Conservation guidelines for bungalows in Kuling Mt. Lushan, Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China

Abstract

Kuling, a hill station community located within the Lushan Mountains in Jiangxi Province in the mid-eastern part of China was founded by English missionary Edward Selby Little in 1895. Designed by and for western missionaries and their families and children living in China, Kuling offered cool weather and clean air away from heat and disease in the plains below. Between 1896 and the 1930s, hundreds of residential bungalows were constructed in the planned community of Kuling, along with churches, hospitals, schools, a library, hotels, commercial areas, and leisure and recreation areas such as parks, swimming pools and tennis courts.

The bungalow residences in Kuling can be viewed as an historical record representative of and for its associations with the lives of many western Christian missionaries living in China at this time who summered or vacationed in Kuling. Later, as a response to a change in the social and political environment, wealthy Chinese and government officials occupied the residences, and Kuling became a summer capital for the Chinese government. Mt. Lushan (including the bungalows) was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Today Lushan is a large and vital community that attracts many tourists and visitors; the bungalows in Kuling are fragile and currently face man-made and natural challenges to their sustainable protection. Currently there are no conservation guidelines for the maintenance, repair or alterations to the buildings within this UNESCO World Heritage site.

This dissertation will outline the history and creation of Kuling as a hill station, identify its architecture and landscape feature attributes, specific heritage values and character-defining features, and the spirit of the place. The research will answer the question how the Kuling bungalows can best be conserved, and provide a statement of significance, conservation approach, and conservation rationale. The objective of this dissertation is to provide conservation guidelines for the bungalows in Kuling, in order to ensure their proper long-term maintenance and conservation so that they maintain their significance and authenticity as a UNESCO World Heritage site.