The Political Symbolism of Chinese Timber Structure: a Historical Study of Official Construction in Yingzao-Fashi
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The Political Symbolism of Chinese Timber Structure: a historical study of official construction in Yingzao-fashi Pengfei Ma A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Built Environment 2020 Surname/Family Name : Ma Given Name/s : Pengfei Abbreviation for degree as give in the University calendar : PhD Faculty : Faculty of Built Environment School : School of Built Environment Thesis Title : The Political Symbolism of Chinese Timber Structure: a historical study of official construction in Yingzao-fashi Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This research presents a historical study of timber construction in the official building code Yingzao-fashi from the lens of politics. The longevity of Chinese civilisation is associated with the ephemeral but renewable timber structure of Chinese buildings. Such an enduring and stable tie, to a large extent, should be attributed to the adaptability of timber structures to the premodern Chinese political system. The inquiry and analysis of the research are structured into three key aspects — the impetus of Yingzao-fashi, official construction systems, the political symbolism of and literature associated with timber structure. The areas of inquiry are all centred on the research question: how did Chinese timber structure of different types serve premodern Chinese politics? First, Yingzhao-fashi has been studied by scholars mainly from a technical point of view, but it was a construction code designed to realise the agenda of political reform. Secondly, the main classifications of timber structures in Yingzao-fashi – diange and tingtang – possessed distinct construction methods of vertical massing and horizontal connection respectively. These two methods, emphasising different architectural elements, are identified as two construction systems created for royal family and officials: royal construction and government construction. Such political status was the most explicit and understandable quality of official timber buildings in premodern China. Thirdly, the representative products of royal and government construction should be understood as symbols of imperial authority and administration in Chinese society. Moreover, a unique social class, scholar-officials, produced a large number of literary works in the Tang-Song period, focusing on the symbolism of specific timber structures rather than their formal and technical features. The literature was thus instrumental in creating the political meaning of timber structure. As the core content of this research, the political symbolism and literature of significant royal and government buildings are examined based on comprehensive interpretations of historical documents, including official records, philosophy, literature, and Chinese painting. In particular, the monarchs’ political philosophy for legitimising their authority and maintaining a mighty empire, exercised a critical influence over the political symbolism of timber structure, while the imperial civil service examination enabled scholar-officials to achieve the literary expression of that symbolism. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents a non-exclusive licence to archive and to make available (including to members of the public) my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known. 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Publications can be used in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter if: • The candidate contributed greater than 50% of the content in the publication and is the “primary author”, ie. the candidate was responsible primarily for the planning, execution and preparation of the work for publication • The candidate has approval to include the publication in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter from their supervisor and Postgraduate Coordinator. • The publication is not subject to any obligations or contractual agreements with a third party that would constrain its inclusion in the thesis Please indicate whether this thesis contains published material or not: This thesis contains no publications, either published or submitted for publication ☐ (if this box is checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) Some of the work described in this thesis has been published and it has been ☒ documented in the relevant Chapters with acknowledgement (if this box is checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) This thesis has publications (either published or submitted for publication) ☐ incorporated into it in lieu of a chapter and the details are presented below CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I declare that: • I have complied with the UNSW Thesis Examination Procedure • where I have used a publication in lieu of a Chapter, the listed publication(s) below meet(s) the requirements to be included in the thesis. Pengfei Ma 17/ January/ 2020 Acknowledgments I still remember that when I commenced my PhD study five years ago, my mentor, Prof. Xing Ruan, said to me: “Do not forget your original intention.” Now, at the final stage of my thesis writing, I can say I have always been following my original intention, exploring the cultural meaning of the great Yingzao-fashi, although there is still much more work to do surrounding this topic. My primary gratitude goes to him: his meticulous guidance has continuously kept my research on the right track over such a long duration. My research also greatly benefited from his remarkable insight, displayed in so many meetings with me. Several times the excitement of the discussion in our conversation led us to lose our sense of time totally. What I learned from Prof. Ruan is not only how to conduct scholarly research in a robust manner, but more importantly, also how to understand humans and our world from the lens of architecture. The Chinese historians and sinologists, especially of Chinese architecture, definitely deserve my gratitude. Their scholarship in this field, as acknowledged in the footnotes and selected bibliography, laid the foundation for this dissertation. Also, I am immensely grateful to my joint supervisor, Dr Jayde Roberts. Her advice on the thesis structure contributed to the clear and logical expression of my arguments. She also provided me with much information about research on Chinese politics, which helped me clarify some key concepts in the dissertation. Additionally, I am greatly indebted to Honorary Associate Prof. Harry Margalit, Dr Peter Kohane, Dr Maryam Gusheh, and Dr John Blair at the University of New South Wales; Prof. Zhang Shiqing and Prof. Chen Wei at South-east University (Nanjing); Prof.