Traditional Chinese Architecture Culture After Reading

I have often thought about a question: we Chinese are no less than any other people in the world in terms of natural qualifications, so we once created the world's advanced civilization and splendid culture, and became one of the world's four major ancient civilizations. But for the past 500 to 600 years, almost from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, we have lagged behind! And it is precisely from this period that Europe, the seat of another ancient civilization in the world, has re-emerged from its medieval comforts and gone ahead of us. What is the reason for this? I think it has more or less to do with our cultural tradition, with our cultural mentality. The following only to our traditional architectural culture, for example, to speak a little personal opinion.

The world's buildings (here mainly refers to large, belonging to the category of art of public **** sex building), from the form of division, basically there are two categories: a class of mainly stone construction, called "stone building", popular in most parts of the world; a class of mainly wood construction, called "wooden building". "Wooden architecture", the popular range is very small, mainly in East Asia, mainly in China. Each of the two forms of architecture has a deep cultural origin, and each has different styles and artistic characteristics. As far as art is concerned, each has different values and aesthetic orientations, and it is difficult to distinguish between high and low. This reflection, only from the perspective of reflection, focusing on our architectural culture that restricts our development, it is worthwhile for us to seriously think about and overcome the negative phenomena.

Vertical inheritance of inertia

Chinese people are always accustomed to "touching the previous", while Westerners are good at "exploring the unknown". These two different cultural mindsets lead to two different results: one repeats what has gone before without thinking about breakthroughs, and the other constantly pushes the boundaries of what is new and what has gone before.

Our wooden buildings have a history of at least 2,000 years, as evidenced by the Alhambra Palace, which "covered 300 miles". In this long process, from the form to the style are only a single development, there has been no qualitative change, can be called "two thousand years of consistency". And the Europeans stone architecture, only since the beginning of the ancient Greco-Roman period, its style of renewal at least in a dozen or more: Ancient Greek style, Roman style, Byzantine style, Roman style, Gothic style, Renaissance style, ornate style, Baroque style, Classical style, Romantic style, eclectic style, modernist style, "post-modern" style. "style ...... One of the reasons for this difference is that we are used to inherited thinking, always love to look forward to others; the level of the previous generation as the coordinates, the achievements of the previous generation as the honor. The Europeans are not like this, no matter how much they have achieved, they do not look up to them, but try to surpass them, and try to explore forward. As Lu Xun summarized: we Chinese are always accustomed to "touching the previous", while Westerners are good at "exploring the unknown". Two different cultural mindsets lead to two different results: one constantly repeats the previous, not thinking about breakthroughs; one is constantly pushing the boundaries of the new, forward leap.

Vertical inheritance thinking in recent years, a prominent example of the performance, everywhere keen to engage in imitation of ancient architecture, which "rebuild the Yuanmingyuan" call is its highest sound. Said to "reproduce the splendor of the art of gardening in the past", but do not know, the beauty is not repeatable! If it can be repeated, the world's artwork today has long been no place to pile up. Not to mention that the Yuanmingyuan is an extremely important memorial site of national shame, is the invasion of the robbers of the "scene of the crime", renovation means that the "scene" is also the destruction of cultural relics.

Architecture as an art and aesthetic carrier, its life lies in constant innovation, because people's aesthetic consciousness is constantly changing, and this is also the objective requirements of historical development.

From the second half of the 19th century, from the world, with the development of productive forces, the birth of new architectural theories and new building materials, architecture began a new revolution. China's wooden buildings, as a product of the agrarian era, has also gone through its historical process, facing a metamorphosis. However, the development of China's history has been slower than that of the West, i.e., there is an industrial era missing. The Western trend of thought as a strong culture came into our country rapidly. This means that the objective situation has not allowed Chinese architecture from their own mother's womb to nurture their own national architecture of the new embryo, while we fight, while accepting; too late to chew, inevitably swallowed in one gulp, that is to say: simple imitation. This is unavoidable at the beginning stage, for the exotic achievements of human civilization, the first to "bring", and then to identify, select and learn from. However, it is worth noting that if you just "take it" or "take it" for too long, you should pay attention to it. Absorb the strengths of others, after all, can not replace their own creation. To learn from others, if one only learns the surface, i.e., form and style, but not the essence, i.e., the spirit of creativity, then one is putting the cart before the horse. Throughout the 20th century, we have failed to break out of the Western architectural mold in general, and have not created something that belongs to our own national personality, nor have we achieved a remarkable position in the world's new thinking. As a result, to the end of the century, the lack of their own things, without the necessary reflection, and immediately resorted to the old ancestors, the legacy left by those who have gone before, that is, the "big roof" style as the Chinese nation's eternal architectural aesthetics and artistic model, everywhere with reinforced concrete to engage in retro.

It should be said that, as a national heritage, appropriate, solid reconstruction of a little ancient architecture is no excuse, but the overwhelming engagement, and even in the name of the "promotion", "a swarm" of stickers "ancient symbols", it is against the Symbol", it is against the laws of history.