Religious Chinese architecture

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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