Cover news reporter Dai Zhuxin
On December 27, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology released the first short video of the ancient construction science popularization series. After 6 years of painstaking brewing, the hospital's first "Big Wooden Works of Chuandi Architecture" was released.
This 6-minute short video work shows the audience the four endangered crafts of drawing, opening the rod, drawing ink, and soliciting signatures in the traditional building construction process in Sichuan.
Rescue records of ancient construction processes
In 6 years, nearly 300 craftsmen were visited
In the Song Dynasty, Li Jie's "Construction French Style" is a treasure of China's architectural works, but in the folk, there are many "construction French styles" that are taught orally by craftsmen and secretly, for example, in the process of building wooden houses, the ink masters master the various core skills. In recent years, with the gradual death of the old craftsman, the construction skills are also facing the difficult situation of "human death skills".
The craftsman Wang Zhenwen is one of the most skilled carpenters in Sichuan. In the summer of 2015, at the beginning of the investigation of the traditional architecture of the Sichuan area, Zhao Yun, a librarian of the Institute of Ancient Construction of the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, learned that a new box house was being built at the Daci Temple in Chengdu and immediately rushed to the scene. At the construction site, Master Wang talked and introduced the terminology, construction process and construction techniques of the wear bucket architecture, which left a deep impression on everyone.
The encounter with Wang Zhenwen inspired the Institute of Ancient Construction of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to consciously collect and sort out the list of craftsmen in Sichuan, and since 2015, while carrying out repair and design work, visiting construction sites and interviewing craftsmen, more than 10 skilled ink masters have been screened out, and tracked and recorded one by one to rescue the endangered traditional building construction technology of Sichuan.
In 2020, Zhao Yun successfully applied for the National Social Science Foundation Art Project "Research on Sichuan Traditional Building Construction Technology and Its Cultural Value ( 20CG187)". In 2021, the research group began to shoot the "Chuandi Traditional Crafts Series", hoping to show the research results of large woodwork, bamboo weaving, tools, ash work and other aspects through a set of short video records, and form a systematic video record to provide detailed basic information for heritage protection.
Wang Zhenwen is the first Sichuan craftsman filmed in this video. "At the shooting site in 2021, through Master Wang's introduction again, we clarified all the processes of large wood construction such as component production, structural assembly, upper beams, roof rafter installation, etc. During the filming process, Master Wang showed us one by one the 'housekeeping skills' that the palm ink master has always been secretive and secretive - drawing drawings, opening poles, drawing ink, and soliciting signatures, which is the most secret and core skill of Damuzuo. Zhao Yun introduced.
Up to now, the investigation of architectural entities by the Institute of Ancient Construction of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has covered most of Sichuan, tracking and recording more than 100 construction sites, interviewing more than 40 ink masters, visiting nearly 300 craftsmen, collecting nearly 600 hours of interview audio and video data, and the relevant results are being published one after another.
Deciphering the craftsman's "housekeeping skills"
Presents the entire process of large wood construction
After nearly 1 year of preparation, the film deliberated on the script, polished the script, contacted the construction site, selected craftsmen, entered the scene of filming, post-editing, and recently, the "Chuandi Traditional Craft Series" two short films of large wooden works and bamboo weaving were finally completed.
The opening work" "Damu Tiangong Dongliang Ingenuity - The 'Big Wooden Work' of Chuandi Architecture" introduces in depth and simplicity the entire process of large wood construction, such as component production, structural assembly, upper beam, roof rafter installation, etc., and for the first time reveals to the outside world the "housekeeping skills" of drawing, opening the rod, drawing ink, and soliciting signatures.
"Ancient Chinese architecture is characterized by wooden structures, from material selection, material cutting, component processing, frame making to small wood decoration to form a relatively complete set of technical systems, this system relies on oral teaching between craftsmen to continue from generation to generation." The traditional building construction process is a number of process operations in the construction process, and it is difficult to accurately and comprehensively record it using traditional images, texts, etc., so the survey needs to form a more intuitive and effective result with the help of images. We hope that in a few years, these records and studies will tell future generations how a house was built, so that future generations can discover the wisdom and ingenuity of traditional Chinese from the construction process. Zhao Yun said.
"As a scientific research institution rooted in the protection of local ancient buildings, the Institute of Ancient Architecture of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has been committed to academic research on issues related to ancient architecture in Sichuan. After the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, in order to fully grasp the situation of cultural relics and buildings after the disaster, it began to investigate and study nearly 100 early (Yuan and Ming) buildings in Sichuan, and published the survey report in volumes.
At present, the first volume of the Sichuan Ancient Architecture Survey Report Collection has been published. With the deepening of investigation and research, we found that the study of shape structures has answered the "what" of Sichuan architecture, and the "how to build" and "what to build" of these buildings need to be answered through the relevant research of traditional building construction processes and building materials. Yu Shumin, director of the Institute of Ancient Construction of the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced.
Yu Shumin said that the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has been studying ancient buildings for more than ten years, using a variety of methods such as anthropological surveys, architectural archaeological research, and heritage digitization technology, and has achieved initial results in the early architectural survey and traditional craft surveys, "In addition, in the future, there will be more achievements in ancient building restoration, digital archiving, sustainable use, social education and research to meet with you, and put forward our contemporary practice for the protection and utilization of precious architectural heritage in Sichuan." ”
(According to Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)