THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF CHINA ON THE IMAGE OF A RELIGIOUS BUILDING
Authors: Kuśnierz-Krupa Dominika , Remizova Olena , Shevchenko Lidia , Kravchuk Oksana 
Published: December 2023

The Buddhist temple complex of Dunhuang can be named as the oldest example of the transformation of architectural and artistic canons of foreign religions when they were transferred to the territory of China. The artistic canons of the sanctuaries, which originated in India, underwent more and more transformations as local architectural and artistic skills developed. The same can be said about the transformation of the image of an Islamic religious building in the case of mosques, for example, in Shaanxi province, which acquired the architectural and artistic image of a Chinese temple of the traditional beliefs of Taoism and Confucianism. The influence of local traditions even on the image of a Christian church, namely the German Protestant church in Qingdao, was studied. In particular, it is quite bright for the German northern national romanticism, the polychromy of the facades, which contrasts with the ascetic interior. 

Unlike traditional Protestant churches, the Protestant church in Qingdao has an irregular plan and the entrance to it is located not from the west, as usually, but from the south (Fig. 1). The asymmetry of the church composition is emphasized by the dominant tower with a height of 39 m. 

This object is traditionally mentioned in the same row as other objects of northern national romanticism – the Residence of the Governor of Qingdao and the Japanese Girl’s High School. First of all, let’s analyze what signs of northern national romanticism are present here: 

– large scale;

– an active silhouette with the presence of pseudo-Romanesque towers of different heights;

– the presence of “torn” stone cladding;

– lack of small details and decoration on the facades.

Now let's define the features that are not inherent in the typical German northern national romanticism:

– dominance of yellow tinted wall planes over planes faced with “torn” stone;

– the introduction of bright polychromy (red tiled roofs – yellow plastered walls – planes faced with “torn” granite – green tower’s roof not in the outlines of northern national romanticism).

An analysis of the appearance of the Protestant church in Qingdao led to the following conclusions.

An analysis of the appearance of the Protestant church in Qingdao led to the following conclusions.

The important role of this object in the planning structure of the settlement actually built on an empty site is evidenced by the following facts:

– the location is close to the government district;

– holding a competition in Berlin;

– funding by the Qingdao Governor's Office;

– the choice of the style of northern national romanticism. 

However, despite the presence of some signs of northern national romanticism in its German version, the phenomenon of style transformation when transferred to Chinese soil should be noted. In particular, under the influence of the picturesque natural environment, other natural and climatic conditions and Chinese architectural and artistic traditions of bright colours, the Protestant church acquired features that are not characteristic of northern national romanticism.