Justin is a blogger from the UK who loves ancient Chinese architecture and Chinese history.
His videos have a "hardcore" side — dougong, mortise-and-tenon, the seismic wisdom of ancient buildings — and a romantic side: buildings in classical poetry, pavilions in historical stories.
Justin goes on location: explaining structure before the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, history inside the Forbidden City, aesthetics in Jiangnan gardens. His "on-site lessons" are hugely popular.
Ancient Chinese buildings hold the wisdom and aesthetics of the ancients, he says. He wants to tell more people about this "frozen history".
Justin is a science blogger on Chinese ancient architecture and history, explaining the wisdom of Chinese buildings and their stories so complex knowledge becomes simple and fun.
Content: "who are the little beasts on the Forbidden City roof", "why do mortise-tenon joints stand millennia", "why did Pingyao survive" - one building, one piece of history.
Style: his explanations go deep but stay accessible - dismantling mortise-tenon models, drawing diagrams, using Sino-foreign comparisons.
Going viral: his "do Chinese ancient buildings use no nails?" video spread - demonstrating load-bearing mortise-tenon live; viewers amazed: "ancestors wisdom is incredible."
Views: "ancient buildings are not antiques but living history" - he urges more attention to old-city preservation so old houses keep telling stories.
Significance: he popularises Chinese architecture - making young viewers love it and foreign audiences understand its unique aesthetics.
Plans: a season of "Reading China through Ancient Architecture" - from the Great Wall to Huizhou houses, the Forbidden City to Fujian tulou.
For readers: his videos add respect for historic buildings around you - every brick and beam carries time.
He also made an episode "how ancient buildings tell stories" - Forbidden City steps, Temple of Heaven terrace layers, round Fujian tulou are not random: behind them lie cosmology and living wisdom. "Read ancient buildings, and you read half of China." His videos are used as teaching material in some schools - "I did not expect my videos to be educational." He plans to visit undeveloped old towns, recording "beauty that has no name yet".
His goal is simple - "let more people know Chinese ancient buildings are not backdrops but crystals of wisdom." A middle-school fan wrote: "because of your videos, I chose architecture as my major." "That is my reason to keep going." He is preparing an architecture course for teenagers, making mortise-tenon, dougong and upturned eaves easier. "Ancient buildings are the best teachers; I am only a messenger."
"Every ancient building is a friend who waited years for us" - he keeps visiting.
