Search Results (211)

Longnan, located in Gansu Province, China, at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces, represents one of the key corridors of the Northern Tea-Horse Ancient Road. This region preserves abundant traditional timber covered bridges with distinct local characteristics. This study employs ArcGIS spatial analysis and documentary research methods to explore the spatial distribution, spatiotemporal evolution, and influencing factors of these bridges. Spatial analyses (nearest neighbor index, kernel density, and standard deviational ellipse) are based on 71 bridges with traceable coordinates, while the temporal evolution analysis incorporates 80 bridges (64 with definite construction periods and 16 with unknown dates; the latter are handled through a sensitivity analysis as described later in this paper The results indicate that the timber covered bridges in Longnan exhibit a significantly clustered distribution, presenting a pattern of “dense in the southwest and sparse in the northeast”, with Wen County and Kang County as the core clustering areas. Temporally, they follow a unimodal evolution pattern: initiation in the Ming Dynasty, peak in the Qing Dynasty, decline in the Republic of China period, and near stagnation in modern times. The location and distribution of the covered bridges show a strong statistical association with natural conditions (e.g., topography, hydrology) and exhibit spatial coincidence with modern vegetation coverage—the latter treated solely as a contemporary context variable rather than a historical driver. Spatial coincidence with the ancient road is quantified (60.56% within a 2000 m buffer), while settlement proximity is only qualitatively noted as background. Socio-economic factors (e.g., population, transportation, and settlements) are examined qualitatively and display spatial coincidence rather than quantitatively measured influence; these factors cannot be directly compared with natural factors. Full article

Historic blue bricks are fundamental to Beijing’s architectural heritage, yet cross-site compositional data for guiding material-compatible restoration remain scarce. This study applies WD-XRF, XRD, SEM, thermal expansion measurement, and physical property testing to 21 blue brick specimens from four Beijing-area sites spanning the Tang through Qing dynasties, with PCA and K-means clustering used to explore compositional grouping structures. Within this exploratory dataset, a compositional distinction separates the Ming and Qing Great Wall bricks: CaO falls from 7.7 to 1.5 wt.% as anorthite gives way to albite, while Qing specimens are denser (1.79 vs. 1.65 g·cm⁻³) with lower water absorption (15.9% vs. 20.9%). Two Wanping City bricks are strongly sulfate-enriched (SO₃ up to 9.8%), and WP-SE3 additionally carries a heavy chloride load (Cl 2.1%), masking their original clay signatures and illustrating how unrecognized weathering can distort compositional grouping and source-related interpretation from bulk chemistry. K-means clustering yields compositional types that overlap only partially with site boundaries, capturing raw material variation rather than site-specific manufacturing fingerprints. Despite constraints in sample size and physical property coverage, the integrated dataset offers preliminary compositional benchmarks and limited performance data to inform period-specific brick replacement at these heritage sites. Full article

As an important medium for conveying rich historical and cultural information, the decorative elements of ancient Chinese timber architecture still lack a systematic understanding of their intrinsic cultural logic in current research and conservation practices. Guided by the cultural gene theory, this study systematically analyzes the wooden decorations of the Luzhai complex in Dongyang, Zhejiang, and constructs a “tangible–intangible” gene map comprising 24 relevant factors, including form, craftsmanship, and symbolic meaning. Through AHP-FCE (Analytic Hierarchy Process- Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation) quantitative analysis, 126 typical components from 427 decorative samples (including 165 from the Ming Dynasty and 262 from the Qing Dynasty) in the Ming and Qing Dynasty Luzhai in Dongyang were coded and quantitatively evaluated. The results indicate that the Ming-dynasty wooden architectural decorations in the Luzhai complex are characterized by botanical patterns, relief carving, and Confucian ethics, embodying restraint and ritual order; whereas Qing-dynasty decorations are characterized by animal patterns, round carving, and status symbols, reflecting sociocultural and economic transformation. This study provides a methodological framework for interpreting regional architectural decoration and offers theoretical and practical support for the conservation and digital preservation of traditional architectural heritage. Full article

Traditional villages are important carriers of rural cultural heritage, yet their spatio-temporal distribution and underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding the interaction between environmental and socio-cultural drivers over long historical periods. Focusing on 131 nationally recognized traditional villages in southern Hebei, China, this study integrates GIS-based spatial analysis with historical interpretation to examine their spatial patterns, temporal evolution, and driving factors from the pre-Sui period to the Qing Dynasty and post-Qing period. The results show that traditional villages exhibit a highly clustered and uneven distribution, primarily concentrated in mountain-front zones in the western and southwestern parts of the region. Spatial analysis reveals a multi-core clustering structure, and spatial autocorrelation confirms that this pattern is statistically significant. Temporally, village formation follows a non-linear process of concentration, expansion, and stabilization, with the Ming Dynasty representing a key peak period. The findings further indicate that dominant driving mechanisms shifted over time: early settlement was mainly constrained by environmental conditions, whereas later development increasingly depended on socio-cultural processes such as migration, defense, clan organization, and regional exchange. In the contemporary context, economic development and accessibility introduce complex and non-linear effects. These results suggest that traditional villages should be understood as dynamic cultural landscapes shaped by long-term human–environment interactions. This study provides an integrated framework for understanding rural settlement dynamics and offers insights relevant to rural heritage conservation and sustainable development in transitional regions. Full article

Mount Jiuhua, a sacred Chinese mountain with profound Buddhist heritage, has developed Buddhist cultural landscapes closely linked to the secularization of Chinese Buddhism. The interplay between these landscapes and religious secularization is complex, yet scholarly research into this dynamic remains limited. This study utilizes historical geographical information system (HGIS) technology, integrating multi-source data—including local gazetteers, travelogues, and historical maps—to construct a database of temples and associated historical spatial elements on Mount Jiuhua. Through a combined qualitative and quantitative approach, we analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of Buddhist temples on Mount Jiuhua from the Tang Dynasty onward. The study reveals that the number of temples on Mount Jiuhua has undergone a phased trajectory characterized by “continuous growth-high-level stability-gradual decline”. Spatially, the distribution pattern shifted from an early multi-centered dispersion to a single-core agglomeration centered on Jiuhua Street since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the spatial centroid of temple distribution progressively converging toward Jiuhua Street and its surrounding core area. This transformation represents a spatial manifestation of Chinese Buddhist secularization within a mountainous landscape, shaped jointly by four interrelated dimensions: natural conditions, political economy, secular demands, and transportation systems. This research offers a novel analytical framework and methodological paradigm from a historical-geographical perspective for studying the secularization of sacred mountains. It also provides scientific insights for the conservation of Buddhist mountain cultural heritage and the restoration of historical landscapes. Full article

Breaking the Blood Pond (po xuehu 破血湖) was a popular religious practice that took shape from the Song-Jin period onward and became widely prevalent in Jiangnan during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The infernal hell conjured by the Blood Pond requires religious ritual to be broken open and transformed. This article argues that Breaking the Blood Pond can be traced back to Buddhist legend and to its unexpected convergence with Confucian notions of filial piety, while its more substantial discursive logic was established through Daoist apotropaic practices such as “breaking hell”. At the same time, it also had a lateral counterpart in the female inner alchemy of Red Dragon-Slaying (zhan chilong 斬赤龍), which circulated widely in Jiangnan from the Song, Jin, and Yuan periods onward. Menstrual blood and postpartum lochia are judged impure because they are understood as forms of stasis, retention, and obstruction. In Jiangnan local society, the unfolding of Breaking the Blood Pond depends both on the continued development of imaginaries of the netherworld and traditions of netherworld journey, and on concrete forms of local ritual organization. A woman’s state of existence in the afterlife is related not only to her experiences in life, but also to how her posthumous condition is imagined by the living. In this sense, Breaking the Blood Pond concerns not only the bodily experience of individual women, but also a communal ritual experience crossing the boundaries of class, generation, gender, and even good and evil. Full article

This paper focuses on the early Qing monk-painter Hongren 弘仁, systematically exploring the pathways through which the Chan Buddhist “emptiness contemplation” is manifested in his landscape paintings. As a representative monk-painter, Hongren produced works that profoundly embody the Chan contemplation of emptiness, yielding a singular style defined by austere coldness, minimalist simplicity, and profound quietude. Transcending conventional stylistic descriptions in art history and essentialist philosophical deductions, this study adopts a comprehensive empirical approach that integrates poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seals (shi-shu-hua-yin 诗书画印). By adopting an interdisciplinary perspective of philosophy, religion, and art history, this study argues that Hongren’s landscapes are not merely subjective emotional expressions or aesthetic pursuits; rather, they constitute a visual extension and a spiritual externalization of his emptiness contemplation. Through a multi-layered analysis of his form, brushwork, composition, and artistic conception, combined with the mutual corroboration of poetic inscriptions on paintings and textual inscriptions on seals, this paper reveals how the Chan philosophy of “emptiness contemplation” is reflected within his artistic language. While Hongren’s style is the cumulative result of various factors such as the Ming-Qing dynasty transition, his personal life, the inheritance of painting techniques, and the regional culture of Mount Huang, this paper specifically takes Chan thought as its analytical starting point, focusing on its unique expression in his work. Hongren’s path of “Painting-Chan” (hua chan 画禅) not only infused early Qing painting with a sublime spiritual power but also provides a vital religious exegesis of the deep-seated Chinese tradition of “Technique Ascending to the Dao” (ji jin yu dao 技进于道). Full article

Chinese Traditional Concrete (CTC), known as “San-he-tu,” has ensured the long-term durability of ancient coastal structures, yet its underlying material design logic remains insufficiently understood. This study investigates the Chongwu Ancient City Wall (Quanzhou, China), a Ming Dynasty granite fortification exposed to over 600 years of marine weathering, to elucidate the structure–property–function relationships of CTC across three functional layers: the horse-track surface, wall core backfill, and masonry bonding layer. A multi-technique analytical framework (XRF, XRD, TG, and SEM) was employed to characterize chemical composition, mineral phases, thermal behavior, and microstructure. Results reveal a deliberate “functional adaptability” material design. The surface layer adopts a rigid protective formulation with high quartz (76.9%) and CaO (17.06%), forming a dense, low-porosity matrix resistant to abrasion and weathering. The wall core exhibits a flexible filling strategy with high porosity (35.44%), enabling moisture dissipation and deformation accommodation. The bonding layer, enriched in kaolinite (~29.8%) and reactive Al–Fe components, promotes pozzolanic reactions that generate hydraulic gels, ensuring durable interfacial adhesion under humid coastal conditions. These findings demonstrate that ancient builders engineered zone-specific material compositions to meet distinct structural and environmental demands, forming a functionally graded system analogous to modern material design concepts. This study provides a scientific basis for adopting partitioned, differentiated restoration strategies in coastal heritage conservation. Full article

How did a school of Daoist internal alchemy flourish in the Ming and Qing dynasties without formal ordination, institutional affiliation, or a lineage of disciples? This paper challenges the conventional paradigms of Daoist transmission by examining the case of Lu Xixing 陸西星 (1520–1606), the founder of the Eastern Lineage (Dongpai 東派). Drawing on newly unearthed sources, including local gazetteers, Lu’s poetry collection Kouyin manlu 鷇音漫錄, a long-hidden manuscript Sanzang zhenquan 三藏真詮, and original fieldwork materials, this paper reveals that Lu’s multifaceted interactions with the local gentry class fostered what I term “gentry alchemy”. This gentry alchemy provided an alternative “covert” pathway for the transmission of the Eastern Lineage, operating outside formal Daoist institutions through patronage networks. The paper examines three mechanisms of gentry support: funding publications, engaging in intellectual exchanges, and providing access to elite political networks. It then analyzes motivations behind gentry patronage, including state religious policy, the perceived orthodoxy of Lu’s spirit-written revelations, and his innovative visualization of alchemical theory. The paper argues that gentry alchemy emerged from the demographic pressures that drove disenfranchised literati to convert scholarly capital into religious authority. This configuration was characterized by four features: Confucian-Daoist synthesis, the Neo-Confucian schematization and demystification of alchemical knowledge, promotion of dual cultivation (xingming shuangxiu 性命雙修), and the substitution of revelatory authority grounded in spirit-writing for the institutional authority of master-disciple lineages. Finally, the paper elaborates on the functions of gentry alchemy, showing how it offered literati both spiritual refuge and political capital, marked elite status, and shaped local society through temple construction and village lectures. The Eastern Lineage thus exemplifies a mode of alchemical transmission embedded not in monastic institutions but in the textual and social fabric of gentry life. This case illuminates both the spiritual world of Ming literati and the structural transformations of Chinese religion in late imperial China. Full article

This article examines the interactions between Jesuit missionaries and provincial governors in late Ming China during the post-Ricci era (1610–1644). Previous scholarship largely focused on Matteo Ricci and the converted literati, leaving the role of provincial governors insufficiently explored. Drawing on a systematic comparison of Chinese and Western sources, this study reconstructs, for the first time, the concrete relationships between four governors—Zhu Dadian, Cao Erzhen, Fang Kongzhao, and Liu Yikun—and Jesuit missionaries, thereby filling an important historiographical gap. The analysis shows that the Jesuits’ “top-down strategy”, initially focused on the literati, persisted after Ricci’s death in a more decentralized provincial form. In each case, gubernatorial support directly facilitated the establishment, protection, or expansion of local missions, demonstrating the decisive influence of provincial authority on missionary fortunes. Methodologically, this study employs close textual reading and cross-referencing of missionary reports, official records, and local sources. It concludes that the late-Ming Catholic mission relied on a multilayered protective network in which provincial governors constituted a crucial but previously underrecognized component. These findings call for more scholarly attention to provincial power-holders in the study of Christianity in late imperial China. Full article

Longmeizi 龍眉子 was an inheritor of the Southern Lineage of Daoism 道教南宗 under Weng Baoguang 翁葆光. By tracing the historical documentation of Longmeizi’s Daoist lineage, it becomes evident that the narrative details were continuously enriched through textual accumulation. By tracing and analyzing the formative history of documents related to Longmeizi’s Daoist lineage, it is evident that in the process of forming this Daoist lineage, lineage identity 宗派認同 was continuously solidified and even “labeled 標籤化” within these layered texts. The transmission genealogy between patriarchs across generations gradually became clear, definite, and verifiable. After Longmeizi compiled the Jinye Huandan Yinzheng Tu 金液還丹印證圖 (Illustrations of the Return of the Liquified Gold to the Cinnabar Field) from the Jiading period (1208–1224) of the Southern Song Dynasty to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, this book was initially transmitted within the Daoist lineage: Longmeizi → Bai Yuchan 白玉蟾 → Wang Jinchan 王金蟾. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a literatus named Yuanyangzi Lin Jing 元阳子林静 from Wuxing 吴兴 had also read this book. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the mode of transmission for the Jinye Huandan Yinzheng Tu shifted from being primarily transmitted orally within Daoist circles to being primarily disseminated through the printing and circulation of books. This led to the emergence of many different versions and commentaries of the Jinye Huandan Yinzheng Tu. Through the compilation and printing of book series, the Jinye Huandan Yinzheng Tu gained broad circulation during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its annotators, publishers, and readers spanned various identities and social classes, while its geographic reach extended to the Central Plains (Zhongyuan 中原), Southwest China, and Jiangnan regions. By examining the textual circulation history of the Jinye Huandan Yinzheng Tu, it can be observed that the development of the book printing industry during the Ming and Qing periods, particularly the flourishing of series publications, facilitated a shift in the primary mode of transmission for Daoist texts and even in the nature of the texts themselves. On the other hand, the case study of the Jinye huandan yinzheng tu is an example that illustrates the diversity and richness in the methods of Daoist cultural transmission and their development during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Full article

This study scientifically assessed the safety of the Ming Dynasty official-style timber structure of Taiyuan Chongshan Temple’s Great Mercy Hall, a nationally protected cultural relic. An integrated framework was adopted, including form restoration via 3D laser scanning and manual surveying, damage detection using impedance meters, stress wave tomography and one-dimensional stress wave testing, mechanical analysis with a differentiated material finite element model, and short-term on-site monitoring at risk points. Results showed that the 303.3 mm construction ruler length was restored, with the column grid tilting northwestward; the main structure was hardwood pine, and critical columns had severe localized damage (24% internal damage rate, 13% cross-sectional damage ratio) with 42% residual strength in some members; and the structure remained elastically safe, with material degradation causing 6.3–13.3% linear displacement amplification. Two weak links (eave purlin deflection: 33–37 mm; double-eave golden column axial force concentration: 86.9–88.5 kN) and dougong’s outward inclination due to eccentric compression were identified. Short-term monitoring indicated temperature-driven elastic responses and an 8 mm cumulative residual displacement in the northern single-step beam, and a three-level early warning threshold system was proposed. This study clarified the hall’s state as “overall stable with localized weaknesses”, providing a methodological reference for the preventive protection of similar ancient timber structures. Full article

In the practice of historic building conservation and restoration, the authentic restoration of damaged components often faces challenges due to the lack of definitive design evidence. To address this issue, this paper proposes a restoration derivation method that integrates digital survey technologies, such as UAV oblique photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning, with the analysis of historical mathematical composition rules. Taking five Ming Dynasty pavilion-style stone pagodas in Fuzhou as subjects, this study first employed digital surveying and cross-verification with ancient texts to reveal their shared, precise proportional system: the eave–column ratio of the Ruiyun Pagoda approaches √2 (≈1.414), while the other four pagodas approach the golden ratio of 1.618. Furthermore, the pagoda silhouettes are governed by a √2 hierarchical system and a √3/2 visual correction mechanism. Based on these mathematical rules, a triple logical chain of “historical evidence verification–functional constraints–traditional adaptation” was constructed and applied to the quantitative restoration design of the damaged finial of the Luoxing Pagoda. This process ultimately derived the relationship between its total height and the first-story width as (L/2 + √2/2), with the finial height being 1/7 of the pagoda body’s total height. This case study validates the effectiveness of the proposed method in transforming profound historical wisdom into clear engineering parameters, offering a replicable and verifiable technical pathway for the digital conservation and scientific restoration of similar architectural heritage. Full article

Understanding the spatiotemporal formation mechanisms of built cultural heritage is essential to interpreting regional cultural landscapes and informing differentiated conservation strategies. Using Fujian Province, China, as a representative mountain–sea transitional region, this study constructs a province-scale, multi-category, and dynamically oriented analytical framework to investigate the temporal evolution, spatial structure, and driving mechanisms of immovable cultural relics. Based on a georeferenced dataset of 940 immovable cultural relics, textual historical records were standardized into continuous temporal variables and integrated with GIS-based kernel density estimation, spatial autocorrelation analysis, distance-to-coast modeling, and category co-occurrence analysis. The results reveal a pronounced temporal concentration in the Ming–Qing and modern periods, with a primary formation peak during the Qing Dynasty and a secondary peak in the early 20th century driven by modern heritage. Spatially, relics exhibit significant positive spatial autocorrelation (Global Moran’s I = 0.375, p < 0.001) and form a structured dual-core pattern, consisting of a persistent coastal heritage belt and a distinct inland modern core centered in western Fujian. More than 75% of relics are located within 110 km of the coastline, confirming strong maritime orientation, while regression analysis reveals that this inland shift is primarily driven by the Modern Era rather than representing a continuous long-term trend. Category-level correlation analysis further demonstrates a clear spatial decoupling between traditional heritage and modern sites, indicating fundamentally different locational logics. Synthesizing these findings, this study proposes a dual-core driven model under a mountain–sea geographical framework, in which a path-dependent, economically reinforced coastal core coexists with a historically contingent, politically driven inland core. The results advance quantitative understanding of how multiple cultural logics, operating across different temporal scales, jointly shape complex regional heritage systems and provide a transferable framework for heritage analysis and spatially differentiated conservation planning. Full article

This article examines the early formation of Confucian–Islamic synthesis during the Yuan dynasty, arguing that institutional and intellectual adaptations in this period laid the groundwork for the later systematic synthesis known as “Yi-Ru Huitong” (伊儒會通). Moving beyond narratives of assimilation or resistance, it analyzes how Muslim communities navigated China’s pluralistic sociopolitical landscape through a process of creative adaptation. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates textual analysis, historical comparison, and transcultural theory, the study investigates three key dimensions: the development of hybrid religious institutions, legal-political negotiations, and mechanisms of social integration. Drawing on multilingual sources—including Persian Islamic manuals, Yuan administrative archives, and epigraphic evidence—it demonstrates how Yuan-era Muslims established patterns of selective adaptation that preserved Islamic identity while enabling meaningful engagement with Chinese cultural norms. These developments not only ensured the survival of Islam in China but also generated a range of transcultural achievements in astronomy, medicine, architecture, and the literary arts, thereby creating the necessary conditions for the profound philosophical syntheses of the Ming-Qing era. By positioning the Yuan period as a crucial incubator of Sino-Islamic civilization, this study offers insights for comparative philosophy and the global history of civilizational dialog, inviting reflection on the early Chinese Islamic experience as a significant case of sustainable cross-civilizational engagement. Full article