Wuzhouchuantong Residential Building Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Zhuge Village in Lanxi City, Zhejiang Province, now has more than two hundred Ming and Qing dynasty residences; the earliest building there was constructed around the tenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty (1350). The earliest buildings of Yuyuan Village in Wuyi County date from the Southern Song dynasty, and 130 Ming and Qing residences survive there. The Lu Residence in Dongyang is a large residential complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a floor area of about 17,000 square meters; its famous Suyong Hall was built during the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty. Zhengzhai Town in Pujiang County is an ancient town where the Zheng clan lived together; it was first built in the early Northern Song dynasty and covers an area of about 5,000 square meters. The Lu Residence is located east of the city proper of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province; it is a large residential complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties, occupying 26,800 square meters with a floor area of 16,900 square meters.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
These buildings, with their long history, ingenious layout, and exquisite decoration, fully demonstrate a high level of construction craftsmanship. Wuzhou traditional residences give priority in their design to perfect integration with the surrounding natural environment. Most dwellings are built beside mountains and waters, shaded at the back and facing the sun, amid rising hillocks, with streams and rivers winding through. Some building plans follow the traditional left-right symmetrical form, with lanes and alleys crisscrossing; others adopt an eight-trigram (bagua) layout radiating outward from the center. Building types include ancestral halls, screen walls, memorial archways, stone bridges, halls, shops, schools, stages, granaries, kitchens, and bedrooms, among others — complete in function, and comfortable and convenient to live in. The ancestral hall is the core building of traditional residences in central Zhejiang. It is not only a place for worshipping ancestors but also where clan members gather to discuss affairs and where elders instruct the young; its architectural layout fully reflects the profound influence of Confucian ethical culture. The decorative arts of Wuzhou traditional residences are highly diverse, taking forms such as stone carving, wood carving, brick carving, and painted decoration. Wood carving is applied extensively to beams and purlins, bracket sets, sparrow braces, main doors, and window lattice patterns; the Lu Residence in Dongyang is the most typical example in this respect. Village dwellings generally take the form of grey bricks, grey walls, and horse-head gables on the roofs; some residences, such as the Lu Residence, have stone lions flanking the entrance, inspiring a sense of majesty and solemnity. The Suyong Hall axis forms the principal building of the Lu Residence, with nine courtyards in succession front to back and a depth of 320 meters. To the east, parallel to the Suyong Hall axis, there are from front to back: the Shide Hall axis with four successive courtyards, the Shude Hall axis with three, and the Dongyin Hall axis of the Grand Master's Residence; in the middle, the Daya Hall axis (comprising the Shanqing Hall and the Dunxu Hall); and at the rear, the three courtyards of the Airi Hall. To the west, parallel to the Suyong Hall axis, stand the Cunyi Hall with two successive courtyards, together with the Zhongxiao Hall, the Iron Gate Lane, and the Shenxiu Hall. Facing the street to the south are the East and West Lotus Pavilion Academies, the Maohuai Hall, and the Bingyu Hall of the Fangbo Residence. The ancient buildings here are diverse in style and full of character: the Suyong Hall is spacious and solemn, the Shude Hall lofty and towering, and the Dongyin Hall small and exquisite, each representing a different architectural concept and cultural idea. The architectural forms are also exceptionally rich; the roofs alone come in several types of overhanging-gable and flush-gable style, representing different ranks while also adding variety to the architectural forms. The mansions and halls of the Lu Residence are arranged in court after court, with sumptuous carving, integrating the wood carving, stone carving, brick carving, and painted arts of Dongyang, among which the wood carving art is the most outstanding. The beams and purlins, bracket sets, sparrow braces, doors and windows, and lattice panels throughout are all finely carved, displaying superb and consummate craftsmanship.
The nine-bay axis of Suyong Hall
The main axis of nine successive courtyards extends 320 metres, tightening as it goes so that the hall remains the formal focus.
Three halls, three characters
Suyong, Shude and Dongyin halls range from grand to intimate, expressing three different architectural ideals within one residence.
Eastern axes and western halls
Several parallel axes flank the main one on either side, and the space left between them becomes garden and subsidiary buildings.
East and West Pavilion academy and Bingyu Hall
The street-facing row includes two academy pavilions, Maohuai Hall and Bingyu Hall, where decoration concentrates on the visible elevations.
Gable roofs marking rank
A range of cantilevered and flush gable roofs marks different ranks while diversifying the composition.
Carved beams, brackets, spares and lattice doors
Wood, stone and brick carving and painted decoration combine at the Lu Residence, with carving dominating beams, brackets and lattice doors.
A hall complex of 17,000 square metres
Covering 26,800 square metres with 16,900 square metres of floor space, the complex is called a museum of Dongyang halls.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jinhua region in central Zhejiang Province was known in ancient times as 'Wuzhou', and its traditional residences are distributed mainly in Dongyang, Lanxi, Wuyi, and Pujiang.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wuzhouchuantong Residential Building Craftsmanship · Wuzhouchuantong Residential Building Craftsmanship · Wuzhouchuantong Residential Building Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Among the traditional residences of Wuzhou, Zhuge Village in Lanxi, the Lu Residence in Dongyang, and the Zheng family town in Pujiang are all Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, while Yuyuan Village in Wuyi is a historical and cultural protected area of Zhejiang Province. From every point of view, the Lu Residence can be called a museum of Dongyang hall architecture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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