tōuxīnzào 偷心造

https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000024

Terms

  • touxinzao (Pinyin without tones)
  • 偷心造 (Traditional Chinese)
  • 偷心造 (Simplified Chinese)
  • tōuxīnzào (Pinyin)4
  • t'ou-hsin-tsao (Wade-Giles)
  • stolen-heart (style) (English)1
  • stolen-heart (English)2
  • successive transverse projection (English)3
  • tōu xīn zào (Pinyin)
  • touxin zao (Pinyin without tones)3

Note

    Touxin zao 偷心造, or touxin 偷心 for short, describes a bracket-set (dougong 斗栱) type in which two or more huagong 華栱 are placed directly atop one another extending out from the wall plane without supporting another bracket arm parallel to the wall plane (henggong 橫栱; i.e. guazigong 瓜子栱 and mangong 慢栱). In premodern sources, the term was only used in Yingzao fashi (1103; Li Jie 2009, 4.2b,4.9b,17.12a,30.7a, etc.). The term is often translated as “stolen heart,” where tou 偷 means “taking,” “stealing,” or “reducing” and “xin 心” means “center” or “ heart”. To clarify the difference between bracket sets, Xu Bo’an proposed using the phrase “quan touxin zao” 全偷心造 (complete stolen-heart construction) for bracket sets which did not use any arms parallel to the building plane, and the phrase “touxin zao” to describe the method of not using parallel arms on only select outward steps (Xu 1985).

    Based on images and extant examples, we can see that the use of touxinzao and jixinzao changed over time and also across different regions. Generally speaking, both touxin and jixin coexisted in most periods. However, touxin construction was much more typical in the Tang dynasty (Feng 1995; Chen 2020). From the Song period onward, jixin construction gradually became more widespread (Feng 1995, Xu Yitao 2005). By the late Ming period, touxin construction had largely disappeared (Liang 1936, Feng 1995). From the perspective of regional differences, the use of jinxin construction appears earlier in the Central Plains than in more southern areas. Some scholars believe that the spread of jixin construction was influenced by the publication and distribution of the Yingzao fashi (1103) (Xu Yitao 2005). 5

    偷心造是描述斗栱做法的建築術語,可簡稱為偷心,指在華栱或昂頭上不安放橫栱,即不安放與華栱或昂垂直相交、平行於建築屋身方向的栱,華栱上直接再出跳或出昂的做法。偷心造在歷史文獻中僅見於《營造法式》(李 2009,4.2b,4.9b,17.12a,30.7a等)。“偷”作為動詞,有“取,減”的意思。“心”作為名詞,有“中心,中央”的意思。徐伯安曾提出可以用“全偷心造”描述每跳上均不安橫栱的斗栱做法,用“偷心造”描述某一跳上不安橫栱的做法(徐 1985)。

    基於圖像和實例,建築斗栱的偷心和計心做法在時間上有變遷,在空間分佈上有差異。大體說來,整個歷史時期中,偷心和計心都並存,但代以偷心造更為典型(馮 1995,陳 2020),以後計心造逐漸普遍(馮 1995,徐 2005),晚期後偷心造做法極為少見(梁 1936,馮 1995)。從地域上看,中原地區計心造普及時間早於南方。有學者認為,計心造的普及可能與《營造法式》(1103) 的頒布和影響有關(徐 2005)。5

Related Concepts

Works Cited

Any information without attribution has been created following the Syriaca.org editorial guidelines.

  • 1 FU. 2017. Traditional Chinese Architecture: Twelve Essays, 368.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 2 LIANG. 2005. Chinese architecture: a pictorial history, 192.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; FENG. 2012. Chinese Architecture and Metaphor: Song Culture in the Yingzao Fashi Building Manual, 151.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 3 GUO. 2002. A Visual Dictionary of Chinese Architecture, 80.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 4 陳. 2010. 《營造法式》辭解, 299.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 5 李. 2009. 營造法式 (1103; 故宫藏抄本), 4.2b,4.9b,17.12a,30.7a.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 徐. 1985.12. 《营造法式》斗拱型制解疑、探微Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 冯. 1995. 中国古代木构建筑的考古学断代Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 陈. 2020. 故宫本《营造法式》图样研究(五)——《营造法式》平棊形制及彩画探微Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 徐. 2005. 公元七至十四世紀中國扶壁形制流變研究Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record; 梁. 1936. 建築設計参考圖集:第四集斗栱Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record

Broad Match: bracketing

How to Cite This Entry

SUN Xiaoqian 孙晓倩 et al., “ 偷心造 tōuxīnzào” in Architectura Sinica last modified August 26, 2024, https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000024.

Bibliography:

SUN Xiaoqian 孙晓倩 et al., “ 偷心造 tōuxīnzào.” In Architectura Sinica, edited by Tracy Miller. Entry published March 21, 2018. https://architecturasinica.org/keyword/k000024.

About this Entry

Entry Title: 偷心造 tōuxīnzào

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

  • Tracy Miller, editor, Architectura Sinica
  • ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净, associate editor, Architectural Terminology
  • SUN Xiaoqian 孙晓倩 and Wang Sijuanyi 王絲絹逸, entry contributors, “ 偷心造 tōuxīnzào

Additional Credit:

  • Editing, proofreading, data entry and revision: Tracy Miller
  • Website coordination: Yuh-Fen Benda
  • Peer review: ATTCAT 2023
  • English proofreading: Aurelia Campbell Tracy Miller
  • Chinese proofreading: ZHUGE Jing 諸葛净 ZUO Lala 左拉拉
  • Data entry: YAN Yiyang 嚴一洋

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