ARC 4303B
Aspects of Asian architecture
Spring 2002–03

Rules and gaps in the Yingzao fashi

Week 02, 2003.01.16

Home

References

week 01, 09 January
Defining the language of sections in the Yingzao fashi

week 02, 16 January
Rules and gaps in the Yingzao fashi

week 03, 23 January
Defining style formally: shape grammar

week 04, 30 January
Chinese new year

week 05, 06 February
A shape grammar of the Yingzao fashi

week 06, 13 February
Change of cai over time

week 07, 20 February
Parametric change over time

week 08, 27 February
An extant building

week 09, 06 March
Consultations, field trip

week 10, 13 March
Presentations: individual analysis

week 11, 20 March
Writing 1

week 12, 27 March
Writing 2

week 13, 03 April
No class

week 14, 10 April
Consultations

week 15, 17 April
Consultations

week 16, 24 April
Review week

week 17, date TBA
Conclusion

Course description

This course is about wood-frame architecture of the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties (AD 618–1368). One of our purposes is of course to get to know the artifacts that populate / make up / embody this tradition / style. And in this case artifacts include not only buildings, but also a key text in Chinese architectural history, the Yingzao fashi.


Assignment 1 in

Flash grammar

Collect CD

Language of sections

Generation vs. enumeration

How to evaluate criteria for formulating definition?


Modular unit system: cai and fen 

size of fen (in cun)    0.60  0.55  0.50  0.48  0.44  0.40  0.35  0.30 
size of fen (in mm)    19.2  17.6  16.0  15.4  14.1  12.8  11.2   9.6
grades of dian tang     1     2     3     4     5 
grades of ting tang                 3     4     5     6 
grades of other type                                  6     7     8

  • 1 cun = 0.1 chi = 32 mm

  • See drawings of different sizes and types of buildings


Exercise: juzhe

  • Set the number and length of rafters (and, strictly speaking, the building type).

  • Draw a section. What is the absolute size?

  • How do you know whether your criteria are valid (correct)?


Rafter length (projected): absolute not modular

  • Expressed in chi (absolute), not fen (modular): mei jia ping bu guo liu chi.

  • Chen assumed that this is at the 6th grade, which means 150 fen.


Assignment 2 out

  • “How can I know [whether] the criteria I set for the style [are] valid or not? Building sections are different from mathematical set language [in that] a clear set definition is difficult to be proved correct or not.” Explain criteria, prove and correct. How do you prove a scientific hypothesis correct?

  • TAMA paper


Next class

We meet next week