Sun, Lina; (2021) From Cosmology to Subjectivity: A Study of Chinese Architectural Drawing from Traditional Design to Designing Tradition. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Lina Sun-From Cosmology to Subjectivity A Study of Chinese Architectural Drawing from Traditional Design to Designing Tradition.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 November 2026. Download (63MB)

Abstract

Chinese architectural drawing underwent profound change around the beginning of the twentieth century, from the traditional tu (the Chinese character for drawing) to a new form of drawing that incorporated and adopted Western Euclidean geometry and its associated terminologies. Framed by China’s wider programme of modernity at the start of the twentieth century, this thesis explores the reciprocal relationship between expressions of drawing and the projected intention and identity of authorship of drawing (drawing’s subjectivity), and the inheritance and transformation of these factors from ancient tu to ‘modern’ forms of drawing in the Chinese context. Arranged in two parts, the research first explores the ancient tu and the second examines early modern drawings, architecturally, sociologically, and historically. In Part A, the analysis centres on selected tu from some early simply composed informative tu before Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the later pictorial tu in the Yang Shi Lei archive from the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). In Part B, the analysis focuses on three series of drawings from three representative modern architects, Liu Jipiao, Liang Sicheng, and Tong Jun. Architecturally, the research treats drawing as both the method and the subject. Sociologically, this thesis borrows from the concept of multiple modernities, interrogating the relationship between drawing and their authorship and revealing the rapidly changing architectural landscape in China. Historically, the thesis adopts a comparative approach through multiple pairs: between the Chinese geometry of tu and Western Euclidean geometry of drawing; between Chinese ancient architectural tu and other architectural paintings such as the jie hua and frescoes; and between and among the three architects’ modern drawings and those by their peers, whether Chinese or foreign. The thesis argues for an ‘entangled’ history in which Western drawing traditions and Chinese tu traditions were interwoven and resulted in the construction of modern Chinese drawing in multiple ways.

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