"Red Walls and Yellow Tiles" is a book published by the Machinery Industry Press in 2010. The author is Zhang Kequn. The summary of the content is as follows:
Beijing, as the ancient capital of six dynasties, has a rich and unique culture with a long and glorious history. Wandering on the streets of the ancient capital, you can see ancient buildings from past dynasties everywhere. What kind of stories are hidden behind these ancient buildings? Where is the beauty of ancient architecture reflected? Open this book and the author will tell you these allusions like countless treasures.
Beijing is a majestic imperial city. The emperors of six dynasties left their glorious legacy on this land. Through the red walls and yellow tiles, we can see the rise and fall of the past dynasties, and You can appreciate the brilliance of Chinese civilization from the ingenious craftsmanship of the imperial city and royal gardens. This book will unveil the mystery of the Forbidden City for you and experience the passing dynasties from different aspects.
Extended information:
In the book "Red Walls and Yellow Tiles", the author Zhang Kequn starts from the architecture and talks about the city's history, culture and folk customs. Let readers rediscover the new face of this ancient city. Zhang Kequn’s profound academic quality and cultural heritage are inseparable from his family background and numerous famous relatives and friends: his father, Zhang Wei, was the vice president of Tsinghua University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
My mother, Lu Shijia, is a fluid dynamicist, educator, and one of the founding professors of Beijing Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (now Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics). My uncle Shi Jinmo was one of the four famous doctors in Beijing. Zhang Kequn recalled: During the summer vacation of her first year of high school, the university organized teachers and their families to go to Beidaihe Beach to escape the summer heat. She was sitting on the beach sketching when Mr. Liang Sicheng, who lived not far from her home, chatted with her and encouraged her to take the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University.
It is said that "architecture is more art than engineering, and more engineering than art." Later, Zhang Kequn did become a student of Liang Sicheng, a great architect. After graduation, he has been engaged in architectural design work. Different from the "rigorous and rigid" image of construction engineers in the secular impression, Zhang Kequn has an optimistic personality and is full of fun in life.
Zhang Kequn's "Speaking of Ancient Buildings in Beijing" written "just for his lifelong passion for architecture" is a collection of three books: "Red Walls and Yellow Tiles", which talks about royal architecture; "Morning Bells and Evening Drums", which talks about Religious buildings; "Winds from All Directions" talks about the early buildings built by foreigners in Beijing.
Zhang Kequn has a profound foundation in architecture, but he does not use obscure academic words in the book. Instead, he uses the tone of old Beijing to tell the background and history of the building in a story-telling way. , friendly and humorous, making people unable to put it down.
Teacher Zhang Kequn also drew more than a hundred pictures himself, which more vividly and intuitively restored the appearance and structure of ancient buildings. In addition, for the convenience of readers, this set of books is specially made into a small hardcover format, which is easy to carry around and walk into the ancient buildings of Beijing with the book.
Therefore, this is not only a set of architectural books, but also a set of profound and interesting cultural readers. There are historical changes in the book. For example, when writing about "Fayuan Temple", he wrote about how this legendary building witnessed the changes and dynasty changes from the Tang to the Song, and then to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The book contains folk customs, such as the bridges and walls in Beijing, the stone lions and tiles that can be seen everywhere, which may contain interesting knowledge and legends.
Investigating historical ancient books, collecting folklore, and using architectural knowledge for professional analysis... Zhang Kequn spent more than 10 years completing "Red Walls and Yellow Tiles", presenting these ancient buildings imbued with historical charm to us. In front of me, I told about my ups and downs. They attract people from all over the world and also move Beijingers themselves.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Red Walls and Yellow Tiles