Study On The Architectural Hierarchy System Of YASHU Buildings During The Ming And The Qing Dynasties

YASHU building(a kind of administrative building for government), the important component of Chinese ancient cities, is an significant type of architecture in ancient China. For historical reasons, central YASHU buildings do not exist any longer, while there remain few local YASHU buildings, most of which are incomplete or rebuilt. Owing to the limited researches on this type of architecture- YASHU building, further researches and discussions are invited. Hence, systematical researches on the evolution, the layout, the functions, the architectural style, the features, the distribution, the historical and cultural intension of YASHU building is a very realistic and major task.Aiming at the researches on three existing YASHU buildings in the southwest of HeNan province- Nan Yang YASHU building, NeiXiang YASHU building and Ye YASHU building, comparing those three with other existing YASHU buildings, referring to the pictures of YASHU buildings described in the local chronicles of southwestern HeNan and other places of China, the essay makes a tentative probe into the evolution of YASHU building, the layout and the relevant regulations of YASHU building during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties.The introduction of this essay gives a general idea of the research purpose, the research range and the research method. According to the historical documents, the evolution of YASHU building, the institution on government post during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, the variety and the building hierarchy system of YASHU building during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties are expounded in Chapter two. Chapter threeaims at three existing YASHU buildings in the southwest of HeNan province and analyses the relevant regulations of YASHU building during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, the evolution and features of each YASHU building. In Chapter Four, the composition of YASHU building is analyzed as a rule, based on different functions-the area to deal with business, the area to entertain guests and reside, the area for the subordinates to cope with business, the area to receive and see off the decent guests and to instruct the citizens, the memorial temple inside YASHU building and so on. Chapter Five, from the viewpoint of architectural culture, conducts researches into the influences of the protocol system, the phenomenon of overstepping one's authority, the institution on government post and local architectural style on the architectural style of YASHU building. Consequently, the development of wooden architecture in China is to a certain extent reflected from one aspect. In Chapter Six, the common problems arising in the preservation of YASHU building and the possible approaches are presented. Moreover, how to take advantage of YASHU building is set forth. The conclusion summarizes this essay, analyses the key factors of affecting the layout of YASHU building, restates the research range of this essay and the future research direction.