The Evolution of the Timber Structure System of the Buddhist Buildings in the Regions South of the Yangtze River from 10^th–14^th Century Based on the Main Hall of Baoguo Temple

ABSTRACT

China’s traditional wooden building has been gradually stylized, standardized, and modularized from the beginning of Sui and Tang Dynasties to Song Dynasty. Based on the timber structure system of Yingzao Fashi (the Methods), a construction monograph issued in 12th century, this article analyzes the timber structure systems of the main hall of Baoguo temple and compares it with other main halls of Buddhist temples built during Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty, and Yuan Dynasty in the regions South of the Yangtze river. The analysis presents the evolution of the timber structure systems of the Buddhist buildings. This article also analyzes the various types of timber structures in the perspective of modern structural theories, in order to determine and understand the influences that lead to the evolution. The findings provide valuable contributions to the protection, rehabilitation, restoration, and reuse of the historic timber buildings in Southern regions. In this articl,e, the regions South of the Yangtze refers to Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian Provinces from about 10^th–14^th century A.D. during the Five Dynasties (906–970 A.D.), Song Dynasty (960–1279), and Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 A.D.).

KEYWORDS:

• Buddhist building
• evolution
• main hall of Baoguo Temple
• South of the Yangtze
• timber structure system

Notes

¹ The “Ningbo” was named “Mingzhou” in Five Dynasties, and “Jinhua” was named “Wuzhou” in Five Dynasties. The “Ningbo”, “Jinhua”, “Shanghai” are the name of three cities in the south of Yangtze today. While, in the 10^th–14^th century A.D., the “Ningbo” was named “Mingzhou”, “Jinhua” was named “Wuzhou”, and “Shanghai” was just only a county that belongs to “Suzhou”.

² The construction of ancient Chinese architecture is measured by “Zhang”, “Chi” and “Cun”, which is also a decimal method consistent with modern measurement, i.e., 1 zhang= 10 chi= 100 cun. The basic length, however, 1 chi or 1 cun cannot be determined by the modern metric length because it varies with the metrics that were enacted by the different ancient dynasties. Moreover, the “construction ruler” used by ancient craftsmen has regional characteristics which cannot be unified now. Therefore, the unit of measurement in the appendix 3 of “History of Ancient Chinese Architecture (Liu D.1984.History of ancient Chinese architecture,2nded., Beijing: China Architecture& Building,421.)” is supplied as a reference, that is 1 chi(Song Dynasty) = 309–329 mm and 1 m = 3.04–3.24 cun (Song Dynasty).

³ One of the reasons for the change of the architectural style and the appearance of the building is that the wooden frame inside the building is changed. The most prominent feature of China’s wooden building is the organic unity of the three aspects of architecture, structure and decoration. Therefore, with the reduction of building materials, the simplification of the construction method and the change of the form of the structure, the weakening of the Dougong structural function, the decrease of the oblique members and the reduction of the combination structure, etc., which lead to the increase of the pillars and the shorten of the roof eaves, thus the architectural interior and exterior spaces (i.e. style and appearance) will change. The above conclusion is an external manifestation of structural changes.

Additional information

Funding

The study is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China — A Study on the Origin and Evolution of South China Timber Construction Technology (50308015).