|
By Ivana
|
Wang Family Grand Courtyard
Photo: ChinaCulture.org
|
Construction Art
The Grand Courtyard of the Wangs gained its fame as the "First Courtyard in Cathay" not only because of its use, stability, and beauty, but also because of its magnificent grandeur and unique craftsmanship that are embodied in its location, structure, interior design, and cultural bearings.
The whole compound incorporates garden art and courtyard building techniques under the premises of conforming to social institutions and practicality. The traditional flavor of North China's civil residence is very distinctive, but the building also borrowed the design of the gardens in South China. The outline, the intervals, and every other detail of the compound jointly present an elaborate work of Chinese folk residence.
Three Carvings
|
Wang Family Grand Courtyard
Photo: ChinaCulture.org
|
Carving works made of brick, stone, and wood can be seen almost anywhere in the Grand Courtyard of the Wangs, yet each piece of the work is fine and ingenious. As an important part of the courtyard's construction art, the carvings demonstrate the artistic feature of the time.
With varied themes, the carving works applied a multiple of carving skills. Literati figures, painters, and carving artists participated in making the artistic carvings works, presenting Confucius, Taoism, and Buddhism thoughts as well as the Chinese folk customs and arts. Consciously or unconsciously, the carvings have inherited ancient Chinese civilization in its unique way.
|
Wang Family Grand Courtyard
Photo: ChinaCulture.org
|
The carvings are an important reason why the courtyard is also reputed as the "art gallery of Chinese folk residence."
Furniture, Painting and Calligraphy
As an important component of the Chinese artistic treasure trove, the furniture art boasts not only practical use, but also values in cultural research and artistic appreciation. Most of the furniture exhibited in the courtyard were made in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties. Although the style is usually simple, the carvings on the furniture are very exquisite, fully showing the natural beauty from the fine texture, color, and pattern of the wood.
|
Wang Family Grand Courtyard
Photo: ChinaCulture.org
|
The calligraphies and paintings collected in the courtyard were mostly from the famous calligraphers and painters in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The famous literati Zheng Banqiao's handwritings, Qi Junzao's horizontal wood inscribed boards on doors, vertically-hung scrolls of Fushan and Liuyong (Liu Luoguo), paintings of Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming, and Weng Fanggang's stone carvings and horizontal wood inscribed boards can all be found here.
All the works contain their workmanship in the strokes and place their feeling on the points and in the paintings. Even after two to three hundred years, these works still remain full of charm and are of high value, therefore, often enticing numerous poets and writers among the courtyard's many visitors to make a temporary stay to savor their flavor a bit longer.
1 2 3
|
