HISTORY & THEORY OF

ARCHITECTURE III
Week 3: Ancient Chinese Architecture
TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES
To describe principle
characteristics of Chinese
architecture
To describe the different Chinese
architectural types and styles
To analyze the rationale of Chinese
architectural characteristics
BACKGROUND
• Highest degree of cultural continuity across 4000 years
• 50 ethnic groups – main is Han Chinese
• Uniformity in city design and building practices due to unified
government and strong emperors
• Changes in city design and building practices after 19th
century and toppling of the Last Emperor in 1911
• Impetus for building – government (Imperial court and state)
rather than religious or private patrons
BANPO NEOLITHIC HOUSE CA. 2000 BCE
Wood, thatch roof, earth soil with a central hearth, location Yellow River valley
TRADITIONAL CHINA (DYNASTIES)
1766 B.C.E TO 1911 A.D.
IMPERIAL ARCHITECTURE 帝国建筑
• Imperial palaces 皇宫

• Imperial mausoleums 陵墓

• The number “Nine” and imperial architecture - Nine carried a

special meaning in ancient China when it was deemed that odd
numbers represent Yang while even numbers Yin.

• The notion of Ruler is affiliated with the Sun

黄帝乃太阳之子

• Dragon and Phoenix 龍与鳳

 Bronze casting – wine vessel

Pictograph writing
 秦朝时期

Temple of Heaven, 天坛

Terracotta army, 兵马俑

Great Wall,万里长城
E PANG PALACE OF THE QIN DYNASTY 秦朝-易庞宫
 漢朝时代 - The Han dynasty was the second
imperial dynasty of China, established by the
rebel leader Liu Bang 刘邦 and ruled by the
House of Liu, precede by Qin Dynasty.

Pottery Palace- 陶宫
WEI YANG PALACE OF THE HAN DYNASTY
汉朝-未央宮
DAMING PALACE OF THE TANG DYNASTY
唐朝皇宫
AN UNDERGROUND PALACE --- MING TOMBS 明朝
burial palace

Marble archway or paifang –

patterns of clouds and dragons
Divine road 占卜之路

Two hexagon stone pillars –sign of divine road

24 stone animals to get rid the bad spirit

Forbidden City – Palace hide / placed in the central of the nation
FORBIDDEN CITY IN BEIJING & IN
SHENYANG
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES IN RESPONSE TO:

• Basic needs - shelter

• instilling religious piety- holiness
• Displaying imperial grandeur - greatness
• Indigenous style created and developed continuously within
an isolated self-sufficient society and culture
FENG SHUI AND CHINESE
ARCHITECTURE
• The principles of feng shui
• Yin and Yang
• The bagua - directions and elements
 THE PRINCIPLES OF FENG SHUI

• Qi(气), the energy of the universe, is carried

in the wind and retained within water
• Both wind and water elements were used as a
way of directing Qi
• Feng shui is not only a practice that is related
to physical space, but also to the inhabitants
of the space itself, as both are interconnected
• The goal of Feng shui guidelines is to locate
and orient dwellings, possessions, land and
landscaping, etc., so as to be attuned with the
flow of qi
YIN AND YANG
• Fundamental to feng shui is the idea that yin
and yang are the two basic principles
underlying all matter and energy in the
universe
• These forces are opposites, but are not in
opposition
• They are complementary and need each
other to exist and flourish
• The constantly changing interactions of yin
and yang give rise to the infinite variety of
patterns in life.
THE BAGUA - DIRECTIONS AND ELEMENTS

• The bagua (or pa kua) of the

I Ching (Book of Changes) is
an octagonal diagram used
in Feng Shui analysis
• Each direction on the
octagon (north, northeast,
etc.) is associated with
certain significant aspects
• When one maps the bagua
onto a home, village,
cemetery, etc., information
about correct orientation
and placement can
allegedly be gleaned.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE ON ARCHITECTURE

• Indigenous Chinese religion

• 5th Century BCE Laotzu –
Daoism/Taoism
• Confucius

• Chinese Buddhism
DAOISM/TAOIST
• Belief in life after death
• Animism – natural features, trees, rocks
and hills, cosmic elements, sky, sun, moon
• Complimentary duality of female and
male – yin and yang
• Anti-rational
• Anti-authoritarian
• I Ching – Book of Change
• Architecture – traditional & Bagua
• Taoist architecture applies two
architectural styles - traditional style and
Bagua style
TRADITIONAL CHINESE

Traditional symmetric
architectural layout is applied

Main halls are set up on the

central axis.
 BAGUA STYLE

All structures surround the Danlu in the center.

The center axis from the south to the north is very

long and structures flank the axis.

The style reflects Taoist philosophy that the

human cosmos follows the natural cosmos to
integrate energy, qi and spirit

Most Taoist architectures resort to nature

topography to build towers, pavilions, lobbies and
other garden structural units, decorated with
murals, sculptures and steles to entertain people,
fully interpreting Taoist philosophy of nature.
CONFUCIUS 孔子
• Respect for authority
• Ancestor worship
• Respect for elderlies
• Influence city planning,
traditional house design
layouts and axial elements of
the building
FEATURES
• Timber frame structure
• Symmetry as courtyard style
• Rich artistic image
A. Decorative roof
B. The use of foil structure
C. The use of color
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE
ARCHITECTURE
• Form
• 3 components
• A raised platform/stylobate - base for a structure
• Wooden column and beam structure & post-and-lintel skeleton
• Curved roof (chu-che)

• Bracket Sets
• (tou-kung), which is an assemblage of a number of tou (blocks)
• kung (arms)
• Beams
• A set may be placed either on the column, or on the architrave between two columns, or on the corner column

• Plan
• Unit of space
• Compound
• Ordering of space
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE
ARCHITECTURE

Liang, 1984, p.9

IMPORTANCE OF
WOODEN BRACKETS
AND COLUMN
• primary vertical
• lateral supports
• transfer the load from
the horizontal member
above to the vertical
member below set
may be placed either
on the column, or on
• the architrave
between two columns,
or on the corner
column
• 3 rafters, 3 tie, 6 tou, 6
kung, 2 ang
GUIDELINES TO CONSTRUCTION
• “the circumference of a beam may vary according to its
length, but the cross section always retains, as a norm, a ratio
of 3:2 between its depth and width. The most important rules in
columnisation are
(1) a gradual increase in the height of the columns from the
central bay toward the corners of the building, and
(2) a slight in ward incline of the column, about 1:100. The pitch
of the roof is determined by the “raise” of the ridge, which
may make a slope varying from 1:2 for a small house to 2:3
for a large hall, with gradations in between” (Liang, 1984)
CHINESE BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE
• Standing temple, pagoda and grotto (cave
temple)
• Localization of Buddhist architecture following
symmetric style
FOGONG MONASTERY,
SHANXI PROVINCE, 1056
DAZIN, SONG YUE
PAGODA, DENGFENG
12TH CENTURY
YUNGANG, DATONG, 460
AD
MOGAO CAVE, DUNHUANG, 366 CE
LONGMEN CAVE, FENGXIAN, 493 AD
LONGMEN
RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
• Reflect the national culture, the sub-culture of a specific region
and that of the ethnic group
• 7 major styles of traditional domestic architecture
• Beijing’s Hutong and Courtyard
• Si he yuan in northern China– Courtyard House
• Shikumen - a type of tenement housing unique to Shanghai
• Yaodong in north China
• Seal-like Compound (Yi Ke Yin)
• the earthen buildings (tu lou) of Hakkas
• Miao-style house / the stilt house (Diaojiulou)
 BEIJING 'S HUTONG AND COURTYARD

• Unique form of community

that exists only in China
• Small street or a lane between
two courtyards, or a
community within the city
consisting of hutong residences
• People name each hutong by
various means
• Smaller hutongs have been
formed inside bigger hutongs
SIHEYUAN
• traditional courtyard-
style residence of Beijing
YAODONG (窰洞)
• A yaodong (窰洞) is a dugout
used as an abode or shelter in
China
• common in north China,
especially on the Loess Plateau
 SHIKUMEN
Origin from 1860s when people from
southern Jiangsu and northern
Zhejiang ran into the foreign
settlements in Shanghai due to the
Taiping Heavenly Uprising

Combination of Eastern and

Western architectural styles
featuring the traditional Eastern
grey brick door lintels with a
Western style of decorative
engraving on the walls.
SEAL-LIKE COMPOUND (YI KE YIN)
• Variation of
Siheyuan in
Southern n China 's
Kunming , Yunnan
Province,
• Chinese for “seal”
because when
viewed from above
the layout resembles
the familiar shape of
the square seal to be
seen on Chinese
documents and
paintings
TULOU (EARTHEN BUILDING)
• Three types of Hakka dwellings:
1. Phoenix house 五鳳樓
2. Round house 土樓，圓屋
3. Piang Fong 平房 (flat house)
• buildings are usually formed in two or three
circles
• kitchen and dining room on the first floor
• second floor as warehousing
• third and fourth floors bedrooms
• The inner circle is 2-storied with 30 to 50
rooms which function as guesthouses
• In the middle is a rectangular hall, a public
place for several hundred inhabitants.
Fujian Tulou, 12th Century
 DIAOJIULOU (HOUSE ON STILT)
• Diaojiaolou (literally means
hanging attic)
• ethnic minority in the
southwestern Yunnan
Province
• wooden building is built close
to the mountain or above the
river with an extended floor
space
• built on slopes with only
support poles and no
foundations, and are entirely
made of wood without iron.
THANK YOU