ABOUT US
NEWS
Course Introduction | Traditional Chinese Architecture
Release time：2025-03-12
Architectural Theory and History I：
Traditional Chinese Architecture
Time: Wednesdays, 7:00–8:35 pm
Venue: South Building 408
Course Coordinators: Professor Chang Qing, Assoc. Professor Li Yingchun
Teaching Assistants: Ms. Xu Ruitong, Ms.Yang Shangxuan
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides advanced lectures on the history of Chinese architecture from ancient times to the first half of the 20th century. Through three thematic sections—vernacular architecture, high-style architecture, and architectural transformation in the 20th century—the course intends to present the historical diversity and narrative multiplicity of Chinese architecture. It encourages students to reconsider the characteristics of Chinese architecture in the multiple scopes of single buildings, human settlements, and cultural landscapes, thinking about how the historic built environment has interacted with the human body, technology, and society. It also invites students to explore various methods for interpreting historical materials, such as physical objects, literature, and images.
SCHEDULE AND TOPICS
Lecture 1, February 26
An Overview of Traditional Architecture in China
Speaker: Chang Qing, Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
1
Vernacular Architecture
Lecture 2, March 5
Ritual and Residential Spaces in Chinese Vernacular Architecture: Focused on Min and Zhe Regions
Speaker: Zhou Yizhi, Assistant Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Lecture 3, March 12
Adaptive Construction Traditions of Vernacular Settlements in the Loess Region of the Yellow River Basin
Speaker: Lin Xiaodan, Postdoctoral Researcher at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Lecture 4, March 19
Along the River During the Qingming Festival: Urban Form and Everyday Life in Ancient China
Speaker: Liu Diyu, Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Lecture 5, March 26
Reading Jiangnan: Its Territory, Landscape and Gardens in Lower Lands
Speaker: Dong Yiping, Associate Professor at the Design School, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University
Lecture 6, April 2
From Temples to Garden Estates and Academies: The Landscape Transformation of Suzhou during the 13th-16th Centuries and Beyond
Speaker: Pania Yanjie, Postdoc, Research Associate, and Course Lecturer in Institute of East Asian Art History, Center of Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University, Germany
2
High-style Architecture
Lecture 7, April 16
The Disappeared Palace: Restoring the Early Ming-dynasty Gallery-Courtyard of the Three Main Halls in the Forbidden City
Speaker: Zhu Yuhui, Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Lecture 8, April 23
Housing the Enlightened for Worship: Tang Architectural Classicism of Buddha Hall and Its Medieval Reconfigurations Across East Asia
Speaker: Xu Zhu, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen
Lecture 9, April 30
Imitation and Translation: The Wood-Mimicry Tombs of Song and Jin Dynasties
Speaker: Yu Lina, Assistant Professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University
Lecture 10, May 7
The Cave-temples of Dunhuang: A Thousand-year Construction of Palaces Amidst Mountains and Waters
Speaker: Zhou Zhenru, Assistant Researcher at the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
Lecture 11, May 14
Ascending to Tuṣita of Maitreya: Carpentry System of Buddha Hall in Golden-Cave Monastery
Speaker: Li Jingyang, Ph.D Candidate at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
3
Architectural Transformation
in the 20th Century
Lecture 12, May 28
China-ness in a Global World: Transformation of Traditional Chinese Architecture in the early 20th Century
Speaker: Li Yingchun, Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Lecture 13, June 4
Garden, Tabula Rasa and the President: Case Study of Modern Campus of Tsinghua University and the National Central University
Speaker: Dong Xiaoxiao, Assistant Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
