YELLOWRIVER VALLEY

CIVILIZATION
NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
Around4000 BCE,thishugeareacontainedan almos tinfinitenumberof ethnicgroups
andlanguag es.Thishis tory,in whicha vas tareapopula tedby diverseethnicgroups
became,overtime,a mo reorless sing leculture,b eganin the YellowRiverValley

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 GEOGRAPHY

• The Huang He (yellow) riverstretches across

China for more than 2,900 miles.It carries its
richyellowsilt all the way fromMongolia to
the Pacific Ocean.
• The coloryellowsymbolized“centrality”, as
in China is the centerof the world
• LOCATION-North - Gobi Desert
Eas t - PacificOcean(andYellowSea)
South- South China Sea
West – Himalayas
• The eas ternhalf China includes fe rtile
lowlands, foothills,mountains, deserts,
steppes, subtropical areas, anda long
coastline withmany small islands. The
westernside is full of basins, massifs, and
some of the highes t plateaus on Earth.
• Also the Yangtze riveris longer,stretching
about 3,400 miles across central china.
• The two major rivers both merge togethe r to
create a great food-producingarea.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 CLIMATE

• Just like its terrain,China's climate is

extremelydive rse. With subtropics in the
south andsubarctic in the north, the
weatheroften varies.
• The re are five main temperature zones: Cold
-temperate zone, Mid-tempe ratezone,
Warm-tempe ratezone, Subtropicalzone,
andTropical Zone.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 RE LIGIOUSBELIEF

• The religioushistory of China is complex,and has

evolvedove r the centuries.
• Deeply interwoveninto their beliefs is the
worship of their ancestors.
• The Chinese believedthat the spirits of their
ancestors were watching ove r them, and that
they could be calleduponduring difficulttimes.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 INVENTIONS

• Pape rMoney(Song) - O riginal name was "flying

monkey";usedas exchange certificates for
merchants;
• Mat ches(Sui) - Made of little sticks of pinewood
impregnatedwith sulfur
• Circ ulationof Blood (Qin) - discoveredthat blood
circulatedthe body from the heart
• Kite s(Sui)- Shaped like birds; coulddeliver
messages;stayed upin air for up to three days
• S ilk (Shang) - Silk was exotic and expensive,so it
was good for trading with the rest of the world.
Brought to Europe by SilkRoad by 500 AD
• Porc elain(Song andTang) - Clay potte ring
• Pape r(Han) - One of the most wanted trading
items;spread to all of Eurasia
• Gunpowde(Tang)r - Used for canons in Europe
and firecrackersin China
• Compass(Tang) - Used for navigation,mainly
ove rsea

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S ILKROUTE

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

2137 BCE - Chinese book records the earlies tknown
solareclipse on October22.
Chinese divided the sky into twenty eight regions for
recognitions of the stars

Early writing foundon bones and shells

History pieced togethe rfromoracle bones

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 NEOLITHICCHINES E

The Yang shaoculturewas a Neolithicculture

that exis ted extensivelyalong the Yellow
Riverin China. It is dated fromaround
5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named
afterYangshao, the firs t excavated
representative village of this culture

PAINTED FISHING FARMING

POTTTERY

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

• Banpolocated in the yellowriverwas a large well organizedsettlements belonging
to the yang Shao culture.It was surroundedby a ditch or a moat 5-6 meters wide
for drainage anddefence.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 NEOLITHICCHINES E- HOUS ES

• Banpowas in a village in the Shanxi province.Plannedas an irregularoval, orientedand

housed in a populationof 203 hundred.
• The houses were clusteredat the centerof the village in an area of some 3 ha ( 7 acres)
demarcatedby a ditchabout 6 m deep and 6 m wide.
• Banpocomprisedscores of circularsemi subte rraneanwattle anddaub houses, about 5 m in
diameterandsunk about 600mminto the ground.
• Eachhad a hearth definedby 4 centerposts whichsupport a conical wattle and daub roof,
sloping almost to the eaves.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 Wattle and daub is a
composite building material
used for making walls,in
whicha woven lattice of
wooden strips calledwattle is
daubed witha stickymaterial
usually made of some
combinationof wet soil,clay,
sand, animal dung and straw.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 NEOLITHICCHINES E- HOUS ES

Lackof monumental architecture.Peasants livedin pit houses

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 NEOLITHICCHINES E- HOUS ES

• Rammedearth podium built up to laye rs 80

-100mmthick to a height of about 600 mm
whichsupported the supe r structure. They
were built upin laye rs 80-100 mmthick to a
height of 600 mmsupported a supe r
structure of simple,single storey post and
beam.
• The homes were circularmudand wood
structures with ove rhanging thatched roofs
all raised on shallow foundations with fire
pits at the centre.
• Entrance ramps sloped down the dwellings.
1. Slopingentrance
• The dead were buriedat the back of nearby
2. Plast eredor daubedinteriorpartition
3. Cent ralfirepit caves or in simple pits.
4. Plast erflooror bareeart h. • Large plazas andstorage holes are
5. St rawthatc h indicativeof civichierarchyand
6. Brushwood organization.
7. A Rec tangular pit hous e
8. A Roundhut
9. A Wat tleandDaubConst ruction
10. Vinesandsaplingswovenbe tweensupport ing
poleswithmud appliedto creat ea protect ed
place.
NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
 NEOLITHICCHINES E- HOUS ES

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

EarlyDynas tiesXia Dynas ty(c. 2070 – c. 1600 B.C .E.)

S hangDynas ty(1600 – 1046 B.C .E.)

ZhouDynas ty(1045 – 256 B.C .E.)

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S hangDynas ty(1600 – 1046 B.C .E.)C

WALLEDCITIE S
The characteris ticsof a WalledCity
are usually,Rammedearth
platforms on whichpalaces and
temples were built. Pounding
whichhappens up to a height of 12
-14 cmof earth.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S hangDynas ty– WALLEDCITY

• Shang dynasty – capitalwas

Zheng zhou.
• S mallestdwelling swere9m x 5m.
Walls and floors were filledwithlime
plasters.The capital changed to
Anyang country.
• Tombsweremade forthe king .
• The earlies tcities in China arose
during the Shang Dynasty,a period
also markedby the developmentof
bronzetechnolog y, the firs t
elaborate sys temof writing,
ceremonialreligiouscentres, public
roads, monumental public
architecture,large scale warfare,
taxes andan agrarianpeasantry.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S hangDynas ty– WALLEDCITY

• These, of course, are the trappings of the

ancient state, and Shang cities were designed
andconstructed to personify the state and
provide innumerableadministrative functions
requiredby a gove rnmentwhich ruled a
kingdomof more than 100,000 square miles
andcontrolledseveral,smalle rvassal states.
• The technology required to build cities actually
exis ted during the Neolithic periodcenturies
before the constructionof the firs t Shang city.
• By 2000 BC, villageswere being constructed
withwalledrampartsor rammedearth
enclosingas muchas 35 acres.
• The rectilinearshape, positionof gates and
orde rly divisionof space withinlate Neolithic
villagesclearly foreshadow the structure of
earlyChinese cities,while house foundations
suggest the use of classicalChinese beam-and-
frame constructioneasily adapted to the
creationof large,public buildings.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S hangDynas ty

Inventionof writing

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 ZhouDynas ty
• Zhoudynasty-800 BCE. Confuciusthe orie sandprinciples of respect, power and value. Good
gove rnance was linked to adhe ring to traditional customs.
• The re were a lot of big pala cesand shrines
• Palaces were built on big wooden beams, rammed earthwalls and some had clay tile
roofing's.
• Richandpoorse gre gation , where richpeople’s houses had central courtyards andinner
spaces for private areas.
• ZHOU had a law to gove rnhow houses had to be built, the richcould decorate the house
how they wanted and were allowed to pain the pillarsBLACK,where asthe poorhad to
paintit YELLOW
• Diffe rentiationof classes:aristocrats,peasants, andmerchants. S OCIALS TRUCTUR E

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 THE CITYOF WANGCHENGOR RULER’S CITY

• The jiangre nor mast erscraftsman,builds the state levelling the groundusing a plumb
line and using their shadows as the determiners of a midpoint.
• He examinesthe shadowsof the ris ingand the se ttingsunand make sa circlethat
includesthe midpointof two shadows.
• The mastercrafts men constructs the state capital. He makes a square of nine line of
each side and each side has 3 gates.
• Withinthe capital are nine north south andnine eas t west streets.
• The north south streets are none carriage tracks in width.
• On the left is the ancestral temple and to the right are the altars of soil and grain. In the
front is the hall of audience and behind, the markets.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 ZhouDynas ty

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 QUINDYNAS TY

• Newarchitecturalelements-
towers, pillars,gates and raised
buildings.
• The obsessionwithheight
• Beamin tiers and columnand tie
beam technique,combining
groundfloors withsubstantial
plinths or raisedon stilts.
• This led to eme rgenceof TYPICAL
CHINESE BUILDING CHARACTERS
• Unityof structurewit h
architect uraart-
l this was
achievedby beautifying the
structural components themselves
insteadof applying additional
ornament.For example the pillar
might be shuttle shaped and a
beam formed as an arc so that,
when used witha concave roof,
they achievedharmony of design
withconstruction.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 QUINDYNAS TY

• Good ant ise ismicfunct ion– the structural

components of a wooden building were
connectedby mortise and tennons and
were thus able to move under earthquake
considerations without causing the building
to collapse.Similartechniques were applied
to the connectionof columns to plinths.
• Chinese wooden buildings have no deep
foundations for columns,so that columns
canshift when an earthquake occurs,and
many ancient structures stillstand even
afterexposure to many earthquakes.
• A hig hdegreeof standardis at ion - a building
is composedby a groupof beams carriedon
columns with curvedcorbelledbrackets
forming a kindof roof truss IR is supported
on a series of ve rtical frames. The space
betweenbeams is calleda JIAN (bay).

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 QUINDYNAS TY

• Brightcolours- the process of

painting wooden buildings to
prevent weathering andinsect
infestationand to achieve
decorative effects beganin the early
spring andautumn periods.
• Groupingof building s–the
traditional Chinese methodof
arrangementwas to plana single
building arounda courtyard and
then courtyards as basic units for
forming groups of building.
• Ona largerscale they consisted of
many courtyards arranged along a
parallel or other subsidiary axes.
The re may be free standing halls
withincourtyards or linked to
surrounding buildings with galle ries
or side rooms.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

未完待续 QINS HIHUANGMAUS OLEUM

TO BE CONTD…
FORBIDDENCITY

S HRINE S

BUDDHIS TTE MPLE S

 MAUS OLEUM

Elaborate fune rals and lavishtombs for the Chinese

rulers. The re were basically2 types underground
andove r the groundsurface. Those undergroundare
only to house the coffinof the empe ror. Those
above groundusually are an extensionof
undergroundtombs with a commemorativebuilding
on the surface.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 QINS HIHUANGMAUS OLEUM
• The Mausoleumis larger than the Great pyramid inEgypt.
• Seen fromafar, it is a hill ove rgrownwithvegetation.
• It is believed that the tomb consists of an interiorcity andan exteriorcity. Its exterioris a low
earthpyramid witha wide base.
• In 2000 years, the original 100-mete r-high(328 feet) hillockhas been weathereddown to
about 47 mete rs (154 feet) high, 515 mete rs (1,690 feet) long fromsouth to north and 485
mete rs (1,591 feet) wide eas t to west.
• In an area of 2,180,000square mete rs (less than one square miles),many large-scale
Alhambresque buildings housing precious treasures are said to be buriedinside the tomb.

The Firs tEmpero renvis ioneda subterraneandomaintha twouldparallelhis worldly

exis tenceafterco rporald eath.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
 QINS HIHUANGMAUS OLEUM

There are estimated to be 8,000 total clay

soldiers,where only 2,000 have been
excavatedwithin the past 40 years

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 FORBIDDENCITY- BEIJING
• Built in the Ming andQing dynasties, constructionbegan in1406.
• The battlementedperime terwall extends 760mfromeas t to west and960 m fromnorth to south
andencloses an area of 73 ha.
• The royal palace was dividedinto an outer court andinner court. Aroundthe outer court were the
Taihedian(the hall of supreme harmony), the Zhonghedian(the hall of central harmony), the
Baohedian(the hall of preservedharmony), the Wenhuadian(the hall of literaryglory) and the
Wuyingdian(the hall of martialvalor). T
• he Wenhuadianserved as a study for the crown prince and the Wuyingdianas a place for the
empe rorto receive his ministers.The other halls were used for administrationof the empire and
celebrationof important festivals.
• Buildingwere in 2 rows on eithe rside of the north south axis whichstretches for 8 km anddivides
Beijing into its eas tern andwestern halves. The axis known as the meridianline passes through 13
buildings and inside the walls of the palace they are symmetricallyarrangedon eithe rside of it.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
• Inside the ForbiddenCity are eight courtyards of whichthe secondknown as Taihedian
is the largest.
• The hall of the Taihedian, is 27 m high, 64 m wide and37 m deep.
• It has a roof withdouble eaves and is decorated withcarve dragons andphoenixes.
• 24 empe rors livedand ruled China for ove r 500 years from the ForbiddenCity.
• The empe rors also built country villas and set them in landscaped parks.
• Most of the villas present today were from the Qindynasty and the most famous one is
the SummerPalace.On the north western outskirts of Beijing.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK
The S ummerPalace
The palace was divided into four parts and the firs t part was where the empe rorandempress
residedanddiscussed the politicalaffairs. The groups of courtyard in this side of the palace are
symmetrical.The roofs were usually not glazed in this part of the palace but is functionallyve ry
important. The secondpart is an octagonal shaped building 37m tall and set on a platform

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 S HRINE S
TIANTA NS HRINE /TE MPLEOF HEAVEN
• Southerndistrict of Beijing,over anarea of 690 acres. Mostly by the Qin and
Ming dynasty rulers.
• There are mostly two groups of buildingsOne to worship the Heavens,
HUANQIUTANandsecondto worship for a goodharvest, QUINIANDIAN.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

• HUANQIUTAN– three tiered circularmarble terrace, upper most tier of
26mdiameterand lower most 55m dia. Height is 5m. The paving stones
andbalusters are arranged in multiples of 9 symbolizing9 th heavens.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

• QUINIANDIAN– a brickpavement 400mmlongand 30mwide fromHuanqiutan
leads to this place. Whichis a circularwooden hall of prayer32m highand24m in
diameter.Triple conical roof of blue glazed tiles.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

• Concept behindwas heaven was said to be CIRCULAR and earthSQUARE. Square
courtyards to locate heavenon earth. Highplatforms for building behindgave an
impressionthat those were closer to heaven.
• The pavements or roads on eithe rsides sloped fromsouth to north andprovided an
extended perspectiveso that it continued to rise towards the building makingit look like
its leading to heaven.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 BUDDHIS TTE MPLE S– Evolu tionof Pagodas

• Mainly 2 types of temples one witha

tall symbolic feature, eithe ra stupa or
a pagoda witha temple hall and
secondtype withbuilding arounda
courtyard.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 • In the firs t type, the shape and
formof the S tupa was mostly an
influence from the Indian
architectureat that period.
• The stupas usually stood in the
centerof the temple complexand
were said to have Buddha’s
remains.
• Later on the temple complex
were combinedwithpagodas and
this became a gene ral style.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 • In the secondtype, where the
temple was a building arounda
courtyardwas popular.
• The re was no presence of stupa
or pagoda in these buildings.
Many powerful people in China
initiallydonated their palaces and
villa to the temple.
• So these structures had many
courtyards and were eventually
converted to temples.So the
later on styles of temples that
were developedlooksimilarto
this.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 Evolution:

J inDynas ty– two pagodas were placed

side by side to forma symmetryin the
courtyardof the temple.
TangDynas ty– independent courtyards
for the Pagodas.
S ongDynas ty– they were placed
behindthe temple
Qinand Ming – rarely built pagodas.

Buddhist temples were plannedsymmetricallyalong the mainaxis. The entire

temple was plannedaccording to Chinese numericalprinciple where in, the
locationof Hall of king of heavens andGrandhallalong with Buddhist classical
repositorywere all fixed. Each temple had a bell anddrum tower.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 PAGODAS

• Pagodas are the maincharacteris tics

of the Buddhist temples in China.
Most of them were made of Brick
andstone and there are ove r 2000
of them. Only the wooden ones are
the one whichare survivingin
perfect condition fromcenturies.
• The oldes t pagoda of SONGYUE
TEMPLE
• Exte rnallyit is 12 sided but
internallyan octagonal shape.
Temple is 41m tall and14m
diameter.Foundationwall is 2.5m
thick.

NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK

 DWELLINGUNITSof THE CHINES ECIVILIZA TION

• The dive rse Economicand climatic

conditions aroundchina led to various
types of housing units. They mostly
differedinstyle anduse of materials.
• The residences in the cityof Beijing
was mostly that of merchants and was
built withexpensive material andwith
great attention. They followed rigid
house planning sys tems andprinciple
rooms facing south on the axis
belonged to the head of the family.
• Those in the wings were for the
brothers and children.Some of them
had compound, where in the semi
enclosedspace they entertained the
gues ts.
• During Ming and QuinDynasty, the rich
merchants dwelling units had multiple
courtyards and more than two or three
axis. Smallercourtyards were used to
provide shade and ventilation
NOTES BY AKSHATHA NAIK