The Permeation And Absorption Of Architecture Cultures

The architecture during Ming and Qing Dynasties represents the golden age of the ancient architecture and guild halls, as the typical buildings during the two dynasties, add a brilliant page to it. It is common to see various types of guild halls throughout the country, among which Shanshan Guild Halls, with their precise composition and refined appearance, have contributed enormously to the development of the local ancient architecture culture.As a large number of Shanshan Guild Halls lie in central China, this paper aims to focus on the study of Shanshan Guild Halls there. The following steps will be adopted to conduct the study. Firstly, this paper will explain the history, distribution, classification and function of guild halls, with an emphasis on Shanshan Guild Halls. Secondly, a comparison will be made between the cited Shanshan Guild Halls and other local buildings, trying to find the differences and similarities between them. Different methods will be applied in the study including the citation of technical data, the direct description of buildings and the demonstration of building pictures. Finally, different kinds of Shanshan Guild Halls will be compared to find out the minute differences among them.Shanshan Guild Halls have been serving as the most appropriate places for the businessmen in Shanxi and Shanxi provinces to strengthen connections, to exchange goods, to store commodities, to offer sacrifices and to celebrate. Their existence reflects profound economic influence. The businessmen in the two provinces have been making great achievements in business owing to a long trading history there as well as the rapid development in business during Qing Dynasty. In order to manage their business in a more effective way and to spread the local culture, they established numerous guild halls throughout the country. These guild halls, precisely composed and richly decorated, not only demonstrate their wealth but also embody their spirit of valuing business and their respect to the famous ancient hero Guangong and to Confucian and Taoistic cultures.In central China, many intact guild halls can be found in Henan province, among which Kaifeng Guild Hall, Sheqi Guild Hall and Luoyang Guild Hall are the most famous ones. The first two guild halls are quite large while the third one is comparatively small in scale. Although they are different in size, all of them look symmetrical and consist of kinds of buildings serving different functions. Shanshan Guild Halls are characteristic of refined appearance, reasonable composition, rich decoration and exquisite craftwork. Though they are civil buildings, an air of nobility can be sensed everywhere. What is most amazing about the Guild Halls is the "three excellences" consisting of woodcarving, stone carving and brick carving, which not only show profound cultural deposits but also demonstrate the intelligence and skill of the ancient craftsmen in our country. It can be considered as a perfect example of Chinese ancient carving art.Shanxi and Shanxi, the two provinces, the birthplace of our civilization, are the cradle of the precious architecture art mentioned above. The typical type of building there—single roof houses, has a profound effect on the guild halls in Henan province. At the same time, the local architecture culture in Henan province also helps to shape the appearance and composition of the guild halls there. This paper provides a comprehensive view on the characteristics of Shanshan Guild Halls and on the traditional civil buildings in Shanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces respectively. What's more, it helps us to understand how different architecture cultures may learn from each other. Thus, this paper serves as a significant bridge to help people to thoroughly recognize the cultural connotation and value of the traditional civil architecture and to tell people how to inherit and develop the traditional architecture culture in our modem architecture.