The construction technique of chaoshan ancient architecture is an ancient traditional skill. Chaoshan generations of construction craftsmen have accumulated rich technical and technological experience in long-term construction, and have formed unique and systematic methods or techniques, as well as related taboos and operating specifications, in terms of building layout, selection of building materials, construction control, and component production. The ancient chaoshan architecture created has formed a unique style with stone and wood pillar beam structure, exquisite stone carving, gold lacquer wood carving and inlaid porcelain, with significant characteristics, strict form, deep and stable, and gorgeous decoration, which is unique in mainland ethnic architecture and has high historical, scientific and artistic value.
In 2021, Chaoshan ancient architectural construction techniques were selected into the list of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage.
Puning City God Temple (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Architectural Construction Co., Ltd.)
Chaoshan ancient building construction technology originated in the Tang and Song Dynasties, spread in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and reached its peak in the Republic of China period, and has been passed down for more than a thousand years.
Located at the intersection of the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the Chaoshan region has been prosperous since the Tang and Song dynasties, and frequent trade to and from the sea has not been interrupted even during the Ming Dynasty's sea ban, which has brought overseas culture to the Chaoshan region. This integration of Central Plains, overseas and local cultures in the past thousand years has made Chaoshan culture unique, creating a national architectural culture that is still brilliant and has local characteristics today.
Restored "Shantou Small Park Port Opening Area" (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
The traditional residential houses in Chaoshan have distinct characteristics, and the traditional layout from small to large can be divided into xiashan tiger type, four-point gold type, and horse trailer type.
Among them, the xiashan tiger-style traditional Chaoshan residential house is a single-family courtyard with basically complete living conditions, which is the most typical residential layout in Chaoshan area. From the Han Dynasty pottery houses excavated in Guangdong, you can find a layout structure very similar to the Chaoshan Xiashan Tiger style house.
Xiashan Tiger hand-drawn (Source: Chaoshan Old House)
Typical "Descending Tiger" Chaoshan Cuo pattern (Photo: Yuan Sheng)
The "four-point gold" style Chaoshan traditional house is the prototype closest to the courtyard, and it is also a multi-family Chinese house in the Chaoshan area.
The traditional Chaoshan house of the "horse trailer" type is a large-scale house of the ethnic group in the Chaoshan area.
Four-point gold hand-drawn drawing (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Architectural Construction Co., Ltd.)
Chen Cidi's Former Residence (Horse Trailer) (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
Chaoshan's unique architectural construction process includes: the building is mainly based on stone and wood structures, stone piles, stone beams, fir beams on the beam frame of the roof structure; a large number of application of porcelain inlaid porcelain technology of the house ridge and vertical beam; architectural decoration in the gold lacquer wood carving and painting; pay attention to the five elements of the Chaoshan cuotou and so on.
Inlaid porcelain is one of the construction techniques of Chaoshan ancient buildings (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Architectural Construction Co., Ltd.)
Clay sculpture is one of the construction techniques of Chaoshan ancient buildings (Source: Guangdong Jichuanying Ancient Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
Traditional small houses and large temples in the Chaoshan area can be seen everywhere with murals with unique Chaoshan style. These special murals use shells from local seafood to calcinate shell ash, stir them into mud as walls, and are painted in ink before they are solidified.
Among the traditional crafts covered by chaoshan ancient architecture construction techniques, such as painting, clay sculpture, wood carving, stone carving, brick carving, murals, paint, inlaid porcelain, gray sculpture, etc., some of the crafts have become intangible cultural heritage, and the entire construction technique has become a living fossil of traditional Chinese architecture.
Painting is one of the construction techniques of Chaoshan ancient buildings (Source: Guangdong Jichuanying Ancient Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
In the unique Chaoshan ancient buildings, the technical and technological experience accumulated by Chaoshan construction craftsmen in the long-term construction process of successive generations is precipitated and recorded, and the architectural layout, building material selection, construction control, component production and so on are integrated. For a long time, this kind of folk construction technique has not been passed down from classic ancient books, and only relied on the "words and deeds" of builders and skilled craftsmen to pass on from generation to generation.
Due to the large number of handicrafts involved in this technique, the inheritance path and context are complex, and it is a family-style and non-familial master-apprentice, and the inheritance lineage is in a network-like intertwined state. Among them, the more representative and influential figures are Ji Chuanying, the provincial inheritor of the Chaoshan Ancient Architecture Construction Technique Project of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the past 50 years of practicing this technique, he has designed and built numerous temples, garden landscapes and European-style villas, which are compatible with the strengths of the north and south schools, and have formed their own unique architectural style. The restoration of shantou Baizai Commercial Port "Small Park Historical and Cultural Block", Mayu Tianhou Temple, Baihuajian Temple and Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, Outing Tenghui Pagoda and Jieyang Puning City God Temple are all from his skillful hands. In 2014, the Guangdong Qing Temple in Singapore, which was led by Ji Chuanying, won the "UNESCO Asia-Pacific Cultural Asset Preservation Merit Award".
Baihuajian Temple in Shantou Stone Scenic Area (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
Restored Guangdong Qing Temple in Singapore (Source: Guangdong Jichuan Yinggu Building Construction Co., Ltd.)
"Kyoto Imperial Palace, Chaoshan People's Home", Chaoshan ancient architecture not only shows extraordinary dignity in architectural form and scale, but also makes Chaoshan ancient architecture dazzling and magnificent because of the chaoshan people's life wisdom and the ultimate pursuit of decorative craftsmanship.
As the material carrier of Chaoshan culture, Chaoshan ancient architecture is the crystallization of the wisdom of Chaoshan ancestors, and it is also the common spiritual home of all Chaoshan people.
Source: Fang Zhi Guangdong
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