The fortunate dimensions of Taiwanese traditional architecture

Taiwanese traditional architecture has been classified as belonging to the Southern style of Chinese architecture. Owing to geographical and climatic conditions, and to its own history, Taiwanese architecture has diversified from mainstream Chinese architecture. This diversification has given rise to styles of buildings that were (and are) quite distinct from their Chinese origin. The authors begin with a comparison of Taiwanese and Chinese traditional architectures highlighting their differences. The authors go on to describe the different systems used for measuring key dimensions in Taiwanese traditional buildings, and the procedure for their determination. Introduction Taiwanese traditional architecture refers to a style of buildings constructed by the Han^ people, (2) in the traditional style, on the island of Taiwan (Formosa) in the Republic of China. Generally these buildings were constructed before 1920. We are interested in vernacular houses, though many of the issues we consider in this paper also apply to the other building types, for example, temples, public buildings, and so on. The vernacular style is characterized, in plan, by an enclosure courtyard; and as a whole, by wood construction. It is interesting to note that much the same principles of traditional wood construction are still being followed in Taiwan with other building materials. Taiwanese architecture is a branch of Chinese architecture, (5) though there are marked peculiarities. In one sense, these can be distinguished by a special construction and design system that has its origins in the immigrant roots of Taiwanese architecture. Nearly all traditional Chinese (and Taiwanese) buildings were bilaterally symmetric. The axis of symmetry was located along the central line of the main hall {ting or tang), considered the sacred (or holiest) of family spaces. For this reason, all of the main spaces (rooms) in the building lie on the axis of symmetry; other secondary spaces were located to the left or right of this axis. One of the doctrines of Chinese philosophy is the doctrine of the mean (zhong-yong). The Chinese character zhong means balance, center, middle, and symmetry. This doctrine of balance was not only a philosophy of life, but also a philosophy for architecture. ^ T h e phonetic spellings for Chinese words in the paper are from Learner's Chinese English Dictionary (8th edition) and correspond to the Pinyin system. W The Chinese nation is made up of over fifty different nationalities such as the Han, Man, Meng (Mongol), Hui, and Zdng (Tibetan). Chinese culture, with the Han culture at its core, was created and enriched by all the nationalities working in concert. Political unity and the manifold bonds among the nationalities constituted a favorable condition for the continuity of classical Chinese architecture. See Wong and Chung (1986). (3) Japan pursued the movement of modernization in Taiwan in the 1920s. (4) Traditional building materials also included bamboo, earth, stone, and brick. Of these, wood construction was the most prevalent. The late Chinese architectural historian, Professor Ssu-ch'eng Liang (1901-72), has characterized Chinese architecture compositionally as having three main parts: the raised platform, body, and roof (Liang, 1984). 548 S-C Chiou, R Krishnamurti The spaces in a building were arranged in a particular fashion. The axis of symmetry always bisected the main central hall. All of the other spaces were developed through this central hall. Starting with the tdng-wu (also referred to as ting-tang; in Taiwan, it is called zheng-shen or cuo-shen) which includes the hall, two xidng-fdng's (in Taiwan, it is called hit-long or shen-shdu) were generated. An example of zheng-shen is shown in figure 1. The two xidng-fang's were the basic elements of the he-yuan, the enclosure-courtyard. The he-yuan was basic to most Chinese (and Taiwanese) traditional architecture; the spaces bordering the enclosure had openings facing the courtyard. The number of spaces in a tdng-wu ranged from one through nine, and never exceeded eleven; typically, it was seven; nine and eleven were reserved for the imperial palace. Each space in a typical tdng-wu had a unique name: ming (light), ci (secondary), shao (tip or end), and fin (finished). See figure 2. This concept is universal to Chinese architecture though the terminology was not, for instance, artisans in Taiwan did not use this terminology. The ancestors of most present-day Taiwanese came to the island between a hundred and three hundred years ago, mainly, from the provinces of Fukien (Fu-jidn) and Kwangtung (Gudng-dong), two provinces in the southeastern part of mainland China. See figure 3. The immigrants to this 'new world' formed neighborhoods fashioned according to the mores of their own hometown (on the mainland). Figure 1. Zheng-shen {tdng-wu) and hit-long (xidng-fdng): Huang family residence, Shen-keng, Taipei (after Lin, 1990, page 24). fin (finished) shao (tip or end) ci (secondary) • i 1