2021 is destined to be "Liang Sicheng's coming of age", and the "Dongliang - Documenta Exhibition on the 120th Anniversary of Liang Sicheng's Birth" sponsored by Tsinghua University has attracted the attention of countless people. From the 362 photographs, manuscripts, models, books, letters, videos and other exhibits reflecting Liang Sicheng's life, people have a more detailed and systematic understanding of this master who has written an immortal chapter in the history of Chinese architecture, and their respect for him has naturally deepened a little. The exhibits that make me particularly memorable in the exhibition are Liang Sicheng's hand-drawn manuscripts, the picture frames are large or small, but they are all fine works depicted in one stroke and one painting, neat, exquisite, accurate and detailed... In short, it is not too much to describe it with all the praise words imagined. Whoever has seen it, the "brand" left in the mind will never linger!
Poster of the exhibition "Dong Liang"
Liang Sicheng's Forbidden City was stunned
As if in a trance, just after I visited the "Dongliang" exhibition, a copy of "Beijing", published in the early 1950s, brought a masterpiece to my desk, which made me very excited! Originally, this was a concise historical book introducing the capital Beijing, and when expounding the "Forbidden City", a hand-drawn manuscript of "From Tiananmen To noon gate" was selected, and the annotation on it was: "The first heavy gate in the figure is Tiananmen; the second heavy gate is the duanmen; on the left is the Working People's Cultural Palace, on the right is Zhongshan Park; and the third gate is the noon gate." Inside the Noon Gate are the three halls of the Forbidden City. Most importantly, the artwork is clearly marked as "Liang Sicheng Draft".
Liang Sicheng as "The Forbidden City"
I stared at this picture for a long time. Although this is only a printed version of a hand-painted bird's-eye view of the Forbidden City, it outlines the most important and wonderful section on the "central axis" of Beijing through concise brushstrokes. People who have studied architecture know that "aerial view" is the basic concept map of architectural planning and design, and the perspective and expression method of aerial view reflect the architect's planning understanding and design level of the project to a certain extent. The artwork in front of you is that the painter expresses what he thinks is the most wonderful part of his vision according to the degree of understanding of the Forbidden City. The angle of view chosen by the painter is from "northwest" to "southeast", with a horizontal angle of about 330 degrees and a vertical angle of about 30 degrees from the north-south axis. From the bird's eye view of the effect, taking such a relatively gentle "small perspective" can give you a panoramic view of "Tiananmen, Duanmen, Noon gate, and Taihedian Square", and at the same time maximize the spatial relationship between all important buildings in this range.
Liang Sicheng made a partial picture of "The Forbidden City": Tiananmen Square of the Forbidden City
The painting style of this drawing, the characteristics of the pen, are the same as the many sketches that Liang Sicheng has survived, and I have no doubt that the painter is the master himself. On this artwork, in addition to Tiananmen, Duanmen, and Noon Gate, you can also clearly see the Working People's Cultural Palace (Taimiao Temple) on the east side of the Forbidden City, Zhongshan Park (ShejiTan Temple) on the west side, Wuying Hall on West Road, Xihua Gate, Southwest Corner Tower, Southeast Corner Tower, and the East and West Side Facing Houses in Tiananmen Square. The most convincing thing is that the explanation of all the buildings in the drawings not only depicts the main physical features, the placement of accurate positions, but also conforms to the perspective principle of the composition, and the proportional relationship between the buildings is also very appropriate. Drawings that can meet such high standards are not an easy task even in front of architects who have mastered the function of computer graphic design today, and the painter seventy years ago, except for an ink line pen, relied on his brain filled with ancient architectural elements and a "god hand" with skillful expression.
Liang Sicheng made a partial picture of the Forbidden City: Corner Tower
Obviously, in the presentation of so many important buildings in the Forbidden City, the painter grasped the principles of "there is a choice and a trade-off" and "there is a master and a subordinate". From the perspective of the framing range, he did not select all of the Forbidden City, nor did he choose the area of the "Three Great Halls" (Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall, and Bohol Hall), but only unveiled the wonderful "prelude" of the "Forbidden City" drama for people - starting from Tiananmen Square all the way to the north, passing through the Duanmen Gate, entering the Noon Gate, and then passing through the Taihe Gate to the square in front of the Taihe Hall. After the abrupt stop, what is left to the audience is unlimited reverie.
Liang Sicheng made a partial picture of the Forbidden City: The Taihe Gate and the Jinshui Bridge of the Forbidden City
When depicting the three city gate towers of "Tiananmen, Duanmen and Noon gate" in the picture, the painter took the "Noon Gate" as the focus. On the one hand, this is determined by the status of the "main gate" of the Forbidden City, and the Noon Gate itself is the architectural embodiment of the strict authority of the Emperor; on the other hand, the Noon Gate is the most special shape, the largest volume and the highest height among the four gates of the Forbidden City Wall. The plan of the noon gate pier is "concave" shaped, and protrudes from the southern city wall, the height of the pier is 13 meters, the height of the gate tower and the pier platform is nearly 37.95 meters, and there are 5 pavilions on the pier. The painter uses delicate brushwork to vividly express the architectural characteristics of the Noonday Gate, that is, the "main gate tower" with the roof of the heavy eaves and the roof of the hall with heavy eaves is expressed, and the four "Que Towers" with heavy eaves and pointed roofs are clearly explained. The most difficult thing is to overcome the limitation of the direction from north to south, and to show the grand and solemn atmosphere of the "concave" square on the south side of the noon gate as much as possible.
Liang Sicheng made a partial picture of the Forbidden City: The Noon Gate of the Forbidden City
There is also an important architectural detail, that is, the "horse road" used to climb the gate tower on both sides of the noon gate pier. Ma Dao also played a decorative role in the shape of the city platform, and the pier was foiled with both undulating and layered, making the momentum of the city tower more majestic. When the painter expresses the noon gate horse road, he can see that he has not slackened off at all, or he still explains the relationship between the north-south "rising slope" and the east-west "turning back" as much as possible. All this fully shows that he has a very thorough grasp of the architectural structure system of the Noon Gate, coupled with his superb ability to express the details of the building, in such a small drawing range, the complex architectural spatial relationship of the Noon Gate can be depicted as "delicate and complete", which is amazing!
In addition, the painter not only sketches out the general shape of the building with a few strokes on the Taimiao Temple, sheji altar, and Wuying Hall on the west road of the Forbidden City on both sides of Tiananmen, but also resembles a delicate architectural sketch when extracting these architectural clusters separately. After such meticulous treatment by the painter, not only the real layout of each building is reproduced completely, but also the entire artwork appears more plump.
Part of The Forbidden City by Liang Sicheng: ShejiTan (Zhongshan Park)
He records the historical contribution of the China Construction Society
Through the interpretation of this painting, I would like to say: If there is no familiarity with the history and culture of Chinese architecture, no deep understanding of architectural planning theory, and no skillful grasp of architectural techniques, if you want to draw such a wonderful bird's eye view of the Forbidden City, it is simply a "fantasy"! And the painter who can choose such a perspective to express such a grand scene, and can use such a skillful and accurate brushstroke to outline the masterpiece in front of him, it is not "Liang Sicheng"!
Such a conclusion is not unfounded, in fact, Liang Sicheng's architectural career has long had a deep relationship with the Forbidden City, and the origin is his important work experience in the "China Construction Society". Founded around 1930, the China Construction Society is a professional academic society founded by Zhu Qizhao (1872-1964), a celebrity of modern Chinese history, focusing on the study of ancient Chinese architectural history. In the 17 years of its existence, with the structure of a non-governmental organization and the scale of more than 10 or 20 people, it has completed the investigation of more than 2,000 ancient Chinese buildings, laid the research paradigm of ancient Chinese architectural history and architectural theory, and single-handedly created a discipline, which can not but be said to be a legend in the academic history of world architecture!
Zhu Qizhao, founder of the China Construction Society, and his excavation of the "Construction of The French Style"
The China Construction Society was originally located at No. 7 Baozhuzi Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing, but in July 1932, due to the increase in staff to more than 20 people, the original site was not enough to be applied, and with the consent of the board of directors of Zhongshan Park, it was moved to the West Dynasty House in Tiananmen Square as the site", which was inextricably linked to the protection of the Forbidden City. It was also around this time node that the society hired Liang Sicheng (1901-1972) as the director of the French group, and Liu Dunzhen (1897-1968) as the director of the literature group. In layman's terms, "French" means "illustration" and "literature" means "historical materials", and the two are distinguished and related. Taking the "Western Dynasty House" as the starting point, the study of ancient Chinese architecture in an "illustrated" way became Liang Sicheng's "own work", and he did this work for fifteen years.
Liang Sicheng at the former site of the China Construction Society in the Western Dynasty Room of the Forbidden City (1932-1937)
In the forbidden city building, the "chaofang" is the east-west bungalow on the left and right sides of the Royal Road, and the position on Liang Sicheng's drawings is between Tiananmen and Duanmen, as well as the row of houses on both sides of the Noonday Gate Square, which was originally mainly used for the imperial court officials to rest in front of the court. It was not until the Construction Society moved into the "Western Dynasty House" in Tiananmen Square that these humble old houses were finally rejuvenated and produced immeasurable historical value. And all this is because Zhu Qizhao, Liang Sicheng, Liu Dunzhen and other people of insight have engaged in extraordinary undertakings that have not been done by previous generations.
At that time, Liang Sicheng had been engaged in the study and practice of modern architectural theory for 8 years since he graduated from Tsinghua School in 1924 and studied in the United States. During this period, Liang Sicheng not only obtained a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, but also under the guidance of his father Liang Qichao (1873-1929), he began to embark on the difficult road of founding the "History of Ancient Chinese Architecture", guiding his enlightenment reading, that is, the "Construction of the French Style" first discovered by Zhu Qiju in the special exhibition of "Dong Liang". Liang Sicheng founded the Department of Architecture at Northeastern University after returning to China in 1928, but this was obviously not Liang Sicheng's ultimate ambition. The vision of the China Construction Society is highly in line with Liang Sicheng's ideals, and this academic research platform has created the most suitable working environment for him and the smoothest channel for him to contact the real objects of ancient Chinese architecture.
Liang Sicheng hand-painted
From 1932 to 1937, before the Japanese invasion of China, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin and their colleagues from the Construction Society, sleeping in the wind and eating, trekked hard, conducted fieldwork on ancient architecture in North China, and found valuable cultural relics such as Dule Temple, Foguang Temple, Zhaozhou Bridge, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, Songyue Temple Pagoda, and basically understood the development of Chinese architecture. In the special exhibition of "Dong Liang", the exhibition content of this part left a very deep impression on the audience.
However, what is less known is that in these five years, the China Construction Society also did a "big thing" in Beiping, that is, they used modern architectural theories and methods to investigate and map the world-famous Forbidden City for the first time, making a rare historical contribution to the protection of this "world cultural heritage". It is also thanks to this that Liang Sicheng was able to expound the characteristics and details of Qing Dynasty architecture with his personal experience in his English edition of "Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture", which impressed the world.
As we all know, the Forbidden City in Beijing, which was built in 1420, is the most standardized and representative of the existing examples of official architecture in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the investigation and research of the Forbidden City complex is undoubtedly an excellent way to interpret the ancient Chinese royal architectural practices. After the China Construction Society moved to the "Western Dynasty House in Tiananmen", it has been looking forward to conducting field investigations of the Forbidden City nearby.
In October 1932, the Palace Museum allowed the Construction Society to enter the Forbidden City for the first time to investigate the current situation of the depression of the Wenyuan Attic, Zhu Qizhao, Liu Dunzhen, and Liang Sicheng personally went to work, and Cai Fangyin (1901-1963), Liu Dunzhen, and Liang Sicheng drafted the "Wenyuan Attic Surface Repair Plan" and handed it over to the Forbidden City for repair. In February 1934, he also repaired and designed the five pavilions of the Forbidden City on Jingshan, namely "Wanchun, Jifang, Zhou Xiang, Guan Miao, and Fu Lan". Shao Ligong (1904-1991) and Mai Yuzeng (year of birth and death unknown) were responsible for surveying and mapping, and Liang Sicheng and Liu Dunzhen were responsible for drawing up the outline of the repair plan. After these two practical tests, perhaps seeing the actual ability of the Construction Society, the Palace Museum commissioned them to conduct large-scale investigation and research on the Forbidden City.
Beiping Forbidden City Taihe Hall Smallpox Algae Well Dou li measurement data table
In the "1934" section of the "Compendium of The Annals of Liang Si" (hereinafter referred to as the "Annals") in the special exhibition of "Dongliang", it is recorded that "it was the year that began to survey the Beiping Forbidden City in detail." In the "Chronology of Academic Activities of the China Construction Society", it is explained in more detail: "During this year, the Construction Society was entrusted by the Academia Sinica to conduct a comprehensive survey and mapping of the buildings of the Forbidden City and retain the data to prevent war or disaster damage." The surveying and mapping work was responsible for by Liang Sicheng and assisted by Shao Ligong. At that time, a group of northeastern university architecture students were exiled to Beiping due to the '918 Incident', and Liang Sicheng managed to arrange for them to work in the society to make a living, and some of them also participated in the surveying and mapping of the Forbidden City. From 1934 to 1937, the Construction Society successively surveyed and mapped more than 60 buildings in Tiananmen, Duanmen, Noon, Taihemen, Taihedian, Zhonghedian, Bohol, and Corner Tower. ”
This historical fact was mentioned in the past when Liang Sicheng's life deeds were introduced, although some people mentioned it but did not focus on it, and it was only mentioned in the special exhibition of "Dongliang", the reasons for which were very complicated, the most crucial thing is that the results that can prove the existence of this "Forbidden City Surveying and Mapping Project", including thousands of surveying and mapping data, and the compiled surveying and mapping drawings, have not been completely preserved. The root cause of this situation is the criminal war waged by Japan in the 1930s.
Beiping Forbidden City Taihe Hall in front of the Jia measurement draft
In the "Examination of the Chronology of Academic Activities of the China Construction Society" in the "August 1937" section, it is recorded that "the source of funding for the Construction Society has been cut off and temporarily dissolved." In order to preserve valuable information, important books, cultural relics, instruments and work results over the years are stored in the British-funded Macquarie Bank of Tianjin. Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin left Beiping with their families. In the "August 1939" section, it is recorded that "the Flood in Tianjin, the materials stored in the basement of the British-funded McGarry Bank in Tianjin were all flooded." This tells us that all the valuable materials exchanged for the hard work of the China Construction Society from 1930 to 1937 were ultimately greatly damaged by the "natural and man-made disasters" of the Japanese invasion of China and the floods.
After in-depth understanding of this history of the China Construction Society, I can fully understand why Liang Sicheng "cried bitterly" after hearing this news in Kunming! That's because he knows the invaluability of these materials and has personally experienced the "indescribable" pain of obtaining them. Or maybe this experience gave him too much stimulation, and because of the loss of first-hand information at that time, he also kept silent about this matter in the later years, so that the details of this "surveying and mapping of the Forbidden City" were covered up in the smoke and dust of history for a long time.
The Forbidden City surveys old photographs
Fortunately, the influence of this history has not completely disappeared. Today, the young scholars of the "Memorial Hall of the China Construction Society" have worked hard to stitch together the remaining historical fragments, and finally restored the work done by Liang Sicheng and his colleagues to protect the forbidden city building, so that future generations have the opportunity to understand this important history of the Construction Society, and also let me have a different "inspiration" when interpreting Liang Sicheng's works.
I suddenly realized that the reason why the master wanted to draw this drawing must be because of his lingering "complex" with the Forbidden City, because the Forbidden City was like an "enlightenment" teacher who actually knew ancient architecture to him. I believe that the reason why so many different ancient buildings can be portrayed so beautifully is definitely because he has left a deep impression on the "zero distance" contact with these architectural cultural treasures. I guess that perhaps when he depicted "Noon gate", he remembered the joy of working with his assistants on the spot to achieve the results of mapping; or perhaps when he painted "The Western Dynasty Room", he couldn't help but integrate the five years of "unforgettable time" spent here...
Liang Sicheng composed a partial picture of the Forbidden City: the east and west facing houses inside Tiananmen
He pinned his hopes on Liang Sicheng's ideals
Today, to answer the question of when and under what circumstances Liang Sicheng painted this artwork, there seems to be no direct information to rely on, and it is not too much to call it "anthem". However, when I re-followed the timeline provided by the Compendium of The Genealogy of Liang Si in the special exhibition "Dong Liang" and analyzed it little by little, I seemed to feel that I was getting closer and closer to the possible answer.
After 1949, Liang Sicheng quickly integrated into the torrent of building a new China and a new Beijing, and his extensive influence and profound academic achievements in the field of architecture were highly recognized by the new people's power. The Annals record: "In January 1950, he was appointed deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Urban Planning Commission. That is to say, for the first time in his life, Liang Sicheng entered the high-level level of "governance". In this position, Liang Sicheng used his knowledge and ideals to take the initiative to "plan" the future of the ancient city of Beijing. This was confirmed by a series of subsequent records: "In February, together with Chen Zhanxiang, he jointly proposed the "Proposal on the Location of the Administrative Center of the Central People's Government" and proposed the complete preservation of the ancient city of Beijing"; "In May, he published "Discussion on the Existence and Destruction of the Beijing City Wall" in the magazine "New Construction" to oppose the demolition of the Beijing City Wall"; "In June, the national emblem pattern designed by the Department of Construction of Tsinghua University was adopted at the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference".
These documents fully show that Liang Sicheng, who was in the early days of the founding of New China, was enthusiastic, actively offered suggestions and suggestions, and fully stated his attitude and position on Beijing's urban planning, and the "Proposal on the Location of the Administrative Center of the Central People's Government" (historically known as the "Liang Chen Plan") has become a document recorded in the annals of history. As a well-known scholar with a deep understanding of the history of Chinese architecture and a world-class expert with personal knowledge of both Eastern and Western civilizations, he believes that his suggestions can be valued and adopted by the highest decision-makers of the country (the adoption of the national emblem designed by him should be the reason for his increased confidence). Therefore, in just half a year, Liang Sicheng put forward a series of clear views and specific suggestions, whether from the intensity of information or from the academic value, are remarkable, and the highlights are frequent.
Under the domination of no artificially depressed mood, in a relatively relaxed academic environment, it is conceivable to see how far Liang Sicheng's passion for work can be. Therefore, I think that this artwork with the Forbidden City as the background is likely to be created at this stage. "The rationality of the overall conception, the clarity of the partial sketching, and the fluency of the white lines" all reflect the ease of the painter's mood and the clarity of the mind. Anyone who has experience in artistic creation knows that a masterpiece can only be produced in this state!
In my opinion, this artwork may be the epitome of Beijing in Liang Sicheng's "ideal".
From his personal experience in 1948, when the People's Liberation Army asked him to mark the location of the monuments that must be protected on the map, Liang Sicheng was convinced that the new regime would definitely protect the ancient city of Beijing, so when he participated in the urban planning of Beijing after the founding of New China, he unreservedly stated his position and viewpoint of "complete preservation of the ancient city of Beijing".
However, for Liang Sicheng, who has no political experience, he may not have thought at all that in the complex system composed of multidimensional factors such as "politics, economy, diplomacy, culture, and society", well-known things happened later, and Liang Sicheng's beautiful ideals were not realized in the end...
When I changed my mood and watched Liang Sicheng's painting again, I still felt a little lucky. After all, the master left us this masterpiece, so that future generations have the opportunity to see through the ancient city charm of "light clouds and light wind" full of paper, and sigh how innocent Mr. Wang's ideal was at that time! However, in the end, there is no substitute for regret: if the style of the ancient capital can be completely preserved to this day according to the wishes of the master, how shocking it will be for this world!
Statue of Liang Sicheng
epilogue
History has no "ifs", some are just reflections! When I immersed myself in Liang Sicheng's painting, I did not just see it as a simple work of art, but as a concentrated reflection of a special era in the mind of the master. While talking to those "characters, backgrounds, stories, and emotions", it is natural to have more reflection on history and a deeper understanding of the master's mental journey.
In fact, Liang Sicheng's unique life experience is "no ancient person before and no one after", and the ultimate purpose of commemorating "Dong Liang" is not only "to think about the humor of the ancient". May people in the world who aspire to become "pillars" be able to grasp the "paintbrush" in their hands and draw every stroke and every painting of the ideal blueprint of "revitalizing China" with their own ability. This is the best commemoration and respect for the master. This is exactly:
The blue wisps of the road build ideals and unswervingly become a pillar;
The master's work has reappeared, and the immortal spirit will be transmitted forever!
(2021/9/24 written in Shanghai) (Editor-in-charge: Sun Xiaoning)