What is the architectural structure of Jiang's Manor?
At this time, Jiang Jintang was working on a big project, which was to build a large house for the Jiang family.
Jiang Jintang asked Mr. Feng Shui to survey the site and finally selected Xiangyangshan Bay in Niujiliang as the base of the Jiang Manor. In 1871, he broke ground and started construction.
Because Jiang Jintang was old and frail and too busy to work, when his son took charge of the family business, he handed over the construction of the manor to Jiang Yaozu for implementation.
Jiang Yaozu hired many famous craftsmen such as Ma Mingjun, Wang Baogui, and Li Fengfei from Dongxiang in the county. Ordinary craftsmen are mainly farmers in the village. They usually work for dozens of people. They use grain as wages, plus artificial food, which consumes thousands of kilograms of grain a year.
Before the construction of the manor, the construction workers first cut off the cliffs and mountains, then dug wells and built walls, building layer by layer from bottom to top along the mountains and ridges.
Jiang Yaozu was not only intelligent and optimistic, but during construction, he often visited famous mansions and rich houses in Jinzhong to learn about the outstanding architectural features and worked with the master craftsmen he hired. It was designed and built at the same time. To this end, all the layouts of the manor are original and creative, cleverly integrating the traditional cave structure of the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi with the courtyard model of Beijing and Jinzhong, gradually forming a building group with cave courtyards as the main body.
At the same time, Jiang Yaozu also consulted with famous craftsmen and experts from various places to design a courtyard with a village wall in front and three connected upper, middle and lower floors, which were constructed in an orderly manner year by year from bottom to top. After 16 long years and employing about 200,000 people, it was finally completed in 1886.
This village courtyard is mainly made of stone buildings, whether it is the construction of walls, culverts, arch kilns, the paving of roads, steps, courtyards, stone pot stands, stone Kang railings, stone beds, and stone warehouses. The placement of the stone lions on the door pier, the stone carvings on the forehead, the exquisite carvings of the stone picks in the corridors, the carvings of the stone water tank, stone fish waterway, stone manger, and horse tethering posts have all reached a superb level, all reflecting the rational application and craftsmanship of stones. .
The water-milled brick carvings of human figures, cranes, deer, pines and bamboos, flowing clouds, flowers and grass, and shapes and patterns are all lifelike and vivid. The wood carvings and painted flower shapes in the door and courtyard, the window lattice and sash, and the plaques on the forehead all match well with the main body.
The Zhuangyuan adopts the structure of a courtyard house in Beijing and is built with the characteristics of cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi. It is majestic and combines practicality and artistry. Its design is ingenious, its construction is rigorous, its layout is reasonable, it is completely compact, it is strict in external defense, it is conveniently connected inside the courtyard, its interior is warm in winter and cool in summer, and it is comfortable and suitable for living. It is a shining example of cave dwelling architecture, stone carving, brick carving and wood carving brick sculpture on the western plateau. The centralized display of art allows the skills of folk craftsmen in northern Shaanxi to be fully utilized here.
The greatest achievement of Jiang Yaozu's life was the construction of this large manor that consumed tens of thousands of stones. Because this manor was built as a private residence of the Jiang family, for this reason, everyone called it the Jiang Manor.
During the decades when this manor was built, the house was mainly occupied by Jiang Yaozu and his descendants.
Cave dwellings