Comprehensive Research On Traditional Buildings Along The Shandong Canal

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Grand Canal, after its curves being cutoff and course then being straightened, began to flow through Shandong. The sectionof the river through Shandong is historically called the Shandong canal, and the partfrom Linqing to Jining is called Huitong River. In1289, during the reign of KublaiKhan of the Yuan Dynasty, Huitong River was fully open for transportation, whichmarks the formation of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The Shandong Canal beingopen for use greatly promotes the rapid development of society, economy and culturein the Canal region, and causes the architecture of various types to be built, related tothe Canal directly or indirectly. These traditional buildings, which have bothgeographically regional features and culturally regional features, are typically regionalarchitecture. From the perspective of architecture, history, geography, folklore,sociology, and human settlement, the thesis is devoted to the exploration of theprofound connotation of traditional buildings of the Shandong Canal through itsregional features and patterns of manifestation, with the traditional architecture as thebreak-through point of the Canal research. The thesis consists of six chapters:Chapter one is the introduction. It defines the concepts concerned, discusses thebackground, significance, methods and content, reviews the precedent researches, andputs forward the research outline of the thesis.Chapter two aims to analyze the interdependent relationship of Grand Canal andtraditional settlements and their relationship of mutually promoting each other. Basedon the difference of category and scope, the settlements along Shandong Canal aredivided into cities, towns and villages. Their overall environment of development andpatterns of manifestation are analyzed.Chapter three is devoted to the in-depth study of traditional residentialarchitecture along Shandong Canal. Earth dwellings, commercial streets, courtyardhouses, garden mansions, which are all directly influenced by the Canal culture, havethe unique styles and obvious regional features typical of the Canal region.Chapter four focuses on the far-reaching influence of the Canal on governmentoffice buildings, hall buildings, temple buildings and college buildings with specifictraditional public architecture as examples, which reflects the long-term interaction ofthe Canal culture and public architecture.Chapter five summarizes the river managing strategy and river technology of theShandong Canal and points out the development history and the value extension ofthe traditional hydraulic construction as a special form of architecture, through theexamination and research of such hydraulic construction as river brake, bridges, docksand dams.Chapter six analyzes the decay of traditional architecture along ShandongCanal and its cause, puts forward the protective principles and strategies, andexpounds on the practice of protecting and utilizing the traditional architecturealong the Shandong Canal.