INTRODUCTION OF CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

Beginning of china
civilization

-develop in bohai & hongzhou bays

-climate was more warmer & more
humid
-two of the more important
cultures where hongshan culture
& yangshao culture
-the developing culture was the
longshan culture

NIUHELIANG RITUAL
CENTER
-hONGSHAN CULTURE
-SCATTERED OVER A LARGE
AREA
-HAD A SINGLE COMMON
RITUAL CENTER
-CONSISTS OF 14 BURIAL
MOUNDSAND ALTARS
-SIZE IS MUCH LARGER
THAN 1 CLAN OR VILLAGES

-SCARED PLACE
-40-60M LOAM PLATFORM FOR A GODDESS
TEMPLE
-FOOTINGS CONTAINS GEOMETRIC DESIGNS
MADE WITH CLAY
-PAINTED WITH RED, YELLOW AND WHITE
-NORTHEN END SINGLE DETACHED ROOM
-EXCAVATIONS HAVE UNCOVERED CLAY BODY
PARTS
-8 INTERCONNECTED SUBTERRANEAN
CHAMBERS

-ASYMETRICAL LOBED SHAPE

-25 METER SOUTH NORTH
-2-9 METER WIDE
-CENTER CONTAINS ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS OF CHINESE ANCESTOR
WORSHIP BURIAL CAIRNS,
PLATFORMS& RITUAL TEMPLE
-BANPO A LARGE ORGANIZED
STTELEMENTS
-BELONGS TO YANGSHAO CULTURE
-CIRCULAR MUD
-WOOD STRUCTURES
-OVERHANGING THATCHED ROOFS

-DEAD BURRIED
-BACK OF NEARBY CAVES OR
COMMUNAL BURIAL AREA
-CENTER OF TOWN COMMUNITY
CENTER
-BUILT BY HEAVY TIMBER
CONSTRUCTION TYPE
-IT IS TRADITIONAL TO CHINESE
ARCHITECTURE

Religion
-hongshan and yangshao were
shamanistic
-shama is between the natural
and spiritual world
-dragons and tigers
-central to Chinese confusion
symbolism
-considered prospectors
-life & death

-Liangzhu culture
-emphasized secular authority
-the king over the priest
-agriculture highly organized
-hang-tu platforms also known
as rammed earth platforms
-common feature of Chinese
architecture
-liangzhu culture ritual altar
at yaoshan
-12 graves belong to a priest
-jade & devotional objects
-common for Chinese cultures

THE GREAT WALL

-15TH-16TH CENTURIES
-CHINA BRONZE AGE CULTURE

CHINESE BEAM FRAME

-PINE OR CEDAR COLUMNS
-RESTED ON STONE BASES
-ROOF PURLINS

The Great Wall

of China

The great wall

Chinese name: Chngchng / 'Long Wall')
Location: Northern China
Length: 21,196.18 km (13,170.7 mi)
History: more than 2,300 years
6 to 9 m high, with 1.5 m high parapets
Base is 7.6 m thick, 4.5 m thick at top
Paved road wide enough for 5 horses to run
abreast
25,000 towers, 12 m high and 700 ft apart (2
bow shots apart

Who & when

The great wall map

Why
To prevent invasion
To protect Silk Road Trade

how

Workers: soldiers, peasants, rebels

Materials: stone, soil, sand, brick
Material delivery: by hand, rope, cart, goat

Beacon tower

Great wall laborers laments

Every brick, every stone,

and every inch of mud,
are filled with Chinese peoples
bones and sweat and blood

Main characteristics of
Chinese architecture
1.Good anti-seismic function
Chinese wooden bldgs.& have no deep
foundations for columns so that it could stand during earthquakes.
2.A high degree of standardization
The dimensions of structural

components are based on standard modules.

3. Bright Colours
colours play vital role
4.

a. Red for palaces or temples , walls, pillars, doors & window frames
b. Yellow for roof
c. Blue & Green are cool colours applied under the eaves

The systematic grouping of bldgs.

- palaces and villas were grouped
Only Forbidden City (1406) during the Ming & Qing dynasties is
preserved & remained intact.

RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE:
1. Confucianism - founded by King Confucious
2. Taoism founded by Lao Tzu or Lao Tze
3. Buddhism founded by Siddharta Gautama
4. Islam inspired by Mohammed of the moslems
5. Christianity inspired by Christ
FAMOUS BLDG. STRUCTURES :

GREAT WALLS OF CHINA by: SHI HUANG TI

GREAT ROYAL PALACE by: SHI HUANG TI
IMPERIAL PALACE forbidden city
TEMPLE OF THE SLEEPING BUDDHA
TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

Emperor Fuhi builder of temples & planner of cities , re-introduced

use of Hieroglyphics
SHRINES - were used for making sacrifices to ancestors
and famous historical personages , as well as to gods .

CHINESE GATEWAY
(Pai-lou)

A Paifang, also known as a pailou, is a

traditional style
of Chinese architectural arch or gateway
structure that is related to the Indian Torana.

STYLE
Paifangs come in a number of forms. One
form involves placing wooden pillars onto
stone bases, which are bound together with
wooden beams. This type of paifang is always
beautifully decorated, with the pillars usually
painted in red, the beams decorated with
intricate designs and Chinese calligraphy, and
the roof covered with coloured tiles, complete
with mythical beastsjust like a Chinese
palace. Another form of paifang is in the form
of true archways made of stone or bricks; the
walls may be painted, or decorated with
coloured tiles; the top of the archways are
decorated like their wooden counterparts.

CHINESE PAGODA

CHINESE PAGODA

A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves,

built in traditions originating in historic South
Asia and further developed in East Asia

The origin of the pagoda can be traced to

the stupa (3rd century BCE). The stupa, a dome
shaped monument, was used as a commemorative
monument associated with storing sacred relics.

STUPA- is a mound-like or hemispherical

structure containing relics (arra typically the remains ofBuddhist
monks or nuns), and used as a place
meditation.

CHINESE PAGODA

1. Octagonal in plan
2. Odd number of stories, 9 or 13
3. Roofs projecting from each of its many
floors, turned up eaves
4. Slopes inwards to the top

Roof Sculptures
Pantiles

 Colors play vital role

a. Red - for palaces or temples , walls, pillars, doors &

window frames
b. Yellow - for roof
c. Blue & Green are cool colours applied under the eaves

Compound Brackets Tou-kong

instead of a capital

Separated roofs with

glazed yellow tiles and
golden baoding on
top of each pinnacles.

GRIFFINS
SCULPTURES

 Colors play vital role

a. Red - for palaces or temples , walls, pillars, doors &

window frames
b. Yellow - for roof
c. Blue & Green are cool colours applied under the eaves

Compound Brackets Tou-kung

instead of a capital

Pagodas are
classified into
6 types

1. Pagodas with closely layered eaves

2. Storeyed Pagoda
3. Vase-Shaped Pagodas

4. Groups of Pagodas honouring Buddha's

warrior attendants

5. Single - Storey Pagodas were built as tombs for

monks and nuns
6.Wooden Tower Pagodas were built
from the third century onwards

Shijia Pagoda in Foguang Temple

Example of a Pagoda w/c

is Buddhist type of temple
The pagoda stands on a 4 m (13 ft) tall
Octagonal in plan
stone platform, has a 10 m (33 ft) tall
steeple, and reaches a total height of
Made of wood with
67.31 m (220.83 ft) tall; it is the oldest
Spiral stairways
existent fully wooden pagoda still
arranged along the
standing in China.
edges of the Pagoda

Songyue Pagoda
being twelve-sided. The tower is 40 m
(131 ft) high and built of yellowish brick held
together with clay mortar. plain brick
pedestal or base, and a very high first story
characteristic of pagodas with multiple eaves,
with balconies dividing the first story into
two layers and doors connecting the two
parts. The ornamented arch doors and
decorative apses or niches are intricately
carved into teapots or lions. At the base of
the door pillars are carvings shaped as lotus
flowers and the pillar capitals have carved
pearls and lotus flowers.

Family Structure
-large joint family
-Confucian principle
parents
unmarried children
married sons
principal and secondary wife
children

The Traditional
Courtyard House
-A walled enclosure
-One or more courtyards
-Main room or hall facing
south
-Lesser and lower buildings
on east and west side

The Traditional
Courtyard House

OUTER COURT

ENTRANCE

GUEST HALL

INNER COURT

MAIN
HALL

The Traditional
Courtyard House

Confucian ideas
On the house and city

-formality
-symmetry
-straight lines
-hierarchy of importance
-clarity
-conventionality
-man-made order

Taoist ideas On the

garden

-irregularity -asymmetry
-curvilinear
-undulating &zigzag forms
-mystery
-originality
-wild nature

Natural elements of
the garden

-earth
-water
-rocks
-stone
-plants:
-sand
trees, shrubs,
flowers or moss

architectural elements
of the garden
1. Walls
2. Gateways or openings
3. Lattice work
4. Balustrades
5. Path and pavings
6. Covered ways
7. Bridges and pavilions

Jade Peak Tower

Fo Hsiang Ko
Marble boat

Principles and
practice

a. Walled enclosure
b. Axiality
c. North to south
orientation
d. The courtyard

Beijing, the
Chinese capital
Four main enclosures
-Outer city
-Inner city
-Imperial city
-forbidden city

The Forbidden
City

-built by Emperor
Zhengtong
Palace of
Heavenly Purity

-the residence of
the son of heaven
and conceptual
center of the
empire

Hall of
preserving
harmony

Hall of central
harmony

-supporting
functions

-emperors throne room

-highest point in the city

Meridian gate

-designated entrance
-where high ranking
officials wait
-venue of triumphant
ceremonies
-u-shape
-5 entrances

Temple of heaven
complex

The altar of
agriculture
-ensures the timely cycle of
production
Circular
mound
-ritual platform for
the mandate of the
emperor
-circle represents
heaven
-square represents
earth

Imperial vault of
heaven
-emperor prostrates himself and
kowtowed to the heavens more than
fifty times in a ritual

hall of prayer of good

harvests
-triple set of conical
roofs over a round
space
-elevated on 3
terraces of white
marble
-sacrifice occurs
during winter equinox

Abstinence palace
-emperor fasts for 3 days
and lives here during
sacrificial rites
-made with stone vaults

Ming tombs
-first tomb built for
emperor zhu di
-located in the valley
of tianshou mountains
parts
1. A long spirit path
2. A shrine for
ceremonies and
sacrifices to the
dead

3. Burial mound

Spirit path
-an array of statues of mythical
beasts,eminent nobles and generals
-end of path; three portal gate,
center blocked to prevent evil
spirits
-an array of
statues of mythical
beasts,eminent
nobles and
generals
-end of path; three
portal gate, center
blocked to prevent
evil spirits

Tomb of
emperor
wanli
-27m underground
-3 sacrificial
enclosures
-4 interconnected
barrel-vaulted
chambers
-vaults made of
white marble