Research On The Culture And Craftsmanship Of The Traditional Color Paintings On Architecture In Taiwan

Color paintings on the traditional Chinese architecture embody deep cultural connotations such as the philosophical idea,ceremony and ritual concept,as well as aesthetic thoughts of the traditional architecture,reflecting Chinese people's technical and artistic wisdom.The traditional culture and craftsmanship of color paintings on architecture in Taiwan involve many dimensions of content,such as color painting artisans schools,craftsmen,painting materials,painting work categories,coloring,themes,layout and painting techniques,etc.It contains profound cultural cultivation condensing the essence of art,humanism,philosophy and history.In recent years,the UNESCO(the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization)has attached great importance to the dissemination and inheritance of the traditional craftsmanship of color paintings on architecture.The excavation of the craftsmanship is a crucial step to realize its creative transformation and achieve innovative development as the essential part of the traditional Chinese architectural culture,finally going global.The study adopts the integrated interdisciplinary research methods by absorbing the latest achievements of some main disciplines such as Architectural History,Cultural Anthropologist,and Architectural Aesthetics.The relatively intact preserved traditional architectural construction ceremony and design regulation of color paintings in Taiwan are studied systematically.Color paintings are studied in the background of the traditional cultural and philosophical dimensions,which both in breadth expands the research content of the artistic and aesthetic ideal for Architectural Aesthetics,and in depth enriches the longitudinal study of Art History.It can be referenced for the conservation and restoration of architectural heritages with craftsmanship selection mechanism,and also be the pre-research foundation for the Revision of Construction Specification.The research focuses on three key issues: the first is to clarify the artistic style of Taiwan color paintings craftsmanship and its aesthetic transformation in the traditional architectural construction and design practice.The second is illustrating the influence of color paintings on the spatial construction of traditional architecture in Taiwan,emphasizing its ritual regularity and cultural significance.The last but not least,craftsmen's professional ideal and aesthetic adaptability of architectural color paintings in Taiwan is analyzed.First of all,the forming and development of the different craftsmen schools of traditional color paintings in Taiwan and the effect of the social zeitgeist and World Art History are systematically analyzed.Analyzing from the features and origins of the craftsmanship,three traditional colorpainting schools are proposed including Quanzhou craftsmen school,ChaozhouZhangzhou craftsmen school,and Southern-Taiwan craftsmen school.The crafts preferences,material selection and the master-apprentice relation based on the similar family system of different craftsmen schools are discussed in detail.Comparatively speaking,Quanzhou craftsmen school prefer the paintings to copy the fixed style,of which the overall color tends to dark green with thick coloring and looks colorful and dazzling with gold foil embellished in the important part of the painting;the craftsmanship of Chaozhou-Zhangzhou school focuses more on inheriting the pen-craft of Chinese painting with the overall style of vibrant colors of red and purple,also likes using five main colors such as red,black,green,yellow and white with gold-gilding;while the Southern-Taiwan craftsmen school emphasis on the epiphany approach of creation from Master to Apprentice,which expresses the unique quality of heavy color with red and purple,and the rich-coloring paintings looks like the brightly colored silk.Secondly,the philosophical idea and ritual concept of the traditional color paintings have been interpreted broadly and deeply.On the one hand,the cultural significance,decorative features and faith function of the color painting in the building system have been interpreted through analyzing the construction ceremony of the traditional architecture.In this section,the building ceremony and the craftsmen's division of occupation are recorded.The symbolic function of exorcism and praying for blessings of color paintings is elaborated here.For example,the color paintings on the backbone have the orientating function of suppression of the evil spirits,the color paintings on the doors have the function of distinguishing Yan-sheng between the internal and external orientation,and some auspicious color paintings have blessing function.Through the above analysis,it reveals the cultural and philosophical meanings of color paintings,like timing sequence,the five elements(metal,wood,water,fire and earth,held by the ancients to compose the physical universe),Eight Diagrams(eight combinations of three whole or broken lines),Ying-Yang(the two opposing principles in nature,the former corresponding feminine and negative,the latter masculine and positive).On the other hand,color painting design process has been observed clearly by participating in the design practice of the craftsmen.In this section,craftsmanship organization,construction methods,etiquette rules,and the process of coloring,the theme selection,and the material grade have been deeply analyzed.It shows that the craftsmen of color paintings in Taiwan uphold the following design principles,such as taking the Gold-line as the priority(the part of the Gold-line as the most important part of the picture),towards right and left directions to form its order or sequence,laying emphasis on the symmetrical arrangement to achieve equilibrium,having different levels of observation perspectives in one picture like far and near,internal and external,accordingly there being a different between what is superior and what is inferior.In a word,it implies the ritual idea of the harmonious coexistence between Divine and human.The last section explores the aesthetic adaptability of the traditional craftsmanship of color paintings on architecture in Taiwan.Firstly,the craftsmen of color paintings advocate “Gu” and “Ya” as their aesthetic taste,and pursue the compatible and innovative spirit of the age.Their lively,colorful and brilliant works not only meet the public's aesthetic needs,but also reflect their own career aspiration.Furthermore,the social spirit of the color paintings is discussed through comparative analysis of the three craftsmen schools' different themes of the color paintings and their epochal features,layout,artistic techniques,aesthetic style,etc.Lastly,the development of the regional features of Taiwan color painting is revealed.In order to adapt the geographical environment in Taiwan,the craftsmen attempt to seek out the regionally adaptive pigment and techniques.This regional exploration provides an effective way to improve the optimal management of the expensive pigments and find alternative materials to solve the economic problem.As one of the intangible cultural heritages,craftsmanship of traditional color paintings in Taiwan embodies the philosophical spirit of pluralism and harmony,the ritual feature of strictly hierarchical order and the aesthetic characteristics of suiting both refined and popular taste.