Kuai Xiang

Also known as Zi Tingrui · Xiang Shan Bang Jiang Ren · Kuai Luban

Kuai Xiang, courtesy name Tingrui, came from Xiangshan in Wu county, Suzhou, from a family of carpenters that included his grandfather Kuai Siming and his father Kuai Fu. In the Yongle reign he went north with southern craftsmen to build the palaces of Beijing; Qing gazetteers credit him with designing the Chengtian Gate, which Ming official histories do not confirm. When the court rebuilt the three main halls and two inner palaces in 1440 he was a leading master builder, and he was taken off the artisan rolls into the Construction Office. He later worked on imperial tombs such as the Xianling and Yuling and in the Chenghua reign became left vice minister of works with a first-rank salary. The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong describe him as a carpenter who rose by his skill, and tradition says the emperor called him the Lu Ban of his day. He died in 1481 at eighty-four, and the Xiangshan builders came to honour him as their founder.