On June 18 this year, the "Xiangshan Gang Traditional Building Construction Skills Specification" was released in Suzhou, which attracted great attention in the industry and made the "Xiangshan Gang" enter the public eye again.
On the shore of Taihu Lake in Wuzhong District, Suzhou, there is a place once called "Xiangshan", where a group of construction craftsmen have been bred since ancient times, known as the "Xiangshan Gang". They are very good at intricate and delicate traditional Chinese building techniques, and there is a record in the history books that "the carpenters and craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River are all from Xiangshan". For hundreds of years, the "Xiangshan Gang" has created countless ingenious works at home and abroad. In 2006, the "Xiangshan Gang Traditional Building Construction Skills" was included in the first batch of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage List"; In 2009, it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the "Xiangshan Gang" has become an important part of traditional Chinese architectural culture with its exquisite construction skills.
The representative work of the "Xiangshan Gang" is Chengxiangtang Xiangshan Workshop Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd
Masters of the past generations have built masterpieces
The "Xiangshan Gang" originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
More than 600 years ago, Kuai Xiang, an architect born in Xiangshan, Suzhou, became famous for presiding over the design and construction of many historical buildings such as the Tiananmen Tower and the first three halls of the Forbidden City, and was considered by later generations to be the grandmaster of the "Xiangshan Gang". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, classical Chinese architecture was known for its beautiful design and exquisite architectural skills, and the "Xiangshan Gang" that created these classic masterpieces gradually became famous everywhere. From ancient times to the present, whether it is a classical garden with a single scene or a magnificent royal palace; Or the majestic and solemn Potala Palace, as well as the Ming Xuan in New York, United States...... the craftsmen of the "Xiangshan Gang" have cast one after another architectural works that amaze the world, and the footsteps of the "Xiangshan Gang" have traveled all over the world.
"The early Xiangshan craftsmen were mainly carpenters and plasterers, and wood carving was concurrently operated by carpenters, and brick carving was concurrently operated by plasterers. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, as the architectural carving style became more and more delicate and cumbersome, the business demand increased greatly, and the division of labor of Xiangshan craftsmen also continued to develop in the direction of specialization. The 'Xiangshan Gang' has gradually formed a huge group of craftsmen integrating woodwork, water work, brick carving, wood carving, stone carving, painting and painting, etc. It is said that there are more than 5,000 craftsmen in the Xiangshan area at the peak. Flipping through the Xinhua Daily, a report published on April 17, 2003, entitled "Suzhou's 'Xiangshan Gang' Famous at Home and Abroad" introduced the "Xiangshan Gang" in this way.
In 1980, the "Ming Xuan" built by the "Xiangshan Gang" craftsmen was completed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, United States, becoming the first case of Chinese classical architecture "going to sea" after the founding of New China. Xue Fuxin, who also grew up in Xiangshan, Suzhou, is one of these leaders.
Xue Fuxin, a famous craftsman in Xiangshan, known as "contemporary Kuaixiang", has participated in the restoration of 24 gardens such as the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Coupling Garden in Suzhou. In the overhaul of the coupling garden, he carefully designed a number of flower windows of different shapes, such as Li Bai drunk, Lin and Jing stepping on the snow and looking for plums, etc., which are delicate and eye-catching, easy to move, and rich in charm. It is said that he also made amazing works such as the roof sculpture "Pine Crane and Cypress Deer" between the mountains and rivers, the vertical ridge sculpture "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers" and "Chang'e Running to the Moon".
According to Xue Fuxin's grandson Xue Dong, his grandfather began to learn art at the age of 11, because he was smart and perceptive, and gradually achieved results while learning. In Xue Dong's impression, his grandfather often spent time at night drawing alone at the desk. "My deepest impression of my grandfather is that he is 'away all the year round', which is very hard. I don't think he's a very 'settled' person, he's constantly learning and innovating as he works. Xue Dong said. He clearly remembers that his grandfather started as a water worker, and when he was 30 years old, he participated in the maintenance of Suzhou gardens. In the process of continuous learning, my grandfather became proficient in a series of tasks such as design, cost, and supervision.
Continuous learning and transforming oneself from a simple technical operator to a "construction master" is the goal pursued by the craftsmen of the "Xiangshan Gang".
Xue Lingen demonstrated to reporters the use of traditional construction tools of the "Xiangshan Gang".
For decades, the three generations of the Xue family have inherited the traditional building construction skills of the Xiangshan Gang. From grandfather Xue Fuxin to father Xue Lingen, they have all become national inheritors of Xiangshan Gang's traditional building construction skills; Today, Xue Dong, who graduated from Tongji University with a master's degree in architecture, has also become a representative of the contemporary inheritors, who adhere to the craftsman spirit of the Xiangshan Gang and know the value behind this skill.
"Ingenuity" between "creation" and "ingenuity"
In 2006, Feng Xiaodong, who has been engaged in the planning, design and renovation of Suzhou gardens for a long time, established Xiangshan Workshop Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd. In 2008, he called for the gathering of a number of enterprises, experts and scholars engaged in the planning, design and construction of ancient gardens in Suzhou to establish the Suzhou Xiangshan Gang Construction Association. The "Xiangshan Gang" is no longer scattered all over the place as before, and they gradually begin to unite and have a more core strength. As the president of Suzhou Xiangshan Gang Construction Association and the chairman of Xiangshan Workshop Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd., Feng Xiaodong has a very thorough understanding of the "Xiangshan Gang".
Feng Xiaodong
"The words 'construction skills' in 'Xiangshan Gang's traditional building construction skills' describe the characteristics of 'Xiangshan Gang' very appropriately." 'Camp' is to conceive and design, and 'to build' is to build a house. The word 'skill' stands for technique and art, respectively. The 'Xiangshan Gang' is characterized by the combination of design and construction, technology and art. For many years, we have been calling for the traditional skills of the 'Xiangshan Gang' to fully integrate design and construction in order to produce excellent works. Feng Xiaodong said.
In the Xiangshan Workshop Cultural Industry Park, Xue Lingen, Xue Dong and his son built the Taihu Ancient Construction Park. In the exhibition hall of the park, Xue Lingen showed reporters a piece of wooden construction tools that have been honed for decades, each of which contains the wisdom of the craftsmen of the "Xiangshan Gang". Xue Lingen, who is in his seventies, is still in good spirits, holding these "old friends" engraved with his father and his own names to introduce the uses one by one. In his opinion, the characteristics of the skills of the "Xiangshan Gang" can be summed up by the words "fine" and "skillful".
"'Jing' refers to virtuosity. The craftsman's skill is the craft, and the reason why it is a craft is that he not only has technology, but also art. And 'Qiao' is the ingenious design concept. Doing but not designing, doing well but not conceiving, is not really a success. Xue Lingen said.
The various wood carvings and stone carvings displayed in the museum can be called works of art. It is hard to imagine what kind of skillful hands can carve such a beautiful work under such humble conditions. In Xue Dong's view, from ancient times to the present, from construction to repair, the skills of the "Xiangshan Gang" should be re-examined from a cultural perspective. Because it takes into account historical, scientific, artistic, socio-cultural and economic values. The inheritance of the "Xiangshan Gang" needs to rely on more new cognition to better improve and continue. "Every successful craftsman of the 'Xiangshan Gang' deserves to be called an 'artist'." Xue Dong said.
Lu Yaozu, the national representative inheritor of the traditional building construction skills of the Xiangshan Gang, is the fifth-generation descendant of Yao Sanxing, a famous woodworker. He began to learn woodwork at the age of 16 and is 75 years old this year, still learning new architectural knowledge in line with the development of the times, and at the same time insisting on the cultivation of the successors of the "Xiangshan Gang".
Xue Fuxin's hand-drawn design artwork
"In my opinion, only a craftsman who has a series of skills such as conception, drawing, architecture, and coordination can be called a 'master', which may be more difficult than today's senior engineers." Lu Yaozu said. Taking classical gardens as an example, there are many large and small gardens in Suzhou, each with its own characteristics. It can show different faces according to the different identities, jobs, statuses, and preferences of the garden owner. At the same time, the classical garden gives people the feeling that "although it is made by man, it is like the opening of the sky", which tests the design concept of the builder. A flower and a tree, a wall and a tile, a door and a window...... The intention of the garden owner is expressed by carving patterns and choosing colors, which is exactly what the builder is capable of.
Lu Yaozu
As a typical representative of generations of "Xiangshan Gang" construction craftsmen, Lu Yaozu has always worked hard for the inheritance of the "Xiangshan Gang". Since the 80s of the last century, he began to train the ancient construction workers in Suzhou, and the types of work he trained include stone carvers, brick craftsmen, wood carvers, carpenters, bricklayers, rockery workers, etc., bringing out a batch of "Xiangshan Gang" ancient construction industry backbone.
Inheriting and innovating to keep the "soul of Xiangshan"
"Since the inheritance of the Xiangshan Gang's skills is mainly passed down orally, it is not effective in a short period of time. Many antique buildings can only copy the 'shape' of the traditional skills of the Xiangshan Gang without the 'soul', and there are many 'distorted' lives. Chen Hongxia, associate professor of the School of Sociology of Soochow University, once had such an elaboration on the development of the "Xiangshan Gang".
Although the inheritance and development of skills are facing great challenges, the "Xiangshan Gang", as an outstanding representative of Soviet-style architecture, has been passed down for a long time, and this group of craftsmen has never stopped working hard.
The full text of the "Xiangshan Bang Traditional Building Construction Skills Specification" released a few days ago is about 100,000 words, covering the specifications of the division of work types, construction characteristics, process flow, operation steps and other contents of the Xiangshan Gang's traditional building construction skills, which comprehensively reflects the essence and characteristics of the Xiangshan Gang's skills, marking a new chapter in the inheritance and development of the Xiangshan Gang's skills. The introduction of this industry norm, which gathers the strength of many parties, has also allowed the craftsmen of the "Xiangshan Gang" to find the motivation to stick to it.
The release of the "Xiangshan Bang Traditional Building Construction Skills Specification" provides a systematic evaluation system for measuring and identifying the Xiangshan Gang's traditional building construction skills and architecture. In order to identify whether a work is the handiwork of the "Xiangshan Gang", the whole process of construction "from scratch" must be "passed" one by one.
"In the past, the owner or the supervision party did not have a blueprint and standards for supervision, and it was difficult to judge whether certain technologies were the skills of the 'Xiangshan Gang'. The so-called 'insider's doorway' now has a comprehensive normative model, and the relevant departments also have standards for judging right and wrong, good and bad, and true and false. As far as I know, there have been some phenomena in the market that are fake and real, and if the works produced under the banner of the Xiangshan Gang are nondescript works, then the protection of the ancient city of Suzhou will be affected. In order to protect the ancient city of Suzhou, it is necessary to protect the style and technology of the ancient city of Suzhou. Feng Xiaodong emphasized.
Traditional wood work on display by Taihu Ancient Construction Company in Xiangshan Workshop Cultural Industrial Park
Classical gardens, ancient pagodas, ancient temples...... Many of the historical relics left by the ancient city of Suzhou need to be repaired to maintain a long-term "life", and they have to be done by people who really know how to do it. Xue Dong, who has been involved in the renovation of the ancient city of Suzhou for many years, deeply feels that the relationship between the "Xiangshan Gang" and Suzhou City is one of coexistence and co-prosperity.
"The 'Xiangshan Gang' was established in the development of Suzhou City, and over the years, we have seen the works created by the 'Xiangshan Gang' in different historical eras from the addition, expansion and renovation to today. They are a living history that will continue to be preserved through restoration and refinement. This is a continuous feature of traditional Chinese culture, and it is also slowly realized through the interactive relationship between the ancient city of Suzhou and the 'Xiangshan Gang'. Xue Dong said.
In addition, according to Feng Xiaodong, since the establishment of Suzhou Xiangshan Workshop, everyone has been working together to continue to work hard for the continuation of the "Xiangshan Gang" from multiple perspectives such as market development and talent training.
With the continuous development of social science and technology, today's high-tech equipment can replace manual work, which can not only speed up the progress of construction steps, but also make digital production more precise than pure manual. However, in the inheritance and development of the "Xiangshan Gang", traditional things are still being taught, because what they teach is not just a skill, but the spiritual concept that supports the enduring skill of this skill.
"As an inheritor, I still require myself to have good quality at all times. First of all, it needs to have both design and construction capabilities; Second, we must adapt to the development of the times and continue to learn. It is necessary to understand the ancient wood and the modern reinforced concrete structure, so that we can have the confidence to cultivate inheritors in the new era. To this day, Lu Yaozu has always maintained the spirit of a craftsman who lives to learn from old age, and no matter how he develops, he never forgets the "Xiangshan soul" rooted in his heart.
Suzhou is the only city along the Grand Canal that has been inscribed on the World Heritage List with the concept of an ancient city. Small bridges and flowing water, pink walls and tiles, historical gardens...... Suzhou City, which has a history of 2,500 years, has nurtured this group of world-famous skilled craftsmen, and this group of craftsmen who have been nourished by Suzhou City have also spent their lives guarding this ancient city with their own hands and faith. One building and one guarding, showing the world the yesterday, today and tomorrow of Soviet-style ancient Chinese architecture.
(Jiangnan Times reporter Xu Xi Mao Yan)