ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

The Dynamics Behind the Emergence and Development of Traditional Chinese Architectural Techniques

• In Event: The Evolution of Science and Technology in China: Tradition and Modernity in a Global Perspective 1

English Abstract

he emergence and development of traditional Chinese architectural techniques is a continuous and inheriting process, gradually formed through long-term practice under the combined influence and interaction of multiple factors. These factors include adaptation to the natural environment, responses to multi-level functional requirements, and the profound impacts of political institutions, social structures, economic development, and prevailing ideological frameworks. Technological innovations and breakthroughs are primarily reflected in advancements in materials, structural systems, and construction capabilities.
By analyzing technologies in traditional Chinese architecture that are representative, enduring, and still vital today, and by incorporating practical case studies, this article examines how various factors collectively influenced the formation and evolution of China’s traditional architectural techniques. It concludes that their development followed a model in which technological progress was driven by the process of adapting to and transforming nature, guided by the aim of meeting the diverse needs of different social strata, supported by the state’s centralized allocation of resources and technical expertise, and propelled jointly by the continuous inheritance and advancement of existing knowledge and techniques, as well as the absorption and integration of external technological achievements.

Author

• Haolin Wang, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, CAS