Bagua building

Bagua, one of the places of interest in Zhangzhou, was built in 1572 ad. it is an octagonal three story wooden structure Pavilion, named "Weizhen Pavilion", which was reconstructed from the southeast corner of the ancient city wall of Zhangzhou. It is also known as "eight trigrams building" because it has eight windows and looks like eight trigrams. At that time, there was a couplet on the upper floor, which said: "five famous mountains, two beautiful waters, wind and smoke outside the city, lianhaifeng; qizhenru, Sanji, Zhangnan literature, Jiamin Ou". It was to rebuild the Bagua building in Zhangzhou, which was based on stone (as high as the city wall), and then rebuilt the octagonal three-story Pavilion on the cornerstone, which was more than 6 Zhang above the city wall (about 20 meters). In 1918 (the seventh year of the Republic of China), when Chen Jiongming of Guangdong army was stationed in Zhangzhou, the city walls were demolished to build roads, and the Bagua tower was preserved.

Bagua building

Bagua building on Gulangyu Island is a representative of modern architecture in Xiamen. It was built in 1907, with a total construction area of 3710 square meters and a height of 25.7 meters. The dome is 10 meters high and has 8 edges. It is placed on an octagonal platform. The top windows are in all directions and 24 directions. The folk call it "Bagua building". It is not only a symbol of seagoing ships entering and leaving the port, but also a representative of modern architecture in Xiamen.

brief introduction

The original owner of Bagua building was Lin Heshou, the third room of Lin Benyuan's family in Banqiao, Taiwan. John Yu, a Dutch American, who was the former president of Gulangyu salvation hospital, volunteered to design it for free. John Yu, born in the Netherlands in 1861, graduated from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and the University of Michigan in the United States, studied civil engineering and medicine, and became an American citizen. In 1888, he came to Xiamen with the American Orthodox Church, and was first sent to Pinghe Creek to prepare for the construction of the hospital. In 1898, Xiaoxi hospital was moved to Gulangyu, named "Gulangyu men's and women's salvation hospital". He personally presided over the surgery. He was a doctor of Medicine with excellent medical skills and an accomplished architectural designer. According to Lin Heshou's wish, he designed the Bagua building, a unique antique building integrating Eastern and Western architectural culture. At that time, Western designers advocated retro, and John Yu's design also drew lessons from and integrated various elements of ancient Greek, Roman, Islamic and Chinese classical architecture into Bagua building. Its dome directly imitates the stone dome of Al Aqsa Mosque in Palestine, the oldest Islamic mosque in the world. This kind of dome can be seen in Florence, Venice, Rome and churches in many European countries. The 82 large columns around are designed according to the large stone columns of Hella temple in ancient Greece in the 5th century. This kind of large stone columns can also be seen in St. Peter's square of Vatican and the pantheon of Rome, which were built in the 3rd century. When people come to the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, they immediately feel the sacred feeling of the high mountain. It is obvious that Yu John is grafted to the Bagua tower with this kind of sacred, although the Bagua building is not as breathtaking as St. Peter's square stone column corridor, but its architectural charm can also be felt in Bagua building.

structure

The granite beams between the big pillars of Bagua tower can also be seen in the temple of hefuis in Athens square, Greece. Among the three major columns in ancient Greece, the Doric and ionic are quite pure and typical. The four sides of the corridor are made of granite from Xiamen, which is rough and beautiful. The qingdou Stone Vase under the layering shows the classical beauty of traditional Chinese architecture. The internal passage of Bagua building is in the shape of a cross, facing four directions, which is a common technique in ancient Roman church architecture. Yu John used it in Bagua building, which is quite harmonious and magnificent. Some people say that it is "the little white house of the United States" and "the Capitol of Japan", which is incorrect.

On the roof of Bagua building, you can see a wide view, a panoramic view of XiaGu, and the beauty of sea and sky. Suddenly I feel that the location, shape and many other architectural arts of Bagua building have the beauty of Superman. In the center of the 10 meter dome, there are 8 lines which are not very obvious. There are 4 8-way long windows under the dome. The light and the porcelain flowers on the ceiling interweave into a beautiful space. You can feel ethereal when you are on the scene. The dome also stands on the octagonal platform, all of which are 8 numbers, so it has the meaning of eight trigrams, which is called "eight trigrams building" by the people. It is not only a symbol of seagoing ships entering and leaving the port, but also a representative of modern architecture in Xiamen.

Address: near Xinhua South Road, Zhangzhou City

Longitude: 117.6580753

Latitude: 24.5057725

Chinese PinYin : Ba Gua Lou