The accelerated social and economic changes in China and the constantly advancing globalization of the world have contributed to this country’s assimilation of Western concepts related to the protection of cultural heritage. The issue of authenticity in the preservation of wooden built heritage proved particularly problematic. This book brings closer the theoretical understanding and practical application of the idea of authenticity from Chinese perspective. To do this, the issue of living heritage and the reception and understanding of traditional Chinese wooden architecture and its preservation as a direct materialization of Chinese religious and philosophical traditions is discussed. The above topics are treated within the cyclic concept of time, i.e. in terms of progress and repetition, with preservation being understood as a religious practice. Finally, trends in the preservation of wooden heritage in present-day China are mentioned, including new attempts to interpret the tradition and the reinvention of the tradition of wooden building.
The book aims to contribute to the understanding of the protection of wooden architectural heritage in China from a new perspective, and will be of particular interest to academics and professionals interested in or involved in the preservation of built wooden heritage.
‘(...) a highly valuable contribution to the field of wooden architecture protection and preservation’, Xiaoming Zhu (Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
This book ‘(...) successfully explains the inheritance characteristics of Chinese wooden architectures from the perspective of cultural philosophy for a wide audience (...)’, Yasufumi Uekita, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Dr Tomasz Tomaszek works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Monuments Conservation, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture at Rzeszow University of Technology in Poland. He graduated with an MFA in Conservation and Restoration of Fine Art Objects from the Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, Poland and an MA in Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. He obtained his PhD (with honors) in Technical Science in Discipline of Architecture and Urbanism (specialty: history and conservation of monuments of architecture and urbanism) at Krakow University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Department of the History of Architecture and Conservation of Monuments, Krakow, Poland.
Dr Tomaszek furthered his professional qualifications by participating in several international specialist courses and additional studies, including:
Dr Tomaszek is a laureate of many prestigious scholarships/fellowships, such as:
Dr Tomaszek has presented his research at many national and international scientific conferences (inter alia in Palestine, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Lithuania, Portugal and Italy), and he participated in an international research grant (Japanese-Ukrainian-Polish
co-operation) "Conservation Method of Wooden Churches in Ukraine – Comparative Study of Log Construction Conservation Method between Japan and Europe"; research fund from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
Dr Tomaszek is the author of several scientific papers on issues related to the preservation of historical wooden architecture, which have been published in renowned Polish and international journals.