Localization of the official style—research on the types and evolution of timber frameworks in ancestral halls in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong China

The timber frameworks of ancestral halls in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong Province China represent a distinctive synthesis of northern official and southern vernacular architectural traditions. This study takes 43 cultural relics ancestral halls in the Chaoshan Cultural region as research objects and adopts a method combining field investigation and typological research to systematically sort out the types and evolution of their timber framework systems. The research finds that the timber framework systems of Chaoshan ancestral halls can be classified into Truncated column and Continuous column as the first-level classification criteria. Through the combination of inter-beam components such as Diedou, Tuofeng, Jingua, and Doulitong, a hierarchical sequence of timber framework is formed. The evolution process is characterized by the transformation from Chuandou-Tongzhu framework to Tailiang-Diedou framework, and ultimately advances to the typical and classical type known as “three Zai, five Mugua, eighteen Dou”. The decorations of frameworks are also designed in coordination with the spatial functions, further strengthening the hierarchical sequence. This study not only supplements the typological research on the timber framework system of traditional Chaoshan architectures, but also provides important clues for the revelation of the integration and evolution of Chinese traditional timber frameworks.