Chinese architecture reviewer

great desert of Central Asia and one of the largest sandy deserts in the world. The Takla Makan occupies the central part of the Tarim Basin in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, western China.

Takla Makan Desert,

The Yellow Emperor
China’s first emperor (Qin Dynasty) Ruled using philosophy of Legalism

SHIHUANGDI / HUANG DI

Known as chang cheng (long wall) of Shihuangdi

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Founded by Han FeiTzu Believed in strict, clear and powerful, authoritarian government. Favored severe punishments, and believed everyone should take responsibility for obeying the law. Political dissent was a high crime punishable by death.

LEGALISM

Benevolence, showing humanity, mercy and kindness;

rén

Justness, to be righteous ;

yì

Rituals, custom and law, to be polite;

lǐ

Wisdom, to be knowledgeable and well educated;

zhì

Royalty, faithful，reliable， accountable, responsible, creditable.

xìn

the most revered sacred scripture in the Confucian tradition

The Lunyu (Analects)

The most important is the emphasis on ____________, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphasized.

the horizontal axis

This contrasts Western architecture, which tends to grow in height and depth. Chinese architecture stresses the visual impact of the __________________.

width of the buildings

Emphasis on _______________, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses.

articulation and symmetry

The principle underlying ____________ is to create enduring flow and also to emulate nature.

the garden's composition

one of the finest gardens in China.

ZHUOZHENG GARDEN

Chinese buildings may be built with either red or gray bricks, but ________________ are the most common; these are more capable of withstanding earthquakes, but are vulnerable to fire.

wooden structures

The roof of a typical Chinese building is _________;

curved

1

hip roof

2

hanging hill roof

3

xie shan roof

4

hard hill roof

joy, good, wealth, bright, summer, south

red

Emperor, earth, middle and china

yellow

Algid, Ill immortality

blue

death,darkness,glory,winter,north

black

mourning, bad luck, age, autum, west

white

misfortune

brown

cheap, dull

grey

glory, royal, wisdom, perfection

gold

life, vitality, spring, east

green

The imperial yellow glaze is reserved for the emperor

The Hall of Supreme Harmony

a new Chinese character was created, ___, which means Buddhist tower or pagoda.

ta

Pagoda at White Horse Temple

literally Six Harmonies Pagoda of Hangzhou, China, built in 1165 AD during the Song Dynasty.

LIUHE PAGODA

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

A typical pagoda has four (4) major architectural components:

underground palace ¤ base ¤ body ¤ steeple

was built first to enshrine the holy relics and any other precious items.

underground palace

was originally a simple, relatively low element that served to support the structure of the pagoda.

base

was built in many different styles and materials.

body of the pagoda

(Multistory buildings)means any building of two or more floors with a horizontal main ridge

lou

(terraces)an elevated terrace with a flat top

tai

(Chinese pavilions)were made either of wood, stone or bamboo. These were built in any shape such as hexagon, square, triangle, octagon etc. All pavilions had columns but did not have any walls.

ting

(Two-story pavilions)same as Lou means building of two or more storeys. The Ge had door and windows on the front side with the other three sides being walls. Two storeys pavilions were usually decorated with boards all around.

ge

(Chinese pagodas)

ta

(Domed or coffered ceiling)

zaojing

(Verandas with windows)

xuan

(Pavilions or houses on terraces)

xie

(Rooms along roofed corridors)

wu

(interlocking wooden brackets, used in clusters to support roofs)

dougong

An important feature in Chinese architecture is its _____, which signifies balance.

emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry

Chinese gardens are a notable exception which tends to be ______.

asymmetrical

These enclosed spaces come in two forms:

the open courtyard (院) and the "sky well" (天井).

(Chinese house compound), which consists of an empty space surrounded by buildings connected with one another either directly or through verandas.

Siheyuan

1. Master residence or wing

zhengfang

2.ear room, utility or storage

erfang

3. western residence or wing

xixiangfang

4. second gate, flower hung gate

ermen, chuihuamen

5.corridor

zoulang

6. outer or first courtyard

waiyuan

7. reverse facing rooms

daozuofang

8. north hall or pavilion, backside building

houzhaofang

9. rear or third courtyard

disanjinyuan

10. inner or second courtyard

neiyuan

11. eastern residence or wing

dongxiangfang

12. spirit screen

yingbi

13. entrance way or small gate

pingmen

14. main gate

damen

Classical Chinese buildings, especially those of the wealthy are built with an _________, with close heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not well emphasized.

emphasis on breadth and less on height

_____________ of course does not apply to pagodas, which are and limited to religious building complexes.

Horizontal emphasis

HALL OF THE SUPREME HARMONY

work of tie beams and cross beams, from Li Jie's building manual Yingzao Fashi, printed in 1103.

Mortise and tenon

usually large trimmed logs, are used as load-bearing columns and lateral beams for framing buildings and supporting the roofs.

Wooden timber

Using _______ numbers of columns

even

produce _______ numbers of bays

odd

_______ to delineate rooms or enclose a building

curtain walls or door panels

_______ are almost omnipresent in traditional Chinese architecture.

gabled roofs

(horse-head walls

Matouqiang

oldest extant pagoda in China

SONGYUE PAGODA

uses bright colors, painting detailed scenes, roof tiles, roof guardians, and many marble fence posts.Power is shown by space not height

The Ming dynasty

was considered to be the center of the world.

Forbidden City

The _______ was to be at the center of the cosmos, so the main axis of the city is North-South.

Emperor

The ____ at the center of the city is where the Emperor held audiences. After entering the city you passed through several halls and courtyards on your way to this audience. It was meant to make you feel small.

Hall of Supreme Harmony

The most important and largest structure in the Forbidden City, and was once the tallest building in the capital. It was used for state occasions, such as the emperor’s birthday, coronations and the nomination of military leaders.

Hall of Supreme Harmony

Hall of Supreme Harmony (Front Hall)

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony is a richly decorated Dragon Throne (龙椅; Lóngyǐ), from which the emperor would preside over trembling officials.

Dragon Throne

which was used as the emperor’s transit lounge. Here he would make last-minute preparations, rehearse speeches and receive ministers.

Hall of Central Harmony

used for banquets and later for imperial examinations.

Hall of Preserving Harmony

THREE GREAT HALLS

Hall of the Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony, Hall of the Preserving Harmony

From this view of the Forbidden City you can see the _________ and the way that Feng Shui was used to design it.

North-South axis

It must have a mountain at the back so they built an artificial one called _________. It was surrounded by a moat which was the necessary water feature for an auspicious location.

Coal Hill

This is the grandest of all the palace gates. It is nearly 38m high. This marks the beginning of the palace complex.

MERIDIAN GATE

It was from here that Mao proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Gate of Heavenly Peace

represents the Emperor

dragon

represents the Empress.

phoenix

____ was reserved only for the Imperial family.

Yellow roof tiles

Prince(ss) can only use

green roof tiles

Ordinary people use

grey roof tiles

________ is a lucky number in China so the Emperor will have __ roof guardians the color of a roof reflects the social status of the people living inside.

9

Roof Guardians