A Grain of Sand: Yingzao Fashi and the Miniaturization of Chinese Architecture
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A Grain of Sand: Yingzao Fashi and the Miniaturization of Chinese Architecture Di Luo A Dissertation Presented to Faculty of the USC Graduate School University of Southern California In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (East Asian Languages and Cultures) August 2016 Dissertation Committee Professors Dominic Cheung (Chair), Sonya S. Lee, Bettine Birge ii Acknowledgements My sincerest thanks go to the three distinguished scholars on my dissertation committee: Professors Dominic Cheung, Sonya Lee, and Bettine Birge, who have directed and supervised the entire process of my dissertation research and writing. Their remarkable scholarship in the fields of Chinese literature, art history, and cultural history have been an inexhaustible wellspring of knowledge and inspiration for me to tap over the years of my graduate study. They have guided and supported every step of my academic journey with utmost patience and care. I have received enormous help from many other professors in and outside USC. Professor George Hayden has given me useful tips and suggestions for my translation of the Yingzao fashi and my understanding of Chinese drama. Professor James Steele of the USC School of Architecture, who was the advisor of my M.Arch. thesis, discussed my dissertation project with much euthusiam and provided great insight into a lot of conceptual issues from his own professional perspective as an architect and architectural historian. Professors Min Li, Richard von Glahn, and Katsuya Hirano at UCLA have encouraged me to approach my study from the angles of a variety of disciplines including landscape archaeology, history of religion, and popular culture. Professors Jeehee Hong and Youn-mi Kim have generously shared with me their most recent studies on Liao architecture and art, whereas Professor Stephen West has answered my questions about translating particular terms in Northern Song miscellanea, for which I am grateful. Professor Nancy Steinhardt has spent much of her own time reading and commenting on my dissertation prospectus and chapters. Her deep knowledge of Chinese architectural history has informed and influenced my own work significantly, and my conversations with her helped to shape the overall theme and framework of the dissertation from its very inception. My 2014 fieldwork in China--during which I was able to collect first-hand information and data of the case studies presented in this dissertation--could not have been successful without the iii assistance of my academic advisor, Christine Shaw. Christine critiqued my research proposal and agenda, helped me secure funding, and prepared necessary paperwork for my travel. Professors Li Luke, Fang Xiaofeng, and Liu Chang at Tsinghua University helped me contact local authorities to gain access to several restricted architectural sites. This dissertation has received multiple fellowships and grants from the USC Graduate School, the USC Department of EALC, the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies, and the Harvard-Yenching Library. I am deeply thankful for their generous financial support. My family has always been my strongest and most cherished source of courage, faith, strength, and willpower. This dissertation is dedicated to them. ii Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 On Defining the Miniature: Philosophical, Religious, and Architectural Perspectives ....................... 3 Conceptual and Theoretical Framework: Deconstruction, Oneirism, and Simulation ....................... 8 Scholarship on the Miniature ..................................................................................................................... 12 Primary Sources, Digital Database, and 3D Modeling .......................................................................... 17 1. Miniatures in Texts .......................................................................................................... 21 Small-scale Woodworking (Xiaomuzuo) in the Yingzao Fashi ................................................................. 21 Types of miniature woodwork: shrines, repositories, and the “Heavenly Palace” ....................................... 23 Scaling and the cai-fen system .............................................................................................................................. 26 Models (Xiaoyang) and Ruled-line Paintings (Jiehua) ............................................................................... 29 Spiritual Vessels, Edible Architecture, Portable Shrines, Dollhouses, and Miniature Gardens ...... 32 Spiritual vessels ........................................................................................................................................................ 33 Edible architecture .................................................................................................................................................. 36 Shaluo shrines .......................................................................................................................................................... 37 Mohouluo dolls and dollhouses ............................................................................................................................ 39 Miniature gardens .................................................................................................................................................... 44 Puppets and the theatricality of miniatures ......................................................................................................... 45 Conclusion: Dreaming of Lilliput in Song China ................................................................................... 48 iii 2. Miniatures as Sacred Repositories, Part I: The Longxingsi Sutra Case ......................... 51 The Zhuanlun Jingzang (Wheel-turning Sutra Repository) at Longxingsi .............................................. 52 Dating the miniature: textual evidence ................................................................................................................ 54 Dating the miniature: a comparison with Yingzao fashi .................................................................................. 59 “Progressive miniaturization” in Chinese architectural history ....................................................................... 62 The Revolving Sutra Case in History ....................................................................................................... 64 Sixth century: legendary beginnings ..................................................................................................................... 66 Tang ........................................................................................................................................................................... 68 Northern and Southern Song ................................................................................................................................ 73 Yuan and later .......................................................................................................................................................... 78 Miniaturization as Deconstruction ........................................................................................................... 81 The octagon ............................................................................................................................................................. 83 The central pillar ..................................................................................................................................................... 86 The wheel ................................................................................................................................................................. 89 Conclusion: the Revolving World in a Nutshell ..................................................................................... 92 3. Miniatures as Sacred Repositories, Part II: The Huayansi Sutra Cabinets .................... 94 The Bizang (Wall Repository) at the Huayansi ........................................................................................ 95 Scale and form ......................................................................................................................................................... 97 Discovery, dating, and identification ................................................................................................................... 99 Redefining Liao architecture ............................................................................................................................... 105 The art historical perspective .............................................................................................................................. 107 Repositories, Shrines, Cabinets .............................................................................................................. 109 In worship halls ..................................................................................................................................................... 110 In monastic living quarters .................................................................................................................................