Architects and Designers

Li Jie

Song Dynasty Official

Citation Formats

General Reference

Architecture and Design Atlas. "Li Jie." Accessed August 29, 2026. https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/li-jie.

APA Style

Architecture and Design Atlas. (n.d.). Li Jie. Retrieved August 29, 2026, from https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/li-jie

BibTeX

@misc{architectureanddesignatlas-li-jie,
  author = {Architecture and Design Atlas},
  title = {Li Jie},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/li-jie},
  note = {Accessed August 29, 2026}
}

Li Jie was the Song dynasty official who compiled the Yingzao Fashi, the empire's standard technical manual for building construction, completing it around 1100 and seeing it published by imperial order in 1103. His work set down the inherited practices of craftsmen and architects passed down by word of mouth, including the grading and joinery of dougong bracket sets, in what survives as the earliest complete Chinese technical building manual.

Facts

Birth Year

1065 1

Death Year

1110 1

Nationality

Chinese (Song dynasty) 1

Defining Contribution

Compiling the Yingzao Fashi, the earliest complete Chinese technical building manual to survive, standardizing bracket-set (dougong) joinery and an eight-rank timber grading system. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections