Characteristics of "Minnan Architecture"

From the architectural form, the residential buildings in southern Fujian do not have a very flamboyant and typed form, but they have a special performance in the decoration and beautification of masonry walls. When we identify the elements of architecture, we mainly talk about them from four aspects: space, practicality, materiality and aesthetics. From the aesthetic point of view, the red brick wall in southern Fujian embodies the regional style and forms the so-called southern Fujian style. This style is formed by many factors. Although it is impossible to trace its origin now, from the whole architectural history of China, the decoration and color patterns of Minnan dwellings, especially the masonry mixed walls, are unique in the architectural history of China (see figure 1, figure 2), so some scholars think that this area is unique.

Brick walls in southern Fujian belong to solid brick walls, but the stone buildings mentioned above exist at the same time, so the biggest feature of their walls in southern Fujian is that they can mix bricks and stones so harmoniously, and the original meaning of artistry is hidden in the mixing. It is of great practical significance for us to explore the aesthetic elements of the stone walls in southern Fujian, especially the aesthetic style and decorative patterns contained in the stone walls, to maintain and understand the local culture in today's globalization. Although some scholars believe that Fujian folk houses have traces of marine culture, especially Quanzhou in southern Fujian, as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, has more exchanges with overseas countries and there are obvious traces of influence between cultures, as far as folk houses are concerned, the influence of such overseas religions and decorations is more limited to places with religious colors such as temples. We believe that although Minnan folk houses are influenced by multiculturalism, they are more influenced by local culture, especially the Han culture in the Central Plains. Many factors, such as geographical environment, climate characteristics, pedigree and so on, all show traces of their admiration for the Central Plains culture, which is proved by some patterns, some metaphorical symbols and some architectural styles. Of course, there are also buildings influenced by other national cultures, such as earth buildings, round buildings, diaojiao buildings, towel racks and so on. However, this does not affect the typological form of Minnan folk houses, especially the masonry walls.

The exterior walls of Minnan dwellings are roughly composed of three parts:

1.Legging (including foundation stone), the footrests of Minnan dwellings are mostly decorated with white stones and bluestones (see Figure 3). Tiger Claw, unicorns, magpies, horses and auspicious clouds, lions playing with balls, auspicious characters, etc.

2. Walls (including gables, waistlines and windows). The wall is the most distinctive, and the gable is also made of clay sculpture with bas-relief, which is symmetrical in shape, and there are red bricks, white stones and bluestone shadow carvings at the waist line. There are many kinds of windows, such as brick windows, stone windows, porcelain windows and wooden windows. Brick windows and porcelain windows are characterized by forming an integral pattern independently. The pillars of stone windows often appear in the form of round carvings, carved with animal flowers. If it is a carved window, it is a common opera figure (see Figure 4).

3. The eaves are generally in relief, painted with clay sculptures, and there are many landscape figures and story lines (see Figure 5).

A. Masonry wall with overall aesthetic feeling and rich changes.

The most important feature of the structure and decoration of the wall in southern Fujian is the mix and match of walls and stones, that is, the mix and match of bricks and stones. Because of the texture contrast between the surface of stones and the surface of bricks, the decorative aesthetic feeling is produced, and the stones are used as surfaces and points, and the joints of bricks are used as lines, resulting in the combination of points, lines and surfaces, so this combination of points, lines and surfaces has produced a whole to some extent. Secondly, white granite and red tile have a harmonious contrast effect in color formation. Contrast lies in lightness, harmony lies in its white stone is not pure white, but white with a little gray. As a "face", white gray can play a buffering role, express harmony in contrast and conflict in harmony. The solution of this contradiction is also one of the characteristics of masonry walls. When it comes to color, red bricks and white stones form the visual effect of red and white walls, and this concave and convex is based on light, forming a subtle rhythm, which makes the whole house stand out in the shade. We believe that bluestone, red brick and some decorative border patterns can form an interactive relationship with the surrounding environment under the irradiation of sunlight, which is loud and harmonious and has affinity. Thirdly, most houses in southern Fujian adopt the form of jointing bare walls, and the regular brick joints are in contrast with irregular stones, which is the contrast between "line" and "surface". Of course, this is not absolute. On the wall, some houses in southern Fujian use "regular" red bricks and "regular" stones, and mix them together according to a certain arrangement style to create another sense of form. Pay attention to the application of a visual effect in line with the golden section ratio and the embellishment of the slim style of the window. The surface space formed by it makes this wonderful rhythm between walls, and it is a touching work of art and relief (see Figure 6). Fourthly, the application of patterned wall greatly enriches the monotonous wall surface. Such as plum blossom wall sealing brick, swastika brick wall, turtle back brick wall, ancient money brick wall, gourd brick wall and parallel brick wall (see Figure 7).

In the gable part, patterns made of pottery and plastic materials have rich visual effects, and some colored tiles are also used in modern houses. The pattern is fire pattern and moire pattern, with symmetrical sides and lanterns and flower baskets in the middle. These patterns usually form a satisfactory gourd shape. Of course, in this performance area, there are some classic characters and some symbolic objects. Colors, blue and white, in order to coordinate with the wall, some purple, red and other similar colors are interspersed between them. In the overall design, it is often similar to the bronze gluttonous pattern, but I personally think that the central image above should be evolved from the image of exorcism, which is in line with folk customs. Then, all the graphics are unified by the fluttering ribbon. From the point of gable decoration, the symbols of cloud, water, fire dragon and phoenix are naturally a kind of traditional argot, which is manifested in flower baskets and lanterns, such as adding the homonym of "Ding". As a folk house, it attaches great importance to the continuous derivation of future generations (see Figure 8).

Second, pay attention to the visibility of details and the readability of image stories.

When it comes to the wall, we have to say some details of it, which are also subordinate to the whole, but the rich details have not affected our sight from the visual whole. In addition to standard bricks, there are also molded bricks for external wall sealing bricks of Minnan residential buildings. These molded bricks have replicated patterns, which are arranged on the whole wall according to the law of formal beauty. In modern composition language, it is an application of quadrilateral continuous mode. As far as a single brick is concerned, it is suitable for making patterns alone. Add a border around the wall at the same time. This border itself is a continuous pattern, commonly known as lace. Lace is sometimes made of another material, such as tiles. There is also a waist line decorated with bluestone under the wall window, which is also a place where craftsmen make a big fuss. The beauty of detail exists not only in the middle of the wall, such as the pilaster, the column is also made of red bricks and flowers, and there are some graphic patterns (see Figure 9).

The masonry wall in southern Fujian attaches great importance to the comprehensive application of various factors. As far as a single brick (tile) is concerned, the black lines during firing can be geometrically arranged by craftsmen, which will produce another effect, such as the blue and white pattern on the eaves, the carved window column at the window opening (see figure 10) and the use of corner patterns on the sideline (see figure 10). Of course, because Islam once had a great influence in Quanzhou, there are traces of plant-like bending patterns.

The wall sealing treatment of Minnan folk houses is very traditional in Minnan. It pays attention to the balance of reality and position management, but it also has the meaning of modern composition, such as embodying irregularities in rules, implying logical order in irregularities, and embodying rhythm through some repetition. There are symmetrical shapes and window views in the composition, and some decorative lines make people feel ups and downs through rolling waves and turning points, so as to break through the hardness and coldness of Shi Zhuan, dilute the monotonous plane of the wall with the stories of characters, and sublimate the rigid external masonry wall into architectural works of art with humanistic colors. (See Figure 12)

Thirdly, the content of the pattern and the attached symbolic metaphor show the inheritance of China culture.

We can find many prototypes of Chinese traditional patterns from Minnan architecture, such as clouds, patterns, patterns and patchwork patterns. For example, there were moire patterns on lacquerware in Han Dynasty, and Minnan gables turned it into a triangle suitable for roof gables, which also means "cloud is like a head". It has eight pictographs of "Ji" and "Ji". Of course, it evolved from the Taiji diagram, and developed into a pattern of "welcoming" in this skeleton to express the meaning of celebration. Mr. Lei Guiyuan believes that squares and circles are the basic bones in the pattern creation of past dynasties, and their shapes conform to the artistic conception of "Ming" (Lei Guiyuan, 1977). The masonry wall pattern of southern Fujian houses inherits this basic skeleton and gives full play to its role. Clouds, fire, water and dragons and phoenixes loom in these patterns. In particular, the fire lines in the shape of bone lines complement each other with the wavy rolling of theme flowers, which confirms a harmonious realm of artistic harmony between water and fire. The constant repetition of theme patterns adds formal beauty and embodies an attractive plural beauty (see figure 13).

The detailed images of wall decorations in southern Fujian include balcony figures, women figures, auspicious figures, begonia flowers and acacia trees. These images all have their own symbolic and metaphorical meanings, such as the hexagonal turtle symbolizing longevity, the octagonal turtle symbolizing auspiciousness, the round figure symbolizing perfection, the money pattern symbolizing wealth, the lotus flower symbolizing innocence, the pomegranate symbolizing fruitful results, the bat symbolizing longevity and the butterfly symbolizing beauty. They all have some good wishes, for example. Punning through patterns or patterns is one of the characteristics of masonry walls in southern Fujian (see figure 14).

Fourth, creatively mix and apply various materials according to local conditions.

For a single brick wall with less decoration, craftsmen have also found many ways to enrich the brick wall. The mixed use of materials greatly enriches the wall materials. The area, location, proportion, masonry method and pattern of this material all reflect a sense of beauty, which is in sharp regional contrast with the white walls and black tiles in the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. However, no matter how it changes, it is a remarkable feature of southern Fujian to give priority to red bricks. For example, throwing bricks into a stone has also evolved into "throwing bricks into a stone." The aesthetic elements remain unchanged, only the change of materials enhances the unity. Of course, the choice of materials should be more economic considerations than aesthetic considerations, but it still involuntarily applies aesthetic principles. On the whole, red bricks are combined in stone walls and all-stone walls, and the mixing of masonry structures presents a variety of changes on the walls, but this diversity also reflects a kind of * * * personality-the architectural style of Minnan dwellings (see figure 15).

From the masonry walls of Minnan folk houses, we can find a vein, a love for red, a deliberate pursuit of the details of carving patterns, and a calm expression of auspicious symbols, thus reflecting the economic and cultural identity and status of residents in the appearance of folk houses. After all, the red color of red brick is a royal color and a festive color, which shows that the concept of palace-style residence allows Minnan people to express it in a tortuous way as much as possible under different economic conditions, and at the same time, they try to learn from the royal preference in some details, such as images and patterns. Of course, although the specific images of dragons and phoenixes do not appear obviously, they are all expressed in a potential structure in terms of patterns and image composition. We believe that this context hides cultural significance and aesthetic consciousness. Although it can't be said that it is a conscious creation of craftsmen in past dynasties, it is an unconscious or subconscious understanding and re-creation of cultural inheritance by craftsmen. At the same time, this intangible context also expresses certain social consciousness (such as symbols and metaphors). What is worth pondering is that their grasp of aesthetic law makes it a regional special meaning and expression. The simple masonry wall surface solidified the cultural concept of southern Fujian, and reflected the cultural consciousness and life consciousness of southern Fujian from the side. With the change of living environment and material, on the other hand, it will also affect the change of culture and material view. Although spiritual and material things often complement each other and promote each other, on the one hand, conditions have changed, on the other hand, they will inevitably lead to changes. We can't ignore this change, if this aesthetic hidden rule still affects us subconsciously.