| "Houses in Chaozhou are as magnificent as the palace" this idiom is used to describe the unique style and feature of traditional vernacular architecture in Chaoshan district. It means that those houses imitate the royal palaces in style and layout, which make it possible to rival the palaces. Folk architecture in Chaoshan is a brainchild of painstaking efforts and aesthetic sense of Chaoshan ancestors. Chaoshan Mosaic, as one of the three decorative techniques of local architecture, is shining with its age-old inherit. From layout to details, it is under the shadow of Chaoshan culture. It became the National Intangible Cultural Heritage in2008because of its unique regional charm.During visits to some place in Chaoshan, the present author did researches on how much people from different ages know about Chaoshan Mosaic. However, the result turned out to be disappointing. Only less than ten know little about it, which also shows that this art is on the brim of extinction. Protecting folk arts doesn’t mean just put it in the museum to be appreciated by our successors. Instead, it should be made part of our modern society and life, inherited generation by generation.This dissertation focuses on Chaoshan Mosaic. Through studying its development, it concludes the status and cultural meaning of Chaoshan Mosaic, which leads to further discussion about dilemma in current development and its reason. Finally, in order to protect this traditional art, it comes up with possible ways and directions of developing Chaoshan Mosaic.The dissertation is divided into six parts. In chapter one, the background, existing studies home and abroad, the aim and implication of the research, research content and research methods are discussed. Chapter two is about the historical, geographical and human features of Chaoshan architectures, which influenced the choosing of materials and tools in creating the Chaoshan Mosaic art. It combines the research objects with this region. Chapter three introduces the successors of Chaoshan Mosaic, which are divided into three schools. They are origin of Xu in Daliao, represented by Wu Dancheng from Chaoyang, origin of Chen in Puning, represented by He Xiangyun and origin of Lu in Chaozhou, represented by Su Baoshan. By studying these schools, the features and current situations of the inherited Mosaic art are analyzed. Chapter four studies its value from the perspective of aesthetic and social tradition in terms of its shape, quality, material and color. Chapter five takes vernacular architectures and temples as example to analyze different meanings of Mosaic in different architectures. Features in layout and specific details of local architectures are analyzed as well. Chapter six focus on the inadequacies of government, society and folk artists in protecting and inheriting this art. Based on its specialty as an intangible inheritance, the present author gives suggestions to these people respectively on the substantial development of this art. Chapter seven shows the main conclusion of this study. Meanwhile, the limitations and future direction of this study will be pointed out. Chaoshan Mosaic art shows the value, the local custom and cultural inheritance of Chaoshan people. It is a unique art born by the unique human and geographical environment of Chaoshan district. Such culture should be cherished, because it is the foundation of our development. As National Intangible Cultural Heritage and local art, we should not only protect it, but also cherish it, appreciate it and inherit it generation by generation. |
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