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188 Mituodian 彌陀殿, Chongfusi 1143 7 26 Shuoxian, Shanxi Sanshengdian 三聖殿, Shanhuasi 1143 5 26 Datong, Shanxi Puxiange 普賢閣, Shanhuasi 1154 3 22. 5 Gate, Shanhuasi 12th c. 5 25 Guanyindian 觀音殿, Chongfusi Jin 5 22 In three instances--the main halls of the Foguangsi and Huayansi, and the Qianfodian at the Fengguosi--the height of cai amounts to 30 centimeters (29 in the third instance). Noticeably, all three structures are the predominate buildings in their respective monasteries, and they belong to the highest rank of buildings as indicat ed by the number of bays they each have (seven or nine). 21 On the other hand, though quite a number of multistory wooden buildings from the tenth to fourteenth centuries have survived, comparatively less has been done to retrieve their dimensional data, whi ch would have been more helpful for making comparisons with the model in question. Judging from the data of the wooden halls alone, it is possible that the model pavilion is based on a 1/ 10 scale and was intended to present the majesty of certain late-Tang and Liao masterpieces, such as its precedent--the original library. The Tang vestiges rest not only in the robustness of the size but also in the elegant simplicity of the overall design. 22 The original and the copy It will hardly escape the notice of any observer that the Chongfusi model and the miniature pagodas from Nara are all multistory structures. This is not a coincidence. As explained in Chapter 1, for 21 Yingzao fashi vol. 1, 74-75. The rank of cai to be adopted is determi ned by the number of bays ( jian 間) of the building--the more the bays, the greater the cai. This also determines the rank of the building. 22 Another scenario could be that the model was made on a 1/5 scale instead. While this possibility cannot be ruled ou t, it would result in a much smaller (17-meter-tall) building, which would be less visually appealing. The proposal was rejected perhaps because it was considered by the selection committee as too “grand” and expensive to be executed, considering the growi ng scarcity of high-quality timbers as building material. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
189 structurally complex buildings especially high-rises, it was always wise to build a model before committing to real construction. When used as a pilot model, the miniature preceded the full-scale: it was born directly out of a “mental image” and could in this case be regarded as the “original. ” The full-scale, on the other hand, would become a “copy”--though not always a faithful one, since changes would have to be made--and it was precisely the aim of the modeler to detect structural deficiencies, safety hazards, awkwardness in form and shape, and to respond promptly with solutions and revisions of d esign. The model served as an indispensable medium of communication between experts, since the design of a three-dimensional object could find no other way to be fully articulated and discussed. In most cases, however, a model was disposable, and usually m ore than one pilot model would be needed at different stages of design. A pilot model would be ephemeral unless it was converted to a demonstration model, a display for both experts and non-experts, designers and clients (patrons). The reason for the prese rvation of the Chongfusi model is uncertain, but one might expect monasteries to turn well-crafted models into exhibits and spiritual articles to be proudly kept and even worshipped, as what might also have happened at the Kairyooji and Gangoji. The same can be said for an architectural model preserved in the Main Hall of the Huayansi (fig. 115). This is a Qing model of Qianlou 乾樓, the northwest gate-tower of the city-wall of Datong built in the early Ming and demolished in the Qi ng. 23 The model sits on a wooden table supported by four column-like legs. It is a four-story tower based on a five-by-five grid and a cruciform plan, and is painted with gold, vermilion, blue, green, and white. Four-tiered double bracketing has been used f or the ground floor and five-tiered double bracketing for all upper levels, and the intercolumnar sets appear only under the second layer of eaves (fig. 116). With regard to 23 I was informed of this history by Mr. Peng, a junior researcher working at the Office of Historic Preservation at the Huayansi, who accommodated my fieldwork. No work has been published on this mo del yet. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
190 proportion, the model is less elegant than the one at the Chongfusi considering its thick and clumsy lintels, rafters, balustrades, and bracket arms. No written records as I know of tell us how the model ended up in a n imperially patronized Buddhist monastery, displayed in front of the Buddhas in the main worsh ip hall. But the effort of the long-time preservation has been well paid: it served as the most important visual reference for the newly restored gate-tower of Datong--a gigantic “copy” of the mini ature completed in 2013 (fig. 117). A few observations can be drawn from the discussions above. From a technological perspective, architectural modeling diverged from small-scale woodworking; it was a process using more straightforward and faithful downscaling, creating almost exact “copi es” or doubles of large-scale woodworks. The function also differed: a model could play multiple roles in different historical moments, changing from a restorative design proposal (which combined elements of both innovation and preservation) to a visual re cord of a historic building, to an exhibition, a display, or an object of worship in a religious setting. A model became worshipped not because it was attached to some holy images, relics, or scriptures, nor because it was believed to represent or symboliz e some holy places such as the Buddhist pure land. A model was self-referential; and its “holiness,” if any, could only have derived from the architecture itself. What seems to have tied modeling and small-scale woodworking together, on the other hand, is a strong sense of uncanniness felt from the hyper-reality of the miniature form. The Chongfusi model, for instance, was not an exact double of the Tang library, nor did it come to fruition as a built project. It is forever a ghost existing in the imaginary as well as corporeal world of miniatures, a world from which it cannot escape. Being an unrealized design scheme yet a fully materialized mental image, it marks the absence of what common sense deems to be “real”--a full-scale structure. According to Jean Baudrillard, there are four successive phases of any image: 1. It is the reflection of a basic reality. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
191 2. It masks and perverts a basic reality. 3. It masks the absence of a basic reality. 4. It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pu re simulacrum. 24 This model can be said to have adhered to some of these points: it reflects the styles and characteristics of Tang architecture while distorting them by miniaturization and by adding a Ming flavor with perhaps a personal touch. Moreover, i ts existence corresponds to the absence of the “real,” as it stands as a self-referential simulacrum--a singular existence straddling the two worlds--that of the palpable and of the imagined. Modeling in Chinese History The term yang could mean a template, a prototype, a pilot or demonstration model. Usually small in size, a yang is often called a “ xiaoyang,” whereas a “ dayang 大樣 ” denote s a full-scale model. A yang is not necessarily three-dimensional but could include drawings and sketches that similarly applied miniaturizing principles. In the Yingzao fashi, a two-dimensional yang is termed “ tuyang 圖樣,” meaning “ illustrated templates” or simply “illustrations. ” In these cases, it seems that the yang was a direct translation and visualization of the design scheme, one that preceded the manufacture of the end product. This contrasts to what James King offers as a modern definition of the model--“a re‐ creation of some prototype or original, generally but not always smaller and usually of materials different from those of the original. ”25 When it comes to the issue of originality, shall we understand model ing as a process of creation or re-creation? What do we mean by “originals” and “copies,” and how do we tell them apart? Are all human creations re-creations? While the previous discussion 24 Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001), 173. 25 King 1996, 3. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
192 already commented on this issue, this section will continue to expl ore and unravel the nature of models and model-making through a number of historical texts and examples. To King, modeling is a way by which the modeler interacts with the society, with the world, and with him-or herself; it is a medium of communication a nd negotiation, a channel of self-expression, and a projection of the ego on the external. 26 Models differ from miniatures because they are “descriptive, analytic, and pedagogic tools... to illustrate concepts, to explain processes, and to depict underlying structures,”27 whereas for miniatures, “the concern is not as much accuracy or authenticity as display, emotion, and creating an impression. ”28 King seems to be claiming that miniatures are all about “pleasure” while models provide “insight. ” In fact, as th e following will demonstrate, miniatures and models have overlapping identities and shared functionalities, especially in the sense that both are simulacra of reality. Modeling and drafting in the design process The earliest recorded architectural model i n Chinese history was a wooden model of mingtang (Hall of Light) made by Yuwen Kai 宇文愷 (555-612), a court architect of the Sui dynasty. After an imperial decree to build such a ritual architecture was announced in 593, Yuwen Kai, “following the [instructions in the] text of Yueling, made a wooden yang of mingtang, which had double-eaves and two levels and was divided into five chambers with four doors. The dimensions, scale, the round and the square shapes were all based on certain textual grounds. He presented the model to the emperor ” 26 Ibid., 8. King examines modeling as a human experience: “modeling itself may serve as an epitome of all the ways that a vari ety of individuals make contact with the world... our interest in technology, our consumerism, our passion to control things, our preoccupation with certain kinds of perfection, our supposedly abundant leisure, our need for escape, our int erest in cooperat ive activity... ” 27 Ibid., 148. 28 Ibid., 19. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
193 (依月令文, 造明堂木樣, 重檐複廟. 五房四達, 丈尺規矩, 皆有準憑, 以獻 ). 29 The model surely amazed the emperor, who was prepared to endorse the project; meanwhile, it also served as a platform for other court officials to participate in the design process and contribute their own opinions. Sometime betwe en 605 and 618, Yuwen Kai presented another model with a memorial explicating his proposal, but it never came to fruition. 30 The construction of the mingtang often involved model-making because the exact layout and form of the building, being notoriously el usive due to the all-important ritual and political significances on the one hand and the lack of surviving examples on the other, could be first envisaged only on a reduced scale. In Yuwen Kai's case, the model was a personal visio n of the legendary archi tecture, which he presented to his audience for inspection and examination. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a target of criticism and even denial, leading to the failure of the project. In Chinese history, efforts of building the mingtang often met with similar frustrations and setbacks. Those which succeeded had invariably drawn inspirations from some instructive “templates”: Han Wudi's mingtang, for instance, was a structure based on a certain drawing allegedly showing the primitive form of the mingtan g in the time of the Yellow Emperor. 31 In the late 29 Suishu 隋書, 6. 18b-19a. A description of the same model is found on 68. 9b: “The model was made of wood. The lower level was a square hall composed of five chambers; the upper level is a round 'observing platform' w hich had four doors 其樣以木為之, 下為方堂, 堂有五室, 上為圓觀, 觀有四門. ” 30 Ibid., 68. 3b, http://ctext. org/wiki. pl?if=gb&chapter=417382#p6. Yuwen Kai's memorial reveals not only what specific scale he adopte d for the model but also the historical tradition lying behind scaling: “In the past, when Zhang Heng devised the armillary sphere and celestial globe, he adopted a 1/20 scale. When Pei Xiu mapped the land, he adopted a 1/9000000 scale. The drawing I prese nt here adopted a 1/100 scale 昔張衡渾象, 以三分為一度. 裴秀輿地, 以二寸為千里. 臣之此圖, 用一分為一尺. ” 31 Shiji 史記, 12. 27a-b, http://ctext. org/shiji/xiao-wu-ben-ji/zh. The drawing was presented to Han Wudi by a certain Gongyu Dai 公玉帶, showing a structure with “no wall on the sides but a thatched roof on top and a water channel around. Encircling the wall of the precinct were double-storied galleries with attics above. The entrance was located at the southwest 四面無壁, 以茅蓋, 通水. 圜宮垣為複道, 上有樓. 從西南入. ” Han Wudi soon ordered a mingtang to be built following this drawing. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
194 Northern Song, it was still a standard procedure to make a xiaoyang first, so that the design could be discussed, developed, and modified by a group of participants including the emperor himself. 32 A xiaoyan g, other than being a three-dimensional model, could denote a set of sketches or drawings for artists to study and emulate. The Northern Song monograph on painting, Tuhua jianwenzhi 圖畫見聞志 (Record of remarkable paintings), records an instance where original sketches came in handy in a restoration project. The Grand Xianguosi 相國寺, a Buddhist monastery in Dongjing, was severely flooded in 1065, when a number of murals executed by former master painter s were destroyed. These murals, often referred to as transformation tableaux (bianxiang ), featured complex, well-thought compositions of various pictorial elements ranging from highly specific icons to narrative scenes deeply rooted in Buddhi st literature. To make the restoration of these masterpieces possible, famous painters of the day were summoned to “consult and imitate the copies and xiaoyang collected in the imperial storehouse ” (用內府所藏副本小樣重臨仿 ). 33 Where did these xiaoyang come from? Most likely, they had been drafted prior to the painting of the original murals; after the murals were completed, they were kept in the imperial archives for future reference and consultation. Drafting, l ike modeling, was an essential step in artistic creation; it preceded the final execution, and its immediate product was the first-time materialization of a mental image (a “realization” and “concretization” on a smaller scale), one that would serve as the “original” to be 32 Xu Zizhi tongjian changbian shibu 續資治通鑑長編拾補, 34. 9b-10a, http://ctext. org/library. pl?if=gb&file=18207&pa ge=70. In 1115, under an imperial decree written by Huizong himself, “the inner court presented a xiaoyang of the mingtang 內出明堂小樣 ” to all court officials, and Prime Minister Cai Jing was appointed head of the building project responsible for organizing sc holars and officials to discuss and refine the design. 33 Tuhua jianwenzhi 圖畫見聞志, 6: 8a-b. It is worth noting that the xiaoyang were not replicated without adding personal touches. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
195 replicated and refined. In this sense, builders, modelers, and painters were all miniaturists adept at manipulating scale and proportion; they must have shared certain knowledge and techniques to have arrived at such a significant commona lity in practice. 34 Drafts and sketches were also instrumental in building activities. An example to illustrate this point is the construction of the Northern Song imperial palace Yuqing zhaoyinggong 玉清昭應宮. In 1008, the emperor ordered the court painter Liu Wentong 劉文通 to “first establish a set of xiaoyang drawings ” (先立小樣圖 ) before any construction began. 35 In addition to imperial halls, chambers, galleries, studies, and gardens, the palace was also to contain a pyramid-like structure called the Yuluo xiaotai 郁羅蕭臺--a mythic Daoist “heavenly palace” as elusive (and religiously significant) as the mingtang and the tiangong louge. 36 To turn the intangible into something material, Liu Wentong was instructed to “copy and emulate the Yuluo xiaotai painted by the Daois t Lu Zhuo ” (移寫道士呂拙郁羅蕭臺 ) and incorporate it into his drawings. The drawings were then given to the carpenters who managed to build a magnificent structure. The painting of the Yuluo xiaotai was described to be “exquisite, elaborate, and full of miniscule de tails” (精巧密細 )--probably a ruled-line 34 Yingzao fashi quotes a Tang text, Liu Zongyuan' s 柳宗元 “Ziren zhuan 梓人傳 (Biography of a carpenter)” (ca. 801, in Liu Hedong ji 柳河東集, 17. 6a-b): “[The carpenter] drew a house on the wall; within an area less than one-chi square, his drawing showed all details and specifications of the structure. When [his apprentices] build full-scale houses according to the dimensions marked in this drawing, there was not a slightest error 畫宮於堵, 盈尺而曲盡其制, 計其毫釐而構大 廈, 無進退焉. ” In addition to sections, plans were also important especially for large building complexes such as palaces, cities, and necropolis es. The earliest excavated material evidence in this sense is the master plan ( zhaoyutu 兆域 圖) of the mausoleum of a king in the W arring States period, using a 1/ 500 scale. See Liu Keming 劉克明, Zhongguo tuxue sixiangshi 中國圖學思想史 (An intellectual history of image-making in China) (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2008), 124-31. 35 Shengchao minghuaping 聖朝名畫評 3. 36 Ibid. See also Huang 2012, 83-84, on the structure of the Yuluo xiaotai and its relation with the Daoist imagery of the body and the universe. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
196 painting. 37 Techniques of miniaturization aside, it must have captured so nicely the mood and feeling of sublimity appropriate for a dream-like heavenly scene that it was admired by many, including the emperor, and turne d out to be the direct source of inspiration for the realized project. Liu Wentong's xiaoyang were drawn exclusively for the imperial palace, but part of the design later became “recycled” and adopted during 1023-1032 for a Daoist monastery in Suzhou. 38 It is not so surprising that a local monastery could have been modelled after an imperial palace--religious buildings would often assume an appearance of imperial grandiosity and solemnity (as in the case of the Jingtusi) while the imperial palace needed to e mbrace fantastic elements such as “distant islands ” and “heavenly realms” to enhance the persona of the emperor as both a spiritual leader (in this case a Daoist celestial) as well as a universal ruler. This mutual “appropriation” was to some extent facilitated by the xiaoyang, which contributed to the transplantation of canonical architectural styles from the capital to other regions of the state. Material evidence for the xiaoyang, unfortunately, has all gone but for several Qing-dynasty examples, the mos t famous of which were made by the architects from the Lei family, who were known as the Yangshi Lei 樣式雷 (lit. modelers Lei). Lei Fada 雷發達 (1619-1693) was the first generation of the Yangshi Lei to be in charge of the yangfang 樣房--the imperial design studi o--and his sons and grandsons inherited the post consecutively in the next two hundred odd years. The Yangshi Lei were actively involved in many of the Qing imperial architectural projects, including the planning and construction of the Forbidden City, the Yuanmingyuan 圓明園, the Altar of Heaven, 37 Shengchao minghuaping 3. 38 Kuaijizhi 會稽志, 7. 3a-b. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
197 and the Qing mausoleums. 39 The models made by the Yangshi Lei were crafted on different scales for different purposes: a 1/100 model ( yifenyang 一分樣 or cunyang 寸樣 ) was to display the overall layout of a building comple x; a 1/20 or even larger model was to show structural details and/or propose different schemes of interior design. 40 Many of these models have survived even though the real buildings have met with their demise prematurely. The Yuanmingyuan, for example, sti ll has some of its “images” kept intact, on a smaller scale and in a fragmentary way, by a numbe r of Yangshi Lei models (fig. 118). 41 Here modeling functions as a type of historic preservation of architecture, and the Yangshi Lei m odels have entered into libraries and museums as permanent collections. 42 Miniature pagodas and King Asoka's 84,000 stupas Based on the examples of architectural models discussed so far, it seems that in most cases, modeling was a means by which a certain kind of technical difficulty was overcome. The difficulty might rise from the intrinsic complexity of the struc ture (towers, pagodas, the roof frame), from the 39 One of the earliest studies on the Lei family is Zhu Qiqian, “Yangshi Lei kao 樣式雷考 (An examination on the lineage of Yangshi Lei),” in Yingzao xueshe huikan 4 (1933. 1): 84-89. 40 Other scales used for modeling inclu ded 1/ 1000, 1 /200, 1/ 50, 1/25, etc. Se e Liu 2008, 547; Huang Ximing 黃希明 and Tian Guisheng 田貴生, “Tantan Yangshi Lei tangyang 談談 '樣式雷 '燙樣 (On the architectural models made by Yangshi Lei),” Gugong bowuyuan yuankan 故宮博物院院刊 (1984. 4): 93. 41 A large-scale restoration project of Yuanmingyuan was initiated in 1873 (twelfth year of Tongzhi 同治 ) after the damage done by the war in 1860. A set of drawings and models were produced by Lei Siqi 雷思起 (1826-1876) and Lei Tingchang 雷廷昌 (1845-1907) who wo rked on single pavilions (with openable roofs showing interior decor) as well as large building complexes (including gardens). After being inspected by royal members and supervising officials, calculations were made estimating how much the project was goin g to cost. Some of the buildings were never repaired due to lack of good timber material, financial difficulties, and concerns for foreign invasions. They remained on paper and as models kept in t he palace or by the Lei family. See Liu Dunzhen, “Tongzhi ch ongxiu Yuanmingyuan shiliao 同治 重修圓明園史料 (Archival sources for the restoration projects of Yuanmingyuan in the Tongzhi Period),” Yingzao xueshe huikan 4 (1933. 2, 3/4), reprint in Liu Dunzhen quanji, vol. 1, 18 3-257. Also see Huang and Tian 1984, 93. 42 See, fo r instance, archives at the National Library of China ( http://www. nlc. gov. cn/nmcb/gcjpdz/ysl/ ), and the National Taiwan University Library ( http://cdm. lib. ntu. edu. tw/cdm/landingpage/collection/ysl ). | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
198 elusiveness of a legendary or mythic architecture ( mingtang, Yuluo xiaotai), or from the carpent er's unfamiliarity with certain foreign forms (pagodas, transformation tableaux ). Especially, to build a pagoda was a highly intellectually challenging task which demanded both the techniques of building high-rises and a certain level of familiarity with t he Buddhist visual vocabulary. As demonstrated earlier, a xiaoyang pagoda would come in handy in this situation--it could help to pinpoint potential deficiencies of the proposed structure. In the following example, another important function of these archi tectural models will be exposed--the xiaoyang pagodas became standards of production, were mass produced by the imperial court, and were distributed and applied nationwide. The first recorded mass production of the xiaoyang pagodas was during Sui Wendi's ( r. 581-604) Buddhist relic campaigns. In 601, on his sixtieth birthday, the emperor issued a decree proclaiming his devotion to Buddhism and initiated what would later be known as the first of his three relic campaigns, during which the sarira recently acq uired by the emperor were re distributed to more than a hundred prefectures of the state where pagodas would be erected to enshrine the relics. 43 The decree stated that there would be “relevant personnel making yang [of the pagodas] to be sent to the prefect ures” (所司造樣送往當州 ), probably to provide visual instructions to local carpenters and to ensure quality and budget control. 44 43 Guanghong mingji 廣弘明集, T52. 2103: 213a-213b, 217a. In 602, Sui Wendi ordered more relics to be sent to fifty-one prefectures (fifty-two or fifty-three according to other sources). The Biography of Tan Qian 曇遷 in Xu Gaosengzhuan 續 高僧傳 (T50. 2060: 573b-c) has recorded the third campaign in 604 when pagodas were to be erected in another thirty prefectures. A detailed recount and analysis of Sui Wendi's relic campaigns during 601-604 is in D u Doucheng 杜斗城 and Kong Lingmei 孔令梅, “Sui Wendi fen sheli jianta youguan wenti de zai tantao 隋文帝分舍利建塔有關問題的再 探討 (A further discussion on the issues concerning the relic distribution and pagoda building campaigns by Sui Wendi ),” in Journal of Lanzhou Universi ty (Social Sciences) 39 (2011. 3): 21-33. 44 Guanghong mingji, T52. 2103: 213a-213b. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
199 The form of the relic enshrinement is said to be “following the example set up by King Asoka in all aspects ” (建軌制度一准育王 ). 45 No pagodas built dur ing Sui Wendi's time have been preserved to this day to verify this statement, but according to some textual evidence, the pagodas probably looked more Chinese than “foreign” and had little resemblance to any Indian or Central Asian prototypes. One such pa goda built in modern-day Jixian 薊縣 is described as “a five-story wooden structure decorated with gold and jewels, where the sarira was kept underneath [in the crypt] ” (五層大木塔, 飾以金碧, 扃舍利於其下 ). 46 Instead of mimicking a stupa, which was characteristic of its rou nd, hemispherical part of the body, the pagoda was more likely a magnified duplicate of one of Sui Wendi's xiaoyang sent from the capital. 47 During the Five Dynasties, Qian Hongchu 錢弘俶 (r. 948-978), the King of Wuyue 吳越, was so inspired by Sui Wendi that he started his own mass production of relic stupas which allegedly amounted to a total number of 84,000. This time, no models were made and sent to local monasteries to monitor construction, but the miniatures themselves served as reliquaries to be deposited in the crypts under the pagodas across the kingdom. The most exciting relic deposit attributed to Qian Hongchu was discovered in 2000-2001, when two so-called “Asokan stupas (Ayuwang ta 阿育王塔 )” were excavated from the top chamber and the crypt of the Leifengta 雷峰 塔 in Hangzhou. The one from the top chamber (d. 972/976) (fig. 119) is 33. 5 centimeters tall and 45 Xu Gaosengzhuan, T50. 2060: 573b-c. 46 “Minzhongsi chongcang sheli ji 憫忠寺重藏舍利記 (Record of redepositing the sariras at Minzhongsi)” (d. 892), in Jinshi cuibian 金石萃编, 118. 4a. 47 The xiaoyang sent out by Sui Wendi could have been drawings instead of (or in addition to) architectural models. On the other hand, we cannot be sure if all pagodas were truthful duplicates of the imperial template. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
200 made of silver. 48 Upon a square base, on each side of the stupa is carved an archway framing a certain scene from the Jatakas. The capitals of t he four corner columns are shaped into four Garuda figures. Directly above are four accentuated, slender, and erect acroteria ( shanhua jiaoye ) bearing more narrative sce nes and icons; at the center of the roof is a spire with five layers of dew-disks ( lupan 露 盤) and an ornamental finial. The stupa from the crypt of the Leifengta, 35. 6 centimeters in height, looks basically the same (fig. 120). 49 A number of other Asokan stupas have been unearthed elsewhere in north and south China, all sharing a great similarity in form (fig. 121). In the crypt of the Wanfota 萬佛塔 in Jinhua 金華 alone, archaeologists have recovered fifteen relic stupas, eleven of which are made of bronze and bear the following inscri ption: “The K ing of Wuyue, Qian Hongchu, piously pledges to make eighty-four thousand precious stupas; inscribed in the year of yimao ” (吳越國王錢弘俶敬造八萬四千寶 塔乙卯歲記 ). The other four are cast iron and have a slightly different inscription: “The King of Wuyue, Qian Hongchu, pious ly pledges to make precious stupas in the number of eighty-four thousand to forever provide for [the relics]; inscribed in the year of yichou ” (吳越國王俶敬造寶塔 八萬四千所永充供養時乙丑歲記 ). 50 The exact inscriptions with the two distinctive “time stamps”--one equivalent to 955 (bronze) and the other to 965 (iron)--have been found on similar 48 This stupa contains a 4. 4-cm-tall gol d bottle with eleven pieces of relics. See He Qiuyu 何秋雨, “Zhejiangsheng bowuguan cang Wudai Wuyueguo Ayuwangta 浙江省博物館藏五代吳越國阿育王塔 (Asokan stupas of the Wuyue King of the Five Dynasties collected in the Provincial Museum of Zhejiang),” Shoucangjia (2011. 3 ): 33. 49 This stupa contains a gold coffer in which a lock of the Buddha's hair from the usnisa is believed to have been interred. See Li Yuxin 黎毓馨, “Hangzhou Leifengta digong de qingli 杭州雷峰塔地宮的清理 (Excavated items from the crypt of the Leifengta in Hangzhou),” Kaogu (2002. 7): 19. A detailed summary of the crypt, its assemblage, history, and miniature relic stupa is found in chap. 2 of Seunghye Lee, “Framing and Framed: Relics, Reliquaries, and Relic Shrines in Chinese and Korean Buddhist Art from the Tenth to t he Fourteenth Centuries,” Ph D diss., University of Chicago, 2013. 50 He 2011, 33-35. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
201 stupas yielded from several other sites. 51 It seems likely that the stupas were first cast collectively in the imperial foundry and then distributed to various monasteries to be deposited. 52 The excavations have well corroborated the textual record that Qian Hongchu, “admiring King Asoka's feat of erecting the stupas, ordered eighty-four thousand stupas to be cast in bronze and iron, inside which were deposited precious sutra-cases and dharani scriptures in woodblock prints. The stupas were distributed widely across the kingdom, and the undertaking took ten years to accomplish ” (慕阿育王造塔之事, 用金銅精鋼造八萬四千塔, 中藏寶篋印心咒經. 布散部內, 凡十年而訖功 ). 53 What has also been corroborated is the particular form of the “Asokan stupa” in Chinese history--an archetype attributed to the Indian king but appeared perhaps first in China in the late third century. Alexander Soper traced the origin of this type of stupa to a certain Ayuwangsi 51 Ibid., 34-37. Other relic stupas attributed to Qian Hongchu have been excavated in Zheji ang, Jiangxi, and Hebei. 52 Ibid., 35-37. Some of the stupas are inscribed with th e character of a single word ( 全, 金, 人, 大, 了, 六, 尔, 万, 德, 保, 化, 安, 仁, 向, or 乙), and He suggests that the same character indicated the same batch of products from perhaps the same module. The mass production of the relic stupas went hand-in-hand with sutra p rinting: an iron stupa (d. 965) unearthed from the Dashanta 大善塔 in Shaoxing contains a woodblock-print sutra with a frontispiece which reads, “The King of Wuyue, Qian Hongchu, piously pledges to make precious cases and print sutras in the number of eighty-four thousand, to forever provide for [the dharma relics]; inscribed in the year of yichou 吳越國王錢俶敬造寶篋印經八 萬四千卷永充供養時乙丑歲記. ” This, however, is the only example where a sutra was found inside the relic stupa, and it was likely that not all 84,000 sutras were dep osited in the 84,000 stupas. In Leifengta's case, the dharani scripture were deposited in the hollowed inside of the bricks, which similarly bore Qian Hongchu's name and title and the proclamation that they amounts to a number of 84,000. See Li Yuxin, “Han gzhou Leifengta yizhi kaogu fajue ji yiyi 杭州 雷峰塔遺址考古發掘及意義 (Significances of the archaeological excavation at the ruins of Leifengta in Hangzhou),” Zhongguo lishi wenwu (2002. 5): 7; Chen Ping 陳平, “Qian Hongchu zao bawan siqian baojia yin tuoluonijing--jianta n Wuyue baojia yin tuoluonijing yu Ayuwangta de guanxi 錢弘俶造八萬四千寶篋印陀羅尼經--兼談吳越寶篋印陀羅 尼經與阿育王塔的關係 (The 84,000 precious sutra-cases and dharani scriptures made by Qian Hongchu, with a discussion on the relationship between the precious sutra-cases, the dharani scriptures, and the Asokan stupas),” in Rongbaozhai (2012. 1): 36-47, (2012. 2): 48-57. 53 Fozu tongji 佛祖統紀, T49. 2035: 394c, http://www. cbeta. org/result/normal/T49/2035_043. htm. The number migh t have been a hyperbole; it might not be exact but simply means “countless” and “myriad. ” | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
202 阿育王寺 in Ningbo, where there once was a minia ture stupa about twice as large as Qian Hongchu's bronze and iron stupas :54 The stupa in Maoxian (in modern-day Ningbo) emerged from the ground in the second year of the Taikang period of the Western Jin dynasty (281) after the monk Huida's epiphany. It was one chi and four cun tall and seven cun wide. It had five layers of dew-disks. The blue-green color looked like stone but was not stone; the exterior was carved and engraved on the four sides, showing various exotic images and scenes. Liang Wudi ordered a wooden pagoda to be built to shelter it. 越州東三百七十里, 鄮縣塔者, 西晉太康二年沙門慧達感從地出. 高一尺四寸, 廣七寸. 露盤 五層. 色青似石而非, 四外雕鏤, 異相百千. 梁武帝造木塔籠之. 55 A later text claimed that this was one of King Asoka's eighty-four thousand stupas made in the third century BCE and excavated in 265, that it was made of unearthly materials and carried extraordinary decorations including four transformation tableaux each showing a specific scene from the Jatakas. 56 Based on these descriptions, scholars believe that the stupa in Ningbo and Qian Hongchu' s relic stupas should look fairly similar in terms of shape, structure, and perhaps even pictorial configurations (fig. 122). 57 Does this mean that the latter might have been modelled after the former, and ultimately after an authe ntic Asokan stupa? Surviving stupas commissioned by King Asoka, such as the Great Stupa at Sanchi (d. third century BCE), however, look vastly different from their Chinese “copies. ” Soper believes that the ultimate source of Chinese stupas was not the mass ive, hemispherical burial mound historically associated with their Indian precedents, but instead the harmika--the small “pavilion” crowning the 54 Alexander Soper, “Japanese Evidence for the History of the Architecture and Iconography of Chinese Buddhism, ” Monumenta Serica 4 (1940. 2): 645. 55 Guanghong mingji, T52. 2103: 201b. Another textual record of the same stupa, also authored by Daoxuan, is in Ji shenzhou sanbao gantonglu 集神州三寶感通錄, T52. 2106: 404b, http://www. cbeta. org/result/normal/T52/2106_ 001. htm, which describes the stupa to be “similar to those made in Khotan in the Western Regions 似西域于闐所造. ” See Soper 1940, 642-43, for a translation of this text. 56 Tang daheshang dongzhengzhuan 唐大和上東征傳, quoted with translation in Soper 1940, 641-42. 57 Soper 1940; He 2011. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
203 dome of the Indian stupa. 58 This is to say that the subject of emulation was in fact a miniature, a fragment of the whole, a metonym of a powerful religious monument. The “Asokan stupas,” therefore, was not so much of an imitation but a creative process in which literal transplantation was replaced by signification--not the whole, but the most distinct and symbolic part of the original structure was selected and reinterpreted on the Chinese soil to stand for the stupa. The same process could be further understood as a process of simulation: it would be hard to pinpoint any “authentic” Asokan stupas but each miniatur e stupa was a simulacrum, a model of itself, a distortion and subversion of the historical image of the stupa, an “unreal” existence conceived and materialized in the lack of a proper original. In an endless cycle, the simulacra mimicked and copied themsel ves; together, they formed what must be likened to Indra's net, where the myriad jewels each contain and reflect the images of all other jewels and are forever entering and penetrating one another. 59 Armillary spheres and celestial globes: in simulation of heavenly images The concept of simulation is perhaps better explicated by investigating astronomical models and implements, especially the hunyi 渾儀 and hunxiang 渾象 in Chinese history. Joseph Needham translated the former as “armillary spheres” (for observ ing and measuring) and the latter as “celestial globes” (for simulating and predicting the trajectories of the stars at any given moment, in addition to time-keeping). 60 The two types of devices overlapped in function and were often combined as a set known as the huntianyi 渾天儀 or yixiang 儀象, such as Su Song's astronomical clock in the late 58 Soper 1940, 658 59 See Chapter 3 of this dissertation. 60 Needham, Wang, and Price 2008. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
204 eleventh century. 61 Unlike architectural models, these were tools of studying the celestial bodies; but like architectural models, they were miniatures and simulations of the intended “real ity,” a reality that has never been fully observable or comprehensible but could nonetheless be approached by modeling. While architectural models were static, the greatest challenge of building an astrological model came from the design and construction o f a machinery-core driving the entire device with an automatic force so subtly rhythmic that it could simulate the movement of heaven. In this case, simulation had little to do with formal resemblance but had to be achieved through a knowledge about mechan ism. And this was no easy task. Before Su Song started to build his astronomical clock, a series of pilot models had to be made and tested. The very first model to be built was a “wooden machinery-core model ” (muyang jilun 木樣機輪 ) driven by the constant drip ping of water and moni tored by an escape system (figs. 123, 124). In the fifth month of 1088, a small-scale wooden pilot model of the clock was sent to the court to be examined, and a full-scale wooden mo del was completed in the twelfth month of the same year for further testing. 62 Finally, a new bronze clock was finished and installed in the imperial observatory in 1089. It is said to be “as large as the human body; stepping inside, one felt as if entering into a cage. The apertures were opened according to the [projections of the] stars on the globe, which was driven by spinning waterwheels. It simulated correctly the movement of the central constellations and the timing of the dawn and dusk, which could b e told by observing through the apertures ” (大如人體, 人居其中有如篝象. 因星鑿竅, 依 竅加星, 以備激輪旋轉之勢. 中星昏曉應時, 皆見於竅中 ). 63 61 Introduced in Chapters 2 and 3 of this dissertation. 62 Xin yixiang fayao, 1. 2a-b, 3a. A full translation of Su Song's memorial to the court (brief ly describing the process of making the device) is in Needham, Wang, and Price 2008, 20-21. 63 Quwei jiuwen 曲洧舊聞, 8. 10a-b. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
205 Su Song, however, was not the first person in Chinese history to invent such a device. His forerunners were said to have possessed even greater skills and finesse, but records about their knowledge and method had become largely f ragmentary and incomprehensible while the devices they made were passed down only in the form of xiaoyang. Su Song perhaps spent more time studying the xiaoyang he obtained than observing the nigh t sky, believing that the model s preserved certain fundamental truth and insight into the matter. On the other hand, simply replicating the xiaoyang would not restore the old masters' template back to a fully functional astronomical device, but the designer had to solve a series of basic mathematical and mechanical problems and seek help from experts who knew how to calculate the locations, trajectories, and velocities of the stars. 64 As imperfect as our astronomical knowledge has been, all simulations of heaven were imperfect, “false” sim ulations. In China, armillary spheres and celestial globes often failed to function after being used for an extended period, and needed be repaired, recalibrated, or remade from time to time. During the eleventh century, before Su Song's clock, there had b een at least three earlier astronomical devices, and the making of these devices all involved a modeling process. The first was proposed in 1049, the second in 1074 (designed by Shen Kuo), and the third in 1082--less than ten years before Su Song's clock. 65 Soon after Su Song's invention, which was generally believed as a successful project arousing much admiration, the imperial court yet again felt the need to make a new device in 1124. 66 64 Ibid. 65 Song huiyao jigao 宋會要輯稿, 296. 66 Ibid. After the Song dynasty relocated its capital in Lin'an (modern-day Hangzhou), the cour t had to start from scratch since all Northern Song devices were looted by the Jurchens. The attempts were not always successful, and the products were said to be less than half of the Northern Song ones in size (using 8,400 jin of bronze, comparing with 2 0,000 jin used for Northern Song ones), and perhaps less adequate in terms of function. See Qidong yeyu 齊東野語, 15. 5b-6a. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
206 Rather than the normal wear and tear of the existing implements, or t he alleged political motives for proclaiming new eras, the principal reason for remaking the astronomical devices was the inaccuracies and deficiencies of the old ones which became gradually exposed and exacerbated with the passage of time. For example, th e making of the 1074 device was rationalized as a result of the dysfunction of the existing apparatus, which produced erroneous data due to original design flaws. 67 It is understandable that astronomers at that time could not rely on telescopes or space explorers like we do now, and that the models they created must have always had large or small flaws which after a certain amount of time would be too noticeable to be ignored. It was an impossible mission to generate a simulation that always tallied with the celestial “image;” even today, our model of the universe is tentative and far from perfection. Hence, modelers needed to continuously push themselves forward to calibrate and modify their devices while renovating existing models and formulas. I Ching on the notion of simulation Historically, Chinese intellectuals argued that all man-made vessels and tools were made in simulation of certain images, shapes, or phenomena found in nature. The earliest expression of such an idea can be found in I Ching : [The Changes has four (aspects of the sage's way] in it: in terms of words [, it esteems its statements]; in terms of movements, it esteems its alternations; in terms of fashioning implements, it esteems its images; and [in terms of divination,] it esteems its p rognostications. 易有聖人之道四焉 : 以言者尚其辭, 以動者尚其變, 以制器者尚其象, 以卜筮者尚其占. 68 67 Song huiyao jigao, 296. 68 Edward L. Shaughnessy, trans., I-Ching: The Classic of Changes (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998), 196-97. O riginal text accessible at http://ctext. org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-shang. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
207 The dynamics of qi and xiang has undergone sustained discussions by generations of Chinese scholars, who understood qi to be basically any type of designed object (including architecture, astron omical devices, and their models), and xiang not only images but also “imitations” and “simulations. ”69 Hence, when fashioning implements, the way a sage pay respect to the Changes is by simulating its figural or abstract images. The same text claims that a ll inventions of the sage kings were inspired by the hexagrams--in the beginning, the eight trigrams were made according to the observations of celestial and earthly phenomena and mechanisms so as to “penetrate the virtue of spiritual brightness and to cat egorize the real characteristics of the ten-thousand beings ” (以通神明之德, 以類萬物之情 ). 70 Afterward, the rope knot, the fishing net, the plow, the boat and oar, the carriage, the bow and arrow, the grave, the inner and outer coffins--are all said to have been “taken from ( quzhu 取諸 )” certain hexagrams, or rather, to have consciously simulated the “images” of the hexagrams and/or the natural principles the hexagrams were believed to have encapsulated. 71 The primitive house made of ridgepoles and roof slopes is said to b e “taken from” the hexagram dazhuang 大壯, or the Grand Robustness (fig. 24), the literal meaning and divinatory connotation of which do not appear to have any relations with architecture. 72 Rather, the text seems to imply that the earliest houses were built according to 69 Hence there is the seemingly outrageous claim that “the Changes is images. Images are imaged 易也者, 象. 象也者, 像 也. ” See Shau ghnessy 1998, 207 ; Liu 2008, 72-92. 70 Shaughnessy 1998, 205. Original text accessible at http://ctext. org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia. 71 Ibid., 204-07. Also see Liu 2008 for Chinese scholars' debate s on this issue. 72 “In high antiquity they dwelled in caves and located themselves in the wilds. The sages of later generations changed it with palaces and chambers, with a ridgepole at the top and eaves below in order to attend to the wind and rain; they probably took it from Dazhuang, 'Great Maturity' 上古穴居而野處, 後世聖人易之以宮室, 上棟下宇, 以待風雨, 蓋取 諸大壯. ” Shaughnessy 1998, 204-07; also see pp. 88-89, for the divinatory statement of dazhuang. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
208 some basic principle or mechanism of the universe that the ancient sages somehow “visualized” and expressed through an abstract image--a particular hexagram. Looking back to the architectural miniatures introduced in earlier chapters, especial ly the tiangong louge, it is now easy to understand them as simulations in light of Baudrillard's four phases of the image. The “original ” of the tiangong louge--real Buddhist heavens--were absent; they could not be observed but only imagined, fantasized, conceived, and designed. (Iconoclasm, according to Baudrillard's theory, happens precisely out of the fear of how icons reveal the truth of the absence of gods. ) For miniatures as well as models, simulation is especially well facilitated and largely fulfilled by miniaturization: it is exactly because of the lifelikeness and hyper-reality one perceives from these small objects that turn them into simulacra of the “real ” (the full-size) which may or may not exist in a corporeal form. In a reverse way, one can also understand the full-size as a simulation of the small-scale. The disparity between the two is not as great as we might have assumed, as neither is less real or more illusory than the other, but both are crystallizations of our mental images, our inst ruments of approaching the world and the self. Conclusion A preliminary study of architectural models in Chinese history has yielded several constructional observations. When compared with miniatures, a model is more concerned with an accurate (re)present ation of the exact form, structure, or mechanism. It is no longer designed for the contents (sacred images or scriptures) or the foreground (religious statues on the altar); nor is it intended as a receptacle or a pure ornament. It appears more technical b ut less rhetorical or evocative. A model, therefore, stops to be overtly attached to (in a subordinate manner) an external object but becomes a display of itself. Models are built for design, demonstration, problem-checking and solving, communication, stan dardization, reproduction, and quality control. The modeling | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
209 experience, on the other hand, had profound epistemological connotations: it forces us to reconsider the interrelationship between models and their “originals” or “copies,” between the small-scale hyper-reality and the more familiar “real” world it appears to imitate. From this perspective, what models and miniatures have in common is their nature of being the simulacra of the “mental images” people visualize or conceptualize while observing and e ngaging with various natural images, phenomena, and forces. In this light, the model pavilion at the Chongfusi could be understood as a simulacrum of the original Tang-dynasty Tripitaka Library. Even though its dating proves to be problematic and would per haps remain a conundrum, both the scale and style of the model bear the kind of simplicity, grace, and vigor characteristic of Tang architecture. The Asokan stupas, on the other hand, further complicate the issue of architectural simulation, translation an d transplantation across space and time. An “authentic” Asokan stupa might have never existed, but such an authenticity has been transferred successfully through miniature forms and through the mass production and distribution of the miniatures. One can cl aim that modeling, like miniature-making, largely dissolves and deconstructs the dichotomy of the “original” and the “copy”; it is instead in a continuously developing and changing discourse that images--mental or corporeal--are constantly defined and redefined. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
210 Conclusion A close examination of the representative miniature architecture in 1000-1200 CE China--as demonstrated in this dissertation--has several significant contributions to the field of Chinese architectural and art history. While miniatures ha ve been largely regarded and studied as mere “copies” or “reflections” of full-size buildings in previous scholarship, I have exposed here the importance of investigating them as distinctive artistic and cultural products which must be understood in their own right. A history of miniature architecture thus serves as an antithesis to the existing discourse in the field; it destabilizes the very meaning of the term “architecture” and leads to much more comprehensive knowledge about, and a broadened view of, b oth miniatures and their larger counterparts. The study of miniaturization offers a different means of approach to architecture. Instead of form, structure, and style, it concerns the scale of the object to be surveyed. As evidenced by many examples shown in this dissertation, the change in size often entailed a series of modifications and alterations of other physical attributes, which then became manifested as a change in taste. Beginning in the twelfth century, the focus of architecture has shifted from building a massive, grandiose exterior supported by robust structural members to the creation of a painstakingly decorated interior full of minuscule details. Such an inward turn bestowed architecture at the time with a remarkable “introverted” character. Parallel to the emergence of this introvertedness was the progressive miniaturization of buildings and their various components: as structural members became downscaled, they lost their original functions and transformed into ornaments which could carry re ligious implications and embody political ideologies in certain cases. This dissertation showcases that an inquiry into cultural milieu in addition to woodworking technology is imperative in order to reveal the motivation for miniature-making. Miniatures i n a Buddhist worship hall, for instance, need be considered and | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
211 evaluated as signifiers of specific ideas and vehicles for specific rituals or practices. While religious piety might have been the strongest drive for the fervent production of these miniatur es, other intellectual influence s--especially the Neo-Confucian ideal of the perfect world order--also has to be reckoned with. The four case studies presented in this dissertation include a Northern Song revolving sutra case (d. eleventh century), a set o f Liao sutra cabinets (1038), a group of Heavenly Palace miniatures in the ceiling of a Jin monastery (1124), and a model pavilion from a later period ( ca. 1383). The rationale behind selecting these four specific examples is manifold. First and foremost is my intention to explore and demonstrate the correspondence between text and material evidence. The first three examples each correspond to a particular type of miniature architecture regulated in the Yingzao fashi in terms of form, structure, and scale. Such remarkable correspondence not only testifies to the validity of the text as an indispensable guide book for investigating Chinese miniatures, but it further highlights the necessity and benefits of textu al research in art historical inquiry. Second, the first three examples all fall in the predefined timeframe of 1000-1200 CE, which is contemporaneous with the Yingzao fashi (1103), and geographically they are located fairly clos e to the Northern Song capital Dongjing where the text was compiled and promulgated. This has not only enabled the exposure of the correspondence noted above, but also provided a platform where the three miniatures can be discussed in a comparative light. One of the most important observations I have made in this dissertation is that the three examples are based on a 1/5, 1/5, and 1/10 scale respectively. The numerical consistency between the first two attests to the intimate cultural contact between the No rthern Song and the Liao, whereas the change from 1/5 to 1/10 reflects the historical development in miniature-making in the twelfth century. Such a change is also exemplary of the phenomenon of “progressive miniaturization” over time, when the scale of | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
212 architecture dwindled and the focus of architecture transitioned from sheer mass to ornamentation and details. On the other hand, the fourth example is presented in the last chapter of the dissertation to alert readers of the potential limitations of the historical narrative of miniature architecture I have projected based on the three case studies and their correspondence to the Yingzao fashi. Even though architectural models existed in abundance in history, they are completely omi tted from the Yingzao fashi due t o the legal nature of the text. Hence, to deliver a more comprehensive survey of Chinese miniatures, one has to go beyond the text and the templates and formulas it contains. This can be attempted by drawing evidence from additional material remains which may and may not have been documented. However, one also has to stay mindful of how both documented and undocumented examples might have adopted certain common--rather than vastly different--rules and customs of miniature-making. This is especially true consider ing the fact that the fourth example examined in this dissertation is based on a 1/10 scale just as the Jin miniature. The limitations of the Yingzao fashi further lead us to deliberate several important issues in future studies of Chinese architecture. Looking beyond 1200 CE and to a greater geographical range, one has to determine if the majority of the building traditions and practices reflected in the text were still generally followed in later dynasties, what new changes and trends need be taken into account, whether or not regional styles sometimes took precedence over the official, canonical patterns, etc. 1 Another important issue concerns the c arpenters themselves. How did they approach the text, being 1 The Yingzao fashi has been reprinted multiple times since 1103. The earliest surviving edition--now with only a few pages left--dates from the Southern Song, while complete reprints are retrieved from Ming and Qing official encyclopedic works such as the Yongle dadian 永樂大典 (Yongle encyclopedia) and the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (Complete library in four sections). It appears that little effort has ever been made to edit the original text to accommodate new building technologies and requirements. It was not until 1734 that the multi-volumed Gongcheng zuofa (Methods of architectural projects)--the second oldest building code in Chinese history--was completed and published by the Qing court. This text introduces a different system of terminology, classification, and scaling principles, which displays both continuity an d development since the promulgation of the Yingzao fashi. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
213 largely illiterate? How has the ir experience and knowledge of woodworking been preserved and transmitted orally or in written forms? As briefly brought up in this dissertation, an investigation into Chinese miniaturists problematizes--if not breaks down--the assumed dichotomy between the literati and illiterate artisans. Guo Zhongshu, for instance, received rigorous architectural training in his early career before being appointed by the emperor as an imperial ruled-line painter. His communication with the carpenter Yu Hao regarding the design of a multistory pagoda excellently showcases the exchange of knowledge and skills among different professionals, from painters to architects, and across diffe rent echelons of the society. Finally, while the limitations of texts cannot be overlooked, those of the material evidence must not be underestimated either. Scholars still need to grapple with the problem of authenticity since most of the existing wooden structures in China have undergone multiple restorations and might not have preserved their original appearances. Overall, the study of Chinese miniatures broadens the horizon of architectural and art historical inquiry. Miniatures and miniaturization can be interrogated as an architectural motif, a literary trope, a religious or philosophical concept, a historical trajectory, a cultural phenomenon, a form of knowledge and practice, and many more. The image of “a grain of sand” invoked in the very title of this dissertation echoes not just William Blake's poem but also the atomic worldview of Huayan Buddhism and Archimedes's scientific experiment of measuring the universe. Paralleling miniature architecture to a grain of sand is not a hyperbole but rather an allusion to such a rich array of connotations and historical instances. It pinpoints one of the extraordinary abilities of miniatures, that is, to evoke imaginations, arouse feelings, bring back memories, and induce contemplations and Bachelardian reverie s, which all make us dreamers, poets, and perhaps philosophers as well. Future surveys of Chinese miniatur e architecture can be productive and meaningful if one adopts a cross-disciplinary approach and keeps in mind the global context. As an idea and techn ique, miniaturization is independent of specific cultures, geographical regions, and time periods. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
214 Miniatures (architectural and non-architectural) can be found anywhere on earth, and miniature-making has been part of the human delight and endeavor ever si nce the dawn of civilizations, evolving from the crafting of simple idols to the manufacture of smaller and smaller electronic devices measured in nanometers. Studying miniatures not only offers new insight into Chinese architecture, art, and material cult ure, but miniaturization ought to be considered and investigated as a recurrent and underlying theme which has persisted in other traditions of the world. | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
215 Figures 1 Illustration of tiangong louge fodaozhang (Yingzao fashi, vol. 4, 95) 2 Illustration of tiangong bizang (Yingzao fashi, vol. 4, 101) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
216 3 Reconstructi ve drawings of douba zaojing, plan and section (Liang Sicheng 2001, 214) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
217 4 Reconstructive drawings of xiaodouba zaojing, plan and section (Liang Sicheng 2001, 216) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
218 5 Eight grades of cai in large-scale woodworking (Model by author) 6 Six grades of cai in small-scale woodworking (Model by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
219 7 Guo Zhongshu, Summer Palace of Emperor Minghuang, detail (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ) 8 Tamamushi Shrine, detail of roof (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
220 9 Illustration of huasheng (Yingzao fashi, vol. 4, 136) 10 Line drawing of mural on east ceiling slope of Mogao Cave 31, showing a woman holding a Moho uluo doll (Guo 2013, 14) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
221 11 Wang Zhenpeng, Dragon Boat Regatta, partial (http://theme. npm. edu. tw/exh102/dragonlake/ch/photo1. html ) 12 Wang Zhenpeng, Dragon Boat Regatta, detail | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
222 (http://theme. npm. edu. tw/exh102/dragonlake/images/bphoto8. jpg) 13 Longxingsi sutra case, overview (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
223 14 Sectional drawing of Zhuanlunzangdian at Longxingsi (Chen 2010, 54) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
224 15 Plan of Zhuanlunzangdian at Longxingsi (Liang 1933, 21) 16 Bottom of pivot of Long xingsi sutra case (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
225 17 Master plan of Longxingsi (Liang 1933, 15) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
226 18 Rhino 3D model of Longxingsi sutra case (Model by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
227 19 Reconstructive drawings of zhuanlun jingzang, plans, elevation, section, and details of brackets (Takeshima 1971, 665) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
228 20 Reconstructive drawing of zhuanlun jingzang, elevation and section (Pan and He 2005, 145) 21 Rotating co re of Longxingsi sutra case (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
229 22 Longxingsi sutra case in the 1920s (Tokiwa and Sekino 1940, pl. 90) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
230 23 Longxingsi sutra case in the 1930s (Liang 1933, pl. 27) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
231 24 Longxingsi sutra case, detail of corner set (Photo by author) 25 Rhino 3D model of corner bracket sets of Longxingsi sutra case (Model by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
232 26 Longxingsi sutra case, detail of column-top and intercolumnar bracket sets (Photo by author) 27 Zhuanlunzangdian at Longxingsi, detail of exterior bracket sets (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
233 28 Diagram showing historical development of Chinese bracketing system (Liang 1984) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
234 29 Cornice of Tianwangdian at Longxingsi, showing Qing bracket sets arrayed among Song originals (Liang 1933, pl. 35) 30 Daoxuan's layout of ideal monastery, detail (Ho 1995, 2-3) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
235 31 Elevation of Yunyansi feitianzang (Guo 2009, 537) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
236 32 Beishan Cave 136, interior (Guo 1999, 84) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
237 33 Baodingshan Cave 14 (Guo 1999, 49) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
238 34 Drawing of Jinshansi revolving sutra case (Zhang 2000, 122) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
239 35 Pingwusi revolving sutra case (Zhongguo wenwu dituji: Sichuan fence, 496) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
240 36 Gaolisi revolving sutra case (http://andonglaowang. lofter. com/post/2fe384_6a10cc9 ) 37 Modern revolving sutra case installed by Tai Xiangzhou in a 2010 exhibition in Shanghai (Photo by luychen, https://www. flickr. com/photos/34076990@N05/4561707565/sizes/o/in/photostream/ ) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
241 38 Yungang Cave 1, interior (Photo by author) 39 Yung ang C ave 2, detail of central pillar (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
242 40 Northern Wei miniature stupa from Gansu (Wang 1999, 70) 41 Yingxian Wooden Pagoda (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
243 42 Sanjie jiudi zhi tu 三界九地之圖 (P. 2824) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
244 43 Su Song's clock-tower (http://ctext. org/library. pl?if=gb&file=86840&page=89 ) 44 Wooden pagoda of Su So ng's clock-tower (http://ctext. org/library. pl?if=gb&file=86840&page=96 ) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
245 45 Huayansi Bo jia jiaozang, interior view (Photo by author) 46 Sectional dra wing of Huayansi Bojia jiaozang (Liang and Liu 1933, pl. 5) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
246 47 Huayansi Bojia jiaozang, ambulatory alon g the back of the central altar (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
247 48 Huayansi Bojia jiaozang, ambul atory along the south wall (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
248 49 Huayansi sutra cabinets, detail of bracket sets (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
249 50 Arching brid ge of Huayansi sutra case (Photo by author) 51 Huayan Plaza in front of Huayansi (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
250 52 Arching bridge of Huayansi sutra case, detail (Photo by author) 53 Wooden miniatur e shrine in Binglingsi Cave 172 (Heireiji Sekkutsu, pl. 110) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
251 54 Yungang C ave 6, detail of central pillar (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
252 55 Erxianmiao miniature Daoist shrine (Zhongguo wenwu dituji: Shanxi fence, 449) 56 Huhuangmiao miniatur e shrine, detail of roof corner (Zhongguo wenwu dituji: Shanxi fence, 467) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
253 57 Elevation of miniatu re shrine in Buddhist dormitory (Zhang 2000, 146) 58 Plan of Jinshansi dormitory (Zhang 2000, 121) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
254 59 Drawings of Jingshansi miniature shrine (Zhang 2000, 142) 60 Plan of Jingshansi dormitory (Zhang 2000, 118) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
255 61 Line drawing of stone relief, north wall of east side-chamber, Dahuting To mb 1 (Mixian Dahuting hanmu, 143) 62 Line drawing of stone relief, north wall of north side-chamber, Dahuting Tomb 1 (Mixian Dahuting hanmu, 181) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
256 63 Front elevation, section, and plan of shenchu, accord ing to Lu Ban jing (Ruitenbeek, 201) 64 Yangshi Lei miniature shrine (http://cdm. lib. ntu. edu. tw/cdm/singleitem/collection/ysl/id/5 ) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
257 65 Reconstructive drawing of bizang, section (Takeshima 1971, 734) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
258 66 Diagram of the typology of Japanese zushi (Ono 2002, 2) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
259 67 Five Dynasty silk painting of “Seven Locations and Nine Assembl ies” (Duan and Fan 2005, 75) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
260 68 Bianxiang of Huayanjing, Mogao Cave 85, d etail of Lotus Repository World (Duan and Fan 2001, 222) 69 Bianxiang of Amitabha's pure land, Mogao Cave 321 (Wang 2005, pl. 9) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
261 70 Comp ound eye of a fruit fly, detail (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 71 Mordern insta llation of Fazang's mirror hall (Wang 2005, 259) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
262 72 Main H all of Jingtusi, west elevation (Photo by author) 73 Scematic plan of Jingtusi ceiling (Sketch by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
263 74 Central coffer of Jingtusi ceiling, abov e the main Buddha (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
264 75 Jingtus i Main Hall, interior view (Photo by author) 76 Miniature golden halls in cen tral coffer of Jingtusi ceiling (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
265 77 Miniature Buddhas painted in cen tral coffer of Jingtusi ceiling (Photo b y author) 78 Seven-tiered, fan-shaped bracket set at the south west corner of Jingtusi ceiling (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
266 79 Double bracket s in east coffer ( Coffer E) of Jingtusi ceiling (Photo by author) 80 West coffer of Jingtusi ceiling (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
267 81 Partial view of Jingtusi ceiling, showing a combination three different geometric shapes : diamond, octagonal, hexagonal (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
268 82 Baldachin roof above a painted Buddha at Jingtusi (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
269 83 Sixteenth-century map of Yingzhou, showing location of Jingt usi (Yingzhouzhi, unpaged) 84 Miniature br acket sets in the ceiling of Mituodian at Chongfusi (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
270 85 Miniature theater in Houma Tomb 1 (Hong 2011, fig. 1) 86 Actor figures and a theater pavilion in Macun Tomb 4 (Zhongguo wenwu di tuji: Shanxi fence, 424) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
271 87 Line drawing of mural on the west wall of Manjusri Hall, Yanshansi (Fu 1998, 290-91) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
272 88 Reconstructi ve plan of main building complex painted in Yanshansi murals (Fu 1998, 295) 89 Coffered ce iling in Main Hall of Shanhuasi (Sickman and Soper 1984, 456) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
273 90 Tiangong louge in ceiling coffer, Rear Hall of Fengshengsi (Liang and Liu 2007, 526) 91 Tiangong louge in ceiling, Offering Pavilion of Doudafuci (http://shanxi. abang. com/od/gujian/a/dc_p2. htm ) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
274 92 Tiangong louge in ceiling, Main Hall of Yong'ansi (Zhongguo w enwu dituji : Shanxi fence, 498) 93 Tiangong louge in ceiling of Gongshutang (Zhongguo wenwu dituji : Shanxi fence, 481) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
275 94 Zhihuasi ceiling coffer, now in t he Philadelphia Museum of Art (Photo by Ruichua n Wu) 95 Zhihuasi ceiling coffer, d etail of tianggong louge (Photo by Ruichuan Wu) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
276 96 Tiangong louge in circular coffer, originally f rom Longfusi (Liang and Liu 2007, 528) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
277 97 Diagram of well-field system (Nongzheng quanshu, 4. 21a) 98 Diagram of Warring-states land-allocation system for administrative purpose, according to Zhouli (Nongzheng quanshu, 4. 30a) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
278 99 Plan of ideal capital city, according to Kaogongji (Sanlitu jizhu, 4. 6a) 100 Plan of imperial palace, according to Kaogongji (He 1985, 97) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
279 101 Reconstructive plan of Northern Song Dongjing (Zhang 2003, 160) 102 Thirteenth-centur y map of Northern Song Dongjing (Shilin guangji, 3. 143) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
280 103 Plan of five-chambered mingtang (Sanlitu jizhu, 4. 2a) 104 Reconstructive plan of Zhou-dynasty mingta ng (Yang 2008, 162) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
281 105 Reconstructive elevation of Wu Zetian's mingtang (Yang 2008, 505) 106 Mandala city painted in ceiling, Yulin Ca ve 3 (d. Xi Xia) (Anxi Yulinku, pl. 141) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
282 107 Model pavilion at Chongfusi (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
283 108 East-west cross section of Qianfoge (Chai 1996, 136) 109 North-south cross secti on of Qianfoge (Chai 1996, 136) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
284 110 Chon gfusi model, d etail of tr iple and double brackets (Photo by author) 111 Golden phoenix engraved between bracket-sets (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
285 112 Qianfoge at Chongfusi, exterior (Photo by author) 113 A typical ceyang (Yingzao fashi, vol. 4, 6) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
286 114 Model pagodas in Japan, Nara period (Left: M odel pagoda at Kairyooji ; Right: Model pagoda at Gangoji) (Fu 1992, figs. 13, 14) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |
287 115 Model of Ming gatetower Qianlou, Huayansi Main Hall (Photo by author) | di-luo-a-grain-of-sand-full-draft-3.pdf |