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book: Chinese Architecture and Metaphor
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Chinese Architecture and Metaphor

Song Culture in the Yingzao Fashi Building Manual
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2012

About this book

Investigating the historical tradition of Chinese architectural writing from antiquity to the twelfth century, Chinese Architecture and Metaphor reveals significant and fascinating social and cultural phenomena in the most important primary text for the study of the Chinese building tradition. Unlike previous scholarship, which has reviewed this imperially commissioned architectural manual largely as a technical work, this volume considers the Yingzao fashi’s unique literary value and explores the rich cultural implications in and behind its technical content.

Utilizing a philological approach, the author pays particular attention to the traditional and contemporary architectural terminology presented in the Yingzao fashi. In examining the semantic meaning of the architectural terms used in the manual, he uncovers a systematic architectural metaphor wherein bracketing elements are likened to flowers, flowering branches, and foliage: Thus pillars with bracketing above are compared to blossoming trees. More importantly, this intriguing imagery was shared by different social groups, in particular craftsmen and literati, and craftsmen themselves employed literary knowledge in naming architectural elements. Relating these phenomena to the unprecedented flourishing of literature, the literati’s greater admiration of technical knowledge, and the higher intellectual capacity of craftsmen during the Song, Architecture and Metaphor demonstrates how the learned and “unlearned” cultures entangled in the construction of architectural knowledge in premodern China. It convincingly shows that technical language served as a faithful carrier of contemporary popular culture and aesthetic concepts.

Chinese Architecture and Metaphor demonstrates a high level of engagement with a broad spectrum of sophisticated Chinese sources. It will become a classic work for all students and scholars of East Asian architecture.

Author / Editor information

Contributor: Jiren Feng Jiren Feng is assistant professor of Chinese at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

Reviews

The result is a book with an overall framework highlighting architectural practice as an integral part of Song culture and, at the same time, introducing some key issues in the scholarship on YZFS, for instance, its terminology and relevant classical bibliography in sinology. --- A new kind of analysis of the most famous work in the history of Chinese architecture, Jiren Feng’s book will be important for students of Chinese architecture, and useful for readers in pre-modern Chinese history, craft, and literature.

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    v
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    List of Illustrations

    vii
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    Acknowledgments

    xi
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    Introduction

    1
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    1. The Historical Tradition of Writing on Architecture: From Antiquity to the Mid-Tenth Century

    14
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    2. From the Mujing to the Yingzao Fashi: The Rise of Building Manuals and the Construction of Architectural Knowledge

    60
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    3. The Yingzao Fashi: The Making of Widespread Legitimated Building Knowledge

    100
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    4. The Yingzao Fashi Architectural Terminology (I) Bracketing Likened to Flowers, Branches, and Foliage: Architectural Metaphors and Conceptualization in Tenth to Twelfth Century China

    138
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    5. The Yingzao Fashi Architectural Terminology (II): The Interplay of Literature, Arts, and Craftsmanship

    181
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    Conclusion

    213
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    Appendix 1. Previous Scholarship on the YZFS

    215
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    Appendix 2. Architectural Types Glossed in the Erya and in the Shiming

    220
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    Appendix 3. Structural Elements Glossed in the Erya and in the Shiming

    222
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    Appendix 4. Entries on Architecture in the Taiping Yulan

    223
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    Appendix 5. Quotations of Classical Texts for Gong in the Erya Shu, the YZFS, and the Taiping Yulan

    225
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    Appendix 6. Architectural Terms in the Terminology Section of the YZFS as Compared with the Taiping Yulan and the Yiwen Leiju

    227
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    Appendix 7. Classics and Historical Sources Cited in the YZFS

    230
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    Notes

    239
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    Bibliography

    279
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    Index

    297
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    About the Author

    305
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 7, 2018
eBook ISBN:
9780824861162
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824861162
eBook ISBN: 9780824861162
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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