People who know the history of modern Chinese architecture know the American architect Mao Fei and the Chinese scholar Le Jiazao. The former designed a large number of new buildings that conformed to the principles of modern materials and structural techniques, while at the same time having the official architectural style of the Qing Dynasty; the latter's book "History of Chinese Architecture" published in 1935 was the first of its kind in China.
Discussions and studies of the two men's biographies and their designs or writings are not uncommon, but two questions seem to remain to be answered: Although Mao had the opportunity to visit important Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Nanjing, and to visit examples of high-grade architecture such as the Forbidden City, his articles on Chinese architecture do not contain detailed survey materials other than a general overview. Why was he able to design a Chinese-style building with relatively accurate shapes and a variety of types?
Le Shi is not a member of the Chinese construction society, and should not have as many fieldwork opportunities as Liang Sicheng and Liu Dunzhen. His book mentions many examples that have not been described in the publications of the Construction Society, and where did they originate? A further question is that in the early 20th century, most architects were not educated in the history of ancient Chinese architecture, and it was difficult to have sufficient time and conditions to conduct amateur fieldwork, so what was the sample they used to design Chinese-style architecture?
These problems may seem small, but they are also problems that must be faced in the study of Chinese style architecture and the history of Chinese architecture. Some of their answers were actually in some publications of the time, and the German scholars Ernst Berschmann's books "Chinese Architecture and Landscape" and "Chinese Architecture" were among the best.
Ernst Boerschmann (1873-1949) was a professor at the Royal Berlin Institute of Technology (the predecessor of the Technical University of Berlin) in Germany, and was the first to comprehensively investigate and document ancient Chinese architecture. From 1906 to 1909, with the support of the Royal Foundation of the German Empire, Berchmann traveled tens of thousands of miles across 14 provinces and regions of China, and conducted a comprehensive investigation of China's royal buildings, temples, ancestral halls, and residences, leaving behind 8,000 photos, 2,500 sketches, 2,000 rubbings, and 1,000 pages of surveying and mapping records. This was 20 years earlier than the inspection of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, and he also received the title of "Originator of Chinese Architectural Photography". In 1932, Berchmann was invited to become a communications researcher at the China Construction Society. From 1933 to 1935, he was specially hired as a consultant for the heritage of traditional Chinese architecture. He has published works such as "Chinese Architecture and Landscape", "Chinese Architecture", "Chinese Architectural Ceramics", "Chinese Architecture and Religious Culture" and so on.
This book is one of the results of Berchmann's 1906-1909 architectural expeditions in China, first published in 1925, containing more than 700 photographs and more than 130,000 words. The original book is divided into two volumes, containing a total of 20 chapters, starting from the architectural structures such as the city wall, gate, hall, roof decoration and so on, and discussing the essential characteristics of Chinese architectural art in the form of pictures and texts.
The place names under the provincial administrative divisions covered in the book follow the titles of Berchmann's expeditions from 1906 to 1909, so that readers can return to the historical scene of Berchmann's expeditions in China more than a hundred years ago. The book was first published in 1925, and the titles in some places have changed considerably from those of Berchmann's expedition. For the convenience of the reader,000, the editors have added some footnotes to the text as appropriate. For the reader's convenience, the editor appends the images to the back of each chapter and renumbers them. Due to their age, some of the pictures are faded and vary in shades of color. In order to better present the content of the picture and ensure that the printing is neat and exquisite, we have made a unified treatment of the color tone of the picture.
It can be said that "Chinese Architecture" is a pioneering work in the field of ancient Chinese architecture research, which has had a profound impact on the writing of Liang Sicheng's "History of Chinese Architecture". Since its inception, it has been highly praised by relevant industry experts. Lai Delin, associate professor of fine arts at the University of Louisville, commented: "Berchmann's book is one of the few important monographs (only two) in the early 20th century that provides a comprehensive introduction to Chinese architecture. Although its German text may hinder the acceptance of the author's views by Chinese and English readers, the large number of exquisite photos and mappings undoubtedly provide a valuable reference for architects at that time to understand Chinese architecture. ”
author:
Ernst Boerschmann (1873-1949): Professor at the Royal Berlin Institute of Technology (the predecessor of the Technical University of Berlin), the originator of photography in the field of Chinese architecture, the first person to comprehensively investigate and record ancient Chinese architecture. From 1906 to 1909, with the support of the Royal Foundation of the German Empire, Berchmann traveled tens of thousands of miles across 14 provinces and regions of China, and conducted a comprehensive investigation of China's royal buildings, temples, ancestral halls, and residences, leaving behind 8,000 photos, 2,500 sketches, 2,000 rubbings, and 1,000 pages of surveying and mapping records. In 1932, Berchmann was invited to become a communications researcher at the China Construction Society. From 1933 to 1935, he was specially hired as a consultant for the heritage of traditional Chinese architecture. He has published works such as "Chinese Architecture and Landscape", "Chinese Architecture", "Chinese Architectural Ceramics", "Chinese Architecture and Religious Culture" and so on.
editor:
Zhao Shengwei: Editor-in-Chief of the Series of Books on "Diorama", "Oriental Mirror", and "Chinese History Lost in the West". Graduated from the Department of History of Xiamen University, he has focused on the collection and publication of Chinese historical images since 2011, and has a large collection of French and German newspapers and books on Chinese themes.
translator:
Ye Ming: Graduated from Shanghai Overseas Chinese University, he is a freelance translator, and is currently mainly engaged in translation work in history and culture.
Du Weihua: Doctor of Philosophy, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, is currently an associate professor and vice dean of the School of Spanish Languages at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, researching Sino-German cultural exchanges, publishing many papers, translating hundreds of thousands of words, publishing the German monograph "Berliner Universitaetals Modell" (Berliner Universitaetals Modell), and the English edit "Chinese Students in the University of Berlin, Germany" (Chinese Students in the theory). University of Berlin), Chinese monograph "Research on the Reform of Higher Education in Germany and Austria" and "Examination of Chinese Scholars in Modern berlin" (second author).