Stone in Emulation of Timber: An Exploration of Wooden Construction Techniques as Revealed in the Hengsheng and Miaogouhou Stone Gateways in Ningbo

The Hengsheng and Miaogouhou stone gateways in Ningbo have attracted considerable attention owing to their accurate representation of early timber structural frameworks. Leveraging high-precision scanning and surveying data, this paper comprehensively examines their construction ruler lengths, material grading systems, and dimensional design. The findings include (1) the Hengsheng and Miaogouhou stone gateways employed ruler lengths of 278 mm and 272 mm, respectively, in accordance with the measurement norms of the construction rulers in the WuZhe region, (2) their bracket set measures 6.3 cun in width for zucai, 4.5 cun in width for dancai, and 3 cun in thickness, aligning with the eighth - grade material specifications specified in Yingzao Fashi, and (3) the Hengsheng gateway in comparison exhibits closer compliance with the regulations as in Yingzao Fashi. These two stone gateways provide invaluable references for studying the construction techniques of early stone replicas in emulation of timber architecture.