Raison D'etre And Means Of Living

The architecture craftsmen are handicraftsmen who specialize in building construction in ancient China.As the particularity of ancient Chinese buildings in the structure and materials,the ancient architecture craftsmen of China undertake multiple responsibilities including architectural design,construction,management,etc.The architecture craftsmen are traditional Chinese craftsmen.In the past,the study on the architecture craftsmen mainly focused on the socioeconomic status and household register status of this group from historical and economic perspectives.This paper intends to look deep into architecture craftsmen and shed light on craftsmen,a large,significant yet too often neglected group in pre-modern China from an educational perspective.This paper starts from the composition of the traditional architecture craftsmanship,learning process of the craftsmanship from late pre-modern times and the career path of the architecture craftsmen,then makes comparison of the way how Chinese literati in the Ming and Qing dynasties and the European intellectuals during the Renaissance participate in building constructing.This paper tries to use a "typology" approach to consider the traditional architecture craftsmanship,and investigate the categories of the architecture craftsmanship and its relationship with the traditional architecture craftsmen.This paper argues that firstly,the painting,the arithmetic,the Shu-shu,the ordinances and the technical craftsmanship together constitute the Chinese architecture craftsmanship in late pre-modern times,which is far more beyond the current usual definition of "craftsmanship".These skills and knowledge make the craftsmen capable to take jobs like environmental planning,construction management,architectural design,component design,component crafting and so on.The basis of this system is technical craftsmanship,but the spirit and the dominant factor are closely related to the discourse system and knowledge system of the traditional Chinese scholar-officials.Secondly,the learning process of the huge architecture craftsmanship system is long lasting and highly diversified.It's much more than the so-called"mentoring system" and "apprenticeship system".The architecture craftsmen's"period of apprenticeship" has a strict framework.But the self-learning after"finishing apprenticeship" is the key to the success.The existence of many hand-copied books and secret books explains the diverse learning ways and long-term learning process of architecture craftsmen on one hand,and shows their attention attached to learning and education on the other hand.Thirdly,the formation of architecture craftsmen's professional life under the background of "industry" and "guild",and the fact that the craftsmen can enter the official circles since the Yuan Dynasty show the diverse career development of architecture craftsmen;and the career development of the architecture craftsman is closely related to the components of the architecture craftsmanship system.Thus,it requires the architecture craftsmen to be immersed in the craftsmanship for the rest of their lives and make a change from "making a living" to "permanent occupation".Fourthly,unlike the "specialization" pathway in the western world during the Renaissance time,the Chinese literati in the Ming and Qing dynasties tried to incorporate the craftsmanship circle into the intellectual and spiritual world of the literati.This causes differences in paths between the western and the Chinese architecture and architectural education,and subsequently cause the evolutional differences among Chinese architecture craftsmen and the European ones.This paper further argues that the "architecture craftsmanship",as an integrated skill for building construction,at one hand makes traditional architecture craftsmen find means of living,and on the other hand,incorporates the architecture craftsmen,which previously seen as culture margin men,into the overall framework of Chinese culture,because of its relationship with China's traditional knowledge system and literati discourse system.This"architecture craftsmanship" further makes traditional architecture craftsmen find the reason of being(Raison d'etre).Raison d'etre and means of living enables the architecture craftsmen to "permanently" engage in the profession,further promoting the development of the architecture craftsmanship.