Architectural types Chinese architecture

1 architectural types

1.1 commoner
1.2 imperial
1.3 religious

1.3.1 gallery

architectural types
commoner

the houses of commoners, bureaucrats, merchants or farmers, tended follow set pattern: center of building shrine deities , ancestors, used during festivities. on 2 sides bedrooms elders; 2 wings of building (known guardian dragons chinese) junior members of family, living room, dining room, , kitchen, although living room close center.

sometimes extended families became large 1 or 2 pairs of wings had built. resulted in u-shaped building, courtyard suitable farm work. merchants , bureaucrats, however, preferred close off front imposing front gate. buildings legally regulated, , law held number of stories, length of building , colours used depended on owner s class. commoners living in areas plagued bandits built communal fortresses called tulou protection.

imperial

there architectural features reserved solely buildings built emperor of china. 1 example use of yellow roof tiles, yellow having been imperial color; yellow roof tiles still adorn of buildings within forbidden city. temple of heaven, however, uses blue roof tiles symbolize sky. roofs invariably supported brackets ( dougong ), feature shared largest of religious buildings. wooden columns of buildings, surfaces of walls, tend red in color. black famous color used in pagodas. believed gods inspired black color descend earth.

the chinese 5-clawed dragon, adopted first ming emperor personal use, used decoration on beams, pillars, , on doors on imperial architecture. curiously, dragon never used on roofs of imperial buildings.

only buildings used imperial family allowed have 9 jian (間, space between 2 columns); gates used emperor have 5 arches, centre one, of course, being reserved emperor himself. ancient chinese favored color red. buildings faced south because north had cold wind.

beijing became capital of china after mongol invasion of 13th century, completing easterly migration of chinese capital begun since jin dynasty. ming uprising in 1368 reasserted chinese authority , fixed beijing seat of imperial power next 5 centuries. emperor , empress lived in palaces on central axis of forbidden city, crown prince @ eastern side, , concubines @ (therefore numerous imperial concubines referred palace 3 thousand ). however, during mid-qing dynasty, emperor s residence moved western side of complex. misleading speak of axis in western sense of visual perspective ordering facades, rather chinese axis line of privilege, built upon, regulating access—there no vistas, series of gates , pavilions.

que 闕 towers along walls of tang-era chang an, depicted in 8th-century mural prince li chongrun s tomb @ qianling mausoleum in shaanxi

numerology heavily influenced imperial architecture, hence use of 9 in of construction (nine being greatest single digit number) , reason why forbidden city in beijing said have 9,999.9 rooms—just short of mythical 10,000 rooms in heaven. importance of east (the direction of rising sun) in orienting , siting imperial buildings form of solar worship found in many ancient cultures, there notion of ruler being affiliated sun.

the tombs , mausoleums of imperial family members, such 8th century tang dynasty tombs @ qianling mausoleum, can counted part of imperial tradition in architecture. these above-ground earthen mounds , pyramids had subterranean shaft-and-vault structures lined brick walls since @ least warring states (481–221 bc).

religious

generally speaking, buddhist architecture follows imperial style. large buddhist monastery has front hall, housing statue of bodhisattva, followed great hall, housing statues of buddhas. accommodations monks , nuns located @ 2 sides. of greatest examples of come 18th century puning temple , putuo zongcheng temple. buddhist monasteries have pagodas, may house relics of gautama buddha; older pagodas tend four-sided, while later pagodas have 8 sides.

daoist architecture, on other hand, follows commoners style. main entrance is, however, @ side, out of superstition demons might try enter premise (see feng shui.) in contrast buddhists, in daoist temple main deity located in main hall @ front, lesser deities in hall , @ sides.

the tallest pre-modern building in china built both religious , martial purposes. liaodi pagoda of 1055 ad stands @ height of 84 m (276 ft), , although served crowning pagoda of kaiyuan monastery in old dingzhou, hebei, used military watchtower song dynasty soldiers observe potential liao dynasty enemy movements.

the architecture of mosques , gongbei tomb shrines of china s muslims combines traditional chinese styles middle eastern influences.

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