This is the inaugural new China Institute and University of Hawaii Press series on Spatial Habitats - Making and Meaning in Asia's Vernacular Architecture. The 16 papers draw on the work of established anthropologists, art historians and geographers as well as architects and photographers. They explore and analyse the functional, symbolic and social roles served by dwellings in Chinese society. Traditional attributes of domestic buildings and contemporary attitudes to change are also discussed. With illustrations, colour photographs, architectural drawings, glossary, bibliography and index.