@article{oai:minpaku.repo.nii.ac.jp:00004373,
 author = {浅川, 滋男 and Asakawa, Shigeo},
 issue = {3},
 journal = {国立民族学博物館研究報告, Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology},
 month = {Feb},
 note = {This is the first report on a field survey of traditional
dwellings in the lower district of the Yangtze River. This
paper describes and analyzes the spatial organization of Ming-
Qing Era dwellings, and changes in their use-patterns after the
Communist Revolution.
1. TERMINOLOGY, CONCEPT, AND TYPOLOGY OF TRA-DITIONAL
DWELLINGS
The standard Chinese (Beijing dialect) representation of
"my family's house" is "我 (們) 家的房子". In this phrase,
"家" means "family" and "房子" means "house"
, although
"家" sometimes has the meanings of both "family" and "house" .
In the Shanghai dialect, however, "屋" takes the place of "家".
"屋" also has both the meanings of "family" and "house" .
While "家" and "屋" have two meanings, "房子" is limited to
"house" .
There are two basic types of dwellings in this district. One
is the town house type, which has an open facade and is built in
narrow plots along the street. The other is the closed courtyardhouse
type, built on large plots, and which is common in both
city and village. An important characteristic of the latter type
is that, while there is' a main front entrance, or gate ("門"),
there are no other openings (doors or windows) on the outside
wall of the house. Therefore the front gate becomes a symbol
of the house, and in this district the word "gate" is used to mean
"house" .
I made plans of 30 traditional dwellings during the field
survey. Since there are so many variations, a classification
system was designed for the plans (Fig. 2-1). According to the
five basic classification types (S-a, S-b, C-V, C-H, C-VH), the
spatial organization of the dwellings is explained.
2. TERMINOLOGY, FUNCTION, AND ORGANIZATION OF
INTERIOR　SPACE
The main hall, called "庁" or "堂", is located on the frontrear
axis of the dwellings, and is the space for guest-reception,
banquets, and religious rites. Usually, an ancestral tablet is
placed here to honor the souls of the forefathers. In farmhouses
this hall is also used as a workshop. The main piece of furniture
is an elaborate table, called "八仙卓", or "Table of the Eight
Immortals". The number eight has long been important in
Chinese tradition, and at such gatherings as marriage banquets
family branches are represented by eight relatives sitting at this
table. The "Table of Eight Immortals" is a symbol of longevity
and prosperity of the family.
The room called "房間" is located on both sides of that
hall, and is a sleeping room for a couple, unmarried brothers,
or unmarried sisters. This room is furnished with a large double
bed ("八脚床"), seats, and storage boxes.
The kitchen is called "灶間", and is located in a corner
between the main building and a front wing. In some areas
this room is called the "dark room" ("暗闇"), because it has no
window facing the courtyard. Although 'large clay cooking
stoves, with altars for a stove god are still used in the kitchens of
most farming villages, these have almost disappeared in city
areas, because of a lack of rice straw or firewood for fuel.
The rooms in the front wings are called "廂房". Their
function is not clearly defined. Depending on the situation of
each family, they may be used as a guest room, children's room,
study room, or for other purposes.
The courtyard, surrounded by rooms, is called "天井",
which means "sky-well". Here there are many jugs for collecting
rain water used for drinking and cooking.
3. CHANGE IN USE-PATTERNS OF TRADITIONAL DWELLINGS
To research the use-patterns of dwellings before the
Communist Revolution, I interviewed people in their fifties,
and had them draw a plan of their dwellings before the revolution.
The data gathered included the common names of each room,
and the generation, age, sex, and the like of its occupants.
A model plan of a dwelling and terminology was used to
analyze the hierarchical order of rooms according to generation
and age of occupants (Fig. 4-1). The rules of spatial hierarchy,
as explained by an informant, were compared with the actual
use-patterns in the case of dwellings.
Two rules emerged from an analysis of 13 dwellings: (1) the
main building is superior to the front wings in terms of generation
and age of occupants; (2) rooms in the main building are in
descending importance the farther they are located from the
main hall, whereas in the front wings the rooms descend in
importance the farther they are from the main building. An
informant in Ningpo emphasized that "left is superior to right"
in China, and drew a plan which showed an order of L1 >R1>
L2>R2. However, there are about as many cases where left
exceeded right in importance as vice versa.
While the general image of the Chinese traditional family
system is that of the patri-lineal extended family, this was no
more than an ideal in actual society, even before the revolution.
Because the younger generation sought independence from the
older generation, they often split into a branch family. The
dwellings were divided in half, with the branch family living in
one half.
However, while the dwellings were divided among family
relations before the revolution, the Communist government
changed this completely. Because of a serious lack of living
space, as well as for other reasons, a policy was initiated in 1952
which made space in traditional dwellings available to many
unrelated families. Since then they have become apartments,
and the former rules of spatial hierarchy have disappeared
completely. For example, the S1 dwelling is shared by 13
nuclear families, with two rooms per family, and there is no
hierarchical relationship among the families according to room
position.},
 pages = {669--779},
 title = {住空間の民族誌 : 中国江南の伝統的住居をめぐって},
 volume = {11},
 year = {1987},
 yomi = {アサカワ, シゲオ}
}