The Study Of Doors And Windows Of Traditional Houses In Suzhou Area

The Suzhou area, with its long history and development based on the Wu Yue Civilization, consolidated its status as the country' s economic center in the Ming Dynasty. With the advancement of economy, literators and rich merchants all gathered in this area, and the automosphere of literature prevailed. Thus formed the Wu culture that was notably peculiar to the region. And simultaneously, a large number of Jiangnan-famous-towns started to come into existance, centering on which, its own economic and cultural pattern was built complete, and based on that gradually developed and prospered the artistic characteristics of the residential doors-and-windows of the Ming Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan.Revolving about the Suzhou area stand the West Mountain, the East Mountain, and some famous historical towns such as Zhouzhuang, Tongli, Guzhi, Mudu, Xi tang, Wuzhen, Nanxun, etc. There are traces in the residential doors-and-windows of the ingenious skills of the Xiangshan craftsmen, the esthetic sentiments of the scholar-bureaucrats assembling in the area, and the profound background of the Wu culture. And the cultural state and social condition of the Qing Dynasty in the area are also reflected. Due to the independence and typicality of its social connotation and artistic value, the author tries to give a thorough discussion on the art of the residential doors-and-windows of Qing Dynasty in the Suzhou area.With field investigation and literature collection as the basic stand, this paper horizontally exhibits the assortments of the residential doors-and-windows in the area, the artistic characteristics of the components, the content of the enchasing subjects, and the typical apotropaic culture. It also longitudinally studies the natural and social background of the appearance, the development andthe transformation of the residential doors-and-windows.The whole passage can be devided into seven chapters:The Preface and Introduction expatiate the reasons for choosing the doors-and-windows as the object of study in this paper and limit the research boundaries concerning time, space and object of the study. They also give a regulated summary of the development history of the Chinese architectural doors-and-windows, and, combining the archaeological data, genelize the basic characteristics of the doors-and-windows in every historical period. Chapter 1 combining a large mumber of pictures and historical photos, demonstrates the assortments of the doors-and-windows and their components, and through the studying of historical literature and prints of Ming-Qing Dynasty, makes the evolvement of the doors-and-windows redivivus.Chapter 2 using the mechanics to analyse the main frameworks' carrying capacity. Combining the mapping examples, summarizes the using-field of different kinds of joints. And introduces the lacquer technics of XiangShan faction .Capter 3, with the decoration patterns as the object of study, beginning with the lattice patterns and the enchasing patterns, expatiates the styles of the decoration patterns respectively and expatiates the viewpoints about the decoration patterns of the author.Chapter 4 narrates the production of the author in investigating the doors-and-windows in SuZhou area, such as the principle of designing the doors-and-windows, the relationship among the doors-and-windows, entironment andpeople.Chapter 5 is the study on the local door-building customs for traditional residences. The Kanyu measurement, the Luban ruler, the application of the decoration patterns, and the lintel talismans were all most closely linked to the intangible folk cultures such as the customs and the sorcery, most of which came from the old myth or legend. This paper explores the local people' s belief and folk-custom culture through investigation and analysis.Based on its geographic environment and historical and cultural background, the art of residential doors-and-windows in Suzhou area was prospered with the flourishing of all art categories and the rapid development of the constructional craftsmenship, and eventually formed in the Suzhou area the unique historical villages and towns of the Ming Qing Dynasty and a complex of historical architectures. The art of the traditional residential doors-and-windows is a vital component of the traditional residential houses. It is also a window through which we can study the regional culture, of which the enriching human connotation and the profound cultural accumulation are always worth the efforts of exploring and probing.Afterdissertation part records the interviews of the author and the designers who involved in the work of traditional architecture and also records the actuality of the three kinds of antique workshops .Take the traditional doors-and-windows' design and manufacture as an example, this part derivates the problems in the process of historical town' protecting and renewaling and giving the problem-solving direction.