Research On Memorial Archway(Paifang)

The memorial archway is a particular human landscape in China. It has a long history of development, unique appearance, special aesthetic value, diverse social function and profound cultural connotation. As the memorial archway stands a secondary place in Chinese traditional architecture, relevant study about it does not attract much attention and concern.The disquisition focuses on the study of the existing ancient archways built before or in Qing Dynasty, probes into memorial archway's history and development, and summarizes the common and different characters. Firstly, the origin, development and evolvement of memorial archway are expatiated, based on the corroboration of literatures and illustrations. Secondly, memorial archway's type and its evolvement are discussed to represent it's figures of elevation, plane form, material character, function and diverse use in different sites. Thirdly, memorial archway's culture connotation is researched, as well as its main social function under the specific historical, political and social background in ancient China. And then, the relationship between memorial archway and the environment around is analysed , in order to reveal the function as an architectural form in application under speical enviroment with its diverse arrangement. Finally, By investigating about some instances of memorial archway in Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei province, we aim to reveal the abundance of memorial archway's modalities and types, and sum up the characteristics in each place as well as provide a solid support for priors.In brief, combining theory and specific instances, this disquisition covers memorial archway's self-characteristics, the connotation in the sense of social culture, and the application as an architectural form. It's hoped that memorial archway can be exhibited to all from various aspects.