Upper Story, Lower Characters: Five Schools Joint Exhibition of Historical Building Survey

Author: Editorial Committee of "Historical Building Survey Exhibition of Five Universities"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-05-01
Features: As revealed by the title, this book is compiled from the content of the "Historical Building Survey Exhibition of Five Universities," jointly organized by the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, the School of Architecture at Tianjin University, the School of Archaeology and Museum at Peking University, the School of Architecture at Southeast University, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University (in the order of their participation in the exhibition preparation) in 2004. This type of exhibition, entirely featuring historical building surveys and research achievements, has never been held since the founding of the country. It was initially initiated by the School of Architecture at Tianjin University and the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University. In line with the long-standing tradition of regular exchanges between students of the two institutions, both parties decided to hold an exhibition of survey results between the two schools immediately after the survey internship in the fall of 2004, aiming to enhance the teaching and academic exchange of architectural history and ancient building surveying, foster mutual understanding, share resources, and achieve common progress. During the preparation of the exhibition, the School of Archaeology at Peking University, the School of Architecture at Southeast University, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University joined one after another, expanding the participating institutions from two to five, and the exhibition was ultimately named the "Historical Building Survey Exhibition of Five Universities." Among the five universities, the four schools of architecture each have over half a century of tradition in historical building surveys, and courses focused on surveying have always been compulsory for architecture departments in these four schools and other higher education institutions. This exhibition featured 60 display panels, showcasing more than 400 historical building survey drawings drawn by students from the five universities over the years. The drawing techniques and methods, including pencil, ink pen lines, Chinese painting, ink wash rendering, watercolor rendering, computer-aided design, and model making, have made the drawings themselves valuable artifacts. The surveyed objects spanned over a millennium, from the remains of the Northern Dynasties, the Five Dynasties, the Liao, and the Song periods to the historical sites of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. They ranged from magnificent structures like the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and the Hall of Literary Glory in the Ming Changling Mausoleum (the three grand halls of the imperial palace in Beijing) to delicate and sentimental buildings such as the many scholar's gardens in the Jiangnan region between Nanjing and Shanghai. The surveying covered village houses, Buddhist temple grottoes, floating pagodas, stone beam Taoist scriptures, and nearly all types of traditional Chinese architecture in various grades, styles, and uses, displaying a dazzling and colorful array of examples. The surveying efforts of the five universities have nearly covered all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in the country, and they have even ventured across the seas to Africa.