A ‘bridge’ between modern technology and traditional culture

Imagine you live not too far away from an emerging technology town featuring a cluster of modern office buildings, and yet still have the privilege of staying close to “a touchable history” in the form of a plethora of ancient bridges and archaic structures.

Such a symbiotic relationship between modern technological development and historic preservation is being formed and reinforced in Jinze, an ancient watertown in the western suburbs of Shanghai, bordering other old towns in neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Jinze literally means golden waters.

For Er Dongqiang (Deke Erh), a photojournalist-turned-philologist and historian, walking into what he calls “a touchable ancient China” is just a matter of a few minutes from his home located at the heart of Jinze.

“Walking over those well-preserved ancient bridges, built since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), you feel you can ‘touch’ history close at hand,” Er told me in an exclusive interview at his home on Tuesday.

It was my first visit to his riverside home and I found, to my pleasant surprise, that it was only one or two minutes’ walk from some of Jinze’s ancient bridges.

About 8 kilometers to the northeast of his bucolic house lies an emerging modern technology town, which includes Huawei Technologies’ new R&D center that just started operation toward the end of last year. It’s estimated that 30,000 Huawei staff will have moved in by the end of this year, and more will come later.

In 2017, when Huawei decided to set up a massive R&D center in Jinze, it was largely attracted by the ancient watertown’s pristine landscape, where talents could work in a serene environment. Nature inspires, indeed.

In 2019, a senior official of Qingpu District, which administers Jinze Town, used Huawei as an example to illustrate how an ecologically attractive place can lend itself to sustainable economic development as well.

It’s not about ecology alone. Behind the well-preserved pristine landscape, which features ancient rivers, bridges, houses, temples and even stone grinders and earthen wine jars built into the outer walls of many residential architectures, there’s a civilizational story about how the Chinese tradition of living in harmony with nature has lasted for generations and continues even today.

Er and his wife often ramble along the rivers and over the bridges, which are a stone’s throw away from their home, enjoying what nature has to offer while appreciating how tangible cultural heritages may help nurture the modern mind.

Jinze has been dubbed “a museum of ancient bridges” for its solid preservation of various stone bridges built from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). A most peculiar bridge – without guardrails on either side – was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). It was so designed chiefly to make it easy for horses to pass.

And it’s not just about bridges.

In history, Jinze used to have 42 bridges, each of which had a temple beside it. An earlier report from The Paper, a major Shanghai-based news portal, revealed that most such temples have disappeared, due to historical vicissitudes, with just one remaining. Such a temple by a bridge and, for that matter, a stone grinder or a wine jar built into the outer walls of residential houses, usually reflect ancient folks’ simple belief in the protective power of nature.

In other words, these tangible cultural heritages, which can be found everywhere in Jinze, tell how man holds nature in awe and learns to live in tune with it.

“A typical (ancient) Chinese architecture is both a physical presence and a space with spiritual significance,” Er said.

Such a dual character of ancient architecture is revealing in that it reminds the modern man that it’s necessary to look at the material world with an enlightened spirit. Meaning, a physical space is not just functional at any cost, but functions in a way that nudges people to respect and make the best use of nature.

In Er’s mind, Huawei’s investment in Jinze is necessary as a development strategy and will benefit local life and economy in a significant way. At the time, he observed, Huawei’s young talents, who will flock in and settle here in the future, may also benefit from a sustained exposure to Chinese traditional wisdom embodied in the tangible cultural heritages well preserved in Jinze.

“Many of Huawei’s young professionals are well educated with Western knowledge, including scientific know-how and foreign languages, but if they are further exposed and better steeped in traditional Chinese culture, they will become really great,” Er noted.

“Look at the example of Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), a great scientist with solid education in traditional Chinese culture.

“After settling down on this ancient soil, some of Huawei’s young talents, so good at modern technology, may become interested in exploring the tangible cultural heritages.

“Overtime, they may be interested in further studies in this field, which will help them develop into great people immersed in the best of both worlds.”

To help better preserve and promote public awareness of the tangible cultural heritages of Jinze, Er has conducted field studies over the years. The latest achievement of those studies, focused on ancient architecture, is presented in an ongoing philological exhibition in Jinze, which runs until March.

A singular discovery in his latest field studies in many villages of Jinze is what he calls the surprising presence of many archaic houses whose classical architectural style took shape about 3,000 years ago and has influenced neighboring countries like Japan.

“To my surprise, I’ve found may siluoqiang residential houses, with slanting roofs and overhanging eaves on four sides,” Er revealed. “Usually this kind of architecture was reserved for royal palaces or important ritual occasions, but why have so many ordinary residential houses in Jinze been built with this style as well? This phenomenon calls for a further study by architectural historians.”

While it’s unclear how siluoqiang, once the highest level of architectural style in ancient China, had found its way into many villages of Jinze, the function of such a house has been clearly documented and explained by Liang Sicheng (Liang Ssu Ch’eng, 1901-1972), a renowned architect and architectural historian.

In his book, “Chinese Architectures: Art and Artifacts,” he wrote: “Near Anyang, Henan Province, at the site of the palaces and necropolis of the Yin emperors, circa 1400-1120 BC, archeologists found the earliest remains of buildings that suggest the possible embodiment of the basic characteristics which later evolved and matured into architecture unique to China and her neighboring countries.”

About the basic characteristics of Chinese architecture, he further wrote: “The structure of the individual building, as it is found today as well as more than 3,000 years ago, consists of, in general parti, a raised platform or stylobate which forms the base for a structure with a timber skeleton of posts and lintrels which in turn supports the roof, generally pitched and with overhanging eaves.”

Why the overhanging eaves?

Liang explained: “The architects of ancient China paid much attention to the depth of the overhang of the eave. Generally it is designed so that the entire south wall will be completely under the shadow of the eave during the latter part of June to assure maximum coolness in the summer and, while in the winter months, the sunlight may reach far into the back part of the room.”

In summary, he noted, the osseous construction (of ancient Chinese architecture) “lends complete freedom in walling and fenestration and renders a house … practical and comfortable in any climate …”

Jinze first flourished as a town during the Tang and Song dynasties, but the area’s history dates back to the Wu Kingdom that existed from the 12th century BC to 473 BC. According to Er’s research, the siluoqiang style was found in Wu’s royal palaces as well. He noted that even the Todai-ji Temple and the Shosoin Temple in Japan were modeled after the siluoqiang sytle.

If today’s scientists and technologists are versed in both Western knowledge and Chinese traditional wisdom, technological development can better go hand in hand with nature conservation. Indeed, located at the core of integrated eco-green development of the Yangtze River Delta region, Jinze stands to win by embracing both technological advancement and ecological preservation.

This is where cultural figures like Er come in.

Er has traveled along the ancient silk roads, both on land and on the sea. He has embraced the world but has spiritual roots in traditional Chinese culture that stresses a harmony between man and nature, mind and material. He is both open and traditional.

Having lived in Jinze for about 20 years, Er has a deep love for this land, whose ancient architecture and emerging technology zones largely mesh well as the town seeks to become both a world-class livable place and a low-carbon zone for technology advancement.

“I have a dream,” Er said. “I can be a ‘bridge’ between modern technology and traditional culture.”

“I hope a new siluoqiang building can be created near the Huawei R&D center to showcase an organic combination of tradition and modernity,” he added.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve traveled in many villages around Huawei’s R&D center to see how a technology firm may flourish in an idyllic setting, as top managers at the tech giant have hoped. I also discovered a siluoqiang house in one village near Huawei in my own field studies on how technology can advance in keeping with nature, not against it.

A large siluoqiang-style museum as Er envisions will go a long way toward nurturing the modern mind with traditional Chinese wisdom that puts man in a proper place in nature, a wisdom much needed by today’s world in its strenuous pursuit of sustainable growth.