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.

马方济眼中昙华林最古老的石碑（图片由受访者本人提供）The oldest stone monument in Tan Hualin discovered by Francesco Maglioccola (Photo courtesy of Francesco Maglioccola)

“这块石碑是昙华林最古老的记忆，也许只有我发现了它。”马方济说，“有时候，像我这样的外国人才能有所发现，因为中国人会对此习以为常，而我们像婴儿一般，对中国的一切充满好奇。”马方济计划今年会出版一本关于武汉古建筑的书，书中会有关于这块石碑的详细记载。

梦里追寻成为现实

Francesco Maglioccola，意大利人，那不勒斯帕特勒普大学工程系助理教授，ICOMOS国际古迹遗址理事会（有关领域最权威的国际组织）会员。

马方济是他的中国名字，马取自姓氏Maglioccola首个字母，方济即Francesco，根据拉丁语的发音特点翻译过来。

马方济第一次来到武汉，是2012年12月。他只待了三天，就被武汉建筑的美丽吸引住了。“这里的中西建筑各具特色，中式建筑具有传统美，那些具有东方韵味的古建筑得到很好的保护。”

他以一个外国人的视角来观察这个新兴国家，出于文化保护的初衷，马方济更多地关注那些古色古香的传统风格的建筑。

他对武汉这座城市可谓着了迷。多年以前，在意大利的图书馆，马方济在一本讲述中国文化历史的书上，看到过武汉的一些传统建筑的照片，东方建筑的韵味深深地吸引着他。他的一个梦想就是到武汉看看。

马方济说，武汉是中国有代表性的中部城市，这里发展很快，“却不像北京、上海那样，到处都有外国人，武汉能让我更好地融入本地生活，与本地人进行更多交流。”

2013年3月开始，他分别在武汉工商学院、武汉理工大学任教半年，随后在华中科技大学建筑与城市规划学院任教三年，教授外国建筑史。

这五年间，马方济到过中国三四十个城市，“中国很多古镇都是翻建的，新建的痕迹明显。我尤其喜欢青岛，那里的建筑很有特色，保护也很好。”

利用在武汉的教学之余，马方济背着背包穿行在武汉的大街小巷，他会拜访一些本地家庭，逛逛早间集市，参观一些特色的手工作坊，看到感兴趣的，他会拍照留存。那个大包里有相机、ipad，存有大量武汉建筑的图片。

租房体验民俗文化

马方济知道，外国人在武汉营造的第一批建筑，在汉阳西大街一带，附近的武汉第五医院，就是在教堂的旧址上扩建而成，医院的窗户还保留着教堂原来的半圆形，有助于缓解病人的焦虑情绪。

马方济还经常前往昙华林。那里的中式民居浓郁的生活氛围，深深地吸引住他，他在那里租房生活了半年多。

昙华林位于老武昌的东北角，为胭脂山、凤凰山、螃蟹岬和古城墙所环抱，环境优美。它承载着武昌千年古城的厚重历史，古朴的民居和民俗，让他感受到中国人的友善和好客。

有关这里的传说有两种，一说是巷内有花园，大多种植的是昙花，古时花与华是通假字，故而得名；第二种说法是巷内多住种花人，一坛一花，蔚然成林，后来“坛”讹为“昙”，遂有昙华林。

这条老街长约1200米，它像一条承载记忆的长河。触摸街边饱经风霜的建筑，你会发现这里的一砖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.

“我租住在这里时，觉得这里就是自己的家，我可以坐在咖啡馆里喝咖啡、思考，观察这里的一切，空间、时间、建筑、居民。这里地处闹市，却远离拥堵的交通和购物中心，闹中有静，和朋友在这里谈天说地，不会被外界打扰，又有鸟语花香，真是一个别致的地方。”

马方济说，花园山北坡的太平试馆，曾经是中国古代进行科举考试的地方。从外面看过去，让人联想到明清时期各县乡的秀才下榻于此。他们十年寒窗，就是为了寻求施展自己抱负的机会。

他介绍说，现在的昙华林小学，是清朝地方驻军的武昌卫衙门，进入民国后的1913年，利用古代建筑办起湖北女子职业中学，很有特色。

1861年汉口开埠后，昙华林一带逐渐形成了华洋杂处、比邻而居的地域特色。这里的人口相对稠密，学校和宗教场所比较多，名人住宅也较多，直至今天，百年老宅随处可见。

马方济认为，古建筑的保护应该多元化，“无论如何，人们不应该忘记，建筑本身只是一个要素，花园山和凤凰山除了这些古建筑需要维护，还有丰富的植物资源。建筑与环境融为一体，历史与现代交织，武汉建筑别有趣味。”

中西交融搭建桥梁

意大利，法国和英国等国，对于建筑的保护观念比较新颖，也有丰富的实践经验。这些国家会参考历史，从建筑的特殊性，所处地理位置，加上现存状态等制定保护方案，然后向主管部门提出要求，得到授权以后，保护部门会按相关细则来实施相应的保护方案。

意大利在历史文化遗产保护不遗余力，他们投入大量精力，摸索出一套切合自身特点、并行之有效的保护方法。

马方济说，在对罗马古城区的保护上，城市总体规划采取避开古城另建新城的原则。罗马把现代交通限制在古城之外，老城区没有高架、高速道路，主要发展地铁，工业配置则在古罗马城外围。

中西方对古建筑的保护方式各不相同，马方济认为，城市要发展，重新规划建设不可避免，但是城市的发展不能仅仅追求经济发展，还要尊重历史文化。他认为，武汉对于旧城区的特色建筑，采取多样化的保护办法。

如今的马方济，俨然成了武汉通。从张之洞建汉阳铁厂到办自强学堂，每一处古建筑遗留下来的故事，他都能娓娓道来。他想为武汉做点什么，而不是短暂停留后就离开，“我会花更多的时间研究这些古建筑，这些古建筑是前人智慧的结晶，我们要认识到这些民族特色的价值。”

马方济曾经委托朋友将意大利特色版画运到武汉，在很多高校办展览，还举办过意大利菜主题的派对，给大家进行演讲，希望将西方艺术融入武汉的建筑风格当中。

“其实很多外国人不了解中国，尤其是中国文化，而在武汉这座城市里，中国风格的院落有一种特有的历史厚重感。”他还将自己关于武汉建筑的心得，发给意大利、美国等国的档案馆留存，并在家乡意大利举办艺术展，让更多的人了解武汉。

走访世界各地，游览名胜古迹，在中西两种思想观念的交融中，马方济愿意作为一座桥梁，向更多的人去介绍中国的建筑风格。♦

（摄影/石海 拍摄地点/昙华林）

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 “昙 花 .”In ancient times, the characters“花 ” (meaning “flower”) and“华 ” (meaning “splendid”) with the same pronunciation but different intonations had been interchangeable characters,hence, the name for Tanhualin(昙华林). 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 “坛 ,” which has the same pronunciation as the character “昙 ”for the nightblooming cereus, so the name mistakenly changed from “坛 花林 ” (Tanhualin) into “昙 华 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）

意大利专家迷恋武汉建筑

文/许旷 译/刘洁