ARC 4303B
Aspects of Asian architecture
Spring 2002–03

A shape grammar of the Yingzao fashi

Week 05, 2003.02.06

Assignment 3 in

• Chan Tak Yan

• Li Tsz Kai, Ken: version 1 (PDF, 60 KB), version 2 (PDF 12 KB)

• Mui Cheuk Chi, Joyce (PDF, 108 KB)

• To Sin Yeung (PDF, 140 KB)

About explaining

State the explanation; give examples. Give alternative explanations and show why they are less adequate (according to what criteria?) than yours; give examples.

The Yingzao fashi shape grammar

In chapters 4 and 5, Li Jie discusses structural carpentry (da muzuo). He describes three building types: dian tang, ting tang, and other types (yu wu). The dian tang houses higher-ranked officials and activities than the ting tang, and is usually larger. In addition, its structure is simpler: its interior columns all stop below the longest rafter and are separate from the roof structure (Liang 1983, 313 top). In the ting tang, by contrast, the columns extend into the roof structure and combine inextricably with it (Liang 1983, 313 bottom). Yu wu include strictly functional buildings like barracks and storerooms. We consider only the ting tang.

We simplify further by omitting bracket sets (dougong) (Li 2001, introduction).

A design in the language consists of 7 drawings and 9 descriptions as below (Li 2001, chapter 1, figure 1a). We have already seen the section diagram r and the roof section d. A subdesign consists of a drawing and one or more descriptions (Li 2001, figure 1b).

Plan diagram

Shows a grid of u × v bays.

The question: what are valid values of u and v? See Li (2001, 23–24, fig. 2) and Chen (1993, 31).

Section diagram

We’ve seen this already. It shows v, w, and the uniquely interesting and important b.

v is determined in the plan diagram.

For simplicity, w = 1.

Plan

It shows the grid with the actual dimensions of each cell.

x = (x₁, x₂, …, x_m) such that 300 fen ≥ x₁ ≥ … ≥ x_m ≥ 200 fen, m = (u + 1) / 2 (Li 2001, 37–38; Chen 1993, 11–15)

y ≤ 150 fen (Chen 1993, 15–17)

Partial elevation

“Bu yue jian zhi guang” (Liang 1983, 153). Chen (1993, 17–19) concludes that jian refers to the center bay (xin jian). Thus, z ≤ 150 fen.

Roof section

We’ve seen this. It’s calculated by juzhe. It shows l.

About bibliographic references

The point is to let the reader know where you got a fact, an interpretation, or a quotation. This accomplishes two things: it shows how your work builds on that of others, and it enables the reader to examine your work further. There are two parts:

The citation occurs either in the text or in a footnote. It consists of the name of the source and the specific location (volume and page numbers). The name can be shortened, as long as it refers unambiguously to a reference in the bibliography or list of references.

The references are collected in a single bibliography or list of references at the end of the paper. Each reference provides the complete publishing information (including author’s name, book’s title, place of publication, publisher, date); with this information, the reader can look for the source in a library catalog.

This is a minimal explanation. For more details, see Turabian (1996).

Assignment 4 out

Read Li (2001), 7–45. (You can skip the discussions of mutual constrained parameters (11–13), cartesian products, and equivalence classes.) Create a design. Show the derivation and all 7 drawings and 9 descriptions.

Next class

An extant building compared to the Yingzao fashi

References