The article discusses how culture and education changed in traditional Chinese cities after the Song and Yuan dynasties. The researchers focused on the City of Yangzhou Prefecture during the Ming and Qing dynasties to study this change. They found that the development of the imperial examination system and Neo-Confucianism led to significant improvements in the status of culture and education buildings in urban landscapes. These buildings became more prominent and played a key role in shaping the city's appearance. The study shows that this status change continued during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with evidence of it appearing in various cities.