Abstract: Public sphere is the best place to observe social relations,where all kinds of people,especially lower class people,conducted their daily life. In China,however,the topic of public life has been ignored by scholars of urban History. Studies of urban space of China can explore the relationship between commoners and public sphere and public life.A research that focuses on a small public place such as streets and teahouses in 20th century Chengdu needs place the microcosm into the macro context of studying Chinese urban history.Such studies can lead us to rethink studies of urban popular culture and enhance our understanding of urban lower class people and elites.To have a whole picture of the city,we have to enter the lowest level of society and to understand the most basic units of urban social lives by examining the details of everyday life although those details look insignificant.The mutual influence of urban residents and their usage of public sphere made the major changes of street and teahouse culture in the 20th century.To study these changes can help us achieve a better understanding of how social reformers and reforms and other movements influenced the relationship among ordinary people,elites,and the state.
The Chinese version appeared in Journal of Tsinghua , 2018(06).