Rationale of the intangible: A cognitive reading of spatial conception in the story of the stone

Abstract

This research explores the concepts of space in the Chinese context through textual analysis of "The Story of the Stone", whereby dissonances of cognitive elements are used to depict space, through the change of actions or situation that represent behavioural or environmental cognitive element. The research is particularly interested in the logic of reasoning in the reconstruction of space in the text. The research comes to an understanding of a method to limit the cognitive process of the a??wherea?? and the a??whata??, through the use of precedents. The significance of "The Stone" is that it links the reflection on creative design process with the process of establishing a coherent cultural value for designers that essentially follow the long Chinese aesthetic traditions. Attempting further than the simple knowledge base of precedents in late imperial China, "The Stone" proffers a system of rules for designing with precedents.