The Historical Tradition of Writing on Architecture (2) PDF

1 The Historical Tradition of Writing on Architecture From Antiquity to the Mid-Tenth Century Your subject learned that “[the sages built palaces and chambers] with a ridgepole at the top and eaves below [in order to attend to the wind and rain],” [which way of building,] in the Classic of Changes, corresponds to the time [and divinatory symbol] of “Great Maturity.” [Your subject also learned that] “the positions [of buildings] must be adjusted right and the cardinal directions be determined correctly,” [which,] in the Rites of the Zhou, indeed is a ceremony of [establishing a state in] peace (臣聞“上棟下宇”、《易》為大壯之時;“正位辨方” 、《禮》實太平之典). Li Jie, “Jin xinxiu Yingzao fashi xu”1 This is how Li Jie begins his preface to the YZFS, which served to present the work to the imperial court. He cites two of the most esteemed Confucian classics, which were attributed to kings and nobles of the Zhou (mid-eleventh century–256 B.C.E.), one of the most powerful dynasties in Chinese history. One of these writings was the Yi 易 (Changes), later known as the Zhouyi 周易 (Zhou’s [book of ] changes) and the Yijing 易經 (Classic of changes). The second was the Li 禮 (Rites), which refers to the Zhouguan 周官 (Government posts of the Zhou), later known as the Zhouli 周禮 (Rites of the Zhou).2 These classics recorded the art of divining THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 15 and the philosophy of life of the ancients, or rites and ceremonies of the Zhou dynasty. Li Jie used these two texts to demonstrate the fundamental principles of construction that had been practiced by ancient rulers who had succeeded in establishing a peaceful and powerful state. The building standards he formulated were based on these traditions of construction practice and architectural administration. Referring to classical sources and relating them to contemporary society was a common practice in ancient Chinese writing. This reﬂects a characteristic of Chinese thinking in many spheres: preference for established precedents. In the practice of compilation, it was often the case that new works cited old texts, with their compilation format and contents more or less built upon previous texts. In the absorption of tradition, however, writers faced the challenge of incorporating it into contemporary social needs and introducing innovative elements. It is essential to understand the complex attitudes of Chinese literati toward possible conﬂicts between tradition and reality and how they accomplished the integration of both in their writings. In the YZFS, Li Jie consults an extensive list of classical and earlier texts on architecture, especially those involving fundamental technologies and principles of construction. In the beginning section of the YZFS, “Kanxiang” 看詳 (Examination of details), he frequently quotes those essential texts and indicates that he is following the building principles recorded in classical texts. Furthermore, in the ﬁrst two chapters, collectively titled “Zongshi” 總釋 (General explanations), he engages in a textual study of architectural terminology and traces the evolution of major technical terms from classical sources to his time. To understand how Li Jie dealt with the relationship between traditional theories and contemporary practice, it is necessary to investigate the previous architectural writings that were available to him. A historiographical study of earlier architectural literature follows. Pre-Qin and Han Architectural Literature Incidental Evidence in Classics and Philosophy Extant Chinese architectural literature from before the Qin period (221–206 B.C.E.) is sparse. During the unprecedented destruction of classics under the directive of the First Emperor of Qin (r. 221–210 B.C.E.), practical texts, such as those on medicine, divination, and horticulture, were exempt from destruction (“所不去者、醫藥、卜筮、種樹之書”).3 Books on building 16 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR methods, if any, would also have been exempt. Therefore, the sparseness of architectural materials probably reﬂects the actual state of architectural writing at this early time. In the pre-Qin works that were rediscovered, collected, or further compiled during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.), scattered mention of architecture can be seen mostly in texts recording or explaining Zhou- dynasty rites and ceremonies and in the political and historical documents attributed to the Three Dynasties—Xia (ca. twenty-ﬁrst to sixteenth centuries B.C.E.), Shang (ca. sixteenth to mid-eleventh centuries B.C.E.), and Zhou. Literary works on the history of the rise and expansion of the Zhou also contain references to architecture. Many of these texts have been esteemed since the Han dynasty as essential Confucian classics. These works include the Yijing, the Zhouguan (or Zhouli), and two other fundamental ritual texts: the Yili 儀禮 (Rites and ceremonies) and the Liji 禮記 (Record of rites). They also include the Shangshu 尚書 (Book of documents), also known as the Shu 書 (Documents) or the Shujing 書經 (Classic of documents), the earliest and most authentic record of government aﬀairs of the Three Dynasties, and the Yi Zhoushu 逸周書 (Noncanonical Zhou documents), the materials sifted out from the Zhoushu 周書 (Zhou documents; included in the Shangshu). In addition, the Chunqiu Zuozhuan 春秋左傳 (Zuo’s [Zuoqiu Ming 左丘明, ﬁfth century B.C.E.] commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals), the oldest historical narrative of China, and the Shijing 詩經 (Classic of odes), the earliest anthology of poetry in China, also provide us with information on architecture.4 In these texts, references to architecture occur only as incidental inclusions in passages or lines explicating ritual activities or narrating historical events. As many ceremonies and events took place in palaces, ancestral shrines, or other ritual buildings, descriptions of the rites and activities often made reference to architectural locations and layout, and, in certain cases, also to building principles, processes, noted size, primary structural features, and architectural nomenclature. Let us take ﬁrst the Yili and the Shangshu as examples. None of the Yili’s seventeen chapters is devoted to architecture. Rather, architectural notices are mingled among other details in discourses on ceremonies. These allusions enable scholars of later generations to trace the tradition of early- period architecture. For instance, the chapter “Xiang yinjiu li” 鄉飲酒禮 (The rites of the district symposium)5 includes the stipulation “Place washing utensils to the southeast of the eastern stair” (設洗于阼階東南),6 which indicates that important buildings at that time had two stairs at the front, an eastern one (zuo 阼) and a western one. The eastern stair of a hall THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 17 was where the master of ceremonies mounted the platform of the hall to hold a ceremony; the western one was for guests entering or leaving the hall. This architectural layout and the functions of the two stairs are further reﬂected by stipulations in other sections of the Yili. The chapter “Dashe yi” 大射儀 (The rites of the [state] grand archery meet) includes the following directions: The guests step down [from the hall] and stand to the west of the western stair, facing the east. The ushers follow the order [of the master] to let guests step up. The guests step up and stand at the western interior wall, facing east (賓降立于西階西、東面。擯者以命升賓。賓升立于西序、東面).7 This instruction also indicates that inside a great palatial hall there were two partitions called xu 序. Similarly, no chapters of the Shangshu are focused on architecture, but information of the general layout and architectural compositions of a palatial compound can be found in its accounts of signiﬁcant ceremonies. For example, in its “Guming” 顧命 (The testamentary charge, presiding over the accession [of the king’s heir]) section that describes the obsequies for King Cheng 成王 (r. 1042/35–1006 B.C.E.)8 and the ceremony of ascending the throne by King Kang 康王 (r. 1005/03–978 B.C.E.), the text incidentally portrays some basic architectural characteristics of the ancestral shrine of the Zhou where these ceremonies took place. The following passage frequently refers to the built environment of the shrine through its descriptions of the display of ceremonial objects there: 狄設黼扆、綴衣。牖間南嚮、敷重篾席……西序東嚮、敷重底席……東序西嚮、敷重豐席……西夾南嚮……漆仍几。胤之舞衣……在西房。兌之戈……在東房。大輅在賓階面、綴輅在阼階面、先輅在左塾之前、次輅在右塾之前。9 The salvage men set out the screens ornamented with ﬁgures of axes, and the tents. Between the window and the door, facing the south, they placed the diﬀerent mats of bamboo basketwork... In the side space on the west, facing the east, they placed the diﬀerent rush mats... In the side space on the east, facing the west, they put the diﬀerent mats of ﬁne grass... Before the western side chamber, facing the south, [they placed]... the usual lacquered bench. The dance costumes of Yin... [were displayed] in the western apartment; the spear of Zhui... [was displayed] in the 18 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR eastern apartment. The grand carriage was by the guests’ steps, facing the south. The next carriage was by the eastern steps, facing the south. The foremost carriage was in front of the left lobby; and the next carriage was in front of the right lobby.10 From this passage, scholars of later generations can be assured about the distinct functions of the two stairs of the hall, the zuojie 阼階 (eastern stair, for the master of the ceremony) and the binjie 賓階 (guests’ stair, located in the west). It also clearly indicates that there were eastern and western partition walls (dongxu 東序 and xixu 西序) inside the hall, as reﬂected in the Yili and many other pre-Qin texts. Moreover, there were a few small rooms inside the hall (xijia 西夾 and therefore at least a dongjia 東夾 [eastern side chamber] as well). This passage also shows the layout of the shrine complex. There were two side apartments beside the shrine (dongfang 東房 and xifang 西房) and there was a gatehouse (shu 塾) in front of the shrine, which was divided into a left lobby and a right one. Overall, one can deduce that the facade of the Zhou-dynasty ancestral shrine faced south and that the shrine compound was very likely an enclosed yard, precisely like the compounds uncovered in archaeological excavations.11 Apart from incidental information of architectural layout and composition, these classics also provide textual evidence of architectural and structural details of magniﬁcent buildings in their stipulations or records of rituals and ceremonies. In the forty-nine-chapter Liji, architecture ﬁgures notably in its chapter 14, “Mingtang wei” 明堂位 (The positions in [the ceremony of ] the Hall of Distinction).12 The Mingtang was a signiﬁcant structure in ancient royal ritual architecture in which the king held state ceremonies and granted oﬃcials an audience. The Zhou-dynasty Mingtang was received as a great tradition in the imperial architecture of succeeding dynasties, but its function has been variously interpreted in history. However, the Liji includes the following explanation: “明堂也者、明諸侯之尊卑也”13 (What was called Mingtang was [in which] to diﬀerentiate the superiors and inferiors of feudal dukes). As the great Han-period scholar Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127–200) commented, “this is where [oﬃcials] had an audience with the king, at which place ceremonies were carried out and order and degrees were distinguished” (朝于此、所以正儀辨等也).14 The following passage is one of the few in chapter 14 of the Liji that concentrates on architectural description: 大廟、天子明堂。庫門、天子皋門。雉門、天子應門……山節藻梲、復廟重簷、刮楹達鄉、反坫出尊; 崇坫、康圭、疏 THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 19 屏、天子之廟飾也。15 The great temple corresponded to the Hall of Distinction of the Son of Heaven, the Ku (Treasury) gate to the Gao (Tall or enceinte) gate of the Son of Heaven, and the Zhi (Crenellated) gate to the Ying (Reception) gate of the Son of Heaven... [The palaces were distinguished by] the mountain- shaped brackets [on the columns] and the painted short posts [above the beams], the two stories and double eaves, the polished [wood] columns and the wide-open windows, the earthen stand on which the cups [after being used in the ceremonies] were placed, the high stand on which the jade tokens were displayed aloft, and the lightly carved screen. [All were just like] the ornaments of the temple of the Son of Heaven.16 Here, a group of architectural terms succinctly describes the architectural layout of palatial gates and the structural and stylistic features of the grand temple of the district of Lu 魯 (modern Qufu 曲阜 of Shandong). For pre-Qin architecture the text reveals the following: mountain shape of the bracketing (shanjie 山節),17 primitive polychrome features on the wood- framed structure (zaozhuo 藻梲, painted short posts), reﬁned surface of major structural components (guaying 刮楹, polished columns), and the existence of two-storied structures (fumiao 復廟) with multiple eaves. Nevertheless, the architectural description is subsumed under the main subject of the chapter, namely the ritual orders and practices taking place inside and around the buildings. Passages with an elaborate description of architectural details are contained in other pre-Qin classical texts as well. The Yi Zhoushu includes a document entitled “Zuo Luo” 作雒 (洛) (The making of Luo [modern Luoyang]) that depicts the historical events of the construction of the Zhou’s capital city by Duke Zhou (Zhougong 周公, in power 1042–1036 B.C.E.).18 In describing the common features of the palaces in the capital, the text comprises the following passage: 咸有四阿、反坫、重亢、重郎、常累、復格、藻梲、設移、旅楹、舂常、畫旅、內階、玄階、堤唐、山廧……19 [They] all had hip roofs, eaves bending upward, overlapped purlins, two- storied structures, string nets [under the eaves], layers of brackets, decorated short posts, corridors of side halls, lines of columns, painted coﬀers, screens ornamented with ax motifs, reception stairs, black stone stairs, a path in the central yard, [and] walls painted with mountains...20 20 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR This description yields further detailed evidence of the architectural style, the overall level of the wood-framed structure, the architectural decorations, and the interior furnishings of Zhou palaces. From the “decorated short posts,” as seen in the Liji as well, to the “painted coﬀers” (chongchang 舂常), the text implies that many of the architectural elements of Zhou palaces were well ornamented. Color painting on the surface of timber structures indeed developed thereafter into a primary decorative art in Chinese architecture. In addition to the fumiao as seen in the Liji, the chonglang 重郎 (two-storied structures) here further conﬁrms that two-storied wood-framed buildings represented a typical form of palatial architecture during the Zhou period. Moreover, all the palaces in the capital were of hip roofs (si’e 四阿) and upward-bending eaves (fandian 反坫), which also indicates the most prominent features of magniﬁcent buildings at that time. The hip roof represents the highest class of the form for roofs in Chinese building tradition, and one can now trace this tradition at least back to the Zhou period. The overlapped purlins (chongkang 重亢) reﬂect that the Zhou palaces were built in a comprehensive system of wood-framed beam structure. In this system, the wood frame is raised by the two eave columns (one at the front and the other at the rear)—and often interior columns as well—and multiple layers of horizontal transverse beams that support longitudinal purlins at diﬀerent levels (ﬁgure 1.1). From the mention of “layers of brackets” (fuge 復格), it can be inferred that the bracketing already contained double-layered bracket arms as seen in the architecture from the Han period onward. Most of the architectural forms and practical building methods reﬂected in this text not only persisted and further developed in later high- class architecture but were also documented in literary writings and oﬃcial records, although many of the terms changed. Even the string net under the eaves (changlei 常累), protecting against damage by nesting birds, is also described clearly in the YZFS, many centuries after this initial recording. The term changes, however, to hu dianyan queyanwang 護殿簷雀眼網 (sparrow- eye [bamboo] net protecting eaves of a hall).21 In fact, tracing the textual history and classical tradition of the contemporary building methods and terminology was one of the major tasks that Li Jie endeavored to accomplish in compiling the Northern Song building standards. Incidental mentions of architecture in these classics also reveal some essential architectural principles that were carried out by pre-Qin kings and nobles. They reﬂect contemporary architectural administration and fundamental building technology and were perceived as a vital part of the THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 21 FIGURE 1.1. YZFS illustration of a six-rafter-span wood-framed structure (juan 31:20a–b): transverse beams support longitudinal purlins at different levels architectural tradition throughout Chinese history. As partly cited in the YZFS,22 the ﬁrst words in the beginning chapter of the Rites of the Zhou read as follows: “惟王建國、辨方正位”23 (When a king established a state, [he ordered that] the cardinal directions be determined and that the positions [of buildings] be adjusted correctly). This reﬂects a signiﬁcant notion of constructing states, cities, and buildings during the pre-Qin period: of all the procedures related to construction, the ﬁrst was to determine the four cardinal directions and adjust the structural positions. This notion of construction was regarded as a ceremony of establishing a peaceful and powerful state in the succeeding dynasties. In construction practice, this essential procedure required the employment of speciﬁc methods and technologies for orientation. At that time, the four directions were determined by observing the shadow of the sun in daytime and the North Star at night. This practice is also reﬂected in pre-Qin classics, such as the poem “Ding zhi fangzhong” 定之方中 ([Build palaces by] determining the cardinal directions) in the Classic of Odes, which includes the line “揆之以日”24 (observe and measure the sunlight [at sunrise and sunset in order to determine east and west]). In examining traditional technologies of orientation, the YZFS repeatedly cites both this text and the historical commentaries on it,25 in which the word 22 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR ding 定 has two meanings: to construct buildings, or the “ding star” that was used together with the North Star to determine south and north. Although the notion of determining directions and adjusting positions as a primary procedure for construction is expressed only brieﬂy in these texts, it had a profound impact upon the long building practice thereafter.26 Another work in the Shijing anthology of poetry, entitled “Mian” 綿 (Successiveness), which depicts the growth of the House of Zhou, includes the following lines recounting how Gugong Danfu 古公亶父 (Ancient Duke Danfu) built residences for the Zhou on the plains inhabited by Zhou tribes: 乃召司空、乃召司徒、俾立室家。其繩則直、縮版以載。作廟翼翼。捄之陾陾、度之薨薨、筑之登登、削屢馮馮。百堵皆興…… [He] called his superintendent of public works / [He] called his minister of instruction / And charged [them] with building the houses / With the line [everything was made] straight / The frame boards were bound tight so as to rise regularly / [They] made the ancestral temple in its solemn grandeur / [Crowds] brought the earth in baskets / Threw it with shouts into the frames / [They] beat it with responsive blows / [They] trimmed [the walls] repeatedly, and sounded strong / Five thousand cubits of walls arose together...27 In these lines, one ﬁnds incidental references to the sikong 司空 (superintendent of public works) and the situ 司徒 (minister of instruction), the leading government posts for construction during the pre-Qin period. This is not the only text among pre-Qin classics mentioning a construction ministry that took charge of state construction. Such a government system of architectural administration was institutionalized and further developed from the Qin to the Song periods. Li Jie himself served as an assistant superintendent of the imperial Directorate of Construction (Jiangzuojian 將作監) while he was writing the YZFS. At the beginning of his preface, he speciﬁcally looks back to the government posts of construction of the pre- Qin and Han periods, treating them as an essential tradition in architectural administration: “共工命於舜日、大匠始於漢朝”28 (The post of state supervisor of all craftsmanship [gonggong 共工] was appointed in the time of Shun 舜 [an ancient king], and the post of greatest craftsman of the state [dajiang 大匠] originated in the Han dynasty). This poem also describes the processes of erecting a building by employing the technology of ramming the earth between boards. Termed THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 23 banzhu 版築 (boards and mallets, ramming between boards) in the Confucian text Mengzi 孟子 (Mencius, thoughts of Meng Ke 孟軻 [ca. 372–ca. 289 B.C.E.]),29 this technology is characterized by the use of wooden frame boards (ban 版) within which the earth is tamped down layer by layer with mallets (zhu 築) until the rammed-earth foundation or wall is made to the desired height (ﬁgure 1.2).30 As one of the oldest architectural traditions in China, it had been in practice as early as the late Neolithic period and early Bronze Age31 and was still in use during the Northern Song period. The YZFS includes detailed processes and standards for building rammed walls and foundations in the system of haozhai 壕寨 (moats and fortiﬁcations),32 and pre-Qin and Han texts that mention rammed-earth technology and practices are cited as the theoretical basis for these standards.33 The standards include such technical details as the proper amount of earth and that of smashed tiles and broken bricks to be mixed with it, as well as the number of mallet blows for each earth pit. The following lines, for instance, stipulate the thickness of each layer of earth FIGURE 1.2. Illustration of rammed-earth technology in the Erya yintu (illustrations attributed to Song-Yuan artists) 24 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR to be rammed and its thickness after having been rammed: “每布土、厚五寸、築實、厚三寸。每布碎塼瓦及石札等、厚三寸、築實、厚一寸五分”34 (Whenever earth is put in, [let each layer be] ﬁve cun thick, tamp it down, and make it three cun thick. Whenever putting in smashed bricks, broken tiles, rubble, and the like, [let each layer be] three cun thick, tamp it down, and make it one and a half cun). Also in the Shijing, the poem “Sigan” 斯干 (Assorted banks)35 includes vivid depictions of the appearance of magniﬁcent buildings. It has been considered by many commentators to be a narrative on the construction of palaces by King Xuan 宣王 (r. 827/25–782 B.C.E.) of the Zhou. In the following lines, the magniﬁcence of the individual palace or, more likely, a symbolic one in a palatial complex, is evoked vividly through metaphoric images: 如跂斯翼、如矢斯棘、如鳥斯革、如翬斯飛、君子攸躋。 [With its steady structure] like a man on tiptoe, in reverent expectation / [With its straight ridges] like arrows ﬂying rapidly / [With its extended eaves] like a bird [hovering] on balanced wings / [With its multicolors of elements] like a pheasant in ﬂight [exhibiting its beauty] / [The palace is] where our noble lord will ascend.36 As brief as these lines are, such metaphoric imagery aﬀected the way that people perceived magniﬁcent architecture and striking architectural elements in later periods. A famous rhapsody of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), the Jingfudian fu 景福殿賦 (Rhapsody on the Hall of Great Blessings) by He Yan 何晏 (190–249), depicts the imperial palace (built in 232) of Emperor Ming 明帝 (r. 227–239) of the Wei 魏 (220–265) in Xuchang 許昌. It includes a phrase that reads “fei’ang niaoyong” 飛昂鳥踊 (ﬂying cantilevers ﬂitting like birds),37 in which cantilevers—a bracketing element—are likened to ﬂying birds. Li Shan 李善 (d. 689), a Tang (618– 907) commentator on this rhapsody, glosses this metaphoric imagery in a more prosaic way: “飛昂之形、類鳥之飛” (The appearance of a ﬂying cantilever resembles a ﬂying bird). It is not absolutely clear whether Han and Tang builders indeed characterized a cantilever in the same way as the rhapsody composer and the literary commentator did. However, there is no doubt that the perception of a cantilever as a ﬂying bird was rooted in the minds of Han and Tang literati. Such metaphoric imagery in pre- Tang literature was accepted during the Song dynasty. The YZFS not only lists this literature as traditional architectural sources on the cantilever THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 25 but also includes the term “ﬂying cantilever” (fei’ang 飛昂) as one of the standard terms of this striking bracketing element.38 When such metaphoric imagery met with a culturally brilliant and ﬂourishing literary society such as the Song, it was elaborated much further, and a variety of architectural metaphors emerged in Song architectural terminology.39 Pre-Qin philosophical classics provide useful information on contemporary or earlier-period architecture as well. In the discourses on their philosophies of life and theories of state administration, pre-Qin thinkers sometimes discuss essential principles related to the construction of cities, use common architectural principles as examples of their philosophical doctrines, or criticize contemporary rulers’ lives of luxury by comparing their resplendent palaces with those simple and unadorned ones of earlier, sagacious kings. For example, the Mozi 墨子 (Micius, paciﬁst philosophical text attributed to Mo Di 墨翟 [ﬂ. 400 B.C.E.]) includes an essay titled “Bei chengmen” 備城門 (Preparing city gates).40 In its discourse on the political proposition of opposing wars of aggression, this essay discusses principles of defendable cities, including the establishment of important structures around the city gates and along city walls, such as houlou 候樓 (or 堠樓, watchtowers) and lu 櫓 (overhanging uncovered watchtowers). Another essay in this work, entitled “Yifa” 儀法 (Rules), expounds the importance of rules to the governance of a state. It uses essential principles of craftsmanship as an example: 天下從事者不可以無法儀……雖至百工從事者、亦皆有法。百工為方以矩、為圜以規、直以繩、 [衡以水]、正以縣[懸]。無巧工不巧工、皆以此五者為法。41 All people under heaven who engage in work cannot [do it] without rules... Even the hundred artiﬁcers who engage in work all have rules as well. The hundred artiﬁcers make a square with the carpenter’s square, make a circular form with compasses, make a straight line with the carpenter’s line marker, [make a horizontal element even with a water-level instrument], and make an erect element straight by suspending a weight string. There is no diﬀerence whether it is skilled craftsmen or unskilled ones, [as they] all follow these ﬁve principles as rules. Here, the text points out the ﬁve principles of artisanship—carpenter’s square (ju 矩), compasses (gui 規), line marker (sheng 繩), water-level instruments (shui 水 or shuiping 水平), and suspended weight string (xuan 縣, i.e., 懸). These basic principles of craftsmanship are often used by other pre-Qin 26 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR thinkers to illustrate their philosophical points as well. So important are these principles to the profession of construction that Li Jie treats them as the ﬁrst entry of his “Kanxiang,” the beginning of the YZFS. There this Mozi text as well as other pre-Qin and Han texts are cited, including a text from the Hanfeizi 韓非子 (legalist philosophical text attributed to Han Fei 韓非 [ca. 280–233 B.C.E.]). Other philosophical classics, from the Guanzi 管子 (politico-philosophical text attributed to Guan Zhong 管仲 [d. 645 B.C.E.]) and the Laozi 老子 (Daoist text attributed to Lao Dan 老耼 [ﬂ. sixth century B.C.E.]) to the Zhuangzi 莊子 (Daoist philosophical text attributed to Zhuang Zhou 莊周 [ca. 369–286 B.C.E.]), were all consulted by Li Jie in his compilation of the YZFS. Specialized Sections in Technological Documents Scattered architectural references like those above are typical of pre-Qin writings, probably with only one exception. That exception is a small section speciﬁcally on “architect-artisans” (jiangren 匠人) included in the Kaogongji 考工記(Records of artiﬁcers42), the earliest surviving compilation of texts on handicraft technology in China.43 The Kaogongji records the trade in handicraft industries, which includes architectural technology, building methods, and principles of urban design. Its authors are unknown, but based on the dominant regional style of its language this text has been identiﬁed by scholars from the Song period onward as a work of the state of Qi 齊.44 From its content and speciﬁc terms of measures for quantity, it has been identiﬁed more precisely as an oﬃcial document of the Qi state.45 Because the text clearly contains some methods for examining product quality, the Kaogongji, with its elaborate regulations, was likely compiled for the purpose of inspecting, evaluating, and maintaining the quality of handicraft production (of which architecture was considered a part).46 The compilation of the work was undertaken during a period when society in China was undergoing a transition from the political unity, military might, and cultural brilliance maintained by the state of Zhou to a fragmentation of power, frequent warfare, and the breakdown of moral and cultural norms. Under these circumstances, an intention to recover, sustain, and perpetuate the ideal state system and social order of the powerful Zhou, including its technological and architectural practices, has also been identiﬁed by modern scholars as the social and political context for the oﬃcial Qi compilation of the Kaogongji.47 Having survived the Qin’s destruction of classics, this text was rediscovered during the Western Han (206 B.C.E.–25 C.E.) dynasty and THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 27 was added to the Zhouguan (title later changed to Zhouli), serving as its last chapter, “Dongguan” 冬官 (Winter oﬃces, the government post in charge of trade), one of the six state posts of the Zhou dynasty.48 From Han times on, as the Zhouli became one of the traditional Confucian classics, the Kaogongji, as a part of it, also received serious study by Confucian scholars like Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–1086),49 the great scholar and politician of the Northern Song who played a critical role in the state initiative of compilation of the YZFS.50 During the Song period, there were many oﬃcial and private publications of studies of the Kaogongji.51 The Kaogongji starts with a statement that the baigong 百工 (literally, “hundred artiﬁcers”) constitute a social status of the state, whose responsibilities are to examine the quality of materials and terrain and to manage materials for making objects and utensils (buildings included in a broad sense). It emphasizes that artiﬁcers must pay attention to four necessary conditions in order to follow the sage’s inventions of all good designs: these conditions are favorable climate, geographical conditions, good materials, and skillful technique. The text classiﬁes all the artiﬁcers’ work into six major categories according to the types of materials or the nature of the techniques involved, among which the “work of managing timber” (攻木之工) is listed and elaborated ﬁrst.52 Each category contains several detailed types of work. Under the category of timber work, which most concerns us here, the following seven types are listed and their respective technologies discussed: lun 輪 (wheels), yu 輿 (carriages), gong 弓 (bows), lu 廬 (timber elements of weapons), jiang 匠 (artisans), che 車 (chariots), and zi 梓 (ritual musical objects). Most closely related to architecture is the section on jiangren in association with the work jiang.53 This section contains some 560 words, which is merely 8 percent of the whole Kaogongji. This terse text is signiﬁcant because it is the earliest complete architectural text known in China. The jiangren section treats the duties of craftsmen in three aspects: jiangren jianguo 匠人建國 (artisans building a state capital), jiangren yingguo 匠人營國 (artisans designing a capital city), and jiangren wei gouxu 匠人為溝洫 (artisans making ditches). The jiangren jianguo section contains only forty-three words, but the content is very important: 匠人建國、水地以縣（懸）、置槷以縣（懸）、䚪（䛉）以景（影）、為規、識日出之景（影）與日入之景（影）、晝參諸日中之景（影）、夜考之極星、以正朝夕。 54 [When] artisans build a state capital, a water-holding level instrument [is 28 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR used] to examine the level of the ground [chosen for the site of the building to be constructed] where poles [set up at the four corners] are straightened by ropes with weights hanging down; [and by examining the heights of the poles, the level of the ground is determined;]55 a pole [also] is set up and straightened by ropes with weights hanging down, so as to observe shadows [of the sun]; a circle [centered at the pole] is drawn, and the shadow at sunrise and the shadow at sunset are marked [on the circle]; in daytime, the shadow at high noon is consulted, and at night, the North Star is observed, so as to adjust [and determine] east and west [as well as south and north]. This passage describes the ﬁrst steps that an architect-artisan should take in planning and building a city: how to determine the earth level of a potential location of a city and then how to determine the four cardinal directions. As mentioned before, “determining the directions” (bianfang 辨方) and “adjusting the positions correctly” (zhengwei 正位) have been regarded as the most important things for proceeding with the construction of a state since the Zhou period. Although the Rites of Zhou and other pre-Qin texts mention this notion, only the Kaogongji provides detailed descriptions of the correspondent technology. In his explanation of these words of the above Rites of Zhou text, the Northern Song scholar Wang Anshi rephrased part of the language in the jiangren jianguo passage and its succeeding jiangren yingguo text, elaborating: 晝參諸日景、夜考諸極星、以正朝夕。於是、求地中以建王國。此之謂辨方。既辨方矣、立宗廟於左、立社稷於右、立朝於前、立市於後、此之謂正位。56 In daytime, the shadow of the sun was consulted; at night, the North Star was observed, so as to determine east and west [as well as south and north]. Therefore, the center of the earth was sought in order to set up the king’s state, which is what “determining the cardinal directions” meant. After the cardinal directions were determined, [the king] built [his] ancestral shrine to the left [of his palace], built altars to the gods of the soil and grain to the right, built a royal court to the front, and built a market to the rear, which is what “adjusting positions” meant. Wang Anshi further clariﬁed the interrelationship between “determining the directions” and “adjusting positions”: the latter must THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 29 depend on the former. Architectural positions cannot be adjusted correctly if the four directions are not correctly determined, and therefore the ideal plans for positioning major buildings in the state capital, as the jiangren yingguo passage states, cannot be realized. In addition, Wang connected the fundamental technical process of determining the four cardinal directions with the ideology of a king’s state or capital resting at the center of the earth. Such an ideology was often represented in pre-Qin Confucian classics and subsequent historical works. Since early times, this theoretical ideology indeed aﬀected the way of Chinese thinking with regard to an idealized kingdom situated in the center of the world. The water-holding level instrument and the method of determining the cardinal directions by observing the sun’s shadow in the Kaogongji are the prototypes of those more advanced, comprehensive leveling and shadow-observing instruments that were developed in later times. The YZFS records and illustrates a set of those advanced instruments used in contemporary building practice, such as the shuiping, zhenchi 真尺 (rectifying ruler), yingbiaoban 景(影)表版 (a round board with a gnomon in the center to gauge the shadow of the sun), wangtong 望筒 ([North Star] observing tube), and shuichi yingbiao 水池景(影)表 (shadow-gauging water-holding board to rectify for the directions), in the entries on quzheng 取正 (determining the directions) and dingping 定平 (determination of level) (ﬁgures 1.3, 1.4).57 Yet Li Jie clearly states that the building methods of determining the directions and level in his treatise were compiled “strictly” or “cautiously” (謹) on the basis of the Kaogongji (in addition to other pre-Qin classics): 看詳: 今來凡有興造、既以水平定地平面、然後、立表測景、望星、以正四方。正與經傳相合。今謹按《詩》及《周官. 考工記》等修立下條。 58 Examination of the details: Nowadays, whenever there is construction [ongoing], [builders] are already using a water-holding instrument to determine level, and after that, [they] set up poles to observe the shadows [of the sun]; [they also] observe the North Star in order to determine the four cardinal directions. [This practice] precisely conforms to [the records in] the classics and historical texts. Now [your subject] strictly writes the next entry [the system of determining the directions] by following the Classic of Odes and the “Kaogongji” section of the Government Posts of the Zhou and other texts. FIGURE 1.3. YZFS illustrations of orientation technology (juan 29:2b–3a): (left) shadow-gauging water- holding board (shuichi yingbiao); (right) tube (wangtong) for observing the North Star and shadow-gauging board (yingbiaoban) FIGURE 1.4. YZFS illustration of leveling technology (juan 29:3b–4a): (left) rectifying ruler (zhenchi); (right) water-holding instrument (shuiping) THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 31 看詳: 今來凡有興建、須先以水平望基四角所立之柱、定地平面、然後、可以安置柱石。正與經傳相合。今謹按《周禮. 考工記》修立下條。59 Examination of the details: Today, whenever construction occurs, it must be [the case] that [builders] ﬁrst use a water-holding instrument to observe the columns set up in the four corners of the base, [so as to] determine the level of the ground, and then [they] can install the stone base of the columns. [This practice is] exactly commensurate with [the records in] the classics and historical texts. Now [your subject] strictly compiles the next entry [the system of determining level] by following the “Kaogongji” section of the Rites of the Zhou. Here, Li Jie repeatedly stresses the consistency between classical architectural tradition and contemporary building methods. Indeed, in other entries of the “Kanxiang” such an identity is emphasized as well.60 Obviously, he positions his discussion of practical building technologies within a proper tradition. On the one hand, we thus know that he strove to ﬁnd traditional sources to assist his determinations of the “standard” technical methods he presented to the court; on the other, it is also clear that some practical building technologies during the Song period had departed far from pre-Qin and Zhou models. It must have been a challenge for him to manage to convince the court and prospective users of his treatise with the coherence between the discourse on practical methods and the classical tradition. The next two aspects of the craftsmen’s duties account for the main body of the jiangren section. The jiangren yingguo passage ﬁrst sets out the standard urban design of a capital, which produced a theory of urban planning of signiﬁcant historical inﬂuence: 匠人營國、方九里、旁三門、國中九經九緯、經涂九軌。左祖右社、面朝後市、市朝一夫。61 When artisans designed a capital city, [they made the city] nine li long and three gates on each side [of the city walls]; in the city, nine roads from north to south and nine roads from west to east, and each road was as wide as nine wagons abreast; the ancestral shrine was in the left [of the city], while the altars to the gods of soil and grain on the right; the audience chambers were in the front, while the market was behind [them]; the market and the audience chambers constituted an area of one hundred steps square. 32 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR Such a standard urban design features a symmetrical layout of an enclosed square city that includes three gates on each side, nine streets running north and south and east and west, a central palace compound with ancestral temples on its left, altars to the gods of the land and grain where the state ceremony of harvest prayer was presented on its right, an outer court in front, and a market at its rear. The measurements of the width of each street and of the area of the outer court and the market are also indicated. This formula of the urban system became the traditional architectural source consulted by all dynasties in the design of their capital cities from the Eastern Han period (25–220) onward.62 It is not quoted in the YZFS, since this oﬃcial building manual of the Northern Song does not address issues of urban design. Looking at the character of the YZFS, it is a treatise on concrete building technology and methods pertaining to closed structural systems. Nevertheless, the impact of other building technologies in the Kaogongji upon the architectural theory in the YZFS is considerable and can be demonstrated further by reference to other parts of the Kaogongji. The following from the jiangren yingguo passage describes the architectural measurements, plans, and forms of the palaces of the Xia, the Shang, and the Zhou dynasties, with greater detail provided for the Zhou palace. The description of the Zhou-dynasty Mingtang compound indicates that a noticeable modular system of architecture had already emerged: 周人明堂、度九尺之筵、東西九筵、南北七筵、堂崇一筵。五室、凡室二筵。室中度以几、堂上度以筵、宮中度以尋、野度以步、涂度以軌。 The Hall of Distinction of the Zhou is measured with a mat of nine chi in length.63 [The hall is] nine mats [long] from east to west, seven mats [wide] from south to north, and [the terrace of ] the hall is one mat high. [It consists of ] ﬁve chambers [inside], each chamber two mats [long on all its sides]. Inside a chamber [everything] is measured according to [the size of ] a stool. [Everything else] in the hall is measured according to [the size of ] a mat. A palace compound is measured by the length of two extended arms. Outer precincts are measured by the length of a full pace. Streets are measured in the axle length of two wheels of a vehicle. The concept of modules was essential in the mass production of Chinese art.64 Architectural modules were also signiﬁcant in the development of Chinese architecture. The above jiangren yingguo passage is probably the earliest extant text on architectural modules in China. According to this THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 33 text, the basic unit of measure for a palace building is the length of a mat covering the ﬂoor of the building. Moreover, a diﬀerent measuring unit is used for diﬀerent architectural spaces: a mat (筵) for a palatial hall, a stool (几) for the interior of a hall, the length of the extended arms of a person (尋) for measuring space within a palace complex, a full pace (two steps, 步) for measuring space in the outer precincts of a palace compound, and the axle length of two vehicle wheels (軌) for streets and roads. Such a modular concept ﬁnds its successor in the architectural treatises of later periods. The earliest text that clearly indicates the continuation and development of such a modular concept is the Mujing 木經 (Timberwork manual) of the late tenth century, in which diﬀerent architectural elements are used as modules for diﬀerent structural portions of a building, and a unit of a human anatomical measurement, such as an arm’s length, is related to the measurement of stairs.65 A more comprehensive modular system was developed during the late Northern Song dynasty, as is seen in the YZFS. In this system, the section of a regular bracket arm, termed cai 材, is used as a standard module for the design of all parts of a building. It is a two-dimensional module, namely both the width and the height of the arm are functional as a module, and each is used in the determination of the measurement of an architectural element in one direction. The YZFS classiﬁes the cai module into eight grades, and each has a diﬀerent size of the section of the arm (ﬁgure 1.5), ranging from nine cun high and six cun wide (ﬁrst grade) to four and a half cun high and three cun wide (eighth grade), applicable to buildings of diﬀerent levels of importance and structural comprehensiveness: “凡構屋之制、皆以材為祖。材有八等、度屋之大小、因而用之。”66 (All principles of constructing buildings are based on cai. A cai has eight grades. Considering the size of a building, it is thus used accordingly.) FIGURE 1.5. The eight grades of a cai module of the YZFS: left to right: first grade (9 x 6 cun), second grade (8.25 x 5.5 cun), third grade (7.5 x 5 cun), fourth grade (7.2 x 4.8 cun), fifth grade (6.6 x 4.4 cun), sixth grade (6 x 4 cun), seventh grade (5.25 x 3.5 cun), eighth grade (4.5 x 3 cun) (after Liang Sicheng, Yingzao fashi zhushi, 240; featuring a smaller modular unit zi on top of a cai timber of each grade) 34 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR The Zhou-dynasty Mingtang, as recorded here in the Kaogongji, was used by succeeding dynasties as the most important historical reference of the Zhou architectural tradition. It was cited in works devoted to ritual traditions and by scholar-oﬃcials in memorials presented to the court in the course of discussions regarding the proper design of the Mingtang. During the Northern Song period, Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100– 1125), who sought to symbolize his dynasty’s possession of the power of the Zhou, personally studied the system of the Mingtang in the Kaogongji and sponsored a design drawing of the Mingtang based on it. According to the Songshi 宋史 (Standard history of the Song), this imperially designed Mingtang was built at his directive: （政和五年）又詔:“明堂之制、朕取《考工》互見之文、得其製作之本……宜令明堂使司遵圖建立。”於是、內出圖式、宣示於崇政殿、命蔡京為明堂使。開局興工、日役萬人。67 (In the ﬁfth year of Zhenghe 政和 ) [the emperor] again issued an imperial order: “[Regarding] the system of the Mingtang, I read the related records of the Kaogong[ji], and have understood the essentials of its making... It is appropriate to order the Mingtang commissioner to abide by the drawing to build [it].” Thereupon, a drawing was taken from the inner precincts [of the court] and was promulgated at the Chongzheng Hall. [The emperor] ordered Cai Jing [蔡京 (1046–1126)] to be the Mingtang commissioner. The construction began. It involved some ten thousand workers every day. As important as the Kaogongji was to the Song court and to the imperial construction projects, so much did it mean to Li Jie while formulating state building standards. The jiangren yingguo passage goes on to describe the size of several palatial gates and the position of the residences of imperial concubines and the oﬃces of high-ranking oﬃcials. This description provides further information about the layout of a state’s capital. The passage ends with measurements for the men’e 門阿 (city gates) of a king’s palace city and for the gongyu 宮隅 (corner towers of the palace city) and chengyu 城隅 (corner towers of the outer city), and measurements for the main streets within and outside the king’s palace city; it states that the measurements for structures and streets for the city of a prince are smaller. This section contains a clear- cut hierarchical architectural system, which reﬂects the ideological and ritual THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 35 demands of the rulers. Such an architectural hierarchy also had a profound inﬂuence on succeeding dynasties. The jiangren wei gouxu section starts with the tools and methods of ditching and the measurements of ditches and waterways, followed by some principles of digging ditches and building a dam. Among the principles of building a dam, a very important one is stated brieﬂy, that is, how to estimate manpower requirements: “凡溝防、必一日先深之以為式。里為式、然後可以傳眾力”68 (When building a dam, it is necessary that the estimate be made ﬁrst by referring to the work [that one builder has done] during a day. The estimate [also should] be based on [what is involved in building] a dam of one li, and after that the manpower [needed for the whole project] can be managed).69 In these two sentences, the principles of estimating and adjusting manpower are associated with the daily rate of progress and statistics for the amount of needed manpower, and most likely the days needed to complete a portion (in this case, one li) of a project. It is a primitive concept of the eﬃcient management of manpower and scheduling. In fact, such a concept of project management as recorded in the Kaogongji faithfully reﬂects the actual construction practices of the time. An account in the Chunqiu Zuozhuan records the process of building a city in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 B.C.E.): 量功命日、分財用、平板榦、稱畚築、程土物、議遠邇、略基趾、具餱糧、度有司。事三旬而成、不愆于素。70 Estimating [the need for] labor and designating the days [of construction], distributing building tools, unifying the panels and supporting posts [for ramming walls], balancing [the work loads of ] transporting and ramming earth, making standards of earthwork and tools, investigating the distances [materials must be transported], inspecting [all sides of ] the foundation [of the city], preparing foodstuﬀs, and examining and choosing the oﬃcials [supervising the construction], [consequently,] the construction was completed in thirty days, within schedule. This account indicates that the advance evaluations and control of labor, earthwork, days, and distances provided for an eﬃcient management of construction. This concept of construction management was rather inﬂuential in later periods. The YZFS contains lengthy discussions of the standard methods for determining manpower and time needs, which are 36 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR presented in its chapters on gongxian 功限 (limits of human work).71 It also includes chapters on liaoli 料例 (standard requirements for materials) that provide detailed rules related to materials for various types of work,72 and this part is also associated with building management. Strengthening construction management was one of the major purposes of the imperial patronage of the treatise. With such a long history, the primary concept of construction management as reﬂected in pre-Qin classics was already developed into a comprehensive system of management during the Northern Song dynasty. The ﬁnal portion of this passage describes methods of determining roof height and gives some architectural proportions and measurements of palace barns, underground storehouses, city walls, and ditches. Many of these methods were continued in later architecture. For example, the height of a wall is given as three times its width (“牆厚三尺、崇三之”), a proportion that is the same as that of the rammed-wall methods of the YZFS: “築牆之制、每牆厚三尺、則高九尺”73 (In the system of constructing walls, on each occasion that a wall is three chi thick, then make it nine chi tall). Citing the Kaogongji and other earlier texts on rammed walls, the YZFS once again stresses the identicalness between contemporary practice and tradition before providing the detailed standard for rammed-wall methods.74 In setting out the method for determining roof height, the text of the jiangren wei gouxu section reads as follows: “葺屋參分、瓦屋四分”75 (For a thatched roof, [the height of the roof from the eaves is] one-third [of the width of the building]; for a tiled roof, [it is] one-fourth). This not only indicates that the roof height is closely related to the general width of a building, but it also clearly states that the height depends upon which type of roof is under construction. This information represents another aspect of the great importance of the jiangren section of the Kaogongji, since it is the earliest text that clearly distinguishes the rules of roof height in terms of rooﬁng material. The methods described in this text apparently are related to their eﬀectiveness in draining water from roofs, which accounts for the inclusion of these roof rules in the wei gouxu text dealing with ditches. A rough and absorbent thatched roof is slower to drain rainwater than is a tiled roof; therefore, a thatched roof is designed at a higher pitch, while a tiled roof is of a relatively lower one. The principle of roof height based on the width of a building was followed by succeeding dynasties and was developed into more comprehensive methods. The YZFS records the juzhe 舉折 ([ﬁrst] raise [the total height] and [then] break [for individual heights of purlins]) method: the rise of the total roof height is determined by the THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 37 total width of bays on the side plus the depth of the protrusion of bracketing from the eave columns.76 It also stipulates a detailed method for setting the roof pitch that varies with the type of structure under construction and with the type of rooﬁng material. Despite the ﬁne distinctions in the principles of determining the roof height for diﬀerent types of buildings in contemporary practice, Li Jie spares no pains emphasizing again that those principles “basically” (大抵) all conform to those recorded in the Kaogongji and that he set the standard principle by following the textual tradition.77 To sum up, the jiangren section of the Kaogongji describes architectural rules and urban planning ideas that include the designs of the capital city, palaces, and other buildings, and it also applies a clear-cut hierarchical system to architecture. In addition, the text includes practical building methods, such as those for roofs and walls, and includes a valuable concept of construction management in determining the needs for manpower and time. As I have shown, the whole body of this text was extremely inﬂuential during succeeding dynasties. Specialized Dictionary Categories for Architecture Incidental allusions to architecture are included in histories, literature, and scientiﬁc essays of the Qin and Han periods as well.78 The Zhoubi suanjing 周髀算經 (Mathematical classic of the Zhou shadow-gauging instrument; completed during the ﬁrst century B.C.E.) includes a passage on “正四方之法” (methods of determining the four directions) that correctly records fundamental technologies of orientation by observing the shadows of the sun; the passage on “求圓於方之法” (methods of making a circular form from a square) includes the principle of making a square from a circle as well.79 Another Han-period mathematical work, the Jiuzhang suanshu 九章算術 (Nine-chapter mathematical classic), includes answers to the mathematical issues applicable to the construction of buildings, such as calculating the cubage of buildings in various geometrical forms and measurements of individual building elements as well as the size of a city.80 Qin and Han- period architectural literature includes a new type of writing: etymological dictionaries. These dictionaries either contain explanations of speciﬁc characters and words pertaining to building structures and architectural elements or, more important, include a separate category for architecture. In most cases of Qin and Han-period dictionaries, words were compiled according to the radicals and strokes of the characters, or based on their sounds. Thus, architectural terms were scattered across diﬀerent sections of such a dictionary, as seen in Xu Shen’s 許慎 (ca. 58–148) Shuowen jiezi 38 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR 說文解字 (Explanations of words).81 In contrast to such lexical works, the Erya 爾雅 (Approaching elegance; literary exposition) and the Shiming 釋名 (Explanations of terms) represent an entirely diﬀerent compilation format for a dictionary: both include one section that glosses architectural terminology. The Erya was compiled during the late Warring States period and completed during the early Western Han period. This work uses contemporary standard language to explain words in early-period books that, due to either the passage of time or the diﬀerences in local dialects, had become diﬃcult to understand. It comprises nineteen chapters, each of which glosses terms on a given subject. What concerns us most here is chapter 5, “Shigong” 釋宮 (Glosses on architecture),82 which speciﬁcally treats the architectural terminology of the pre-Qin period. Like the Kaogongji, the Erya includes architecture as one of many components of the whole. However, in the Erya, architectural content is organized into a more specialized category. The Kaogongji’s jiangren section is actually a mere passage rather than a clearly demarcated category. Moreover, it deals with not only building methods and urban planning theories but also irrigation designs for agricultural ﬁelds. In contrast, the “Shigong” chapter in the Erya is devoted to architectural terminology or literary words related to architecture; although some terms designate roads and paths or human movement occurring in diﬀerent architectural settings,83 they are treated as something related to the built environment. About eighty architectural terms are treated in the “Shigong.” These terms cover both general terms for a building and speciﬁc names of certain buildings, as well as individual architectural components or locations. The ﬁrst two deﬁnitions read “宮謂之室、室謂之宮”84 (Gong is called shi and shi is called gong), which explains that both gong 宮 and shi 室 appeared in pre-Qin classics as general terms for houses, residences, or chambers (including palaces where kings or emperors resided). In other parts of this glossary where gong is used to deﬁne other architectural members, gong is likely used to denote a compound of buildings (residences or palaces), such as “宮中之門謂之闈、其小者謂之閨” (A gate [leading to the houses] inside a gong is called wei; a smaller wei is called gui)85 and “宮中衖謂之壼” (Lanes [between the small gates and houses] inside a gong are called kun).86 In any case, that the “Shigong” explains gong in early classics as a general term for residences would have helped contemporary readers properly understand that the architecture represented by this term could be diﬀerent from that associated with contemporary meanings—it might not necessarily represent THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 39 residences of kings. The term gong, along with the compound gongshi 宮室, changed their meanings by denoting mostly imperial palaces after the Qin-Han period, as the early-Tang scholar Lu Deming 陸德明 (556–627) clariﬁed: “案古者貴賤同稱宮、秦漢以來惟王者所居稱宮焉”87 (Note: In ancient times, [houses for] both nobles and the lowly were called gong; it is since the Qin-Han [period] that only those where emperors reside are called gong). With such a deﬁnition of gong, the “Shigong” chapter does not gloss merely the “palace” but also terms for architecture in general. Therefore, it not only deﬁnes miao 廟 (shrine), qin 寢 (bedchamber; soul-sleeping chamber), xie 榭 (pavilion, or kiosk on a high terrace), tai 臺 (terrace), and lou 樓 (tower), which are cited in the terminological section of the YZFS, but it also explains jia 家 (inside of a house),88 shi ➀ (fowl pen),89 fang 防 (small, curved screen used in archery meets to protect against arrows),90 liang 梁 (bridge),91 and ji 徛 (stone bridge, or stepping stones placed in the water for crossing a river).92 In addition, the glossary explicates a broad range of architectural elements, from the wood components of doors, including threshold (yu 閾), door frame (xie 楔), lintel (liang 梁), door spindle (wei 椳), door leaves (fei 扉), door-locking central timber (chuan 傳 or tu 突), to the mats of bamboo or reeds covering the roof (yao 筄), the timbers nailed to the wall for hanging clothes (hui 楎), and the clay platform inside a building (dian 坫). These are not elements used exclusively in buildings for kings. The deﬁnitions of architectural positions, such as “西南隅謂之奧、西北隅謂之屋漏、東北隅謂之宧、東南隅謂之窔”93 (the southwestern corner [of a chamber] is called ao, the northwestern corner is called wulou, the northeastern corner is called yi, and the southeastern corner is called yao), which explain the four corners of a building, also apply to any building type. Therefore, although the earlier classics that the writers of the “Shigong” read and used as the sources of the architectural glossary often describe those architectural terms and elements in the architecture of kings, the “Shigong” was likely intended to gloss common classical architectural terminology. As a literary exposition, the Erya employs contemporary popular language to explain old, diﬃcult words, expressions, and terms in the earlier classics; similarly, the “Shigong” also constitutes a useful means by which to facilitate understanding the architecture pertaining to the rituals and historical narratives in the classics. For example, the text includes the following deﬁnitions: “東西牆謂之序”94 (the eastern and western walls [of a house] are called xu), “兩階間謂之鄉”95 ([the space] between two 40 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR [eastern and western] stairs [of a hall] is called xiang), “正門謂之應門”96 (the front gate [of a palace] is called ying [audience or court] gate), “門側之堂謂之塾”97 (the halls beside a gate are called shu), “廟中路謂之唐”98 (roads inside the ancestral shrine are called tang), and “垝謂之坫”99 (the clay platform inside a room [where utensils are put] is called dian). The classical architectural terms glossed here, xu 序, xiang 鄉, yingmen 應門, shu 塾, tang 唐, and dian 坫, are essential for understanding the texts that we encountered above and underscored as examples of incidental inclusions of architecture in the pre-Qin classics. The explanations of these terms, together with many others, provide a richer source on the architecture of early-period China than does the pre-Qin literature itself; the richness lies both in the longer period extending to the early Han and in the additional references to architectural structures, elements, positions, and space. The following deﬁnitions, which explicate several terms for structural elements of timber architecture, are very important in this architectural glossary, each of which is quoted in the YZFS: 杗廇謂之梁、其上楹謂之梲。閞謂之槉。栭謂之楶。棟謂之桴。桷謂之榱。桷直而遂謂之閱、直不受檐謂之交。檐謂之樀。100 The great beam of a building (mangliu) is called liang; the post on the beam is called zhuo [dwarf post]; the small square timber on the capital of a column (bian) is called ji; the square timber block on the capital of a column (er) is called jie; purlins (dong) are called fu; square rafters (jue) are called cui. The square rafters [long enough] to reach the eave directly are called yue; [the square rafters] not directly reaching the eave are called jiao; eaves are [also] called di.101 In explaining the major components of a wood-framed structure, these deﬁnitions reﬂect the level at which the beam structure of pre-Qin architecture was developed and the complexity of how structural elements were combined (or connected to one another) as a functional entity. It is revealed, for instance, that short posts (zhuo 梲) were installed on the great transverse beam (liang 梁 or mangliu 杗廇) to support the upper structural elements—purlins (dong 棟 or fu 桴), which run longitudinally and support rafters and other rooﬁng materials. The rafters (jue 桷 or cui 榱) included two kinds, yue 閱 and jiao 交, depending on whether they reach the eaves or not. Although the deﬁnitions of yue and jiao are not very clear here, it can be deduced that yue represents eave rafters, which are supported by the eave purlin and another purlin higher than it; jiao represents those rafters that are never supported by eave THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 41 purlins, that is, those rafters in the upper part of the roof structure. Perhaps jiao rafters were supported by the ridge purlin and an intermediate purlin, or by two intermediate purlins, or they were used to constitute a complicated, miniature coﬀerlike structure.102 In addition, the deﬁnitions of ji 槉 or bian 閞, er 栭 or jie 楶 (i.e., 節) reﬂect the level of bracketing achieved in Chinese architecture by the pre-Qin period. Bian or ji represents the square, straight timber installed on the capital of a column, which is a primitive form of bracket arm commonly seen in the buildings after the Han period. Er or jie is the square timber block on the capital, which, in combination with bian or ji in the more mature form of later periods, functions as the bottommost support for a whole bracket set installed between the eave (or a purlin or beam) and a column in post-Han architecture. Based on the fundamental features of a wood-framed structure of pre-Qin architecture described above and on those scattered allusions to palatial buildings that are incidentally included in pre-Qin classics as previously noted, one can roughly reconstruct the wood-framed structure of a pre-Qin palace as Tanaka Tan 田中淡 (b. 1946) has proposed (ﬁgure 1.6).103 The “Shigong” chapter of the Erya is a signiﬁcant text. For the ﬁrst time in Chinese literature, architecture merited its own independent category in a compilation. This chapter served as an important reference for later scholars FIGURE 1.6. Tanaka Tan’s reconstruction drawing of the wood-framed structure of a pre-Qin palatial building based on the Erya architectural terminology and other early-period texts (Tanaka, Chugoku kenchikushi no kenkyu, 47) (Among these terms, numbers 10–12 are mangliu or liang, zhuo, dong or fu, respectively; 15–17, jiao, yue, jue or cui, respectively; 23–24, er or jie, bian or ji, respectively; 32, di) 42 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR studying pre-Qin architecture and exploring architectural traditions of early periods. The YZFS cites the “Shigong” frequently for individual architectural terms. From the Han to Song periods, scholarship on the “Shigong” was richly produced as scholars studied the Erya as a Confucian classic.104 In imitation of the compilation format of the Erya, Liu Xi’s 劉熙 (ﬂ. 200) Shiming dictionary also has an architectural category.105 This twenty-seven- chapter work explains words or terms mostly by analyzing a homophonic word that the author considered had a connection with the glossed term either etymologically or semantically. For example, tiao 跳 (jump, leap) is explained as “條也。如草木枝條務上行也” 106 (tiao [a branch]; [to jump is] as if branches of vegetation rise up), in which tiao (branch) as a homophone of tiao (jump) is used to explain vividly the appearance of what the action word “jump” represents. Among the broad range of subjects explained,107 chapter 17, “Shigongshi” 釋宮室 (Explanations of [the terminology of ] architecture), a title similar to that of the “Shigong” section of the Erya, speciﬁcally glosses architectural terminology. Not only the format but also the contents of the “Shigongshi” resemble the “Shigong.” Like the “Shigong,” the beginning of the “Shigongshi” glosses gong 宮 (building), shi 室 (chamber), and the terms for various locations inside a building; the middle section of both texts gloss major structural elements of a wood framework. In addition, the “Shigongshi” explains some ninety architectural terms, a number close to that in the “Shigong.” However, the glossed terms in these two texts are not identical: the “Shigongshi” contains many terms that are not included in the “Shigong.” Moreover, it is often the case that in glossing the terms treated in the “Shigong,” the “Shigongshi” adds certain terms that are interrelated and complementary to those in the “Shigong.” For instance, in addition to the four terms for the four corners inside a building glossed in the “Shigong,” the “Shigongshi” also glosses the term for the center of the inside of a chamber: “中央曰中霤”108 (The center [of a chamber] is called zhongliu). The “Shigong” glosses gong, shi, and jia 家 (house) as generic terms for a building, a chamber, or a residence, but the “Shigongshi” glosses gong, shi, zhai 宅 (house), she 舍 (residence), yu 宇 (covered building), wu 屋 (building) as generic terms for buildings or chambers.109 Moreover, the “Shigongshi” is a longer text because it elaborates the explanations or, sometimes, deﬁnitions of most glossed terms to a signiﬁcantly greater extent than does the “Shigong.” For example, gong 宮 is explained as “穹也。屋見於垣上、穹隆然也”110 (qiong [as “arched”], [which is] a building [built] on the walls seen as an arched cavity), and shi 室 as “實也。人、物實滿其中也”111 (shi [as “solid”], as people and objects THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 43 fully ﬁll its inside), while overly concise glosses, “gong is called shi and shi is called gong,” are provided in the “Shigong.” In general, the “Shigong” gives only simple deﬁnitions of architectural terms (what was called what) but barely explains their etymologies. In contrast, the “Shigongshi” always oﬀers an explanation of why a certain thing was given such a name, which often makes sense and illuminates the understanding of those classical terms for early-period architecture. While the explanations in the “Shigongshi” basically use the approach of homophonies, there are occasions in which a semantic meaning or the social context of the origin of a speciﬁc term is given in the explanation rather than a homophonic word. For example, the explanation of the southwestern corner inside a building reads as follows: “室中西南隅曰奧、不見戶明、所在祕奧也”112 (The southwestern corner inside a chamber is called ao, [which is because] light coming in through the door cannot reach [this location and therefore] this location is private and mysterious [like a hideaway]). The explanation of blocks (dou 斗) reads as follows: “斗在欒兩頭、如斗也”113 (Dou are [installed] on the two ends of a curved arm and are like a peck [measure]). In these two examples, semantic meanings of the terms explain why the speciﬁc names are used for the architectural locations and elements. In explaining the term for the northwestern corner inside a building, the text refers to the traditional etiquette of mourning: 西北隅曰屋漏。禮、每有親死者、輒撤屋之西北隅、薪以爨竈、煑沐、供諸喪用。時若值雨、則漏、遂以名之也。114 The northwestern corner [of a chamber] is called wulou [leak in the chamber]. As per the etiquette, whenever there was a kinsman who died, [the family] immediately dismantled the northwestern corner of the chamber and used [the dismantled timbers] as ﬁrewood in the kitchen range for cooking and boiling water for washing, in order to be prepared for all mourning ceremonies. During that period [when the northwestern corner of the chamber was dismantled], if it rained, [the chamber] then leaked; therefore, [wulou was] used to name the location [of the northwestern corner]. The availability of such semantic interpretations represents an important aspect of the contribution of the “Shigongshi” to the development of Chinese architectural writings, because such interpretations are included neither in pre-Qin classics and the Kaogongji nor in the “Shigong” chapter 44 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR of the Erya. Semantic explanations of architectural terminology help transmit the accurate meaning of a term and how it came into being. Both the homophonic interpretations and the semantic explanations of the “Shigongshi” became a legacy to scholars of later periods, including Li Jie. More types of buildings are glossed in the “Shigongshi” than those treated in the “Shigong” (see appendix 2). Like the Erya, the “Shigongshi” of the Shiming does not conﬁne its glossary of architectural terminology to a king’s structures or imperial courts. In its middle part, the “Shigongshi” indeed glosses a few terms speciﬁcally related to structures and architectural elements of imperial palaces, such as dian 殿 (palace hall) and bi 陛 (high stairs under an imperial hall), xiaoqiang 蕭牆 (the screen wall facing the gate of a hall), zhu 宁 (the space between the gate and the interior screen of the imperial hall, where oﬃcials had an audience with the emperor), and fusi 罘罳 (a screen outside the gate of the imperial hall, where oﬃcials requested an audience). In the explanations of these terms, the text clearly indicates that it is glossing terms of imperial architecture: 殿、有殿鄂也。陛、卑也。有高卑也。天子殿謂之納陛、言所以納人言之階陛也……蕭牆、在門內、蕭、肅也。臣將入、於此自肅敬之處也。宁、佇也。將見君所佇立定氣之處也……罘罳、在門外、罘、復也。罳、思也。臣將入、請事於此、復重思之也。115 Dian means that [people are] in a state of trepidation in the [palatial] hall. Bi is “lowly”; [at the stairs of the high terrace], there are [distinctions between] the noble and the lowly. The hall for the Son of Heaven is called nabi [admitting stairs], which means the stairs and terrace where [the emperor] accepts admonitions from oﬃcials... Xiaoqiang [the screen wall facing the gate of the palace] is at the inside of the gate; xiao means “solemn”; when oﬃcials are about to enter [the imperial hall], this is the place at which [they] ﬁll themselves with deep veneration. Zhu is “to stand still”; [it is] the place where [oﬃcials] stand still and compose themselves when [they are] about to call to pay respects to the emperor... Fusi [screen] is at the outside of the gate [of the palace hall]; fu means “once again”; si is “to think.” When oﬃcials are about to enter, [they] request an audience for [a certain] matter here; [here, they] think over the matter again and again. The explanations of architectural terms here are clearly associated with the ritual orders and hierarchical positions of the emperor and his THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 45 servants. Nevertheless, no entries in the “Shigongshi” other than the above text clearly indicate a connection with imperial palaces or buildings. The glossary explains far more terms for a variety of types of architecture than just magniﬁcent buildings like shrines, towers, high terraces, and watchtowers. The new types of architecture glossed include government oﬃce (si 寺), jail (yu 獄 or lao 牢 or lingyu 囹圄), public gathering place (wa 瓦), posthouse or inn (zhuan 傳), thatched cottage (ci 茨 or lu 廬), well, depository, barn, and even outhouse (ce 廁). Therefore, as its interpretations of gong and shi do not indicate any speciﬁc associations with palaces, the gongshi 宮室 in the Shiming also represents buildings in a broader sense, denoting residences, halls, chambers, and palaces. The “Shigongshi” section of the Shiming can be deﬁned as a text that collects from various sources of earlier periods and glosses a wide range of architectural terminology, covering imperial, government, public, and common buildings. Comparing the terminology for the structural elements of a wood- framed building glossed in the Erya and in the Shiming (see appendix 3), one can understand more about the technological development of Chinese wood-framed architecture from the pre-Qin to Han periods. For instance, wu 梧 for slanted braces on the beam structure appears not in the Erya but in the Shiming. Supporting purlins and resting on one end of a beam, the slanted braces functioned to strengthen the beam framework by forming a triangular structure in combination with the upper purlin (and the short posts under it) and the beam (intersecting the lower purlin). This powerful structural component is called tuojiao 托腳 (literally, “supporting foot” or “cushion”) in the YZFS (see ﬁgure 1.1) and is common in the extant buildings from the Five Dynasties (907–960) to the Yuan (1271–1368) periods. The “Shigongshi” text indicates that such a functional element was used in architecture at least as early as the late Han period, and thus the wood-framed structure and building technology as a whole were already quite advanced. From the terms for bracketing in these two texts, one can also see a rough process of evolution from the pre-Qin to Han periods, in which both bracket arms and blocks gradually developed from their primitive forms. The bracketing featured in the Erya is only a square timber (bian or ji) immediately supporting the beam or purlin, installed between the beam or purlin and the capital. Gong 栱 is explained merely as a large timber and is not glossed together with other bracketing elements (bian or ji and er or jie). There is no indication in the Erya that a gong, or a bian or ji, was structurally connected with a block (er or jie). However, as glossed in the Shiming, a 46 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR bracket arm possesses a curved form (as luan 欒) and clearly supports small blocks at its two ends.116 At the same time, blocks are classiﬁed into two distinct types: a large block on the capital (lu 櫨) and small blocks on the arms (dou 斗). The combination of arms and blocks as an entire structure made it possible for arms to pile up and form a multilayer bracketing structure that functioned better in supporting a deeper eave and extending its supporting width under a beam or a purlin. Such a multilayered bracketing structure was supported by the large block at the bottom, which strengthened the function of bracketing as a fulcrum between the weight of the eaves and the loads of framework transmitted from the beam. This type of functional bracketing structure became an essential structure in Chinese wood-framed architecture from the Han period on. As a separate category on architecture in a dictionary, the “Shigongshi” of the Shiming is as important as the “Shigong” of the Erya in the history of Chinese architectural writing. While the format of the Shuowen jiezi dominates the compilations of dictionaries in later periods, the Shiming’s continuation of the Erya’s compilation format made a diﬀerence to Chinese literature in the domain of architecture. Starting with these texts, architecture began to be treated as an independent subject. Vivid Literary Representation of Architecture: The Han Rhapsodies A unique writing genre in Chinese literature, the Hanfu 漢賦, or rhapsodies in the Han-dynasty style, emerged during the Western Han period and ﬂourished during the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods. A form of rhymed prose written in reﬁned language, Han rhapsodies frequently eulogize historical and contemporary rulers’ deeds. Those deeds include construction of magniﬁcent palaces, grand-scale hunting parks and gardens, and capital cities. As a consequence, historical architectural features, mainly of imperial built environments, are represented vividly in the form of literature. These works are collected in the sixth-century anthology Wenxuan 文選 (Selections of reﬁned literature), compiled by Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501–531).117 Among many elegant works,118 the two most famous pieces that are speciﬁcally collected under the section on gongdian (palaces) are Wang Yanshou’s 王延壽 (ca. 124–ca. 148, courtesy name Wenkao 文考) “Lu Lingguangdian fu” 魯靈光殿賦 (Rhapsody on the Hall of Numinous Brilliance in Lu) and the Three Kingdoms–period “Jingfudian fu” 景福殿賦 (Rhapsody on the Hall of Great Blessings), by He Yan 何晏 (courtesy name Yongshu 永叔).119 These two works feature extensive architectural terminology in their elaborate descriptions of palatial buildings. THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 47 While these are purely literary works ﬁlled with ﬂowery language and descriptions of architecture replete with romantic exaggeration, their value for architectural literature is uncontested. They reﬂect the most striking characteristics of the magniﬁcent architecture, compounds, and capital cities that are represented: their layout, structure, building elements, and details. Let us look at a part of the “Lu Lingguangdian fu” as an example: 飛梁偃蹇以虹指、揭蘧蘧而騰湊。層櫨磥佹以岌峩、曲枅要紹而環句。芝栭攢羅以戢孴、枝牚扠枒而斜據。 Flying beams, arched and arced, pointing like rainbows / raised aloft, great and grand, soar and gather / Layered bearing blocks are precipitously piled, precariously positioned / curved bracket arms, bent and bowed, are concatenated / Painted dwarf posts are thickly arrayed, closely clustered / Bracing struts, like bifurcating branches, lean at angles.120 This rhapsody depicts the Hall of Numinous Brilliance built by Prince Gong of Lu 魯恭王, Liu Yu 劉餘, the son of Emperor Jing 景帝 (r. 156– 141 B.C.E.) of the Han in the district of Lu 魯. As seen above, it contains very speciﬁc terms for structural components, such as beams, struts, posts, brackets, and blocks. Providing architectural details like these, rhapsodies of the Han and Three Kingdoms periods convey precious information of pre-Qin and Han architecture, especially in consideration of the dearth of sources of the period devoted to architecture. Compared with pre- Qin literary works that include references to architecture or architectural activities,121 these rhapsodies describe architecture consistently over the whole length of the piece. Although architectural descriptions are mixed with praise of the virtues of rulers and nobles, architecture has virtually become the focus of the writing. Essays on the Tradition of Ritual Architecture During the Eastern Han period, writings speciﬁcally discussing architectural traditions emerged in association with the study of Confucian classics. Probably the earliest such text known to date, Cai Yong’s 蔡邕 (133– 192) Mingtang Yueling lun 明堂月令論 (A study of the Mingtang in the “Yueling”)122 focuses its discussion on the architectural system of the Zhou- dynasty Mingtang as reﬂected in the section “Yueling” (Ritual orders of lunar months) in the Liji. With Confucian thought receiving exclusive imperial promotion during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han 48 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR dynasty, following the Zhou ritual systems became legitimized from this point on. Rulers of later periods were at the forefront of the reconstruction of the Zhou-dynasty Mingtang, the essential architectural representation of the classical system. Over the course of time, the detailed structure and form of the Zhou Mingtang had become unclear. Therefore, investigations of the Zhou Mingtang became a political task in later periods. It was in this context that works speciﬁcally studying the precise system of the classical Mingtang structure came into being. One of Cai’s arguments in his essay is that the Zhou Mingtang was composed of nine chambers. He challenged the great commentator Zheng Xuan, who, based on the Kaogongji of the Zhouli, had maintained that the classical Mingtang included ﬁve chambers. Nonetheless, Cai’s study of the Mingtang is conducted from the viewpoint of ritual contents, but there is a signiﬁcant diﬀerence between Cai’s work and other commentaries on pre-Qin texts, including Zheng’s. Instead of scattered language about architectural systems among the lines of commentaries on rituals, Cai’s work treats a type of architecture (Mingtang) as the main subject of writing. This new kind of literature—works on architectural subjects—signiﬁcantly inﬂuenced Chinese architectural writing in later times. Architectural Literature from the Jin to the Tang Following the new development of architectural writings during the Han period, architectural literature from the Jin 晉 (265–420) and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–589) to the Sui (581–618) and the Tang (618–907) periods both continued traditional practices and exhibited new features. Lexical works such as Cui Bao’s 崔豹 (ﬂ. 290–306) Gujinzhu 古今注 (Explanations of [terminology of ] ancient and present times) and Zhang Yi’s 張揖 (ﬂ. 227–233) Guangya 廣雅 (Extended literary exposition) have a category for architecture: the duyi 都邑 (capitals and districts) category or the shigong (glosses on architecture) section.123 The Wenxuan (Selections of reﬁned literature) anthology also classiﬁes literary works into categories and includes one for jingdu 京都 (capital cities) and one for palaces.124 In addition, works treating built environments as a main subject of writing emerged. Separate categories for architecture and individual architectural entries were included in Sui and Tang oﬃcial and unoﬃcial reference books. Studies of the classical Mingtang system persisted, but unlike in previous scholarship, theoretical explorations of this tradition were integrated THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF WRITING ON ARCHITECTURE 49 with actual imperial building practices. Oﬃcial regulations pertaining to buildings were also stipulated in Tang times. Built Environments as a Main Subject of Writing This new form of literature is found in works that record historical and contemporary built environments at least during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In contrast to histories that mention architecture incidentally, works like the Sanfu huangtu 三輔黃圖 (Maps of the Three Administrative Districts [of the Western Han])125 and Yang Xuanzhi’s 楊衒之 (d. ca. 555) Luoyang qielan ji 洛陽伽藍記 (A record of the Buddhist monasteries in Luoyang)126 treat architecture as a main subject. The Luoyang qielan ji details the architecture in Luoyang during the Northern Wei period (386–534). The main purpose of this ﬁve-chapter work was to record the Buddhist temples of Luoyang, but it also includes information on the city of Luoyang, palaces, residences, gardens, and so on. The Sanfu huangtu describes the imperial Qin and Western Han palaces, capital cities, and gardens, such as Weiyang Palace 未央宮, Shanglin Garden 上林苑, and Kunming Lake 昆明池. Government oﬃces at the Western Han capital Chang’an 長安 (modern Xi’an) and Qin and Han urban life and customs are also recorded. Imperial hunting parks and palaces as well as the ritual architecture of the Zhou dynasty are often mentioned in the text prior to the references to Han palaces. Clearly, Zhou imperial architecture was treated as a classical tradition to be followed in imperial and oﬃcial building practices. Some extremely important principles as practiced in imperial Qin-Han architecture are recorded. For example, in featuring the compound of the Weiyang Palace, built by Emperor Gaodi 高帝 (r. 206–194 B.C.E.), the following principle is summarized: “蒼龍、白虎、朱雀、玄武、天之四靈、以正四方、王者制宮闕殿閣取法焉”127 (The Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Scarlet Bird, and the Black Warrior, being Four Spirits of Heaven, are to deﬁne the four directions, and a king builds palaces, towers, and halls by following this law). Here, the Green Dragon, White Tiger, Scarlet Bird, and Black Warrior (a tortoise-snake spirit) represent, respectively, the eastern, western, southern, and northern groups of the twenty-eight constellations, and they had been used to correspond to the four cardinal directions since the pre-Qin period. This tradition was observed in the Qin and Han imperial building designs, naming the eastern halls, eastern watchtowers, and even tile ends used on them Green Dragon, for example. In addition, this source often speciﬁes the names of the wood used to make particular building elements, which oﬀers a useful reference for 50 CHINESE ARCHITECTURE AND METAPHOR the selection of timber materials and corresponding architectural features in the Qin and Han palaces. Regarding the front hall of the Weiyang Palace, for instance, it states, “以木蘭為棼橑、文杏為梁柱”128 (Use magnolia to make rafters for the double-layered roof, use beautifully veined ginkgo to make beams and columns). In its description of the front hall of the Epang Palace 阿房宮 of the Qin, it also speciﬁes, “以木蘭為梁”129 (Use magnolia to make beams). Timber materials are also mentioned in the record of the Linchi Pond 琳池 that was sponsored by Emperor Zhao 昭帝 (r. 86–74 B.C.E.) of the Han: “乃命以文梓為船、木蘭為柂”130 ([The emperor] then ordered that boats be made from beautifully veined catalpa and rudders be made from magnolia). From these records, magnolia seems to have been a common building material. Compared with such light timber as catalpa, which was used to build boats, magnolia along with ginkgo was used to make important sturdy structural components. Ancient craftsmen must have had adequate knowledge of the qualities of timber by Qin and Han times. Theoretical Explorations of Tradition Integrated with Contemporary Architectural Practice: Treatises on the Design of the Mingtang Recovering the exact architectural form of the classical Mingtang was again a political task for the learned society during this long period. In his essay Mingtang zhidu lun 明堂制度論 (A discussion of the Mingtang system), the Northern Wei scholar Li Mi 李謐 (484–515) oﬀers a critical review of previous scholarship on the classical Mingtang architectural system, including Cai Yong’s study of it.131 Pointing out the diﬀerences between the records of the Mingtang system in diﬀerent pre-Qin sources, he argues against both Zheng’s opinion of the ﬁve-chamber Mingtang and Cai’s proposal of the nine-chamber Mingtang. He criticizes Han scholarship either as self- contradictory or as unreasonable and “certainly not matching the principles of construction” (於營制之法自不相稱).132 It is important to see that Li was able to review previous scholarship from a viewpoint of construction practice. Li reminds his peers that they should distinguish among textual errors, in

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