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Ergonomics Standards in Ancient China
Published in Waldemar Karwowski, Anna Szopa, Marcelo M. Soares, Handbook of Standards and Guidelines in Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2021
The Song dynasty military was composed of six troop levels. The first level—the imperial army (Jin Jun)—was the standard army for fighting. The role of the imperial army was replaced by the central army (Tun Zhu Da Bing) and the new army (Xin Jun) in the Southern Song (Toktoghan, 1345; Zhou, Yang, and Wang, 1998; Wang & Yang, 2001). Height was one of the major criteria for the soldier selection in the Song imperial army, as recorded in the military section (Bin Zhi) of the official imperial history of the Song dynasty (Toktoghan, 1345). The unit of measurement was the ancient Chinese length unit (Chi); this gets larger as the years passed by. One Chi was officially recorded to equal about 29.6 cm in the Sui dynasty (581–618) and Tang dynasty (618–907) (Wei et al., 636; Qiu, 1994; Zheng, Tang, et al., 2000). But the excavated Song rulers were about 31.2 cm (Zheng, Tang, et al., 2000). The ancient Chinese inch (Cun) was one-tenth of one ancient Chinese meter.
Study on Methodology of Repair by Disassembly: The Case of Buyi Ethnic Construction Techniques of a Timber Granary in Guizhou Province, China
Published in International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 2023
Han Xu, Yongjie Pan, Tong Zhang, Yuxi Yang
The tradition of using human scaled measurements to determine the size of dwellings or construction details is common in wooden architecture in Asian countries. The carpenters’ body size and human scale were used as the standards for measurements and construction of the timber granary (Oranratmanee 2018). Occasionally, some construction behavior habits of Buyi carpenters gesture with their human body parts to measure without tools. The frequently used human-scaled measurements in this research are based on the traditional terms of construction tradition in China (Funo 2011), such as xun, zhang, chi, wo, and cun, which correspond to the wingspan, hand-to-elbow length, the bottom of palm-to-middle finger length, clenched fist width, and finger width (Figure 21). The form and function of timber components and the properties of the wooden materials determine the uses of these measurements. Thus, the relationship among these human-scaled sizes forms a modulus system in this timber granary. For example, the diameter of the column is approximately 2 chi and the width of the timber boards is 1 wo. The width of mortises in the column is 2–3 cun and the length is 4–5 times. If the beam has to hang over the structure, the length of the cantilevered part is limited to 1–2 zhang. Altogether, the distance between the two timber frames is about 1.5 xun. Although Buyi carpenters also use their rulers to accurately measure and cut timber components, they depend on their vernacular experience from long-term construction activities to evaluate the work in advance.
The Evolution of the Timber Structure System of the Buddhist Buildings in the Regions South of the Yangtze River from 10th–14th Century Based on the Main Hall of Baoguo Temple
Published in International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 2019
Jie Liu, Chen Cao, Xiaohe Liu, Leiming Zhang, Bill Liyu Chen, Shoushi Li
During the 10th–14th century A.D., the plan layout of the main halls was typically close to a perfect square or a slightly longer building depth than width, with a four by four columns configuration. Figure 3 and Table 2 shows the various plan features and dimensions2The construction of ancient Chinese architecture is measured by “Zhang”, “Chi” and “Cun”, which is also a decimal method consistent with modern measurement, i.e., 1 zhang= 10 chi= 100 cun. The basic length, however, 1 chi or 1 cun cannot be determined by the modern metric length because it varies with the metrics that were enacted by the different ancient dynasties. Moreover, the “construction ruler” used by ancient craftsmen has regional characteristics which cannot be unified now. Therefore, the unit of measurement in the appendix 3 of “History of Ancient Chinese Architecture (Liu D.1984.History of ancient Chinese architecture,2nded., Beijing: China Architecture& Building,421.)” is supplied as a reference, that is 1 chi(Song Dynasty) = 309–329 mm and 1 m = 3.04–3.24 cun (Song Dynasty). of the remaining main halls. The main halls for other religions at the time, such as Taoism and Confucianism, typically had rectangular plan layouts shown in Figure 4 (Guo 2003a, 2003b).