An Italian Expert Fascinated by Wuhan Architecture

By Xu Kuang

Translation by Liu Jie

An Italian Expert Fascinated by Wuhan Architecture

By Xu Kuang

Translation by Liu Jie

“This stone monument contains the most ancient memory of Tanhualin, and maybe was only discovered by me,” said Ma Fangji.“Sometimes, only foreigners like me could make such discoveries, for Chinese people could take everything here for granted, whereas we are just like babies, curious about everything about China.”Ma Fangji is going to publish a book on Wuhan’s ancient architecture this year, in which more details about the stone monument will be revealed.

Dreams Became Reality

Francesco Maglioccola, an Italian professor of the Engineering Department of Napoli Parthenope University, is a member of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites, the most prestigious international organization in this field).Ma Fangji is his Chinese name, a transliteration of his original name, with Ma representing the initial letter of his family name, and Fangji his given name.

When Ma Fangji first came to Wuhan in December of 2012, he stayed here for three days.Upon arriving in Wuhan, he was immediately attracted by its beautiful architecture. “The architecture of both Chinese and Western styles here have their distinctive features. The Chinese buildings still maintain their traditional beauty,and the old buildings with oriental charms have been well protected.”

He looks at this newly developing country from the perspective of a foreigner, and as he’s interested in cultural protection, he pays more attention to the quaint buildings of traditional style.

He is indeed captivated by Wuhan, and his fascination with Wuhan dated back to many years ago when he was reading in a library in Italy, he found some pictures of the traditional buildings in Wuhan in a book on Chinese history and culture.Since then, he has been deeply attracted by the charm of oriental architecture, and coming to visit Wuhan became one of his dreams.

馬方濟(jì)眼中曇華林最古老的石碑（圖片由受訪者本人提供）The oldest stone monument in Tan Hualin discovered by Francesco Maglioccola (Photo courtesy of Francesco Maglioccola)

“這塊石碑是曇華林最古老的記憶，也許只有我發(fā)現(xiàn)了它?！瘪R方濟(jì)說，“有時候，像我這樣的外國人才能有所發(fā)現(xiàn)，因為中國人會對此習(xí)以為常，而我們像嬰兒一般，對中國的一切充滿好奇?！瘪R方濟(jì)計劃今年會出版一本關(guān)于武漢古建筑的書，書中會有關(guān)于這塊石碑的詳細(xì)記載。

夢里追尋成為現(xiàn)實

Francesco Maglioccola，意大利人，那不勒斯帕特勒普大學(xué)工程系助理教授，ICOMOS國際古跡遺址理事會（有關(guān)領(lǐng)域最權(quán)威的國際組織）會員。

馬方濟(jì)是他的中國名字，馬取自姓氏Maglioccola首個字母，方濟(jì)即Francesco，根據(jù)拉丁語的發(fā)音特點翻譯過來。

馬方濟(jì)第一次來到武漢，是2012年12月。他只待了三天，就被武漢建筑的美麗吸引住了?！斑@里的中西建筑各具特色，中式建筑具有傳統(tǒng)美，那些具有東方韻味的古建筑得到很好的保護(hù)。”

他以一個外國人的視角來觀察這個新興國家，出于文化保護(hù)的初衷，馬方濟(jì)更多地關(guān)注那些古色古香的傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)格的建筑。

他對武漢這座城市可謂著了迷。多年以前，在意大利的圖書館，馬方濟(jì)在一本講述中國文化歷史的書上，看到過武漢的一些傳統(tǒng)建筑的照片，東方建筑的韻味深深地吸引著他。他的一個夢想就是到武漢看看。

馬方濟(jì)說，武漢是中國有代表性的中部城市，這里發(fā)展很快，“卻不像北京、上海那樣，到處都有外國人，武漢能讓我更好地融入本地生活，與本地人進(jìn)行更多交流?！?/p>

2013年3月開始，他分別在武漢工商學(xué)院、武漢理工大學(xué)任教半年，隨后在華中科技大學(xué)建筑與城市規(guī)劃學(xué)院任教三年，教授外國建筑史。

這五年間，馬方濟(jì)到過中國三四十個城市，“中國很多古鎮(zhèn)都是翻建的，新建的痕跡明顯。我尤其喜歡青島，那里的建筑很有特色，保護(hù)也很好?！?/p>

利用在武漢的教學(xué)之余，馬方濟(jì)背著背包穿行在武漢的大街小巷，他會拜訪一些本地家庭，逛逛早間集市，參觀一些特色的手工作坊，看到感興趣的，他會拍照留存。那個大包里有相機、ipad，存有大量武漢建筑的圖片。

租房體驗民俗文化

馬方濟(jì)知道，外國人在武漢營造的第一批建筑，在漢陽西大街一帶，附近的武漢第五醫(yī)院，就是在教堂的舊址上擴建而成，醫(yī)院的窗戶還保留著教堂原來的半圓形，有助于緩解病人的焦慮情緒。

馬方濟(jì)還經(jīng)常前往曇華林。那里的中式民居濃郁的生活氛圍，深深地吸引住他，他在那里租房生活了半年多。

曇華林位于老武昌的東北角，為胭脂山、鳳凰山、螃蟹岬和古城墻所環(huán)抱，環(huán)境優(yōu)美。它承載著武昌千年古城的厚重歷史，古樸的民居和民俗，讓他感受到中國人的友善和好客。

有關(guān)這里的傳說有兩種，一說是巷內(nèi)有花園，大多種植的是曇花，古時花與華是通假字，故而得名；第二種說法是巷內(nèi)多住種花人，一壇一花，蔚然成林，后來“壇”訛為“曇”，遂有曇華林。

這條老街長約1200米，它像一條承載記憶的長河。觸摸街邊飽經(jīng)風(fēng)霜的建筑，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)這里的一磚一瓦都有自己的故事。

To Ma Fangji, Wuhan is a representative city in Central China which has developed fast, but meanwhile “unlike in Beijing and Shanghai where you could see foreigners everywhere, here in Wuhan I could infuse into the local life better and communicate with the locals better.”

Since March of 2013, he had been working as a teacher for six months in Wuhan Technology and Business University and Wuhan University of Technology respectively. Afterwards, he had been teaching History of Foreign Architecture for three years for the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, HUST (Huazhong University of Science and Technology).

In these five years, Ma Fangji has been to thirty or forty cities in China. “Many of Chinese ancient towns have actually been rebuilt on the old sites with evident traces of rebuilding. So I love Qingdao particularly, for the buildings there are unique and well protected.”

Taking advantage of his leisure time after his teaching in Wuhan, Ma Fangji would explore the high streets and back lanes of Wuhan with a knapsack on his back. Sometimes he would drop in on some local families, or stroll in the morning market, or visit some distinctive artistic workshops. Packed in his knapsack are a camera and an iPad which have already stored huge number of pictures of the buildings in Wuhan.He would still add to his collection when he finds something interesting to shoot.

Living in a Rented House to Experience Local Culture

Ma Fangji knows that the first houses built by foreigners were located in the adjacent area of the West Street of Hanyang. For example, Wuhan No.5 Hospital in the neighborhood had been extended on the site of a church with its windows still maintaining the original arch shape to help relieve the patients’ anxiety.

Ma Fangji often visits Tanhualin. Being greatly attracted by the strong Chinese living atmosphere there, he has lived there in a rented house for more than six months.

Tanhualin lies on the northeast corner of old Wuchang, surrounded by Mount Yanzhi,Mount Phoenix, Cape Crab,and the ancient City Wall in a beautiful surrounding. With the long and dignified history of the thousand-year-old Wuchang City, the simple and unsophisticated folk houses and folk customs, it has impressed him with Chinese people’s friendliness and hospitality.

“我租住在這里時，覺得這里就是自己的家，我可以坐在咖啡館里喝咖啡、思考，觀察這里的一切，空間、時間、建筑、居民。這里地處鬧市，卻遠(yuǎn)離擁堵的交通和購物中心，鬧中有靜，和朋友在這里談天說地，不會被外界打擾，又有鳥語花香，真是一個別致的地方?！?/p>

馬方濟(jì)說，花園山北坡的太平試館，曾經(jīng)是中國古代進(jìn)行科舉考試的地方。從外面看過去，讓人聯(lián)想到明清時期各縣鄉(xiāng)的秀才下榻于此。他們十年寒窗，就是為了尋求施展自己抱負(fù)的機會。

他介紹說，現(xiàn)在的曇華林小學(xué)，是清朝地方駐軍的武昌衛(wèi)衙門，進(jìn)入民國后的1913年，利用古代建筑辦起湖北女子職業(yè)中學(xué)，很有特色。

1861年漢口開埠后，曇華林一帶逐漸形成了華洋雜處、比鄰而居的地域特色。這里的人口相對稠密，學(xué)校和宗教場所比較多，名人住宅也較多，直至今天，百年老宅隨處可見。

馬方濟(jì)認(rèn)為，古建筑的保護(hù)應(yīng)該多元化，“無論如何，人們不應(yīng)該忘記，建筑本身只是一個要素，花園山和鳳凰山除了這些古建筑需要維護(hù)，還有豐富的植物資源。建筑與環(huán)境融為一體，歷史與現(xiàn)代交織，武漢建筑別有趣味?！?/p>

中西交融搭建橋梁

意大利，法國和英國等國，對于建筑的保護(hù)觀念比較新穎，也有豐富的實踐經(jīng)驗。這些國家會參考?xì)v史，從建筑的特殊性，所處地理位置，加上現(xiàn)存狀態(tài)等制定保護(hù)方案，然后向主管部門提出要求，得到授權(quán)以后，保護(hù)部門會按相關(guān)細(xì)則來實施相應(yīng)的保護(hù)方案。

意大利在歷史文化遺產(chǎn)保護(hù)不遺余力，他們投入大量精力，摸索出一套切合自身特點、并行之有效的保護(hù)方法。

馬方濟(jì)說，在對羅馬古城區(qū)的保護(hù)上，城市總體規(guī)劃采取避開古城另建新城的原則。羅馬把現(xiàn)代交通限制在古城之外，老城區(qū)沒有高架、高速道路，主要發(fā)展地鐵，工業(yè)配置則在古羅馬城外圍。

中西方對古建筑的保護(hù)方式各不相同，馬方濟(jì)認(rèn)為，城市要發(fā)展，重新規(guī)劃建設(shè)不可避免，但是城市的發(fā)展不能僅僅追求經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展，還要尊重歷史文化。他認(rèn)為，武漢對于舊城區(qū)的特色建筑，采取多樣化的保護(hù)辦法。

如今的馬方濟(jì)，儼然成了武漢通。從張之洞建漢陽鐵廠到辦自強學(xué)堂，每一處古建筑遺留下來的故事，他都能娓娓道來。他想為武漢做點什么，而不是短暫停留后就離開，“我會花更多的時間研究這些古建筑，這些古建筑是前人智慧的結(jié)晶，我們要認(rèn)識到這些民族特色的價值?！?/p>

馬方濟(jì)曾經(jīng)委托朋友將意大利特色版畫運到武漢，在很多高校辦展覽，還舉辦過意大利菜主題的派對，給大家進(jìn)行演講，希望將西方藝術(shù)融入武漢的建筑風(fēng)格當(dāng)中。

“其實很多外國人不了解中國，尤其是中國文化，而在武漢這座城市里，中國風(fēng)格的院落有一種特有的歷史厚重感。”他還將自己關(guān)于武漢建筑的心得，發(fā)給意大利、美國等國的檔案館留存，并在家鄉(xiāng)意大利舉辦藝術(shù)展，讓更多的人了解武漢。

走訪世界各地，游覽名勝古跡，在中西兩種思想觀念的交融中，馬方濟(jì)愿意作為一座橋梁，向更多的人去介紹中國的建筑風(fēng)格。?

（攝影/石海 拍攝地點/曇華林）

There are two versions concerning the origin of the name of Tanhualin, one of which goes that, in the past there had been a garden in the lane in which most plants were night-blooming cereus,which is pronounced Tanhua in Chinese and written as “曇 花 .”In ancient times, the characters“花 ” (meaning “flower”) and“華 ” (meaning “splendid”) with the same pronunciation but different intonations had been interchangeable characters,hence, the name for Tanhualin(曇華林). The other story goes that most of the people living in the lane had been florists, each of whom had his own jars for flowers. With one jar containing one flower, gradually so many jars of flowers were accumulated there that the place became a forest of jars. The Chinese character for a jar is “壇 ,” which has the same pronunciation as the character “曇 ”for the nightblooming cereus, so the name mistakenly changed from “壇 花林 ” (Tanhualin) into “曇 華 林 ”(Tanhualin).

This old street extends about 1, 200 meters long，which is like a long stream of memories.Touch the weather-beaten buildings along the street, you will find each brick and tile of the buildings there has its own stories.

“When I was living here I felt it was just like my own home.I could have my coffee in a café, thinking and observing everything here, like the space,time, architectures, and houses.The street lies in downtown area but manages to keep far away from the congested traffic and shopping malls;it is such an exquisite, quiet and secluded place in a noisy surrounding, where you can chat with your friends without being disturbed by the outside, with the birds singing happily and flowers giving out intoxicating fragrances.”

Ma Fangji pointed out that,Taiping Examination Hall on the north slope of the Garden Hill had been a place for the imperial examination for officials in ancient China. The exterior of the Hall would make you remember that this had been the place where the Xiucais, those who had passed the imperial examination at the county level,had stayed, who had spent ten years working hard just in order to find an opportunity to realize their ambitions.

According to Ma Fangji, the present Tanghualin Primary School had once been the Yamen for Wuchang Wei, in other words, the office for Wuchang Garrison in which Qing Government troops had been stationed. The Republic of China in 1913 had made use of these ancient buildings to set up Hubei Women’s Vocational Middle School, which had its own distinctive features.

Since Hankou was opened as a commercial port in 1861,Tanhualin had developed its regional feature of Chinese and foreigners being mixed together and living next-door to each other. The population here was comparatively denser with more schools, religious sites, and celebrity residences. Even up to now, old houses of a hundred years and older could be seen everywhere.

Ma Fangji believes the protection of ancient buildings should be diversified, “In any case, people should not forget that building itself is just an element. Besides those ancient buildings to be maintained,Garden Hill and Mount Phoenix have rich plant resources.Wuhan’s architecture has a special charm, for its buildings and surroundings are subtly integrated, with history and modernity being weaved together.

Building a Communication Bridge for Chinese and Western Architectural Culture

Countries like Italy, France, and Great Britain have both original concepts and rich experiences regarding the protection of buildings. When protecting a building, these countries formulate a protection plan first with reference to history and based on the particularity,location, and present condition of the building concerned.Afterwards they make proposal to the relevant departments.When being authorized, the protection section will carry out the protection resolution according to the corresponding regulations.

Italy has spared no effort in historical and cultural heritage protection, in which they have invested great energy and succeeded in figuring out a set of effective protection methods suitable for their own conditions.

According to Ma Fangji, as for the protection of the ancient town of Rome, the overall urban planning strategy has adopted the principle of building a new city on a new site to let the ancient town maintain its original appearance. In accordance with this principle,Romerestricts modern transportations to outside of the ancient town, so that it is free of overpasses or freeways inside the ancient town, instead,where the subways are the main transportations, and industrial distribution is mainly limited to the outskirts of the ancient town.

China and the West have varied ways to protect their ancient buildings, but Ma Fangji holds that when a city intends to develop itself, re-planning its construction is inevitable. What’s more, the city could not solely pursue economic development for its growth, but need to respect history and culture. He believes Wuhan has adopted various methods to protect the token buildings in the old town.

Presently, Ma Fangji has virtually become ‘Mr. Wuhan,’—he can tell you all the stories associated with each ancient building, from Chang Chih-tung(also Zhang Zhidong)’s building of Hanyang Iron Works to his running Ziqiang School, which is regarded as the predecessor of Wuhan University and one of the earliest colleges in Modern China. Ma Fangji wants to do something for Wuhan rather than leaving it after a short stay here,“I will spend more time studying these ancient buildings which are the quintessence of the ancient people’s wisdom. It’s important that we recognize the value of the national features.”

Ma Fangji had once asked his friends to transport some Italian block prints to Wuhan for exhibitions in many universities.He also had a party with Italian dishes as the party’s theme.He made speeches in public wishing that the Western art could be infused into Wuhan’s architectural style.

“In fact, many foreigners are not familiar with China,especially Chinese culture.While in Wuhan, the courtyard with Chinese style has a special historical decorous feeling.” He has sent his reflections upon Wuhan’s architecture to the archives centers in Italy and America, and held art exhibitions in his hometown in Italy in order to help more people learn about Wuhan.

Having been touring around the world and visited numerous places of interests, Ma Fangji would like to build a bridge of communication for Chinese and Western culture, and introduce Chinese architecture to more people.? （Photos shot by Shi Hai in Tanhualin）

意大利專家迷戀武漢建筑

文/許曠 譯/劉潔