Looking East The Story of Wood

Publisher : Foreign Languages Press (January 12, 2006)
Language : English
Paperback : 299 pages
ISBN-10 : 7119044583
ISBN-13 : 978-7119044583

Furniture and utensils for daily life, as well as buildings and gardens can be regarded as entrances to Chinese civilization. And when entering the long passageway of Chinese civilization, it was very likely that wood, like a language, played an important mediatory role. Compared with the hardness, heaviness, sturdiness and tidiness of stone buildings, wooden buildings are soft, natural, simple, affectionate, friendly, and have a more natural life taste and human appeal. Westerners use stone and make it rational and systematic, but the Chinese have wedged something called the character of wood deeply into their culture and lives. If one has a good understanding of this, one can have a better understanding of the Chinese tradition.