• Journal of architectural history
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.7-16
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• 2022

Fen(分°) is the proportional dimension unit of the standard timber section on Yingzaofashi(營造法式), and there is a phrase that not only structural members but the whole structural design of a building also use Fen as the dimension unit on the book. But in fact only the section dimensions of structural members are recorded by Fen, but the design dimensions are recorded by Chi(尺) on the book. Other historical records also described the building size by Chi. So there has been long-standing debate on the phase in Chinese architectural history society, including the recent confrontation on the analysis of survey figures of the east great hall of Foguangsi temple(佛光寺 東大殿). This paper analyzes all the records about the size of structural members and section planning on the book to make various calculation and evaluation. And it makes a survey of Cai(材) as the dimension and design unit between Chi and Fen through geometric analysis. Cai might be a rough unit of measurement in terms of structural and proportional scheming on Yingzaofashi, and the full size Cai(足材) had been a building scheming module before the Song dynasty.