And unlike modern cities, where tall commercial skyscrapers blot out the horizon, the most important buildings in traditional cities were temples or centers of culture and education.
對應今天城市建築與商業結合，天際線被摩天大樓佔據；傳統中國城市裡最重要的建物，是象徵歷史時間與土地空間的祖社、象徵文治武德的文武廟、象徵教育的太學與書院，與培養人才管道的貢院。