China Underground > China Book Library: Uncover Rich Chinese Literature and Art > Carpentry and Building in Late Imperial China

Carpentry and Building in Late Imperial China

Last Updated on 2020/12/07

This volume deals with the world of carpenters and joiners in late Imperial China, discussing both the technical and the religious and ritual aspects of building.

It uses as its point of departure a unique and hitherto unused source: the fifteenth-century carpenter’s manual “Lu Ban jing”.

The first part of the book examines building materials, the life of laborers and craftsmen, and the process of building a house. Subjects included are the choice of favorable measurements, the ritual of raising the ridge-pole, and the complete, annotated translation of the “Lu Ban jing”, preceded by a bibliographic essay. The sections on furniture construction are especially important for the art historian. The book is finely illustrated with more than eighty original drawings and includes a facsimile of the extremely rare, richly illustrated the earliest edition of the “Lu Ban jing, dating from “ca. 1600.

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