Illustrated Guide to Traditional Chinese Residential Architecture

Author: Shan Deqi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-01-01
Features: Introduction
The "Illustrated Traditional Chinese Folk Houses · Huizhou Volume" is divided into four parts:
Part 1 "Hongcun in Water Town" records a village in the mountainous area of Yi County in southern Anhui Province with a history of over 800 years. The village is backed by mountains and faces water, with water brought into the homes; it had a complete water system over 400 years ago.
Part 2 "Taoyuan Xidi" depicts a village in Yi County with a well-preserved layout, long history, and rich local architectural culture. The village has a warm and inviting atmosphere, with exquisite courtyard windows, bonsai, brick carvings, and greenery.
Part 3 "Huizhou Time and Space" selects outstanding architectural gems from towns and villages in Shexian and other areas, such as groups of memorial archways, water streets and water mouths, and the Yuliang Dam.
Part 4 "Huangshan Yungu" focuses on a garden-style tourist hotel designed by the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, located at an altitude of over 830 meters in Huangshan Scenic Area. It is renowned for its harmony with the landscape and its coordination with the architectural style of Huizhou traditional folk houses. The entire illustrated book features concise introductions and approximately 300 color photographs personally taken and selected by the author.
Postscript:
Postscript "In my life, the most blissful place is Huizhou, where I dream not of" (a line by Tang Xianzu), "where people walk in a mirror, and birds fly through screen doors" (a line by Li Bai). Borrowing ancient words to describe my deep love for Huizhou may be more accurate than my own words. This is also the main reason why I chose "Huizhou" as the first volume in the "Illustrated Traditional Chinese Folk Houses" series.
I remember in the first days of 1980, around the fourth day of the lunar new year, I took a long-distance bus from my hometown Wuhu to Tunxi in Huizhou. Since it was the Chinese New Year, there were only three or four people on the bus. Passing through Xuancheng to Jixi, and then to Shexian, the journey was bumpy and dreamlike. A friend of mine in Huizhou, Mr. Zhou Guangyang, who later served as the mayor of Tunxi, hosted me in his home for the first time, where I tasted the most authentic Mao Peak tea, which he took out from a tin can under his bed. With grain tickets in my pocket and a bicycle borrowed from Mr. Zhou, I carried a government-owned camera with 120 black-and-white film and a sketchbook, sketching and painting in village after village. Later, in Shexian, I joined Rao Xiaowan, who was then part of the "Classical Garden Architecture Team," braving heavy snow to visit Chengkan, Qiankou, Tangyue, Tangmo, and Zhengcun over two days.
The last stop was Yi County, where I was accompanied by Wang Zhaoliang, a local from Hongcun, who led me along the water channels to every household. A local was having a wedding, and he invited us to join the celebration, sitting among the guests and eating local delicacies: alkaline ham, stir-fried bamboo shoots, stewed chicken, braised mushrooms, as well as smelly salmon and Mao tofu. That meal remains unforgettable, just like the mountain scenery, white walls and black tiles, brick carvings, and courtyard pavilions of Huizhou—so warm and sincere.
In the nearly two decades since, due to teaching, research, design, and foreign affairs, I have visited places like Hongcun, Xidi, Lúcun, and Tangyue countless times, though I’ve lost track of the exact number. My camera has been replaced four times. The "Huizhou Volume" is now complete, and the "Guibei Volume" has also been finished. There are still several more to come. At this point, it may not be appropriate to say too much more, leaving it to the readers to judge. However, there are two points I must mention:
First: Why have I hesitated to publish a book on folk houses for so long? It’s not mainly because I’ve been busy. The main reason is that I feel I haven’t yet fully understood traditional folk houses. Many times, people have asked me, and I have asked myself: What are folk houses? Are they history, geography? Architecture, technology? Scenery, emotion? They seem to be all of these, yet none of them. But they are undoubtedly "beautiful." I can’t help but ask further: Is it aesthetic beauty, spatial beauty? Environmental beauty, lifestyle beauty? Conceptual beauty, detail beauty? They seem to be all of these, yet none of them. I’m not being obscure—I’m speaking sincerely. Rodin said: "Beauty is everywhere; it lies in discovery." What did I discover? "Not seeing enough" is actually "not discovering enough," and I haven’t dared to act on it. But then again, when is it ever enough? So, I’ve done the best I can—throwing a brick to attract jade—letting everyone see and discover.
Second: The reason I’m now busy compiling this "Illustrated" series is also somewhat "targeted." In recent years, "folk houses" have become popular, with many books published and numerous "folk custom vacation villages" built. People have different opinions on this. I disagree with some who call folk houses the remnants of old houses, as if they are grumpy, elderly individuals with no vitality; and I also disagree with those who dress them up like newlyweds in gold and silver to attract attention and profit. I want to use these images I’ve personally witnessed and taken to show that these "old houses" still have a life force that makes modern people ashamed; at the same time, I also want to reveal the true faces of ordinary people who are driven by economic profit to "beautify" them beyond recognition. Whether I succeed or not is another matter.
I am grateful to my teachers and classmates who encouraged and supported me, as well as the friends and locals from Anhui Provincial Department of Construction and Huangshan City who helped during the filming and writing process. Special thanks go to the leaders and colleagues of Tsinghua University Press. In today’s difficult publishing climate, especially for academic books, they have given the "Illustrated Traditional Chinese Folk Houses" a place. Comrades like Cao Shuzhen and Feng Shimin of the publishing house also devoted a lot of effort to the division of chapters, the overall structure, and the careful consideration of every word and image, making it difficult for me to be lazy or sloppy.
Finally, I want to thank the readers. If this "Huizhou Volume" can give you something, that would be the author’s greatest satisfaction.
Shan Deqi
February 1998, Tsinghua Garden