A collection of wooden architectural models from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage in Beijing is being shown in Munich for the first time outside China. Together with photographs, architectural surveys and the corresponding explanations, the models convey a fascinating insight into the beauty and technique of timber construction, as well into Chinese architecture as a whole.
These models give a good, general overview of how traditional buildings were constructed in China. For nearly three centuries, almost all public buildings in China were built according to a hardly ever changing construction system: an enormous, curved hip roof rests on wooden posts with wide overhanging eaves and tile covering, supported by an elaborate wooden construction. Posts, purlins, as well as rows of short beams form a framework, whose parts are only connected with pins, thus creating an elastic wooden framework that can even absorbstrong vibrations of earthquakes. The walls are only fitted in without a load-bearing function. Compared to our tiled roofs, the dead load of traditional Chinese tiled roofs is - depending on their size - three to four times as high and can withstand even strong gales. The wood of the white cedar used for construction tolerates four times the tensile stress of steel, its compressive strength being more than six times as high as concrete. This construction had the effect that many historical buildings could endure natural catastrophes, hence wooden constructions from the 8th century still exist today. Most of these buildings are situated west of Beijing in Shanxi province.
The specific Chinese type of timber construction was laid down in detail in a manual, Yingzao Fashi (Treatise on Architectural Methods) by Li Jie written during the Song dynasty. Thanks to these guidelines and the enormous adaptability of the system this characteristic timber construction has been passed on from generation to generation until today, such a longevity of an architectural building structure being unique worldwide. In the 20th century, documentation and teaching models of the highest accuracy were made of the most important Buddhist temples and palace complexes. These large-scale models on show in Munich precisely show all the details in order to enable their study and a possible reconstruction of the historical buildings.
There are 19 models in the Alte Pinakothek show, amongst them are detailed models of the bracket system (dougong), including models of the oldest timber constructions existing in China today, such as the Nanchan Temple (Tang dynasty, 782, Wutai, Shanxi), the Foguang Temple (Tang dynasty, 857, Wutai, Shanxi) and the Guanyin Hall of the Dule monastery (Liao dynasty, 984, Tianjin, Jixin), which survived 28 earthquakes including the great earthquake of 1679, when no other buildings, apart from this hall, survived in the area.
Nanchan Temple was rebuilt in the 3rd year of Dezong Jianzhong (782) during the Tang dynasty. The temple faces south, with its main hall is the earliest preserved timber-structured building in the country. Only four timber-structured buildings of the Tang dynasty have been preserved - all of them are in Shanxi Province. Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple are both located on Mount Wutai. With its five flat peaks, the mountain is one of themost sacred Buddhist places in China. Mount Wutai (the five terrace mountain), is the highest mountain in northern China and is remarkable for its morphology characterised by precipitous sides with five open treeless peaks.
Its cultural landscape numbers 53 monasteries and includes the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple (the highest surviving timber building of the Tang dynasty), which houses life-size clay sculptures. Foguang Temple was established in the 5th century during the Northern Wei dynasty. Unlike most other Chinese temples which are oriented in a south-north position, the Foguang Temple is oriented in an east-west position due to there being mountains located on the east, north and south. From the years of 785 to 820, the temple underwent an active building period when a three level, 32 m tall pavilion was built. In 845, Emperor Wuzong banned Buddhism in China. As part of the persecution, Foguang Temple was burned to the ground, with only the Zushi pagoda surviving from the temple's early history. Twelve years later, in 857, the temple was rebuilt, with the East Hall being built on the former site of a three-storey pavilion. A woman named Ning Gongyu provided most of the funds needed to construct the hall, and its construction was led by a monk named Yuancheng. In the 10th century, a depiction of Foguang Temple was painted in cave 61 of the Mogao Grottoes. However, it is likely the painters had never seen the temple, because the main hall in the painting is a two-storeyed white building with a green-glaze roof, very different from the red and white of the East Hall. This painting indicates that Foguang Temple was an important stop for Buddhist pilgrims. In 1137, during the Jin Dynasty, the Manjusri Hall was constructed on the temple's north side, along with another hall dedicated to Samantabhadra, which burnt down in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Overall, the buildings on the site present a catalogue of the way Buddhist architecture developed and influenced palace building in China over more than one millennium.
Other buildings represented in the exhibition include a 300 m long complex of the Yongle-palace in Ruicheng (Yuan dynasty, 1271-1368, Shanxi province) consisting of four halls, the 270 hectare complex of the temple of heaven (Ming and Qingdynasty, since 1420, Beijing), as well as a model of one of the 492 Buddhist cave temples of the area of Dunhuang, all of these complexes under the aegis of Unesco World Cultural Heritage programme.
Until 24 January, AltePinakothek Barer Strasse 27, Munich, Germany, www.pinakothek.de
