| Summary: | 博士 === 國立成功大學 === 建築學系 === 89 === Since ancient time, people have been considering a traditional house as a small universe, i.e. a family which can realize the self world. Because of the house, people can find a position in the universe, and then obtain a private living place. “Family” is where people can settle their body and life within the universe. Therefore, a traditional house becomes the center where people can own their place within the universe. As a consequence, “setting down” means the process of people’s constructing their small universe “from nothing to something.” In this process, the settlers always give the meaning of “setting down ” to the traditional house by means of construction taboos, rituals, and decorations in forming the traditional house as a small universe. Under the concept of “influence betweet each other based on same origin and construction ”, a traditional house completes the formation of a center and its territory under the concept of simulating a small universe. The traditional house is then constructed to build its harmonious order with the great universe, through the defining of the relationships between people and people, and the relationships between people and nature, so that people can put their socio-cultural needs into the real things and symbols. Therefore, a traditional house can become the pronoun of “a family” instead of a building, and then become the place where people can find their position in the universe.
Construction taboos are the regulations which cannot be defied during the planning stage of a traditional house. The objective is to use the negative prohibitions to influence the planning of the size of a traditional house, and then to build its ideal form which follows the conceptidns of Chinese geomancy, hierarchy, and pragmatism. Construction rituals involve with the deification of a traditional house during its constructing stage. The objective is to use the “choice of auspicious time”, and the construction of the center and its territory to complete the formation of a holy space. In the destruction of old universe order and the reconstruction of new universe order, the approaching to the gods, the evasion of the devils, and other rituals are conducted to build the harmonious order between man and nature. Construction decorations belong to the physical treatment during the constructing stage. The objective is to use the “other-worldly” simulation of Taoist “land of immortals” and Buddhist “pure land”, and the “this-worldly” transformation and application of Confucianist “universal brotherhood” philosophy to complete the outer figure of the holy space, and to form the traditional house as the image of “ideal universe”. The traditional Han people’s expectation of good living is thus completed during the process of the manipulation of construction taboos, rituals, and decorations.
Both residents of King-men and Peng-fu came from southern Fuchien of China. They have the same source of concepts. Under the same origin of influence and the same background of heritage, the formation of traditional houses should have a similar form. However, based on this paper, either great or small differences in construction taboos, rituals and decorations can be revealed. In terms of construction taboos, King-men emphasizes the main hall of a house and then the formation of the center, while Peng-fu emphasizes the center and its territory equally. In terms of construction rituals, King-men emphasizes the center while Peng-fu emphasizes the formation of the territory. In terms of construction decoration, King-men emphasizes the center and its territory equally while Peng-fu emphasize the formation of the center. It shows that although the heritage of architectual culture is influenced by the same mother culture, it is also modified according to the needs of natural and socio-cultural surroundings.
In the process of the formation of traditional houses, the construction of the center and its territory consists of the issues produced by the interaction of geomancy concept, geographical conditions, industrial modes, economical conditions, social systems and so on. Meanwhile, they develop further into a classified system through which the residents in King-men and Peng-fu can construct their own world and settle themselves in it. In the concept of geomancy, the recognition that “King-men is rich, Hsiamen is noble, and Peng-fu is poor” is very popular among the people in the past. Therefore, the effort to store the “Chi” (vital energy) which comes from the “dragon mountain range” into the traditional houses is more emphasized in King-men than in Peng-fu. Furthermore, unlucky deaths and accidental deaths happened frequently in the early period of its cultivation, therefore the concept of ominous “Chi” is more emphasized in Peng-fu. Geographical conditions involve with industrial modes, economical conditions and social systems. Although King-men and Peng-fu are all islands, King-men had better economical conditions and living stability than Peng-fu because King-men was closer to Mainland China, had frequent interaction with southern Fuchien since ancient time, and obtained “remittance from overseas Chinese”. Because Peng-fu is situated lonely in Taiwan strait, it was located in the borderland of the mother culture of Mainland China, and thus developed the characteristics of borderland. Furthermore, its agriculture suffered from the infertility of land, the poor quality of water and the salty soil, its fishing industry suffered from boat accidents due to dangerous cliffs and gulfs, it had always been in difficult situation of sterile land and poor people.
Therefore, in King-men, the construction taboos emphasize the intake of “Chi” and the needs of protection; the construction rituals emphasize the connection with the “Chi” range of the earth and the siting of the center. Both the construction taboos and rituals emphasize the main hall of a traditional house and thus the reinforcement of the center and its central axis. As to the construction decorations, not only motifs of higher level are used, but also decorations are shown outside the house to manifest the status and position of the host family, emphasizing not only the formation of the center of the traditional house but also the outer manifestation of its territory. In Peng-fu, the construction taboos emphasize the needs of intaking water and storing “Chi” in order to complement the shortage of the natural “Chi” range; the construction rituals seek for the reinforcement of the territory of self protection due to the lacking of the fengshui and “Chi” range, the industrial mode of reliance on the nature (half fishing and half agriculture), and the insufficiency of protection of life and safety; the construction decorations emphasize the style of simplicity and the main hall which is the center of the traditional house due to the poor economy and the social insecurity. Such examples explain that King-men and Peng-fu, in the long process of developemnt, not only retain the tradition but also produce their particular style to cope with the differences of the natural and socio-cultural surroundings, thus showing their own characteristics of locality.
Key words: traditional houses, construction taboos, rituals, and decorations, conceptions of space
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