The University of Hong Kong

Common Core Course 2019 – 2020

China: Culture, State and Society
Chinese House and Garden: Architecture, Landscape, and Material Culture (CCCH 9001)

Lecture 02
Courtyard House: Type and Construction

A. House Form and Its Prototype: Physical or Cultural?

1. Climate and Geography
2. Materials and Technology
3. Social Structure and Defense
4. Culture and Religion

B. “Jia” 家—Home and Family in Courtyard Spaces

1. Genealogies and Rituals in Lineage: Center and Growth
2. Dwellings as Social Templates: Organization and Social Order
3. Spatial Module and Structure Bays: Kaijian 開間
4. Courtyard Spaces, Progression and the Concept of Jin 進 and Kua 跨
5. Multi-Functional Courtyards – Privacy and Defense/Climate Moderator/Social and
Production Space/Aesthetics and Symbols /Didactic Narrative

C. The Art of Construction: Feng-shui and Mystical Beliefs

1. Structure and Materials
i. Roof, Columns & Walls, and Base
ii. Structural Systems: Column 柱, Beam 樑, Purlin 檁, Rafter 椽 and Wall 牆;
Posts and Beams Construction 舉架式 / Columns and Ties Construction 穿斗式
iii. Timber, Stone, Brick and Tile: Material Preparation
2. Site and Design Planning
i. Modular Bay, Dimensions and Folk Beliefs
ii. Orientation 坐向, Openings 開口納氣, and Construction Date Selection 擇日
3. Construction Process
i. Rituals for Corners 拜神 /拜四角 and Erect Post 立柱
ii. Installation of Main Beam 上樑 and Main Entrance Door 立氣口
4. Summoning Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck 催吉避凶
Motifs of Fortune, Sorcery as Defensive Measures

D. Prototypes and Regional Variations

1. Northern Courtyard Houses
i. Beijing 北京
ii. Shanxi 山西 and Shaanxi 陝西; Cave Dwellings 窰洞
iii. Shandong 山東, Henan 河南 and Hebei 河北
1
 2. Courtyard Houses in Jiang-nan 江南
i. Suzhou 蘇州, Hangzhou 杭州 and Shaoxing 紹興
ii. Huizhou 徽州 and Jiangxi 江西

3. Courtyard Houses in Southern China

i. Southern Fujian 閩南: Quanzhou 泉州 and Chaozhou 潮州
ii. Lingnan 嶺南: Guangzhou 廣州 and Hong Kong 香港

4. Hakka Courtyard and Round Houses

i. Yongding , Fujian 褔建永定
ii. Ganzhou, Jiangxi 江西贛州
iii. Meizhou, Guangdong 廣東梅州

5. Courtyard Houses in Other Regions

i. Sichuan 四川
ii. Yunnan 雲南 and Lijiang 麗江
iii. Northeastern China 東北: Jilin 吉林 and Korea 朝鮮

Required Reading List:

Boyd, Andrew. Chinese Architecture and Town Planning 1500 B.C. – 1911 A.D.. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1962. (Chapter II and IV)

Knapp, Ronald G., Lo, Kai-yin eds. House Home Family: Living and Being Chinese. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2005 (Article 3 and 5)

Recommended Reading List:

Knapp, Ronald G. China’s Living Houses: Folk Beliefs, Symbols, and Household Ornamentation.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Berliner, Nancy. Yin Yu Tang: The Architecture and Daily Life of a Chinese House. Singapore: Tuttle
Publishing, 2003.
Rapoport, Amos. House Form and Culture. N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1969.
Blaser, Werner. Courtyard House in China: Tradition and Present. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag, 1979.
程萬里， 《中國傳統建築》， 香港:香港萬里書店, 中國建築工業出版社， 1991. (第三章及第四章)
李允鉌，《華夏意匠 – 中國古典建築設計原理分析》， 香港: 廣角鏡出版社， 1982. (第四章至第
六章)
趙廣超， 《不只中國木建築》， 香港: 三聯出版社， 2000.
陸元鼎，楊谷生， 《中國民居建築》， 廣州:華南理工大學出版社， 2003.
王其鈞， 《圖說民居》， 北京:中·國建築工業出版社，2004.