Study On The Characteristics Of Fortress Style Buildings In Douzhuang Ancient Village

The Yellow River basin, as the earliest birthplace of Chinese civilization, breeds splendid Chinese civilization. Scattered mountains and rolling terrains jointly constitute the topography of southeastern Shanxi. The Qinshui River is a major tributary in the middle and lower area of the Yellow River, which has gave birth to all Chinese people and hastened architectural form with unique regional features. Thought of human and heaven in one, exploring the relationship between people and nature, is a core proposition in Chinese ancient philosophy. In the process of formation and development of fortress architecture, an important time clue has been taken shape, which displays us the mutual coordination and adaptation among human, earth and heaven. As a saying goes in the Book of Changes, "As heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so a gentleman should relentlessly strive along." which warn people from various geographical environment to follow the fate and obey the rules. Only by doing that, can people master the natural law, achieve their ambitions, settle the country and solve any doubts.Fortress is an architectural form for defensive function. Through the fortress style, local enclosed spaces are shaped to resist enemies and prevent people from chaos. The fortress is always adjacent to the mountains and rivers, which fully embodies the harmonious relationship between human and nature. Strategically located, it makes one in defensive and residence architecture, reflecting the wisdom and intelligence of Chinese people. As for the research on fortress architectural features, the thesis will analyze the common features first, and then choose a typical fortress as research object to dissect the architectural features in detailing.This thesis adopts relevant subject contents like architecture, history, traditional settlement, geography, etc as theoretical basis, and regards common characteristics of the fortress style buildings in Qinshui basin and fortress style architecture in Douzhuang Ancient Village as study contents. Through the methods of status survey, content research, bibliography research, data collection, personnel interview, it will go deep layer by layer in dissecting the fortress style of Douzhuang Ancient Village. The general frame of the thesis is divided into following three parts:The first part is about the research on fundamental concept. It proceeds from the research object and direction, analyzing the natural environment, humanitarian circumstance, and historical background around the Ch’in Rive in the southeastern area of Shanxi. Furthermore, it provides historical data for the thesis.The second part is about the research on common features. It is to analyze the civilian residence of fortress architecture along the Ch’in River Valley. With the paraphrase of mutual influence in natural environment, historical factors and social circumstances, its common features will be summarized.The third part is about case research. Take the Douzhuang Ancient Village as an example, the architectural features in Douzhuang Ancient Village will be detailed and analyzed respectively from three aspects that are defensive, functional, and artistic features.