Zhengzhou International【走近郑州历史名人】建筑宗师李诫

Located in the middle of heaven and earth, Zhengzhou is nurtured by the Yellow river. Since ancient times, herds of influential statesmen, thinkers, scientists and writers borned here. They either worked for the government or wrote books, highlighting their times with their insights, creations and ideas.

位居天地之中、黄河之滨的郑州，受大河哺育、“天中”滋养，自古以来就涌现出众多影响深远的政治家、思想家、科学家、文学家等各领域杰出人才，他们或为政一方，或著书立说，用自己的见解、创造和思想为所处时代打上了一片片“高光”。

Take copper as a mirror, one can be dressed; take people as a mirror,one can judge gains and losses. Maybe we will have new gains when we get close to these famous people in Zhengzhou's history again.

以铜为鉴，可以正衣冠; 以人为鉴，可以明得失。当我们再次走近郑州历史上的这些名人，或许会有新的收获。

Li Jie, a master architect in the Song Dynasty, is a native of Zhengzhou City. He is remembered through the ages for his work "The Construction Codes", which is a masterpiece of Ancient Chinese architecture. Liang Sicheng, the "father of modern Chinese architecture", did only two things in his life: compiling the history of Chinese architecture and studying Li Jie's The Construction Codes.

宋代建筑大师李诫是郑州管城人，他凭一部“中国古代建筑学集大成者”《营造法式》名垂千古。“中国近代建筑之父”梁思成一生只做两事：编写《中国建筑史》、研究李诫的《营造法式》。

After the founding of the Northern Song dynasty, the society has entered into a period of relative stability and prosperity. More than 100 years of large-scale construction had provided ample opportunity for graft of the project-responsible officials.The prime minister, Wang Anshi, believes that in order to make the country rich and powerful, it needs to reduce expenditure in addition to raising revenue. The main way to reduce expenditure is to curb corruption and make the government spend money clearly.

北宋建国后，社会进入相对稳定、繁荣的幸福期。百余年间大兴土木，负责工程的大小官吏也趁机钻起了空子，贪污之风逐渐蔓延。宰相王安石认为，国家想要富强，除了开源还需节流，节流的主要方式就是减少贪污和腐败，让政府的钱花得明白。

Li Jie has rich practical experience in architecture and he is regarded as the most famous architecture expert in the Northern Song Dynasty. Wang Anshi appointed Li Jie to compile official books on building codes and regulations. Based on more than 10 years of experience in construction engineering, Li Jie referred to a large number of literatures, existing rules and regulations, then wrote down various operating procedures, technical essentials as well as the shapes, forms and processing methods of various building components.

李诫在建筑方面的实践经验非常丰富，可谓北宋最负盛名的建筑专家。王安石任命李诫编撰官方建筑法规典籍。以10余年建筑工程的经验为基础，李诫参阅大量文献和就有的规章制度，手记工匠讲述的各种操作规程、技术要领及各种建筑构件的形制、加工办法。

In addition to architecture, historical records show that Li Jie was a multi-disciplinary artist and scholar who was both a master of painting, calligraphy and proficient in music. Perhaps it was this versatile and knowledgeable talent, combined with three or four years of hard work,"The Construction Codes" was published nationally in 1103.

除了搞建筑，史料记载李诫还是一位书画兼长、精通音乐的多领域艺术家、学者。或许正是这样一个涉猎广泛、知识渊博的多方面才能，再加上三四年的努力，《营造法式》于1103年刊行全国。

Through "The Construction Codes", Liang Sicheng and Li Jie has a unusual fate. For Li Jie's achievements in architecture, as well as his extensive knowledge, right work attitude, Liang Sicheng praised Li Jie highly, and named his son "Congjie". A northern Song dynasty architect from Zhengzhou "conquered" Liang Sicheng and even the whole world in that way.

通过《营造法式》，梁思成与李诫“结缘”，对李诫在建筑学上的成就及广博学识、踏实作风推崇备至的梁思成，还给自己的儿子取名“从诫”。一个从郑州走出来的北宋建筑学家，就这样“征服”梁思成乃至全世界。

 

Source text: Zhengzhou Release

记者 /左丽慧