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Chinese Bridges: Living Architecture from China's Past Paperback – September 19, 2017
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Chinese Bridges brings together a thorough look at the marvels of Chinese bridge design from one of the world's leading experts on Chinese culture and historical geography, Ronald G. Knapp. While many consider bridges to be merely utilitarian civil engineering, the bridges of China move beyond that stereotype, as many are undeniably dramatic, even majestic and daring. Chinese Bridges illustrates in detail 20 well-preserved ancient bridges along with descriptions and essays on the distinctive architectural elements shared by the various designs.
For the first time in an English-language book, Chinese Bridges records scores of newly discovered bridges across China's vast landscape, illustrated with over 400 color photographs, as well as woodblock prints, historical images, paintings and line drawings.
- Print length272 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTuttle Publishing
- Publication dateSeptember 19, 2017
- Dimensions9 x 1 x 12 inches
- ISBN-100804849684
- ISBN-13978-0804849685
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Splendid… [Chinese Bridges] is necessary reading for all who are interested in Chinese architecture, history and culture." --CHOICE magazine
"[Chinese Bridges] definitely changes a person's view on what China is truly all about. It's truly worth checking it out!" --Aisha Kristine blog
"Getting a copy of Knapp's book Chinese Bridges: A Living Architecture from China's Past is a must for anyone who has passion to create living utilities…" --Woman Elan Vital blog
"This is the kind of book that even if you have already finished reading you will never get tired of re-reading…" --Style Diaries blog
"Scholarly, detailed, beautifully illustrated." --Library Journal
About the Author
A. Chester Ong, born in the Philippines and currently based in Hong Kong, has photographed widely throughout Asia. His photography appears in magazines, exhibitions, as well as books, including China Modern, Chinese Houses, and China Living.
Product details
- Publisher : Tuttle Publishing; Reprint edition (September 19, 2017)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 272 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0804849684
- ISBN-13 : 978-0804849685
- Item Weight : 3.19 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 1 x 12 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,562,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #159 in Bridge Engineering
- #758 in Historic Architectural Preservation
- #1,172 in Regional Architecture
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
A. Chester Ong, Born in the Philippines and currently based in Hong Kong, Has photographed widely throughout Asia and for the past half decade in the United States. His Photography appears in a broad range of magazines, exhibitions, and books. Including Chinese Bridges: Living Architecture from China's Past, searching out and photographically doucmenting China's little known architectural wonders as well Heritage sites around asia. Teaming up with Miller and Knapp during ten field trips, he has been captivated by the beauty of the United States and Canada.
Ronald G. Knapp has been carrying out research on the cultural and historical geography of China's countryside since 1965 and more recently in the United States.
Trained in geography and history at Stetson University (BA 1962) and the University of Pittsburgh (PhD 1968), he has analyzed, celebrated, and promoted understanding of China's domestic architectural heritage through his writings and lectures. His early interest in local historical geography has led to three books focusing on regions of the United States.
He is the author, editor, or contributor of more than 20 books, including China's Traditional Rural Architecture: A Cultural Geography of the Common House (1986), which was the first book in English to introduce Chinese vernacular architecture to Western readers. It is remarkable that this pioneering book appeared fully one hundred years after Japanese vernacular architecture was introduced to the English-speaking world.
For more than a decade, he has worked with the well-known photographer A. Chester Ong on a growing family of books published by Periplus/Tuttle that combine fine photography with authoritative texts. Their collaborative work has taken them from China to Southeast Asia where they have documented the little known domestic architecture in the Chinese diaspora.
In recent years, he returned to an early interest in the history of transportation as he has collaborated with Terry Miller and Chester Ong on researching covered bridges throughout North America, a project that took four years of fieldwork throughout the United States and Canada. Their book AMERICA'S COVERED BRIDGES: PRACTICAL CROSSINGS AND NOSTALGIC ICONS was published in 2014.
His THE GUNKS (Shawangunk Mountains) RIDGE AND VALLEY TOWNS THROUGH TIME with Michael Neil O'Donnell is a The and Now book with a range of significant THEN historical photographs--many of which have never been published--they are complemented with NOW photographs contributed by Fred Gerty, Maxine Kamin, Glenn Koehler, Susan Koehler, Susan Lehrer, Michael Neil O’Donnell, Carol Rietsma.
His newest book, co-authored with Terry Miller, is THEODORE BURR AND THE BRIDGING OF EARLY AMERICA: THE MAN, FELLOW BRIDGE BUILDER, AND THEIR FORGOTTEN TIMBER SPANS (September 2023), which is available as an e-book, paperback, and hardback. The book is 517 pages long with more than 225 illustrations, the majority of which have never appeared in print.
Two related articles in BUILT HERITAGE journal are "In Search of America's Covered Bridges" (2021) and "China's Corridor Bridges: Heritage Buildings over Water" (2020).
Knapp taught from 1968 through 2001 in the Department of Geography and Asian Studies Program at the State University of New York, New Paltz. He holds the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
He enjoys hiking and 'reading the landscape' whether in the US northeast or in China. Since 1987, he has served on the Board of of Mohonk Preserve, New York's largest not-for-profit nature preserve, and was its President from 2004-2013.
CHINA'S COVERED BRIDGES Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/316273032964704
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"Chinese Bridges" begins by cataloging the different styles of bridges and then moves to the spiritual dimensions the Chinese embued in their bridges. It concludes with detailed studies of individual bridges. These bridges range from humble vernacular bridges in China's heartland to the beautifully ornate bridges of the country's elites.
Ronald Knapp has been studying the rural architecture of China since 1965 and is one of foremost historian's of China's vernacular architecture. He is a strong writer and his text is well complimented by Chester Ong's beautiful photographs. "Chinese Bridges" is a complementary volume to Knapp's "Chinese Houses". Both are beautifully produced volumes and are a must purchase for fans of Chinese and vernacular architecture. These are two of the finest books in my collection. Highly recommended.
The second delight is the informative text by Ronald Knapp. His explanations comment on the type of materials used, some of the construction or design principles employed, and the most outstanding feature of the bridge. Never ponderous, the commentaries flow smoothly as a compliment to each photograph. The reader will find their eyes darting from the commentary back to the photo again and again because the commentaries and photos are so well integrated.
The third delight is that the bridges are respected not only as historical artifacts or marvels of engineering technology, usually built by local people who had no knowledge of engineering theory, but bridges are explained in terms of their role within each local community. Of course bridges helped people cross rivers and wetlands, but they served in other ways as well. Many bridges had temples to local deities, so they were a site for worship, usually by people asking the gods for protection and help. Bridges could be the site of local markets, where foot traffic was heavy and the chance to sell was enhanced. Some bridges were so elaborate that a tea house was built in the middle where travelers could stop for some refreshment and to admire the view from the top of the bridge at its highest arc. Indeed, most of the photos show the interaction of local people with the bridge, so expect to see farmers, children, workers or tourists taking advantage of and having fun on the bridge.
In sum, I liked this approach that sets each bridge in a wider context. On almost every page one will find the author's and photographer's emphasis on the interaction of community, people, the economy and geography with the bridges. This gave me an appreciation for the many roles played by bridges. They were much more than utilitarian conveniences, and in some instances even became the center-point of their community.