The Summer Palace is a masterpiece of "Style Ray"
Last week, "I Am Hutong" interviewed some of the cultural heritage in Inner Mongolia, and in a chat with a university architecture expert, he talked about the Japanese "King Kong Group". This brings to mind a question: Japan has a "Kongo group" that has been passed down for 1400 years, but why has a similar "style lei" in China disappeared?
Before talking about this topic, let's first introduce what the Japanese "Kongo Group" is. It is actually a construction company founded in 578 and is known as the oldest family business in the world. The "Kongo Group" created and repaired a large number of temple buildings for Japan with its exquisite construction skills, and the company is still in good operation today.
In China, there is also a "style Lei" family specializing in oriental architecture, and they can be called the top "royal team" in the history of ancient Chinese architecture!
Many of the buildings in the Forbidden City are classics of "Style Thunder"
Presumably, friends who pay attention to "I am an alley" will also pay more or less attention to traditional architecture and culture, and the name of "Style Lei" will not be unfamiliar. In short, "Style Lei" presided over the design of royal architecture for more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty, and many important palace buildings and royal projects such as palaces, imperial tombs, and royal gardens that we are familiar with are almost all created or reconstructed by the Lei family, such as the Forbidden City, Beihai, Zhonghai, Nanhai, Yuanmingyuan, Summer Palace, Jingshan, Temple of Heaven, Qingdong Mausoleum, Qingxi Mausoleum...
The "Style Ray" reconstructed Temple of Heaven complex
Then the question is, why did the "Style Ray" family, which reached the pinnacle, not hear from him later? Presumably you also want to know what is going on, so today we will enjoy the outstanding works of "Style Ray" while reviewing the demise history of "Style Ray".
The story of "Style Lei" begins at the end of the seventeenth century, when a southern craftsman named Lei Developed came to the capital to participate in the construction of the palace. Because of his skill, he was soon promoted to design work. From then until the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were eight generations, and the main royal buildings were under the responsibility of the Lei clan.
The repair of the North Sea is also the credit of "Style Thunder"
"Style Thunder" is valued by the royal family, we pass by, the hour hand is faster, directly into the "Style Thunder" eighth generation of Lei Xiancai era.
Lei Xiancai was born in the Guangxu years, as the last imperial architectural designer, although he did not catch up with some major projects in the most powerful period of the Qing Dynasty, he and his brothers also participated in the construction or reconstruction of many buildings such as the Yuanmingyuan, the Summer Palace, and the Regency Palace.
The landmark of the Summer Palace, the Buddha Xiang Pavilion, can be called the classic of the Oriental Pavilion
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out and the imperial system ended. The "style room" in the palace disappeared, and the "style thunder" naturally withdrew. Although the royal family building no longer needs "style thunder", it is said that many social buildings still need the classic "style thunder" architectural culture, that is to say, the family inheritance of "style thunder", even if it leaves the royal family, can actually be continued.
Unfortunately, according to the records, Lei Xiancai has no heirs, and when he experiences the pain of unemployment, he also has to endure the sadness of no successor incense, and the double blow makes the last "style Lei" depressed. In addition, in the Lei family, at least since Lei Si and Lei Tingchang, they have begun to smoke opium. Although they all had injuries on their bodies, drug use had a pain-relieving effect, but they eventually became addicted.
In China in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, there were frequent wars and social unrest, and no industry could develop steadily, and construction was certainly no exception. Without the support of the royal family, coupled with the various reasons mentioned above, the Lei family was forced to sell their belongings, including the most important property- the picture file about "Style Ray".
Rich picture files remain, thanks to the fifth generation of "style Lei" Lei Jingxiu. After the Anglo-French army burned the Yuanmingyuan, the work of the Qing court style house was temporarily stopped. It was also at this time that Lei Jingxiu began to diligently collect drawings, drawings, hot samples, engineering practices, books, folding lists and other materials left by his ancestors and created by himself.
Architectural remains of the Yuanmingyuan
According to records, the archival materials collected by Lei Jingxiu filled 3 houses, and it is precisely because of his collection that we can keep the relevant materials today. However, these archives involved royal secrets at that time, so the Lei family treasured them, and "hid them so that there was no trace", even after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Lei family still kept them secret.
Around 1930, social turmoil and life embarrassment caused the Lei family to no longer hide the picture files, but began to sell.
The "Style Lei" picture file can be said to be the top archive of Chinese architecture, and it is naturally very popular in the market. At that time, some of these precious architectural archives were resold by individuals, some were sold overseas, and some were even available for purchase on the stalls. At this time, the Japanese are also eyeing these "style thunder" picture files, and if these national treasure-level architectural materials are repeated in the mistakes of the Dunhuang suicide note scattered abroad, it will undoubtedly be another cultural disaster.
The Forbidden City echoes jingshan mountain, and many of its buildings are works of the "style Lei" family
The problem was quickly discovered by a man. He is zhu qizhao, the founder of the construction society and an important official of the Beiyang government.
Zhu Qiju heard by chance that the "style thunder" picture file flowed to the market, he hurriedly through the construction society to mobilize relevant researchers to try to acquire, and at the same time to the cultural foundation at that time put forward a purchase proposal, the cultural foundation quickly allocated a part of the special funds to the National Peking Library, entrusted the Beiping Library to buy back a large number of drawings and hot samples and collect them.
In this way, in 1930, the descendants of "Style Lei" sold most of the picture files to the Beiping Library, selling 4500 silver dollars. It is said that the drawings and hot samples at that time filled 10 trucks. Since then, the "Style Lei" picture file no longer belongs to the Lei family, but it is also a good thing, after all, these valuable materials have been protected and collected in the Beiping Library.
The corner tower of the Forbidden City reflected in the Guanzi River is full of oriental architectural charm
Of course, not all of the pictures acquired by the Beiping Library are still scattered in the hands of Lei's descendants: according to media reports, at the end of 1964, two descendants of Lei's descendants came to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics. They brought a flat three-wheel "Style Ray" drawing. The leaders concerned invited them to eat a stewed pancake and issued a receipt. In the special ten-year period, Lei's descendants secretly burned the only remaining drawings and hot samples in their hands.
Whoops, the legend and architectural culture of a family fade away from people's vision step by step, and then fade away.
Analyzing the reasons for this, in addition to the great changes of the times, whether it is society or family, there are several regrets of inheritance, especially the respect for culture, we have too much to reflect on.
Returning to the Japanese "King Kong Group" mentioned at the beginning, and looking back at the rise and fall of "Style Ray", people can't help but sigh. Today, many of us are keen to rebuild traditional buildings, but unfortunately most of them are "fakes" of cement tires. Needless to say whether the structure is rigorous, only the external beauty is difficult to do, it feels ugly and fake.
On the one hand, there is the lack of culture and market demand, and on the other hand, the loss and slumber of cultural treasures.
The Temple of Prayer and Reflection
I really miss the "style ray" of the past.
(The graphics and texts of this public number are original, and theft is strictly prohibited.) Welcome to continue to pay attention to "I am the hutong")