A Research On 'Xiang Shan Band'

The construction technology of ‘Xiang Shan Band' has been included in the ‘NationalIntangible Cultural Heritage' list. The continuity of an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage' iscommonly supported by three key elements: people, technical features and characteristicsof the work. The present research is also conducted around the three elements.As a grass-roots organization,‘Xiang Shan Band' has not only a leader but also aconstruction instruction, which is very rare in China. The development of ‘Xiang ShanBand'is closely associated with its Wu-background. Chapter One of Part One describes theband with its development vein as the main line and draws the outline of developmenttrack of the construction technology from ‘Pre-Wu era' to ‘Gou Wu era' then to ‘Post-Wuera', including four stages which are respectively ‘Initial period in the Wu and Yue era',‘Transformation and validation in the Six Dynasties to Song Dynasty',‘Booming period inthe Yuan and Ming to Qing Dynasty'and ‘Declining and reviving period in Modern Times'.Culture is the soil of inoculation and Architectural Art is the expression of culture.Meanwhile, the technology will be impacted by the thought of ‘being rich and then think ofculture'. This paper also enriches the analyses of humanistic characteristics for ‘XiangShan Band' from distinct angles of technical feature, workmen, cases from ancient booksand the development trend.The works of ‘Xiang Shan Band' workmen mainly include dwellings, gardens andtemples. Part Two analyzes the works which is not only a fusion of technology and art butalso an agreement of the workman and charge workmen. The features of the private gardendesigned by ‘Xiang Shan Band' are unique from ‘layout planning' to ‘diversity ofarchitectural types' and from ‘the artistic quality of single building' to ‘the integrity of thespatial composition'. Therefore, in Chapter Four, it is targeted to introduce the techniquefeatures of ‘one method multiple ways',‘with the method but without the way', with insetting the construction technology of private gardens into the procedure of gardenconstitution. The works of dwellings from the ‘Xiang Shan Band' have the extremely hightechnological achievements but its decoration is simple and elegant. At the same time, theworks satisfy the requests of etiquette and they are full of life charm. It is not advisable tobe closed when studying an art. So ‘Xiang Shan Band' brings the dwellings buildings inHuizhou and the North of Zhejiang into the research to conduct a comparative analysis. Inaddition, this study highlights various technological and decorative features of thedwellings such as the simple carvings, exquisitetechnology, light and handy componentsand nodes changes of the building components. Chapter Six is contributed to thespecialized analysis that the construction of temple buildings is a significant cause of theimprovement in build skills. The research discovers that the pithy skills of ‘XiangshanBand' are presented by private gardens; the exquisite skills are represented by thedwellings; and the ingenious skill are represented by the temples. To be exact, the pithyskills mean the pureness feature of the gardens; the exquisite skills show that theconstruction of the dwellings is not publicized and focuses on details; the ingenious skillsreveal that Wu temples develop a new style and are skillful in construction.