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    Chinese architecture and its influences

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    22 views19 pages

    Chinese Architecture

    Uploaded by

    JM Hilario de Olazo
    Chinese architecture and its influences

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    East Asia 162 2 EAST ASIA eS (6,700 KM) through the mountains north S: AKING 4,160 M of Beijing, the 2,000-year-old symbolize Western notions of Eastern culture. Designed to defend, treat Wall of China has come to —_ this huge barrier also had the effect of isolating China, just as, for centu +s, Japan se led itself off from the rest of the world. With imperial rule coming to an end Terracotta warriors tis Te! e his' ‘This famous army of 10,000 life iis rece ntly as 1911, the history of size figures ques the toni of the China over the last 2,000 years is the —irst chinese emperor, Qin Shi story of its dynasties. For much of Huangai (259-21 Osce}, “ completed the Great Wall ne, China was, to Western eyes, a mysterious world, strictly regulated by imperial law and with a vast laboring class capable of works of construction as impressive as the Great Wall (bee p. 167) and the Forbidden City (see pp.172-3). Chinese culture, boxed-in partly by its self-imposed isolationism, and partly by its beautiful but distinctive writing system, gave rise to an architectural tradition that was often self-referen and herme' é ic. However, China was not entirely impervious to outside influences, PP wee ee ise) Seetta tie | aeeee + % sf Bee 4 nates aut Bra RY 4 aend ir Thhe Sil gags? Chinese calligraphy In.use for four milionnta, the Chinese written language has barely changed in the Jast 2,000 years, unifying Chinese society. KEY DATES 50 Budaniam 220 Han ¢ynosty S38 The Korean kingdom 125 Kan becomes ts inweduees ends and China enters ® of Pakche dispatches « the mast populaus ta China, and period of conflict and delegation to introduce city in the wer the fest stupas fragmentatian; artistic Budamiam to tne awarting Euro ace Bult cultures diverge, But flourish Japanese emperor contemporaries 1 1000 105 Tsai Lun invents 407 The Horus 1045 6 revolatioalzing Sulaynasty| | Buaanict temple invents the pri jay information, reunae press, #00 tnpresented, store North ang before it ‘and transported South China| | spread of Buddhism in Europe om Chiaw'to Japan Buddhi country Indi Ch a n styl 1109 Architect Li Jie publishes Vingeao Faah/ setting out Chinese busding methods and standards 1200 AIT Ten Budanigm is duced in jan by the monk Dogen m made its way into the arly on, bringing with it of architectur na’s famous Silk Road trade route, through Central Asia to Istanbul, brought traces of Persian and even Greek design. Th turn, Chinese ideas began to P percolate back to the West, just bas they had made the the Hast by traveling to Japan and etal Tem Su mark in AT84 The Mongols | 1368 Founding of conquer China, | 300-year Chinese Kublai Khan Ming dynasty by foungstne Yuan — | former Bu dynasty weith his capital in Beijing 1274 The Mongols Of KuBtai Khan ry te invade Japan Dot are repetied by Kamikaze teho set up his government j Tokyo. In 1639 and the unt these strict restrict mank Chu Yuanchang 4984 Vi Seng-ave's EAST ASIA 163 ED0-PERIOD JAPAN The height of Japanese isolationism came during the Edo period ( 4-168) force, by Tokugawa leyasa, Edo, today’s blished, successor, Shogua sa, forbade foreign travel and foreign books, and greatly reduced trade contacts iety was divided five rigid classes, h the sanmurai, or warrior caste, at the lop the bottom. Despite and culture chables ne richer and more popular than ever before Samural warrtors ‘Amembar ci tha wartier caste is challenged in battle by a chivaltous commoner (a folk nero) In this print that dates back tothe 1850s, via Korea. Here they meta feudal society —Japan—which maintained its isolation from the rest of the world well into the modern cra. While the West began to apprec erudition of Chinese-society, Japan remained an enigm realm in which, in popular myth, ¢ the art and a fighting between warlords was tempered only by the rit of religion. Yet it was to be the almost supernatural s ity iof Japanese architecture that eventually had the greater impact on the Western world, Is re 1467 Japanese 1548 The Catholic missionacy Feancis Xavier ints very many rival | reaches Japan feudal fietdams 1600 1603 The emperor of any eee japan moves the et Korean governmentta Ede (Tokyo) and founds the Tokugewe eynanty of shoguas CHINA ca. 25-1700 The vastness of Ghina and its many climates should have created a plethora of architectural styles. While there are regional differences, driven by religion and locale, there are also set styles that, emerging early, spread across the country with ritualistic aplomb, In 1103, a government publication called Vingzao fashi (“Building Method”) was mil ed throughout C é hinese architecture cannot be understood without recourse to a copy of Vingzao fashi. This illustrated codification of Chinese building methods and standards, compiled over three years by the architect Li J made several key recommendations on the design, structure, and decoration of timber buildings that were to stay in vogue for many hundreds of years. One of these insisted that there should be no extrancous or applied decoration. Another stated that buildings had to be earthquake-proof, so they must be constructed using mortise-and-tenon joints that would ings shook from side move as the br to side. In ad built without foundations, so that, again, they would shift with movements in the earth rather than keel over. They should be made from standardized components—in other words, lengths and proportions of timber that could be ion, they were to be a to achieve a consistency of style. repeated on any site. There was also a strict color code: walls, pillars, doors, and window frames of palaces and temples were to be painted red; roofs were to be yellow; blue and green were for the underside of eaves and ceilings. When grouped, buildings were to be arranged axially and symmetrical DIVERSITY AMID CONFORMITY Remarkably, visitors to Chinese temple, monastery, and palace complexes will y h century demands of Yingzao.fashi still very much in evidence. Whether in the Forbidden City in Beijing (see p.172), or at the Hanging Monastery at Hunyuan (see p.169), the with the same colors and the same sense of near-timeless serenity, It is in the design of such singular buildings as the pagodas of China (see p17) that the visitor is more able to discern differences in architectural style, ame clements can be se <1 THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN. BEUING. WAS BUILT QUEING THE MING DYNASTY (1358-1600. THE TEMPLE IS BECAUSE HEAVEM WAS RELIEVED TO RE Bi 1D; IT SITS OM A SQUARE BASE, SYMEOLUZING THE EARTH. 166 EAST ELEMENTS Traditional Chinese architecture exhibits what appears to be a remarkable consistency not just of design, planning, and structure, but also of use of color and decoration. This reflects an carly insistence—perilous from the imperial court in Be to disobey that there should be comme standards in what was secn a Dec ablarerd a Fintals—carvings that unified culture tuing root ridges to a logical and satistying aesthetic concluston— are often elaborately decorated, with snakes, dragons, and other fierce creatutes protecting the buildings thay adorn & Rootlop statuary The decoration of Chinese buildings tended to follow ‘the form of their structure, yet these idiosyncratic A Bright roof tlles ceramic dragons squatting on @ curved eave seem Brilliantly glazed raat happlly gratuitous, a law unto themselves tiles typify the strong use of color throughout 1 Dragon emblems Chinese architecture. Dragons are tound ‘Typically, butlaings were throughout temples and color-coded in uniform palaces. They were the shades, depending on symbol of imperial China the purpose or nature They might bé made of of the building painted wood, jade, stone, or terracotta, ‘Atstract flower 4 on statues Lions guard the entrances to many ae hs 2 palaces and temples seh RPP 2 and are a notable ics Teature of the Forbidden City in Beijing Usually cutly.maned, thay are always fierce Protective soattep Yeliow-tiled roof menagerie signifying a palace “1 Elaborate gateway There was a high degree of standardization in Chinese architecture. This ceremonial gateway in tha Forbidden City is charmingly decorated yet ig DUI to strict laws of proportion and displays the ritual color caging that announced its purpose and laws Red paint indicates exclusive palace entrance GREAT WALL OF CHINA AFTER 2i4ecx PO CHINA fa UNKNOWH ing across the thera b th The Great Wallis an and dynasties. It be wall have been mand on the south bank of the Yellow River ate from G808CE nd ace thought These earthwork structures were replaced with stene slabs during the Qin dynasty in the Sed century BCE materials, for almost 1, when the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, pou unbreachable barrier and conquered Chi ; rival of the Ming D: nthe wall, which sty in Symbol of power Built to withstand the incursion f barbaric northern tribes, the Great Wail of China is now a World Heritage Site rder of Chin: world makes its way from Shanhaiguan malgamation of ancient walls belonging 2148Cr, under the rule of Emperor Qin Shi Huar INA 167 MM FORTIFCATION the largest military structure in the cast to Jiayuguan in the west rover 20 states me one united defensive system in The wall varies in height fre (6 to 10 m), with an avers fe (6.5 m) at its bane, tapering to 19 11 (5.8 m) at its top. It has 20,000 watchtowers, with one sited every 326 fi (100m), The strong parapets have the gunpowder, cannon, OF the original 3, CONSTRUCTION AND DESTAUCTION Thousands of convicts, slaves, soldiers, and local people gave their Ines in the construction and reconstruction of the wall; many of them were buried within the wall, and it was ong viewed by the Chinese people as a symbol of tyrannical oppression Much damage has: beea done over the centuries by poverty-stricken farmers, who asid the wall as a quarry. The wall has more receatly been worn down by the feet of millions of toursts, 168 EAST ASIA YUNGANG GROTTOES Zcase 0 oaTows Suan, cHNA 4 UNKNOWN HM GROTraEs When Buddhism spread east from India along ancient caravan routes, it left a lasting mark on Chinese culture. The Yungang Grottocs, carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Wazhou mountain range in the northern part of Shani province, constitute a collective masterpicee of carly Chinese Buddhist art. The 53 grottoes, dating from the Sth= Northern Wei dy bly in design ida riot of carvings of imals. The excavation a of the Vu caves began i the auspices of the noted monk Tan Yao. Over a period of some 50 years, twenty major caverns and 1 cntrances to large caves were deni temples scveral stories im deep. Only two survive, caves, or grottacs, as places for le centers of worship, and-reposit ered works, cs act FAR-FLUNG INFLUENCES Even at this catty time, China was.a great trading ration, and its early art was influenced by many duriag the Lith and 17th centuries, By u sources Some caves, with their orderly Greak bike carly 20th century, travelers to the area ‘columns apd stove particos, allude to Indian chattnig reposted that the and even Roman basilicas. But the heavy decoration —dragons and phosnixes, curved roots supported by elaborate brackets, and serpentine carvings—shows \rantan and Byzantine influences. 1 repairs to the caves were made had fallcn inte a site of neglect. Much darnage kins beet done to the interiors of the cave temples by industrial pollution: Da gis one ¢ "s most i Niches for carvings The caves range in size trom 68 11(21 m) Gaep to litie more than recesses to hold carvings HANGING MONASTERY, XUAN. CHINA GSI 2585 PO HUNYUAN, SHANE, CHINA UNKNOWN ID MONASTERY Like some fantastic bird's nest, Nuankong angin precariously 164 fi (50 m) abs the foot of Hengshan Mounta Golden Dragon R Monawsery Si, the is perched ground at n and above superb workma vars Constauct and up a stone sd rock face. Altho lly built dusing the Northern Wei dynasty, much was reconstructed during the Min, 1644) and Qing (1644-1911) ies. Despite f Chi a's four most built upon sacred Taoist mountains, the monastery is famous for its There Religions Hall, where statues of the Buddha, Confucius, and nies of Taoism) sit side by tan (the fo fe. Inside many of the caves there are images of the Buddha made of cappe terracotta, and stonc, moat of them, buildings, vividly colored. In the depths Hf monastery is silent Precarlous perch Over 40 wooden pavilions and caves cluster here including six main halls with balltantty colored tiled roofs, linked by winding corridors and bridges supported by beams driven into the elif face TEMPLE OF HONAN Se PH Lovanc, cHima A UNKNOWN MM PLACE OF WoRSHEP This ix the Shaolin temple seen in many a Chinese kang fu nmovie, and the one ued.in the lon, the importantly Rang Pie 70s g David Carradine. M this is where Bud: Ch a small mountain town a starril hist scriptures were fest translated inte nese, Located in Loyan hvvcst of Beijing, the temple, badly damaged during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900-1, w 1 Lay the wernment in the mid-1970s rest Chinese mecca for martial acts Today, it ix enthusiasts, and many of the resident inf “monks a, actors In itslong the Sha jin Order, Tt was monks commissioned during the Northern Wei dynasty by the etupetor Hidan Wen: acd by a wall, the temple complex prises halls, of the Buddha monks, Beyond tue with se pund it for the c off Libraries, and cooms full of rc, all a ancient laws of feng shut and housed under ea, kitchens, vast sculpu elegantly dramatic roofs. Originally, the pper and lower courts and 1 almost completely by mountains, festooned with bamboo, cassia, and cedar trees, and laced with waterfalls, 170 EAST ASIA _ > ZHENHAI TOWER rao AO GUANGZHOU, CHINA GS UNKHOWN ID FORTIFICATION This bright red tower, known to locals as the Five-Story Pag. of Yuexiu Hill by Marquis of Hl towe was built on top: hu Liangew, Yongjia © Ming dynasty The broad, ed with grec gli s to guard its doorway, was later ted inte Gi ne base with views of ac f all eceognition, The he tower now stands city wall b s gone alone in the pretty location of Yuextu Park is of lakes, bridges, pa birds, fish, and trecs, created north of Over the past 600 years; the tower has been destroyed five times and reconstructed ng to the ancient city’s 2,000 years of checkered history and documents relat TEMPLE OF THE SLEEPING BUDDHA HUMBLE ADMINISTRATOR'S GARDEN rst PD suzHOU, CHINA ALUNENOWN MM GARDEN One of the most fa in Chi nous private gardens den of the Humble a is the Administrator during the reign of Emperor Zhengde (1506-21) for a retired nM censor, it covers a about 10 sseres (4 ha} Zigeag pathways traverse magnificent tch to the feet F pavil at the whole garden seems Architectut used to frame ews in gc glimpscs of distant pagodas along netrically precise avenues EQ PO BEWING, CHINA a UNKNOWN 1D PLACE OF WORSHIP Located on the eastern side of the Fragrant Hills, this beautiful temple was first built in the 7th ce the heyday of the Ti ), and subsequently rebuilt many times. Standing within the ds of Bei Botanical Gardens, with omprises ce arches in sculpted marble mark the entrance to the arches are separated by seco walls with panels enameled blue Beyond are three handsome, el the Moun enly Kil of in yellow, green, nese buildi: the Hall of the He: Hall of the Buddh, Three W. Il clustered under d wily tiled caved and he roofs, The fourth building the Hall of the Sleeping Buddha largest in the temple and isthe +m) S44ton bronze reehin Buddha, cast in 1921 Sakyamunl This earty foretiear of Bu ism in China lies on his deathbed, giving instructions to his 12 clay disciples. PAGODAS Pagodas cmerged in China, from India, as shrincs for Buddhist relies. The very earliest were variations on the theme of the Indian stupa (a dome-shaped carth mound). The multiple storics of Chinese pagodas were designed to impress and delight. Their hollow structures wing, access to balconics under swe ping roofs, initially rose over ound chambers for Buddhist relics. Buddhists took Japan, oly inv th 7th century, There » began to appear in, or on top fF, palaces as d nditheir pa as te const The oldest surviv China is th, the seven of Shok dled n Luoyang, T many in the area th t, Du Mu, wrote Tang dynasty to fire, woe 20 Buddhist the impact temples of the southern countable towers and i in the misty rain.” The ties began building brick and stone pagodas to standard desigas p18) inthe a from the end of the th 1,500 years old tury Yakushiji Temple The East Pagoda of Yakushili, trom 7th century Japan, has twee stories plus three lean-to roots tallest (mil its destracti they swing and sway around rc, bust almost never collapse, P Japan have survived massive eanhqu and typhoons: the 71 Gargen building ‘An 18th-century Chinese style pagoda is a landmark at Kew Gardens, moat were built of we a by y, 334 ft (108 m) high pagoda sji, Kyoto, Althoug! vulnerable are built to absorbs ve forces of nature oda of Horyusji (ree ent capital of Nara, is ad remains stable. 172 7 EAST ASIA FORBIDDEN CITY ‘Bis PO seins, china Ze uNxnown M) PaLAce Bi) ali TT 2 Floor plan The Hall of Supreme Harmony was the main ‘government building. The impanal Throna Room here was used for major ceremonies and for important affairs of state 4 Alesser threne room The throne in the private apartments of the Palace of Heavenly Purity was used for routine business and Imperial audiences The Forbidden City, to the north of Tiananmen Squarc, was the Imperial palace for over 500 years. Surrounded by a 20 ft (6 m) deep moat and a 33 ft (10 m) high wall, the palace is arranged on a north-south axis eres stretching 3 miles (8 km). It covers 180 (73 ha) and was designed to contain 9,999 rooms. Construction began in 1407; the outer wall is brick but most of the buildings are of wood, The Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the southern section, or Outcr ment purt, was the scat of gover Yellon-painted decorations = Dredomenate Support ceiliegs Imperial throne Broad, shallow steps lead to the upper The marble, balustraded terrace and the main precinct reses in three ‘entrance doors thers to 26 tt (8 m) high CHINA 173 The northern section, or Inner Court, was the ial family, The central spreme Harmony sme of the Imper building is the Hall of (see below), in the Outer C t, which includes the ceremonial throne of emperors; yellow, symbolic of the royal family, is the dominant m 1420 until th emperors lived there, In 1924, the list emperor color 20th century, 24 was driven out as China became a republic. © Imperial guardian tion Throne ball of A carved lion, with curly mane and the emperors grasping a bail, is the traditional Quard at doors in the palace, Extended gable roots: are traditional in Chinese architecture The mortar tat binds the bricks was made mest commonly from glutinous rice sed in the palace and egg white 174 EAST ASIA SUMMER PALACE wea PO ae Comprising myriad bridges, pag acres (294 hectares), the original imperial residence here was begun during the dyn c itm sty (L115 hina’s imperial gardens. Long scerct, ss opened to the public in 1924. The 5 an ti assume its present shape late 18th ins atsary, but was destroyed by ig. the Second », Rebuilt by the Dowager Empress Cixi with funds British and French forces dus Opium War, ia Ie pezaledd from the Chinese Navy, and renamed the Summer Palace, it was ransacked by troops again in during the B Rebellion. ‘Today, whally restored, it ix nde rful escape from < sting shops, calés, be: and an idyllic m: ckdrop. ed on the Tower of Buddhist Incense 3c}, the palace consias of over structures inchiding pavilions, towers, nd corric halls of Dispelling Clouds, Sea of Wisdom, and Moral Glory The arrangement of its THE OLD SUMMER PALACE Lying close by as a more or less total ruin is the old imperial palace, which was very different from its ‘successor Far from being designed in classical (Chinese style, it was laid out according to Baroryue principies by Jesuit architects, led by Giuseppe Castighons, during the reiga of the 18th-century ‘emperor Cianloag, whose aim was to outdo the gardens of contemporary French aed Italian palaces 6, CHINA ao UNKNOWN MM PALACE das, gardens, lakes, nd sircams covering, BRIOGE OVER KUNMING LAKE buildings was inspired by Taoist legends of dle of misty lakes al idands in the en Three-quaricrs of th the forms of buildi reflected many are linked covered walkw. wgeth ornet] with painting iayiltc setting Located in Haidian District, soma 7 miles (11 km) northwest of central Beijing, this fantastical palace has bean a World Heritage Site since 1998. 175 ANCESTOR TEMPLE, FOSHAN 108 PO rosHan, MM PLACE OF WORSHIP aA x UNKNOWN Continuously added to over the centuries today this complex is a curious, if charming, amalgam of the much-rebuilt original place of worship, richly colored as are most old Chincse buildings AC added from 1911 mingle with Frage Highlights inchide the Pavilion nts of ancient art bell thern courtyard dominated Truth Celebration; theatrical de towers; and aso uscd firs develope: carvings depict made during th 225 nauczmou, crama SHUI M0 PLACE OF WORSHIP Qing dynasty Lingyin temple is anc of the largest and the 10th 177 Is, with over 1,300 rooms wealthiest in China, At its zenith prised 18 pav pund 3,000 monks in the early 4th century, been rebuilt at mes sinee then. Despite some damage inflicted by Red Guards in 1968, during the Cultural Revolution, the temple and grounds escaped much of the wholesale destruction inflicted China jon of the like on religions monuments clewhere i because of the dire pier, Zhou Es alls are vast interyy Chinese pe © Maha a triple-caved a city, its Daxionghaod roof ft ( The Hall of Five Hundred Arhats (1 disciples) house as its name promises, life-sized bronze statues. The Chinese name Ling js commonly translated inte F as “Temple of the Soul's Retreat TAIMIAO ANCESTRAL TEMPLE Bien PO sev. CHINA 4 UNKNOWN M PLACE OF WORSHIP ncestral temple of the Ming and Qing dynasties, runs parallel iden vtitional to the north-south axis of the Forbi ’ nt set piece of imperial Ch building structure is the two-tiered Hall for Worship of Ancestors, built in 1420 but frequent repaired ever since. The temple compen is merrounded by high walls and tall, mature tees. ‘I'he two much rower flanking halls seem almos re from a dist us ee, but close up they are richly and imaginatively decorated, DRUM TOWER, XI'AN Rise can, coma 4 UNcnoWN i cmc Bio Srected in 1580, the great rectangular, i (4 m) high Drum Tower is the counterpart of the Bell Tower im the Muslim quarter of Xi'an, a walled eity in the heart of China. Equipped with an enormous drum, it was used not only for triple-eaved, | timekeeping but also ax an alarm in time of od: ¢s shop, but the first floo dangee , the second of its two floors ded by colorful drums and contains a Faser brick is picteed by through it. Thi much isolated tod. modern buildings department storc ag drum muscum, An enormous d timber structure, the Drumm Tower archway that carties street muscular monum ; flanked by such ugly the Century every CHINA WT ‘BW 1sm0 PP BEING. CHIMA ‘@ure M GuanGzHou, china G2 UNKNOWN M2 PLACE OF WORSHIP. UNKNOWN M1 PLACE OF WORSHIP The ‘Temple of Heaven was built during the | Wusianguan, the Taoist temple of the Five the beings celebrated in the Ming dynasty Covering a staggering arca of | Immortals, is purported to be the sit 1 sq mile (2.6 km’), the temple now stands in | visit of five heay ark, in Beijing. foundation myth of the city of Guangzhou. Tiaman Josed within a wall The myth The complex ise ‘that long ago, these Leaenitre acthliac Hiicaine to there im and I on the backs of five gonts or on elaborate symbolism They bro ogy In ghe with them and ts and gave the sceret of rice I cultivatic people; Guangzhou is still known as “Goat City” cheng) or “Rice City" cng). When the immortals returned to heaven, their goa turned to stone and can be found here at this delightfal Judes a huge bell tower, which dates back to the Ming ed temple, The temple i THE MALL OF PRAYER | Fon Gaon HARVEST at tower built in Ming-dya. in hall in front of the earth. The north pss dynasty, the wall is semicice style, A pond (Heaven); the south part is square (Earth). to the cast of the ures. a huge The finest of the many exquisite buildings in | foot-shaped depression said to be the the complex are the C Mound Akar, — | footpr m with three terraces of white marble where the of one of the irene offered sactifice to Heaven at the empe Winter Solstice; the Imperial Vault of aaa sa na Heaven, looking like some great blue-and=

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