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Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geography on the Diversity of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs and the Cultural Values They Reflect

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Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geography on the Diversity of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs and the Cultural Values They Reflect Culture, Society, and Praxis Volume 12 Number 1 Justice is Blindfolded Article 3 May 2020 Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geography on the Diversity of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs and the Cultural Values They Reflect Shiqi Liang University of California, Los Angeles Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/csp Part of the Architecture Commons, and the Human Geography Commons Recommended Citation Liang, Shiqi (2020) "Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geography on the Diversity of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs and the Cultural Values They Reflect," Culture, Society, and Praxis: Vol. 12 : No. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/csp/vol12/iss1/3 This Main Theme / Tema Central is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Digital Commons @ CSUMB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culture, Society, and Praxis by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CSUMB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Liang: Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geograph Culture, Society, and Praxis Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geography on the Diversity of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs and the Cultural Values They Reflect Shiqi Liang Introduction served as the heart of early Chinese In 2016 the city government of Meixian civilization because of its favorable decided to remodel the area where my geographical and climatic conditions that family’s ancestral shrine is located into a supported early development of states and park. To collect my share of the governments. Zhongyuan is very flat with compensation money, I traveled down to few mountains; its soil is rich because of the southern China and visited the ancestral slit carried down by the Yellow River. Its shrine for the first and last time. It was my temperate zone climate helped facilitate first time seeing southern Chinese buildings, healthy crop growth with its cold, dry winter. and their unique differences struck me Its proximity to nomadic tribes from northern deeply. Born and raised in northern China, I deserts and steppes also stimulated early was accustomed to rectangular, flat, and short development of state governments, as houses. Seeing my ancestral shrine, tall and inhabitants needed to band together to defend circular, almost shaped like a fortress, opened themselves. These ingredients of power my mind. The demolishment of my family’s quickly allowed Zhongyuan to become the ancestral shrine encouraged me to search for cradle and heart of Chinese state and empires. a reason behind the regional architectural In contrast to Northern China’s motif differences. temperate, flat, and wide land is Southern This acknowledgement of architectural China’s tropical, mountainous, and rocky diversity is especially important in this era of features, best exemplified by the Canton rapid modernization. To accommodate a fast- region. The Canton region receives plenty of growing urban population, real estate rainfall in the summer due to the influence of developers favor tall, rectangular, concrete monsoon seasons that create many branches apartment buildings over traditional Chinese of rivers, fracturing the Canton region. South architectures. The buildings in northern cities China’s agricultural history is not as long as no longer look distinguishable from buildings North China’s: its tropical weather and in southern cities. Revisiting those diverse architectural motifs serves as a reminder of Shiqi Liang is a full-time student with a sta- how diverse China proper really is. tistics major at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently working Geographical and Climatic Regional toward her Bachelor's degree while pursu- Differences ing other academic interests, such as human Zhongyuan ( 中原), more commonly geography. Shiqi can be reached at known by the name North China Plain, [email protected]. Spring 2020, Vol. 12, Issue 1 1 Published by Digital Commons @ CSUMB, 2020 1 Culture, Society, and Praxis, Vol. 12, No. 1 [2020], Art. 3 Culture, Society, and Praxis unequal distribution of rainfall across seasons ancient times, Jiangnan had been the center did not support early development of of economic and cultural development. agriculture (Pan, 1995). Due to its rocky Physically, the Yangtze Plain is a series of features and agricultural malleability prior to alluvial plains and the Yangtze River’s major more advanced techniques, the Canton region tributaries, making it exceptionally suitable was hard to reach in ancient times. This for rice farming and freshwater fishery degree of geographic isolation gave (Falkenheim and Hung, 2016). Its warmer Cantonese culture its distinctivity and weather also made agriculture more autonomy. The vast linguistic differences prosperous, allowing Jiangnan residents to between Mandarin and Cantonese are a harvest two crops instead of just one each reflection of that autonomy. year. Its efficient agriculture did not only earn Lying between the Canton region and the title “land of fish and rice,” but also North China is the Yangtze Plain, widely transformed Jiangnan into a center of referred to as Jiangnan, which literally means development in art and humanities, as well as “South to the Yangtze River.” Ever since a strong economical center (Falkenheim and Hung, 2016). Figure 1: Climate zones of China. East of the thick red lines is a rough definition of China proper (Lin et al., 2015) Spring 2020, Vol. 12, Issue 1 2 https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/csp/vol12/iss1/3 2 Liang: Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geograph Culture, Society, and Praxis Figure 2: Elevation in China. Note that the Northern and Jiangnan region are relatively flatter than Southern China (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, n.d.). Diversity in Architectural Motifs across considering the cost of maintaining it. The China arrangement of Zhongyuan houses also Zhongyuan’s long history with states and reflects social hierarchy valued by empire has caused its culture to have a strong Confucius’ teaching that originated from emphasis on social hierarchy. To showcase Zhongyuan. In a traditional Siheyuan (四合 military and political power, Northern 院 ), a type of rectangular dwelling, the Chinese buildings are often single-storied yet northern building that gets the most sunlight wide to symbolize the vast flat plain those is reserved for family elders, who are buildings sit upon. This emphasis was also considered to be “master of the house.” The caused by the limitation of the readily- building behind it that gets the least amount available material in Zhongyuan: wood. of sunlight is for unmarried daughters and Wooden structures are vulnerable to damp female servants, who are on the very bottom weather, insects, and fire, so building a tall of the social hierarchy. wooden structure is rather inconvenient Spring 2020, Vol. 12, Issue 1 3 Published by Digital Commons @ CSUMB, 2020 3 Culture, Society, and Praxis, Vol. 12, No. 1 [2020], Art. 3 Culture, Society, and Praxis Figure 3: Inside of the Siheyuan of Qi Baishi, a famous Chinese painter (National Architecture Institute of China, 2017). Figure 4: Tulou in Fujian. Note its thick walls and lack of windows as fortification (UNESCO, 2020). Spring 2020, Vol. 12, Issue 1 4 https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/csp/vol12/iss1/3 4 Liang: Architecture and Geography of China Proper: Influence of Geograph Culture, Society, and Praxis Southern China, because of its relative Jiangnan are also thinner because otherwise, isolation and autonomy, places a heavy those walls would never dry. Jiangnan emphasis on protection and equality among architecture often integrates rivers into part family members. Because of its lack of of daily life, taking advantage of the cheap governance, Southern China was plagued by transportation and blooming trade these bandits. Inhabitants were forced to build water routes provided (Gong, 2009) fortified communal dwellings to protect In comparison to Northern Chinese themselves and their properties. A tulou (土 architecture which uses a lot of color, 楼), typically in Southern China, is a tall, Jiangnan architecture is very plain. Typical rectangular or circular dwelling for a family Jiangnan buildings with black roof and white clan that places a heavy emphasis on defense. walls lack the variety in colors commonly Its thick walls are immune to firearms, its observed in Northern architecture. Chinese doors are made out of fireproof wood, and its architect and scholar Liang Sicheng is be- roofs facilitate more accurate firing. Southern lieved to have thought that this difference China’s isolation from the North also allowed was caused by the different climate between its inhabitants to enjoy relativeequality North China and Jiangnan, but some of his within the family clan, as social hierarchy research on the subject did not survive. North from Confucius’ teaching was not as China has a relatively long winter and influential as it was in the North. All rooms autumn where flowers and trees wilt, while in tulous are of the same size and same the growing season is longer in Jiangnan. building material, with the exception of With flowers blooming almost all year long, bigger family branches getting bigger rooms. it seems excessive to paint the walls with Yet that was out of consideration of different colors when nature served as the comfortable living spaces,
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