ARCHITECTURE AND TOWN

PLANNING
ANCIENT CHINA

ERAS OF HISTORY OF CHINA

History of China has been divided into 4 eras
Prehistoric Era
Ancient China
Imperial China
Republican China (or Modern Era)

ANCIENT CHINA
Ancient China ranges from 2100 BC till 221 BC and is
subdivided into 3 dynasties, namely;
Xia dynasty (c. 2100 c. 1600 BC)
Shang dynasty (c. 16001046 BC)
Zhou dynasty (1046221 BC)
Spring and Autumn period (722476 BC)
Warring States period (476221 BC)

Xia Dynasty
Xia dynasty is related to the excavations at Erlitou in central
Henan province, where a bronze smelter from around 2000 BC
was unearthed.
Early markings from this period found on pottery and shells are
thought to be ancestral to modern Chinese characters.
With few clear records matching the Shang oracle bones or the
Zhou bronze vessel writings, the Xia era remains poorly
understood and little is known about the architecture of Xia
Dynasty.
According to mythology, the dynasty ended around 1600 BC as a
consequence of the Battle of Mingtiao.

Fig. Zhou bronze

vessel

Fig. Shang oracle bones

Shang Dynasty
Archaeological findings providing evidence for the existence of
the Shang dynasty, c. 16001046 BC, are divided into two sets.
The first set comes from sources at Shangcheng. The second
set is at An-yang, in modern-day Henan. The findings at An-yang
include the earliest written record of Chinese past so far
discovered.
In the cities people lived in rectangular houses laid out in rows,
built of wood and rammed earth. In the center of the city, there
was a big palace or temple on a high earth platform. One building
at An-yang was a big hall with pillars all the way around it.

 These buildings can be compared to Greek temples from around

800 BC, which also have wooden columns all the way around
them and thatched, slanted roofs.
There was a city wall of rammed earth around the Shang capital
at An-yang. These were built by piling up dirt and pounding it
until it was as hard as rock.
Other people at that time were building rammed earth altars, in
circular patterns like this one to worship Heaven, and square
ones to worship Earth.
In the summertime, people moved out of their dark sod houses
and lived instead in a tree-house built on a wooden platform, with
the roof made of poles and branches. Living high up in the air
kept them safe from animals and snakes.

Fig. Shang Dynasty Altar

Fig. Shang Dynasty city wall around

Zhengzhou

Zhou (Chou) Dynasty

The Zhou dynasty was the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese
history, from 1066 BC to approx. 256 BC. By the end of the
2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty began to emerge in the
Yellow River valley, overrunning the territory of the Shang.
There had been a lot of big palaces and shrines. These
palaces were built mainly of big wooden beams. They had
rammed earth walls, like the buildings of the Shang Dynasty.
They had courtyards. Archaeology tells us that some of these
buildings had clay roof tiles.
Rich people's houses already looked a lot the way rich
people's houses looked in later China, with walls around them
and courtyards and more private areas for the women in the
back.
The Zhou emperors made laws about how fancy house could
be. Only the emperors were allowed to have artists carve their

TYPES OF ANCIENT CHINESE

ARCHITECTURE
Classification by structure
Chinese pavilions
Terraces
Storeyed pavilions

Chinese pavilions
Chinese Pavilions are covered structures
without surrounding walls.
Types of Chinese Pavilion:Round, square, triangular

Practical function:

used for military and governmental purposes

as a place for rest
as a roof to a stone tablet
Aesthetic function:
Pavilions provided a place to sit and enjoy the
scenery, and they also became part of the
scenery itself, being attractive structures.

Terraces
As an ancient architectural structure of
Chinese, the tai was a very much elevated
terrace with a flat top, generally built of earth
and stone and surfaced with brick.
Functions of terraces :
as an observatory
as beacon towers along the Great Wall
in honor of the sincere friendship

Storeyed Pavilions
Storeyed Pavilions were like
simple pavilions stacked on top of
each other.

unctions of storeyed pavilions :

used in ancient times for the
storage of important articles
and documents
a place where educated men
used to gather to write articles
and hold banquets
used for enjoying the sights

Classification by function

Imperial Palaces
Traditional Chinese Gardens
Altars and Temples
Religious Structures
Tombs and Mausoleums

 Imperial Palaces
Usually built on a grand scale,
the imperial palaces are closely
related to imperial sovereignty and
were also constructed for the
entertainment of rulers.
Imperial palaces are where
emperors lived and administered
their court during their reign. They
are the most revered, luxurious and
grandiose architectural types from
ancient China.

- The ancient palaces were

strictly laid out on central axis.
- Yellow roof tiles were used.
- The wooden columns of the
buildings, as well as the
surface of the walls, tend to be
red in color.
- The Chinese dragon was
heavily used on Imperial
architecture.

Traditional Chinese Gardens

The most distinguishing feature of traditional
Chinese gardens is their natural mountain-and-water
style. Chinese garden architecture includes both
grand imperial gardens and delicate private ones.

 Altars and Temples

Altars and temples built in
ancient China were meant for
practice of rites.
Three categories:
Imperial temples and altar
for worshiping of Heaven, the
earth, the sun, the moon and
the imperial ancestors
Commemorative temples for
dead people of great virtue
Family temples

 Religious Structures

Taoist Temples
A Chinese Taoist temple is
the holy hall where Taoists
perform their religious
ceremonies.
uddhist
Temple
Constructions
Buddhist
Temple
Constructions in China
include Buddhist temples,
monasteries, pagodas,
Buddhist halls and
grottoes.

 Tombs and Mausoleums

People of all social classes had their tombs
carefully built.
Over the centuries, the craft of tomb
construction gradually merged with arts like
painting, calligraphy and sculpture. It eventually
became its own art form.

FAMOUS ANCIENT
CHINESE
STRUCTURES

GREAT WALL OF
CHINA
Built in 220206 BC
By first Emperor of China,
Qin Shi Huang
Protection and border
control purposes
Approx length 21,196km

FORBIDDEN
CITY
Ming Dynasty Imperial Palace

Built from 1406 to 1420

Largest ancient palatial architecture
in the world
Built to showcase the extravagant
lifestyles of the emperors

TEMPLE OF
HEAVEN
Built from 1406 to 1420 during the
reign of the Yongle Emperor
For annual ceremonies of prayer to
Heaven for good harvestfor good
harvest