History of Architecture

ARCHITECTURE OF CHINA
Geography, Geology
and Climate

- Larger than Europe

in area
- 1/13 of the total
land area of the
world
- Metals, timber,
bamboo and clay
- North – severe
winters; South –
warmer climate
Influences
 History
 Succession of emperors and Dynasties
 Warring states
 Philosophers:
 Confucius, code of ethics and education
 Lao-Tzu , Taoism
 Shih Huang Ti, emperor
 Emergence of theorists, thinkers, schools
of philosophy
 Arts, painting, calligraphy, architecture
 Foreign trade by land and sea
 Chinese were banned from going abroad
 Religion
 Confucianism
 practice of honoring ancestors and family

clans took shape; it played an important part

in the layout of the cities
 Temples – was made to rites and tributes to
ancestors
 Introduction of different religions brought
new types of architecture
 Code of social conduct and philosophy
of life
 Taoism
 Universal love as solution to social
disorder
 Buddhism
 DAOISM ; BUDDHISM ; CONFUCIANISM
 5 Categories and Elements relevant in Chinese
architecture
 Five Elements- wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
 Position – East, South, Middle, West, North
 Weather- Windy, Hot, Humid, Dry, Cold
 Color – Green, Red, Yellow, White, Black
 Evolution of Living Things- Birth, Growing Up,
Changing, Weakening, Hiding
 Symbolic Significance – Prosperity, Richness and
Honor, Power, Desolation, Death
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
 MATERIALS
 timber was more easily available than stone

 Tiles - produced in the early Zhou Dynasty

( 770-265BC)
 Bricks – introduced in 475-221 BC

 Glazed Tiles and Bricks – regarded as high

grade materials
 Stones- used for foundations of wooden

structures
 Stones- used for foundations of wooden
structures
 Paper, mica sheets and shells- used as
translucent materials fro ornamentation
 Metal and cast-iron – use for ornaments
 CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM
 timber framed construction

 “Beam-in-tiers” and “ Column and Tie

beam” method ( Eastern Han Dynasty 25-

220 AD)
 Mesopotamian influence in the use arch

and vault
 Foundation, columns and roof

 Nails used were covered by decorative carved

animal motifs
 Roofs- hipped, hipped and gable, overhanging
gable, parapet- gable, double-hipped roof
Dougong- a system
of brackets inserted
between the top of a
column and a cross
beam
-Each bracket being

formed by a double
bow-shaped arm
called ‘gong’ which
supports a block of
wood called ‘dou’ on
each side.
-- Western Zhou

Dynasty ( 1027-770
BC)
 5 Main Characteristics of Chinese
Architecture

1. Unity of structure with architectural art

– achieved by beautifying the structural components
themselves instead of applying additional ornaments
2. Good anti-seismic function- mortises and
tenons as connection to be able to move under
earthquake conditions
3. A high degree of standardization –a
building is composed of a group of beams carried
on columns with curved corbel brackets forming a
kind of roof truss; modular construction
4. Bright colors – colors are integral part of
architecture; practice of painting wooden buildings
to prevent weathering and insect infestation and to
achieve decorative affects
 Red – walls, pillars, doors and windows frame
 Yellow – roof
 Blue and Green – applied under the eaves

5. Systematic grouping of buildings -

plan a single building around a courtyard and then
use the courtyards as basic units to form groups
of buildings
Examples:
 Palaces
 Temples
 Pagodas
 Pai-lou
 Tombs
 Houses
 Bridges
 Fortifications
 The Forbidden
City

One million workers

toiled on the palaces of
the Ming and Qing
Dynasties from 1421 to
1924. The Forbidden
City (Gugong) wall that
encompasses its 9,000
rooms consists of 12
million bricks. Another
20 million bricks ended
up in the walls of the
pavilions and the
surfaces of courtyards
 The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is the

largest and best-preserved
imperial garden in China. Its
chinese name, YiHeYuan,
translates as 'Garden of Nurtured
Harmony' or 'Garden for
Maintaining Health and
Harmony'.
- used as a summer residence by
China's imperial rulers - as a
retreat from the main imperial
palace now known as the Palace
Museum (or 'Forbidden City') - a
pleasureground in the
countryside, yet near to the city.
- World Heritage site by UNESCO
in 1990. The Tower of Buddhist Fragrance.

http://www.kinabaloo.com/summ
er_palace.html
Summer Palace the long gallery
Seventeen Arch Bridge at the
Summer Palace, Beijing
Marble boat at the Summer Palace 
The Temple of
Heaven ( Tian Tan
Shrine)
The magnificent and
colorful Temple of Heaven
(TianTan) was where emperors
of the Ming and Qing dynasties
would offer sacrifices to
heaven and pray for good
harvests.
-constructed between 1406 and

1420 during the reign of Ming

Emperor YongLe (1403-1424),
who also oversaw the creation
of the Forbidden City during
the same period.
-- UNESCO World Heritage List

in 1998

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is one

of Beijing's most famous architectural
landmarks
 Inside the Hall of
Prayer for Good
Harvests
 PAGODAS

-Most typical Chinese

building
-- formerly of religious

significance but later

became of secular nature
or monuments to victory
-- usually octagonal in plan

-- odd number of stories, 9

or 13
-- repeated roofs, turned
up eaves, slopes to carry
each storey
The White Pagoda was built in 1271 during Yuan
Dynasty Kublai Khan's reign and owed its beauty to a
Nepalese architect.
In 1457, the temple was renovated and renamed
Miaoying Temple.
It was refurbished many times during the Ming and
Qing Dynasties.
 The Liuhe Pagoda (Six Harmonies
Pagoda) of Hangzhou, Zhejiang
province, China, built in 1165 AD
during the Song Dynasty.

Great Wild Goose Pagoda was built in

652 inside the Buddhist Temple of Grace
in Xian during the Tang Dynasty.
PAI-LOU/ PAI-LOUS

 Ceremonial gateway
•- basic symbolic structure

• serves as entrance to

temples and tombs, as

monuments to eminent
persons
•Made of stone or wood

• with 2 or more upright

posts with horizontal frieze

 1, 2 or 3 openings

The Pai-lous of China bear

a family resemblance to the

torans of India and the
torii of Japan, and were
erected as memorials to Ceremonial arch (Pai-lou) outside the
deceased persons of Confucian temple in Nanjing.
distinction
Dunedin Chinese garden
gate
TOMBS

Tombs are not of great

architectural value

Xi’an Tomb

-Home of the terra cotta

warriors
-- no 2 men are alike
EXCAVATION AT
XI’AN TOMB
MING’S TOMB
Houses

 No noble country houses

 Generally one storey
 Governed by building regulations limiting the
dimensions and number of columns
 Emperor- 9 bays
 Prince – 7 bays
 Mandarin – 5 bays
 Ordinary Citizen – 3 bays
HOUSES

Residential buildings – HUTONG ( alley houses )

FORTIFICATIONS

THE GREAT WALL OF

CHINA
- Most famous of ancient
Chinese buildings by Shi
Huang Ti
-3700 mi.long ( 1/20 of the

earth’s circumference) from

Pacific Ocean to Gobi
Desert
-- used gray granite blocks

-- 2.4m high and 0.90m

thick wall around the

equator
Other buildings
Beijing
 Railway Museum

National museum of
China
Center for Performing Arts
( The EGG)
Shanghai
Yu-yuan garden
The Bund