Building legacies

'Grand Tour'

After finishing his studies at Tsing Hua College, the predecessor of Tsinghua University, Tong went to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, the institution that helped cultivate modern China's first generation of architects, including Tong, Yang and Liang. Tong obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Pennsylvania.

After graduating in 1928, he worked at two firms, including that of the prolific architect Ely Jacques Kahn in New York City. Two years later, he left the job to travel in Europe, tracing the "Grand Tour" route.

The Grand Tour emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries as a popular tradition among European aristocrats, who used their wealth and leisure time to travel the continent to explore natural landscapes, art and architecture as part of their educations. The practice expanded to other social classes in the late 18th century as tourism became more affordable. In particular, young artists and architects, including those from other continents, viewed it as an ideal way to enrich knowledge, widen vision and inspire future work in their respective fields.

Tong's itinerary included Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, according to a map he drew en route. He painted, wrote about and photographed magnificent classical and modern buildings, and the cultures that generated such architecture.

Liu Xiao, a curator of the Art Museum of Beijing Fine Art Academy, says the drawings and watercolors from the tour on show are not some sketches created quickly to show others he'd made the trip. Rather, they show the solid discipline Tong had received to become a qualified architect, empowered by thought and an aesthetic taste to consolidate his understanding of architecture from different periods.

Tong learned oil painting at an early age and exhibited his works while at Tsing Hua College.

At the University of Pennsylvania, he studied a curriculum that emphasized training in architectural techniques and the integration of architecture with all art forms, including painting, poetry, music and sculpture. He was taught to be an architect with aesthetic discernment.

"These artworks are displayed in the order of the countries he toured that year and juxtaposed with diaries mentioning the architecture he saw on the way," Liu says.

"This allows the audience to feel Tong's accumulation of cultural understanding, insights and research."

Tong Jun's grandson, Tong Ming, who's a professor of architecture at Southeast University, says the tour was one of his grandfather's "most glorious" life chapters.

"It wasn't hard for a trained architect like him to depict those buildings in a professional manner. But he was also able to capture their souls and distinctive auras," Tong Ming says.

"He shows us how architecture's evolution shapes the way our world looks."