中文摘要：

城市形态学是认知城市形态及其演变过程的理论。从文献回顾的角度，梳理了西方学者针对中国明清县治古城原型——平遥古城所开展的形态学研究，主要包括城镇形态分析、环境行为研究以及历史城镇的保护研究。通过对比认为，中西方研究者在研究主题、研究方法和研究成果上都有较大差异。西方学者在关注城市及建筑形态的特征及演变过程中，把城市作为一个可以不断细分的整体，对形态各要素进行多尺度的探索，将城市形态研究深入到街区、地块乃至建筑层次，发掘出了更丰富和细致的形态信息，这对于准确阅读、理解和分析城市形态起到了示范作用。中国与西方的对话一方面需建立在对自身形态土壤的深刻认知上；另一方面也要注意西方理论在中国环境下的修正与补充，发展适合中国城市条件的城市历史文化区域的分区、分类方法以及相关的参照体系，这对于中国历史城镇的保护规划显得尤为重要。

英文摘要：

Urban morphology is concerned with theories of urban form, This pa- per provides a review of oversea morphological researches on Pingyao. These re searches can be divided into three categories, namely urban morphological analy- sis, environmental behavior study and conservation of historic city. This paper ar- gues that there exist obvious differences between domestic and Western researche in terms of topic, analytical method and research finding. Western perspective＇ take a holistic view of cities while subdividing cities into different sections. Suct multiscalar explorations usually can uncover richer and more detailed morphologi cal information. Dialogues are needed between Chinese and West scholars. On th~ one hand, discussions must be situated within the local context. On the othe hand, adaptations of Western theories are needed to interpret Chinese urbal forms. These efforts are expected to lead to a classification and reference syster pertinent to historical and cultural areas in China.