建筑理论与历史 I（英）: 中国建筑史专题  

Wood Joints: A Key to Understanding Chinese Architecture

榫卯：理解中国建筑的钥匙

Wood joint is the connection in wooden architecture. As such, it serves both as the structural articulation of timber buildings and as the key to understanding the differences and distinctive characters of timber civilizations. This lecture takes as its point of departure the intrinsic relationship between structural strategies and joinery construction in China's two traditional timber systems— tailiang and chuandou constructions. By comparing these with the technical approaches of similar buildings in Europe and Japan, the lecture attempts to explore, from a comparative technological perspective, how different civilizations have responded to their respective building needs through joinery, and to reveal the underlying logic of their cultural distinctiveness.

榫卯是木构建筑中的节点，因此既是木结构的“关节”，也是理解不同木构文明差异与特质的关键。本讲座以中国两种传统木结构体系——抬梁与穿斗——的结构策略与榫卯构造之间的内在关联为切入点，并将其与欧洲、日本同类建筑的技术策略进行对照，尝试从技术比较的视角，深入理解不同文明如何以榫卯构造回应各自的建造需求，并揭示其背后文化特质的底层逻辑。

LIU Yan

刘妍

LIU Yan, an architectural historian, earned the degree of Doktor-Ingenieurin Bauforschung (Building Archaeology) from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. He is the author of Woven Arch Bridge: Histories of Constructional Thoughts and Sunmao: Connecting East and West Wood Civilizations. He is currently teaching at the Faculty of Architecture and City Planning, Kunming University of Science and Technology, China.

刘妍，建筑历史学者，德国慕尼黑工业大学建筑考古学专业工学博士、东南大学建筑历史与理论专业工学硕士、清华大学土木工程专业工学学士。著有专著 《编木拱桥：技术与社会史》、《榫卯：东西方木构文明的关节》等。现执教于昆明理工大学建筑与城市规划学院。

Time：

April 29, 2026 (Wednesday)

6:30–8:05 pm

Venue：

Room308, South Building

时间：

2026年4月29日（星期三）

18:30-20:05

地点：

同济大学（四平路校区）教学南楼308

Liu, Yan. “Joinery and Structure: Cultural and Technical Comparison between Traditional Wooden Framing Systems in East Asia and Western Europe”. Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology 6 (1), 089–118 (2022)

Zwerger, Klaus. Wood and Wood Joints: Building Traditions of Europe, Japan and China. Fourth, Revised and Expanded edition. Birkhäuser, 2023.