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Plate 21.4 Eight grades of modules outlined in the Yingzao fashi 營造法式 (after Guo Qinghua 1998, p. 7)

Plate 21.5 Eleven grades of modules outlined in the Gongcheng zuofa 工程做法 (after Liang Sicheng 2005, p. 18)

Modules outlines eleven grades of doukou (Pl. 21.5) in contrast to the
Traditional Chinese timber-frame architecture is based on a Yingzao fashi’s eight grades of cai.
modular system, meaning that a standard module is used to In theory, the largest and highest rank doukou (Grade
calculate the dimensions of the rest of the structural One) was 8.4 cun in height x 6 cun in width (approximately 27
members. In the Song dynasty Yingzao fashi the module was by 19.5cm) while the smallest (Grade Eleven) was 1.4 in
known as cai 材. The dimensions of the cai were equal to the height x 1 cun in width (approximately 4.5 by 3.2cm).
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cross-section of the bracket-set arm (gong 栱), which was both However, in practice, the first through third grades were
the smallest and the most frequently used structural almost never used; most high-rank buildings used only the
member. In the Song, the size of the module and the overall seventh, eighth or ninth grades. For instance, Taihedian 太
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scale of the building were in direct proportion. Therefore, a 和殿 (Hall of Supreme Harmony) (1695), the largest hall in
small module yielded a small building and a large module the Forbidden City, eleven bays across the façade, only
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yielded a large building. The Yingzao fashi outlines eight employs a Grade Seven doukou, which was 4.2 cun in height
grades (deng 等) of cai (Pl. 21.4). The largest and highest and 3 cun in width (approximately 13.3 x 9.5cm). That such
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rank cai (Grade One) measures nine cun 寸 in height and six an eminent building as Taihedian uses such a relatively
cun in width (approximately 28 x 19cm), while the smallest low-grade module means that by the 18th century the
and lowest rank cai (Grade Eight) measures 4.5 cun in height module’s size was significantly less important in determining
and three cun in width (approximately 14 x 9cm). the overall rank of a building than it was in the Song.
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It is important to keep in mind that no actual building How large were the modules used in the Yongle buildings
from the Tang or Song periods actually conforms completely discussed here? Was the size of the module closely linked to
to the rules outlined in the Yingzao fashi because the purpose the rank of the architecture, as it was in the Song? Or had it
of the manual was not to guide the construction of buildings, already declined in importance, as was the case in
but rather to ‘summarise the [architectural] knowledge from architecture of the Qing?
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previous dynasties’. For example, even though Dongdadian The width of the modules used at Zixiao Hall, Ling’en
東大殿 (East Main Hall) at Foguangsi 佛光寺 (Monastery of Hall and Longguo Hall range from 3 to 3.5 cun in width
Buddha Light) (857) employs a Grade One module (Table 1). This is consistent with the module sizes of other
(approximately 9.4 x 6.4 cun, or 30 x 20.5cm) on the Yingzao imperial buildings from around the same time, which range
fashi scale, it only has seven bays across the front, not the from about 3.15 to 4.1 cun in width (Table 2). These modules
nine or eleven required for a true Grade One building as correspond to the eighth, or lowest, grade in the Yingzao fashi
outlined in the Yingzao fashi. 13 scale and are roughly the same size as the module used at
In the Qing dynasty Gongcheng zuofa the module is called Taihedian. Because the transition to a smaller module was
doukou 斗口. Doukou (literally ‘block mouth’) refers to the already well underway by the Yuan period, it would be
opening in the capital block into which the arm of an incorrect to assume that smaller modules suddenly appeared
inter-columnar bracket-set (pingshenke 平身科) – or a set in the early Ming. However, based on the three halls
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between, as opposed to on top of, the columns – was examined here, it is clear that in the early 15th century a
inserted. Like the cai, the dimensions of the doukou are equal major shift had occurred whereby even the highest rank
to the cross-section of the bracket-arm. The Gongcheng zuofa imperial Ming halls employed relatively small modules –
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Architecture of the Early Ming Court: A Preliminary Look | 191