TRADITIONAL CHINESE REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE: CHINESE HOUSES
LINDA F. Sullivan*
INTRODUCTION:
The traditional architecture of China stands as a tangible example of the necessity, clearest in an agrarian society, for people to deal with the forces of nature and to try to come to an understanding with their surroundings by adapting their social organizations and needs to best suit the pre-existing conditions. It is by examining the way the people live and work in their homes that it is possible to begin to understand the problems which the Chinese have faced in finding shelter and in making it suitable to their ways of life and thought.
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING:
It has been said that "the unity and homogeneity of the Chinese race have frequently been emphasized. While there is a sense in which this is true, it is quite as important to point out the great variations which exist in language, physical appearance and psychology." It follows that any understanding of regional architecture must begin with an appreciation of variations in social customs and organization, of language barriers within regions, and of the forces of history. With the limited information available, this study will be confined to examining various types of houses and hypothesizing why they were built in the way they were. For the purposes of this paper, China can most conveniently be divided into North and South, with each region having distinct characteristics. It must be understood that within each region there are some variations of climate, topography, soil, etcetera which cause immediate local differences. The houses which will be discussed are all in the eastern part of the country, ranging from North to South. In the North the homes are in Honan and Hopei. In the South they are in Hunan, Chekiang, Kiangsu, Kwangtung, Fukien, and Hong Kong (the New Territories).
* Miss Sullivan is a graduate student of the Department of Asian Studies, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, who is at present (July 1972) in Hong Kong to study the vernacular architecture of this region.