Influence of Chinese and Western Culture on Modern Church Architecture in Yan’an Area

Author(s)： Li Wang, Yongjian Qu

ABSTRACT

Based on the historical records and field investigation, this paper aims at elaborating the architectural styles, interior space design and architectural landscape of modern church architecture in Yan’an, analyzing the influence of Chinese and western culture on modern church architecture in Yan’an and expounding the historical and cultural value as church architecture, which will play a great role in the protection, inheritance and utilization of modern architecture in Yan’an area.

Introduction
Christianity became widely spread in mainland of China after the Opium war. As the center of Shannxi province, Christian culture inevitably exerts a profound impact on Yan’an area. Situated in Northern Shannxi province on the Loess Plateau, Yan’an area is in eastern Lvliang area of Shanxi province, western Qingyang area of Gansu province, northern Yulin area and southern Tongchuan area in Shannxi province, forming a relatively isolated geographical location. Yan’an area includes twelve counties and one city respectively: the city of Yan’an, Yanchuang, Yanchuan, Zichang, Ansai, Zhidan, Zhidan, Wuqi, Ganquan, Yichuan, Fuxian, Luochuan, Huanglong, and Huangling. Yan’an area, which overlooks the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese civilization, possesses its special Loess Plateau culture.

After a long time of collision and fusion of local Loess Plateau culture and Christianity of western culture, a new class of religious architecture, called church architecture, is created in Yan’an area. In this paper, we will adopt the literature analysis method and case analysis to collect the information of church architecture and investigate the representative church in Yan’an area, recording the architectural styles, interior space design and architectural landscape of modern church architecture in Yan’an area. The research of church architecture in Yan’an area not only has special evaluation on the propagation of western culture and the promotion of the blend of Chinese and western culture, but also makes up for blanks of church architecture in remote areas.

Source:

Journal： Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research

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