ANCIENT

CHINESE
CIVILIZATION
-SIMRAN.L
TANMAYA
TEJAL.R.MEHTA
VARUN.D
YASHIKA.BAID
• Urban planning originated during the urbanization of
the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic Age, which began in
China around 10,000 B.C. and concluded with the introduction
of metallurgy about 8,000 years later, was characterized by
the development of settled communities that relied primarily
on farming and domesticated animals rather than hunting and
gathering.

• The city in ancient China is many things.

• In the cosmological landscape, it is an industrial machine
designed to capture and redistribute Qi, the divine breath, the
power that animates human affairs and carries with it the
mandate of heaven.
• It is embodied in the magic square, Feng.

• The Shang Dynasty ideograph for "city“ is a kneeling person beneath a city wall.
• The kneeling person signifies submission to the state and the burden of citizenship.
• It recognizes that a city is most essentially the people who live within its walls.
• The city wall is not simply a matter of defense.
• Cosmologically, it creates a divine vessel that centers God's rule on earth and projects the
power of the state.
• The Kaogongji (Kao Gong Ji) was an official guide that set forth standards.

• According to the Kaogongji:

 When the builder constructs the capital, the city should be a fang (a four-
sided orthogonal shape) nine li on each side with three gates each. Within
the city are nine longitudinal and nine latitudinal streets, each of them 9
carriages wide.

 On the left (i.e. east) is the Ancestral Temple, on the right (west) are the
Altars of Soil and Grain, in front is the Hall of Audience and behind the
markets.

• The city by having a large, walled administrative district in the center, was
used by early states particularly in southern China, which places activities
that directly support the ruler in the center of a three-by-three grid.

Atop Xian's city wall- this is the

largest ancient city wall still in tack
in China. Built in the 14th century,
the wall is more than 12 miles long
and encloses 5.4 square miles.
 • Daxing was built by the Sui dynasty
Emperor Wen in 582 AD and renamed
Chang'an in 618 AD by the first Tang
dynasty Emperor Gaozu (Li Yuan, Duke of
Tang), and was abandoned in 904 AD
when Emperor Zhu Quanzhong moved
the capitol to Luoyang.
 
• The map at the left shows Chang'an at its
height during the Tang Dynasty. The
layout was created in 582, but the
extensions on its north side and some
changes in the Imperial City occurred
later in the Tang period.
Some of the places in Tang Chang'an
An alternative tradition for the design of ancient Chinese cities is mirrored by the arrangement of military
forces for the purpose of training and in battle. Tai Gong (Jiang Ziya, system on left) was Duke of Zhou in
the 11th century BC. Li Jing (system right) was a famous Tang general. Depending on the period, a pace
varied between ca. 1.0 and 1.5 meters. These systems are also based on the field well mandala.

The basic units

used to
construct the
grid at
Chang'an.

Grid units
superimposed
on plan of
Chan’an.

Location of Yongning Ward at Chang'an.

 
Residential houses in Tang
Chang'an, rebuilt as part of the
Daming Palace Ruins Region. Buddhist and Taoist religious structures in Chang'an
Xian City Planning 1990-2020
Beijing in Plan View The Chinese cartographic view   Idealized geometry of central places.
of the city

Approach heaven in Family Building Units

Beijing
Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Name the Forbidden City

Place Beijing (Peking)
Country China
Yan Hu, Lei Li,
Author(s) Runzi Luo
Project start 1406
Completion 1420
World Heritage 1987
Client Emperor Yongle

• The Forbidden City, the imperial palace of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, is the
best preserved Chinese imperial palace and the largest ancient palatial structure in the
world.

• Within a symmetrical layout, it displays an extremely harmonious balance between

buildings and open space, and conveys a strong image of wealth and earthly power without
abandoning a sense of human scale.
Introduction
• The Forbidden City in the centre of Beijing, was the Chinese imperial palace between 1420
and 1912.

• Construction began in 1406, when Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor and moved
the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. By the time it was completed in 1420,
the complex covered more than 180 acres and included 980 buildings.

• The Forbidden City, as its name suggests, was not generally open to the masses. The
Outer Cour (the southern part of the complex), with its expansive courtyards and
monumental pavilions, was used for public audiences and ceremonies; while the
Inner Court (northern part) contained residences for the royal family, servants, and so on.

• The complex has influenced cultural and architectural styles across East Asia and beyond. In

1987, it was declared a World Heritage Site, and listed by UNESCO as the world’s largest
collection of preserved wooden structures.
Architecture
• The Forbidden City was designed and built in a way that
typifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, with the emphasis on articulation and
bilateral symmetry to signify balance.
• Classical Chinese buildings typical emphasise breadth rather than height, particularly those of
the wealthy. They often feature an enclosed, heavy platform, covered with a large roof that
appears to 'float' because of the lack of emphasis on the supporting vertical walls.
• The halls and palaces have relatively low ceilings compared with similar western architecture.
• The Forbidden City is laid out in a rectangle, measuring 961 m (3,153 ft) from north to south,
and 753 m (2,470 ft) from east to west. It is surrounded by a wall measuring 7.9 m (26 ft)
high, and a moat measuring 6 m (20 ft) deep by 52 m (171 ft) wide. The corners of
the walls are expressed by four towers with intricate roofs formed by 72 ridges.
Construction and layout

• The construction of the Forbidden City was the result

of a scandalous coup d’état plotted by Zhu Di, the
fourth son of the Ming dynasty’s founder Zhu
Yuanzhang, that made him the Chengzu emperor (his
official title) in 1402.

• The establishment of the Qing dynasty in 1644 did not

lessen the Forbidden City’s pivotal status, as the
Manchu imperial family continued to live and rule
there

• While no major change has been made since its

completion, the precinct has undergone various
renovations and minor constructions well into the
twentieth-first century.

• Since the Forbidden City is a ceremonial, ritual and

living space, the architects who designed its layout
followed the ideal cosmic order in Confucian ideology
that had held Chinese social structure together for
centuries.
• This layout ensured that all activities within
this micro-city were conducted in the
manner appropriate to the participants’
social and familial roles. 

• All activities, such as imperial court

ceremonies or life-cycle rituals, would take
place in sophisticated palaces depending on
the events’ characteristics. Similarly, the
court determined the occupants of the
Forbidden City strictly according to their
positions in the imperial family.

• The architectural style also reflects a sense

of hierarchy
Spatial analysis
• The Forbidden City was constructed in accordance with
ancient rules of spatial design.

• The principal buildings was aligned along a straight axis,

from north to south, flanked by a symmetrical
arrangement of minor structures on parallel axes.

• The chilling north was regarded as a harmful direction.

Because all invasions of China originated from the north,
it came to represent evil spirits, cold winds and the
wicked warriors from the steppes.

• Hence, the buildings in the Forbidden City face south,

the direction of holiness, giving protection from cold
winds and also permitting subtle decoration based on
catching infinite variations of light.

• In fact, the only pavilions facing north were for the

Emperor's rejected concubines.