意匠中华 - 从原型到营造匠心

This book focuses on the language of space used in the making and representations of cultural architypes in the transmission of mythology. In doing so, we hope to explore a kind of modern symbiosis of cultural genes through regenerating design narratives, so as to shed some light on the special position of designing and creation of buildings and objects in the progress of Chinese civilization. It would be fundamentally biased to look at the conventions of traditional Chinese buildings and objects by simply applying modern design principles. Similarly, examination of materialistic aspects and believes of prehistoric civilization from the perspectives of mythology and cultural relics cannot be explained merely from the perspectives of literature, archeology and art; building and object design sometime offers insight into their essence and origins. Drawing inspirations from the West, design studies in China as a whole regards modern design as its starting point. However, the origin of design studies can be traced back to designs of objects and buildings in the prehistoric civilization. Though every scholar in this field is aware of the significance of Chinese civilization, design studies as a new discipline has from the beginning ignored the traditional Chinese concept of building and object creation due to the Chinese tradition of valuing learning for the purpose of developing a career as a mandarin and frowning upon skills and technology, and as a result got lost in the thick fog of western learning new to China. Consequently, China has not developed its own methodologies or theories in design studies. Design studies are seen as a “service industry”, and there is no recognition of the value of cultural archetypes in modern design. In reality, literature, religious studies, sociology and art, etc. all seek to establish some link with building and object design. Great literary works without exception are set on descriptions of buildings and objects, which provide backdrops for characters to come alive. Dream of the Red Chamber is a good example. In this great novel, the good match of two young lovers is referred to as a harmonious union between wood and jade, which can be traced back to ancient mythology of sky mending by a goddess using colored stones and heavenly trees. This novel is known as an encyclopedia of the Chinese society because of its accurate description of buildings and spaces in which the characters lived their lives in sophistication and luxury, including their clothing, food, residences, transportation and utensils and objects. Further, these buildings and objects serve as metaphors for the personality of characters in the novel, pointing to the fact that traditional Chinese buildings and objects, in addition to their functions, were used to represent the superstructure of morality, ethics, society and politics. We will be led astray if we look at Chinese civilization only through material functions or look at Chinese creation of buildings and objects by way of “design” concepts as defined in the Bauhaus Movement. Globally, if Chinese civilization were not able to provide material substance of civilization, an external advocate would have to be found to present to the world the gene of this great civilization. In literature, art and even in religion, sacred, romantic and moral narratives of every kind are imbedded in cultures of building and object creation. The “Origin of Chinese Civilization” project (another major project following the project of “Accurately Dividing Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties” exploring the origin of Chinese civilization), a large-scale, multi-disciplinary ancient history project exploring origin of Chinese civilization concluded in May 2018, has established that Chinese civilization is a long and uninterrupted civilization with evidence of unearthed objects and images. The city walls and moats, objects and utensils unearthed in archeological studies in various parts of China present evidence of wisdoms and techniques of the Chinese people in various historical periods. Design as a humanistic activity of creation can be observed in these cultural relics. In fact, there is a high-level consistency between the motivation and objectives of building and object designing and the methods used to realize them; the key issue here is how to present evidence and what language to use in such presentation. For historical reasons, few writings about theories and systems of building and object creation in ancient China can be found. In the hierarchical Confucian society in ancient China, craftsmen were ranked below scholars (who were candidates for government positions) and farmers, so they did not deserve much to be written about. Traditionally, skills were passed down from masters to apprentices. Masters were teaching by modelling and apprentices were learning by observing and imitating (This ensured trade secrets to be kept and exclusivity to be maintained). There was limited literature to go by. The limited volume of literature, mostly laws and decrees, was largely about engineering and agricultural technologies in ancient times. A close look at designs of traditional buildings and objects unearthed at archeological sites is more revealing. Breathtaking cultural relics unearthed all contain a designing intention as shown in their forms, choices of materials, craftsmanship and decorative patterns. But, why have these cultural relics designed by unknown designers not attracted systematic design research in China? It has been proven that Chinese civilization emerged 5000 years ago and Erlitou Culture ushered in civilizations of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. These Chinese civilizations were diverse across a vast land and yet integrated and continuing. People in this land have always had faith in their survival and material belief. Spatial forms of urban settlements have provided a basis for Chinese civilization to flourish. All this has contributed to our understanding of origins of human civilization. The “Origin of Chinese Civilization” project focused on large archeological sites of ancient cities, including the Liangzhu site in Yuhang in Zhejiang Province, the Taosi site in Xiangfen in Shanxi Province, the Shimao site in Shenmu in Shaanxi Province, the Hemudu site in Yuhang in Zhejiang Province, the Shijiahe site in Tianmen in Hubei Province, and the Erlitou site in Yanshi in Henan Province, etc. Their site selections and positioning, and planning of their axes and layouts are all within the definition of modern town planning. Elevated dwellings in the site of Humudu Culture were built with timber with Mortise-Tenon connections, and on this basis terraced houses with rails on posts were born. This is not simply “collective unconsciousness” at all. In the site, a large number of jade pieces of different shapes and materials, such as jade discs, jade Cong and jade Huang, were unearthed. Obviously, these jade pieces embody a kind of aesthetic language and they were designed and made with the help of tools and technologies. Earthenware from Paleolithic Period and Neolithic Period are well shaped and were arranged in a decorative order when unearthed. Beautiful designs and arrangements are much more than sub-consciousness. Where did their creative genes and creative wisdoms originate? Western learning cannot define design or building and object making in the process of Chinese civilization. On the contrary, some western scholars are more willing to believe that Chinese civilization originated in Egypt or Africa. In this sense, it is our job to explore the origins and theories of design of ancient Chinese buildings and objects, and we also need to decipher narratives and methodologies of design that exist in Chinese civilization. In some popular writings and in some ambitious and knowledgeable authors’ academic books on humanistic architecture, design and building making are merely service provision, and functions of buildings are emphasized either overtly or covertly. As far as I know, there are numerous studies on design. However, it is relatively easy to confirm facts in relation to analyses of functions, services, methods and phenomena; this is also more in line with how disciplines development in western learning. Nevertheless, to understand archetypes of buildings and objects of a nation, an important clue, and perhaps the most reliable clue, is to examine surviving material evidence of buildings and objects made in the beginning stage of that nation. To explore wisdoms of building and object making in China, undoubtedly we have to trace back to various stages of Chinese civilization and conduct comprehensive and detailed analyses of its cultural archetypes including both material beliefs and spiritual beliefs from primitive religions and creation mythology of its barbarian times to formation of its state systems. Such endeavor requires disciplinary knowledge and ability, time, energy, financial resources and physical strength for fieldwork and post-fieldwork data processing. Researchers have to be dedicated and be able to find links between such research and modern design, so as to facilitate rebirth of cultural archetypes. I hope I will not be misunderstood by readers. I warn myself not to be divorced from design or concentrate solely on mythology, though indeed my goal is to trace the spiritual systems of building and object making back to the times of creation mythology. I have been trying to understand these stones, earthenware and jade pieces which are said to possess supernatural powers, because they contain cultural archetypes of design. I explore ancient history not because I like these ancient objects, but because I believe that those primitive sacrificial vessels, tools and archetypes of architectural spaces provide a backdrop for us to understand creative activities of our ancestors; and at the same time these cultural archetypes are a bridge linking Great Cultu