Fwd: {清华-哥大跨语际文化研究中心} Full Text Available----Frontiers of History in China (2015-2)

24 views
Skip to first unread message

Dadui Yao

unread,
Jul 27, 2015, 9:23:48 AM7/27/15
to meahum...@googlegroups.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Haiyan Ding <din...@hep.com.cn>
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 2:36 PM
Subject: {清华-哥大跨语际文化研究中心} Full Text Available----Frontiers of History in China (2015-2)
To: reading...@googlegroups.com


Frontiers of History in China

 

 Jul. 2015, Volume 10 Issue 2

  

 

 

 

Wood to Stone and Beyond—The Idea of Imitation in Chinese Architectural History

Alexandra Harrer

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 183-187.

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0012-7

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (180KB)

 

Where Did the Wood Go? Rethinking the Problematic Role of Wood in Wood-Like Mimicry

Alexandra Harrer

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 188-221.

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0013-4

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (31371KB)

This paper explores fangmugou (“imitating the mode of building with wood”), a comprehensive and longstanding architectural leitmotif reflective of the socio-cultural environment of China. Whether carved in stone, molded in clay, or cast in metal fangmugou continuously serves to visually confirm and ratify the significance of wood as the primary building material in Chinese architectural history. By peeling off the successive layers of distortion between model and replica, this paper uncovers the traces of wood embedded in fangmugou, and deciphers the visual and symbolic language that evolved out of the physical properties of wood, even as the final product transcends materiality by adapting to new media.

 

 

Of Palaces and Pagodas: Palatial Symbolism in the Buddhist Architecture of Early Medieval China

Tracy Miller

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 222-263.

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0014-1

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (31753KB)

This paper is an inquiry into possible motivations for representing timber-frame architecture in the Buddhist context. By comparing the architectural language of early Buddhist narrative panels and cave temples rendered in stone, I suggest that architectural representation was employed in both masonry and timber to create symbolically charged worship spaces. The replication and multiplication of palace forms on cave walls, in “pagodas” (futu 浮圖, fotu 佛圖, or ta ), and as the crowning element of free-standing pillars reflect a common desire to express and harness divine power, a desire that resulted in a wide variety of mountainous monuments in China. Finally, I provide evidence to suggest that the towering Buddhist monuments of early medieval China are linked morphologically and symbolically to the towering temples of South Asia through the use of both palace forms and sacred ma alas as a means to express the divine power and expansive presence of the Buddha.

 

Build for the Living: Stone Buildings of the Yuan Dynasty

Lala Zuo

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 264-288.

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0015-8

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (3388KB)

It is easy to find an association between stone architecture and the afterlife in pre-modern China, given that most architecture of brick and stone was used only for mortuary monuments. People in pre-modern China may have believed that timber architecture was for the living while stone architecture was for the deceased. The fact that stone architecture often was designed to imitate timber architecture further buttresses the dominance of timber, both structurally and aesthetically, in the architectural history of pre-modern China. This article focuses on several stone buildings that were built during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) for daily religious activities and were rare exceptions to the normative association of stone architecture with the afterlife. Through the study of the structure, decorative motifs and history of these stone buildings, I determine whether they were built to reflect the tradition of imitation timber architecture or were an exception to the dominance of timber architecture. I investigate how these stone buildings should be contextualized in the history of Yuan as well as the history of Chinese architecture.

 

 

A Study of the Three Buddhist Copper Hall Projects, 1602–1607

Jianwei Zhang

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 289-322.  

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0016-5

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (77930KB)

The copper hall was a special type of building in Chinese architectural history. It imitates traditional Chinese timber architecture in terms of structure, but with all its components cast out of copper alloys and then assembled. During the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, three such Buddhist copper halls were constructed from 1602 to 1607, and set up at Emei Mountain, Baohua Mountain, and Wutai Mountain. The present article makes several points. First, the three copper halls were from the same design, as determined through historical texts and on-site investigation. In conception, they may have been inspired by Taoist copper halls, but did not follow those particular designs. Furthermore, the author has created a statistical database of all the inscriptions from Wutai Copper Hall and loaded the data into the GIS platform, which was keyed to a historical map of 1582. The data suggest that the patrons of Wutai Copper Hall lived in areas along the Grand Canal, the Sanggan River, and the Fen River; and that the patrons were numerous. The Chan Master Miaofeng was not only an organizer but also an experienced project manager who preferred brick, stone and metal to timber. Under his organizing and management, people from different social classes and communities willingly contributed. Finally, this paper contextualizes the Buddhist building projects of the late Wanli period. The inscriptions in Wutai Copper Hall reliably record a vivid landscape of Ming society. The donation initiated by Miaofeng was not merely a personal action but also an influential event the effect of which lasted for years. The numerous patrons were organized not by the power afforded by any state representative, but by networks of monks, nuns, merchants, local religious communities, and pilgrim associations. Copper halls, especially Wutai Copper Hall, are excellent evidence for how religious monumental projects were organized, managed, and implemented in late Ming society.

 

Structural, Visual, or Iconic: Transmutations of Wooden Brackets in Modern China

Wei-Cheng Lin

Front. Hist. China. 2015, 10 (2): 323-365.  

DOI: 10.3868/s020-004-015-0017-2

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/abstract2.pngAbstract   http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc/images/pdf.jpgPDF (6440KB)

Together with pillars and roof, the bracket set is one of the most fundamental structural components of traditional timber-frame architecture in China. Not only structurally indispensable, it was also emblematic of specific building styles developed through history. Entering the modern era, however, its architectural validity was overturned by the use of modern technology and building materials, rendering brackets merely a visual and decorative motif. This paper contends that it was precisely when the bracket set lost its structural significance that it began to be discussed in ways that endowed it with layers of cultural meaning in the context of modern China. Examining its modern appropriations in materials other than wood throughout the twentieth century, the paper explores shifting meanings of brackets in their continuous transmutations from a reminder of a defunct component in the building tradition to a nostalgic sign for an irretrievable architectural past.

Frontiers of History in China (FHC) is a fully refereed English academic journal and published four issues annually by Higher Education Press and Brill.

The journal publishes original research articles, review articles, research notes, and book reviews in all areas of Chinese history throughout all historical periods, especially those reflecting the new development of scholarship in the field.

All submissions and correspondence to the editors should be sent to:

frontiers-of-h...@scu.edu.cn

For more information about the journal, please click the link:

http://journal.hep.com.cn/fhc

http://www.brill.com/fhic

 

--
您收到这封email,是因为订阅了清华大学中文系和清华-哥大跨语际文化研究中心博士论坛的email list。
若您想发言,请发email至reading...@googlegroups.com
若您不想再收到类似的email,请写email给readingtsingh...@googlegroups.com
其他选择,请参见https://groups.google.com/d/forum/readingtsinghua?hl=zh-CN。
---
您收到此邮件是因为您订阅了Google网上论坛上的“清华大学中文系,清华-哥大跨语际文化研究中心博士论坛”群组。
要退订此群组并停止接收此群组的电子邮件,请发送电子邮件到readingtsingh...@googlegroups.com
要发帖到此群组,请发送电子邮件至reading...@googlegroups.com
访问此群组:http://groups.google.com/group/readingtsinghua
要查看更多选项,请访问https://groups.google.com/d/optout

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages