Ancient Architecture: Dongyang School Architecture Skills and Features at Luzhai

Since ancient times, Dongyang in central Zhejiang has been known as the "Hometown of Craftsmen."
Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Dongyang has formed the "Dongyang School" with architectural craftsmen as the core and traditional handicraft craftsmen as the main body, which is known as one of the three major architectural schools along with the Suzhou Xiangshan School and Ningbo Ningbo School.
By the Ming, Qing, and Republic of China periods, the "Dongyang School" led by masons and carpenters had reached its peak in terms of skills and practitioners, and was one of the largest, most skilled, and most influential architectural schools in Jiangnan.

Most of the famous Huizhou-style buildings are the work of the Dongyang School, and the traditional residential building system of the Dongyang School covers 11 prefectures in Zhejiang, except for Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, and some other areas.
Dongyang wood carving is the most distinctive feature of the Dongyang School.

"The Forbidden City in the north, Luzhai in the south."
Luzhai is known as the Forbidden City of the people.
The entire longitudinal axis has nine courtyards, with a length of 320 meters. In China, only the Forbidden City and the Confucius Temple have such a structure.
In Luzhai, there are only ox legs with reverse "S" shape, spout bucket top shape, plum deer ox legs, lion ox legs, and ox legs with historical allusions and characters.
In addition to wood carving, stone carving, brick carving, clay sculpture, pile sculpture, and painting are also fully utilized here.
There are more than 300 palace lanterns from the Ming and Qing dynasties in the Su Yong Hall.

Post by William Caldwell | Feb 9, 2025