A Prelimary Study On The Usage Of "Wood" In The Traditional Architectural Environment In China

The most advanced and comprehensive application of the eco-material "wood" by the Chinese ancients has been generally involved in the traditional architectural environment. In ancient China, "Wood" normally accounts for a proportion of 70% of the total building materials and even higher. The wide and long-term use of "wood" in Chinese traditional architecture is mainly attributed to its inherent advantages, including: collection convenience, strong adaptability, strong seismic capability, high construction speed, ease of repair relocation and so on. Thus, despite of the fundamental shortcomings of "wood", such as vulnerability to fire and to putridity, the ancients have never given up using it. In this paper, by means of literature review, field visits, information gathering, and time-and space-course analysis, we carried out a preliminary study to discuss the wide and long-term usage of "Wood" in the Chinese traditional architectural environment. This paper is composed by six individual parts in total. Firstly, the natural, social, and cultural factors which influence the usage of "Wood" by the Chinese ancients were studied. Next, based on the simple design ideas derived from the Chinese traditional architectural environment, we summarized a core spirit of the fact that the ancients applied the "wood", that is,"HE (harmony)". Most importantly, by learning from the Chinese ancients about how to apply the "wood" to the practical architectural environment, it is meaningful to wake up our sincere respect for the natural world in order to build a harmonious society in a more rational way.