the past or present, soundscapes have been fully integrated into the public’s daily life. Investigating historical poetized locales, which are today’s cultural heritage sites, helps reveal which cultural heritage sites in China have not been well maintained and preserved during the urbanization movement and which soundscapes among these cultural heritage sites have gradually disappeared with the development of the city.

Overall, temples have suffered the most severe damage during urbanization, while the mountains and forests in urban green spaces have been considerably maintained. Hence, the historical and cultural heritage of mountains and forests has been well restored. On the other hand, today’s tourists are more likely to hear the sounds of birds chirping, water flowing, insects twittering, and stepping on leaves compared to the sounds of bell ringing and Buddhist chants when they travel to urban green spaces. As Mumford argues, ancient urban development did not extend beyond the range of audible walking, and the size of a city varied with the speed and effective range of communication networks. The growth and construction of cities have led to a reduction in religious land and the loss of the related soundscape. The scene described in Xie Bi’s poem, “There are three hills and a thousand clusters of temples in the city (城里三山千簇寺).” no longer exists. Moreover, local governments still face challenges in addressing the “commoditization” of soundscapes in daily public life. They lack comprehensive measures and a clear plan or project for incorporating humanistic soundscape installations or facilities into public spaces to enhance visitors’ auditory experiences. Jia et al. (2020) identified 27 soundscapes (e.g., waves, birds, insects, bells, vendors, reading) worth preserving, mainly in urban parks and historic districts. Similarly, Liu et al. (2019) observed that tourists exhibit more positive inclinations toward natural and historical soundscapes in areas with a pronounced historical atmosphere. This underscores the impact of soundscapes on the travel experience, especially in city areas rich in historical and cultural heritage (Pérez-Martínez et al. 2018). Presently, cities worldwide are initiating marketing and communication programs for humanistic soundscapes in public spaces, aiming for sustainable urban culture (Jaff et al. 2023; Alt 2019; Djimantoro et al. 2020). The excavation and reproduction of historical soundscapes have been shown to enhance a city’s image, influencing tourists’ willingness to pay for tourism and influencing their purchasing behaviors. Therefore, our exploration of Fuzhou’s historical soundscapes holds significant value for heritage preservation, potentially generating substantial revenue for the government and enhancing the sense of identity and pleasure for both internal and external tourists.

This research explores the poetized locales frequented by ancient Fuzhou poets and the soundscapes in their poetic descriptions. It primarily uses historical sensation methods, such as analyzing poems, ancient maps, documents, and other materials. This research suggested that (1) most of the poetized locales mentioned in the poems are located in urban forests with high forest coverage. Although many of these locales have been lost due to city expansion and changes in dynasties, most of those situated in forests have been transformed into parks or scenic areas. This action has ensured the preservation of both urban and soundscape heritage. (2) Religious architecture has suffered the most damage due to urban development. On the one hand, the development of the city requires the removal of these poetized locales (urban heritage) to make way for urban upgrades. On the other hand, these poetized locales (urban heritage) have gradually deteriorated over time. (3) The soundscapes of ancient poems are disappearing. This can be attributed to the disappearance of relevant sound sources caused by the decay of poetized locales. Furthermore, behavioral differences between modern and ancient people has reduced the transmission of relevant soundscape experiences. The increase in urban noise has diminished people’s sensation of soundscapes.

Exploring regional historical soundscapes represents an innovative research methodology aimed at rediscovering and reassessing the vibrancy of Fuzhou’s urban culture in terms of heritage preservation and urban regeneration through historical texts. An extensive collection of ancient poems was meticulously gathered and organized to fulfill this objective using historical text analysis techniques, identifying locations frequented by ancient poets for composition and their auditory perceptions of the environment. Ancient maps were employed as reference points to delineate urban transformations, while GIS technology was utilized to analyze the factors influencing the changes in the urban acoustic environment and the degradation of urban heritage. We contend that a comprehensive investigation of urban heritage and historical soundscapes is indispensable for recreating the ambiance of bygone eras within historical city districts and safeguarding the distinctiveness of the city’s historical milieu. Consequently, this study introduces a distinctive research approach pertinent to heritage preservation, urban planning, and urban marketing, offering insights into how local governments can shape local culture and bolster regional identity. Such contributions hold considerable significance in assessing the potential of urban cultural communication.

In conclusion, this research focuses on Fuzhou’s urban heritage at the mid-level of the city by exploring the elements of soundscapes and poetry. However, there is still a need to extract more information from these poems. Specifically, the poets’ descriptions of the scenery of poetized locales would help construct the ancient landscape system of Fuzhou. This would provide more modern individuals with a deeper understanding of Fuzhou’s vegetation in ancient times. Furthermore, the soundscape categories in this paper lack a measurement basis for judging their effectiveness in enhancing visitors’ experiences. Conducting a quantitative survey of visitors’ soundscape sensations would aid in improving scenic area branding. More importantly, many poems have not been adequately explored in this study, which presents an opportunity for future research to focus on micro-level case studies.