YangYang China, Hehe civilization; house China, all things are born and raised. In this vast land with a long history and splendid culture, the Chinese nation has lived and multiplied and passed on the torch. In the historical process of generations of life and creation, the people of all ethnic groups have accumulated rich construction experience and many skilled craftsmen have emerged. Architectural forms full of wisdom, simple and profound architectural philosophy, perfect construction system, a variety of decorative arts, unique wood, brick and tile and other construction techniques, fusion of multi-ethnic traditional culture in one furnace, convergence of architectural essences from all over the world. To this day, as the precious material and spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation, Chinese architecture is still shining and blooming.
Chinese architecture is the culmination of the architectural culture of various ethnic groups
"The ancient cave dwells in the wilderness, and the saints of later generations are easy to use the palace room, the upper and lower heavens, to wait for the wind and rain, and to cover the "Big And Strong."" In ancient times, people inhabited caves and used natural shelter as shelters. "Cave", supported on both sides, the central emptiness, there is an image of artificial construction. Entering the agrarian civilization, people needed to settle down to sow seeds and harvest, domesticate livestock, so they cut wood and quarrying, and began the initial construction activities. Later generations formed a palace room, with beams on top and eaves under it, which were used to shield them from the wind and rain.
The architectural form on the land of China is a grand view. All ethnic groups either live by the water and inhabit the mountains, or live in stone houses and vaults, or live in the nest of South Vietnam and the cave dwellings of The Northern Shuo, all of which are integrated with the natural terroir. Affected by climate and geography, the majesty of the northern country, the beauty of the south of the River, the simplicity of Shuzhong, and the thickness of Saiwai are all carved with unique regional civilizations. In the process of historical development, the simplicity of the Han, the majesty of the Tang, the norms of the Song, the freedom of the Yuan, the thickness of the Ming, and the magnificence of the Qing all have a strong historical imprint. Great projects such as the Great Wall, Dujiangyan, the Grand Canal, the Forbidden City, the Potala Palace, and the Qanerjing Have further demonstrated that Chinese architecture is the culmination of the architectural culture of all ethnic groups.
The architectural culture of the land of China has continuity and consistency. Among the three major architectural systems in ancient world, only the Chinese architectural system is consistent and consistent, which has lasted for more than 3,000 years. Chinese culture's rigidity and softness, virtual reality, rationality, and harmony of ceremonial music are reflected in the architectural form as macroscopic balanced planning ideas, clear order and french form, rhythmical and coordinated group composition, people-oriented spatial scale, far-reaching symbolic symbols, and garden forms of teachers and nature, showing the characteristics of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, man and society.
Historically, the exchanges and exchanges of various ethnic groups have made Chinese architectural culture show a trend of pluralism and integration. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the various ethnic groups in the Central Plains and the frontier areas have become more and more frequent, and through the interconnection of geographical space, they have gradually formed a living pattern and distribution pattern of "large mixed residences and small settlements", and the architecture of various ethnic groups has influenced, absorbed and integrated with each other. Han courtyards, Tibetan watchtowers, Uyghur Ayiwang, Mongolian felt bags, Dong drum towers, etc., all reflect the rich diversity of construction methods and architectural styles.
The cultures of all ethnic groups shine together, and chinese culture is timeless. Chinese architectural culture is a precious resource for future generations to recognize the long history of the Chinese nation as a whole, and it is also a magnificent long volume showing the mutual learning and integration of various ethnic cultures.
The diversification and integration of the material form of Chinese buildings
The construction system of "civil engineering and mutual assistance". The continent is vast, the climatic conditions between the north and the south are very different, the local construction materials are different, and the architecture is naturally divided into two major systems of earth and wood in spatial geography. Cave dwelling, which embodies the "soil" cultural characteristics of the Yellow River Basin, is the main type of residential building on the Loess Plateau; nest dwelling, which embodies the "water" cultural characteristics of the Yangtze River Basin, the dry column building first appeared at the Hemudu site, which is the main way of living for the masses in the south of the mainland.
In the early days of Chinese civilization, in the process of evolution from underground to aboveground, the cave dwelling produced two-way cultural exchanges and infiltration with the wood construction technology of the Yangtze River Basin, forming a construction system of civil engineering assistance. The construction method of "Maozi Soil Steps", which combines rammed earth and wooden structure, is used not only for the residences of the people, but also for major buildings such as the Xiadu Erlitou Palace discovered by archaeology. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, "building a high hall of the saga, floating double Que Taiqing", not only the Qin Xianyang Palace, Han Weiyang Palace shape magnificent, the pavilion terrace rammed earth high, the characteristics of the wooden structure system seen in later generations have also been formed, including three forms of wooden structure such as lifting beams, piercing buckets, and well trunks, roof styles such as the temple, the mountain, and the hanging mountain. From the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, architectural culture was exchanged and gathered and manifested in the great integration of nationalities. For example, the temples in Buddhist architecture are integrated into ancestral temples and mansions, the pagodas are integrated into the pavilions, and the prayer buildings are integrated into the que and table; the living style of the Han people sitting on their knees is gradually changed to sitting on the ground, and the height of the building is increased; the concept is no longer "the degree hall is feasted, and the degree room is several", but the "room" is used as the measurement unit of indoor space. From the five generations of the Liao And Song Dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the development of architectural culture in the Central Plains, Jiangnan, Lingnan and other places has been very mature. Since the Ming Dynasty, The architectural styles of Han and Tibetan architecture such as Xialu Temple and Jokhang Temple have spread in the Central Plains. On the basis of the institutionalization and canonization of the Song Dynasty, the wooden structure system of the Qing Dynasty showed more craftsmanship.
For thousands of years, China's wooden building system has never been interrupted, adaptability and flexibility make it suitable for different regional conditions, standardization enables it to meet a variety of use functions, and absorbs a variety of construction process characteristics, with eclectic and inclusive characteristics and cultural characteristics.
"Local materials" local scenery. "Because of the natural materials, the location is advantageous", the land of China is rich in soil, wood, stone, bamboo and other building materials, local materials are undoubtedly the most reasonable way to build, forming an architectural style rooted in the regional terroir, and realizing the organic unity of architecture and nature.
The middle reaches of the Yellow River have historically had a warm and humid climate, dense forests, and the ground is covered with thick loess. Such natural and geological conditions have given birth to the architectural forms of crypts, semi-crypts, and above-ground wooden structures, and wood has become the mainstream construction material in China since ancient times. While following the support system of wooden structure buildings, all localities use local materials for the walls and are eclectic. Bamboo woven mud walls are commonly used in the southwest region, grain grass Laha walls are used in the northeast region, adobe walls are built from raw soil in the northwest region, and green brick walls are fired from clay in the central plains.
At the same time, there are also diverse architectural features of various regions and ethnic groups in the land of China as a supplement. In northern Shaanxi, there are layers of cliff cave dwellings along the mountains and ditches, and the pit courtyard groups in Henan are scattered and scattered, and the pits and courtyards between virtual and real are scattered, warm in winter and cool in summer, saving land and materials, or hidden in liangya gullies, or not under the soil, "there is no mountain on the mountain, and there is no village in the village." The bamboo buildings of Dai, Jingpo, Deang and other ethnic groups are formed by imitating wooden dry-column buildings in the multi-bamboo area, with wooden floor slabs, bamboo fence walls, and thatched roofs, which are transparent and light, and the spirit is beautiful. The Yi people's earthen palm houses have thick walls and flat roofs, high and low, simple and beautiful. In stone buildings, the Buyi people use pieces of stone and wool stone to lay roofs and masonry walls, and Tibetans and Qiang people use stone blocks to build watchtowers. In addition, there is a nomadic tradition of migratory architecture in which the vault is a room felt wall. Local materials constitute many branches of Chinese architectural culture, forming a construction culture system in China with wooden structure architecture as the main body and a variety of local forms coexisting.
▲(Picture from China Nationalities Daily)
The construction technique of "making utensils and still elephants". "The waist of the corridor is back, the eaves teeth are high, each holding the terrain, hooking the heart and fighting the horns", is Du Mu's beautiful Afang Palace. The reason why the Chinese architectural system is independent of the forest of the world is precisely because of its architectural image of combining technology and art. The Zhou Yi Zhi Ci put forward the traditional Chinese design idea of "the maker still has the image", and "seeing the image of the object, touching the class and growing" reveals a crucial concept in the traditional construction technique: "there is an elephant first and then the instrument is made". The brilliance of Chinese architecture is due to the mastery of this principle.
"Elephant" refers to the image of all things between heaven and earth and its material nature, such as the ancient image of the nest of the nest, so the people were taught to live in the nest. The Zhou Yi Zhi Ci lists many examples of palaces built from elephants and objects. Zhou Gongzuo Mingtang, with the upper circle like the heavens and the lower circle of the earth, embodies the conceptual consciousness of the heavenly circle place; the three parts of the roof, beams, pillars, and pedestals in classical Chinese architecture deal with the natural image of the heavens, people, and the earth; the number and size of the building openings are mostly odd, metaphorically representing the masculinity of the heavens with odd numbers; the image of the palace building "like the wings of the zhasi, such as the yasi thorns, such as the bird Sige, such as the flying si fei", depicting the wing angles of Chinese architecture like the wings of the birds spreading their wings, and so on. "Making Utensils and Images" guides the design ideas and aesthetic intentions of traditional Chinese architecture for thousands of years.
The influence of "making utensils and still images" on building construction is also reflected in the technical practice based on the number system. Through this knowledge system, ancient craftsmen established schematic associations between numbers, images, and orientations. With the ideological concepts and technical practices carried by "Making Instruments and Still Elephants", the traditional construction of technical civilization has been passed down from generation to generation, and the achievements of Chinese architecture are brilliant and brilliant.
The integrated construction of the spiritual connotation of harmonious symbiosis of Chinese architecture
The philosophical idea of "the unity of heaven and man". The Chinese nation's grasp of celestial phenomena and speculation about the relationship between heaven and man began in the Neolithic Age. The symbolism of architecture is expressed in terms of metaphor in addition to the function and system of architecture. The combination of the Book of River Tuluo and the Feng Shui Diagram of the Bagua Nine Palaces with the construction activities is the ancient memory and ideal sustenance of the Chinese nation's overall cognition of architecture and the environment of heaven and earth.
"The unity of nature and man" constitutes the natural concept of the Chinese nation, expresses the ecological idea of harmonious coexistence between man and nature since the agricultural civilization, and is the core concept and important proposition of the long-standing and profound Chinese excellent traditional culture. Important ceremonial buildings such as the Ming Dynasty and the Zongmiao Mausoleum, the heavenly circle place, the neutralization of the position, the symmetry of the central axis, and the sequential orientation, have shaped the temporal and spatial structure of the spiritual world of traditional architecture. Beijing Courtyard, Huizhou Residences and other daily residential buildings, with the "hall" as the center, the courtyard or patio in front of the hall is not only an important window for people to observe the cold and summer of the four seasons and watch the changes of day and night, but also reflects the harmonious order of heaven and earth, house and people.
The philosophical idea of "the unity of heaven and man" is embodied in various aspects of building site selection, layout, shape, materials, and construction. The Qin capital "Weishui runs through the capital with the elephant Tianhan and the cross-bridge crosses the south with the law of the morning glory"; the Han capital "the south of Chang'an City is the shape of the south bucket, and the north is the shape of the Big Dipper", and has the orientation pattern of "those who live in the mountains and rivers are the top" and "the negative yin and the yang", and the construction pattern of "like heaven and earth". Mountainous hills "pillow mountain, ring water, face screen"; the rivers and lakes and plains "back water, face the street, people". Through the integration concept of the unity of nature and man, the psychological pursuit of avoiding evil and seeking auspiciousness, the ideal mode of Gathering Qi in Tibetan wind, and the intention of picturesque landscapes, the architectural settlements on the land of China are organically integrated with the nature of heaven and earth.
▲(Picture from China Nationalities Daily)
Environmental awareness of "adapting to local conditions". "The great virtue of heaven and earth is born", heaven and earth give birth to all things, and all things live in harmony. The Chinese civilization's profound perception of "life", the broad understanding of life, and the affinity attitude towards nature are also the unique sustainable development concepts in Chinese architectural culture.
Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has recognized the close relationship between heaven and time, geographical advantages and production and life, and in architectural culture, it is reflected in the environmental awareness of respecting nature, conforming to nature, and adapting to the conditions of heaven and earth. As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the ancestors summed up a complete set of experiences such as "Tuhui Law, Tuyi Law, and Tugui Law" from the "Xiang Tu Shui Shui". The Book of Poetry records that Gong Liu, the leader of the Zhou people, led the crowd to "see the scenery of Naigang, the yin and yang of the scenery, and the view of its flowing springs", opening up the territory and migrating and settling down. Surveying the situation of mountains and rivers and the appropriateness of water and soil is the unchangeable environmental concept that people have followed for thousands of years when they choose city sites, build villages, and build houses. According to local conditions, not only penetrates the construction ideas of cities, settlements and buildings, but also adheres to the artistic law of "although it is made by people, it is like opening from heaven", and has reached a very high level in terms of selecting the environment, using the environment, and coexisting with the environment.
The ethical order of "home-state isomorphism". With the formulation and writing of the Zhou Li, the architectural system was also included in the category of "liturgical music" and became an important manifestation of ritualization. Chinese architecture takes "between" as the basic unit, and then expands the "courtyard" as the unit, forms a group building relationship from the vertical and horizontal axes, and then takes the streets and alleys as the boundary to form a square, a box square or a neighborhood, and then aggregates to form a city, and multiple urban organizations form a country. Home-country isomorphism embodies the structural characteristics of "family, family, and state" from blood to geography, ceremonial architecture and ceremonial society.
From the perspective of the source stream, the city or the countryside, from a courtyard to a courtyard, to a square and a city, are all spatial reproductions of the patriarchal system. Of course, with the development of history and the changes of the times, the spatial form that once paid attention to regulation and the humanistic order that followed the etiquette system failed to restrain the ideals and romantic feelings of the chinese sons and daughters. Among the buildings of various ethnic groups, the lively architectural posture of the Li boat-shaped house, the soft architectural shape of the Dong wind and rain corridor bridge, and the bright decorative colors of the Bai three squares and one wall show that the living environment on the land of China is relaxed, reasonable and reasonable, and the elegance and customs are all suitable.
Beautiful China moves from tradition to poetic inhabitation of the future
Truth-seeking and pragmatic to create wisdom. Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching has a cloud: "Chiseling the household is a room, when it is not, it has a room for use", from a philosophical height, it is pointed out that the "emptiness" formed by the building is all about use. Traditional Chinese construction has always followed the concept of "people-oriented", capital city planning, village scale, house structure, furniture, everywhere reflects the actual needs of people and the characteristics of Chinese traditional culture of truth-seeking and pragmatic, practical and practical.
Traditional Chinese construction has always adhered to the modular material system, and it can be said that the prefabricated buildings promoted by the construction industry today have been developed and formed as early as the Han Dynasty. The wooden frame system based on the tenon structure has good seismic performance, and the wutaishan Foguang Temple Hall, the Shanxi Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, and the Tianjin Dule Temple Guanyin Pavilion have been affected by earthquakes several times and are still unharmed, and the structural advantages of "the wall does not collapse" provide wisdom for the development of contemporary architecture from the perspective of traditional construction.
The construction concept of beautiful China. As the constituent of the human settlement environment, architecture plays a unique role in building a "community of human and natural life" and reconciling the "relationship between man and land". The construction of a beautiful China is not only ambitious because it is related to the construction of national ecological civilization, but also because it refers to the improvement of the surrounding environment.
The poetic habitat of the new era returns to life and nature by inheriting the landscape aesthetics, the concept of heaven and man, and the idea of gardening in China's excellent traditional culture; by responding to the needs of the times, from generally improving the surrounding environment to actively promoting the high-quality development of urban and rural areas; through the establishment of a low-carbon resource recycling system and a green building innovation system, to create the characteristics of the era of sustainable ecological civilization construction; in the construction of urban and rural public cultural facilities, the construction of urban landmark buildings, tourism landscape display, etc., follow the local cultural value orientation, We will carry out proactive and comprehensive technological innovation and broaden our aesthetic creation. Beautiful China is the unity of the trend of the times and the wisdom of the nation, with green water, green mountains, beautiful scenery, and harmony of all things.
The value of Chinese civilization spreads. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that China's excellent traditional culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation, and the ideological concepts, humanistic spirit and moral norms it contains are not only the core of our Chinese thoughts and spirits, but also have important value for solving human problems. It is necessary to extract and display the spiritual identity of excellent traditional culture, and to extract and display the cultural essence of excellent traditional culture with contemporary value and world significance.
Chinese architectural culture, which has both the diversity of material forms and the integration of spiritual connotations, is a model of China's excellent traditional culture. By inheriting and carrying forward the Chinese architectural culture, it is possible to deepen the understanding of the historical value of Chinese architectural culture, carry forward the artistic value of national architectural culture, inherit the scientific value of traditional construction skills and construction wisdom, give play to the social value of the systematic establishment and education of craftsmen, and realize the cultural value of promoting the exchange and integration of various ethnic groups. In this process, we should establish and highlight the symbols and images of Chinese culture shared by all ethnic groups, enhance the identification of the masses of all ethnic groups with Chinese culture, rely on architectural culture, form, feel and effectively cast the sense of the Chinese national community, and build a common spiritual home of the Chinese nation. (End)
Author/Tong Zhang, Tianyi Min
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Day
(Source: China Nationalities Daily)