Study on mountain Confucian temple spatial layout and landscape environment: an analytical study of Confucian temples in Southwest China during the 15th-19th centuries

Taking Confucian temples in Southwest China as an example, this paper discusses the combination of traditional temple architecture in East Asia and mountain topography. Based on the fieldwork survey of 14 existing mountain Confucian temples in Southwest China, the paper provides the first systematic examination of the topographical influences on courtyard spatial layouts and landscape environment of Confucian Temple. The author discusses the topographical influences on the orientation and axis sequence organization of the Confucian temple. Then, the diversity of the guiding space layouts is explored by combining the theory of Figure-ground and Space Syntax. On this basis, the author takes the most representative “vertical interface” of the mountain Confucian temple as a point of departure for re-examining the plant configuration and water environment that match the mountain topography. The finding of the paper shows how to implement a set of mature building complex under mountain topography and create an amazing landscape environment in Southwest China during the 15th- 19th centuries. The work enriches the discourse in the study of the traditional temple in East Asia and provides the theoretical basis for the conservation of Confucian temple architectural heritage.