Jiren Feng

Chinese Architecture and Metaphor

Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia’s Vernacular Architecture
Edited by Ronald G. Knapp and Xing Ruan

House Home Family: Living and Being Chinese

Edited by Ronald G. Knapp and Kai-Yin Lo

Allegorical Architecture: Living Myth and Architectonics in Southern China

Xing Ruan

Chinese Architecture and the Beaux-Arts

Edited by Jeffrey W. Cody, Nancy S. Steinhardt, and Tony Atkin

Chinese Architecture and Metaphor: Song Culture in the Yingzao Fashi Building Manual
Jiren Feng
Chinese Architecture and Metaphor

Song Culture in the Yingzao Fashi Building Manual

Jiren Feng

University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu

Hong Kong University Press

© 2012 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
First published in North America by University of Hawai‘i Press
ISBN 978-0-8248-3363-3

Published in China by Hong Kong University Press

ISBN 978-988-8139-01-9

Printed in Hong Kong, China

17 16 15 14 13 12 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Feng, Jiren.
Chinese architecture and metaphor : Song culture in the Yingzao fashi building manual / Jiren Feng.
p. cm.—(Spatial habitus)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3363-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Architectural writing—China—History. 2. Architecture—China—History—Song-Yuan dynasties,
960‒1368. 3. Li, Jie, 1035‒1110. Ying zao fa shi. 4. Architecture, Chinese—Early works to 1800.
I. Title. II. Series: Spatial habitus (Series)
NA2540.F38 2012
720.951—dc23
2011032949

Printed on acid-free paper and meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Council on Library Resources.

Designed by Carrie Yu

Printed and bound by Paramount Printing Co., Ltd., Hong Kong, China
Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 The Historical Tradition of Writing on Architecture: 14

From Antiquity to the Mid-Tenth Century

2 From the Mujing to the Yingzao Fashi: 60

The Rise of Building Manuals and the Construction of

Architectural Knowledge

3 The Yingzao Fashi: 100

The Making of Widespread Legitimated Building Knowledge

4 The Yingzao Fashi Architectural Terminology (I) 138

Bracketing Likened to Flowers, Branches, and Foliage:

Architectural Metaphors and Conceptualization in Tenth to

Twelfth Century China

5 The Yingzao Fashi Architectural Terminology (II): 181

The Interplay of Literature, Arts, and Craftsmanship

Conclusion 213
 vi CONTENTS

Appendix 1. Previous Scholarship on the YZFS 215

Appendix 2. Architectural Types Glossed in the Erya and 220

in the Shiming

Appendix 3. Structural Elements Glossed in the Erya and 222

in the Shiming

Appendix 4. Entries on Architecture in the Taiping Yulan 223

Appendix 5. Quotations of Classical Texts for Gong in the 225

Erya Shu, the YZFS, and the Taiping Yulan

Appendix 6. Architectural Terms in the Terminology 227

Section of the YZFS as Compared with the

Taiping Yulan and the Yiwen Leiju

Appendix 7. Classics and Historical Sources Cited in the 230

YZFS
Notes 239

Bibliography 279

Index 297

About the Author 305

Illustrations

Figures
I.1. Shaoding edition of the YZFS 4

I.2. YZFS illustration of bracketing 5

I.3. Bracketing of the Soul-Sleeping Hall (973) at the Shrine for the God of the Ji 5
River
I.4. YZFS illustration of a revolving sutra library 6

I.5. YZFS illustration of a carved stone platform 6

I.6. YZFS illustration of wood-carving motifs 6

I.7. YZFS illustrations of the color-painting system 7

1.1. YZFS illustration of a six-rafter-span wood-framed structure 21

1.2. Illustration of rammed-earth technology in the Erya yintu 23

1.3. YZFS illustrations of orientation technology 30

1.4. YZFS illustration of leveling technology 30

1.5. Eight grades of a cai module of the YZFS 33

1.6. Tanaka Tan’s reconstruction drawing of the wood-framed structure of a pre- 41

Qin palatial building
1.7. YZFS illustrations of a wutou gate and of suspended fish and seaweed as roof 57
decorations
2.1. Dunhuang document containing measurements of the building materials for 69
a grotto wood eave
2.2. Proposed reconstruction of the grotto eave as described in the Dunhuang 69
document collected at Kyushu University
 viii ILLUSTRATIONS

2.3. Classical system of palaces illustrated in Nie’s Xinding Sanlitu 78

2.4. Classical system of the king’s city in Nie’s Xinding Sanlitu 78

2.5. Song-period hand-copied Taiping yulan 83

2.6. Southern Song edition of the Yiwen leiju 83

2.7. Format of the terminology section of the YZFS 83

2.8. Tang-period hand-copied fragment of an earlier reference work found in 84

Dunhuang
2.9. Jin-period illustrations of early-period leveling technologies as recorded in the 89
Dili xinshu
2.10. Ming-period illustration of leveling technologies and tools in the Song 92
treatise Wujing zongyao
2.11. Illustration of system of cities in the Wujing zongyao 95

2.12. Illustration of defense structures in the Wujing zongyao 95

3.1. YZFS illustration of the color-painting system 113

3.2. Clouds carved on an entwining-dragon stone column as illustrated in the 124

YZFS
3.3. Carved clouds and dragons on the horse-mounting stone of the Yongyu 124
Mausoleum
3.4. Wan-character motif used in a single-layer stone balustrade as illustrated in 125
the YZFS
3.5. Wan-character motif in the YZFS illustrations of the color-painting system 125

3.6. Remnants of brick railings in wan-character motif excavated from the 127
imperial Northern Song mausoleums in Gongyi
3.7. Stone balustrade with wan-character motif at the Shrine for the God of the Ji 127
River
3.8. Soul-Sleeping Hall at the Shrine for the God of the Ji River 128

3.9. Bracketing under front eave of the Soul-Sleeping Hall at the Shrine for the 128
God of the Ji River
3.10. Corner bracket sets in the Soul-Sleeping Hall at the Shrine for the God of 129
the Ji River
3.11. Bracket set of the Sanqing Hall at the Yuanmiao Daoist Monastery in Putian 129

3.12. Bracket sets imitating timber structure on the western pagoda of the Kaiyuan 129
Monastery in Quanzhou
3.13. Angled protruding bracket arms of the Moni Hall, Longxing Monastery, 129
Zhengding
3.14. YZFS illustration of the carving system of “background-indented relief- 131
sculptured” scrolled-leaf flowers
 ILLUSTRATIONS ix

3.15. Difference between stone-carving technique of “background-indented relief 132

sculpture” and that of “background-recessed low relief ” in the YZFS
3.16. Flowers carved on platform of the Sarira Dagoba of the Qixia Monastery, 132
Nanjing
3.17. Exotic pomegranate flowers carved on the Po Pagoda, Kaifeng 133

3.18. Two “background-indented relief-sculptured” exotic pomegranate flowers 134

carved on the Po Pagoda
3.19. Exotic pomegranate flowers carved on the stone columns of the main hall of 135
the Chuzu’an Nunnery in Dengfeng, Henan
3.20. Peonies carved on the stone pillar of the Yongyu Mausoleum for Emperor 136
Shenzong
4.1. Beam structure of the Sanqing Hall at Yuanmiao Daoist Monastery in Putian 139

4.2. Architectural image on Spring and Autumn–period lacquerware fragment 144

excavated at Linzi, Shandong
4.3. Architectural images on Han-period pictorial stones and masonry 145
watchtowers
4.4. Han-period bracketing with protruding arms 145

4.5. Sketch of the making of a flower-shaped bracket set 146

4.6. Sketch of bracketing with no protruding arms 146

4.7. Tang-period mural on the southern wall of Cave No. 172 at Dunhuang 146

4.8. Wuyue-period masonry at the White Pagoda at Zhakou, Hangzhou 147

4.9. Brackets in the main hall of the Chuzu’an Nunnery 147

4.10. Two special bracket constructions, doukoutiao and batou jiaoxiangzuo 148

4.11. Sketch of doukoutiao and batou jiaoxiangzuo bracket constructions 148

4.12. Protruding arms likened to branches 150

4.13. Cross arms likened to leaves on “branches” 152

4.14. Protruding arms likened to flower sprays 153

4.15. Flower sprays in nature 154

4.16. Tang-period examples of bracketing at Dunhuang 155

4.17. Song-period examples of bracketing at Zhengding, Hebei, and Huqiu, 155

Suzhou
4.18. YZFS illustration of mortises in brackets 156

4.19. YZFS illustration of color-painting styles for brackets 156

4.20. Sketch of bracketing “flower hearts” 157

4.21. Sketch of bracketing likened to flowers 160

4.22. Sketch of bracket sets on columns likened to rows of flowering trees 160
 x ILLUSTRATIONS

4.23. Big block as a popular form of bracketing from the Zhou to Han periods 161

4.24. “Flower head” in a bracket set 165

4.25. “Little flower chin-erased” bracket arm 165

4.26. Coffer of stone chamber of Han-period tomb at Yi’nan, Shandong 167

4.27. Sketch of cantilevers likened to flower sprays with “petals” (cross arms) 167

4.28. Architectural remains of Neolithic residences at Banpo, Xi’an 170

4.29. Two images of curved brackets on pictorial stones excavated at 172

Liangchengshan, Shandong
4.30. Curved brackets represented in Han-period architectural remains in Sichuan 173

5.1. Shengong resembling a kidney 186

5.2. Same-length mud-line arm and “melon-seed arms” 188

5.3. YZFS illustration of mortises of mangong and linggong 188

5.4. YZFS illustration of mortises of huagong 193

5.5. Anzhi as illustrated in the YZFS 193

5.6. Cao-style halls of tenth to eleventh centuries 197

5.7. Cao-style hall as seen from the Dragon Pavilion of the Shrine for the God of 197
the Ji River
5.8. Wu-style hall at the Yongle Daoist Monastery 197

5.9. YZFS illustrations of color-painting styles used on filling board between 198
bracket sets
5.10. Rising clouds and palaces depicted in wall painting of the tomb for Empress Li 199

5.11. Rising clouds depicted on north side of pictorial stone column base in the 199
tomb of Empress Cao

Tables
1. Numbers of Historical Texts Quoted in the Entries for Selected Building 82
Types in the Taiping Yulan
2. YZFS Bracketing Terms Incorporating Botanical Nomenclature 141

3. Huaxin in Tang and Song Poems 157

Acknowledgments

Writing this book has been both exciting and challenging. I plunged into
this research with immense zeal, yet I faced many challenges, from writing
in a second language to tackling the difficulties in translating each piece
of historical and technical Chinese text, from making up for the lost time
caused by a severe femur fracture to struggling with the distractions from
several international moves. This book would not have been accomplished
without tremendous help from so many people.
I am much obliged to Professor Maggie Bickford for her guidance and
encouragement throughout the period of my writing, and I thank her for
her critical comments and insights on my work. I learned a great deal from
each of her comments. Her meticulousness and sensitivity to Chinese texts
significantly helped improve the general quality of my translations of them.
I benefited greatly from her constructive advice of reading various sources
of literature in connection with my argumentation.
Professor Nancy Steinhardt deserves my deep gratitude. With her great
expertise in Chinese architecture, she offered extremely important advice on
my work. She has been consistently encouraging and strongly supportive.
I will never forget that she invited me to talk about my research at the
Society of Architectural Historians’ annual meeting in 2004, the first ever
conference presentation that I gave in English in my life. Her confidence
in my capability and enthusiastic comments on my work indeed have given
great inspiration to my writing.
xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dr. Dagmar Schäfer has been important in helping me extend

my research to the field of the history of technology, reviewing Chinese
building manuals from a perspective of technical knowledge transmission,
with further explorations of the interplay between literati and craftsmen.
Thanks for her great support in going to many international conferences
presenting my research and receiving feedback from peers.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Francesca
Bray for her guidance and input. Her comments on the Song architectural
knowledge presented in the Yingzao fashi and her insights into the
entanglement of scholar culture and practical culture were truly enlightening.
It was also she who recommended my work to the editors of the Spatial
Habitus series.
I am very thankful to Professor Richard L. Davis for his advice and
guidance for investigating historical materials in relation to my research. I
am also indebted to Professor Kikuko Yamashita for kindly helping me read
and understand Takeshima Takuichi’s work on the Yingzao fashi.
At Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, I benefited from
active interactions with scholars from different institutions and different
academic fields. I would like to thank all the other members of Schäfer
Research Group, especially Dr. Martina Siebert, Dr. Martin Hofmann,
Gina Grzimek, and Chen Wan, for their help. I am also very grateful to
Professor Nathan Sivin for his guidance and kind support. In addition,
I thank Professors Susan Naquin, Joachim Kurtz, Zhang Baichun, and
Sun Xiaochun, as well as Dr. Matthias Schemmel for their comments and
suggestions on my work.
I would like to acknowledge all scholars who raised insightful questions
when I presented my research at conferences. In particular, I am thankful to
Professor Dorothy Ko (Barnard College) at the 12th International Conference
on the History of Science in East Asia 2008; Dr. Simona Valeriani (London
School of Economy) and Dr. Marco Formisano (Humboldt University),
both at the Society for History of Technology’s annual meeting in Lisbon
2008; Dr. Qiong Zhang (Southern Illinois University) at New England
Association for Asian Studies’ annual meeting 2007; and Professor James
Millward (Georgetown University) at the Association for Asian Studies’
annual meeting 2008. Their questions and comments were thought-
provoking and helped me improve my research or clarify my arguments in
this book. I wish to give a special thanks to someone who, at the Society
of Architectural Historians’ annual meeting 2004, raised the question
relating the architectural metaphor of bracketing in my presentation to the
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii

Greek orders. His (unfortunately I do not know his name) insight is very
enlightening and I hope to be able to respond in a separate article in the
near future.
I must acknowledge the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for offering me
an Art History Travel Fellowship, which supported my field trip to several
areas of Henan and of Hebei in 2002. In Henan, many local archaeologists
and scholars in the field of cultural-relics conservation helped me in my
survey of Song architectural remains. They include Mr. Qiu Gang and
Li Hequn (Kaifeng Cultural Relics Bureau), Mr. Han Shunfa (Director
of Kaifeng Museum), Mr. Sun Xinmin (Director of the Archaeology and
Cultural Relics Research Institute of Henan), and so on. In Jiyuan, I was
completely exhausted due to heat stroke and many thanks to Director of
Jiyuan Cultural Relics Bureau Mr. Zhang Yongan, who kindly received
me and arranged for a free one-night lodging. I also would like to thank
Professor Su Bai (Beijing University) for offering his support for my field
trip by writing a referral letter to Mr. Sun Xinmin.
I am really grateful to Professors Ronald G. Knapp and Xing Ruan,
editors of the Spatial Habitus series, for having been very encouraging ever
since they first evaluated my manuscript. I appreciate their keen interest
in and full affirmation of my work. They have been patient with my
procrastination many times. They also kindly offered much advice to help
me get going and get through this entire process of production.
So did Ms. Patricia Crosby. She has been very patient, and it was very
kind of her to try to understand my situation and offer grace periods for my
submissions. She also offered her professional advice on many aspects of my
book. Thanks to Cheri Dunn for her help as well.
I would like to thank Mr. Mike Ashby, Ms. Susan Richter, and Professor
Paul Turner for reading through my entire manuscript, correcting my
English, and editing my writing at different stages. They also offered helpful
comments on my work. Professor Turner even read different versions of
the introduction and helped me revise it. I am truly indebted to him for his
great kindness and generosity. I am very grateful to Mr. Ashby for his highly
skilled editing and constructive comments throughout my manuscript. His
help has improved my writing, argumentation, and clarifications. I am also
thankful to Dr. Benjamin Olshin for correcting my English on some pages
of the introduction at an earlier stage.
I would like to acknowledge the main libraries of Brown University,
University of Toronto, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science,
and Victoria University of Wellington for the use of their collections and