A cultural study on the symbolic meanings of the Forbidden City’s Architecture 紫禁城建筑的文化象征意义研究.docVIP

a cultural study on the symbolic meanings of the forbidden citys architecture紫禁城建筑的文化象征意义研究abstractarchitecture is a kind of touchable culture. as a typical representation of the chinese feudal architecture, nearly every detail in the forbidden city has some symbolic meaning and reflects chinese culture in one way or another. therefore, it is feasible to generalize some essences of the traditional chinese culture through the architecture of the forbidden city. this thesis attempts to introduce the basic theories and applications of the traditional chinese culture by interpreting the symbolic meanings of the forbidden citys architectures. it relates the palace with confucianism, taoism, five element theory (wuxing) and totem culture, in order to help people comprehend the colorful and mysterious chinese culture represented in the marvelous royal palace.keywords: culture; architecture; forbidden city; symbolism不要删除行尾的分节符，此行不会被打印- i -摘要建筑是直观的文化载体。作为中华传统建筑的典型代表，几乎紫禁城中的每一个细节都这样或那样地反映了中国传统文化。因此，通过分析紫禁城的建筑象征意义来直观地介绍中国传统文化的思想精髓是可行的。本文将紫禁城的建筑与中国传统文化中的儒家思想、道家思想、五行学说、图腾崇拜联系在一起，来帮助人们理解丰富多彩和充满神秘的中华传统文化，以达到继承和传播中华传统文化的目的。关键词文化；建筑；紫禁城；象征 table of contentsabstracti摘要iiintroduction1i. symbolic meanings in buildings names and arrangements3a. supremacy of imperial power31. god-divined power purple forbidden city32. centralization of imperial power hall of supreme harmony4b. unity of human and heaven61. yin-yang a theory of taoism62. harmonythe ideal of confucianism8ii. symbolic meanings in the applications of numbers10a. heavenly numbers, earthly numbers and hexagrams101. introduction to numbers division and hexagrams102. the numerical difference between inner court and outer court12b. “three”, “six” and their relationship with the universe131. “three” not only a heavenly number132. “six” a special earthly number15c. “nine”, “five” and hierarchical system171. “nine” and “five” privileged numbers for chinese royalty172. the application of “nine” and “five” in the forbidden city18iii. symbolic meanings in colors and animal images20athe mystery of colors application201. introduction to five elements theory (wuxing)202colors symbolic meaning in the forbidden city22b. the story behind animal images241. chinese totem culture242. animal images applications in the forbidden city24conclusion26acknowledgements28bibliography29千万不要删除行尾的分节符，此行不会被打印。在目录上点右键“更新域”，然后“更新整个目录”。打印前，不要忘记把上面“abstract”这一行后加一空行- iii -a cultural study on the symbolic meanings of the forbidden citys architectureintroductionchinese culture is one indispensable part of the worlds civilization. in recent years, the ideas that it advocates have been gaining more and more recognition all over the world. based on their wisdom and mysteriousness, the essences of chinese culture such as taoism, confucianism, yin-yang. wuxing (five elements) and geomancy become the focuses of study home and abroad.the traditional chinese culture emphasizes the role of people and the order of society and universe. it relates individuals with family, society, and ultimately the nature. different from the utilitarianism in the modern world, the two main streams of the traditional chinese culture, confucianism and taoism, both focus on molding the morality of the people. it is thus possible that chinese culture could present the modern human society a tool to slow down the feverish hedonism and materialism.though having so many charms, the traditional chinese culture is relatively profound and difficult to understand for most people. its ideas are usually abstract and indirect. so it is important to find a more direct way to expound and spread its ideas.just like most traditional chinese architectures, the forbidden city has its two aspects of functions: practical function and symbolic function. being the heart of the whole country for nearly 500 years, the latter is far more critical than the former. almost every detail in the palace has their deep cultural symbolic implications. this thesis will analyze the symbolic meanings of forbidden city through names and arrangement of architectures, numbers application, choice of colors and decorations in a cultural perspective, correlating the city with taoism, confucianism, yin-yang, and wuxing (five elements) theory, with the aim to introduce and spread chinese culture in a visualized way. to fulfill the job, several classical works of chinese culture such as the book of analects, tao te ching, the book of change will be referred to. yet confined by the length of the thesis, the knowledge of these classics can not be detailed illustration, but merely brief introduction. i. symbolic meanings in buildings names and arrangements the names and arrangements of chinese architectures are influenced deeply by various chinese culture branches such as astrology, taoism, confucianism and closely associated with the supremacy of imperial power. this chapter will expound the cultural symbolic connotations of the forbidden city by analyzing the names and arrangements of some typical buildings.a. supremacy of imperial power1. god-divined power purple forbidden citythe full name of the palace is “purple forbidden city”, which is obtained from the heavenly “purple forbidden enclosure” around the north pole. in ancient chinese astrology, the universe is taken as a sphere called heavenly sphere. the sphere is divided into 31 regions, which are three enclosures and twenty-eight mansions. the three enclosures are respectively “purple forbidden enclosures”, “supreme palace enclosures” and “heavenly market enclosures” (wang 121). the purple forbidden enclosure, which is the residence of the heavenly emperor or supreme great one (太乙), is deemed as the center of heaven. the heavenly emperor is a star. actually it isursa minor in modern astrology. ancient chinese believed that heavenly emperor was the star for the first king in ancient china, fu xi (伏羲), who became this star after his death. chinese emperors in feudal dynasties all believed they were the incarnations of heavenly emperor and ruled the human society under the gods direction. so the name “purple forbidden city” is obtained to illustrate the supremacy and holiness of their power. ju yueshi (居阅时) states that the structure of beijing is designed after the heavenly sphere, while the forbidden city is patterned according to purple forbidden enclosure (22).2. centralization of imperial power hall of supreme harmonysovereigntys reign had manipulated chinese society for thousands of years. centralized power had been considered as the essential means of maintaining such dictatorship and hereby become a distinguishing feature of the feudal system. the arrangement of the forbidden city inevitably manifests the idea of centralization to an extreme extent.just like purple forbidden enclosure is the center of heaven, the forbidden city is the center of the human society (ancient chinese believed that china was the center of all nations). to emphasize the central status of emperor, the forbidden city is located on the center of beijing. furthermore, a central axis runs through the forbidden city, which divides the city into two symmetry parts. the three great halls（三大殿） and the three rear palaces（内三宫） stand on the central axis while all the less important palaces and specialized buildings are situated around it. to be exact, the central axis is actually the center axis of power. the three great halls, which are lined on the middle of the axis, are the official assembly halls of feudal chinese government. of the three halls, the hall of supreme harmony, where the emperor and his ministers deal with national affairs, becomes the most prominent building in the forbidden city and a symbol of chinese imperial power. as the most magnificent palace in the forbidden city, the hall of supreme harmony（太和殿） is named after the star heavenly emperor or supreme great one（太一星或天帝）, indicating that it is the throne hall of the emperor. and all the other buildings, such as the three rear palaces, the living quarter of concubines, the office of cabinet, are auxiliary buildings that support the hall of supreme harmony, just as the stars that lie around the heavenly emperor (王鲁民 144). there is a statement in analects of confucius illustrating the relationship between heavenly emperor and other stars, from which we can comprehend the status of the hall of supreme harmony and the supremacy of imperial power:the master said,” he who runs a government with virtue is like the polestar (heavenly emperor or supreme first one), which occupies its position while all the other stars salute it. (ch. 2, the book of analects)子曰：“为政以德，譬如北辰，居其所，而众星共之。(论语为政)this hall itself is 26.92 meters high and, with the three-layered platform on which the hall stands, this single palace reaches as high as 35.05 meters, making it the tallest building in the city and superior to others (cruickshank 1024). inside this palace, surmounting a base and two platforms, a throne rises. such height enables the emperor to overlook his ministers, and in general everything in the world. in short, all the particulars in the hall of supreme harmony cast an overwhelming image of solemnity, and people couldnt help admiring it with total respect and obedience, as is just the aim of powers centralization (宋莉, 冯莉 43).b. unity of human and heaven1. yin-yang a theory of taoism“unity of human and heaven” is the ideal of both of the two main streams of chinese culture, taoism and confucianism. it has been manifested previously that the forbidden city was named after “purple forbidden enclosure” in heaven and the city was just patterned after the enclosure, as is a typical practice of “unity of human and heaven”. yet the “heaven” in “unity of human and heaven” refers not only to heaven itself but the whole universe or nature. in searching for a principle to explain the true nature of the universe, chinese philosophers developed the concept of yin and yang, two kinds of basic forces of the nature that are connoted in every substance, whether it was material or abstract (hopfe, woodward 172). what made the universe operate the way it did was understood to be a balance between these two forces. the basic theme of yin-yang theory is manifested in the 42 chapter of tao de ching, a classics of taoism:all things connote yin and yang; and the yin and the yang keep acting upon each other; and thus things keep changing and unifying themselves.（ch.42, tao de ching）万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。(道德经四十二章) yin represents the negative forces in nature, while yang is the positive ones. the former can usually be seen in darkness, coolness, femaleness, and the earth itself; the latter gain domination in lightness, warmth, maleness, and the sun (hopfe, woodward 173). yin is the opposite side of yang, but that doesnt mean they have less relation. they complement each other and interact as a whole; yin can contain yang, while yang can also contain yin. the theory is similar to modern philosophys law of the unity of opposites. to be simple, the yin- yang theory can be best understood in figure 1.the picture is called “supreme polar picture”. the bright parts represent yang, while the black parts represent yin. the round figure as a whole can be understood as either a concrete or abstract thing, which is a combination of the yin and the yang. and either aspect contains the other aspect, as is illustrated as the small round figure. the small figures can be further divided into the two forces as a whole substance.the theory introduced above has kept developing in china for thousands of years. the chinese believe that when the two kinds of forces interact with each other in harmony, the development will be in the right direction. as a result, the forbidden city, in which the emperor rules and directs the whole country, becomes one of the most appropriate targets to put the theory into practice. the yin-yang theory, being a principle of the whole universe, obtains special emphasis in the forbidden citys arrangement. the design of the city takes the universe and the human as a whole, and applies the unchanging rule of universe to the representative of human society.following this theory, the forbidden city is divided into two parts: inner court and outer court, taking the gate of heavenly peace (乾清门) as their boundary line (nuttgens 736). the outer court is the place where emperor and his ministers deal with official affairs. the inner court is the place where emperor, his wife and concubines live. the outer court thereby is designed to represent yang, the inner court yin, for the males belong to yang and emperor is supreme yang; females belong to yin. the names of the outer court halls and palaces such as the hall of martial valor (武英殿) and the hall of literacy glory (文华殿) are usually full of masculine sense; the inner court palaces such as the palace of earthly tranquility (坤宁宫) and the palace of accumulating beauty (储秀宫) are usually featured by their feminine names. to illustrate that yin connotes yang, the living palace of the emperor (belonging to yang) in the inner court is named “the palace of heavenly peace” (乾清宫), in which heaven represents yang. manifestations that the yang connotes the yin are usually associated with numbers and will be shown in chapter 2.2. harmonythe ideal of confucianism unity of human and heaven (universe) is also advocated by confucianism. as the orthodox religion of chinese feudalism, confucianism advocates the harmony and peace of human society (waley 3). confucians believe that the king or emperor should rule the people with sympathy and morality, and develop harmonious relationship with his people; thereby the whole country will advance in stability (bush 42). at the same time, confucianism promotes that human beings should behave according to the law of nature or universe and preserve harmonious touch with the nature. harmony, which is still promoted today, is also the ideal of the forbidden citys design. harmony itself is associated indispensably with other ideals such as peace, stability and tranquility. when these words are combined with cosmology terms, the ideal of “unity of human and heaven” is displayed. the three great halls in the outer court, hall of supreme harmony (太和殿), hall of median harmony (中和殿), hall of preserving harmony (保和殿), are named in the same style, which gives prominence to “harmony”. the hall of supreme harmony is named after the star “supreme great one” (太一), as is clarified previously. the three rear palaces in the inner court are respectively palace of heavenly (乾清宫), palace of earthly tranquility (坤宁宫) and palace of union and peace (交泰殿). the three names are featured by their cosmological terms. 乾 (qian) in chinese means heaven and male; 坤 (kun) means earth and female. the appropriate interaction between the two brings 泰 (tai), which means peace, to the universe. herein the application is to bring peace and harmony to human society. qian, kun, tai are all hexagrams in the book of change, and some details about hexagrams will be introduced in the following chapter.ii. symbolic meanings in the applications of numbers in chinese culture, numbers are endowed with deep abstract connotations. ancient chinese believed that numbers had the power that could determine changes and transformations and set gods and demons in movement (ch. 8, xici zhuan/系辞传八章). they are usually associated with cosmology, auspices, rites, and manifested in almost all areas such as architecture, literature, and ethics, making numbers application a mysterious phenomenon in the traditional chinese culture. as the residence of royal family, the forbidden city emphasizes a lot on the symbolic function of numbers. the influence of numbers implications penetrates nearly all particulars of the architectures in the forbidden city.a. heavenly numbers, earthly numbers and hexagrams1. introduction to numbers division and hexagramsto illustrate the symbolic function of numbers applications in the forbidden city, the division of heavenly numbers and earthly numbers must be previously introduced. in mathematics, people divided numbers into odd numbers and even numbers. while in chinese philosophy, the categories of numbers are heavenly numbers and earthly numbers. they respectively represent heaven and earth, in which the former belong to yang, the latter to yin, as is set forth in chapter one. there is an explicit description of the division xici zhuan of yijing:heaven is one, earth is two; heaven is three, earth is four; heaven is five, earth is six; heaven is seven, earth is eight; heaven is nine, earth is ten. there are five heavenly numbers. there are also five earthly numbers. when they are distributed to five places, each finds its complement. the sum of heavenly numbers is 25, and the sum of earthly numbers is 30. the sum total of heavenly numbers and earthly numbers is 55. it is this that determines changes and transformations and sets gods and demons in movement. (ch.8, xici zhuan)天一，地二，天三，地四，天五，地六，天七，地八，天九，地十。天数五，地数五，五位相得而各有合。天数二十有下，地数三十，凡天地之数五十有五。此所以成变化而致鬼神也。(系辞传八章)the sum “55” is called the number of “da yan” (great variation/大衍), meaning that people can deduce the change and evolvement of everything in the universe from the 55 numbers. actually, the 64 hexagrams in the book of change, which are used for divination by ancient chinese, are obtained from the change of numbers through a series of procedures. there is an explicit description of the procedure in xici zhuan: the number of total is fifty-five, of these, forty-nine are used. they are divided into two portions, to represent the two primal forces (yin and yang). hereupon, one is set apart, to represent the three powers. they are counted thr