occidental classical architecture

talking of lingnan architecture, especially guangzhou residence, we have to introduce the occidental classical architecture in shamian, as this architecture style is the representative of urban construction in guangzhou. since 3^rd, sep. 1861, shamian had been one of the earliest concession lands in china. after serial years of constructions by the colonialists, almost all european architecture styles were concentrated at shamian, which is the only area built with so much occidental classical architecture compared with 34 concessions in china. to the foreign tourist in guangzhou, especially tourists from the west europe, it is not so fancy, but for our domestic tourists, visiting shamian is an important and patriotic experience, which reminds our people of the national humiliation! in the following, it’s a brief introduction of shamian and the occidental architecture

[shamian]

shamian is a small island beside pearl river, on the bank of white goose pool. haoyong village is located between shamia and the downtown. 5 bridges respectively built in east, north and west of shamian are connected with liuersan road. the whole island is in the shape of oblong, 900 meters long from east to west, 300 meters wide from south to north, and its total area is about 0.3 square kilometers.

previously, shamian was a part of the quicksand on an island in the middle of ancient pearl river. as it was a perfect deep-water berth, a department named “ huajietin” was established in ming dynasty to administer the turnover of the foreign traders, and shamian also became one of the important ports for foreign trades. in qing dynasty, for the purpose of enhancing coast defense, qing government established numbers of emplacements. before opium war, on the north of the island, thirteen hongs commercial zone was built at riverside and shamian became a transfer stop for the foreign ships. during the 2nd opium war, thirteen hongs and hotels for the foreigners were burned down. in 1857, guangzhou was captured by british and french army union, and dagukou was occupied as well, which compelled qing government to sign the treaty of tianjin. in 1859, qing government agreed that great britain and france established their concessions in shamian at riverside. two years later, namely in 1861, qing government signed the treaty of shamian concession. at that time, 1/5 area of the east of shamian was french concession, and 4/5 of the west of shamian was british concession. when great britain and france occupied shamian by force, they divided the island into two parts, one part (shamianyong) was for the construction of riverbank (today’s liuersan road), which separated the island away from the downtown area, and the emplacements were pulled down, our people residing here before were all driven away. hence, shamian turned into a paradise for british and french invaders, and white goose pool accordingly became a special port for free sailings of their warships and traders.

when concessions appeared, great britain and france carried through careful planning and aborative constructions in shamian, with its natural geographic conditions, a convenient transportation system was developed as well. the whole island was divided into 12 districts of different size by roads, north street was developed to a boulevard along riverside, and south street was built into a riverside park. all buildings were arranged along the primary and secondary roads. under the administration of great britain and france, shamian turned into a concentration place of the foreign consulates, banks, firms, churches and schools, and there were above 10 foreign firms over there respectively run by over 10 countries, which were great britain, france, japan, germany, holland, america, swiss and portugal. among those foreign firms, the branch of british yihe firm with the oldest history was located in no.50 to no.52, south st, and taigu firm was at no. 50.

in shamian, its architecture is usually built with bricks, woods and stones, in occidental styles, so we say shamian is a concentration location of occidental architecture. some experts think the architecture styles can be classified into neoclassic, eclectic, colonial and mock gothc style etc..

in neoclassic style, bulky stones are chosen in the building’s groundwork, and the style of the main body is a combination of neoclassic and other styles, and detailed decoration is emphasized. by way of imitating the occidental classical revival style, the architecture features largely in majesty and preciseness, regular elegant design. its representatives are hsbc bank at 54# shamian street right now, credit agricole indosuez at 18# south shamian street and great britain protestant episcopal church at 60# south shamian street.

eclecticism means free combinations of all kinds of architecture styles, doesn’t pursue fixed style, but emphasizes appropriate proportions and pure image. uk consulate, asia krosene co. ltd. uk and shamian merchants bureau are built in the eclectic style. take uk consulate as an example, in its east elevation, an arch porch is built in the fist floor, a verandah with poles in the second floor; in south elevation, huge poles are used, verandahs of different designs are built in the two floors; in west elevation, the main part is solid wall with overhanging balconies and poles. different styles of three elevations compose of an occidental classical architecture in the eclectic style.

colonial style is a compounding of simple design and continuous arcades in its elevations. a style of occidental architecture features in compact shapes, clear lines and regular decorations. its representatives are 48# shamian street. rood church, in 14# shamian street, is in the style of mock gothic.

in 1945, after the victory of anti-japanese war, our government formally withdrew shamian concession and returned it to the local people after liberation. in 1959, premier zhou claimed to preserve shamian’s original buildings and environment during his inspection to it, and the state once allocated 10 million yuan as the fund for repairing. in recent years, guangzhou municipal government has carried out mapping and conservation planning for the occidental classical architecture, and set up historic and cultural conservation sections, and constructed shamian park, and established public recreation facilities such as tennis courts and swimming pool, which make shamian a good destination for guangzhou resident to spend their leisure time.

at present, shamian is included in the units of historical monuments & cultural relics under state protection, and also regarded as the ninth landscape in guangzhou.